Siheyuan: A warm home with wife and children

Just looking at the oil seeping out of the basin makes your mouth water.

Yi Zhonghai was talking to the deaf old lady, while Aunt Yi, He Yuzhu, and He Yushui were busy.

Everyone had a smile on their face.

Qin Huairu's family, having been officially hired, previously received a salary of 27.5 yuan.

Qin Huairu, unusually generous, bought a piece of pork with a third of its fat intact.

After that, I also bought some candy for the children.

It wasn't a fancy milk candy, just fruit candy wrapped in cellophane.

They ate with beaming smiles, constantly praising how sweet it was.

"It's a 'banggeng' (a type of rice cake), you bought it with your own money, what's so different about how it tastes?" Qin Huai asked her son.

Banggeng raised his head and replied without hesitation, "Sweet."

Qin Huairu smiled and said, "Think about it again."

Banggeng was stunned, wondering, 'Besides being sweet, what else could this candy do?'

He licked it thoroughly, then took it out with his fingers to examine it.

Put it back in your mouth, it's definitely sweet, isn't it?

But for some reason, after Qin Huai asked that question, Banggeng felt that it was a little different.

"Huai Ru! This filling is really well made."

Granny Jia has become quite the lecturer these past few days, spending all her time trying to persuade Qin Huairu.

Why bother with methods like encouragement, appeasement, warmth, or empathy?

In short, she used all of Qin Huai's techniques to learn those two skills.

They haven't given up yet, still hoping for three yuan a month.

Qin Huairu ignored her and let her talk as much as she wanted.

At first, she found it annoying, but as she listened, she realized that there was some truth to it.

This is so much better than her old habit of cursing people with "you motherfucker" all the time.

Now, Qin Huairu was no longer annoyed.

You can talk all you want, and you can even help teach the children, isn't that great?

And so, this family lived in harmony!

Then look at Uncle Yi's house. He used the reward money he earned from playing couplets to buy meat and filling for Aunt Yi.

Although it wasn't very oily, it still contained about two ounces of pork belly.

It smells much better than usual.

In addition, each person was given four peanuts.

Oh my, this made the kids so happy.

I feel that this year was worthwhile!

Everyone was happy, and even Xu Damao went back to his parents' house to enjoy good food and drink.

Only at Uncle Er's house was there a calm before the storm.

The whole family dared not utter a sound; even making dumplings required holding their breath, for fear of incurring the wrath of the whip.

For no other reason than one thing.

Their eldest son, Liu Guangrong, didn't make it back; he said he spent the New Year away from home.

Chapter 137 A Distant Relative is Not as Good as a Neighbor: The Happy Times of Da Juan and Xiao Juan

Yang Jianguo and Yingzi made several trips back and forth to the Liu family's house, with Aunt Liu and her two daughters helping out.

Only then did they set the prepared dishes, pots, pans, and utensils on the table.

"This is too lavish, this is far too lavish!" Aunt Liu kept exclaiming as she looked at the table full of dishes.

I've never seen a meal with more than ten dishes!

Braised pork belly, soup made from the body of a bighead carp, fish head stew with tofu, Quanjude roast duck, and braised chicken with mushrooms.

Stir-fried cured pork with garlic, spicy and sour cabbage strips, and smashed cucumber.

Eight dishes, plus fried peanuts and pickled vegetables.

There were ten dishes in total, with chive and pork dumplings as the main dish.

Good buddy.

Da Juan and Xiao Juan stared wide-eyed.

Dajuan looked at her younger sister and said, "Juan'er, pinch me?"

Xiao Juan raised her hand and pinched her arm: "Ouch, that hurts."

She wasn't reluctant to pinch her sister Dajuan; she was afraid that the Dajuan in front of her was also a fake.

What if I pinch her and then lie to myself?

So, it's better to pinch yourself; it really hurts.

But he kept smiling happily; these dishes were real.

Seeing her like that, Dajuan pinched herself.

"Ouch, that really hurts." Dajuan rubbed her arm and laughed along with her.

Aunt Liu chuckled to herself, "Look at you two, so silly. How could your brother Jianguo and sister Yingzi be fake?"

The two of them didn't reply, they just kept laughing.

I'm so happy I can't speak.

