Chapter 256 Comparison

Jiang Zhizhi still found Fang Hua adorable: "Mom is so individualistic, what's wrong with her being a little stubborn?"

Zhou Xiye pondered for a moment and realized that Jiang Zhizhi's perception of Fang Hua was currently flawed; she felt that whatever Fang Hua did was right!

Later that night, my third uncle and his wife came home from get off work.

Fang Guozheng, the third uncle, is seven years younger than Fang Hua. Both he and his wife work at the court. They have two sons. The eldest son is the same age as Jiang Zhizhi and joined the army last year. The younger son had nothing to do, so he was assigned to work as a worker in a steel factory.

My third aunt, Liao Juan, is also a capable and straightforward person.

Upon entering the courtyard, she heard Fang Hua and Cong Meilan's voices. Without even going inside, she handed her bag to her husband, grabbed the meat from the handlebars, rolled up her sleeves, and went into the kitchen.

"As soon as I entered the gate, I heard lively noises. Sister-in-law, what are you making? It smells so good."

Cong Meilan smiled and said, "I'll stew some cured pork and then make some dumplings. Xiye and Zhizhi are coming over. You and Guozheng will have dinner together tonight too."

Liao Juan rolled up her sleeves: "Xi Ye and Zhi Zhi are here too? I already discussed it with Guo Zheng. Now that my sister is back, we bought two pounds of pork belly. We're going to make dumplings together tonight."

Cong Meilan didn't stand on ceremony: "Perfect timing, I didn't buy any meat today. I was thinking of making vegetarian dumplings later, so I'll use the pork belly you bought."

Jiang Zhizhi and Zhou Xiye heard the noise and came out to greet them.

Fang Guozheng quickly invited them inside to sit down, as it was too cold outside.

After the three of them returned to the house, Liao Juan whispered to Fang Hua, "Sister, the more I look at Xiye's wife, the better she seems. She and Xiye are such a perfect match."

He then asked Cong Meilan, "Sister-in-law, don't you think so? Xiye's personality wasn't this easygoing before. I think he's changed a lot since getting married."

Cong Meilan agreed: "I think so too. I wasn't optimistic about them before, considering Zhizhi's reputation, but now that they're doing well, that's all that matters."

Fang Hua immediately defended Jiang Zhizhi: "Those are all rumors. Zhizhi is not like that at all. This girl is more and more likable the more you get to know her. She is diligent, eager to learn, and always ready to help. When I cook at home, she insists on washing the dishes."

"He is also diligent and eager to learn. He is currently studying in the training class run by the hospital and ranked second in the class last time."

Cong Meilan and Liao Juan were both somewhat shocked: "Zhizhi is so amazing!"

Fang Hua said with some pride, "That's right, this child is really hardworking. He studies late into the night and stands by the window reciting his lessons before dawn. He's gotten so thin."

As she spoke, Fang Hua couldn't help but laugh: "Actually, what touches me the most is that every time this child comes back, he brings me either a roasted sweet potato or some snacks. I don't need a bite to eat, but the child cares about me."

"What has Zhou Chengzhi brought back for me all these years? Every time he comes back, he brings back a bag of dirty clothes."

When Zhou Chengzhi was mentioned, Cong Meilan started cursing again, while Liao Juan just smiled and didn't say a word.

At dinner time, my eldest uncle, Fang Guomin, returned home, and the whole family enjoyed a lively meal together.

Jiang Zhizhi quite liked this family and felt comfortable around them. Even after the meal, no one asked her and Zhou Xiye when they were going to have children, or any of those unpleasant topics.

...

In contrast to the lively atmosphere at the Fang family's house, the Zhou family's house was in complete disarray.

Lunch was late, and dinner was late too, and Li Hualin's three grandsons were complaining of being hungry.

Zhou Chengzhi had a headache from the noise and wanted to go upstairs to call Fang Hua to come downstairs and cook, but he remembered halfway there that Fang Hua had gone to her parents' house.

Then she went to wake Zhou Xiaochuan up so he could help with the cooking.

