046 Childhood Friends Gathering
Under the ginkgo tree at the entrance of the alley, a man dressed in an old cotton-padded coat and wrapped up tightly was being questioned by a group of elderly men and women. Lin Sitian and Xu Cheng stood on either side of him, unable to clear a path for him to break through the encirclement.
Lin Sitian was getting anxious when she suddenly saw Guan Yuehe outside the crowd. She quickly waved her hand and shouted, "Yuehe! Come and save us!"
Guan Yuehe stood there and chuckled a few times before stepping forward, grabbing an old man on her left and an old woman on her right, and pulling the people aside to make way for them.
"Xuewen, your mom took the family to your grandma's house for a wedding banquet. Why don't you come to my place for a bit?"
Without thinking, Guan Yuehe said, "Let's go, let's go to my house."
She ran so fast that she forgot to put on her coat, and after the excitement, the wind made her feel cold all over.
"Yes, yes, let's go to Yuehe's house first." Xu Cheng took the heavy package from Ding Xuewen's hand. Lin Sitian chattered away beside him, leading the way and telling Ding Xuewen about the gossip in the alley.
Ding Xuewen was led by his childhood friends to Courtyard No. 2. Although he had been away for more than three years, his childhood friends had never stopped sending letters. They would write down what was going on in each household in the alley, so that he would not feel unfamiliar with Ginkgo Alley.
Then we arrived at Guan Yuehe's house. There was a small stove in the living room, and the water in the aluminum kettle was bubbling away as it boiled. It was much warmer inside than outside, and Guan Yuehe's books, notebooks, and coat were scattered on the sofa.
"Oh no! My roasted sweet potatoes!" Guan Yuehe realized as soon as she entered the house that she had not only forgotten to put on her coat, but also forgotten the roasted sweet potatoes in the stove. She was afraid they would burn to a crisp.
"Please make yourselves at home, I'll go get you some sweet potatoes."
The remaining three were not shy at all. After a brief moment of awkwardness, Ding Xuewen was quickly infected by the enthusiasm of his childhood friends, and his mind and body relaxed.
"Lin Sitian, tidy up her books. Xuewen, help move the table down." Xu Chengcai put down the package and started ordering people to work. He then said to Guan Yuehe in the kitchen, "Your stitching is terrible. The tablecloth is coming undone."
Guan Yuehe used two sticks to pick out the roasted sweet potatoes one by one and put them in a bamboo basket to cool. "You talk too much. Don't eat the roasted sweet potatoes."
Soon, the four of them sat down around the stove. The other three held bowls, while Guan Yuehe held the enamel mug she had received as an advanced worker last year. They were all sipping small amounts of brown sugar water. Then, while hissing and enduring the heat, they continued to peel and roast sweet potatoes.
Once her body had fully warmed up, Lin Sitian asked Ding Xuewen why he hadn't told her beforehand that he was coming back.
"That's right, we told you in advance that we'd come pick you up."
Ding Xuewen laughed and said, "It should have arrived yesterday, but it started snowing heavily halfway there, and the people on the train had to get off to shovel snow, which delayed our arrival until today."
It just so happens that today is Sunday, which is why they have time to be home.
"Then you're back just in time, tomorrow is New Year's Eve." Lin Sitian whispered, "Xu Cheng and I heard that Yuehe is back, and we were thinking of going to the black market with her tomorrow morning to buy some things. You should go too, and keep watch for us."
"good."
"By the way, I haven't asked you yet, why did you suddenly come back?"
Ding Xuewen saw the expectation in his childhood friends' eyes, hoping he could bring good news about returning to the city, but unfortunately, he didn't.
"The commune planned to introduce semi-mechanized rice transplanters, and the commune sent me and two other comrades back to Beijing to learn about the rice transplanters. This gave us the perfect opportunity to take leave to visit our families."①
The first year of being sent to the countryside as an educated youth did not involve holidays. After that, if they needed to ask for leave to return to the city to visit their relatives, they had to obtain a letter of introduction before they could come back.
