The child had just fallen asleep when Yinxia pointed to the kang table on the ground and said, "Get ready, set the kang table down, I'm going to cook with my mother."
Fatty nodded: "Okay."
From the courtyard came Old Liu's voice: "Oh dear, where did the sun rise from? I haven't even finished work yet, and I'm already busy in the kitchen. Is some important relative visiting?"
As Old Liu spoke, he lifted the patched curtain.
Aunt Liu, wearing an apron, was chopping vegetables when she said, "Of course, Fatty is here, and he brought a roast chicken with him. I'm cooking for the child. Go inside and talk to Fatty nicely, and the food will be ready in no time."
Old Liu shook his head: "You old lunatic, when did you become so nice to Fatty Egg? Or did Fatty Egg do you some favor? I've lived most of my life and I've never seen you so enthusiastic towards anyone before."
Aunt Liu turned around and sneered, "You're really heartless. If I hadn't cooked for you, you old man would probably have starved to death long ago. Why are you still saying such vulgar things?"
Old Liu's lips curled up: "Alright, that's enough. Let me have a sip of wine, and we can discuss anything!"
After saying that, he laughed and went into the main room.
When Fatty saw his father-in-law come in, he immediately went up to greet him: "Dad, you're back! Come on, wash your hands, Mom's cooking!"
Old Liu nodded: "My own son won't even call me 'Dad,' but you, my son-in-law, do. Fine, I'll do it myself. You go to the cellar and bring me that jar of old wine. Have a few sips with me today."
Fatty was a little annoyed: "Dad, do you have to bring the whole jar of wine just because I took a few sips?"
"Just go when I tell you to. Why are you so stubborn? It's nothing, just a jar of wine."
Old Liu was a drunkard; he would get so happy at the mention of drinking that he forgot everything else. Fatty knew this, so he quickly brought over a jar of wine.
"Father, I can smell the aroma of wine from afar, but I can't drink. Drinking will lead to trouble, which is not good!"
Old Liu rolled his eyes and immediately started cursing: "Look at you, you can't even drink a drop of wine, what great things can you possibly do? And look at Sanwang, he can drink with the merchants all night long. I'm just asking you to drink a jar of wine with me."
Yinxia brought over the food, glanced at her father, then at the embarrassed Fatty, as if she already knew something. She then said, "Dad, are you going to make Fatty drink again? Let me tell you, if you want to drink, then drink, but don't drag Fatty down with you. Last time you forced my brother-in-law to drink, and he ended up falling into the vegetable cellar. My sister was still angry about it. How could you forget that so quickly?"
Aunt Liu then brought in a bowl of rice. When she heard that Old Liu wanted to drink, she started to scold him: "You old scoundrel, what time is it and you still want to drink? You've ruined my eldest son-in-law so much. Now, Fatty doesn't drink at all, what kind of trouble are you going to cause?"
After being scolded by Aunt Liu, Old Liu could only laugh and say, "Alright, I'll drink it all myself, and I won't let Fatty drink it, okay? When have I ever seen you so fond of your son-in-law? You call me 'Mom' and you forget who you are, really!"
On the kang table, there was a plate of stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, braised pork ribs, cold tofu salad, and pieces of roast chicken, along with dipping sauces and a bowl of rice for each person.
Fatty hadn't eaten for several days. Seeing his favorite dishes, he happily said, "Thank you, Mom. This braised pork ribs and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar are my favorites."
"Look how happy you are. If it's delicious, eat more." She said, putting some food on her son-in-law's plate.
Old Liu, holding a bowl of wine, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), crossed his legs, and said, "Oh my, it's been so long since I've eaten anything so delicious. You old woman, you actually have such skill!"
Yinxia picked up her bowl, ready to eat, when the child lying on the kang (heated brick bed) started crying loudly. Pangdan quickly picked him up.
"Honey, you eat a little first, I'll coax him."
Yinxia glanced at Fatty and said without any curiosity, "Alright, what are you going to use to coax him? Do you really think everyone is as easy to coax as me?"
Aunt Liu glanced at Yinxia and said, "Alright, if women don't feed children, how are men supposed to feed them? What's with all this nonsense?"
A voice came from outside the door: "Mother-in-law, are you home?"
The gentle voice immediately identified it as Qiu Dong, Aunt Liu's eldest son-in-law. Aunt Liu quickly put down her chopsticks and came out: "You two are really good at scheming. Did you see that our chimney wasn't smoking anymore and guessed that the food was ready before coming over?"
Jin Xia laughed heartily: "That's right, Mother. I secretly observed and guessed that you must have made something delicious for my father, so I came over with Qiu Dong. What's wrong? Isn't there any food for us?"
"Of course there is! Fatty brought a roast chicken, and I was thinking of making a nice meal. Come on in, we'll be there just in time for dinner!"
When Old Liu heard that his eldest son-in-law had arrived, he happily rolled up the curtain and called out, "Son-in-law, come quickly! There's some good wine here. Would you like to have a drink with me?"
Aunt Liu was furious: "If you want to cause trouble, go do it yourself. Why come here and ruin the children's lives? The children finally get together, and all you do is drink. What else can you do besides drinking?"
When Fatty saw Qiu Dong arrive carrying some things, his heart skipped a beat. They were both sons-in-law, but Qiu Dong was better off than him. Every time he came to his father-in-law's house, he would drink and he had money, which made Fatty feel very inferior.
Fatty wouldn't neglect appearances. He glanced at Qiu Dong and said with a smile, "Brother-in-law's here! Come on, sit down!"
The family sat down together, and Aunt Liu was overjoyed to see her two sons-in-law. She then said, "Great! It's not easy for our family to get together like this, let's eat quickly."
When Jinxia saw Yinxia's child, she smiled and said, "This child is so fair and tender, he looks just like my sister."
Autumn Winter's eyes turned to Fatty Egg: "Come on, Fatty Egg, let's have a drink. It's been so long since we last met. What kind of work are you doing now?"
Fatty shook his head: "No need, brother-in-law, I don't drink. I'm learning carpentry from someone else right now."
Jin Xia laughed and said, "Learning carpentry? When will my sister be able to live a good life? Carpentry work doesn't earn much money. Why don't I tell my father-in-law to let her work with the workers in the village digging tree pits? They can earn five copper coins a day."
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