Chapter 047 Attending the Banquet
Shayue's wedding was on Saturday, and because they were having lunch, Wen Jiajia didn't go out until almost ten o'clock.
There were only three tables. It was easy to tell that the guests at Shayue's wedding banquet were definitely her close relatives. There shouldn't be many friends like her. If we narrow the scope to work friends, she is most likely the only one.
Wen Jiajia was afraid of the embarrassment of going too early, so she delayed leaving until so late.
Wei Dai was puzzled by her behavior: "There's no such thing as going to a wedding on time. If you go early, just think of it as making new friends."
It's rude to go late, especially since today is Saturday. People might think you don't want to go.
Wen Jiajia thought, what's the point of getting to know each other?
Even after knowing each other for decades, you can still add each other as friends and add some likes to your own Moments.
Nowadays, ordinary friends communicate face to face. Because of the difference in factories, everyone has their own circle. I met him today, but I may never see him again in the future. Wen Jiajia is a little introverted sometimes and doesn't want to spend time on this.
"Oh, stop nagging me. If you keep nagging, I'll be late, and then people will think I'm rude." Wen Jiajia snorted and rode away from home.
Wei Dai had nothing to say but to catch up: "Ride slower!"
"Numbular—"
The sound came from the wind.
Wen Jiajia is obedient and doesn't ride fast, even slower than when she usually goes to work.
She arrived at Sha Yue's house at almost eleven o'clock, and the banquet was to start at half past eleven. Wen Jiajia felt that she arrived quite early.
Sha Yue's home is in the compound of a pharmaceutical factory, and this is Wen Jiajia's first time here.
The buildings in the family compound are obviously much more grand than those in the army. They are just as tall, but the area of each building is much larger, almost twice that of the army.
There are more of them than in the army. Wen Jiajia curiously asked the gatekeeper, "Auntie, how many buildings are there in our compound?"
The aunt was also very alert. She looked Wen Jiajia up and down and asked three questions in a row: "Who are you, comrade? Which unit are you from? Why are you asking this?"
Wen Jiajia was embarrassed: "Auntie, I work at our pharmaceutical factory, but I don't live in the family compound. I went to Shayue's house for dinner today. I just thought our pharmaceutical factory family compound was bigger, so I asked out of curiosity."
When she heard that it was from the pharmaceutical factory, the janitor relaxed a little, put down the leeks she was cleaning and said, "Our compound has ten buildings, and there are two more, but those two buildings are together with the textile factory compound."
Wen Jiajia clicked her tongue twice and said with emotion: "That's 12 buildings, that's really a lot."
The aunt said proudly, "Of course! Our pharmaceutical factory is very wealthy, and the number of houses in our family compound is among the best among all the factories in the city. Except for the steel mills and the provincial large factories, who can compare with our pharmaceutical factory?"
Wen Jiajia didn't talk any more. She asked how to get to Building 6 and then followed the direction the old lady pointed to.
There was a small open space under the sixth building. At this moment, three tables were placed on the open space. Wen Jiajia understood that Sha Yue's banquet was probably going to be held here.
There was indeed no one she knew in the open space. It was not until she went upstairs to Shayue's house that she saw someone she was vaguely familiar with, Shayue's aunt. Because Wen Jiajia always went to canteen No. 2, she became familiar with Shayue's aunt who served food.
"Oh, Comrade Xiao Wen, Sha Yue has been thinking about you for a long time. Please come in quickly." She hurriedly called Wen Jiajia and took Wen Jiajia to Sha Yue's room.
Before Wen Jiajia could say a word, Aunt Sha sent her into the room.
Sha Yue was sitting on a chair, trying to restyle her hair.
She saw Wen Jiajia in the mirror and turned around in surprise: "Jiajia, you're finally here. I thought you suddenly had something and couldn't come."
Wen Jiajia said, "What can happen on Saturday?"
Then he took out a red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into her hand: "Happy wedding."
Sha Yue said with a smile: "I won't be polite to you on your wedding day. Anyway, I didn't make it to your wedding. I will return it to you when you have a child."
Wen Jiajia raised her eyebrows: "Okay, then you have to be ready. I never know when it will be ready."
Sha Yue didn't take her words seriously because Wen Jiajia once revealed that she planned to have another child after she turned 23.
There are other people in the room, and Shayue can't just talk to her and leave others aside.
After introducing each other, they started talking about Shayue, the protagonist of today.