However, the round trip to visit relatives is a considerable expense. If it weren't for the assignment that would reimburse his travel expenses, Ding Xuewen wouldn't have planned to come back.
But now that I've seen my childhood friends, I feel that all the trouble of going back and forth was worth it.
Guan Yuehe and the other two were somewhat disappointed, as they had thought Ding Xuewen would stay after returning.
Thinking that Ding Xuewen might not have received the letter she sent, Guan Yuehe told him the news she had learned that the university was recruiting students again.
“I received your letter just before I came back.” Ding Xuewen said, “Our county only has twenty slots, and our commune only has two. Last year, two comrades sacrificed their lives while rescuing supplies and people during the construction of the reservoir, and the commune gave those two slots to their children.”
So he felt it was a pity, but he could still accept it.
"It's alright, it's not like there's only enrollment this year, there will be more in the future." Xu Cheng changed the subject and asked him how it was being a teacher in the brigade.
At this point, Ding Xuewen's smile deepened. "It's not bad. My job is quite easy. Life wasn't too hard after I went to the countryside. The commune I'm in has a good grain yield. As long as I don't slack off, I can earn enough work points every day. During my rest time, I can go up the mountain and down the river with the other villagers. I'm never short of food."
The first year was the hardest. We were unfamiliar with the place and had brought very little with us, so life was tough. But with the help of our childhood friends who sent us supplies and the support of our fellow travelers, things gradually got better.
Compared to his previous life at home, he is now living a much better life in the countryside.
"Oh, by the way, I have another classmate who is back this time. If you have time, I'll introduce you to him."
"Ah, I know, his name is Chen Lizhong, right?! You often mention him in your letters, how is his pig farming going?" Lin Sitian asked curiously.
"Very good. The brigade leader praised him as the best pig farmer in the whole commune."
"Wow!" the three ignorant people exclaimed in unison.
After a while, Guan Yuehe suddenly had a brilliant idea and laughed heartily: "You should introduce Grandpa Chen to him!"
Ding Xuewen was stunned for a moment before he remembered that the old man Chen that Guan Yuehe mentioned was the old man Chen from the barbershop. He couldn't help but laugh, "It's good that you reminded me. I should take him to see old man Chen for a haircut before we go back to the Northeast."
The four of them chatted and laughed, and before they knew it, it was noon. Guan Yuehe glanced at her watch and realized it was lunchtime. She said, "I'm having lunch at your house today. Come and help out."
So they got busy again.
"Aunt Jiang has stockpiled so much, can you finish it all?" Lin Sitian glanced at the jars of sauerkraut in the storage room and picked the closest one to open.
“If you had come back a couple of days earlier, you could have caught the ice-breaking fishing trip. Your dad has a friend who asked why you didn’t go… Oh right, I’m going home to get a fish.”
Seeing that he couldn't help, Xu Cheng said, "I'm going out to buy something."
When Lin Sitian brought the fish over, Ding Xuewen was about to take it when he saw the person behind Lin Sitian and quickly greeted her, "Aunt Jiang."
Jiang Guiying brought over a large basin of marinated fish. When she saw Ding Xuewen, she was somewhat moved, not staring at the large new scar on his forehead, and said, "You're back."
"Yes, I'm coming back for the Chinese New Year."
"Mom! Wow, so many fish! Did you dig a fishpond this year?" Guan Yuehe's words immediately dispelled the somber atmosphere at the doorway.
Jiang Guiying glared at her irritably and told her to quickly find an empty basin to fill it with, as the basins at home were not enough and she would have to take it back with her.
"I bought all the cabbages, radishes, and coal briquettes. If I had known you'd be on holiday so late, I would have bought less. Next time you can't come back, just let me know... Oh, by the way, your second brother and sister-in-law came over for New Year's Day, and I had them set up a bed in your living room to stay in. They brought you half a bag of apples, which they've put in the cellar."
"What?!" Guan Yuehe hurriedly handed the shovel to Lin Sitian. "I didn't see a bag of apples in the cellar!"
