CHAPTER 362: CHAPTER 354: AWESOME UNCLE (REQUEST FOR MONTHLY TICKETS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS)_2

"Just talking nonsense. I have a pregnant wife at home, and I can’t even fart without shutting off the TV and going to sleep."

Qin Guanglin couldn’t be bothered to argue with her about this. A pregnant wife at home and he’d be heartless to stir trouble outside, wouldn’t he?

Everything had come hard; only an idiot would think of ruining their current life.

"Want me to find a movie for you?" He Fang sat on the sofa, watching Qin Guanglin slip into his slippers and shuffle towards the bathroom, then turned her head and shouted.

Qin Guanglin paused and shook his head, "No interest, not watching."

"What is interesting then?"

"Just focus on having the baby. I’ll make you call me daddy, then you’ll know what’s interesting." Qin Guanglin poked his head out of the bathroom and fiercely pointed at her with his finger, "You wait."

Bang!

The bathroom door closed, and the sound of the shower echoed from inside.

He Fang pursed her lips, hummed, turned off the TV, glanced at the bathroom, then looked at the computer in the study, wondering about something.

The next morning.

Qin Guanglin wasn’t woken up by his alarm as usual, but instead, he suddenly woke from a dream, opened his eyes, and stared at the ceiling, feeling like he was still dreaming.

Confused, he lifted his head from the pillow and instantly froze.

"Sss—"

"Don’t talk, close your eyes!"

"..."

The heating here was excellent, the room warm and cozy, without the dry cold of winter, the air moist and warm.

...

...

It had been snowing for three days.

When the snow stopped, Luo City was covered in a thick layer of silver.

The sky was still gloomy. Qin Guanglin and He Fang had discussed and decided to start her maternity leave early. The roads were slippery with snow, and it was always inconvenient to go to work.

The substitute teacher was already prepared, with no complications. After accompanying He Fang to the school to process some paperwork, they stayed home, sitting by the window watching the snow.

The property management staff were clearing the snow on the roads inside the community. The sanitation workers, mostly older men and women, with only a few young people in dark green army coats, exhaled chilly breaths, wore thick gloves, icy icicles hanging from their leather caps, struggled with shovels for half the morning to barely clean a small area. Qin Guanglin sighed as he watched, He Fang, that pregnant woman, still needed to go out for walks...

As it was indeed hard for the elderly to work, he pondered a bit, put on the thickest clothes from home, donned a scarf and a hat, and clomped downstairs. He Fang, sitting on the balcony rubbing her belly, watched as Qin Guanglin talked with the property staff and picked up a tool, enthusiastically starting to help clear the snow beneath their building.

Years of exercise had not been in vain; in his thirties and at the peak of his strength, his efficiency in working far exceeded that of the elderly, and even the property’s young lads couldn’t match him, earning a thumbs up.

"Uncle, awesome."

"What uncle? Call me bro!" Qin Guanglin flexed his shoulders irritably, "I’m only turning thirty after the new year, not much older than you guys... How old are you?"

"Bro, big bro." The young man’s nose was red from the cold, and he laughed breathily, "Twenty-one, eight years younger."

"Twenty-one, the age to be in college."

"Hey, didn’t get into college."

The two chatted and laughed, took a water break, Qin Guanglin glanced up at the third floor, waved at He Fang, and even flexed his arm to show off his muscles, though unfortunately, they were completely hidden under his bulky coat.

"Keep at it, finish early and go back to rest, it’s unreasonably cold outside."

Qin Guanglin warmed up and resumed shoveling with a grunt.

"Bro, what do you do?"

"Painter."

"Painter?!"

"Yeah, Fauvism, you know?" Qin Guanglin threw a shovel of snow into the flowerbeds, raising his eyebrows at the young man.

"Seems like I’ve heard of it before..."

The young man was baffled, a Fauvism painter? That’s still someone who paints with a pen, right?

This uncle... no, this big brother is even more vigorous in his work than his own father.

The atmosphere of the work was driven by Qin Guanglin, as if a group halo had been cast, efficiency +10%, speed +10%, the sounds of shovels colliding with the ground were incessant. Soon, several male tenants, perhaps bored, came down one after another, tools in hand to join this community labor.

After the snow stopped, small groups of children and elderly played in the distant open space, rolling snowballs and building snowmen. These two groups were always more cold-resistant than the young folks; the flimsy young ones preferred to curl up in their beds watching TV or sit in front of computers playing video games. Unless necessary, they wouldn’t be seen outside, even on weekends.

