"My mother was still worried about this yesterday, saying that they are all aunts, but why are there so many differences between one aunt and another."
"You're a good reminder about this matter. I'm afraid of your aunt too. I have to ask your grandmother for a set of rules tomorrow."
"What rules can our grandma use? Every time my aunt comes, my mother says she wants to stay away from you. I think she wants to stay away from you and ignore you."
"If I could hide here, I would have, but the key is that they can still find me. Shufeng, remember this: you will be an aunt in the future too. No matter what you do, you must be sensible. No one will like you if you lose your sense of propriety. It has nothing to do with how much money you have. You can be a good aunt even without money. On the contrary, you can't be a good aunt even if you have money but no morals. Do you understand?"
"I understand. I don't want to be like my aunt. She doesn't like anyone except grandpa when she comes."
"Your father and the others are not happy either?" Chunxiao laughed at her for being so precocious.
"Dad isn't happy either, and neither are Second Uncle and Second Aunt. I've heard privately that we're not happy either. Those two rascals, Zhang Chong and Zhang Erbao, are just so annoying. They mess around at home, and Mom's really fed up with them."
"Don't say that in front of others."
Shuwen and the others had not returned from cutting grass, but Dahe came over in a bullock cart. He unloaded the bullocks from the cart and locked them in the cowshed. He gave the lamp oil to Chunxiao.
"What good things did you buy today?"
"I just bought some cloth, some oil, and some snacks for the children. My eldest sister-in-law also bought two locks. Your sisters-in-law are used to being frugal, and they really couldn't bear to spend money. There's nothing I can do. You can't say I'm stingy if I don't spend the money."
"If they are reluctant to buy it, you won't take the initiative to buy it. In the final analysis, it's because you are stingy." Chunxiao nodded her head and smiled slowly.
"Uncle, my aunt said before that she wanted to eat pastries. Have you bought them?" Shufeng tilted her head and looked at her.
"If you didn't tell me before we went, you'd be a complete hindsighter." Yan Dahe smiled. "It's easy for her to want to eat shortbread. I'll bring her a few pounds when I come back from delivering the goods tomorrow, or you can just say you want to eat it yourself."
"That's not me."
Yan Dahe went back after delivering the things. About two sticks of incense later, Shuwen came back with a few children.
Chunxiao then started telling stories in the kitchen again. The children were very happy listening to the stories all day long.
The next day, everyone started working as usual. Yan Dahe left especially early today, mainly because his father was still waiting for his ox cart to pick up the goods.
As soon as Wangzu and Dongsheng arrived, they took their tools and went up the mountain. Today's job was to chop firewood.
Before Da He returned, the whole family was weeding in the field out front, while the children went to collect grass for the pigs.
Chunxiao came to Zhou's side and said, "Mom, our aunt is coming during Qingming Festival. What should we do?"
When Zhou heard about this, she sighed. "I'm worried about this. We can't keep our business a secret. Even if we don't tell anyone, the gossipers in the village will tell everyone. I'm afraid this won't be easy to deal with."
Tian and Zhang heard them discussing this from a distance and gathered around. "Mom, we have to come up with a set of rules, especially for Dad. We can't let them know everything. The villagers know we're in business, but they don't know how much we earn a month. We mustn't tell anyone about our earnings, otherwise there will be endless trouble."
"Of course I know that, but Chunxiao has dug two wells here. They'll know once they come to see it. Even if they don't come, someone in the village will tell them. They said they didn't have the money when they borrowed it last time, so I'm afraid it won't be easy to fool them this time."
"Mom, actually I'm not afraid of any trouble. Why should I lend them money? The money is mine. I can lend it if I want to. If I don't want to lend it, what can they do to me? You can't say anything when the time comes, just push it onto me and say you are doing things for me and getting paid." She thought about it all night yesterday but couldn't come up with a good solution. If nothing else worked, she could only resort to force.
"You've already torn our relationship apart. Even your father won't be able to get along." Zhou said, looking at Yan Bingfa with resentment. "He treats his sister like a treasure, and doesn't even consider what kind of person Erni has become now. We all need to sit down and discuss this matter tomorrow when we have time. We need to get your father to express his opinion, otherwise this matter will not be resolved amicably."
Chunxiao felt that her mother was right. This matter really required her father to take a stance. If her father's attitude was ambiguous, it might escalate into a family conflict.
Yan Dahe came back soon, and Yan Bingfa immediately took Dashan and drove a ox cart to the next village.
Dahai felt that his family members looked worried today. When he asked Zhang, she refused to say anything. In short, it seemed strange.
Yan Bangfa and his men came back at noon, bringing back a lot of things, six sets in total, which means there were six pairs of pig intestines. It would take more than an hour to wash them, and it would probably take until very late to braise the ones for tomorrow.
The whole family then worked together to clean the large intestines. Tian began to light a fire and braise the pig's head and trotters.
Wangzu and his companions came down twice in the morning and were about to go up the mountain again when they were stopped by Tian, who said that dinner was late today and they would have to eat soon, so they were asked to rest for a while and eat before going up.
After Zhou and the others washed their intestines, they returned and simply fried three cabbage and egg pancakes for each person at noon.
In the afternoon, after Tian finished a round of stewing, he went outside to call back Zhou and others who were pulling weeds. This was also what Zhou had instructed before he went out.
The family gathered in the main hall. Yan Bingfa noticed that everyone looked serious and thought something had happened at home. "What's going on?"
Mrs. Zhou gestured for everyone to sit down. "I've called everyone together today because we have a vexing matter to discuss. Qingming Festival is just a few days away. As you all know, your aunt and her family always come over during Qingming Festival. Let's discuss everyone's opinions and preparations for your aunt's visit."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
