Hu Jun is old but in good health, except for being a little hard of hearing. Hu Dong's voice is loud, and the neighbors on both sides heard him and came out.
"Oh, so Qingyue's children have come to visit their grandfather." The second maternal grandfather from the east came out and immediately spotted Jiang Ruyu and her two siblings.
"Hello, Second Grandfather, we've arrived. How are you doing?" Jiang Ruyu greeted Second Grandfather with a smile, and Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin followed suit.
"You're all in good health. Oh my, it's only been a short time since we last met, and you've all grown up so much. That's wonderful."
Hu Jun also came out and laughed when he saw his granddaughter and grandson: "Good, good, you're all here. Come on home. Second son, come over for lunch and have a couple of drinks with us brothers."
"Okay, I'll ask the old lady to add a dish, and we'll have a couple of drinks at noon."
The three siblings followed their maternal grandfather into the house. The younger cousin had also gone to her maternal grandfather's house for summer vacation. The second cousin was a squad leader in the production brigade. The uncle was the militia company commander of the production team. The maternal grandfather had also served in the army before. After retiring from the army, he became the party secretary of the production brigade and is now retired.
Hu Dong turned and walked out, intending to go to the field to call his parents back. Now that his aunt was gone, they needed to care more about his cousins so that they would be willing to come more often and so that they could have more relatives to visit in the future.
Hu Jun led the three children into the house. He took out a pot of malted milk powder from his room and made a cup for each of the three children. Jiang Ruyu tried to stop him, saying, "Grandpa, we are all so old now, we don't drink this stuff anymore. You keep it for yourself."
"How old are you? You'll always be little kids to me. I'll pour you some, just drink it." Hu Jun ignored what his granddaughter said; he really felt anxious just thinking about these children.
Jiang Ruyu asked Jiang Hui to take out the things she brought. When Hu Jun saw that she had brought rice, noodles, meat and oil, he immediately stared at his granddaughter with wide eyes: "What are you doing bringing these things? My family has everything. Do you, a junior, need to bring me these things? Take them all back with you when you go back, you hear? Your grandma has it tough too."
Jiang Ruyu looked at her grandfather, her eyes a little red: "Grandpa, what you said makes me sad. These are things that my mother should have done. Now that my mother is gone, I will do them now and in the future. Before, when I was still in school, I didn't have the ability, and you, Grandma, and my uncle and aunt helped us a lot. Now we've grown up, I'm working, and Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin will graduate soon. We will all be filial to you and my grandma."
“That’s right, Grandpa, we’ve all grown up. You’ll be able to enjoy life from now on,” Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin chimed in.
Hu Jun was moved to tears by his grandsons. He turned away to wipe his tears, then turned back and said, "Grandpa knows you are all filial children. I'll let it go this time, but not in the future. You can only close your eyes and see your grandma and parents when you get married and start your own families."
Hearing that several of his nephews had come, Hu Qingling called his wife and son back. It's not busy farming season now, just weeding and watering. Anyway, there's never a quiet time in the countryside all year round.
As soon as Hu Qingling entered the house, he saw a table full of things, and they weren't ordinary items. He immediately glared at them and said, "Are you being too polite with your uncle? If you don't bring these things, I won't feed you, will I?"
On the contrary, Zhang Yuezhen and Xu Cuicui's smiles became more sincere when they saw the table full of food: "Ruyu, Xiaohui, Xiaolin, it's been a while since you've come. Your grandpa and uncle have been talking about it for a long time."
"It's my fault. I've been busy taking over the job and getting familiar with the work, so I haven't been able to come. I'll come to see Grandpa every month from now on." Jiang Ruyu knew that her aunt had some ulterior motives, but she didn't care. As long as she was good to Grandpa, that was enough.
Zhang Yuezhen and Xu Cuicui exchanged a few words and then went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Jiang Ruyu chatted and laughed with her cousins for a while before going to the kitchen to help.
"I don't need your help. You're a pampered guest. How can I let you do chores when you're at your uncle's house?" Zhang Yuezhen said politely.
Jiang Ruyu didn't take it seriously: "Aunt, I can help with the fire. We have to do some work, otherwise we'll feel bad eating without working."
Zhang Yuezhen stopped saying she couldn't work and instead started asking her about her job: "Your older cousin said you're working, as a sales clerk at a department store?"
“Yes, I’ve only been working for a month. I hope I can get some things that don’t require coupons. If my family needs anything, I’ll go back and see if I can get it,” Jiang Ruyu said with a smile.
“That’s great. Your second cousin is in his early twenties and it’s time for him to get married. I’d like to see if I can get some red cloth and pillowcases. We don’t have enough thermos flasks at home, so I’d like to get another one.”
Jiang Ruyu pursed her lips and thought for a moment, then slowly said, "I'll go back and ask around. I should be able to get another thermos. Red cloth and pillowcases are rare items; you have to be lucky to find them."
Zhang Yuezhen smiled and didn't say anything more. Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Xu Cuicui smiled and asked her cousin, "Is your department store really big? I've never been there."
Jiang Ruyu smiled and looked at her cousin-in-law: "It is quite big, with several floors. You can even see foreign guests with blond hair. Our shoe department has hundreds of different kinds of shoes, and they can even make them to order. They are just very expensive. Generally, it is foreigners or cadres who go back there, as well as some newlyweds."
"That's great. I'll definitely go and see it sometime. It's not like we're so close to the capital but have never been to the city." Xu Cuicui envied her sister-in-law, whose husband had passed away. She was also from the countryside, but she married a city person and had city children.
“Sure, stay at my place. It’s not big, but you can squeeze in. I’ll take you to the Great Wall, the hutongs, and the department store.” Jiang Ruyu quite liked this cousin-in-law. Perhaps it was because she was still young and didn’t care much about such things.
For lunch, my uncle caught an old hen that didn't lay eggs and made chicken soup. It simmered for a long time until it was tender. There were plenty of vegetables in the garden right now, and they were all ready to eat. Zhang Yuezhen wasn't stingy; her sister-in-law's child had so many things to give her, and she wasn't a greedy person.
She made a cold cucumber salad, steamed the eggplant, shredded it, and poured a sauce made of soy sauce, minced garlic, and sesame oil over it. She also stir-fried green beans with pork belly, scrambled eggs with scallions, and cooked a pot of mixed grain rice. She served it with the roast duck that Jiang Ruyu brought. She was very generous with this meal; some families don't even get to eat this well during the Chinese New Year.
Hu Bing, Hu Jun's younger brother from next door, arrived with a plate of tomatoes in white sugar: "Haha, nephew, your uncle's here for a free meal?"
"Haha, Uncle's here, come in quickly." Hu Qingling invited his uncle into the house.
"Hey, there's roast duck! I've really hit the jackpot with this meal, bro."
"Sit down quickly, let's eat." Hu Jun smiled and pointed to his younger brother, who was quite old but still acted like a child.
The meal lasted for more than an hour. Jiang Ruyu and her two siblings were so full that their grandfather and uncles kept serving them food. After the meal, they chatted for a while and then prepared to go home, as their uncles and the others had to go to work.
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