Chapter 38: Marriage
The auntie immediately said, "I know. My eldest sister gave birth to five sons. She is willing to let her second son come to live with her."
"They will definitely be able to have sons in the future, and they will be very filial."
"But he is still a young man, and the betrothal gift..."
Wu Xiu pretended to be stupid. No, she looked weak and helpless. "My husband makes the decisions on all the important matters at home. Why don't you go and talk to him?"
The family had already reached a tacit understanding. Since she was not a lower-middle-class poor peasant, any difficulties she encountered would be pushed onto her parents-in-law and her husband.
Anyway, she tries not to offend anyone.
After Chu Hong got divorced, no matter who came to talk to her about Chu Hong's marriage, whether it was from Lingshang Village, Lingzhong Village, or people from her own village, she dealt with it in the same way.
The aunt was still unwilling to give up, so she simply asked Chu Hong: "My nephew is good-looking and can read, how about you meet him? Isn't it said that freedom of marriage should be promoted now?"
Chu Hong sighed and asked in a very embarrassed tone, "If I remarry, the man must be more handsome than my ex-husband, more obedient than him, more diligent and capable than him, and more educated, at least he must have graduated from high school."
After hearing what Chu Hong said, the aunt's face turned as dark as if she had been struck by lightning. Without saying anything, she turned around and strode away.
Wu Xiu glared at her daughter and said helplessly, "Now it's good. Everyone in the neighborhood will know that you can't forget your ex-husband."
"It's okay. I can't hear what others say about me behind my back." Chu Hong didn't care: "I'm still young anyway. I'll talk about it in two years."
She could also imagine that people would say that she was too picky and that it was simply a daydream to dream of finding a man better than her ex-husband after being abandoned.
Or they may suspect that she still can't forget her ex-husband and is making excuses for not wanting to get married.
But because of her adopted father, no one would gossip about her in front of her.
Seeing that her daughter knew the consequences and still dared to be so arrogant, Wu Xiu envied her and deliberately sighed: "You really have a brain now."
"It's all your fault that I was born with a love-brain." Chu Hong smiled at her smugly: "Fortunately I came to my senses, so you can get a smart and capable daughter for free."
Wu Xiu admitted defeat: "When it comes to being thick-skinned, I'm really not as good as you."
He urged her again: "I am worried that your sister is the only one at home. You should go back and keep an eye on it, so that your sister and her friends won't ruin the good things."
Chu Hong thought so too, so she stood up and left, not forgetting to make an excuse for herself: "If anyone comes to see me, just say I went to the reservoir."
It's because she has to earn work points every day that she feels embarrassed to stay at home often.
When she came out, she saw that Lao Jin and the others had already washed the wooden barrel with wood ash and put it there to dry.
They were not idle either, and had already gone to work on making clay models.
There were a few snotty-nosed kids playing with paper cannons nearby, and when they saw her they all rushed to shout, "Second Sister."
"Second aunt."
They still remembered that she had given them candies before, and now they were much more enthusiastic when they saw her.
"Hey." Chu Hong also responded and quickly slipped back home.
When I got home, I saw Chuchu and the other two children boiling water. Grandma Chu, Grandma Jia, and Chu Dan were all rubbing pig intestines with bitter faces.
"Sister, this is too smelly and hard to clean up." Chu Dan complained when she saw her coming back: "I've changed three pots of water and it's still not clean. I don't want to eat pig offal anymore."
When Chu Hong asked, she found out that they turned the pig intestines over, scraped them clean with bamboo strips, rubbed them with wood ash, and then turned them over and continued to rub them three times.
Even so, Grandma Jia still complained about the smell and prepared to wash it a few more times.
Chu Hong hurriedly said, "Let me take care of the rest. Since the sun is shining brightly today and the weather is not too cold, and there is still hot water in the pot, why don't you all take a bath?"
If she let them wash it further, Chu Hong was worried that the intestines would no longer taste like pig intestines.
Thanks to myself for coming back.
Grandma Chu and the others were also very interested. When the weather got cold, they didn't dare to take a bath. Not only was it troublesome to boil hot water, but they were also afraid that they would catch a cold due to their poor resistance.
They feel uncomfortable if they don't take a bath before the New Year.
Chu Hong's family has a simple bathroom in the yard, which is a soft shed made of old plastic sheeting supported by bamboo poles.
The roof of the shed is covered with straw, and the sides are covered with straw curtains. Two braziers are placed inside. Although the space is small, it can become warm in an instant.
So after washing my hands, I went to light the brazier and get some clothes.
Chu Hong picked up a few small pig intestines and went to find an unused ballpoint pen shell: "Blow up some pig intestines and I'll make you glutinous rice sausages."
Chu Dan originally wanted to refuse, but when he heard about the glutinous rice sausage, he compromised and quickly blew up a dozen pig intestines, tied both ends with wool, and hung them on the clothesline in the yard, swaying in the wind.
Chu Dan couldn't help but smile: "Sister, we haven't had such a sumptuous New Year's celebration in many years."
"I hope we can also buy such rich New Year's goods next year."
Chu Hong thought she was too easy to deal with, so she started by promising her: "Next year will definitely be better than this year, with chickens, ducks, fish and meat all available."
As the old saying goes, the New Year comes after Laba Festival.
But in the countryside, on the 26th, everyone rests and prepares for the New Year.
Even if they were mud houses, they were all cleaned.
Don’t even think about killing chickens and ducks, as few families can afford such an extravagance.
There were a few families who agreed to make tofu, and for the good intention of having surplus every year, they filled the remaining wild ponds with water and caught fish.
All the small fish were put into the fields filled with water to be raised first, and the big fish were thrown into wooden barrels, and then they would be distributed according to work points.
When it comes to catching fish, the men are the main force and the women rarely come to watch the fun. Not to mention the children, they have already run crazy to the fish pond and howled at the side asking where the fish are.
If the adults hadn't been watching closely, he would have gone down and done it long ago.
Chu Hong was not interested in the excitement.
It was too windy outside, so she would rather stay at home a little longer. She had agreed with her father to have someone come to her house to call her when the fish was to be divided.
Since Chu Hong is an accountant, she cannot be absent when things are distributed.
Chu Hong was at home, warming herself by the fire, and at the same time directed Chu Chu and the other three: "There's a burnt smell, pick out all the peanuts."
When I had nothing to do, I asked Chuchu and the others to put the raw peanuts in the brazier, and then use tree branches and chopsticks to pick them out. They were especially delicious when eaten while hot.
Xiao Jin ate the hot peanuts with a hiss and was eager to try: "Sister, shall we get some corn and beans?"
"Okay." Chu Hong took two bamboo tubes and grabbed a handful of soybeans and corn kernels. "Let me be frank with you. You have to eat them all. Don't waste them."
There are few snacks to eat in the countryside, and children like to roast their own corn kernels and soybean kernels, and no one is willing to waste them.
She said this simply because she didn't want them to feel embarrassed about eating.
"I love it." Chu Chu quickly said, "Sister, I'll bake it for you."
Chuchu rubbed the little girl's soft and unhealthy yellow hair, and spoke in a very gentle voice: "Okay, Chuchu is really capable."
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