Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

"Brother Heng is here, come in and sit down." Sheng Xuan's laughter came from outside the house, "Mother, Brother Heng is here."

Zhang responded and went out to meet him.

Xiao Lan glanced at Xiao Ting and saw that her elder sister was blushing with shame, not knowing whether to go out to meet him or stay at home. Xiao Lan took Xiao Ting's hand without saying anything, followed Zhang, and went out to meet Bao Heng.

At this time, Bao Heng was unloading things from the carriage, carrying a bunch of large and small bags.

Seeing this, Xiao Lan hurried over to help carry the things, and then everyone walked home chatting and laughing.

When the newly engaged son-in-law came home for the first time, Zhang naturally served him tea and fruit.

Bao Heng came to deliver holiday gifts.

The three most important festivals for farmers are the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the August Festival.

Now that Xiaolan's family and the Bao family are formal relatives, this etiquette cannot be omitted.

The Bao family was wealthy and they were particular about festival gifts. Compared to some peasant families, theirs was much better. Some peasant families, in order to save on festival gifts, usually got married in a hurry after getting engaged. This not only saved on festival gifts, but also added more labor to the family.

But this was all before the famine. Nowadays, few people get married or have children in the villages because each household already has problems with their own food supply, let alone adding people to the family.

The holiday gifts brought by the Bao family this time were quite rich.

Two rolls of summer cool cloth and two rolls of silk. These four rolls of cloth were brought back from the capital by the Bao family. They were said to be the most fashionable materials in the capital. Because of the bright patterns, they were in great demand. It was said that the cloth shops in the town did not have such cloth.

In addition, there were half a pig's head, 20 kilograms of rice, two jars of Xinghuacun, four kilograms of mooncakes, and two live fish.

Sheng Xuan and Bao Heng were talking in the room, while Zhang was busy cooking in the kitchen with Xiao Lan and Xiao Ting.

"The Bao family is a very particular family. Look at their gift, it is both practical and decent. You can tell that the person who prepared it put a lot of thought into it. This shows that the marriage your sister mentioned is a good one, and her future mother-in-law will be a decent person." Zhang whispered to Xiaoting and Xiaolan.

Xiao Lan also nodded secretly, thinking that the Bao family had indeed done a decent job.

Since Bao Heng came to give gifts, Zhang naturally wanted to invite him to dinner.

Although in this era, strict separation between men and women was emphasized, the situation was obviously different for peasant families and wealthy families. Unmarried men and women could eat at the same table if the parents were present.

The meal prepared by Zhang was very sumptuous. After dinner and seeing Bao Heng off, Sheng Xuan was obviously very happy.

"When I was talking to Brother Heng just now, I felt that he is a promising kid. Our Xiaoting will have hope in the future." Sheng Xuan said.

"Dad, you don't have to worry about my sister. With our business, even if we don't rely on the Bao family, my sister won't starve." Xiao Lan said with a smile.

"Xiao Lan is right. Your sister is marrying into the Bao family. Our two families are so close. If anything happens in the future, we can just come back with a simple move." Zhang said with a smile, "This is also what I am most satisfied with about this marriage."

After the banquet was cleared away, the family started to get busy again. The weather was still very hot, and the half pork that Bao Heng brought could not be stored for a long time, so Xiaolan, Xiaoting, Liu, and Fu started to slice it, Xiaoyan was responsible for lighting the fire, and Zhang and Xin put the sliced ​​meat slices into a large pot and boiled them slightly, adding some salt and the boiled oil, and put them into the jar together, so that the meat was sealed in the oil and could be stored for a long time.

"If you ask me, festival gifts are just like that. I have to talk to Heng's mother. Our two families are real relatives. It's fine as long as the gift is given with good intentions. We can't give it like this anymore." Zhang looked at the pot of meat, sighed and complained.

Although she was sighing and complaining, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Zhang's tone was filled with unconcealed joy.

Xiao Lan understood Zhang and knew that she was definitely not attracted by these things, but by the meaning behind them. The more things there were, the more the Bao family valued their family, the more they valued Xiao Ting, and the more they valued this marriage.

"I guess Shopkeeper Xu will be here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We also have to think about the return gift to the Bao family." Xiao Lan said.

"Yes, as a return gift. I think you should ask your sister to make a set of clothes for Brother Heng these two days." Zhang said after thinking for a moment.

Xiaoting had been silent the whole time, but when she heard what Zhang said, she blushed and lowered her head.

"We also have our homemade tofu and the spicy strips that Xiaolan just developed. Let's send some to the Bao family for them to try." Xin said with a smile.

"That's fine. Xiaolan told me last time that her uncle Bao really likes spicy noodles. I don't know if Brother Heng tasted the ones I gave him last time. Let's make more this time." Zhang said.

"We're celebrating this holiday, so let's invite your fourth uncle's family to come over to have some fun." Sheng Xuan said, "The fourth uncle's family has just separated and is living on their own. They're short of food, clothing, and daily necessities. Let's invite them to celebrate the holiday together."

Everyone talked and laughed about the arrangements for the festival gifts and the matters of returning gifts. This year, because the old man and the eldest brother had gone to work, more than 2,000 miles away from Shengjia Village, Xiaolan's family could not send them festival gifts.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival of reunion, a time for families to get together. In the afternoon of the festival, tofu workshops, basket weaving workshops and fish ponds all stopped working for half a day.

Of course, the workers in the Fuli workshop and the long-term workers in Xiaolan's family all received gifts during the festival.

"Two jins of pork and five jins of beans." This was decided by Sheng Xuan. Because every household was short of food, it was more practical to distribute food, and there was no need to distribute mooncakes or something like that. Because when it came to food and clothing, food was what the workers loved most and what they needed most.

"My father is really thoughtful." Xiao Lan praised Sheng Xuan with a smile.

After everything is settled, it is Xiaolan's family's turn to arrange their own holiday needs.

You don’t need to buy fish and meat at home, just buy some vegetables.

The Mid-Autumn Festival reunion dinner was scheduled in the evening. In the afternoon, when the tofu workshop was closed, Liu brought Xiao Ye to Xiao Lan's house to help. Several people were busy cooking. For a moment, the atmosphere in the kitchen was harmonious and full of laughter.

Braised pork, braised spare ribs, boiled fish, cold bean curd, spicy strips, cabbage stewed with tofu, cold bean sprouts... The table was filled with bowls and plates of all sizes. Of course, the staple food was also quite important, dumplings stuffed with leeks and meat.