The laughter of the children, the talking of the elderly, the scraping of snowboards against the ground, and the shoveling of snow mixed together, carried far away, enlivening the first day after the snow.

Approaching noon, Qin Guanglin checked the time and called out, "I should go back to cook now, just a little more, come on."

Most of the snow around their building had been cleared, only a little path remained unfinished. The snow was piled by the roadside in small mounds, waiting for the sun to come out to slowly melt. The roads were a bit wet, from the thin layer of ice left after shoveling that had melted into water stains.

After lunch, Qin Guanglin took He Fang for a walk. The property management had finished for the day and the roads were completely cleared, winding and connecting between the floors, eventually spreading out beyond the community gates. They didn’t walk far, just strolled slowly around the path. Now in the late stages of her pregnancy, He Fang couldn’t exercise as much as before. After about ten minutes, Qin Guanglin placed a mat on a stone bench under a pagoda tree and slowly helped He Fang sit down to rest outside.

The sides of the roads, where the snow had been shoveled and ruined, were not to the children’s liking, so they all went to the central open area. After eating at home, they ran down to continue frolicking and rolling in the snow, their little faces red from the cold, but fearless, breathing out cold air everywhere.

"Shall I make a snowman for you?" Qin Guanglin looked around and found a small spot of unpolluted snow not too far away, eager to show off his skills.

"Do you know how?" He Fang asked.

"I don’t know... you tell me, do I?" Qin Guanglin asked back.

"You don’t."

He Fang laughed and shook her head. They had tried to build one for their daughter before, aiming for a white, chubby snowman like those on TV. Qin even sacrificed his favorite carrot to use as the snowman’s nose, but after a whole day’s work, they only managed to pat down a heap of snow. Ultimately, they had to settle with two fist-sized snowballs stuck together to fool Anya.

Qin Guanglin guessed what she meant by her expression, "We tried making one for our daughter?"

"Yes, we did."

"It looks like we didn’t succeed." He laughed, his eyes sparkling with hope and longing for that kind of family life.

One family... two people were already blissful, how much better would it be with one more person?

He couldn’t imagine that kind of beauty.

"It’s because we don’t know how that we need to learn, this time I’ll definitely make it for our daughter!"

Qin Guanglin rolled up his sleeves, trotted to that small patch of snow, and bent down to scoop up a handful of snowflakes, feeling the cold chill, and couldn’t help but turn to look at the playing children.

They really don’t mind the cold.

"Why aren’t you making it anymore?" He Fang asked with a smile as she saw him put down the snow he was holding and wipe his hands.

"Let me first search up some techniques on Baidu, sharpening your axe will not delay the work of chopping firewood." Qin Guanglin said as he took out his phone, searching with a serious look.

"..."

He Fang, too lazy to criticize, sat under the pagoda tree looking up at the sky, gently caressing her stomach, reminiscing about the future.

In the afternoon, the dark clouds gradually dispersed. Although the sun had not yet come out, it wasn’t as gloomy as before, the sunlight began to appear, filtering through the clouds.

Qin Guanglin’s snowman ultimately did not take shape well, but it had some form—not just a shapeless heap of snow anymore. He had patted down a very solid base, topped with a basin-sized irregular semicircle. Unable to make a large round snowball, he had settled for less, placing a smaller semicircle on top, which looked a bit odd.

"I did my best..." he rubbed his hands as he returned to He Fang’s side. When he had just finished, it had seemed not bad, quite decent, but now, looking back from a distance, it suddenly seemed incredibly ugly.

This kind, their daughter probably wouldn’t be satisfied.

"It’s much better than last time."

He Fang complimented him; Qin restrained himself from the urge to kick the snowman, helped her stand up, "Let’s go, let’s not let our daughter know her dad made such an ugly snowman, next time it will definitely be better."

"Aren’t you going to take a photo to commemorate your first work?"

"No need, let’s go, let’s go back for your afternoon meal."

Picking up the cotton mat from the stone bench, Qin Guanglin assisted He Fang by the arm, walking home slowly in rhythm with her.

Eventually, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, scattering fine golden rays through the cloud backdrop, falling onto earth and on their backs as they walked.

Winter of the year Ji Hai, He Fang had less than a month to her delivery.