Chapter 19 The Zhao Family Came Down from Their Hometown (Part 1)
Shi Qingqing looked at the water in the foot basin and said calmly: "Don't think too much. As long as you don't sacrifice the interests of our little family to help them, I won't regret what I said today."
Zhao Fengnian nodded heavily.
"Did they say what time we'll arrive?" Shi Qingqing asked.
"We'll arrive at Shiqiao Bus Station around 6pm."
"Okay, then we should start waiting at 5:30 out of courtesy. I need to prepare dinner before that, so you go pick them up yourself.
Oh, and we have to find a rental house during the day and clean up, so we set out early and try to finish cleaning before 3pm and stock up on basic supplies. ”
As for how much basic supplies to provide them, it depends on how much food and daily necessities we bring from our hometown for the couple.
She doesn't want to be the virtuous daughter-in-law in her dreams, but someone who gives and receives.
"Yes, okay!" Zhao Fengnian listened to his wife's instructions. His wife's arrangements were much more organized than his.
Shi Qingqing thought of the mission and said the ugly words the day before yesterday: "I will only delay them for one day. I still have to go to the beach early the day after tomorrow, so don't delay your work.
After all, we still haven’t found the rent for next quarter.”
Zhao Fengnian listened to everything at this time. Seeing that his wife had finished washing her feet, he also rinsed his feet with the water she had used.
He washed his feet quickly. He held the basin and poured water on the soles of his feet. He stood on one leg and rubbed the sole of his other foot against the instep of the leg.
One left and one right, neither foot is biased.
The night is as dark as water.
The moon and stars are sparse.
As a rooster crowed, a few dogs barked in response.
Shi Qingqing suddenly opened her eyes and woke up.
Zhao Fengnian was still sleeping with his mouth slightly open. Shi Qingqing got downstairs quietly, put on her clothes, tied her hair neatly, washed up, then took the money and went out to buy some vegetables.
I bought five pounds of lard, two pounds of pork belly with alternating fat and lean meat, two large bones with not much meat on them, potatoes, radishes, bean sprouts, tofu, and finally two fish, and some small shrimps and clams.
I saw someone buying oyster meat in a plastic bag, so I bought some.
Finally, I bought a big pot and some plastic bowls and chopsticks. The shops in the vegetable market are quite cheap, so I bought quite a lot of tableware, enough for the guests to take home directly after entertaining them.
Eggs are also an indispensable dish when entertaining guests, so we might as well take out thirty or so of them to reduce the load on the small warehouse as much as possible.
When carrying the vegetables back, Zhao Fengnian was so moved that his eyes were red.
Shi Qingqing also gave him money to buy cigarettes, alcohol, two bottles of Coke and a bottle of Sprite.
Because there were children coming with us, we also bought a row of Jinwei drinks.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the two went out to look for houses, and they were the ones that Shi Qingqing had previously liked that had the best value for money.
With her, a local, speaking up, not only was the rent negotiated, but I only had to pay one month's payment upfront to get the keys.
Shi Qingqing sighed: "After all, I am a guarantor. Your brothers and sisters must remember to pay the rent next month, otherwise it will be difficult for us to do business."
At noon, the two went home to cook noodles, adding meat slices, clams, fried eggs, and a handful of bean sprouts. After they were full, they went back to clean the two rental houses.
Shi Qingqing didn't work too hard, nor did she let Zhao Fengnian work too hard. She just cleaned the floor, swept away the obvious spider webs, and reassembled the bed made of hollow bricks and wooden boards. That was all she did.
The old kitchen dirt and other things left by the previous tenants should be cleaned up by the residents themselves.
Since Zhao Fengnian wanted to use his energy, he should use it on her and not waste it on useless things.
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, the two of them went out and bought some cleaning supplies, paper towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and completely used up the ninety-two dollars they had spent last time and the few dozen dollars that were left.
It was almost five o'clock when Shi Qingqing ordered Zhao Fengnian to kill fish, cut and wash vegetables, wash pots and dishes, press lard, and steam rice. Then he took the bus fare and went out to pick someone up at the bus station.
