Xu Zhixin glanced at the dishes on the table. People at that time were generally poor. Even city dwellers would only order two or three dishes at most. Four dishes and a soup were rare, not to mention rural people.

There is one meat in the four dishes. The four dishes are fried pork slices with wood ear, shredded potatoes with sauerkraut, fried tofu with tomatoes and hot and sour cabbage, and there is also a vegetable soup.

But even though there were not too few dishes at that time, after Liu Cuihua asked Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie to sit down, she still said that she didn't know they were coming, so she didn't cook more dishes. She said she was sorry and asked them not to be disgusted. She was very polite.

"So many dishes are not enough! Aunt Cuihua, so many dishes are already very rich. When I was at home, except during festivals, there were only two dishes for each meal." Lu Pinjie said.

Xu Zhixin quickly agreed, saying, "My family is the same... Your family has a rich meal, just like the New Year."

Hearing their words, Liu Cuihua smiled and asked her daughter-in-law to quickly scoop some rice for them.

The meal was rice mixed with cornmeal. Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie didn't dislike it when they saw it. At that time, food was in short supply, especially refined grain. Even city dwellers couldn't afford to eat rice every day. They could only eat rice once in many meals. Rice mixed with cornmeal was already quite good.

During the meal, all members of Cheng Guozhong's family, except Xiao Shitou, picked up food for Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie. They were very enthusiastic, which made Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie feel at ease. They thought that the captain's family looked nice and there was nothing to worry about living in the captain's house. They didn't have to worry about the captain's family disliking them, despising them, or giving them a cold shoulder.

During the meal, Cheng Guozhong and his wife asked about Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie's family situation. They learned that Xu Zhixin was the only one left in the Xu family. Both her parents were gone and she was now an orphan. The Cheng family members felt very sympathetic towards her and felt a little sorry for her.

Lu Pinjie also sympathized with her and felt sorry for her.

Xu Zhixin not only told the Cheng family about her own affairs, but also inquired about the Cheng family's situation. She learned that Cheng Guozhong and his wife had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son of the Cheng family, Cheng Zhaohong, was 23 years old this year. He married Liang Jinxiu, who was his elementary school classmate and lived in the next brigade, two years ago.

The second child of the Cheng family is a daughter named Cheng Xiaofeng, who is 20 years old this year. Last year, she married to the only son of an accountant in Yunfeng Brigade, which is more than 100 miles away from Lu'an Brigade.

The third child of the Cheng family is the second son of Cheng Guozhong and Liu Cuihua. His name is Cheng Jinghong. He is 17 years old this year and is a sophomore in the only high school in the county. He is a good student and is highly regarded by Cheng Guozhong and Liu Cuihua. Cheng Guozhong said that if his second son was not banned from college now, he would definitely be admitted to college and bring honor to his Cheng family.

The third child is Little Stone Cheng Shihong. This child is still young, but there is much to be said about him. He is bold, lively, a little naughty, but sweet-mouthed and likable.

Xiao Shitou is usually taken care of by his mother and his eldest sister-in-law, but in the afternoon, something happened at Liang Jinxiu's parents' home, so Cheng Zhaohong accompanied Liang Jinxiu to visit her, leaving only his mother with him. He ran out to play while his mother was doing housework. He was so brave that he ran out of the village and even ran up the mountain, where he met a wolf.

When talking about this, Xiao Shitou was criticized by the whole family again. Everyone scolded him and warned him not to go out of the village to play alone again, let alone go to the mountains.

People at that time didn't have much entertainment at night, so they would just eat, chat for a while and then go to bed, and the Cheng family was no exception.

After dinner, the Cheng family chatted with Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie for a while and then let them go to bed.

Liang Jinxiu took Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie to the room of Cheng Xiaofeng, the daughter of Cheng Guozhong and Liu Cuihua. The room had everything it should have and was tidy and spotless. It was obvious that although Cheng Xiaofeng was married, her family cared about her very much and often cleaned her room.

Xu Zhixin and Lu Pinjie both thought the room was nice and thanked Liang Jinxiu. They went to rest after Liang Jinxiu left. Neither of them was used to the same bed, so they slept well all night.