It wasn't until after ten o'clock that Xue's father and Xue's mother came back with Xiao Ranran in their arms.
The little guy was wrapped in a small blanket and slept very soundly.
Cheng Tianyuan quickly stepped forward and hugged his son over.
"Dad, Mom, why are you so late? By the way, are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen to prepare some food for you."
"No, no, no," Xue's mother said with a smile, "We are having hot pot tonight and chatting while eating. We didn't stop eating until after eight o'clock, and our stomachs are still full!"
Xue's father smiled proudly, "Xiao Ranran is so good! Everyone likes him and he doesn't cry when he hugs him. Not only does he not cry, but he laughs when he applauds. This made a group of old relatives miserable, and they all grabbed him.
Hug him."
Mother Xue opened her purse and grabbed a handful of red envelopes.
"This is the new year's money given to Xiao Ranran by your father's friends and a few relatives back home."
Cheng Tianyuan quickly shook his head and said: "This is not good..."
"Nothing wrong." Xue's mother stuffed the red envelope into his coat pocket and explained: "In our area, when children meet their elders for the first time, they all need a meeting gift. Today was a bit rushed, and they didn't
If you are preparing a gift, just wrap a red envelope instead. This is a blessing gift for the child to grow up quickly, so you must accept it."
Xue's father smiled and explained: "I am an old relative. Usually when other people's children come over, we give them red envelopes. It's just a courtesy, no need to be too polite."
After hearing this, Cheng Tianyuan had no choice but to help his son accept it.
"Then let's buy him milk powder."
Xue's father and mother both laughed.
Cheng Tianyuan said: "I boiled two pots of hot water in the kitchen. Mom and dad, you can go wash your feet and rest. You must be tired after being out for a long time."
"I'm not tired." Mother Xue said happily: "We have such a well-behaved grandson, and it's a honor to bring him out. I only care about coaxing him to laugh with him, just talking and laughing, and I'm not tired at all."
Xue's father explained: "Before we set off, we fed him milk, and he fell asleep after drinking milk. He didn't wake up during the whole drive."
"He is really exhausted!" Mother Xue said with a smile: "He has been very excited in the car since he went out with us. When he went to a relative's house, he looked left and right and never closed his eyes. Since afternoon
He didn't sleep between three or four o'clock and nine o'clock just now. He must be exhausted. Let him sleep well."
Cheng Tianyuan thoughtfully said: "How about letting him sleep with us tonight. Dad, Mom, you guys have a good rest."
"No." Mother Xue couldn't let go of Xiao Ranran at all, and said: "You guys have to leave after the Lantern Festival. Xiao Ranran can only stay with us for ten and a half days at most. There are only so many days in the whole year, so you still can't bear to part with us?"
Cheng Tianyuan smiled and handed his son to Xue's mother.
"Of course not. I'm worried that my parents will be tired after going out and have to take care of this little troublemaker tonight."
Dad Xue chuckled and said, "He keeps sleeping all night, and he is good."
Cheng Tianyuan poured hot water for the old man to drink. After they settled back in the room, he turned off the lights in the living room and went back to the room.
Xue Ling was exhausted this evening and fell asleep holding a book.
Cheng Tianyuan smiled fondly, took the book away from her, carefully hugged her in front of him, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
…
In the next few days, Xue's father and mother took care of Xiao Ranran at home and rarely went out.
Xue Ling took Cheng Tianyuan around to visit all the famous attractions in the Imperial Capital, until she received a call from Xiao Jiaxue.
"Tomorrow is the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. I've finished all your matters. Let's meet at the cafe tomorrow morning. It's the same place and the same time!"
Xue Ling almost forgot about this matter, quickly put away his fun, and met with Xiao Jiaxue.
Xiao Jiaxue said that she started working at the publishing house on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Before the Lantern Festival, her company colleagues took turns to be on duty. She went there every three days until she officially resumed work on the sixteenth day of the lunar calendar.
"Here! This is the publication application for the second book. Please take the opportunity to fill it out."
Xue Ling asked in surprise: "Can it still be published? This book has hundreds of thousands of words!"
Xiao Jiaxue lowered her voice: "The editor-in-chief said that there are not many translations on the market at present, and they all sell very well. For example, your copy last year sold well, and the second edition has already been printed. He may think that your first copy
If it can all be sold successfully, the second one will definitely do the same, so why not take advantage of this momentum and publish it quickly, maybe it will sell more."
Xue Ling was very happy because she had filled it out once before. This time practice makes perfect and she filled it out quickly.
Xiao Jiaxue on the side took out a large military-colored backpack and patted it heavily.
"Last year, the publishing house released several new dictionaries. I will give you a set as a souvenir. In addition, these are foreign novels that the publishing house sold well. I bought a few copies for you. The top one is 'The Complete Works of Xiao Lin'
'This is your future job, take good care of it!"
Xue Ling couldn't help but ask: "What is the name of the serial column? 'The Complete Works of Xiaolin'?"
"No." Xiao Jiaxue replied: "The current name is 'Smile Every Week', which doesn't sound good and is not outstanding. Anyway, it's just a small piece, so there's no need to spend too much effort to take care of it. As long as you translate it and send it over regularly.
That’s it.”
Xue Ling thought for a while and said: "It's better to call it 'Relaxing Smile'. In English, just call it JustLaugh! It will be more eye-catching."
"Since it is the column you are responsible for, then you can name it!" Xiao Jiaxue whispered: "It is more than a hundred times better than the previous one. I can still make the decision on this, so it is called 'Relaxing Smile'."
She took out a few simple handwritten contracts from her bag and explained: "This is a serialization contract. I have calculated it now and it will be serialized for at least three years. I will write the time and column first, and you just need to sign at the end. Actually,
The main thing is that you don’t give up halfway, there are no other hard requirements.”
Xue Ling was very cautious. He took each item and read it. He found that it was indeed a time constraint and nothing else, so he signed it happily.
"I have worked in a newspaper before, so I understand the importance of timeliness. Don't worry, I won't embarrass you."
"Of course I'm relieved." Xiao Jiaxue said: "It's just a short period of time a week, how can I beat you? If you just work one night, it will be enough for us here for a month or two."
Xue Ling pretended to be flattered and whispered: "You still think it's easy? Come on! Money is not that easy to make!"
Xiao Jiaxue glared and laughed: "After your book is published, you can get thousands more. Last year you got more than 10,000 for the translation of this book! You rich woman, don't tell me you have no money! Today's steak set
You still can’t escape!”
Xue Ling chuckled and whispered: "Okay, okay, don't yell. Please eat to your heart's content. You can order two or three portions."
"That's pretty much it." Xiao Jiaxue smiled and narrowed her eyes.
After filling out the application form and finalizing the contract, Xue Ling looked at the big bag of books again and couldn't help but exclaimed: "You brought it here? It must have weighed several dozen kilograms at least! It's amazing! You have such good hand strength!"
Xiao Jiaxue shrugged and said, "You have to deal with a lot of books all day long, how can your hand skills be bad?"
She was accustomed to it, but Xue Ling was not.
After eating with Xiao Jiaxue, she walked to the bus stop carrying the bag of books and almost broke her hand from exhaustion.
After getting out of the car, she simply put her bag on her back, but after all, she had never done any menial work, and the books weighing dozens of kilograms were really heavy and made her shoulders ache.
After returning home, she threw her bag on the floor and fell motionless on the sofa.
"I'm so tired..."
Cheng Tianyuan was talking on the phone. Seeing her red palms, he quickly hung up the phone and came over.