They warmly welcomed the five little girls inside.

"Lotus, Redhead, Little Chrysanthemum, Shuying, Damei, you've all arrived, please have a seat." Since they were all from the same village, Er Ya naturally knew their names.

Sanya also got up to greet them, holding Shuying's hand.

The girls smiled shyly and handed over the things they were holding.

"Sister Erya, this is a gift for you."

Er Ya accepted the gifts warmly and thanked them sincerely. Of course, she knew that the basins, towels, pillowcases, and other items were probably prepared by her family, and no matter what they thought, it was always a kind gesture.

"You girls can play by yourselves, I'm going out for a bit."

Cheng Guangxu also stood up. "Er Ya, I'll go help Mom!"

"Okay! Wait a minute, let me introduce you to these girls."

They all whispered "brother-in-law".

Cheng Guangxu happily went out. Being surrounded by girls, he really didn't feel comfortable staying there.

As I went outside, I saw Li Guihua carrying a basket on her back.

"Mom, where are you going?"

"Going to the market. If we don't have enough candy, let's buy peanuts and melon seeds ready-made."

Today's market is a full-day event, so we can still buy things. But if it's tomorrow's market, it'll only take half a day, and it's too far from here.

"Mom, I'll go tell Er Ya that I'll go with you. I want to see how lively the market is too."

“Okay, then I’ll go find another basket. Today, my daughter and I will buy everything we need.”

Sanya really wanted to go too, but it wasn't possible because her second sister was the only one left at home.

Er Ya had just seen them off, and San Ya wrote down the debt, saying she would have to pay it back when they got married.

The two sisters had just sat down when several more young girls arrived. They received the same hospitality and were given similar gifts.

One afternoon, Er Ya and San Ya entertained the guests who came to offer gifts (local dialect, meaning to give gifts to the bride's family after her marriage) at home. Peanuts and melon seeds were served twice.

"Second sister, Mom and Brother Cheng must have gone to the market to buy these things. We'll definitely need a lot of them the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, it was too rushed."

"Hehe, you think it's rushed, but Brother Cheng definitely doesn't think so."

"Sis, are you really getting married on May Day?"

"Yes, let's get married quickly. Once I'm married, my parents will be able to relax a bit."

Zhu Zi came in and said, "My grandma wants your whole family to come over for dinner."

“My mom and Brother Cheng went to the market and haven’t come back yet. I don’t know where Shitou is, and I don’t know what my dad is doing either. It’s just the two of us at home.”

"Okay, we'll go over as soon as we get home. Eldest sister, third sister is here."

"Really? But we can't go now. Five groups of people came this afternoon. We can't go if we lock the door at home."

"It's alright, we'll see him tonight, won't we?"

Er Ya, isn't Cheng Guangxu Hongmei's classmate?

"Yes, they went abroad together."

"That's fine then. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel at ease if you married into a family where you don't know anything about their background."

"Yes, you can know a person's face but not their heart. No matter how long you spend with them, you can't know everything about them."

"That's right, you two stay home, I'll go help out at home."

After Zhu Zi left, the two sisters tidied up the house. Liu Maocai then returned.

"Dad, why is there so much meat?" Sanya went over to help unload it from the car.

"Not much. Li Sheng's family is slaughtering a pig tomorrow, and they'll need half a pig carcass."

Why would they slaughter a pig on New Year's Eve?

"There's always this commotion, who's really committed to anything?"

You two take care of the cooking, I'll go deliver the car.

"Dad, let's go to my grandma's house for dinner tonight."

"Yes, I'll go and come back quickly to help him at his house."

Shi Tou happened to run into Liu Maocai. "With everything so busy at home, how can you still have time to go out and have fun?"

Stone obediently listened to his father's scolding. He would never talk back.

"Don't just stand there, go help out at your grandma's house."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

The two sisters cleaned the house inside and out before Li Cuihua and Cheng Guangxu returned.

This time he bought even more. Cheng Guangxu was also carrying a basket of eggs.

"Mom, Grandma wants us to go eat."

"Yes, let's hurry over there. We can't just wait to be served something ready."

"Stone and my dad went ahead first."

"Um!"

The four women put their things away and went to their mother's house without delay.

Upon arrival, there was another round of pleasantries. Li Cuihua was especially happy that her two nieces had returned. She had watched her eldest niece grow up, so she was particularly fond of her.

Neither of her two older cousins ​​bought Er Ya anything; they just each gave her ten yuan. They're real relatives, no need for any fancy gestures.

Er Ya's two aunts are both very nice people, and her sister-in-law lives in the village; they get along like sisters. That's why people say their family has a good tradition of good values.

Dinner was also exceptionally lavish. His female relatives kept piling food onto Cheng Guangxu's plate, so he didn't even have to lift a finger.

Cheng Guangxu refused the alcohol, saying, "Uncle, Second Uncle, I really don't drink a drop of alcohol."

None of them urged the others to drink. They themselves were enjoying their drinks.

It was already eight o'clock after dinner, and without any formalities, the group went home. Sanya, as usual, noted down the monetary gifts. Although there was no need for formalities in this kind of relationship, it was still good to keep a record for future reciprocal gifts.

Stone boiled water, and Er Ya and San Ya quickly washed themselves. They wanted to take a bath, but Li Cuihua stopped them.

"You can wash it tomorrow, otherwise it'll be a hassle again. Tomorrow's work is all dirty, and you'll be covered in grease all day."

Nothing more was said that night. The next day, Liu Maocai and his wife got up early as usual; they needed to prepare a big feast. Last night, the couple had roughly calculated that they would need at least ten tables. Fortunately, Li Sheng's family was slaughtering a pig today, otherwise, it really wouldn't be enough.

Da Shan's mother and the other five, who were closest to Li Cuihua, came over after breakfast. Some were cutting meat, others were chopping minced meat. In short, there wasn't a single person idle.

Knowing that Liu Maocai and his family needed meat urgently today, Li Sheng's family slaughtered a pig and sent over half a carcass at eight o'clock.

It was really timely. There were three large pots in the yard, one for pig offal, which had been sold to both families. The other two were for stewing meat chunks.

Shi Tou and Cheng Guangxu were cleaning fish in the yard. Da Shan's father came over and couldn't stand it anymore, so he chased them away. The twelve fish were cleaned in an hour.

Li Cuihua washed the meat, cut it into pieces, and marinated it. Since there was no pot available at this time, she could only wait until the stew was ready.

Liu Maocai went to make tofu and bean curd sheets, and Wang Hongxi and Liu Aimin helped him.

Hu Aifen and Li Cuihua were busy with their hands, but their mouths and minds were also working.

"Cuihua, there's a bowl of chunks of pork and a bowl of strips of pork on the table. There's also a poached meatball and a fried tofu meatball. The cold dish is mixed pork offal. There's also cabbage heart with vermicelli, sweet and sour shredded radish, and finally, sauerkraut stew with vermicelli, cabbage and tofu, and cabbage and bean curd slices. That makes ten dishes in total."