She rushed to the cellar to check, only to realize that she had overlooked the bags behind the two large bamboo baskets. She picked them up and weighed them in her hands; they were indeed very large bags!
He immediately took a few and took them up.
When she returned home, her mother had already gone back to the neighboring courtyard, and Ding Xuewen had taken over the cooking duties.
"That's really good, your cooking skills have improved so much." Guan Yuehe cut two apples and shared them among the four of them, then stood leisurely to the side, eating and watching.
While he was cooking, people would occasionally come to check on Ding Xuewen, who had suddenly returned, especially the neighbors from Courtyard No. 3.
Seeing that Sister-in-law Xu still showed no sign of leaving after reading the report, Xu Cheng said directly, "Sister-in-law, I'm not going home for dinner today, so I'll skip my portion. You can go home and cook too."
“My family doesn’t have enough food to treat you to a meal, Sister-in-law Xu,” Guan Yuehe immediately added.
Sister-in-law Xu forced a smile through her teeth, "I'm going home to cook too, you guys get back to work."
As soon as everyone left, Lin Sitian snorted and said to Guan Yuehe, "Xu Chengcai's sister-in-law is getting more and more outrageous. She's going to send the New Year's gifts that Xu's brother received to her parents' home, and she's been eyeing Xu Chengcai's New Year's gifts since last week. She must think that Xu Chengcai brought all the gifts to you."
"By the way, Xu Cheng, did you send the New Year's gifts you were allocated to your master's family or your girlfriend's family?"
Guan Yuehe and Ding Xuewen immediately looked at Xu Chengcai and asked in surprise, "You already have a girlfriend?"
"No!" Xu Cheng was quite frank. "They were all sent to my master's house."
"That's only right. You should thank your mentor for making you the team leader."
Xu Cheng continued, "I told my mentor that by July, I will have been a full-time employee for three years and will be eligible for housing. If I can catch the next batch of housing allocations at the factory, I asked her to introduce me to someone. Once I've worked for three years, we can get a marriage certificate and that way we can get a bigger house."
"Good, you've thought long-term!"
"Then you'll be the first of the four of us to get married!" Lin Sitian exclaimed excitedly, then quickly covered her mouth and lowered her voice, "Keep your voice down, don't tell anyone."
The others nodded in agreement and covered their mouths to laugh in the kitchen.
We'd been waiting for this small get-together for over three years, and it just so happened that things were going well for them all. Even though it was only one meat dish and one vegetable dish, it tasted exceptionally delicious.
Not long after we finished eating, Aunt Ding came to our door.
Before anyone even appeared, the sound of crying arrived first.
"Fourth brother! You've been in the countryside for three years and haven't sent a single letter home, and when you come back, you don't even come home. You really break my heart..."
The other three people in the room couldn't help but sneer: there were no benefits, but they certainly didn't hold back their sweet words.
Ding Xuewen remained quite calm; the past three years had been enough for him to figure out how to deal with his family. As he picked up the package, he was thankful that the mission back to the city was arranged so urgently that he didn't even have time to bring back some dried goods; otherwise, he was afraid his family would have been watching him closely.
"Call me before you leave tomorrow morning, I'll head over first."
As soon as he stepped out the door, Aunt Ding started hitting, slapping, and scolding him in the yard, saying that he was cold-hearted and resentful of his family, and that he must be angry with them for not writing for so long.
Guan Yuehe and the others couldn't stand it anymore. "Aunt Ding, if you have something to say, go home and talk it out. We all know each other, right? There's no point in putting on an act here."
Soon, the sound of a child crying came from inside the main house.
Aunt Zhao stormed out of the door, yelling, "You think I'm your fourth son and I don't have a mother? Now you're talking nicely, but back then you signed him up for the rural educated youth program without a word. That's one thing, but who in our alley doesn't know you even embezzled your fourth son's educated youth subsidy? You're shameless! Get out of our No. 2 courtyard! If you think you're in the right, go to the alley entrance and howl. I'll bang drums and gongs and call everyone out to judge for you!"