"Cousin, my brother-in-law is really willing to hold the wedding at our house. That would be the same as marrying into a rich family." The speaker was my cousin Shayue.
Wen Jiajia couldn't help but turn around and look at her. The girl was quite young and could still improve her emotional intelligence.
On such a happy day, to say that the groom looks like a bride-to-be, one must be very bad at speaking to say such a thing.
Sure enough, Sha Yue's face suddenly turned ugly, and the people next to her said, "How can you say that, Third Brother? That's because my brother-in-law doesn't have many relatives, and he just joined the unit, so he held it here."
Why?
To make it more lively and to collect more gifts.
The little cousin was embarrassed, lowered her head and said nothing.
Wen Jiajia changed the subject: "Shayue, where are you going to live in the future? Last time you said Feng Yu still lives in the research institute? That's in the western suburbs, even farther from the factory than my home."
Sha Yue wanted to sigh, but she held it back: "There's nothing I can do. He can't live in the city because of his job. I've made up my mind. I'll ride a bike to work every day like you do."
"It will take an hour to ride, right?" Wen Jiajia asked.
In fact, she can now get to the pharmaceutical factory in about 30 minutes by bike every day, because she is familiar with the road and knows where the potholes are and where the shortcuts are.
Sha Yue nodded: "That's right." Fortunately, the western suburbs are far from the pharmaceutical factory but not far from the city, and there are people living along the way, so there is no need to be afraid when getting off work at night.
While they were talking, Feng Yu arrived.
Although the wedding was simple, the oath is an indispensable part of weddings in this era, and Wen Jiajia did not omit it when she got married.
After taking the oath, you can eat.
Wen Jiajia sat at the table with more young people. As the dishes were served one by one, her stomach growled.
The dishes at this banquet were really good, with four meat dishes, two vegetable dishes and a cold dish, it was considered a high-end banquet.
Wen Jiajia is not one to be polite. Being polite at a banquet at this time would mean being hungry.
She quickly picked up five pieces of elbow meat with her chopsticks, then picked up another piece of fish meat and another piece of river shrimp, then stopped for a moment and started eating with rice.
Almost no one was talking at the table at this moment, everyone was eating.
The extremely tender pork elbow, which was braised in rich red sauce, was eaten up in less than half a minute, and even the sauce on the plate was poured out completely.
Soon, the soup was served.
The soup turned out to be black chicken soup. Wen Jiajia also had a bowl and was lucky enough to get a chicken wing.
The people at the table were still "silent", with only the clinking of spoons and chopsticks.
The two vegetarian dishes are not simple either.
One dish is stir-fried mushrooms. Three kinds of mushrooms are stir-fried in heavy oil. It has a salty and fresh fragrance. After smelling it, Jiajia couldn't tell what kind of mushrooms they were.
The other dish was fried yam with black fungus. The yam was crispy and tender. Wen Jiajia ate several mouthfuls in a row and immediately decided to go to the market to buy some yams before going home.
The banquet ended quickly, and after saying hello to Shayue, Wen Jiajia rode her bike home.
She had not forgotten about the yams. After buying the yams, she saw the newly-launched sweet potatoes, so Wen Jiajia used her grain coupons to go to the grain and oil window and bought half a bag of sweet potatoes.
Now they have to buy sweet potatoes. The vegetable plot they were allocated is not large, not even enough to grow vegetables, let alone sweet potatoes.
However, sweet potatoes are cheap and do not require many grain coupons. Wen Jiajia feels that it is more cost-effective than growing sweet potatoes herself.
In the afternoon, return home.
There was no one at home, so Wen Jiajia put the sweet potatoes in the corner of the utility room to dry so that they could be preserved longer.
The yam had mud in it, but she didn’t pick out the mud, also for the purpose of preserving it.
After traveling through time for almost a year, she still understands some common sense of life.
After finishing her work, Wen Jiajia sat on the sofa. Yes, it has been almost a year since I came here.
—
As October approaches, the weather gradually turns cooler.
You may not feel it during the day, but in the evening, the wind blowing from the mountains brings a slight coolness.
Sweet osmanthus flowers were in full bloom, and the fragrance of sweet osmanthus lingered within a ten-meter radius. The fragrance gradually diminished, but the sweet osmanthus fragrance in the Wen family yard was obviously the most intense, so intense that it seemed like honey was swirling in the air above the yard.
