Jiang Jinghuai walked back, squinting slightly as he looked down. After hesitating several tis, he finally opened his mouth to Tian Sangsang: "Don’t you think he’s eating a bit too much?"
At the dining table earlier, he had observed closely. A bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, and then a variety of other dishes combined—this piece of at, that piece of tenderloin, this chicken wing, that pork trotter, a bite of cabbage, a bite of eggplant—it was truly a lot.
A slightly sleepy ng Shuyan, upon hearing his father’s voice, imdiately opened his dreamy almond-shaped eyes and asked in complete confusion, "A lot? Did I really eat a lot?"
The little guy had always eaten like this at ho. He didn’t know how much other kids ate, but this was what he ate. Now that his dad questioned his portion size, even he started to doubt himself. He felt his worldview had been rattled by so external force.
"No, no." Tian Sangsang gently pinched his little nose. "Life is short, so eat your heart out—never let your stomach stay empty. You ate just the right amount. Eat whatever you want; Mom will always make sure you’re happy."
When she turned her gaze to Jiang Jinghuai, her attitude instantly shifted, her eyes tinged with hostility. "You’re talking like you don’t eat a lot yourself."
Jiang Jinghuai sighed helplessly. "You can’t compare an adult’s stomach to one that doesn’t even qualify as a minor’s." Wasn’t this just unreasonable? He was genuinely trying to discuss the issue.
"It’s not about the stomach," Tian Sangsang retorted. "Kids, especially during their younger years, need to eat well and nutritionally. That way, they’ll build a solid foundation. If they grow up skinny and malnourished, it’ll be impossible to make up for it later on, I’m telling you."
Jiang Jinghuai rubbed his brow and continued, "Don’t you think he’s starting to show signs of gaining weight?"
Uh-oh... ng Shuyan’s small mouth opened slightly as he looked down at his little body, his eyes now brimming with a terrified sheen of tears.
Tian Sangsang was furious but couldn’t lash out, so she reached out to comfortingly ruffle ng Shuyan’s hair while glaring at Jiang Jinghuai without backing down. "Stop creating panic! Chubby as a kid, thin as an adult—it’s guaranteed! And it’s not ’fat’; it’s adorable baby chubbiness." This man just doesn’t know how to appreciate things!
Her son wasn’t fat at all—he was clearly a little cutie!
Jiang Jinghuai touched his nose, speechless. He extended his arms toward ng Shuyan. "Yanyan, co into Daddy’s arms."
ng Shuyan extended his tiny hands to hug his father’s neck, curling up in his broad embrace. Tian Sangsang glanced at the two of them before heading off to clean up the dishes.
The sound of running water ca from the kitchen. ng Shuyan lifted his head and murmured softly, "Dad, am I really fat?"
"No," Jiang Jinghuai shifted his gaze from the kitchen back to his son. "But if you keep eating this way, you’ll soon gain weight. That’s not healthy."
"But..." ng Shuyan’s brows furrowed together tightly. "I don’t want to say no to Mom. Mom is so good to ."
"That’s not being good; that’s indulgence." Jiang Jinghuai lowered his voice. "As a boy, you need to learn to resist temptation. When you’re young, you must practice self-control."
ng Shuyan nodded half-understandingly and looked up with his small face. "If I get fat, how fat will I be?"
"...Think about how your mom used to look."
ng Shuyan’s expression turned serious in an instant. How Mom used to look...
After cleaning up the kitchen, Tian Sangsang casually boiled a pot of water and made three cups of jasmine tea.
"Yanyan, have so tea. You ate a lot of greasy food today—it’ll help with digestion." Once the tea had cooled down a bit, Tian Sangsang handed over the jasmine tea.
ng Shuyan took two small sips from her hand, rubbed his eyes, and started to feel a little drowsy.
"Oh right," Tian Sangsang set the tea aside and looked seriously at Jiang Jinghuai. "When I ca back from shopping earlier, I noticed a big open plot of land over there. Is that public land?"
"It’s allocated plot by household."
"Oh... So does our family have a share?" She looked at him with expectant eyes.
"Yes," Jiang Jinghuai nodded.
