As the three of them arrived at the yard, they saw Yan Dahe, Zhang Shi, Yan Shuduo, and Yan Paner coming over, each carrying a bowl of food. "Sister-in-law, your meal isn't ready yet. My food won't get cold before it's served."
"Okay, okay, it's ready." Tian's voice came from the kitchen.
Zhou came out of the kitchen and took them to put the dishes on the dining table. "Go wipe your hands. Dinner will be served soon."
"Where's Dad?" Yan Dahe looked around but didn't see Yan Bingfa. "Big brother didn't see him either."
"Your father has gone to look at the house at the end of the village. There's no need to wait for him. Your eldest brother has gone to fetch water and will be back soon. Shuduo's mother, go to the kitchen and get the dishes and chopsticks." Zhou saw the children coming over and said, "Since there are so many people here today, you little ones can stand by and eat. Is that okay?"
"Okay, grandma, I smell meat. Has mom fried the meat?" Shuwen laughed, "It's good to have aunt here. We have meat to eat." The children's eyes lit up when they heard that there was meat.
"You have a really good nose. You can smell meat from such a distance. Have you wiped your hands?"
"It has been wiped. If you don't believe me, take a look." After saying that, he stretched out his little hand in front of Zhou. When the children saw it, they all stretched out their hands.
"Okay, put it away. We'll have dinner when your father arrives." She glanced at Chunxiao who was standing at the door of the main hall and said, "Come, Chunxiao, sit down first. We'll have dinner when your eldest brother comes back."
"Mom, please sit down. I'll help serve the dishes." Chunxiao saw Zhang carrying a pile of bowls and chopsticks. "Second sister-in-law, do you want some help?"
Zhang smiled and shook her head, "Go and help your sister-in-law bring out the meal."
Not long after, Yan Dashan came back carrying water and saw that the main room was already full of people. "They are waiting for me. What are you waiting for me for? In this weather, the food will get cold if left out. You should eat quickly." He put the bucket of water in the kitchen, wiped his hands and came to the main room.
"Dad, come quickly. Mom fried meat today. We won't be able to eat it if you don't come." Several children looked at him eagerly.
"Here I am, here I am. I told you not to wait any longer. Let's eat. Oh, we're having vegetable pancakes and rice crust porridge today." Yan Dashan looked at the more abundant vegetarian dishes on the table than usual, and a smile appeared on his face. "Let's eat."
"This vegetable pancake was prepared by my sister-in-law. It feels like Chinese New Year today." Tian was happy. She picked up a vegetable pancake for Chunxiao and a few pieces of cabbage stir-fried with diced meat. "Chunxiao, come here, eat more. You look too thin."
"Sister-in-law, I can do it myself."
"Mom, I want to eat vegetable pancakes too." Yan Qi stood aside, looking at the big plate of vegetable pancakes and swallowing his saliva.
"I want it too." Several children asked in low voices.
"We've fried a lot of vegetable pancakes today, so everyone has a share. Come, let me give you one each." Zhou gave each of the five children a pancake. "Everyone says these little brats are starving me to death, but we have to eat them. They're growing up right now."
"Mom, don't just focus on them, eat yourself too."
"I don't like pancakes, I'm fine with porridge. There are a lot of dishes today, so it's a treat for everyone. Let's eat quickly."
Chunxiao used chopsticks to divide half of her vegetable pancake and put it in Zhou's bowl, "Mom, I'll eat half of it and have porridge later." She didn't know that Zhou didn't dislike pancakes at all, but just wanted to save the pancake for the younger generation.
"Don't push around. My wife has made enough pancakes. Everyone should have at least one." Yan Dahe picked up another pancake for Chunxiao and said, "Eat more. You've become so thin."
The family sat together and quickly finished the food on the table. After the meal, the children touched their stomachs and said that they had eaten a lot today.
Chunxiao wants to clean up the dishes.
"Auntie, please sit down and we will go wash." Several children quickly cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen.
The nephew and niece were really sensible. Chunxiao looked at Zhou who was standing beside her and asked, "Mom, is there any work to do around the house?"
"You should take a rest first. They are used to doing trivial chores and don't need you anymore. If you are tired, let Shuduo take you to her room to sleep for a while. Yes, you should go to sleep for a while. You are not fully recovered yet." After saying this, Zhou called Shuduo over and said, "Take your aunt to rest for a while."
"Mom, I'm fine. How can I sleep after having just eaten? If I had nothing to do, I would sit down and talk to you."
"Are you really not tired?"
"I'm really not tired."
"Okay, then you just sit in the yard and bask in the sun. The sun is nice today, so I'll take out the quilt to dry it and get rid of the dust." Seeing her mother-in-law go back to the house to get the quilt, Tian went to help and took out the quilt from her own room as well.
"Grandma, Mom, Auntie Pang's son Xiaojun invited us to go catch river shrimp with him. We should go now." The children stood at the door with their hemp ropes and dustpans, watching Zhou and Tian drying quilts in the yard. "Auntie will be back today. If we catch any, we can have a good meal tonight."
"You want to go fishing and you've even dragged your aunt along? Okay, go ahead. Don't get your clothes wet." Seeing that the five children were about to leave, Zhou grabbed Pan'er, who was following behind, and said, "Little ancestor, don't join in the fun. What if you fall into the river?"
When Pan'er heard that she was not allowed to go and her brothers and sisters were about to leave, she burst into tears, "Grandma, I want to go, I want to go too." She cried and ran over to hug her mother's legs, "Mom, I want to go." She cried loudly. Zhang was a little embarrassed.
"Grandma, let Pan'er go with you. I'll watch her. We'll stay away from the water." Yan Qi patted his chest like a little adult.
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