She listened carefully and found that it was very quiet in the nursery, and her daughter was probably still sleeping. She put on a nightgown and got up to wash up.
Although Lisbon's aristocratic lady Sonia Lili Sharpe is an out-and-out blonde beauty, due to the limitations of the times and her long-term wandering at sea, her hygiene habits when she first came to the Lin family made Lin Hanlong, who considered himself a "rough man" The men were dumbfounded.
It took Lin Hanlong a lot of effort just to get her into the habit of washing her face every day - he had to remind her every day that if he was not at home, this task would be left to Lin Hanlong's maid Lin Guanyu.
Now, she has adapted to the new Australian hygiene habits: wash her face and brush her teeth in the morning, wash her hands before meals, and take a shower at night. However, when Lin Hanlong was away, Sonia would often skip taking a bath at night. After all, taking a bath could easily lead to a cold, and a cold could easily lead to death - she had seen too many such examples.
After washing, Sonia went to the living room outside. As the territory of the Senate continued to expand, many senators left the dormitory area of Bairen City one after another and built new, more comfortable residences near their workplaces. This dormitory area, which was originally complained about that "two maids have to sleep in the living room", has gradually experienced a "shrinking population" phenomenon. Lots of empty apartments to come. The office transferred the extra apartments to the veterans who stayed in Lingao to solve the problem of tight space.
Lin Hanlong's original apartment was just a small apartment of 40 square meters. In the past, only he and the maid lived there, so there was no inconvenience. However, since Sonia came, it was obviously not enough for use. So the office allocated another medium-sized apartment, which was quite convenient to use after it was connected. But after recently having a child, the general hospital assigned a nanny, so housing has become a bit tight. Fortunately, there were a lot of empty apartments, and the office gave him a small vacant apartment in isolation.
On the table in the living room was the breakfast prepared by Lin Guanyu for her.
"I'm just a member of this Australian harem." Every time she saw Lin Guanyu, she couldn't help but think sadly.
However, Lin Guanyu did not express as much emotion as she did. She neither expressed much welcome nor showed any anger towards Sonia's arrival. The relationship between the two was somewhat awkward at first, but Sonia gradually got used to her presence. The maid took care of the housework at home, taught Sonia how to live in this family, used various facilities she had never seen before, taught her simple Chinese, took her shopping, went to the special shops of the senators, and took her to join the life secretaries. social circle. Gradually, she became one of the indispensable figures in Sonia's life - because Lin Hanlong was rarely at home, he often had to turn to the maid for help when encountering difficulties.
Due to the language barrier, it was difficult for Sonia and Lin Guanyu to communicate at first. It was not until her language skills improved greatly a few years later that they had deeper communication. Sonia soon learned that Lin Guanyu had a miserable life experience and how she came to be with Lin Hanlong.
As a scientist, Sonia was curious about Lin Guanyu's opinion on her situation, but Lin Guanyu's reaction was that she had no opinion.
"The chief is very kind to me. As long as he still wants me, I will stay here. If one day he no longer wants me," Lin Guanyu said with a hint of sadness, "the general office will also take care of me."
Lin Guanyu was very satisfied with the current situation, because without the Senate and Lin Hanlong, she would have "died long ago", let alone "live such a good life." Her biggest regret is "not giving Chief Lin a child."
Sonia could understand Lin Guanyu to a certain extent. In her father's plantation, the biggest dream of the black slaves who were trafficked from afar was to meet a master and overseer who were not too harsh and who did not exploit and torture them excessively. After all, what can a woman who once had nothing and was on the verge of death expect? Just like himself, if he hadn't fallen into the hands of the British, he might have been living in hell.
Breakfast is toast - this can be regarded as some changes after Sonia came to this home. The Lin family ordered more bread, cheese and butter from the special food store at Nanhai Farm. Although Lin Hanlong has lived in the United States for many years in the past, he still has a Chinese stomach.
As a Portuguese, Sonia has eaten rice - rice was grown and eaten in the Iberian Peninsula under the influence of the Arabs who once ruled here. But rice food is just a decoration after all, and she is still more accustomed to bread.
The bread delivered by Nanhai Farm’s special food store is soft and exquisite. Although 20% bran is added for health reasons, its exquisiteness is much better than any kind of bread Sonia has ever tasted. It is about only 20% bran. The buttery buns baked especially for ladies rival them.
