Hu Meili was a woman of decisive action. Since she had made up her mind, she saw no point in keeping it to herself.
If Mencius's mother could move three times for her child's education, there was nothing she couldn't give up.
However, transferring schools required a household registration transfer certificate and a grain and oil ration transfer. This matter couldn't be rushed. She focused her questions on the materials needed for enrollment at the Children's Palace and the associated fees.
"The materials are simple. A military unit certificate or a work unit introduction letter will suffice," Jiang Si explained everything she knew. "The fees are similar to regular school, charged per semester, about three yuan per semester. However, some items like paints and paper for the painting group, film for the photography group, and materials for the model airplane group need to be paid for by the students themselves."
Hu Meili nodded, now having a clear idea.
"Sister-in-law, are you planning... to transfer to Capital City?" Xu Mingjuan suddenly caught on.
Given Regimental Commander Xiao's current situation, transferring to Capital City would indeed be difficult. But if they lowered their requirements a bit—for instance, not insisting that the military must arrange a job for the accompanying spouse—there might be room for negotiation.
Hu Meili took a deep breath. "Not planning, I've already decided."
"What about your job then?"
Hu Meili wasn't too concerned about that. Over the years, she and her husband had saved a considerable amount. Old Xiao's salary was enough to support their family of four.
Moreover, last year she had invested a fair sum in the farm.
With the dividends from that, their life wouldn't be hard.
Of course, there was definitely a sense of reluctance, having lived on the island for so many years. But in all things, to gain something, you must give up something else.
Glancing at her two children, Hu Meili said, "If for nothing else, just seeing how happily the children laughed earlier, I think it's worth it!"
You know what? After hearing this, even Xu Mingjuan felt tempted.
Mainly because they were such old friends. With them leaving one by one, she felt a strange sense of loss in her heart.
And so, after returning from the Children's Palace, the two sisters-in-law were eager to make phone calls.
Finally, Jiang Si stopped them. "Sisters-in-law, they'll be back the day after tomorrow. It's better to discuss anything face-to-face than over a unclear phone call."
After a pause, she added, "Even if you decide to do this, you'll have to wait until after the military competition."
If they could win awards in this competition, the probability of their transfer application being approved would greatly increase, and they would have more receiving units to choose from.
The two sisters-in-law agreed.
Thinking that the twins' first birthday banquet was coming up soon, they got up early the next morning.
Tomorrow was National Day, and the streets were already crowded everywhere.
Weidong and Weimin volunteered to stay with Third Granduncle and the others to look after the children, while Jiang Si and the others went to the nearby state-run market.
Besides close relatives and friends, the guests for the first birthday banquet were mainly families from the compound they were close with.
Mother Huo had finalized the guest list a few days prior. The banquet was to be held in the compound's communal canteen.
The head chef and the helping cooks had been notified in advance. The head chef had even prepared a menu in advance.
Currently, this was the standard for first birthday banquets in the compound: four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, and two cold dishes. They weren't fixed on specific dishes, just buying according to this standard.
They spent the whole morning and finally gathered all the ingredients.
Once bought, the ingredients were sent directly to the canteen.
Now, the only thing left was the pork for the Four-Joy Meatballs. Ninth Master would have someone deliver it early the next morning.
There was no other way; the daytime temperature was still quite high. Buying it a day in advance risked spoilage, and if anyone got sick from the banquet food, that would be a huge problem.
That evening, Third Granduncle called Jiang Si to his room.
With many guests coming tomorrow, some things were better not given openly, so they had to be given in advance.
This is Old Ninth's gift, just accept it," Third Granduncle first gave her the two red envelopes from Ninth Master.
Next, he gave Jiang Si what he had prepared.
Red envelopes went without saying, one for each child.
Additionally, Third Granduncle had prepared a set of gold jewelry for each child.
For Suisui, it was a gold necklace; for Zhaozhao, it was a complete set of pure gold hair ornaments, which felt quite heavy in hand!
"You must keep these things safe," Third Granduncle instructed.
In these times, anything related to gold could only be obtained through places like the black market.
Judging by the craftsmanship and weight of the necklace and hair ornaments, these were likely antiques.
Jiang Si nodded.
She had just returned to her room and stored the items in her space when Hu Meili and Sister-in-law Xu came over together.
They, too, had come to give red envelopes.
It wasn't just them. After Jiang Si returned to the old house that evening, Mother Huo also gave her a small box.
Although these were all part of social reciprocity, Jiang Si was still quite surprised when she opened the box.
The number of red envelopes seemed even greater than during her wedding.
Originally, she had thought to open each red envelope and divide the money equally between the two little ones.
