Chapter 28: Lantern Festival Dinner

Chapter 28: Lantern Festival Dinner

Wei Dai stayed in the mountains for half a month. After completing a difficult task, his leader finally approved his vacation.

It's just that he has asked for leave too frequently in the past six months or so. It's foreseeable that he won't be able to take leave in the next two or three years.

He took the train yesterday afternoon and arrived in the city at 4 a.m. today. He then took the bus for more than two hours and arrived in the county seat at sunrise.

At this moment, the state-owned hotel is already open for business. Hot steamed buns are placed in baskets at the door and waiters are standing guard at the door. Some people buy steamed buns and eat them while walking out, some pack them up to take away, and some who have more time get a bowl of clear soup after buying them and eat slowly while sitting in the hotel.

Wei Dai came to the hotel to borrow Lao Bai's car. It was not easy to go home in these two days.

Old Bai was not surprised at all by his arrival. He came to the door, smoked a cigarette and said, "Your wife said two days ago that you would come back today. I was looking out the window and I saw you."

"Have you eaten? Do you want to eat a bite before leaving?" Lao Bai pointed at the steamed bun cage and asked.

Wei Dai said, "I'm in a hurry, so I want to borrow your car for two days. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow, so I'll return it to you then."

He picked up his luggage and said, "I won't eat here. I'll buy some buns and go home to eat."

"Okay, I have nothing to do these two days, you can use the car." Lao Bai coughed twice due to the smoke and joked, "You are in such a hurry to go home, you must be missing your wife."

Wei Dai did not refute, but smiled and said, "That's nonsense, how can you not miss your wife after not seeing her for so long?"

As he said that, he went to buy 8 big buns.

Seeing that he was eager to go home, Lao Bai didn't talk much. He pushed the car to him and waved to let him go.

Wei Dai rode hard all the way and soon arrived in Fuyang.

Wen Jiajia has already gotten up and is cooking millet porridge in the pot.

Yesterday she asked Zhang Xiuli, her neighbor, to help her look after the house, and she paid her some money for it. When she was about to leave, she found that Zhang Xiuli's family had millet, so she exchanged half a pound of millet with her to prepare porridge for the next two days.

In Wen Jiajia's opinion, millet porridge is much more delicious than simple white rice porridge.

After cooking the porridge and feeding the chickens, Wen Jiajia stood absent-mindedly at the door, looking towards the village entrance.

She had a premonition, a strange premonition, that Wei Dai would appear soon.

Wei Dai appeared when Wen Jiajia turned around and wanted to go back to the main room.

The gentle breeze of early spring in the south blows the willow trees by the river, and the drooping willow branches sway on the water.

In a gust of wind, Wei Dai appeared in her sight. Wen Jiajia suddenly widened her eyes, waved at him, and smiled brightly.

"Wei Dai!" she shouted, "I just thought you were coming."

Wei Dai parked the car, ran in quickly, held Wen Jiajia in his arms, hugged her and kissed her: "I missed you so much."

Wen Jiajia felt hurt by him, but was afraid of being seen, so she hurriedly pulled him into the house and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Wei Dai's eyes were glued to her, and he lifted the oil-paper bag in his hand and shook it: "No, I bought eight buns in the county town, and we'll eat them together."

The breakfast was very rich.

There were millet porridge, bamboo shoots and pork buns, pickled radishes given by Aunt Zhang next door, and greasy salted duck eggs.

It’s the season for eating bamboo shoots.

Oh, it shouldn’t be said that the bamboo shoot season starts in mid-winter. The bamboo shoot season lasts until early summer.

In winter, bamboo shoots are eaten, which are also the most popular bamboo shoots eaten by the locals.

Local people like to cut it into shreds and make various fillings, wrap them in buns, dumplings, or rice cakes and rice slices, and then pair them with meat or pickled vegetables. The taste is as delicious as it can be.

It can be used not only for making stuffing, but also for stir-frying.

Cut the vermicelli into shreds and stir-fry with pork belly, shredded carrots and garlic sprouts. It is delicious whether eaten with rice or alone.

Another way is to slice it and stir-fry it. Wen Jiajia is used to stir-frying it in a sour and spicy way, which is especially good with rice. This dish is always on her family's table four or five days a week in winter.

As for spring bamboo shoots, now is not the peak season. We have to wait until next month for the bamboo shoots to sprout one after another, and we can’t eat them all even if we eat them all over the mountains and fields.