The neighbors from Courtyard No. 3 also came to join in the fun, watching Aunt Ding as if she were watching a grand opera, saying, "That's right, Ding Laosi is really unlucky to have run into your family."
Aunt Ding: "They're not your children, so it's easy for you to talk like that. What business is it of yours?"
Ding Lao Er, who had separated from the family and moved out, couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed Ding Da Ma with one hand and beckoned Ding Xuewen to go home with the other. Not wanting to be seen by others, he also closed the door behind him.
Ding Xuewen's return caused quite a stir in Ginkgo Hutong.
Besides the fact that Aunt Ding was really unreasonable and made a scene, everyone was also speculating whether a policy for educated youth to return to the city had been introduced.
“I went to listen. Ding Laosi is returning to the city with a mission, and he still has to go back to the countryside.”
"There are only three ways for educated youth to return to the city: recruitment for jobs, conscription, or enrollment in schools. Are you done chatting? Have you prepared all your New Year's goods?"
"Hey! What's the point of preparing for the New Year? Just do whatever you need." Even so, glancing around at the people, he leaned over and asked, "Can you get any pork?"
Guan Yuehe also went to eavesdrop on the gossip at the Ding family's door for a while. Ding Dama just cried and there was nothing good to hear, so she went to the backyard.
Her mother helped her buy the things in her house; there were quite a few things, and she came over to pay for them.
A double-decker wooden bed has been put into the room where she and her sister used to live, but Jingjing is still too young to sleep in a separate room from her parents, so Weiwei is the only one living there now.
With two fewer people living in the house, the room suddenly felt much more spacious.
"Is he patriotic?" Guan Yuehe thought to herself. The Ding family was so lively today, but he was nowhere to be seen. There must be something even more exciting attracting him.
Jiang Guiying's words made him angry. "In Teacher Xie's room next door, his grades are so bad that if they don't improve, I don't know if he'll be able to get into high school."
The factory requires all employees to have graduated from junior high school, and some positions even require a high school diploma. Therefore, the employees of the car factory are willing to spend money to send their children to high school.
But being willing to send them is one thing, the child still has to pass the exam on their own!
If he doesn't get into high school, he's too old to go to the countryside. But instead of staying at home, he might as well go to high school. What if he graduates just in time to find a job in a factory?
So, Guan Canghai took a piece of meat to Teacher Xie and asked him to help Guan Aiguo with his worst subject, math.
No wonder I didn't see him go to watch the fun.
"Has the shuttle bus service we mentioned before started operating?" If it has, it will be much more convenient for workers who don't have bicycles to get to work.
"They said it would start after the New Year, and you'd have to buy a monthly bus pass, two yuan a month." Jiang Guiying took a peach shortbread from the cupboard and gave it to her, saying, "We have two bicycles at home, so we don't need to take the bus... I won't eat it, you can have it yourself... Tsk!"
Jiang Guiying was still given half a peach shortbread. Remembering something important, she hurriedly said, "A technician from the car factory who was recommended to go to university was reported for dating a female classmate. He had a girlfriend before he went to university. This guy is really something, he gets the benefits but still wants to court disaster."
"You absolutely must not date anyone at school, and don't respond to anyone who tries to date you."
As she spoke, Jiang Guiying sighed, "Because of this, the car factory's quota for this year has been cut in half. Your sister wanted to apply, but the factory said that married employees are not allowed to apply. What kind of ridiculous rule is this? There was no such rule two years ago. I suspect it's all the factory's fault... Never mind, I won't say anymore."
Guan Yuehe didn't pursue the topic any further, but instead asked about the current situation in the black market.
"Nothing major has happened lately, right?"
"It's alright." Jiang Guiying told her not to be too high-profile. "I saw Cai Ying yesterday. If there's anything going on, wouldn't Officer Song remind her?"
Guan Yuehe felt relieved and took stock of her savings.
She spent most of the sixteen yuan monthly allowance from school on meal tickets, and the rest on daily necessities and school supplies, almost always running out of sixteen yuan every month.
It's hard to believe without taking stock. During her year at school, she didn't get any new clothes or shoes made, and she spent more each month than when she was working.
