Chapter 255 New Year's Eve Dinner
While Lin Siqiao was busy delivering stewed eggs door to door, several aunts and cousins of the Qiao family were all busy in the kitchen.
The dishes were decided long in advance. In addition to some home-cooked dishes, the aunts in the Qiao family also specially made a few "water bowls".
Water bowl is actually a soup dish. In Tongcheng, there is a saying that "no water bowl, no feast", so this dish will always be on the dinner table during every happy event.
There were many people today, so we cooked a total of eight dishes, plus the old hen soup that had been simmered in a clay pot for several hours. This New Year's Eve dinner was already quite sumptuous.
When Lin Siqiao came back, the food had already been placed on the eight-immortal table.
Soon the whole family sat down. According to the local custom, if there is someone who is away from home, a set of bowls and chopsticks should be placed for that person, which means family reunion.
So there were two empty decks on the table, one belonged to Lin's mother and the other belonged to Qiao Zhiping.
After a burst of crackling firecrackers, Mrs. Qiao saw the whole family having fun and her eyes turned red with joy.
"Old man, please say a few words."
Old Master Qiao was holding the wine glass and was about to take a sip, but he was stunned when he heard this.
"What?"
In previous years, wasn’t it my wife who said that?
We have been married for so many years, but it has never been his turn to speak.
Old Mrs. Qiao glanced at him and rolled her eyelids up.
The meaning is very clear. Just say what you are told to say. Why are you wasting time talking?
Mr. Qiao smacked his lips a few times, then raised his glass. After holding it in for a long time, he finally uttered these words.
"Everyone eats well and drinks a lot of food"
That’s it?
What's next?
Old Master Qiao shook his head and said, “Well, that’s it, nothing more.”
When Old Mrs. Qiao saw his expression, if the children hadn't been there and it was New Year's Day, she would have yelled at him.
Lin Siqiao was right next to them. Seeing that grandpa and grandma were not eating well and kept muttering to themselves, he roughly knew what was going on.
"Grandma, grandpa has finished speaking, you should say a few words to everyone."
"Yes, Mom."
After hearing this, everyone put down their chopsticks and looked over, feeling a little embarrassed for what Old Mrs. Qiao had done.
After thinking about it, she also filled half a glass of white wine for herself.
"Okay, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll say a few words. Don't think I'm nagging."
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
People from several families expressed their opinions, and Mrs. Qiao waved her hand.
"Mom knows that you are all good and filial children. I am content to have you as my children in my life."
It was New Year's Day, and Mrs. Qiao didn't want to sound so sad, so she took a sip of wine and continued.
"Actually, I don't have much to say. I'm just happy to see that you're all back and everyone's life is getting better and better."
"As long as you are doing well, your father and I will be relieved. The only thing we are worried about now is Qiao Qiao."
Lin Siqiao opened her mouth, but Old Lady Qiao didn't let her speak. Instead, she spoke to the other three rooms.
"Your father and I are old, and we can't protect her for long. Qiao Qiao is Hua'er's only child."
"If we are gone someday, please remember to help us take good care of her and don't let others bully her."
"Mom, I know."
The three rooms collectively sighed. There was no need for the old lady to say this. This was what they thought in their hearts!
After receiving the affirmative response from the children, Mrs. Qiao's brows instantly relaxed.
"Let's eat."
"Qiao Qiao, eat more. You won't be able to eat such authentic hometown food when you go to Beijing."
Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered, "Qiao Qiao, when does school start?"
"It's the 22nd day of the first lunar month, but there's something going on at the Friendship Restaurant, so I might have to go a few days earlier."
After listening to this, Mrs. Qiao nodded. Seeing that Lin Siqiao liked fish balls, she scooped another full spoonful for her.
During the entire meal, Old Mrs. Qiao would glance at Lin Siqiao every three to five minutes.
Other children can be seen once every ten days or half a month.
Unlike Qiao Qiao, she is far away in Beijing, and we can only see each other during summer and winter vacations throughout the year.
They are...the more we see each other, the less we see each other.
"grandmother--"
Lin Siqiao put down her chopsticks. She also heard what her grandmother said last night that she couldn't slack off next year.
I didn't react at the time, but now I understand.
With how filial my uncles are, my grandparents don't have to work so hard.
But they still want to save more money, probably for themselves.
Lin Siqiao said gently, touching Mrs. Qiao's calloused hands.
"Grandma, when I'm free in the summer, I want to take you and grandpa to Beijing to stay for a while, and then take you two to have a good look around Beijing."