Even Wen Jiajia's backyard has bamboo shoots, after all, there is a bamboo forest next to her backyard.

The bamboo shoots we eat now are spring bamboo shoots.

The bamboo shoots were probably blanched and were very fresh and sweet. There wasn't much meat, but the amount was just right. There was enough oil to complement the freshness of the bamboo shoots and eliminate their astringency, but it wasn't too greasy.

Wen Jiajia's face relaxed as she ate. She drank some porridge to moisten her mouth and said with a smile, "This must be the stuffing that Lao Bai prepared. You can tell right away when you eat it. It's much more delicious than the one prepared by his apprentice."

Wei Dai was determined not to admit defeat: "I will make you dumplings when we get to our new home. There are a lot of bamboo shoots near the army."

Wen Jiajia was speechless. Is this even a competition?

"The East is Red" sounded on time, and everyone who was supposed to go to work went to work.

Since Wen Jiajia knew she was leaving, she stopped working and became an idle person that the villagers envied.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan didn't go to school either. They have been having a great time lately and can sleep in and get up as late as they want.

There was more to eat. Because they were leaving, they did not forbid the two sisters from eating some things at home that were difficult to bring, such as peach cakes and French biscuits.

It was almost eight o'clock, and Wen Jiajia and Wei Dai had already prepared another wave of things before they woke up after getting enough sleep.

"Uncle Wei?" Wen Chun stood on the doorstep with one foot, rubbing his eyes, as if he was still sleepy.

Wei Dai corrected her: "You should call me uncle."

Wen Chun smiled and said in a clear voice: "Uncle-in-law!"

Wei Dai couldn't help but walk up to her, touch her head, and even braided her hair.

The sun slowly climbed up the hillside, and the light penetrated through the patio.

Maybe it was because it rained every now and then in the past few days, and the abundant rain took away the dust. Looking up through the patio, I saw a clear blue sky with no clouds in sight.

Without any clouds blocking the view, the sunlight shines brightly onto the ground, making the main room much brighter.

Wei Dai helped Wen Chun to tie her hair, and then helped Wen Xuan to tie her hair.

These two girls really need fairness.

Their fairness is that if the elder sister eats a bun, the younger sister must also have one, and it must be the same kind of stuffing. If the elder sister has a red headband, the younger sister must also have a red headband.

The elder sister has her hair tied by her uncle-in-law, but if the younger sister doesn’t... the usually lively and cheerful little girl will have tears in her eyes, stare at you, and cry.

It feels like I have suffered a great injustice.

Wei Dai certainly couldn't make such a mistake, so he injected the wound before Wen Xuan even opened her mouth.

Wen Xuan was indeed very satisfied, raising her chin like a little peacock.

Wei Dai thought that it would be better to have one child in the future, otherwise it would take too much time to fetch water every day... Wait, his hand paused, and he couldn't help but look at Wen Jiajia.

Wen Jiajia was cleaning the main room. She noticed his gaze and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Wei Dai hesitated, his eyes fixed on her belly.

It took Wen Jiajia several seconds to react, and she was so angry that she rolled her eyes.

"What's that look? Forget it. I don't have any children."

She was actually happy when she heard this.

I am in my prime years, in the prime of my youth, so it's okay to be burdened with two children. After all, they are only three years old, and nothing will happen if I put them in a nursery or a children's education class.

But if a young child came, Wen Jiajia couldn't even imagine how devastated she would be.

Wei Daisong's tone was unclear whether he was disappointed or relieved.

Everyone around him is a father now, and some of his comrades already have three children. Sometimes he misses them a lot.

But Jia Jia is still too young, and it may not be appropriate for her to get pregnant at this age.

After returning to the army, he consulted a doctor about pregnancy. Then he heard the doctor say that his wife was not yet at the best age for pregnancy and it would be best to wait another three years.

Besides, we had to leave for the army soon, with so many luggages, and we had to look after two children. It was no exaggeration to say that the journey was difficult.

She said she was still pregnant... Wei Dai shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Seeing that he was silent, Wen Jiajia smiled and snorted twice: "Are you too confident in yourself?"

Wei Dai was choked. How could he respond to this?

Can he say: I am indeed quite confident?

Because there were two children present, the topic was tacitly passed over.

After packing your luggage, it’s time to take care of your hygiene.

Wen Jiajia is leaving this time, and no one knows when she will come back next time.

Fortunately, the original owner's father had no brothers, so even if Wen Jiajia's household registration was moved, the house still belonged to her family.