The two hundred yuan or so I have left in savings is all from the four hundred yuan my family gave me and the rest of my salary.
Just as I was feeling heartbroken, my eyes lit up and I saw the big gold bracelet next to me, and my mood instantly brightened.
This large gold bracelet was quite heavy and must be worth a lot of money. Although she was determined not to sell it, having it made her feel much more at ease.
When she went to school, she would lock her large gold bracelet in her suitcase. Even if the suitcase wasn't locked, her roommates wouldn't touch her things without permission.
Everyone was busy paying attention to Ding Xuewen, who had just returned, and many people didn't realize until evening that Guan Yuehe had also returned.
The Five Star Automobile Factory arranged for the factory's cinema projectionist to show movies in Ginkgo Hutong for three consecutive nights, enriching the spiritual lives of the workers' families.
So, everyone ate dinner early today, bundled up tightly, and went to the alley entrance to watch the movie. Some even carried their blankets out, planning to huddle together for warmth while watching the film.
Director Ma and the people from the subdistrict office temporarily set up a large shed, which at least provided some shelter from the wind and snow.
It gets warm when there are many people in the shed.
"Second Sister! Over here!" Guan Aiguo had taken a spot in front, and Guan Yuehe spotted him immediately.
No matter how strong Guan Yuehe was, she couldn't push people aside to let herself pass.
There were people everywhere, and she was afraid that if she pushed them, they would all fall over.
Just as she thought that, she felt a force pushing her from behind. Luckily, she reacted quickly and was able to withstand the force, otherwise the people in front of her would have fallen down.
"Hey, you in front, listen to my command!" Officer Song waved a red cloth behind him as the commander, and several old men in charge and cadres from the car factory chimed in to help maintain order, and the scene was finally brought under control.
As soon as Guan Yuehe sat down, she heard someone behind her muttering, "What's Zhang Desheng pretending to be? Standing up and making such a fuss, anyone who didn't know better would think he was the leader."
"Why do you care what other people do? It's his business if he likes to show off."
"What did Aunt Ding say when Ding Laosi returned to the city?"
"How would I know?" the older woman behind her said, grabbing a handful of roasted sunflower seeds from her pocket. "How about this? I specially asked Sister-in-law Zhou to roast them for me. Her roasted sunflower seeds are more fragrant than the ones you buy outside."
How are labor costs calculated?
"Look at what you're saying, what labor cost? Just take the things over there, give her two or three eggs and ask her to help you out. We're neighbors, after all."
Guan Yuehe immediately slapped her forehead. No wonder she always felt something was missing. It turned out that Zhou Dasao's fried melon seeds were missing!
A moment later, projectionist Xu Laosan came over to adjust the equipment, and the studio instantly fell silent.
The movie begins with a gasp of surprise, followed by silence.
Ding Xuewen stood at the back of the crowd, tiptoeing to see, but he was too far away and people were turning around, so he couldn't see the content on the screen at all.
But some of the lines in the movie seemed familiar. He thought about it carefully and realized that it was a movie that the county cinema showed to the commune at the end of the autumn harvest.
The movie was only halfway through when Xu Cheng came over to him and said, "My roommate is going home for the next few days, so I borrowed his bed. You can stay in my dorm tonight."
Aunt Ding sighed and complained at the door in the afternoon that she had nowhere to live. Wasn't she afraid that Ding Xuewen would come back to the city and stay at her house?
"No need, Aunt Jiang told me to squeeze in with Aiguo tonight."
Xu Cheng was relieved. "I forgot, Aiguo is living in a room by himself now. No wonder Yuehe is looking for him everywhere."
The next morning, before five o'clock, while it was still dark, Xu Cheng came to knock on the door of No. 3 Courtyard.
A dozen minutes later, the four people met at the gate of No. 3 Courtyard. The sharp-eared Grandpa Li came out with a flashlight and asked them what they were doing.
The four remained silent.
Going out in the dead of night, what good could you possibly be doing?
Grandpa Li understood and reminded them to be careful and run immediately if things went wrong.
