As they were talking, Sun Aiju's voice came from outside the house, "Come over for dinner."
The train arrived at noon, and it took another two hours to reach Shangang Village. From Chen Lie and Ning Tang to Da Wa and the other three children, their stomachs were rumbling with hunger.
Ning Tang quickly responded, "Okay, I'll be right there."
After saying that, he and Shen Lie took the three little ones to the main hall for dinner.
A large round dining table had already been set up in the main room. Ning Tang took a glance at it and thought it must have been newly built.
In the past, when there were few people at home, we always used a square table for meals. This time, there were many people coming back, so we specially set up a large round table.
Ning Tang and the others arrived, and Ning Xue and Su Junyan also came with their twins.
A group of people sat around a round table. Big Wa and the other two were curious about everything and looked around.
Ning De placed the bowls and washed dishes on the table and called out, "Sister, cousin, brother-in-law, cousin-in-law, you must be hungry. Come and eat."
Ning Tang looked into the bowl and found that it was filled with noodles.
Thin noodles, an egg, two drops of sesame oil, and two small green vegetables, it looks so tempting.
She suddenly looked at Sun Aiju. She had just said it casually before going to Hailang Island, that she would go out to make dumplings and go home to make noodles. She didn't expect her mother still remembered it.
Sun Aiju wiped her hands on her apron and said, "Why are you looking at me? Why don't you move your chopsticks? Eat quickly, or it will get clumsy later." She added, "Just eat something simple for now. We'll have a delicious meal tonight."
Ning Tang hummed with a nasal sound, slurping the noodles and saying, "It's delicious, Mom. Your cooking skills have improved again."
Sun Aiju smiled and didn't respond.
Ning Tang asked again, "Is my brother back?"
Sun Aiju sighed, "He didn't reply, but he did send me a letter saying he was out on another mission. I had originally arranged a blind date for him during the Chinese New Year, but unfortunately he didn't show up, so it all fell through."
Ning Tang stuck out her tongue. If Ning Jun knew that Sun Aiju had arranged a blind date for him, he would have to run away even if he came back.
He is a staunch bachelor.
After eating noodles, my stomach is full and I start to feel sleepy.
The two families went to their respective huts to take a nap. When they woke up, it was already dark.
Ning Tang was awakened by the aroma of food. She opened her eyes and saw the cotton curtains were dark. The sun must have set. "What time is it now?"
The Ning family didn't have a wall clock, and Chen Lie didn't have a watch either. He roughly estimated the time, "It should be seven o'clock."
Ning Tang stood up, put on his coat and shoes, and looked around the room. Da Wa and the other three were not there. He was surprised, "Where did Da Wa and the others go?"
Shen Lie smiled and said, "Ningde took them to set off firecrackers."
Ning Tang nodded. Although Ning De is young, he is very reliable. She feels at ease with him taking care of the three children.
The two of them left the house and were about to go to the main hall to eat when they saw Da Wa and the other three running in in a hurry, smelling of firecrackers.
Ning Tang was happy, "Did you have fun?"
Da Wa nodded excitedly, "My uncle is amazing. He can use a single firecracker to set off so many different things. How could I not have thought of that before?"
"Hey." Chen Lie said, "Tell me about it."
Sanwa took over and said eloquently, "My uncle took us to blow up cow dung. We lit the firecrackers and stuck them on the cow dung. With a bang, everything exploded." After saying that, he giggled non-stop.
Ning Tang narrowed his eyes and stretched out his voice, "Dezi——"
I just said he was reliable, but now he's taking a few kids to blow up cow dung.
Ning De pressed San Wa's head and said, "San Wa, you betrayed me." He then gave Ning Tang a wry smile and said, "Cousin, I took them and hid far away. They didn't get involved in any of the dirt."
Ning Tang snorted, "If you get involved, I can't stand here and talk to you."
Did you chase Ningde with a broom a long time ago? He started screaming.