If she has uncles, that's not necessarily the case.

Wen Jiajia had a hunch that this house might be demolished in a few decades, and she might be one of the people to be demolished.

After all, Qianjin Commune is close to the county town, and the rest of the area will be considered the county town's radiation zone.

Fuyang and the commune are just a few steps away. In addition, Fuyang has beautiful scenery. Not only is there a huge wild peach forest, but there is also a huge ancient tomb next to it.

If leaders in a few decades fail to see the tourism value of this land, they must be out of their minds.

So, she has to keep this house well.

If possible, she would hire someone to renovate her house every few years.

Wei Dai swept the floor with Wen Jiajia, and then focused on cleaning the kitchen.

The kitchen cabinets were moved to the backyard. Wei Dai rolled up his sleeves and splashed water on the empty cabinets, while Wen Jiajia scrubbed them vigorously with a bamboo pot brush. In order to clean more thoroughly, she also made foam with soap and splashed the foamy water on the cabinets.

After cleaning, the cabinet, which was originally slightly black, finally showed its true color.

The rustic, most natural wood color, and if you smell it closely you can smell the unique wood fragrance.

Wei Dai said, "When my parents first made this cabinet, they must have used good materials."

Wen Jiajia was a little confused at first, then she realized that the "dad and mom" he was referring to were the original owner's parents.

"Yeah, yeah." Wen Jiajia nodded.

Not only the cabinets were built with great care, but the entire house was also built with great care.

Looking up from the main hall, one can see that the beams of the ceiling are made of huge logs that require one to open one's arms to embrace them.

The supporting pillars are also very thick, not much different from those inside the temple.

This kind of wood can only be obtained in this era. In a few decades, if you cut wood one day, you will be thrown into prison the next day, and you will never be able to take the civil service examination for three generations.

Oh no, it's very difficult now. It is said that if you want to build a house now, you have to collect wood several years in advance, otherwise you can't build it.

There are three cabinets in the house, and it took the two of them more than an hour to finish cleaning them.

The sun was high in the sky at this moment, and it was quite scorching.

Wen Jiajia took off her coat, sat on the bench and fanned herself vigorously.

Wei Dai: "You take a rest, I'll go to the stove."

"Pour me a glass of water first." Wen Jiajia said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Her hair was already wet with sweat.

Wei Dai poured her a cup of warm water and then went in to clean the stove.

The stove is relatively easy to clean, mainly because every household doesn't have much oil or water at this time, so there is not much old oil on the stove, but there is some old ashes that were smoked out.

Wei Dai worked quickly. In just ten minutes he had cleaned the stove, including the inside of the stove, the wall beside the stove, and the place where firewood was placed.

The busy morning passed like this.

After cleaning the kitchen, there is also laundry, quilts, and even the walls of the house...

Although he is not at work, he is busier than the team members who are at work.

Wei Dai was also exhausted. After hanging the last piece of clothes in the front yard, he asked, "What should we do with the chickens at home?"

Wen Jiajia had thought about this question, and she even went out of her way to find out whether it was possible to bring chickens and ducks on trains in this era.

The answer is some can and some can't.

According to people who have taken the train, several trains in their city are out of service.

Wen Jiajia asked, "How about leaving it to my parents?"

Wei Dai: "How about killing him and taking him away?"

It will take at most ten hours and there is no need to worry about the meat going bad.

Wen Jiajia: "We can't finish it. We still have four chickens at home, and three of them are egg-laying hens. It would be a pity to kill them and eat them."

She sighed: "Let's keep it."

Let them contribute some eggs.

We had lunch at Wei's house.

Wei Dai came back riding a 28-inch bicycle, and Wen Jiajia, Wen Chun, Wen Xuan and a few chickens could all be taken away together.

After arriving in Hegou Township, Wen Jiajia was completely freed from housework.

Someone cooks the meals, someone sweeps the floor, and even someone washes the clothes.

Well, Wei Dai did the laundry.

Wen Jiajia was not that heartbroken. She stayed in bed early in the morning and left her clothes for her mother-in-law to wash.

"Alas, the fragrance far away stinks near, the fragrance far away stinks near."

Wen Jiajia lay on the bed, pedaling her bicycle with her legs in the air. Life was so comfortable that she regretted not living in the Wei family. This was the only way to comfort herself.

Today is Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival is highly valued in the local area, and it is said that the Chinese New Year is over after the Lantern Festival.

In the past, on the Lantern Festival, rural areas would invite theatre troupes to perform and even hold temple fairs.