So, after discussing what to buy, Guan Yuehe and Ding Xuewen went in to buy the items, while Lin Sitian and Xu Chengcai kept watch outside and called out if anything seemed amiss.
The black market isn't far from Changhu Street; it's also in a hutong (alley), but the hutongs here are a bit winding.
This area is inhabited by locals, and the houses are all their own, unlike Ginkgo Hutong, where the property rights are public and the houses are allocated to them, but they still have to pay one or two yuan in rent every month.
Like everyone else, Guan Yuehe wore an old cotton-padded coat, covering her head and face, leaving only her eyes visible to see where she was going. This made it difficult to tell who was who.
How much is the pork?
"Two yuan a pound, no coupon required."
Guan Yuehe hissed. The meat station charges eight cents a pound if you need a ticket; they're really selling it for double the price.
"Do you want it or not? If not, go away!"
"I want ten pounds. Cut me the fatty part, this piece." Guan Yuehe took out her money, staring intently at the knife. "Don't cut it crookedly. I don't want the lean parts on the side."
Since she bought a lot, the person standing behind the stall didn't say anything and cut what she wanted as she asked. They even put a thumb-sized piece of lean meat on top as an extra treat for her.
After buying the meat, Guan Yuehe kept asking the people carrying baskets on their backs, "Do you have flour? Do you have oil? What about rice?"
Guan Yuehe moved quickly and soon filled her and Ding Xuewen's baskets with a lot of things.
Suddenly, someone outside shouted very loudly, "Third Aunt, I've come to visit!"
Guan Yuehe became wary. The code was similar to the one they had set. Without saying a word, she immediately pulled Ding Xuewen and ran towards another path.
Seeing the two of them run, the others hurriedly followed suit.
The black market, which was bustling with people just moments ago, was completely empty in an instant; there wasn't even a single vegetable leaf left, let alone people.
The four met outside the department store on Changhu Street, panting heavily from running.
Guan Yuehe asked, "Are there many people coming to investigate?"
Lin Sitian shook her head: "I didn't see it. I was so scared! Were there people lying in ambush waiting to catch me? If Xu Cheng hadn't said he saw you running ahead, I wouldn't know what to do."
"No, didn't the people come in from outside?" Otherwise, why would the people outside be yelling?
"Weren't you guys inside supposed to lead the way and run?"
The four of them looked at each other, stunned.
In the black market, some people have specific escape routes. If things go wrong, they immediately dash into a house. They're not afraid of being investigated; they just say they're visiting relatives.
Right now, a group of people are listening intently to what's happening outside.
"There seems to be no one here... Who was it that shouted 'Run!'?"
"That fishmonger kid, right?" I wasn't quite sure.
"Damn it! Who spread this false information?! I haven't even sold half of the meat I have left!"
The group of people went out again to inquire about the situation while cursing, and after confirming that there was no problem, they put the items out again.
The culprits, feeling guilty, didn't dare go to the black market again, even though they hadn't bought everything. Instead, they went straight back to Guan Yuehe's house to divide the spoils.
Half of the things I bought were for Guan Yuehe, and the majority of the rest were for Lin Sitian.
The last few pieces of cloth and the bag of White Rabbit milk candy belonged to Ding Xuewen.
Xu Cheng took it from him and said, "Tell me what kind of clothes you want to make, and put them with me when they're done."
To avoid it being confiscated if I bring it home.
“I’m not making that piece of military green cloth; I’m taking it back to give away,” Ding Xuewen explained. “If it weren’t for the brigade leader, I wouldn’t be a teacher at the brigade’s primary school. His son is getting married next year, and I was just about to give it to him.”
Lin Sitian looked at him with amusement. At least he wasn't just a bookworm anymore; he knew how to build good relationships.
Of the four, Ding Xuewen was the best at studying. Guan Yuehe was unmatched in strength. Xu Cheng was the most skilled at operating a sewing machine. But when it came to dealing with people, Lin Sitian was the best. There was no one she couldn't get along with, only people she didn't want to.