After Da Liu propped himself up and sat up, the three of them lifted the table together and placed it against the bed.

After finishing, they sat down to prepare for the meal.

"Uncle, Aunt, let's have a drink first." Yang Jianguo opened the jar and poured wine into the vat.

Da Liu sniffed, his eyes lighting up: "Jianguo, this wine smells good, did the leader give it to you?"

Yang Jianguo laughed and said, "Of course, he's still a big leader."

"They said it was the original brew, and there was only one jar of it, so they brought it over."

"However, I got this from the pillar." After explaining the situation to the two of them, laughter filled the room.

Da Juan and Xiao Juan laughed and said, "Brother Zhu deserves it. Who told him to mess with Brother Jianguo and Sister Yingzi?"

These two, before they even started eating, their butts were already wobbly.

But this P-shaped butt is crooked in the right direction; you can always tell who's good to you.

If you don't side with those who are good to you, why would you side with outsiders?

Compared to Yang Jianguo, Sha Zhu is practically an outsider.

"Come on, let's have one first." Yang Jianguo held up the jar, but didn't call out to Da Juan and Xiao Juan.

Due to the characteristics of that era, no matter how much importance was attached to it, being allowed to sit at the table for a meal was considered a sign of doting on one's daughter.

In the countryside, there are many women with children.

They would go to the stove to eat cornbread and pickled vegetables.

After everyone has finished eating, if there's any left, take a bite; if there's nothing left, then it's gone.

Just asking about the smell is enough.

If you insist on keeping yourself in a pretentious and affected manner, you'll face a harsh reality check from society.

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year."

After taking a swig, Da Liu tilted his head and smacked his lips: "This wine is good. I'm enjoying myself today."

Yang Jianguo laughed: "Then you should have a couple more drinks, and let's eat first."

Once he arrived, Yang Jianguo didn't treat himself as an outsider.

The back-and-forth pushing and shoving left Mr. and Mrs. Liu at a loss.

So he adopted the attitude of a semi-host and started to greet the guests as if he were the guest in charge.

The two children picked up their chopsticks, bit into them, and their mouths watered.

Only after the adults had started eating did they eagerly reach for the food.

The first bite was of smashed cucumber.

I didn't dare touch those good dishes.

We have to wait until we've almost finished eating before we can taste the rest.

Otherwise, there won't be enough food for all the guests, and they won't eat well.

It can't stay on either the inside or the outside.

But the next second, Yingzi used chopsticks to give each of them a duck leg and put it in a small bowl.

Da Juan was stunned, and Xiao Juan was dumbfounded.

Looking at Yingzi, then up at her mother, she asked in a questioning tone: Can we eat this?

"What are you looking at? Eat up! You two can eat as much as you want today, there are no outsiders here," Yingzi said with a smile.

She's a daughter, how could she not understand these rules?

Her father has always doted on her since she was a child.

One time when guests came over for a meal, Yingzi was the first to pick up the meat on the table with her chopsticks.

Then, her father smacked her hand with his chopsticks.

That day, Yingzi ate her meal alone at the stove.

The red mark on the back of my hand took three days to disappear.

This is called a rule, and every household must abide by it.

Especially when guests come, if they don't follow the rules, they'll be laughed at once once they leave the house.

They not only make fun of the father, but also of the daughter.

"She has no manners. Whoever marries this girl is doomed."

Later, Yingzi realized that her father was protecting his reputation.

But she had a thorn in her side: why should she?

Why should the daughter have to eat the leftovers? Why should the younger ones have to wait and watch others pick and choose from the dishes?

Why should I just stand there drooling?!

I just saw Da Juan and Xiao Juan looking so envious, but they went to pick up cucumbers instead.

Her old thoughts suddenly resurfaced.

Without thinking, I put a duck leg on their plates and told them to eat it.

“Yes, there are no outsiders today, so eat whatever you want,” Yang Jianguo chimed in.

After he spoke up, Aunt Liu smiled and said, "You two are in for a treat today, eat up!"

However, he still gave his two daughters a look.

That's enough, just eat it all and be more mindful of it.

Don't actually rummage through the food; it'll make you a laughingstock.

Dajuan and Xiaojuan had no interest in looking at other dishes.