After Liu Guilan finished asking, Mu Xueli immediately chimed in with a beaming smile
"Auntie, we took down a big bear! It must be over a thousand catties, and it even had a huge golden gall—that thing was massive."
As he spoke, Mu Xueli gestured to show the size of the golden gall.
Upon hearing that they had killed a big bear, Wang Dazhu also said happily
"You boys are actually quite capable. To bag a big one on your first trip into the mountains this winter, hahaha, very good, very good, truly very good."
As soon as Wang Dazhu and the others came out, Wang An immediately said to the couple
"Dad, Mom, help unload the cart, okay? I'm going inside first to check on my eldest daughter and eldest son."
With that, Wang An ran toward the house.
Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan looked at each other, then simultaneously looked at Wang An's retreating back. Liu Guilan, with a face full of smiles, pretended to be helpless and said
"This child, day after day."
Seeing Wang An enter the house, Wang Li immediately complained to Liu Guilan in an exaggerated tone
"Auntie, you have no idea! Just so he could get home faster to see his daughter and son, my fourth brother didn't even let us eat lunch. The moment we killed the big bear, he was in such a frantic rush to head back. I told him we really couldn't make it and should just spend a night in the mountains, and my fourth brother gave me a kicking! Man, he kicked me so hard, it really hurt."
It must be said that with his movements matching his expression, Wang Li looked like a slighted young woman—utterly aggrieved and pitiful.
However, since Wang Li had practically grown up in Wang An's house during his free time, Liu Guilan knew this nephew of hers quite well.
Seeing Wang Li's pitiful act, Liu Guilan suppressed a laugh and said
"Oh dear, look at how my big nephew has been bullied. Auntie will settle this for you in a bit. I'll have to give your fourth brother a beating to vent for you. How dare he kick my big nephew? He's really gone too far."
As soon as Liu Guilan finished, Mu Xueli ruthlessly exposed Wang Li
"Why are you mentioning the kicking but not what you were cheering for? I wonder who it was, showing off all day, insisting we stay a night in the mountains, saying that staying in the mountains is more exciting, that staying in the mountains is where the real thrill is..."
Before Mu Xueli could finish, Wang Li grabbed his arm and said
"Brother Mu, Brother Mu, do you still want me to help you change the lightbulbs at your house?"
To his surprise, Mu Xueli replied nonchalantly
"Go or don't, I don't care. I'll just have my brother-in-law help me."
Mu Xueli's words made everyone present burst into laughter, even the two young ladies, Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli, who didn't quite understand the context, laughed along.
While the people outside chatted and laughed while unloading the cart, Wang An, having rushed inside, suddenly felt a wave of heat hit his face.
It couldn't be helped; the walls of Wang An's house were very thick, the windows were double-paned, and the roof—aside from the tiles, mud, and wooden boards—had a thick layer of straw mats. Furthermore, the ceiling was a structure of wooden boards plastered with lime. In terms of insulation, Wang An's house had reached the absolute limit of construction for this era.
Most importantly, the underfloor heating system burned continuously twenty-four hours a day, which kept the temperature in Wang An's living room consistently around 20 degrees Celsius.
If one entered the east or west rooms, the temperature was even higher, generally maintaining around 25 degrees Celsius.
The reason the east and west rooms were warmer was that they also had heating walls and heated brick beds (kang).
It had to be admitted that Wang An's current living environment was basically no different from the apartment buildings of future generations.
The reason Wang An felt a wave of heat hit his face was that the temperature outside had already dropped below minus 20 degrees Celsius. In other words, the temperature difference between the indoors and outdoors was a full 40 degrees!
Such a temperature gap definitely gave one the feeling of moving between ice and fire.
After entering the house, Wang An quickly took off his gloves, cotton hat, and scarf, followed by his outer coat and the small cotton jacket underneath.
Mainly, Wang An had been freezing in the mountains all day; these cold-weather items, having been in contact with the freezing air, were ice-cold, and even the inner cotton jacket wasn't very warm.
The chill clinging to these items was something children absolutely could not withstand.
Seeing Wang An run inside, Mu Xueqing pushed open the door to the east room. Seeing Wang An stripping down, she couldn't help but laugh
"You missed your daughter and son that much, huh?"
Wang An glanced back at Mu Xueqing and continued to smile as he removed his outer clothes
"Of course! I've been thinking about them all day. So, were they naughty today?"
Because Mu Xueqing had barely left the house for a month, her skin had become exceptionally fair and tender, like a boiled goose egg white.
And because she had to feed the children, the two places where she nurtured her offspring had become even more ample.
In any case, Wang An couldn't get enough of them every night.
Hearing this, Mu Xueqing glanced at the two little treasures on the kang, then turned back with a beaming smile and said
"They're well-fed and warm. If they dare be naughty, I'll beat them."
Wang An curled his lip and said
"Keep bragging. You'll beat them? Go ahead, I won't even stop you. You're their biological mother, after all."
Mu Xueqing gave Wang An a charming, coquettish glare and stubbornly said
"Hmph, you dare stop me? If you dare stop me, I'll beat you too."
Wang An continued to say cheekily
"Yeah, yeah, you're powerful, you're so powerful. The three of us fathers and sons combined couldn't beat you."
As he spoke, Wang An's upper body was down to his thermal shirt and the undershirt beneath it. He felt his trousers and they were also ice-cold, so he took off his trousers and cotton pants as well. He turned to the back room to wash his hands and face with soap, and then, wearing only his thermal underwear, he impatiently walked into the east room.
Passing the doorway, Wang An pointed toward Mu Xueqing's breasts and said with a grin
"Does it feel uncomfortable? Want me to suck them for a bit?"
Mu Xueqing swatted him with her hand and said shyly
"Get lost! You're never serious for a single day."
Wang An laughed loudly and walked toward the edge of the kang.
Perhaps knowing Wang An had arrived, the two little ones, Xingfu and Kuaile, opened their eyes almost simultaneously and looked at him. Although they couldn't speak, they smiled the moment they saw Wang An.
Looking at their smiling faces, Wang An felt his heart nearly melt.
Leaning his upper body down, he slid his two hands under the little bottoms of the two little ones, then used the inner crooks of his elbows to support their small heads. Then, with one in each arm, Wang An carefully lifted the two little creatures up.
It must be said that for this "one-in-each-arm" baby-carrying technique, Wang An had practiced with pillows for an unknown amount of time before succeeding.
It couldn't be helped; infants' necks cannot support weight, so their heads must be supported when holding them.
And trying to lift two infants of that size, one in each arm, was absolutely not easy.
But who told Wang An that when holding his children, he only wanted to hold both together and didn't want to put either one down?
A kiss on the left, a kiss on the right; Wang An felt he could never get enough of either of them, and his actions made the two little ones laugh.
Thanks to "Kan Shen" for the tip, thank you, thank you!
(End of Chapter)