Wen Jiajia hid in the room and couldn't even open the door of the terrace. She was so angry that she complained to Wei Dai, "Is there any way to track these bees, find where their nest is, and wipe them out?"
The key is that after spring and summer, there must be a lot of honey in the hive, and she wants to eat honey.
Wei Dai reached out and touched her head, wondering: "She doesn't have a fever."
With a "pop", Wen Jiajia slapped his hand away and stared at him suspiciously: "Do you mean I'm sick?"
Wei Dai denied: "That's not what I meant."
Wen Jiajia said to him sideways: "I'm not stupid, how can I not hear whether it's there or not?"
Wei Dai thought, you know you are not stupid, don't you? Then why do you ask me to follow bees? Only a fool would say such a thing.
He ignored his wife who sometimes acted crazy and went to the kitchen to peel sweet potatoes and cook porridge.
Sweet potatoes are not very delicious when they are just dug out. They must be left for a while to wait for the moisture to evaporate and the sweetness to increase. Only then are they most delicious.
At this time, the sweet potato is sweet. Take a bite of it raw and chew it. The juice fills your mouth, just like drinking sweet water.
Sweet potato porridge, pumpkin cake and rose jam make tonight's dinner especially sweet.
Wen Jiajia made the rose jam last month when she was bored. After transplanting, the roses became public flowers. Today this auntie picked one, and tomorrow that child picked two.
Occasionally a typhoon comes, and several snowflakes are blown down by the strong wind and heavy rain.
Wen Jiajia felt so distressed when she saw this, and the result of her distress was that she picked all the blooming petals, washed them, dried them, and made them into flower jam.
Don’t mention it, she’s not very good at growing flowers, but she’s pretty good at making flower jam.
Sweet but not greasy, and without any bitterness.
Not only can it be eaten with pumpkin cakes, but it can also be soaked in water and drunk. Drinking a cup of flower jam tea every day will make you feel much better.
Wen Xuan obviously liked this. She used a small spoon to gently scoop half a spoonful of the flower sauce and spread it on the golden pumpkin cake. She cried, "Auntie, can you make this flower sauce again in the future?"
Wen Jiajia mashed the sweet potatoes in the porridge into pieces and looked up at Wen Xuan: "Okay, if you pick the flowers, I'll make it for you."
Wen Xuan: "Really?"
Why did she not believe it? The flower sauce was sweet, but her aunt didn't allow her to eat too much sweets.
Wen Jiajia nodded perfunctorily: "Really."
The next two seasons are autumn and winter. Apart from osmanthus and chrysanthemums, where else can Wen Xuan pick edible flowers? By the next spring, she will have forgotten about this matter.
Wei Dai obviously thought of this and smiled.
Wen Xuan looked at her aunt, then at her uncle-in-law, and felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong.
She lowered her head and decided to eat quickly.
night.
Since we can't stop the bees, we should just eliminate the source.
Of course, not cutting down trees.
This osmanthus tree has been growing here for at least 20 years, but Wen Jiajia is not so crazy as to want to cut it down.
She wanted to shake the osmanthus flowers off the tree. Wen Jiajia originally wanted to smell the fragrance of osmanthus for a few more days, but the osmanthus flowers attracted too many bees, so she had to sacrifice the flowers that bloomed every year.
"Wei Dai!" Wen Jiajia shouted towards the house.
Wei Dai was making a crib. Wen Jiajia had no idea why he was so crazy that he thought of making a crib.
"What's wrong?" a voice came from inside the house.
"Come out and help me rock," she said.
Wei Dai stood up, brushed off the sawdust on his clothes, came to the yard and said, "Can't you come tomorrow?"
Wen Jiajia said, "After shaking it tonight, we can wash it and hang it to dry. After it's dried, we can try making osmanthus honey tomorrow."
Well, whatever she says goes.
Wen Jiajia placed the oilcloth on the osmanthus tree. Because the oilcloth was not big enough to cover the entire osmanthus tree, she could only place it on one side.
Wei Dai climbed up the tree and shook the branches.
Suddenly, the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers fell one after another, making a rustling sound. The fragrance became stronger, so strong that Jiajia almost sneezed.
Wei Dai continued to climb up and shook another branch.
"Use the flashlight to see if it's clean." He said, "The flashlight is on the desk in the room."
Wen Jiajia ran in to get it.
The battery in the flashlight must have been newly replaced, and it is particularly bright at this moment.
The light shone on the branches, and Wen Jiajia could not see clearly, but Wei Dai on the tree could see it clearly.
