studiobondurri Chapter 407 Buying New Year's Goods
Chapter 407 Buying New Year's Goods
"Is it true that you want to have children?"
Shen Yuege's voice was muffled by the pillow, sounding indistinct, but Lu Ran could hear every word clearly.
He did not answer immediately.
Lu Ran turned over, facing Shen Yuege.
She buried her face in the pillow, leaving only half an ear and a small section of her neck exposed.
The tips of my ears are red; I don't know if it's from the heat or something else.
"Do you want it?" he asked.
Shen Yuege didn't move or say anything.
Lu Ran waited a moment, then said, "I'm asking you a question. Do you want a child?"
Shen Yuege peeked out from under the pillow, glanced at him, and then withdrew her eye.
The voice came through the gaps in the pillow and sheets, muffled as if there was a wall between them: "I asked you if it was true, and you turned the tables on me."
"The answer to your question is with me. The answer to my question is with you. Let's each ask our own questions and answer our own. You answer first."
Shen Yuege revealed that eye again, this time without retracting it.
She stared at Lu Ran for several seconds, then said, "I don't know."
Lu Ran did not ask any further questions.
If I don't know, I just don't know; asking won't help.
This isn't like choosing a broth base when eating hot pot, like whether it's half-and-half or spicy. If you can't decide, you can just choose half-and-half.
When it comes to having children, there's no half-and-half option; it's either yes or no, there's no middle ground.
"We'll talk about it when you find out." Lu Ran reached out and ruffled her hair. "No rush. We're not in a hurry."
Shen Yuege fully exposed her face from under the pillow. Her hair was a mess, like a bird's nest, and there were marks left by the pillow on her face.
She looked at Lu Ran with an indescribable look in her eyes, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief, but also as if she was still a little conflicted.
"Aren't you in a hurry?" she asked.
"Why should I be in a rush? I'm not the one giving birth. You're the one who carries the baby for ten months, you're the one who suffers, and you're the one who has to get back in shape after giving birth. I'm just standing by, handing out towels and cheering you on. What's there to be in a hurry for?"
Shen Yuege's lips curled up slightly at his words, but she quickly suppressed it.
"So you don't want it?"
"I want it. But wanting it doesn't mean I have to have it now. Let's wait until you want it too. If neither of us wants it, it's torture. If one of us wants it and the other doesn't, it'll lead to arguments. If we both want it, it's the icing on the cake."
Lu Ran paused, then said, "So don't worry about whether I want it or not. Just ask yourself, do you want it?"
Shen Yuege thought for a moment and then shook her head.
"It's not that I don't want it, it's that I don't know."
"No rush. We'll talk about it once you know."
Shen Yuege looked at him, and the turmoil in her eyes slowly dissipated, replaced by a very gentle light.
She reached her hand out from under the covers, squeezed Lu Ran's fingers, and then let go.
"Go to sleep," she said.
"it is good."
Lu Ran turned off the bedside lamp, and the room darkened. A beam of light shone through the gap in the curtains, drawing a thin yellow line on the ceiling.
Shen Yuege turned over, facing away from him, and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.
After about a minute, she suddenly said, "Lu Ran."
"Um?"
"You're actually a pretty good person sometimes."
"What do you mean by 'sometimes'? When have I ever been bad?"
"When you're stingy with money."
"..."
Lu Ran was speechless, rolling his eyes in the darkness.
Anyway, she can't see it.
Shen Yuege chuckled and pulled the blanket up to cover half her face.
...
The next morning, the two were awakened by Priscilla Chan's knocking on the door.
"Get up! What time is it? Breakfast is getting cold!"
Lu Ran groggily reached for his phone and glanced at it; it was 9:30 in the morning.
He usually finishes his morning meeting at the company by this time, but today is his first day off, so he closed his eyes again with a clear conscience.
Shen Yuege woke up faster than him, sat up in bed, her hair a mess like a bird's nest, and before her eyes were fully open, she started looking for her slippers.
"Mom, stop knocking, get up!"
"Come out and eat when you get up. The porridge is in the pot, the steamed buns are in the steamer, and the pickled vegetables are on the table. Help yourself."
Priscilla Chan's footsteps disappeared from the doorway as she went downstairs.
Shen Yuege kicked Lu Ran: "Get up."
Lu Ran didn't move.
He kicked again: "Get up."
Lu Ran turned over and pulled the blanket over her head.
Shen Yuege simply pulled off the blanket.
Lu Ran shuddered and sprang up from the bed: "What are you doing?"
"I'm calling you to get up. Didn't you say you weren't going to the company yesterday? Even if you're not going to the company, you can't sleep until noon. My mom can't stand people who sleep in late. If you don't get up soon, she'll come upstairs and start nagging you."
Lu Ran and his wife had been sleeping in until they were no longer grumpy in the morning to avoid being grumpy, but considering they were at his mother-in-law's house, they decided it was better to get up.
When the two of them came downstairs, Priscilla Chan had already reheated the breakfast.
The porridge was steaming hot, the steamed buns were plump and white, the pickled vegetables were leftovers from last night, and there was also a dish of fermented bean curd and a few pickled cucumbers.
Shen Zhiwei had finished eating and was sitting on the living room sofa, drinking tea and looking at his phone.