Chen Lie tried to smooth things over, "Let's go, let's go eat and see what delicious food mom and dad have cooked."
Ning Tang glanced at him. Before, he used to call them father-in-law and mother-in-law, but now he is becoming more and more demanding.
Entering the main room, the big round table was filled with food, seven dishes and one soup, chicken, duck, fish and meat, everything, the aroma was tangy.
Su Junyan, Ning Xue and the twins were already in their seats.
Logically speaking, Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu should be closer to Ningde, after all, they are related by blood. In addition, the two children have been suppressed in Hailang Island for so long, and now they finally have the chance to get out and relax, so they also want to go out and play.
But Ning Xue refused to give in.
First, she felt that the things Ningde played with the children were not serious. Second, she was afraid of the sequelae of the kidnapping and did not dare to let the twins out of her sight.
So he forced the twins not to go and showed up at the dinner table early.
Ning Tang and Shen Lie sat down with the three little ones.
Sun Aiju and Zhou Yin were still busy in the kitchen. Now only Ning Weiguo and Ning Weidang were at the dinner table.
Ning Weiguo sat in the main seat, with an empty seat next to him, which was reserved for Sun Aiju. Ning Weidang sat next to him, with an empty seat next to him, which was reserved for Zhou Yin.
Ning Tang and Shen Lie sat down in Sun Aiju's empty seat, just across the table from Ning Xue and Su Junyan.
Ning Weiguo was very pleased to see the lively family. He stood up to get the orange soda he had bought in advance and distributed it to the five children.
The weather in Shangang Village is cold, and frost forms on orange soda after it is left on the windowsill for a while.
Chen Lie helped the three kids open the lid. The three kids held the orange soda in their hands and gulped it down. After finishing, they all burped for a long time.
Chen Lie couldn't bear it, "Drink less, we still have to eat later."
Ning Tang said, "It's okay, let the three of them indulge themselves for once today."
The eldest child smiled sweetly, "Mom, you are so kind."
Ning Tang was amused and teased him, "I'm a good mother if I give you orange soda..."
Da Wa was used to chatting with Ning Tang, so he added, "If I don't give it to you, I'm not a bad mom." After saying that, he glanced at Ning Tang, and the meaning was very clear: You can't cheat me.
This made Shen Lie very happy.
The last dish of stir-fried dishes was served on the table, and Sun Aiju and Zhou Yin also sat down. When everyone was present, the meal began.
Sun Aiju hadn't seen her daughter and son-in-law for a while. She was half focused on eating and half on observing them.
This glance made her figure out some differences.
Ning Tang ate by himself. Chen Lie would occasionally ask the three children what they wanted to eat, and then stand up to help them pick up food.
The big round table was too big and couldn't be turned. Without Chen Lie, who had long arms, to help, Da Wa and the others could only eat from the food in front of them.
After taking care of the three little ones, Chen Lie looked at what Ning Tang was lacking and made up for it for her.
Sun Aiju nodded secretly and glared at Ning Tang again.
I have never seen an old woman not taking care of her children and letting the old man take care of them.
Ning Tang too? Yes, and he ate very comfortably.
Ning Tang couldn't understand why Sun Aiju was so unreasonable. He glared at her, winked, and handed her a fried meatball. "Mom, try this, it's delicious."
Sun Aiju snorted in annoyance, "I made it, how could I not know it tastes good?"
Ning Tang looked innocent, not knowing how he had offended his own mother again, and chuckled awkwardly.
Ning De glanced at his sister and brother-in-law. He felt that they had come all the way here and had to take care of the children while eating. So he simply took over the job of taking care of Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu. "Sister, I will help you take care of Guangzong and Yaozu. You just eat with your brother-in-law."
Ning Xue nodded, her eyes filled with worry, and she hesitated, "Can you do it?"
Ning De was speechless. "Isn't it just about feeding two children? What's wrong with that?"
"Okay then." Although Ning Xue let go, her attention never left Ning De.