Now? We'd be lucky if we could hire a projection team to show the movie.

The Lantern Festival is a rare time for the family to reunite, and even Sister Wei took time out to come, so Wei's parents prepared a rich feast.

What's on offer? Braised fish, braised pork feet with soybeans, stuffed tofu, and braised pork with taro.

It can be said that she likes to eat everything.

Mr. Wei's cooking skills are pretty good. Wen Jiajia's mouth was watering when he started cooking and she looked at Wei Dai eagerly.

Wei Dai touched his nose and said, "Don't be greedy, don't be greedy. Can I give you some first?"

Wen Jiajia looked at him and said angrily: "Idiot!"

Is that what she meant?

What she meant was that she hoped Wei Dai would learn more, and if he mastered this skill, she would take Wei Dai with her wherever she went.

Mu Tou, who was not very smart, looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him and his wife, so he quickly hit Wei Dai twice.

Wei Dai immediately surrendered with his hands: "Okay, I won't clamp it." He was obviously greedy, but he still refused to admit it.

Wen Jiajia puffed up her cheeks and refused to admit that she was greedy.

The interaction between the young couple was actually seen by Sister Wei who was standing at the door. She didn't dare to go in, so she waited outside the door and only went in after the couple calmed down.

Although Sister Wei is the oldest among four siblings, she is very afraid of her younger brother.

When she insisted on marrying her current husband, her second brother scolded her severely.

Since then, her nose was no longer a nose, her eyes were no longer eyes, her face was expressionless, but her body exuded an aura of dislike from the inside out.

It means that she can be a little quiet in the next two years, otherwise she would not be happy to come back and see her family's cold faces.

Sister Wei passed by Wei Dai and subconsciously stepped lightly, went to the kitchen and quietly took a rice dumpling. Just as she was about to leave, she felt it was not enough, so she took another one and left quietly.

Wei Chengcai, who was cooking at the side, wanted to say something but held it back.

It is no exaggeration to say that the eldest daughter is so old that she may become a grandmother in ten years. Even if he is very dissatisfied, he will hold it in and save some face for the eldest daughter.

Wen Jiajia actually wanted to chat with Sister Wei. She felt that Sister Wei's appearance appealed to her aesthetic taste.

But Wei Dai was not happy. In his own words, "There is something wrong with my eldest sister's brain. You should not get too close to her." He was afraid that his wife would be influenced astray by her.

Wen Jiajia became interested: "Why do you say that? Let me tell you, Wenzhu is already so old, you shouldn't always be cold to your elder sister, it will make the little girl look bad."

No matter what, she is the little girl's mother.

Wen Jiajia is very close to her adoptive mother from her previous life. Even if they sometimes have conflicts, they are only between mother and daughter.

Wen Jiajia would also get angry if her adoptive father's family tried to sow discord between her and her adoptive mother.

Wei Dai sneered: "It is only for Wenzhu's sake that I won't bother with her now."

He paused and said, "My eldest brother-in-law is quite old now and has two children."

Wen Jiajia understood that this was her stepmother.

I also understand why Wei Dai dislikes this eldest sister. He leaves his own children to be raised by their parents, but you go and raise other people's children.

If this was her biological elder sister, she would also be angry.

But how should I put it? Wen Jiajia thought her elder sister's mental state was pretty good.

Look at that hand again, it’s even more tender than Wei Xiaomei’s.

Of course, Wei Xiaomei is a veterinarian, and she is the only one in the commune who knows how to do this. She has to climb mountains and wade through water to see chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, and pigs. She is so busy that she cannot take care of herself.

As for life, only you know how it feels, and it is difficult for outsiders to explain what goes on between husband and wife.

My eldest sister lives in the next county, but someone sent her back this time and last time.

Wen Jiajia watched from a distance and thought that this man was probably her eldest sister's husband. Her eldest sister's husband knew that the Wei family didn't like him, so he just left after sending her off. When Wei's eldest sister wanted to go back, he came to pick her up.

This made Wen Jiajia curious. Could it be that her brother-in-law was staying in the woods during that time?

Wei Dai didn't say much, but Wen Jiajia learned about her elder sister's situation from Wei Xiaomei.

She ignored Wei Dai's words, strolled to the courtyard, looked around, and asked Wei Xin: "Where is my eldest sister?"

Wei Xin was giving malt milk to the child in her arms. She looked up and saw, "My eldest sister probably gave the meal to her gigolo... ahem, she gave it to her eldest brother-in-law."