Seeing them come down, he looked up and said, "Young people need to sleep more; they need plenty of sleep to have energy. Your mother doesn't understand, so don't listen to her."
Priscilla Chan poked her head out from the kitchen: "Who are you calling clueless?"
"I wasn't talking about anyone in particular. I was talking about myself."
"You understand? What do you understand? If you understood, you wouldn't have poured soy sauce into the soup instead of vinegar back then."
Shen Zhiwei, having his secret exposed, picked up his teacup and pretended not to have heard.
Lu Ran and Shen Yuege sat down at the dining table.
Lu Ran ladled out a bowl of porridge. The porridge was very thick, and the rice grains had all bloomed. One sip filled your mouth with the aroma of rice.
He picked up a piece of pickled cucumber with his chopsticks; it was crisp and refreshing, with a salty-sweet flavor, perfect with the porridge.
"Mom, is it time to start preparing for the New Year today?" Shen Yuege asked while drinking her porridge.
Priscilla Chan brought out a plate of scrambled eggs from the kitchen and placed it on the table: "No rush. Your dad said yesterday that he'll take care of all the New Year's goods this year. You just got back, rest for a couple of days and we'll talk about it later."
Shen Zhiwei added from the sofa, "Yes, it's all covered. Don't worry about it, just tell me what you want to eat and I'll go buy it."
Shen Yuege glanced at Lu Ran.
Lu Ran shook her head slightly, meaning that Dad shouldn't go alone.
"Mom, let's go," Shen Yuege said. "We're just killing time anyway, let's go out for a walk. You and Dad can stay home and rest."
Priscilla Chan thought for a moment and nodded: "That works too. You young people shop fast and know what to buy. Your dad goes to the supermarket and spends two hours there every time, and all he comes back with is a bottle of soy sauce."
"That's because you guys are asking for too much," Shen Zhiwei protested on the sofa. "You want this brand and that brand all the time, and you blame me for not being able to remember them?"
"If you can't remember, you can write it down. But you don't."
"I wrote it. I wrote it last time, but when I got to the supermarket I realized I hadn't brought the paper with me."
Priscilla Chan was too lazy to argue with him. She took out a neatly folded piece of paper from her apron pocket and handed it to Shen Yuege.
The paper was already a bit wrinkled, and the edges were frayed; it was obvious that it had been stored away for several days.
"This is the New Year's shopping list. I've been making it up for several days, adding things as I think of them, and it should be almost done now. Just buy according to this list, and it's okay if you don't buy everything. Your dad can buy anything you're missing later."
Shen Yuege took the list, unfolded it, and glanced at it. Her eyes widened in surprise: "Mom, this is way too much!"
Lu Ran leaned over for a look and was startled as well.
The list was densely packed, neatly categorized, and meticulously organized. There were sections for snacks, drinks, ingredients, seasonings, decorations, and household supplies, with a long list of items under each section.
The snack section lists: sunflower seeds (two pounds each of original and spiced), peanuts (two pounds each of roasted and boiled), candy (one pound each of soft candy, hard candy, and milk candy), chocolate (one box each of dark chocolate and white chocolate), nuts (one pound each of pistachios, cashews, and almonds), potato chips (three packs each of original and tomato flavors), jelly (one large bag), hawthorn cake (two strips), and candied fruit (one bag each of preserved plums, dried tangerine peel, and lemon slices).
The food section is even longer: pork (5 catties of pork belly, 5 catties of spare ribs, and 3 catties of lean meat), beef (3 catties of beef brisket and 2 beef shanks), chicken (1 old hen and 1 yellow-feathered chicken), fish (1 sea bass and 2 ribbonfish), shrimp (2 catties), eggs (2 trays), vegetables (green vegetables, spinach, celery, garlic sprouts, green onions, scallions, ginger, and garlic), soy products (one portion each of tofu, dried tofu, and dried bean curd sticks), and dried goods (one bag each of wood ear fungus, shiitake mushrooms, and daylily buds).
After looking at the list, Lu Ran remained silent for two seconds before saying, "Mom, is this for Chinese New Year or to open a supermarket?"
Priscilla Chan was amused by him: "You have to prepare more for the Lunar New Year. In previous years, your dad would go shopping by himself, and he could never buy everything. He would have trouble finding what he wanted to eat during the Lunar New Year, which made me so angry that we would argue. This year, you two can go and buy according to the list. It will save you a lot of trouble if you buy everything."
Shen Yuege folded the list neatly and put it in her pocket: "Okay. I guarantee I'll complete the task."
After the two finished breakfast, changed their clothes, and went out.
Priscilla Chan stood at the door and reminded her, "Wear something warm, it's cold outside. Wear a hat, scarf, and gloves. Yuege, your thin jacket won't do, change into a down jacket."
Shen Yuege wanted to say "I'm not cold," but seeing Priscilla Chan's expression, she swallowed her words, went upstairs to change into a long down jacket, and wrapped herself up like a walking loaf of bread.
Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh as he watched her go downstairs.
"What are you laughing at?" Shen Yuege glared at him.
"It's nothing. I just think your outfit is perfect for rolling around in the snow."
"You're the one who's rolling around. Get out of here."
...