Chapter 235 Wu Huiniang's Family
Lijia Gou.
The Wu family.
Before dawn, the Wu family got up, put on clean clothes, and made a special trip to Dahe Village to see their granddaughter, who was only three days old.
Old Wu and his wife had two sons and two daughters. Their eldest daughter was married and moved out, and their eldest son needed to stay home to farm. So the couple took their youngest son to Dahe Village.
"Why did Hui Niang only give birth to a daughter!" Aunt Wu muttered as she walked. "Her mother-in-law is so good at having sons, why can't she have one? She's probably going to be hated by her mother-in-law to death, sigh..."
"Let's see who dares to bully my second sister!" Wu Xiaochui clenched his fists. "If my brother-in-law doesn't protect my second sister, I'll never forgive him!"
"Alright, alright!" Boss Wu snapped irritably. "You broke your arm in that fight last time, it's not even fully healed yet, who do you want to fight now?"
The family of three chatted idly and soon arrived at the entrance of Dahe Village.
As soon as the three appeared, they were stopped by the patrol team guarding the village entrance: "Where are you from? Who are you looking for in Dahe Village?"
Old Wu frowned: "My daughter has married into your Dahe Village, and I came here specifically to see her. What, you won't let me in?"
There's no such rule in their Lijia Gou village.
The patrolman asked, "Where did your daughter marry? I'll go ask her first."
Aunt Wu pulled her husband aside and said with a smile, "We are from the Wu family of Lijia Gou. My daughter married into the Zhao family of your Dahe Village. Her husband's name is Zhao Dashan. She gave birth three days ago, and today we are having a baby celebration. As her parents, we naturally had to come and see."
Upon hearing this, the patrolling man laughed: "So you're Da Shan's parents. Hurry up and come in. Sister Zhao has come to ask several times, worried that the Wu family won't be able to find their way. By the way, Da Shan's parents have moved to a new house. You've probably never been here before, right? I'll take you there."
The people guarding the village entrance suddenly became very enthusiastic, leaving the three members of the Wu family completely bewildered.
Cheng Wanwan's family started preparing for the third wedding banquet early in the morning. The custom in the village for holding a third wedding banquet is to prepare noodles, which are called third wedding noodles.
Grandma Zhao brought Sun Shi over early in the morning to help. The Zhao family and the Wu family together made up more than twenty people. The noodles had to be enough to feed everyone, and kneading enough for so many people was no easy task.
Chunhua and Xiahua are helping to pick vegetables; noodles need side dishes too, right?
Cheng Wanwan asked Wen to help her make mushroom and pork sauce. Wild mushrooms that had just been picked from the mountain were chopped into small pieces and cooked together with minced pork in a pot to make a mixed sauce. When the noodles were ready, it was poured on top, and it smelled delicious.
Cao Yingying was boiling eggs; she boiled dozens, filling a whole pot.
Cheng Wanwan felt that it was too stingy to have the Wu family come all the way here for a meal, and that each person only got a bowl of noodles. So she asked Cao Yingying to boil some eggs, cut some up to serve as a side dish with the meal, and let the Wu family take the rest home. She also added some other things, since they couldn't go back empty-handed after coming all this way.
There were also tea leaves in the pot, which made the boiled eggs brown and very fragrant.
"It looks delicious." Donghua walked to the pot, sucked hard on her saliva, and reached out to scoop some into the pot.
"No!" Cao Yingying quickly stopped her. "The pot is full of boiling water. What if you get burned?"
Donghua licked her lips, ignoring the heat, and reached out to grab the egg.
"You little brat, how can you be so greedy!" Sun yelled as she rushed over. "If your grandma finds out, I'll hang you up and beat you!"
The old lady had never allowed her and Donghua to come to her sister-in-law's place. They finally managed to come during the banquet, but if the old lady saw Donghua secretly eating something, how could the two of them ever get on their sister-in-law's good side again?
Sun grabbed Donghua by the ear and took her to the backyard, making her obediently feed the rabbits there.
The front yard was filled with various aromas: the aroma of braised dishes, noodles, minced meat sauce, eggs...
The three members of the Wu family were stunned as soon as they walked in.