He shook it vigorously again and checked again. After making sure that there was nothing missed, he asked Wen Jiajia to pull the oilcloth to the other side.
The same shaking method was used on the other side. The shaking of the osmanthus tree made such a loud noise that Xie Yi from the Xie family next door even climbed up onto the wall.
"Hey, auntie, are you catching cicadas?"
Xie Yi asked curiously. After they got to know each other, he followed Chun'er and Xuanxuan in calling her aunt.
Wen Jiajia: "I'm shaking the flowers and preparing to make flower sauce tomorrow. If I'm done, I'll call you to come and eat it."
Xie Yi said obediently: "Okay."
After saying that, he disappeared again in a flash. Wen Jiajia guessed that it was Xie Yang who lifted Xie Yi up just now.
Guihua finally finished shaking, and Wei Dai was sweating all over.
Wen Jiajia grabbed the oilcloth and dragged it to the living room, which was brightly lit, making it convenient for her to collect osmanthus flowers.
The couple was doing carpentry while one was collecting flowers. They chatted while working, and there was a natural warmth flowing in their hearts.
"Do you want to be a father?" Wen Jiajia asked curiously.
Wei Dai smiled dumbly: "What am I thinking? I just think this thing should be made early. Anyway, it won't go bad if it's left alone."
Wen Jiajia suddenly remembered that he mentioned yesterday that one of his comrades-in-arms had a baby but was still looking for people to borrow a crib. Maybe that was why he wanted to make a crib.
She pointed to the extra wood beside her and asked: "What are we going to do with the remaining wood?"
Wei Dai took one look and said, "Make some small toys, and a dining table and walker."
“…”
Just keep talking tough and say you're not in a hurry.
When Wei Dai saw Jia Jia's expression, he knew what she was thinking and felt that he was really wronged.
But he couldn't protest. His wife could be more treacherous than a needle sometimes, especially before her period. If he remembered correctly, it happened in the past two days.
If he protests his injustice, the girl will make a fuss and say that he doesn't want to have a child with her.
Half an hour passed.
It was getting darker outside, and the moon had disappeared into some dark cloud.
Wen Jiajia washed the osmanthus flowers and hung them on a winnowing basket.
Wei Dai also put down his work, swept the sawdust in the living room into the dustpan, and poured it into the iron basin beside the stove.
"Go take a shower?"
After finishing his work, Wei Dai leaned against the door frame and asked Wen Jiajia with a smile.
Wen Jiajia didn't say anything. She wiped the water off her hands. When she passed by him, her body was full of the scent of osmanthus. Wei Dai came behind her and hugged her tightly.
"Hey, hey, hey, the gate is not closed yet."
Wei Dai looked back and went to close the gate.
However, while he was closing the gate, Wen Jiajia took some water and went to the bathroom to take a bath.
As the weather gets hotter, she usually takes a bath before going to bed. After taking a bath, the evening breeze makes her whole body cool and comfortable.
The flashlight was mounted on the bathroom wall. Wen Jiajia raised her hand and sniffed hard. Was there really the scent of osmanthus?
Of course not. What if you get stung by a bee?
Being stung by bees is her shadow. When she was a child, she was stung by a bee when she went to play at her grandmother's house in the countryside. Her cheeks were swollen like red steamed buns, and someone even rubbed eggplants on them.
It’s true that using eggplant to treat wounds is a folk remedy, but it is quite effective.
Thinking about the past, Wen Jiajia did not slow down her bathing pace.
After washing and opening the door, a breeze blew in, refreshing and cool. She squinted her eyes and stopped to enjoy it.
Wei Dai had already taken off his shirt, took the wooden bucket from her hand, and brought back some water.
This man has a really great figure. Wen Jiajia would unconsciously reach into his clothes every night when she goes to sleep.
At this moment, the scene of him carrying a wooden bucket filled with water in one hand and the muscles in both arms flexing so strongly is simply embarrassing.
Wei Dai: "What are you looking at?"
Her cheeks are rosy and her eyes are watery.
Wen Jiajia: "I'm getting some fresh air."
Wei Dai pushed her and said, "Go inside quickly. Be careful not to catch a cold."
This woman has been acting up again since she recovered and stopped taking Chinese medicine. This morning he heard her speaking with a nasal tone, obviously she was a little cold, and she even dared to blow the wind.
Wen Jiajia deliberately stretched her arm towards Wei Dai's face: "Smell it, is there any smell?"
