When her mother-in-law heard Xu Mingxuan's words, she understood what was going on.
She smiled and said, "The children haven't seen many strangers, so they're a bit shy. After they get familiar with you in a couple of days, Jiahui will let you hold her. By then, she won't want to be put down! Right, little Jiahui?"
At this moment, Jia Yao, whom Chen Lan was holding, suddenly waved his chubby little fists at Xu Mingxuan and uttered three words: "Hit, hit, hit."
Everyone who was chatting and laughing was stunned. Xu Mingxuan was very confused and asked, "Lan'er, what does this boy Jia Yao mean? Who does he want to hit?"
Chen Lan couldn't help but chuckle and explained, "Jia Yao means you made Jiahui cry, and he's going to hit you. You'd better prepare to be hit!"
Xu Mingxuan couldn't help but laugh and tap Jia Yao's little nose, saying, "Oh! You little rascal, you're quite something! You want to hit your dad! You're brave, aren't you! I never expected this! You haven't even grown all your hair, and you already know how to protect your sister."
Her mother-in-law chimed in with a smile, "He truly protects her when he needs to, but he'll also fight fiercely when they're fighting over something. If those two really get into a fight, even a pig's head can be beaten into a dog's head."
Upon hearing their mother-in-law's words, Chen Lan and Xu Mingxuan laughed so hard they almost couldn't breathe.
After their laughter subsided, the mother and daughter quickly dressed the twins, washed them up, and brought them downstairs to the living room to wait for breakfast.
Xu Mingxuan also quickly washed up and came to the living room. At this time, Mrs. Liu also came to the living room, replacing Chen Lan to go upstairs to wash up.
Xu Mingxuan looked at Jiahui, who was nestled in her grandmother's arms and had stopped crying, and asked, "Mother, do you and Lan'er always rush to serve the twins like this every morning?"
Her mother-in-law nodded in confusion and said, "Yes! Ever since the twins were born, it's been like this every day. They're usually very well-behaved, they don't cry or fuss, and they're very easy to manage.
Today is just an exception. They're just shy because they haven't seen many strangers lately."
Xu Mingxuan said with deep emotion, "Mother, thank you! You and Lan'er have worked so hard for so long!"
Her mother-in-law waved it off casually, "What's there to be tired about? What woman doesn't take care of her children at home? It's people like you who shed blood and sweat outside, protecting the country, who are truly working hard!
What we do is trivial and not worth mentioning; it's really nothing."
Chen Lan quickly finished washing up and went straight downstairs to the kitchen to get the twins' breakfast: two bowls of steamed egg custard with chopped greens.
She placed the two bowls of egg custard on the table, expertly tied small bibs on the twins, and began feeding them with her mother-in-law.
Mrs. Liu also went to the kitchen to get everyone else's breakfast, and Xu Mingxuan followed to help carry the food.
By this time, everyone had gradually arrived in the living room. They greeted each other and sat down to prepare for breakfast.
Xiangxi saw Chen Lan and hurried over. As soon as they met, he said, "Little Basket, you're not a person of your word. Several days have passed, and there's been no movement on what you promised me. Have you forgotten all about it?"
Chen Lan was utterly bewildered. She thought for a moment but still couldn't recall anything she had promised Xiangxi.
So she asked, "Little Watermelon, just tell me directly what's going on! You're being so passive-aggressive and talking nonsense first thing in the morning. What's the meaning of this lecture? Tell me! What is it? I really don't know what I promised you that I haven't done?"
Xiangxi immediately became unhappy and said, "I knew it, you were just tricking me that day. I knew it! Several days have passed, and there's been no news."
Uncle Fu, overhearing this, couldn't stand it any longer and scolded, "You little brat, you're out of line. If you have something to say, say it directly. Why are you being so passive-aggressive first thing in the morning? What are you trying to do? Little Lan, don't pay attention to him, this kid needs to be disciplined."
Xiangxi pouted and mumbled, "Partial, always like this."
Her mother-in-law saw the tense atmosphere and felt a bad premonition. She really hoped these two wouldn't start arguing again early in the morning before they had even eaten.
She quickly reminded them, "Lan'er, Xiangxi means what clothes you wore on the morning you went to hunt wild boars? Didn't you say you'd ask your father-in-law about it when you got back?"
Upon her mother-in-law's reminder, Chen Lan immediately remembered and said, "Little Watermelon, who said I forgot? Who said I tricked you? Who said there's no news? The things are upstairs in my room.
It's just that little Jiahui was throwing a tantrum early this morning, and I was busy taking care of the two little ones, so I didn't bring them down. How about this, you feed Jia Yao, and I'll go upstairs to get the clothes for you."
With that, she handed the bowl of egg custard to Xiangxi.
Xiangxi took the bowl of egg custard and said discontentedly, "Little Basket, you should give the egg custard bowl to Mingxuan, let Mingxuan, as a father, learn how to take care of children and how to feed them. Otherwise, he won't know how difficult it is to raise two little rascals."
Xu Mingxuan smiled and said, "Little Watermelon, you don't need to try to sow discord here. I experienced it myself early this morning. Raising two children is indeed very difficult."
Seeing that Xu Mingxuan wasn't falling for his provocation, Xiangxi immediately shut up and obediently fed Jia Yao the egg custard. Jia Yao wasn't picky and ate a spoonful for every spoonful Xiangxi gave him, behaving very well and sensibly.
Chen Lan quickly ran upstairs and back to her room. She used her mind to open the system and immediately placed an order to buy a set of thickened lamb fleece sports suits for men, one for each person. There were several colors available: bright red, blue, dark blue, brown, dark brown, dark blue, and black. The sizes included medium, large, and extra-large.
She also bought men's snow boots with fur in red, dark blue, black, dark brown, and dark coffee. The boot sizes ranged from 40 to 43. She decided to buy one pair for each person to start with, and if more were needed, she could buy them later.
After some thought, she also paired them with several sets of pure cotton thermal underwear for men.
Upon receiving the goods, she didn't delay. She immediately took all the sports suits and snow boots from the system warehouse, wrapped them in two large bundles with two large pieces of flawed cloth, and carried them downstairs to the living room.
Everyone was stunned by Chen Lan's "tough girl" appearance, like she was fleeing a disaster!
Seeing Chen Lan come downstairs, Xiangxi immediately put down the egg custard bowl and stopped feeding Jia Yao. He ran over and eagerly took the two large bundles Chen Lan was carrying. He smiled and said, "Little Basket, you're really amazing, you got so much! Hurry up and open them, let me see, let me see."
Saying that, he took the bundles and immediately opened them. He then exclaimed in surprise, "Little Basket, you're truly a gem!" As he spoke, he took out the clothes one by one from the bundles.