Zhou Xiaochuan had no cooking skills; he spent ages in the kitchen but couldn't cook anything right.

The child was still crying, and Li Hualin's expression had already turned sour: "Brother Zhou, are you upset that we ate at your house? Then we'll leave tomorrow morning."

Zhou Chengzhi quickly stopped him, saying, "No, no, your sister-in-law went back to her parents' home. This happened suddenly, and neither Xiaochuan nor I know how to cook."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yu'e rolled up her sleeves and stood up: "Brother Zhou, it's just cooking, Fengxi and I can do it."

As he spoke, he winked at his daughter-in-law, Zhu Fengxi, signaling her to hurry to the kitchen.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengzhi thought it was a good idea. He went to the kitchen and called Zhou Xiaochuan out, looking at Liu Yu'e apologetically: "I'm so sorry that you have to cook for yourselves when you come to visit. I'll bring your sister-in-law back later."

Liu Yu'e quickly waved her hand: "Brother Zhou, why are you being so polite with us? If your wife is busy, let her go ahead. We can take care of ourselves and also take care of you and Xiao Chuan."

After the chaos, Liu Yu'e and her daughter-in-law cooked a meal together.

Zhou Chengzhi also went to get a bottle of wine and looked at the two large plates of scrambled eggs, as well as stir-fried winter melon with salted pork and stewed pork ribs with radish on the table.

His expression froze for a moment, then he sat down, a strange feeling welling up inside him.

Fang Hua was a thrifty and hardworking woman. She always cooked a balanced meal of meat and vegetables, and even during holidays, she would only cook two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. She was never so extravagant, and no one else's New Year celebrations were this lavish.

These two plates of scrambled eggs probably used more than a dozen eggs. He knew very well that those eggs were Fang Hua's daily extra meal for Jiang Zhizhi.

Liu Yu'e, acting like the hostess, called out to Zhou Chengzhi and Zhou Xiaochuan, "Brother Zhou, Xiaochuan, hurry up and eat. We country folk don't know how to cook. We just make whatever we can. We don't know if it will suit your taste."

Zhou Chengzhi smiled and said, "That's good. You should eat more too."

Li Hualin and his son didn't stand on ceremony; they poured themselves some wine and began to eat meat heartily.

Zhu Fengxi quickly fed the three children meat and oily meat soup.

Zhou Chengzhi suddenly remembered that when they came last time, Fang Hua had prepared very lean meat and the food was not very greasy.

He felt a bit ashamed and even scolded Fang Hua that night. Fang Hua scolded him: "What do you know? They eat nothing but water all year round. If they eat something too greasy all at once, their stomachs won't be able to handle it and they'll get an upset stomach."

Seeing the three children's mouths covered in grease, Zhou Chengzhi hesitated for a moment before reminding them, "Can the children's stomachs handle eating such greasy food?"

Li Hualin waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright, Brother Zhou. We kids are all tough. Our stomachs can digest steel bars."

Zhou Chengzhi didn't know what to say, otherwise it would seem like he was being stingy and wouldn't let people eat.

The table was laden with food, but Zhou Chengzhi and Zhou Xiaochuan barely ate any; the whole meal was eaten by their family.

Li Hualin burped contentedly: "Brother Zhou, we live a hard life in the countryside. We can't even eat meat once a year. You must be laughing at us."

She looked at the table with envy and said, "Unlike you guys, you have so much meat at home that you can't finish it all."

Zhou Chengzhi frowned: "No, it's not that. Your sister-in-law is usually very frugal. She can't bear to eat this meat. She marinates it and stores it away."

Li Hualin suddenly became reserved, his eyes filled with apprehension: "We ate so much today, won't your sister-in-law mind when she gets back? Maybe we should leave tomorrow. We'll be at ease knowing that you and your sister-in-law are both well."

The slight dissatisfaction that had just arisen in Zhou Chengzhi's heart vanished instantly: "Stay! How can you leave so soon after arriving? Just settle in comfortably."