On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Shen Banxia and his family had already arrived at Zhoujiazhuang.

After returning home, they planned to do a quick cleaning of the house. This time, not only Zhou Mingqian's biological father returned, but also Grandpa and Grandma Shen came back with them.

The main reason is that they can't bear to part with their little one.

They drove back, and the children, who were on holiday, followed behind, watching the spectacle.

Even though it's already 1980, cars are still a rarity. At least in Zhoujiazhuang, no one has bought a four-wheeled vehicle yet.

The children followed behind, making "ooh ooh" noises.

Shen Banxia discovered that she no longer recognized many of the children.

The little boy looked outside curiously and said, "Mommy, I want to go down and play too."

Shen Banxia glanced at Zhou Mingqian.

Zhou Mingqian understood immediately and got out of the car with the little one.

"Here's the candy," Shen Banxia handed over a bag of candy, thankfully she remembered it on her way back.

Sure enough, with the candy paving the way, they quickly accepted the little one.

After returning home, Shen Banxia and the others busied themselves tidying up the house. Zhou Mingqian also returned. The little guy wouldn't get into trouble in the village, especially since he had inherited Shen Banxia's great strength.

After tidying up, Grandpa and Grandma Shen went to rest; they were getting old after all.

Zhou Rui didn't rest; he wanted to go visit Old Zhou's family.

Zhou Mingqian carried the past with him.

"Banxia, ​​are you home?"

Shen Banxia came out, and it turned out to be Aunt Zhu. "I'm here."

"Hey, you're finally back this year! Banxia, ​​you've really made something of yourself. When I saw you on TV, I almost couldn't believe it. How could you be so amazing?" Aunt Zhu couldn't help but exclaim.

Shen Banxia smiled slightly.

"By the way, you guys are back pretty early this time. I just saw that Mingqian took someone to Old Zhou's house. Who was that?" Aunt Zhu asked, her eyes sparkling with gossip.

"We'll find out soon enough."

Seeing this, Aunt Zhu brought up the topic of curing meats for the New Year, "Banxia, ​​are you planning to cure pork and make sausages?"

Unlike before, since the liberalization, every household raises pigs. Before, people rarely made preserved meats, but now, they prepare them in all sorts of ways during the Spring Festival.

Their family is planning to make sausages this year.

Shen Banxia thought of the Cantonese-style and spicy sausages she had eaten before, and was instantly tempted.

"Aunt Zhu, do you sell meat?" You know, these are real grain-fed pigs nowadays.

"Sell it," Aunt Zhu had come here with that intention in mind.

Of course, she had no intention of tricking Banxia.

"When are you planning to slaughter the pig?" Shen Banxia asked. It's already the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month. If you smoke it early, you can take it back to the capital.

"Tomorrow," Aunt Zhu immediately said, "remember to come over for the pork stew then."

“Sure,” since the two families have always kept in touch, there’s no need to be polite.

Sometimes being too polite can feel distant.

Sure enough, Aunt Zhu's face lit up with a smile. "Remember to come early then. I remember you like roasted pig brains, so I'll save some for you."

Shen Banxia chuckled, "I'm an adult now."

"What's wrong with adults? It's not like they can't eat it."

Shen Banxia smiled and nodded.

At the Zhou family's house, Zhou's father instinctively took a few steps back when he saw Zhou Rui suddenly appear. "You, didn't you already go over there?"

Zhou Rui did not explain what had happened. Thinking back to those days when he couldn't go home because of the mission, and there were even inexplicable rumors that he couldn't explain, he felt extremely sad.

Now, looking at Zhou's father, she couldn't bring herself to ask him any of the questions she wanted to.

Regardless of the circumstances, he was the one who raised his son.

Thinking about some things, Zhou Rui asked Zhou Mingqian to leave, as he wanted to talk to his father alone.

Once only the two of them were left, Zhou's father spoke first, "You're back. Where's your sister-in-law?"

“Gone,” Zhou Rui said coldly, thinking of his betraying wife.

"Back then, did your parents leave you some money?" Zhou's father finally asked, still unwilling to give up.

Zhou Rui nodded.

"Ha, I knew it, it's just different when they're not blood relatives," Zhou's father said, but he wasn't happy about the answer. He had always thought that he treated his parents equally.

"Don't you treat Mingqian differently from the other children?" Zhou Rui retorted.

Zhou's father choked for a moment, then quickly defended himself, "But I didn't skimp on his food or drink, and I didn't say much about him taking the family's money to buy pottery and antiques."

"That's what my parents left for their grandson," Zhou Rui said, only this one sentence.

Zhou's father's face turned pale, but he was still unwilling to accept it. "He clearly said that he would treat me and my older brother as his own children, but in the end, it's still the same."

"Isn't it enough that I've helped you get married and have children, and made you the brigade leader?" Don't think Zhou Rui doesn't know anything.

Only then did Zhou's father realize that he had known all along.

"So what brings you here?"

"I want to reveal that Mingqian is my biological son," Zhou Rui said, explaining his purpose in returning home.

“No,” Zhou’s father immediately objected. Wouldn’t that make it impossible to hide the fact that he didn’t have the surname Zhou?

"I just came to let you know," Zhou Rui said, not caring about his opinion.

Mr. Zhou was furious. "If that's the case, why did you even bother coming all this way?"

"I'm just here to pick up something."

"What? They really did leave something for you," Zhou's father couldn't help but feel resentful.

It's a pity he searched the house for so long but found nothing.

Finally, he watched helplessly as Zhou Rui left with a palm-sized black box, and his shoulders slumped limply.

As soon as Zhou Rui left, he handed the box to Zhou Mingqian.

Zhou Mingqian asked, puzzled, "What is this?"

“Give these things left by your grandparents to your wife,” Zhou Rui already knew what they were.

"good".

Shen Banxia received a box of jewelry.

Soon it was time to slaughter the pig for the New Year. Shen Banxia was eating the pig-slaughtering feast, while the children were playing with balls made from pig urine.

Shen Banxia also got to eat roasted pig brains as she wished.

After finishing the pig-slaughtering feast, Shen Banxia enthusiastically pulled Zhou Mingqian to start making sausages.

First, soak the intestines in white wine, then cut the hind leg meat into thumb-sized pieces, prepare the seasonings, marinate, and then stuff them.

After stuffing the meat into the intestines, tie them into small sections with cotton thread, and then prick them with a needle.

After reaching this step, the crucial step arrives: use hot water to seal it tightly, otherwise it will easily fall apart later.

After you've done all that, you can let it air dry. When it's about 70-80% dry, you can start smoking it.

Shen Banxia's flavor is on the sweeter side, and he makes more Cantonese-style dishes. Because of this, he even went out of his way to find some sugarcane peels for smoking.

After all that was done, the Little New Year was approaching, and on that day, an unexpected person arrived.