The Daily Life of a Stepmother in the 1980s
Xu Tao didn't let Ye Xiaoqin cook, smiling as she refused: "You're still a child, what are you doing cooking?"
"……" Ye Xiaoqin looked at Xu Tao with a slightly awkward expression. Since she was five, she had been the 'older sister' in the family, with her parents always telling her that she was an adult now and should help take care of her younger sisters.
When there was only one egg in the house, her mother would tell her to save it for the younger sisters because they were still small.
For some reason, Ye Xiaoqin felt a pang of sadness and sniffed a little. So, could she also be considered a child who hasn't grown up yet?
"You all should rest if you're tired. Sitting too long isn't good for your health" Xu Tao noticed the slight redness in the corners of Ye Xiaoqin's eyes.
She could feel the pressure on this eleven or twelve-year-old girl, who was pretending not to notice it. Xu Tao smiled and walked out of the yard to pick some vegetables, planning to dig up a few fresh potatoes to prepare stir-fried potatoes.
After Xu Tao had finished picking the vegetables and washing the potatoes, she asked Zhao Linan, who had been sticking to her: "Xiao Nan, come help Mommy make a fire, okay?"
Although Zhao Linan was a little kid, Xu Tao had no qualms about giving him tasks. She enjoyed having him help out.
"Okay" Zhao Linan didn't know how to start a fire, but when Xu Tao asked, he immediately nodded and waddled after her into the kitchen of Ye's house.
The kitchen at Ye's house was simple, with a big pot stove. The ingredients for cooking were also few, just salt and MSG. The salt was coarse salt, not fine salt, and it was being stored in a small ceramic jar. The MSG was in another small jar, though Xu Tao couldn't tell what it had originally contained.
Looking at the sparse kitchen ingredients, Xu Tao was a bit surprised by how impoverished some families were these days. She accepted it and began preparing the stir-fried potatoes.
She had planned to make spicy and sour stir-fried potatoes, but given the situation, she could only make plain stir-fried potatoes and vegetables for the meal. A simpler dinner wouldn’t be too bad.
Xu Tao asked Zhao Linan to help, but she didn’t really ask much from him. She quickly made the fire herself, rinsed the rice and started cooking porridge. After the porridge was done, she set it aside to cool before starting to stir-fry the vegetables.
The dinner preparation went quickly cooked porridge and stir-fried vegetables and Xu Tao called the children of the Ye family to eat.
"Aunt, you and your child can eat first. We're not hungry yet" Ye Xiaoqin said hesitantly to Xu Tao.
In truth, her stomach had been growling for a while. The younger sisters probably were also hungry, since they hadn’t eaten much at lunch. But with their parents still not home, Ye Xiaoqin didn’t dare to let them eat without permission.
"It's very late now. You can eat first with your sisters. I made plenty of porridge and saved some for your parents in the pot!" Xu Tao couldn’t bear to see the children hungry, especially Ye Xiaoqin, who was so obedient. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
Ye Xiaoqin was still hesitant, but since Xu Tao was older, and her words carried weight, she didn’t insist further. She led her younger sisters to the table to start eating.
"Aunt, let me feed my little sister" Ye Xiaoqin saw Xu Tao feeding Ye Xiaohua porridge and anxiously tried to take over.
"You eat properly" Xu Tao raised her head and smiled at the girl, her tone firm as she indicated for Ye Xiaoqin to continue eating.
Ye Xiaoqin hesitated, but still obeyed and drank her porridge. She also tasted the stir-fried vegetables and potatoes and complimented Xu Tao on her cooking skills.
"Aunt, the stir-fried potatoes are really delicious"
"Eat more if you like it" Xu Tao smiled in response.
Ye Xiaoqin nodded vigorously and quickly finished her meal while taking care of her younger sisters. After the meal, she hurriedly helped clear the dishes.
Zhao Weiguo and Wu Hui were at the hospital for a long time, and they didn’t return until around seven or eight in the evening, bringing back the injured Ye Zhenhua. Ye Zhenhua’s left arm was in a sling, clearly either dislocated or broken.
"Sister-in-law, really sorry to trouble you again today" Wu Hui came in and first thanked Xu Tao, glancing at the pearl curtain and the small decorations in the living room.
"Sister-in-law, don’t be so polite!" Xu Tao smiled "Have you all eaten? I made some porridge for dinner and saved a portion for you in the pot!"
"Yes, we’ve eaten" Zhao Weiguo replied, then spoke to the honest-looking Ye Zhenhua, who was dark-skinned and seemed very down-to-earth: "Hua Ge, take a rest, we’ll head back now"
"Okay, Weiguo, thanks again today" Ye Zhenhua nodded, then looked at Xu Tao with gratitude"Next time, let us invite you over for a meal. I'll have my wife cook a big feast to properly treat you"
"Sure, we’ll come over another day" Zhao Weiguo nodded in agreement.
Xu Tao held Zhao Linan’s hand, listened to Zhao Weiguo and Ye Zhenhua’s conversation, and exchanged pleasantries with Wu Hui: "Then we’ll head back now. You all rest well"
"Today, really sorry to trouble you, sister in law" Wu Hui said, clearly not used to troubling others, as she kept thanking Xu Tao.
