Chapter 249 Gift
Lin Siqiao knew that things should go smoothly, but he didn't expect it to be this smooth.
Looking at her grandmother's wrinkled face when she smiled, she felt that everything was worth it.
As they were talking, they had already arrived near the old house.
The Qiao family’s house was the most common rammed earth and thatched house of that era.
There is a yard in front and back, and many golden jujube trees are planted in front of and behind the house.
The apartment layout is similar to the one Lin Siqiao had seen on Chongming Island before.
Large three-bedroom apartments in the south basically have this layout, with a room on each side, a main room in the middle, and the kitchen in the backyard.
Next to the backyard is the private plot. Although it is still winter, the temperature in the south is high, and there are many varieties of vegetables in the vegetable garden in this season.
Many people were curious about what vegetables in the south looked like. After a while, the Qiao family heard the noise and came out from the kitchen with smiles on their faces.
There were not many people there, only my aunt He Chunfang and her second daughter-in-law Li Xiaonan.
There is no way. There is actually no such thing as annual holiday in this era. Especially when the situation was serious in the past few years, the authorities issued a notice that there would be no Spring Festival holiday.
The situation has improved in recent years. It was changed to one day off on New Year's Day, but most units turn a blind eye to it and give everyone a day off on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.
These are Lin Siqiao’s cousins. They either work in the supply and marketing cooperative or in the grain station.
Don't even think about working in this kind of unit. It's absolutely impossible to have a holiday before New Year's Eve.
"Don't stand in the yard, come in and sit down."
After greeting them, my aunt He Chunfang got up and went to the main room to pour a few cups of sugar water, and then grabbed a few handfuls of peanuts and melon seeds for the two little ones.
"Come on, Xiao Fei, drink some hot water."
Wang Xiaofei took it, thanked him, and moved his butt to the side of the bench.
"Sister-in-law, please sit down. We are family, why be so polite?"
He Chunfang wiped her hands with her apron and sat down next to her.
"How is it, are you still vomiting now?"
"It's much better now. Before, I would vomit everything I ate."
"That's good."
The sisters-in-law in the Qiao family all have a very good relationship. They start chatting as soon as they meet, and others cannot interrupt them.
A few minutes later, Lin Siqiao suddenly smelled a sticky smell in his nose.
"Aunt, is there something stuck?"
"Ahhh, my Yuanzi!"
He Chunfang slapped his thigh and ran to the kitchen, which was already filled with smoke.
Fortunately, the fire in the kitchen in the 1980s was not very big, except that a few meatballs in the pot were a little mushy.
Lin Siqiao took a look at the stove and saw meat filling, tofu, eggs and glutinous rice.
"Aunt, what delicious food are you making?"
Lin Siqiao had come here at a young age, so naturally he didn't know that in Tongcheng, from the Little New Year to New Year's Eve, every household was busy preparing for the New Year.
There is even a popular saying about this.
"Twenty-five, tofu."
"On the twenty-sixth, chop the meat for the New Year."
"On the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth, we fried dumplings, welded rakes, and killed chickens and ducks."
"Twenty-nine, everything."
"Thirtieth night is good for drinking!"
Dumplings symbolize a happy reunion. Every year at this time, every family will fry some for future use, and those who are better off will put more meat in them.
If that doesn’t work, just add more glutinous rice and tofu. It will taste good no matter how you cook it.
"This is glutinous rice and tofu dumplings."
After saying this, He Chunfang picked one up from the basin and stuffed it into Lin Siqiao's mouth.
"Try it. Is it delicious?"
Freshly fried dumplings are fragrant and glutinous, how can they not be delicious?
Lin Siqiao gave a thumbs up and said, "Aunt, your cooking skills are amazing."
"As long as you like it, you can eat more at noon later."
There was a lot of smoke in the kitchen, so He Chunfang didn't let her stay any longer. She asked her to clean up quickly and that dinner would be ready in about an hour.
Lin Siqiao did not refuse. After staying on the boat for several days, she always felt that there was an indescribable smell on her clothes.
When they arrived at the main room, Qiao Zhiyi had already sent Lin Siqiao's luggage back to the room.
The only advantage of a house in the countryside is that it is big. The east wing alone is more than 50 square meters.
There were too many children in the family and there was not enough space for them, so after the house was built, the Qiao family built a wall in the middle.
Old Mrs. Qiao opened a room in the inner east wing. The room was not big, only about a dozen square meters, and was filled with all kinds of furniture.
These are the furniture that were shipped back from Ancheng before. This room was also the boudoir of Qiao's mother before she got married.
"Old man, go get the quilt outside..."
Before Mrs. Qiao could finish her words, Mr. Qiao came in carrying a quilt. Lin Siqiao quickly took it.
The quilt had been dried in the sun for several hours and felt warm to the touch. After Lin Siqiao spread out the quilt, he took out the gifts for everyone.
When I saw Lin Siqiao take out a radio from his bag.
Old Mrs. Qiao was so angry that she wanted to slap her twice, "You kid! Why are you wasting this money?"
Old Mrs. Qiao knew that her granddaughter was now working at the Beijing Friendship Store.
But she didn't know Lin Siqiao's specific income and thought she only earned thirty to fifty yuan a month at most.
When Mrs. Qiao thought of Xiao Lu's family background, she became worried.
Besides, she has so many sons and grandchildren, how could she let a girl like Xiao Qiao pay for this?
Lin Siqiao didn't know that the old lady was thinking so much. She originally planned to buy a TV, but the village didn't have electricity yet, so the TV would just gather dust if she bought it.
Lin Siqiao had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and chose this battery-powered radio, which would make it convenient for his grandparents to listen to the radio at home when they have nothing to do.
"Grandma, if you're afraid of wasting money, you and grandpa should listen more often in the future."
"The longer you listen, the more cost-effective it is!"
Old Mrs. Qiao was so angry that she laughed, "What kind of twisted logic is this?"
Lin Siqiao didn't care. The things had already been bought. She had carried them all the way back from Beijing. It was absolutely impossible for her to carry them back.
Old Mrs. Qiao wanted to say something when she saw Lin Siqiao take out another sandalwood box.
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