Chapter 515: Chapter 515: Smelling Off
Wen Shi has been gone for more than a month since he left.
Wen Yi is already over four months, almost five, before he came back home.
His face was full of exhaustion, he lost weight, and got a lot tanner.
After eating a big bowl of noodles at home, he went straight to sleep, didn’t even bother to take a bath.
Obviously, he was extremely tired.
Yi Chichi felt very sorry for him, didn’t even mind his body odor, fetched some water, asked Wen’s mother to keep an eye on Wen Yi, and began to undress him and scrub him down like a diligent bathhouse worker.
He was really dirty, and the smell was strong and sour; who knows how many days it had been since he last took a bath or changed his clothes.
It took three basins of water before a towel dipped into it stopped turning grey.
Yi Chichi was exhausted, but Wen Shi turned around comfortably, changing from a sideways position to sprawled out with arms and legs wide open.
His sleeping posture was quite unruly.
She covered him with a thin blanket and carried the water outside.
Wen’s mother was training Wen Yi’s gripping abilities and looked up when she heard movement, "Will he be eating dinner?"
"...He’s too tired; I was wiping him down and he didn’t even wake up, let him sleep."
Implication: Dinner can wait, he can eat after waking up, it’s not urgent.
Wen’s mother responded with an "Oh," "Do you want me to make you some fish for dinner?"
Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up, "Mom, I want to eat fish with pickled vegetables."
She had been eating too blandly, wanted something flavorful to change the taste.
"...Just don’t eat too much."
"Okay."
Tasting a bit would be fine; she understood not to overdo it during breastfeeding.
For the child’s health, she would endure for now, otherwise if she got indigestion, both she and the baby would suffer.
As if sensing the sacrifices his mom made for him, little friend Wen Yi, who was grabbing grandma’s finger, suddenly let go, turned his head to look at her, babbling nonstop.
His little hands even reached out toward her.
"Wait a minute, Mommy is going to pour the water out."
Before she finished speaking, she sprinted to the backyard with the basin, poured the water into the vegetable patch, washed the towel, hung it on the line, and then wiped her hands dry before going back inside to pick up Wen Yi, who was waving his little arms and legs, babbling strangely.
"You haven’t been outside today, Mommy will take you out for a stroll."
At times like this, there’s no need for Wen Yi to respond, he couldn’t even if he wanted to, just taking him out was enough.
Wen’s mother didn’t object, just reminded her not to go too far, to avoid any bathroom accidents.
Yi Chichi knew what to do, she took Wen Yi out, showing him flowers and trees, little grass patches, and people in the community, telling him the names of trees, types of flowers, and who the people were.
Little friend Wen Yi was a highly cooperative baby, even though he didn’t understand his mother’s words, it didn’t hinder his cheerful responses.
His little hands wanted to grab everything he saw.
As the island approached May, the average temperature was between 22 to 30 degrees; daytime was relatively warm, and babies have slightly higher body temperatures due to active metabolism compared to adults.
Except for wearing long-sleeved, long-legged rompers during the first month, after that, Wen Yi has been wearing short-sleeved rompers.
His little arms and legs were very nimble.
His hands were quick too.
Sure enough, as soon as Yi Chichi brought him to a clump of canna lilies with red and yellow blooms, the little one quickly snatched a flower.
Passing by, Yang Qing was astonished, "Yi Yi can pick flowers now?"
Yi Chichi was staring at the flower in Wen Yi’s hand, marveling at her child’s gripping abilities.
His little arms and legs were quite strong, with a firm grip.
Doing gripping exercises with him every day, if you gave him a finger, he could grip it tightly.
She nodded, "Did your Nian Nian do that at this age?"
"Yes."
Yang Qing nodded, "Her hands were very quick, would grab my hair and never let go."
Touching Wen Yi’s chubby little hand, she giggled, "These little chubby hands with dimples make you just want to take a bite."
While speaking, she pretended to put Wen Yi’s hand into her mouth.
Wen Yi thought Yang Qing was playing with him and started giggling.
Yang Qing didn’t dare to put his hand in her mouth for real, so she tried taking the canna lily from his hand, "Flower, give it to aunty, okay?"
Saying this, she cautiously tried to take the flower.
Wen Yi instinctively tightened his grip, the already almost wilted flower was turned into a complete mess.
Yang Qing exclaimed, "Your hands are dirty."
"It’s fine, we can wash them when we get back."
Yi Chichi calmly took the crushed flower from Wen Yi’s hand and tossed it away, then wiped his hands with a cloth, and that was that.
She wasn’t a germaphobe, and raising a child, being overly meticulous is not practical, as long as he’s not allergic to pollen, getting a little flower juice on his hands isn’t a big deal.
The main thing is not to let the child put his hand in his mouth.
"Are you coming back from work or something?"
"Helping farmers in rural areas, it’s exhausting."
Talking about work, Yang Qing’s expression turned serious, "I have to go again tomorrow."
Her spirits lasted only a moment before she grimaced, "The roads are bad and communicating with the villagers is exhausting."
Many people don’t speak Mandarin, only using difficult-to-understand dialects.
Yi Chichi was a bit confused, "Why do you, a worker, have to help rural farmers?"
Wouldn’t this task usually belong to supply cooperatives, department stores, hospitals, and other related units and departments?
"Workers need raw materials to produce goods."
Yang Qing explained confidently, "Originally, the procurement department should handle this, but since most of them are out in the market and we’re short on people, we got roped in to help."
That made sense.
Yi Chichi could only comfort her that it would be over in a few days.
Just then, a moth flew by, Wen Yi, with sharp eyes, saw it and excitedly waved his arms and legs, calling out loudly to the moth.
Yang Qing, who also doted on children, said, "Yi Yi, wait, aunty will catch it for you."
Yi Chichi watched Yang Qing move towards the moth with resignation, telling her, "Stop with the fuss; moths can fly, you can’t catch them without a net."
Yang Qing was unconvinced, her eyes tracking the moth until it flew higher and turned out of sight, leaving her disappointed.
She then apologized to Wen Yi, saying she couldn’t catch it.
Wen Yi knew nothing, his attention shifted quickly, responding with a couple of "oh oh" before turning his little head to continue exploring the world.
Everything was new to him, his little mouth babbling non-stop.
Not a single word could be understood.
Yi Chichi didn’t bother with him, and continued chatting casually with Yang Qing as they walked back.
Suddenly—
"By the way, did your Old Wen come home?"
"Yes, he got home around two."
Yang Qing replied with an "Oh," "I thought I was seeing things."
Then, she looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and in a gossipy tone, lowered her voice and said, "What happened to your Old Wen? Why does he look like a refugee?"
Referring to her husband as a refugee—how’s that for tact?
Yi Chichi was stunned for a couple of seconds, then recalled Wen Shi’s appearance when he got home, realizing it quite fit.
She really couldn’t argue against it.
"Don’t ask me, I don’t understand his work stuff, and I don’t ask."
Implicitly: Who knows what he’s been doing.
"As long as he’s back safe, that’s what matters."
Even though he smelled, and had gotten skinnier and darker, everything was intact and she didn’t see any injuries while wiping him down, except for more cuts on his hands with a few old and new scabs.
No major issues.
She could pretend not to see.