Xu Tao naturally responded, saying it wasn’t troublesome. After some more small talk, they left.
In the warm August evening in Sheep City, the family of three left the Ye household and walked through the narrow alley to their home. The alley was not as convenient as it would be in later years, and there were no street lights, only a few dim lights from the houses.
"It's dark. Be careful walking" Zhao Weiguo held the already drowsy Zhao Linan and reminded Xu Tao.
Xu Tao wasn’t used to walking in such a dark alley. She walked slowly and even nervously asked Zhao Weiguo: "Is Ye Da-ge (Big Brother) okay?"
"He’s fine, just a broken left arm. It’ll take some time to heal"
"Okay" Xu Tao felt relieved but still subconsciously reached out to grab the hem of Zhao Weiguo's shirt "I'm afraid of falling"
She wasn’t used to the dark, narrow alley, which in daylight seemed fine but felt full of hazards at night.
"Mm" Zhao Weiguo didn’t mind.
However, despite holding on to Zhao Weiguo’s shirt, it didn’t really help. After walking for just a bit, Xu Tao stepped on something uneven and almost tripped, letting out a startled cry: "Ah!"
"Are you okay?" Zhao Weiguo was walking steadily, and even holding Zhao Linan, he easily reached out to steady Xu Tao.
Xu Tao was grateful she didn’t fall and quietly shook her head: "I’m fine"
"The road is not very smooth" the man's dark gaze remained bright in the night as he glanced at Xu Tao. He shifted Zhao Linan, who was in his arms, to his left hand and held Xu Tao's hand with his right "I'll hold your hand"
Xu Tao's hand was held by Zhao Weiguo, whose large palm was rough and calloused but gave a sense of security.
Xu Tao felt her palm being comfortably enveloped, and with a slightly embarrassed look, she turned her head to glance at Zhao Weiguo. Then, her red lips curled up slightly, silently allowing him to hold her hand without saying a word.
When Zhao Weiguo held Xu Tao's hand, he didn't think too much about it. He was just worried that Xu Tao might not be used to walking on a dark road and might trip.
But once his large hand wrapped around her soft little one, the warmth from her palm radiated from his hand straight to his chest.
It was unclear whether it was the night, the heat, or the warmth of her small hand, but for the first time in his life, Zhao Weiguo felt a slight sweat form in his palm, feeling nervous!
"This alley doesn't have lights. How can you see so clearly?" Xu Tao spoke, breaking the quiet atmosphere between them.
"I can see clearly" Zhao Weiguo softly responded. His eyesight was indeed much better than most people's at night, just like now, even without any lights, he could still vaguely see the path in the alley.
Xu Tao had only jokingly said it but was pleasantly surprised and turned her head to look at the man "You really can see clearly!"
"I do have better night vision than ordinary people"
"..." So it’s like he has built-in night vision! No wonder he can walk steadily even while holding Zhao Linan and holding her hand.
Xu Tao just pouted silently, fortunately, the way home wasn't far. After a while, the three of them arrived at their house.
"Xiao Nan is asleep. You can just put him on the bed in my room!" When they got home and turned on the light, Xu Tao saw that Zhao Linan was still sleeping soundly, leaning on Zhao Weiguo's shoulder. He had even drooled a bit onto Zhao Weiguo's shoulder, which was adorably cute.
"Mm" Zhao Weiguo nodded, and together with Xu Tao, they carefully placed Zhao Linan in the room.
Children generally sleep very soundly. Normally, nothing could wake them, even if it was windy, raining, or thundering outside. But both Xu Tao and Zhao Weiguo instinctively moved quietly as they put the little one to bed.
Xu Tao noticed that Zhao Weiguo was taking off the little one's clothes, so she turned to go to the kitchen, poured some hot water from the thermos, and wet a towel to wipe down the little one's body.
Xu Tao had originally planned to let the little one take a bath at home since he had been to the wholesale market in the morning, played in the mud with worms at noon, and jumped around on the way to the Ye family’s house.
The little one had worked up quite a sweat, but since he had already fallen asleep, Xu Tao didn't want to wake him up due to her mild obsession with cleanliness. Instead, she gently wiped him down.
After finishing wiping Zhao Linan's body, Xu Tao returned to the kitchen to heat some more water. There was only one thermos of hot water in the house, and since she'd already used some of it for Zhao Linan, she needed to heat more for herself to take a bath.
Zhao Weiguo had taken a quick cold shower in the small, simple outdoor bathroom and walked into the kitchen with his wet hair.
When Xu Tao turned her head to light the fire, she saw the scene of the man covered in water vapor, drops of water hanging from his wet hair, dampening the collar of his shirt. At that moment, the man was looking at her with a curious expression.
Xu Tao hadn’t expected to see such a sight. Her gaze lingered on his handsome face, then followed a droplet of water that slid down his face to his neck. She also saw his Adam’s apple move sensually.
A curse almost slipped from Xu Tao’s lips in her excitement, but she bit her teeth to hold it back.
"Are you heating water to take a bath?" the man asked, realizing why she was boiling water.
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