"Which one is ours?" Tian Sangsang said excitedly, "I was thinking of planting so vegetables and maybe so flowers and herbs, even making so beauty products. Leaving it unused seems wasteful. Isn’t there a saying about using resources according to local conditions?"
Jiang Jinghuai seed to recall sothing and frowned slightly.
"What’s wrong?" Tian Sangsang suddenly had a bad feeling, her smile fading bit by bit until it disappeared completely!
"Before you guys ca, I didn’t need the land, so I lent it to soone else. They needed it, and I didn’t care much about it." Jiang Jinghuai pursed his lips. "But if you want to use it, I’ll talk to them tomorrow."
That didn’t seem like a big deal. Luckily, it was just a loan; otherwise, it would’ve been a real loss. Tian Sangsang asked, "Who did you lend it to?"
"Squad Leader Luo’s family across the way."
"Qin Lan?"
Jiang Jinghuai was slightly surprised and nodded.
"I’m curious about how you lent it out," Tian Sangsang said, resting her chin on her hand.
Jiang Jinghuai sipped his tea and calmly recounted the story.
He usually didn’t eat at ho. Other people’s garden plots were filled to the brim; his was empty and neglected. One day, as he passed by, he noticed that so gourds and greens were growing there. At first, he thought he was seeing things. Then Qin Lan spotted him and ntioned borrowing the land. He didn’t like it much but didn’t bother making a fuss either.
At first glance, it sounded reasonable, but Tian Sangsang picked up on sothing unusual. Even if you borrow soone else’s land, there’s a difference between borrowing before using it and using it before borrowing it. If you use it without asking and just assu people won’t mind when you ntion it later, isn’t that kind of like stealing?
"I’ll get it back," Jiang Jinghuai said seriously, noticing her furrowed brow.
How things went before didn’t matter, but now that his nominal "wife" wanted it, there was no way he would let his family suffer at soone else’s expense.
Tian Sangsang felt a bit better after hearing this. It seed he wasn’t entirely the type to let others walk all over him. She let out a sigh of relief and waved her hand, saying, "I’ll handle it myself."
So matters between won were best dealt with by won. n didn’t understand. If she reclaid the land herself, rather than relying on Jiang Jinghuai to do it, it would directly impact how others perceived her moving forward.
It’s strange how human nature works. Sotis you’re carefree and don’t care much, but when you stop to think, you realize you’re part of a bizarre and intricate social network where certain things simply cannot be ignored. It’s not about being overly calculating—just enough, but not too much.
If you’re overly naive, people won’t call you innocent and kind; they’ll call you foolish. If you’re overly shrewd, you’ll tire yourself out and annoy others.
"Yanyan’s asleep," Tian Sangsang suddenly whispered, noticing her son had dozed off. She carefully took him from Jiang Jinghuai’s arms and carried him to the bedroom, laying him on the bed and pulling up the covers.
She gently poked his eyelashes and, looking at his quiet sleeping face, smiled. "What a little cutie."
Wait... wasn’t there just one bed in this house?
Just one bed!?
Tian Sangsang was montarily rattled. She was about to find Jiang Jinghuai to discuss their sleeping arrangents when she turned and saw him standing at the doorway.
"Tonight...?" she instinctively asked.
"You and Yanyan sleep on the bed; I’ll sleep on the floor." Jiang Jinghuai offered generously.
Tian Sangsang nodded in satisfaction. "Alright then. Tomorrow, I’ll get another bed, and Yanyan and I will sleep in the other room."
"Do you think he would agree?" Jiang Jinghuai gestured to the little bundle on the bed.
Tian Sangsang shrugged. "Then maybe we’ll buy a bed and turn the other room into a study. How about that?"
"Okay." Jiang Jinghuai’s deep, dark eyes narrowed slightly as he turned the ring on his finger. "Do you have sothing you want to discuss with ?"
"Huh?" Tian Sangsang thought for a mont. Actually, there was—sothing about Shui Lian. But instead, she asked, "Do you have sothing you want to talk to about?"
Jiang Jinghuai shook his head.
"Oh, then I don’t have anything either." They were only married in na—why bother overthinking things? Tian Sangsang walked to the doorway. "Wait a mont, I have an agreent for you to look at."
"Agreent?"
"Otherwise known as the Marriage Rules."
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