They had never smelled such a strong aroma during the Chinese New Year. The fragrance filled their noses and made their mouths water.
Wu Xiaochui swallowed hard, unable to contain himself.
"Look at how spineless you are!" Old Wu said coldly. "Don't let the Zhao family look down on the Wu family, or your second sister's life in this family will be even more difficult!"
Wu Xiaochui nodded quickly.
The three members of the Wu family stepped over the threshold and into the courtyard. The ground was not mud, but bricks, clean and tidy.
The courtyard was large, with walls, and every visible corner was paved with bricks. Two trees were planted at the gate, and a stone table and benches were placed under the trees. Two little girls were sitting there picking vegetables.
A quick glance revealed a carriage in the courtyard. The presence of a carriage meant there must be horses; this household actually owned a carriage.
Old Wu was getting a little unsettled.
Aunt Wu stammered, "We came here once last year when Hui Niang married into the family. It seems her mother-in-law's family lived over there. It was a dilapidated three-room house that leaked when it rained... How come they suddenly live in such a big house? The floor is made of blue bricks and the roof is tiled. My goodness, how much money must have been spent on this..."
Old Wu coughed, meaning, "Don't look so pathetic."
Hearing the sound, Chunhua, who was picking vegetables, quickly got up: "Is that Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu? I'll go in and call Aunt Wu."
Cheng Wanwan washed her hands and hurriedly came out to greet them: "In-laws, you've finally arrived! Please come in and sit down. Dashan, don't bother with the chores, quickly serve your father-in-law some tea and sit with him and your brother for a while. Mother-in-law, let me tell you, that child is so well-behaved. He eats and sleeps, sleeps and eats, and doesn't cause any trouble at all..."
She took Aunt Wu's hand and led her into the house.
Aunt Wu looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Last year, when Dashan and Huiniang were discussing marriage, the two families met quite often. Every time they met, the mother-in-law of the Zhao family would have a cold face, as if the Wu family owed her a hundred taels of silver. If Huiniang hadn't insisted on marrying into the Zhao family, she would never have married her daughter into the Zhao family.
She was already mentally prepared to face her mother-in-law's cold words.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Chengshi took her hand, affectionately called her "mother-in-law," and had a warm smile on her face, as if she had become a completely different person.
The more enthusiastic Cheng Wanwan was, the more uneasy Aunt Wu became.
Could this be some kind of wicked plan they're plotting?
"Mother-in-law, have some tea to soothe your mouth first." Cheng Wanwan poured a cup of tea and handed it to her. "Xi San's noodles will be ready in another fifteen minutes. Let's go in and see Hui Niang and the child first."
Aunt Wu thought it was just ordinary water, but after taking a sip, she found it to be sweet.
This is brown sugar tea that Cheng Wanwan asked Cao Yingying to brew. She pours a cup for anyone who comes to visit the children or bring eggs.
The villagers were unsophisticated and didn't like drinking tea; tea with sugar was much more popular.
Aunt Wu finished the sugar water in one gulp and followed Cheng Wanwan into the inner room.
As soon as she entered, she immediately noticed the silver lock around the child's neck; it was bright, shiny, and really eye-catching.
And the cloth bag the child was carrying wasn't the kind of cloth bag that villagers usually use; it was made of fine cotton. A newborn baby, a little girl, was being carried in fine cotton?
Upon seeing her mother's expression, Wu Huiniang understood what she was thinking and said, "This silver lock is a gift from my mother-in-law. It has the words 'peace' engraved on it, hoping that Xiaozhuzhu can grow up safely."
"What?!"
Aunt Wu was stunned.
From the moment she entered the courtyard, she felt that this home was different from before.
When she was drinking the sugar water, she thought the Zhao family was deliberately showing off to put the Wu family ahead of them. But now she saw the silver lock, the baby's swaddle, and the half-bowl of chicken soup left on the bedside table... Most importantly, she noticed that Hui Niang seemed to have gained weight and become fairer, and her whole body was very round. This was not how a person who had suffered should look, nor did she have the miserable appearance of a woman whose body had been emptied after childbirth... She suddenly felt that things were not quite as she had imagined.
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