If there is such a person, it's because that person has a serious mental problem.
Ding Xuewen chuckled and said, "I'm not stupid."
He was perfectly clear-headed, so when his mother, older brother, and sister-in-law urged him to find Yuehe to take his place at work, he refused without even thinking.
As for encouraging him to contact Yuehe more often, or even better, to find a partner, that's even more impossible.
Even if the four of them had no feelings for each other, he couldn't bring himself to cheat Yuehe just because she had helped him so much.
"If my mom and the others come to ask, just tell them that you have no contact with me."
Guan Yuehe and the other two nodded obediently, as they didn't want to be bothered by Aunt Ding.
Ding Xuewen took a handful of milk candies and put them in his pocket, saying he was going to visit his classmate Chen Lizhong at his house.
The other three had to go home to help prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.
Guan Yuehe first rendered lard at home and got a plate of pork cracklings.
When the people from the Northwest and Southwest delivered fried meatballs, one person was stuffed with a few pieces of pork lard.
Baoyu brought his twin sister to deliver the maltose that Sister-in-law Zhou had made herself, and a small pile of pork cracklings was missing.
Aunt Zhao brought over a bowl of chicken, but only took two pieces of pork cracklings. She happily went home to hug her chubby grandson.
As she finished packing and was about to head to Courtyard No. 3 with a piece of meat and some vegetables given to her by her neighbors, Wu Erni arrived with Sun Jiawang and brought her a bowl of tofu she had made herself.
Her neighbors are all incredibly talented; they can all cook delicious food.
"Call someone!" Wu Erni patted Sun Jiawang on the back, her tone stern. Sun Jiawang pouted awkwardly for a moment before saying, "Aunt Yuehe."
That's why they say kids need to be disciplined often. Without Sun Dashan and Grandpa and Grandma Sun around, Sun Jiawang has grown up to be more pleasing to the eye. Although he still has some minor bad habits, he seems teachable.
Guan Yuehe then handed out some pork cracklings, saying, "Thank you, Sister Erni."
Wu Erni smiled shyly and then led Sun Jiawang to Song Gong's house across the street.
Guan Yuehe took a basket of food to her parents' house. Her older brother took care of the chickens that were allocated from the factory. Her mother and sister-in-law were in the kitchen. In the end, she was given a bowl of potatoes, which she peeled with Guan Aiguo.
"Where's my dad? He's the one with the most free time. What's he doing not helping out at home during the New Year?"
Guan Canghai, carrying a bucket of water, hadn't even entered the door when he heard his little daughter scolding him. He coughed twice and then told her to watch the bucket, saying, "Without your dad, you wouldn't be able to eat fresh fish today."
"You bought it from your friends again, didn't you?" Jiang Guiying exposed.
"What do you mean, 'bought'? I caught them myself!" Guan Canghai snorted twice, picked out the two biggest ones, and went to the front yard to process them. His loud voice echoed throughout the entire front yard: "Yes! I caught them!"
This year's Lunar New Year's Eve was exceptionally joyous, and no family had any conflicts; even the Ding family was quiet and peaceful.
Zhou Hongqi, who was only concerned with waiting for food, wandered around and muttered, "It's a bit lacking that the Jin family isn't causing trouble anymore."
Guan Yuehe: "...Sister Hongqi, you should just stay home. Look, your husband is here."
Zhou Hongqi complained, "I already told you that it's fine to just go for a walk, why are you so nervous?"
His face was beaming with joy.
Seeing that she took one step for every two others, Jin Junwei's heart was in his throat. Finally, he managed to support her and said, "The doctor said to be careful and walk slowly..."
"It's just a baby pregnancy, what's the big deal? My mentor was heavily pregnant back then, and he still went to work in the workshop."
Jin Junwei fell silent. There was no way to refute this statement; Sister Hongqi wouldn't allow anyone to say a bad word about her master.
Guan Yuehe, standing behind her, covered her mouth and chuckled. Among all the couples in courtyards No. 3 and No. 2, she thought Sister Hongqi and Brother-in-law Jin were the most interesting.
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