Shi Qingqing took an hour-long lunch break before getting up to prepare dinner.
The ingredients were all pre-cut and prepared according to her requirements. Even the oil residue was packed separately. She only had to cook. It was so convenient.
Soon, the potatoes stewed with meat, bean sprouts fried with lard, tofu stuffed with meat, braised fish fillet, spicy fried clams, oyster fried eggs, and radish bone soup were ready.
The bone soup was cooked as soon as I got home, so it wasn’t too late.
Shi Qingqing had just closed the vegetable curtain when there was a loud commotion outside.
Zhao Fengnian was the first to enter the room, carrying a backpack on his back and a snakeskin bag and a urea bag in his hands.
Several people came in one after another behind me.
Zhao Youtian's family of four.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao Cuilan.
Zhao Meilan.
As soon as the eight people entered the door, the yard suddenly became crowded and there was almost no place to stand.
Some of the luggage, buckets, basins and mats could only be placed against the wall in the yard. These were all arranged by Zhao Fengnian. Shi Qingqing just stood up from her seat, walked a few steps, and with a smile asked everyone to wash their faces and hands and prepare for dinner.
"It's Coke! There's Coke to drink!" Zhao Youtian's two children, Zhao Guangming and Zhao Fenglai, walked towards the stool where the drinks were placed.
Zhao Guangming bit the one-liter Coke bottle with his teeth and poured the liquid into his mouth.
Zhao Fenglai is thirteen years old this year, and he is considered a sensible child in the countryside. He didn't do it so obviously. He also wanted to drink, but he asked Shi Qingqing: "Auntie, do you have a bowl?"
Shi Qingqing pointed at the table and said, "Yes! Wash your hands and sit down to eat slowly. I bought three bottles of drinks for you. It's enough for you to drink."
Zhao Youtian was calm and composed. He said thank you to his brother and sister-in-law for their hard work, then sat down and started talking to Zhao Fengnian.
His wife Xu Ju warmly took Shi Qingqing out to see the things they brought from their hometown.
"This bag of taro was packed by grandma herself. She knows that my uncle likes to eat this taro, so she almost emptied the taro in the house. You can make it into moldy taro later. It's delicious. If you don't know how to make it, come and ask me and I'll teach you."
Shi Qingqing took a look and saw that there was only half a bag of taro, big and small, including the soil.
"And this. People here like sweet potatoes. I dug a lot for you."
Zhao Cuilan had originally sat down to serve herself some rice, but when she heard this she quickly stood up and said, "Sister-in-law, my Ah Biao also dug these sweet potatoes, and half of the taro was taken from my house, so why are you claiming all the credit for it?"
Shi Qingqing did not speak to dissuade him, and let Xu Ju say awkwardly: "Look at what you said, why do family members still fight over the credit? Okay, okay, it's all your hard work, okay."
Zhao Meilan watched the show from the side, but found it boring and began to glance around the furnishings in the room.
There was no TV, no refrigerator, and even no radio, which made Zhao Meilan feel a little disgusted.
But when she saw the food on the table, Zhao Meilan couldn't control her instinct and swallowed.
By the door, Shi Qingqing had been dragged by Xu Ju to look at all the specialties brought from her hometown.
In addition to sweet potatoes and taro, there are two pounds of bean curd cakes made from bean curd dregs, a bag of rice candy, a bag of peanut candy, a bag of snacks with white sugar coating but actually peanuts as the core, a bag of dried shredded radish, and finally eight pieces of cold plain cakes.
The value of these things is not as much as this meal, but Shi Qingqing doesn't care.
This is a huge deviation from the dream.
However, seeing that these people had already started to eat and drink without any scruples, she still had something to say.
"Eh? Didn't you call and say you still have smoked goose and smoked eggs? Did they leave them on the train? If so, I'll go to the station and ask. Fengnian has been talking about smoked goose for several days, and it makes me want to try it again."
This question almost made several adults at the table choke.
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