Ning De lowered his head and asked Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu, "What do you two want to eat? I'll pick it up for you."
Su Guangzong glanced at the food on the table and said, "I want to eat prawns."
Su Yaozu shouted, "I want to eat boiled chicken."
Ningde nodded, stood up and put the braised prawns and poached chicken into the twins' bowls.
Then he saw the twins staring at him motionlessly.
Ning De was stunned. "Why are you two looking at me? Pick up your chopsticks."
Su Yaozu curled his lips and tapped the bowl with his chopsticks, making a crisp sound. "This chicken is still attached to the bones. Please help me separate the meat from the bones, and then dip it in the sauce so I can eat it."
Su Guangzong whispered, "Uncle, I don't know how to peel shrimp. Can you help me peel the shells?"
Ningde's brows were almost knotted. Where did this come from? Young master, what's wrong with you?
When he was the twins' age, he could just put a big chicken leg in his mouth and chew a bone cleanly, so he didn't need anyone's help.
As for these shrimps, there is no need to peel the shells. Just bite off the shrimp heads and tails, and eat the shrimp meat in the middle together with the shells.
Shrimps are a rare commodity in Shangang Village. Sometimes people are reluctant to throw away the shrimp heads and tails and will chew them for a long time.
Besides, if a rural kid wants to play the "help me peel" game with his parents, three bamboo poles can be broken.
But thinking that they were distinguished guests who had come from afar, Ning De swallowed his breath and said in a gentle voice, "Okay, I'll help you peel it."
At Ningde's age, he is just a big kid.
He was good at farm work, but he really didn't understand how to serve others.
When I peeled the shrimps for Su Guangzong, I didn't tear off the shrimp heads and didn't peel the shrimp shells cleanly.
The chicken bones were removed for Su Yaozu, and the chicken meat was separated, but there was a large piece of meat attached to the bone. Only a small amount of meat was peeled out, and it had not yet been dipped in the sauce as Su Yaozu requested.
Of course the twins were not happy. They looked at Ning Xue together with bitter faces and complained to her.
Ning Xue had been paying attention to what was going on here and immediately complained, "I told you you don't know how to take care of children."
Ning De was even more furious. His kindness was really not rewarded. He snorted and said, "Then you come by yourself."
"I'll do it." Ning Xue was used to serving the twins, so doing this simple task was a piece of cake for her.
Soon, the bones of the poached chicken were removed, and the shredded chicken was dipped in a special sauce and garnished with coriander leaves and minced garlic. The prawns were deveined, with their heads, shells, tails and shrimp threads removed, and served in the bowls of Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu respectively.
The twins were finally satisfied and began to eat with relish.
Ning Xue was so busy taking care of them that she didn't even have a single hot meal.
Su Junyan acted as if he didn't see anything and continued to drink and brag with Ning Weidang.
The two of them were talking so loudly that Sun Aiju looked over.
She squinted her eyes and looked at Su Junyan, and suddenly dreamed back to her first blind date.
At first, Su Junyan was just full of sweet talk, praising Ning Xue's cooking and how delicious it was, but he didn't even notice that she couldn't carry the plate?
It's the same now. He is busy drinking and bragging with Ning Weidang, and turns a blind eye to Ning Xue taking care of two children alone.
Ning Tang couldn't stand it any longer, "You don't have to do anything to them, they can do it on their own."
If I continue to take care of Ning Xue like this, I might end up turning her into a useless piece of shit.
Looking at Ning Xue like that, if you didn't know, you would have thought that Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu didn't have arms and legs, otherwise why would they need her to feed them food.
Ning Xue glared, "How can this be possible? They're still children. It's only nine years old after the New Year. How can I not take better care of them?"
Ning Tang complained, "That's not called taking care, that's called serving."
The eldest child tilted his head and asked enthusiastically, "What's the difference between taking care of and serving?"
"Serving is something you can do, and I'm doing it for you. Taking care is something you can't do, and I'm doing it for you. Do you understand?" Ning Tang explained.
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