The three elderly people worked all morning, cleaning the mackerel, removing its internal organs, and splitting it into two pieces. They then hung the mackerel on the drying rack on the roof. They also prepared the squid and starfish and hung them on the drying rack in the yard. By the end of the morning, they had finally finished drying all the fish.

At noon, the father and son didn't let the village elders go home. Aunt Guo took charge of the cooking, making stewed pork ribs and potatoes, deep-fried ribbonfish pieces, steamed sea bass, stir-fried squid strips, and stewed stonefish.

Three elderly people and a child sat down at the table to eat. After picking up their chopsticks, Grandpa Yu Yang said, "Chen Hong's family is out of wine, otherwise the three of us could have a drink."

Aunt Guo said, "Eating vegetables and rice is great. Look how good our meals are today!"

Yu Yang said, "Grandpa, there's wine at home. Mom said it's in the cellar. Go get it! It's homemade by Mom, and it's really delicious."

"Have you even tried it? How can you say it's delicious? What does a kid like you know about alcohol?" the village chief laughed at him.

Yu Yang said in a serious tone, "If Mom says it's delicious, then it must be delicious. Mom never lies. Uncle, go get it. You'll know once you've tasted it. Xiao Bao doesn't lie either."

Seeing his grandson's earnestness, Grandpa Yu said, "Alright, Grandpa will go get it. I have to let my great-uncle taste our wine and see if it's good."

Seeing that the conversation had reached this point, the village chief and Yu Zhaohua found a bucket, tied a rope to it, grabbed a flashlight, and the two old brothers went to the cellar in the backyard to fetch the wine.

They went to the backyard and first lifted the stone slab to release the gas. The village chief, disliking Yu Zhaohua's poor health, insisted on going down into the cellar.

Upon reaching the bottom of the cellar, the village chief exclaimed, "Wow, so much red wine!" Seeing the wine, he didn't stand on ceremony and filled five bottles into the bucket that had been lowered down, then told Yu Zhaohua to pull it up.

After the village chief arrived, the two finished building the cellar and carried the buckets into the house. Aunt Guo peeked in and exclaimed, "You two are so ungrateful! This is all for Chen Hongquan!"

The two cousins ​​laughed heartily: "Honey, you have no idea how much wine Chen Hong brewed. It must be over 100 bottles. If it's good, we can take the rest home to drink, so Chen Hong won't have to deliver it to our house."

Aunt Guo laughed angrily: "You shameless old man, you treat alcohol like your own son, always making up ridiculous excuses."

Yu Yang said from the side, "Grandma, don't be angry. My mother really brewed a lot of wine. Let Grandpa drink it. He can get more after he finishes. My mother said that the wine is for our own family to drink and we don't sell it."

Aunt Guo hugged Yu Yang and kissed him hard: "You little rascal, you know everything."

Yu Yang said proudly, "My mom said I'm the only man in our family!"

Grandpa Yu found a bottle opener and opened the cap: "It's all very stylish, isn't it? Come on, cousin-in-law, have a glass too. This was brewed by Chen Hong herself, let's see how her skills are?"

All three of them thought it was delicious, and the village chief even said, "It's delicious, much better than what we brought back during the National Day holiday. The taste is really good, and Chen Hong's cooking skills are truly exceptional."

The wine I brought back for National Day was supposedly a dry red, but I don't know anything about dry or wet red wines. It tasted bland and a bit astringent; I didn't find it particularly delicious. Afraid the kids would think I didn't know anything, I didn't say anything. Apparently, it cost over 300 yuan a bottle.

He took another sip of wine with a satisfied smile and said, "Compared to Chen Hong's wine, it's nothing. Honey, don't forget to remind me to call Guoqing when I get home. Don't try to put on a show in the future."

Buying those overpriced wines outside is a waste of money; they don't even taste good, and you're only paying for the fancy name. Just put a nice label on Chen Hong's wine and it'll sell like hotcakes in a department store.

Yu Zhaohua retorted to the village chief: "Don't talk nonsense to Guoqing. People are after the brand when they go out. If you really put Chen Hong's wine on the table, people won't even open it. It's a product without a brand, manufacturer, or production date."

"If you think it's good, let's drink it at home, brother. If you go chatting with other people during the National Day holiday, and they ask you, 'Do you know anything about wine? How many kinds of wine have you tried?' they'll shut you up like a country bumpkin!"

"Hey, that's true. Come on, country bumpkin, have another drink. This wine is really good. Who cares if it's some kind of counterfeit or substandard product? Anyway, we're both unemployed and unsophisticated people, so it's a perfect match."

"You've had too much to drink. How did we become people with no job, no income, and no support?" Yu Zhaohua asked, puzzled.

"Calling him a 'three-no' person is too kind. He has no power, no influence, and no ability! Think about it again, there are several other things he doesn't have, and they all fit the bill."

Yu Yang interjected, "Grandpa, I know the answer to this question. I have no education, no ability, no money, and no looks. These are the four I know."

With a "pfft," the three old people burst out laughing, spitting out their drinks. Aunt Guo wiped the wine off Yu Yang's face as she said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Where did you hear that?"

"In the TV series, the pretty older sister scolded the older brother, 'You scumbag, go to hell! You have no education, no ability, no money, no looks, and you still dare to cheat on me.'"

Watching him earnestly mimic the high-pitched swearing of girls on TV, the three of them burst into laughter again. Aunt Guo laughed so hard she could hardly breathe, and quickly pulled him to the bathroom to wash his face.

"This kid is hilarious. Look how well he imitates others. He'll definitely be a movie star when he grows up. His ability to imitate is just unmatched."

With Yu Yang around, he provided the three elderly people with plenty of laughs for half a year. After finally finishing their meal, Aunt Guo went to wash the pots and dishes.

The village chief and Grandpa Yu Yang turned the dried fish over again and fed the chickens and ducks in the backyard. The elderly couple then took two bottles of wine home.

Yu Yang was sleepy, so his grandfather put him to bed. The old man also fell asleep on the sofa while watching TV.

When he woke up and saw that he was covered with a towel, he was stunned for a moment before he remembered that Yu Yang had gotten up and covered him with it.

Afraid of disturbing his afternoon nap, Yu Yang was playing with his dog under the jujube tree in the yard. After washing his face, he looked at his grandson from afar and admitted that his cousin was right; Chen Hong was very good at educating children.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!