Lin Siqiao has had this idea for a long time. It would be fine if she didn’t have the ability, but since she has it, why not do it?
Old Mrs. Qiao was stunned for a moment, and when she reacted, she quickly waved her hands.
They are illiterate and would only cause trouble for Qiao Qiao if they went there. It would also be a waste of money, so they wouldn't go.
The two of them argued back and forth, but neither could convince the other.
Lin Siqiao was not in a hurry either. She had plenty of ways to get the two elders' consent.
After finishing the New Year’s Eve dinner, Lin Siqiao helped clean up while the children ran out to the yard.
From time to time, you can hear a muffled bang.
But adults generally don’t care too much, as long as the children don’t blow up other people’s toilets.
This year the children were more obedient and didn't blow up the toilet, but they blew up something else!
After a while, Lin Siqiao heard the voice of the aunt next door scolding her child.
"You unlucky kid, why are you frying cabbage in the vegetable garden?"
A good cabbage was blown into cauliflower, it's really infuriating!
After hearing this, Mrs. Qiao felt more and more that something was wrong, so she hurried to the vegetable garden at the back to take a look.
Fortunately, she arrived early. If she had arrived a few minutes later, her cabbage would have been fried.
Well, the fireworks have almost been set off, so let’s call the children back.
A few little radishes stand in a row. They don't need to kowtow even if the ground is cold. They just cup their little hands and say a few auspicious words. That's enough to get the point across.
The adults handed over the prepared red envelopes. Although Lin Siqiao was the cousin and not married, she still prepared one for each of the children.
But I didn’t expect that she, at such an age, would actually receive a red envelope.
Except for Mrs. Qiao, every other room was given one, and judging by the thickness, they should be quite a lot.
"Take it. Your uncles have been looking forward to giving it to you."
Old Mrs. Qiao wouldn't let her refuse. It had been more than ten years since she was five years old, so it was normal to get a bigger one.
After the New Year’s greetings, the children were so sleepy after a busy day that they went to bed.
The adults finally got together and chatted while staying up all night to celebrate the New Year.
Old Mrs. Qiao was afraid that the younger generation would be bored, so she went to her room and got out a deck of mahjong cards for the cousins to play with and have some fun.
"Cousin Qiao, come quickly, we're waiting for you."
Upon hearing this, Lin Siqiao, who played Southern Sparrow Cards, quickly waved her hands. She had never seen this kind of cards before.
"Cousin, I really don't know how to do this. You guys play, I'll watch from the side."
The little cousin from my second uncle's family pulled Lin Siqiao over and said with a smile.
"It's okay. This is very simple. We will teach you."
After listening to her introduction, Lin Siqiao roughly understood something.
Generally speaking, this is similar to the way mahjong is played.
"Then I'll give it a try."
"Okay, we have a deal, you are not allowed to cry if you lose."
The person who was speaking was Lin Siqiao's eldest cousin, the one who worked at the grain station.
Although he is the oldest among the brothers, he is the most active.
"I'm happy today, let's play big, I'll bet 3 cents."
Different ways of doing it have different prices, but the main point is to have fun, so Lin Siqiao had no objection.
Everyone smiled awkwardly after hearing this. Is this considered a big deal?
But all married men are like this. It's not easy to save some pocket money, so everyone won't laugh at you.
Ten minutes later, Lin Siqiao turned his head and asked Old Mrs. Qiao.
"Grandma, am I kidding?"
"yes!"
Old Mrs. Qiao laughed out loud, "He's taking money from all three of them! Hurry up and give me the money."
The old lady is very efficient in collecting money.
"Come, come, come again."
My cousin is lucky, so it doesn't hurt to give her a try. The three people present all thought so.
But what happened next left everyone dumbfounded.
"Cousin Qiao, tell me the truth, have you really never played this game before?"
"No."
Lin Siqiao shook her head and said, "You know what, this card game is really fun to play. She played for more than an hour and finally figured out the tricks and rules."
The eldest cousin wanted to cry but had no tears. "Then...then why do you keep winning?"
He had only saved a few dollars of private savings, and he almost lost it all.
Lin Siqiao took a look and realized that, yes, it seemed that she was the one who had been winning the game.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Maybe I have a good memory?"
Seeing that her cousins were all looking at her in surprise, Lin Siqiao didn't know how to explain.
There are only 108 cards in total. She can adjust the cards she plays at any time by knowing how many cards have been dealt and how many are left.
Also, she remembers the cards that others have played, and through this she can roughly guess what cards the other party wants.
Of course, Lin Siqiao didn’t remember it on purpose, it was just a habit.
Everyone: “…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
