Halfway through making dinner, Qiao Mei had to solve all kinds of problems that suddenly cropped up. Xia Fan accidentally dropped all the building blocks on the floor and Xia Xing found the jam jar, opened it and covered herself with jam. There were also many other weird things that happened at the same time. All these incidents happened so suddenly that she found it hard to deal with everything.
Although Xia Fan and Xia Xing were more intelligent than other children, they were still babies who were only a few months old. They were curious about things and constantly exploring around. Even if they wanted to help, they might end up causing trouble because they were not big or strong enough. Most of the time, they ended up creating a mess rather than helping.
In the beginning, Qiao Mei had planned to take a hands-off approach in bringing up the children and let them do whatever they wanted as long as they did not injure themselves. However, the reality was completely different from what she had imagined.
If she did not pick up the toys on the ground, it could end up tripping someone. Toys left on the brick bed might also cause the children to trip and fall. The children's skulls were still growing now. If they hit their heads, it could ruin their lives.
If she did not wipe all the jam off Xia Xing's body, it could get smeared everywhere around the house. What if the children happened to eat such dirty and dusty food later and fall sick?
There was no hospital in the family compound, only a clinic. It could easily handle small issues like headaches and fevers, but not serious illnesses. The county city was far and it was difficult to get there. If there was any delay in the children's treatment, their condition could become more serious and difficult to resolve.
When all kinds of issues cropped up at the same time, Qiao Mei suddenly felt that it was better to return to the capital. At her house, there was Xu Kang to prepare the entire family's meals and Feng Hua to take care of all the trivial matters related to the children. She only needed to be responsible for the more troublesome matters at the factory.
When Xia Zhe returned home and saw the mess, he instantly knew that Qiao Mei must have had a difficult day.
"Mei Mei… are… are you alright?" Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei and asked with heartache.
"I'm fine, but I don't think the house is fine," Qiao Mei said aggrievedly.
She was very familiar with running a business, interpersonal relationships, communication, expressing herself, handicraft, plants, and so on. These were all good practices honed from her other life.
However, she had never taken care of children before and did not even have any idea of how to nurture and bring them up. Looking at these two "prodigious children", she was not confident that she could educate them well.
For a moment, she was at a loss. She began to wonder if she could be a good mother and if her children would be able to grow up healthily and happily and find their place in the world.
"I'll do the cleaning up. There's a lot of delicious food in the canteen today so I brought back a lot. The two of us are in for a treat! There's even your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs! I even asked the cookhouse staff for the recipe so that I can make it for you on my off days."
"You know, that Zhao Wu kept making a fuss today about paying us a visit and that he wants to see Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. I think he's really too talkative. We don't really have the time to receive guests now, unless it's on my off days. Let's discuss and see if we want to let him come over to our house."
"I'll continue cooking on your behalf. Don't blame me if the food doesn't taste good!"
"…"
As Xia Zhe did the ch.o.r.es, he told Qiao Mei about all the interesting things that had happened today. Qiao Mei hugged the children and listened quietly. All her frustrations seemed to disappear gradually.
It was as if with Xia Zhe around, all these problems were not a big deal and they could all be easily solved.
"Why are you so wonderful? What if I can't deal with all these problems?" Qiao Mei said aggrievedly.
"It's alright, I'm here. You've done very well in many areas, and I've also done quite well in some areas. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. You just have to be yourself. If there are any difficult problems, we can solve them together. Now that I'm by your side, you don't have to do this alone," Xia Zhe said patiently.
"But don't you think it's all very c.u.mbersome or very tiring?" Qiao Mei asked curiously.
Xia Zhe pondered for a moment and said, "I think I will, but it doesn't matter. We can solve everything together. If I'm not the top army warrior, would you have married me?"