Now, forget it. She would just split them in half, one pile each.
Taking this opportunity, Jiang Si also divided the items in her space into two equal parts.
Just inventorying these things took two or three hours.
No wonder people in ancient times, upon receiving anything, the first thing they did was register it in a ledger.
Having too many things was indeed troublesome.
Like now, she had no idea exactly how many gold bars or pieces of jewelry she actually had.
Having barely sorted through one-third, Jiang Si was already exhausted.
In the middle of the night, while sleeping soundly, Jiang Si suddenly felt something warm press against her back from behind.
It was warm and made her feel very secure.
Even without opening her eyes, she knew it must be Huo Tingzhou returning.
Turning over and nestling into his arms, Jiang Si mumbled, "It's so late. Why didn't you just come back tomorrow morning?"
"Wanted to come back earlier." After a pause, Huo Tingzhou added, "During this period, you've been managing everything inside and outside the home alone. You've worked hard."
Jiang Si knew immediately that he had misunderstood. She was tired.
But not from preparing the first birthday banquet; it was from counting money.
Of course, being clever, she certainly wouldn't put it that way.
"The children aren't just yours. Isn't it normal for me, as their mother, to prepare their first birthday banquet? It's not that hard!"
Huo Tingzhou didn't say anything more, just held her tighter.
How could it not be hard?
Her eyes were clearly so tired they could barely stay open!
"Sleep," Huo Tingzhou said softly.
Jiang Si had no idea her one sentence would lead him to imagine so much, but she was genuinely very sleepy.
That night, Jiang Si slept very deeply.
In contrast, Huo Tingzhou barely slept. Before dawn the next day, as soon as he heard footsteps in the hallway, he quietly got out of bed.
The two little ones had slept with Mother Huo and the others last night. When the door opened and they saw their father, their eyes lit up.
"Dad—"
The two little ones called out, one louder than the other.
Huo Tingzhou hadn't seen the children for over a week. Of course he missed them, but the problem was, it wasn't even 5:30 a.m. yet!
Don't they usually sleep straight through until six-thirty?
"Exactly what I thought!"
Mother Huo added from behind, "They probably knew it was their birthday today and were too excited to sleep. They woke up before four-thirty and immediately wanted to get down to find Mama. We couldn't stop them; they kept calling for Mama all around the room."
In just the short time it took her to put on her clothes, the two little ones had already climbed several steps up the stairs holding onto the railing.
It scared Mother Huo so much she ran after them without even putting on her shoes.
Huo Tingzhou sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead. "Mom, did you or Dad tell them the story of 'The Little Tadpoles Look for Their Mother' again last night?"
Mother Huo fell silent at that.
She had gone to bed early last night; it was Father Huo who had put the two children to sleep.
"Mom, you go ahead. I'll watch them," Huo Tingzhou said, taking the two little ones from her.
Mother Huo nodded. "Then try to get a bit more sleep. I'll go start the congee and boil some red eggs."
Before leaving, she put a finger to her lips in a 'shush' gesture for her two darling grandchildren.
"Mama is still sleeping. You two be good and listen, don't make noise for Mama, okay?"
The two little ones, very perceptive, covered their small mouths with their hands and nodded vigorously.
They understood.
They absolutely would not disturb Mama!
But the quiet lasted less than a minute.
"Daddy," Zhaozhao suddenly pointed towards the wardrobe, "want pretty."
For their first birthday, Jiang Si had specially gone to a time-honored tailor shop in Capital City last month and had two sets of traditional Chinese-style jackets with side buttons made for the little ones.
Zhaozhao's was peach-pink, with a mandarin collar and golden frog buttons, embroidered with layered pink peonies on the front.
Suisui's was sapphire blue, with a peony pattern on the chest as well.
The day the clothes were brought home, the two little ones had spent ages admiring themselves in the mirror.
But Mama said these clothes were only for wearing on their birthday.
Today was their birthday, so today they could wear the pretty clothes!
When it came to promises, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou never brushed the children off just because they were young. If they agreed to something, they would always follow through.
So, Huo Tingzhou placed the two children in the outer room, instructing them not to run off, before gently opening the wardrobe door to take out their clothes and shoes.
With pretty clothes to wear, the two little ones were incredibly cooperative.
They extended their arms when told, and stuck out their little legs when asked.
After putting on her shoes, Zhaozhao didn't forget to point at her own little head, reminding Huo Tingzhou to put her hair in little pigtails.
Both children's hair texture and volume took after Jiang Si's—smooth, soft, and incredibly silky to the touch!
Seeing her sister getting pigtails, Suisui also subconsciously poked her own little head. "Want..."