The bread slices were carefully toasted and browned on both sides. It would be very delicious if it was hot, but unfortunately it was already cold. Sonia didn't care about this. She picked up the table knife, opened the white napkin, cut a thick slice from the butter dish, spread it on the bread slices, and ate it.
There was fresh milk in the milk jug. Sonia poured herself a full cup and added two tablespoons of sugar. Excessive love of sugar was probably one of the few "eating habits" she had. She was essentially a dieter. Very simple person. A man who grew up on a colonial sugar plantation and spent time at sea was not a man who cared about food. Bread, butter and dairy products are enough.
After breakfast, she quietly came to the nursery, where the nanny was dozing off in an armchair - she was also exhausted, and the little daughter was snoring in the rattan cradle.
She looked at her daughter's face carefully with affection and joy. Her daughter's face was a mixture of European and East Asian features. The slightly curly hair was hers, and the black hair color was obviously her father's. A pair of big hair Eyes - "These are mine too", she thought to herself. My daughter’s nose seems to be a combination of their characteristics: neither too high nor too big, it seems just right.
Sonia thought that she had once had a strong interest in mixed-race children - she had seen many mixed-race children on the plantation, including black and white people, as well as mixed-race children between Indians and white people or black people. Because of the different races, nationalities and generations of mixed-race people, they show vastly different appearance characteristics. Every time mixed blood brings some special characteristics to the next generation of children. These characteristics will gradually fade and change with the mixed generation, and sometimes they will suddenly reappear. This aroused her curiosity, and she began to collect data in the plantation to do research in this area. However, this research was mercilessly ridiculed by her brothers.
I didn’t expect that I would also give birth to a mixed-race child. What a wonderful thing it is! Recalling her pregnancy and childbirth, she still felt a little unbelievable that she had actually "created" a human being. The mystery of nature was so amazing...
She reached into the quilt of the cradle and touched it. She found that the diaper and sleeping pad were all dry, and the nanny had probably just changed them for her. If it hadn't been for the nanny sent by the office, she would have been really worried - she had never taken care of a child.
The nanny suddenly woke up, and the middle-aged woman quickly stood up and greeted: "Miss..."
Sonia made a "silence" gesture and asked in a low voice: "Is she awake?"
"I woke up once at 9:30, changed her diaper, fed her milk and fell asleep again," the nanny said. "She was exhausted from being too late last night."
Sonia said: "Do you see how big this kid is?"
"That makes sense! The children of the elders are all big!" the nanny said flatteringly. "The child who is only eight months old weighs more than 18 pounds! At the mother and child center, the eight-month-old boys are not that heavy!"
Sonia converted "jin" and "pounds" in her mind. In fact, she didn't know how big or heavy an eight-month-old child should be, but every time she took her child to Bairen General Hospital for a physical check-up, she saw the same thing. The older babies seem to be younger.
"This child drinks milk every day, and of course she has grown up." The nanny said with a hint of boastfulness, "She has already grown teeth, and she will grow even bigger when she eats complementary food."
Sonia returned to the living room, but Lin Guanyu was not at home - she went out shopping. Sonia knew that shopping was more about meeting colleagues, which was their pastime.
Lin Hanlong is not at home either - he only has a handful of days at home in a month, and most of the time he spends the night in a single dormitory in the optical factory. So much so that some people jokingly said that Cai Junjie, who has been by his side all year round, is Lin Hanlong's wife.
Sonia had great admiration and respect for this master, with a little love. He was different from all the men he had ever seen. He was both a rough man and a scholar. He could stare at the machines in a noisy workshop for hours, and he could also explain a lot of esoteric knowledge in a eloquent manner. His dress and enjoyment could be said to be simple to crude, but his sophistication was not comparable to that of the Roman emperor or the Turkish sultan.
This kind of contradiction is more or less reflected in every elder she knows. But one thing they have in common is that no matter how humble the elders are on the surface, they are proud in their hearts. This kind of pride does not come from blood, nor from position, nor from religious belief. It is a heartfelt recognition of one's own thoughts and knowledge - speaking of it, Australian elders are the most worthy of study.
Sonia returned to the bedroom, made the bed, and changed into clothes for going out. At eleven o'clock she made a fitness appointment. Then have a simple lunch outside and go to the museum in the afternoon. She has a separate office there where she can quiet down and fully engage in research. However, her main job this afternoon is to prepare lessons, and in the evening she will give a big natural history lesson to the students in Fangcaodi.
(End of chapter)
