Those who came to the feast in the village followed the custom of warm house banquets and brought food that they could eat.
The most abundant food was eggs, which were considered a delicacy in the village. The next most common food was homemade flour, or some millet, red beans, mung beans, soybeans, peanuts, and other grains.
Those from well-off families would bring a bag of brown sugar or some pastries they bought in the city.
Those from poor families would take some radishes, cabbages, potatoes, dried vegetables and mushrooms, etc. They weren't worth much, but there were plenty of them, and if stored properly, they would be enough for her to eat throughout the winter.
Xiao Yunying rolled up her sleeves and started packing her things. Luo Chen and the other children also came to help after they finished tidying up the house.
"Should I dig a cellar?"
Although she owns a supermarket, she can't be too blatant. What if her mother gets suspicious when so many things go missing?
The kitchen in the house has two doors: one is the main entrance facing outwards, and the other leads directly to the living room.
Mu Lianrong happened to come in through the front door: "It would be good to dig a cellar. Cabbage, potatoes and sweet potatoes can be stored in the cellar for a long time, and they won't freeze easily when it snows. I'll have your dad dig one for you."
"Mother, why don't you lie down for a while?"
"Mom isn't tired. Let me tidy up your things and cook for you."
Mu Lianrong was too embarrassed to say that she and Xiao Shanhai had a small argument.
It wasn't really an argument; she just muttered a few words about how she shouldn't have invited the whole village to dinner, not only was it expensive, but it also exhausted her daughter.
Xiao Shan Hai was probably emboldened by the alcohol, which is why he dared to scold her.
“We can’t protect our daughter forever. After we’re gone, the only people who can help her are our blood relatives in the village. If we don’t take this opportunity to ease the tension, who will be willing to speak up for our daughter if anything happens in the future?”
Mu Lianrong was not a short-sighted ordinary country woman; she only grumbled a few words because she felt sorry for her daughter who had suffered so much. She knew that Xiao Shanhai was right.
She couldn't find anything wrong with Xiao Shan Hai's words, and slapped the bed: "You think you're so great just because you've had a little to drink, daring to yell at me!"
Xiao Shanhai lay back down, muttering that he was dizzy, and then turned over and started snoring.
Mu Lianrong knew he was faking it, and too lazy to argue with him, so she left the house and went to the kitchen.
Xiao Yunying didn't think much of it. Together with her mother, she packed all kinds of grains into bags and moved them into the room where the grains were stored. The vegetables were piled up in the corner of the kitchen.
“Yunyun, your Aunt Lin came by and brought a basket of eggs and five taels of silver. Mother kept the eggs, but she took the silver back.”
Since recovering from her illness, she has been wandering around the village with nothing to do, but she deliberately avoids the Lin family, for fear of bumping into each other and feeling awkward.
She wondered if the Lin family was deliberately avoiding her, as she hadn't seen any of them for over a month.
"I didn't see Aunt Lin, and Brother Lin Shi and the others didn't come either."
"Your Aunt Lin came alone, gave a gift and left without staying for a meal."
Mu Lianrong observed her daughter's expression: "Daughter, although He Hua wronged you, it has nothing to do with the Lin family. He Hua has already been divorced, so don't hold a grudge against your Aunt Lin's family."
"Mother, do you think I'm such a person who can't distinguish right from wrong?"
Mu Lianrong rolled up the extra cloth bag after the grain was collected: "The Lin family is really unlucky. They married a shameless daughter-in-law who did such a disgraceful thing. For a long time, they will not be able to hold their heads up in the village. Now they dare not go out unless necessary. They have to carry people on their backs when they fetch water or do laundry."
Xiao Yunying felt ashamed and thought to herself, "Mother, please stop talking. The more you talk, the more I feel sorry for the Lin family."
Head down, she tidied up the snacks and brown sugar on the table. Among the pile of food, she found a small wooden box. Inside was a pink handkerchief embroidered with wild chrysanthemums, a common sight in the village.
"Mother, who sent the handkerchief?"
"The little girl you gave the steamed bun to took this and asked me if her sister could have something to eat. I saw that the two sisters were pitifully thin, so I let them stay for a meal."
"Is this the handkerchief she embroidered?"
She said she embroidered it herself, and since her mother is a skilled embroiderer, she must have learned it from her mother.
Xiao Yunying put the handkerchief back into the wooden box: "Is her family not well-off?"
“You don’t interact much with the villagers and don’t know them. The Duan family moved here four years ago. Her husband was a scholar who went to the city to find a job as a teacher. At first, they lived a good life.”
Three years ago, around May, there was an earthquake, though it wasn't very big. But Duan Xiucai was unlucky; when he was taking a shortcut back home, a rock that rolled down from a cliff hit him on the head. His companions took him to the city, but he died on the way.
With the family's breadwinner gone, how could her mother, a widow, survive with two young girls? She barely managed to support them by mending clothes for villagers and embroidering things to sell in the city.
She sensed that her mother's tone was somewhat somber, and guessed that she was thinking about herself.
Xiao Yunying put the box aside and changed the subject, saying she wanted to raise chickens.
Mu Lianrong said that it's not possible now; it will have to wait until next spring when the weather is not so cold.
"Girl, aren't you planning to raise pigs? Pigs you raise yourself taste the best."
"The pigsty smells too bad, I can't stand it, and I can't manage it all by myself. My mother forgot that I still have to work on the vegetable greenhouse."
Mu Lianrong knew her daughter was clean: "Then next year, Mom will raise a couple more for you to eat."
Xiao Yunying was happy; it felt really warm to be remembered by someone.
After packing her things, Xiao Yunying started preparing dinner.
She kept the tenderloin from both pigs, as well as a pork knuckle, planning to make sweet and sour pork and braised pork knuckle for dinner.
For vegetarian dishes, make stir-fried cabbage with sliced meat, quick-fried shredded potatoes, dry-fried tea tree mushrooms, and a cabbage and meatball soup.
For the main dish, I'll make potstickers with cabbage and pork filling. It'll be a good opportunity to try out her extra-large frying pan.
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