Wei Dai: "It tastes good, come in quickly."
Wen Jiajia: "Are you just trying to please me?"
Wei Dai sniffed it carefully and said, "It has no smell."
Only then was Wen Jiajia satisfied.
The next day.
Wen Chun and Wen Xuan have to attend field labor class again today, and the two girls don't really want to go.
Children from rural areas were not that curious about the fields. Although they were young, they knew too well how hard the work in the fields was at that time.
Needless to say, Wen Chun still has memories of the past, and she is deeply impressed by the scene when her aunt returned home during the autumn harvest.
——She lay motionless on the bed, her lips were extremely pale. Wen Chun once almost thought that her aunt was dead. She was so scared that tears flowed down her face.
She even remembered something about her parents' autumn harvest, when they sighed and talked about the difficulties of the harvest and planned to buy a meat ticket after the harvest so that they could buy half a pound of meat for the family.
As for Wen Xuan, she only remembered how her aunt looked half-dead during the autumn harvest.
Oh, and there are the piercing ears of rice, the hard-to-follow birds, and the sun that makes people dizzy...
Wen Xuan patted her chest in fear and said, "Aunt, can we take a day off today?"
Wen Jiajia actually didn't really want the two children to go. The sun was so strong, what if they got heatstroke after being out in the sun for a whole day?
As he was hesitating, Wei Dai said, "Don't even think about asking for leave. How can you ask for leave for a labor class?"
"Fei Fei never goes!" Wen Xuan was dissatisfied. "Last time, and the time before that, she didn't go. She was eating candy at home."
Wei Dai: "Fei Fei is in poor health. You and your sister are more powerful than calves. One of you can beat two Fei Feis."
Wen Xuan's mind was working very quickly at this time, and she said, "I can suddenly feel unwell, such as having a stomachache."
Wen Jiajia was not happy this time and taught her a lesson: "If you don't want to go, then don't go. How can you lie? I'll prepare water for you guys later. Come and pick rice ears for me."
Wen Xuan's eyes were filled with tears and she pouted: "There's not enough water. I want nectar water."
Wen Jiajia was speechless. Children are very shrewd. They knew that they couldn't escape the order given by the two adults, so they started to negotiate terms.
Nectar water is flower sauce diluted with water. Wen Jiajia nodded: "Okay, I'll fill a bottle for you."
"I also want butterfly cakes." she continued.
Wen Jiajia: "Okay, one butterfly cake per person." That's not too much. Working makes you tired and hungry easily.
"I still want..."
Wen Jiajia had a blank expression on her face: "Hmm?"
Wen Xuan was depressed, her shoulders slumped: "Okay, Auntie, this is all I want. I don't want anything else."
If you want more, the butterfly cakes and nectar water are gone.
After breakfast, Wen Jiajia helped prepare water and food. She also took out a small hat for them to wear.
The hat was bought at a department store, a green children's style. Wen Jiajia thought the quality was good and spent a little more than one yuan to buy it.
After putting on their hats, Wen Jiajia also asked them to change into long sleeves.
Wen Chun hesitated: "It's so hot."
Wen Jiajia: "You have to wear it even if it's hot, otherwise your arms will get scratched."
They cannot harvest the rice, they can only pick the rice ears.
Picking rice ears also requires running around in the fields, making it easy to be scratched by rice leaves and ears.
After Wen Jiajia tidied up the two children, she patted their butts and said, "It's done, go ahead."
The two children were reluctant to leave, but finally left carrying their water bottles and small schoolbags.
Wei Dai said to her: "You are too spoiled with children. Children still need to endure hardships."
Wen Jiajia said, "People only live for a few dozen years. Why do you think about suffering? If you want to suffer, there will be many opportunities in the future."
Wei Dai couldn't help but ponder, this seemed to be quite true.
"But you still have to learn to do farm work." Wei Dai said again.
Wen Jiajia didn't refute it, but she was thinking in her heart, you don't know how fast society will develop in the future.
Still want to do farm work? Whether there is land for you to work on is another matter.
Wen Jiajia couldn't help but think of her grandmother's great feat - every September when the rice was harvested, the fields were divided into several plots and then rented out to schools in the city.
What did the school rent it for? To harvest rice for the students.
After the harvest, each person gets a small bag of rice. Her grandmother's family not only gets rice without any work, but also gets a rent.
Wen Jiajia was stunned when she heard this. It turned out that business could be done this way.
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