Wen Jiajia burst out laughing, and the child in Wei Xin's arms looked at her eagerly.

Wei Xin pursed her lips and smiled: "I'm not afraid of you making fun of me. My second brother has told you everything about my eldest sister, right?"

Wen Jiajia nodded.

Mrs. Wei, who was picking vegetables nearby, said, "Jia Jia, listen to Wei Dai. Brother Wei Dai thinks the same as Wei Dai, but I think her elder sister is smarter."

Wen Jiajia nodded. It didn't matter whether she listened or not. She had to make her own judgment on people and things.

Perhaps fearing that Wei Wenzhu in the room might hear what she said, Wei's wife lowered her voice and said, "My brother-in-law works in a machinery factory and is already a level 7 engineer. If he moves up, he will have to go to the city to be a deputy chief engineer. I just heard what my sister said, and the promotion will be by the end of this year... Alas, my brother-in-law is only about 40 years old. His monthly salary is equivalent to our family's annual income. Look at the clothes my sister wears every time she comes back, they are all new."

As he said this, he sighed, saying that it is really hard to predict one's fate.

Perhaps it is because the Wei family members all worship intellectuals in their nature. Although eldest sister Wei only finished elementary school, all the men she found were intellectuals.

Wen Jiajia was stunned.

And then sighed.

Oh! As the saying goes, if you master math, physics and chemistry, you won’t be afraid of traveling around the world.

She studied liberal arts all her life. If she had studied science and engineering, she would probably have gone to work in a factory after making her life a little better.

As long as you have technology, you will be popular.

If you work hard and take an exam, you may be able to become a technician.

Sister Wei came back again. After she came over, Wen Jiajia and Sister Wei kept silent tacitly.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing to talk about." Wei Xin said, "By the way, sister, is my eldest brother-in-law going to the city at the end of the year?"

Sister Wei asked, "Were you talking about me just now?"

Wen Jiajia: “…”

I really don't know how to respond to this, I can only smile awkwardly.

Sister Wei took the baby from Wei Xin's arms and rocked him twice: "You raised him so well. Is he still breastfeeding?"

Wei Xin: "Usually I feed them goat milk."

Sister Wei nodded and said, "My son Xiaoyuan needs milk every day now. There is no one delivering milk in the county, so I will find a family that raises sheep. When we go to the city at the end of the year, we can order milk."

Xiaoyuan refers to her own child, Su Zhiyuan, who is only two years old and is said to be very cute. Although the family dislikes Wei and her husband, they still like this grandson very much.

Wen Jiajia guessed that the slight thawing in their relationship in the past two years was probably due to Xiaoyuan.

After all, the child has been born, is it possible to get divorced?

It was time to eat, and Wei's parents were so kind that they allowed Sister Wei to bring her husband home for dinner.

This is what happens when you get old, you become more open-minded about many things. If you argue with your daughter, you will end up being the one who gets hurt.

Sister Wei was visibly happy.

This was the first time that Wen Jiajia saw her brother-in-law up close. He looked...how should I put it, very much a science and engineering guy.

He was wearing a blue work suit, had a few strands of gray hair on his temples, and looked quite elegant. If Sister Wei liked this type of man, it wouldn't be surprising that she fell for him.

He was very reserved, and his attitude towards Wei Dai was the same as that towards Sister Wei, somewhat fearful.

Wen Jiajia almost laughed out loud.

"You're just too scary." Wen Jiajia whispered to Wei Dai, "You'll never be a good person in your life."

Wei Dai's face darkened even more.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were finally led to the dining table by Wei Wenzhu. The two girls kept exclaiming "Wow" and their eyes were bigger than copper bells.

"Grandpa, you are a great cook!" Wen Xuan praised hurriedly, "It smells so good, even better than butchered pig dishes. It's the most delicious dish I've ever eaten."

Good-natured Wei Chengcai rarely receives such open praise; he has no authority at home, let alone among his grandchildren.

So when Wen Xuan praised him, his dark face turned dark red, and he could only smile stiffly, unable to speak.

He secretly gave Wen Xuan a chicken leg, thought for a moment, and gave the other one to Wen Chun. It can be seen that this good guy also needs others to provide emotional value, and he is also very happy after being praised.

Wen Jiajia couldn't stand the flattering Wen Xuan.

She vaguely remembered that Wen Xuan had said such words to her, to the cook at the nursery, and even to Lao Bai.

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