Seeing her mother-in-law glaring at her fiercely, Xu Xiangjuan continued, "I just want you two to be nice to Grandpa so that he can spend his old age in peace. Aning and I will visit Grandpa from time to time, and we will also meet Auntie during the New Year... Guagua, let's go back to Great Grandpa."
Regardless of whether her mother-in-law is now thinking of hiding her grandfather's death from her aunt and continuing to take advantage of the situation, her words serve as a warning.
"Okay, Mom. Let's go to Great Grandpa's house." Gua Gua could feel that her mother was really angry. She didn't dare to speak and stayed quietly. Only after her mother said to go back to Great Grandpa's house did she respond in a low voice.
When Xu Xiangjuan returned to her grandfather's place, Zhou Chengning had already sorted out a lot of things. "Juan, you're back. Sit down and have a rest for a while."
Zhou Chengning sensed something was wrong with Guagua who was too quiet.
Xu Xiangjuan had adjusted her emotions on the way back, but little Gua Gua still couldn't manage his emotions, which made his father discover something.
"Aning, please continue to clean up. I want to talk to Grandpa."
There was no need to avoid mentioning anyone when talking to grandpa, as we were all family. Xu Xiangjuan talked directly about her aunt and also mentioned the person next door.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Grandpa, the weather is getting cold now. In a few days, Aning will have someone come over to repair your house on her day off. You can live here peacefully. Wear more clothes when it's cold and eat dry food instead of just eating porridge and rice soup all day."
Zhou Chengning cooperated with his wife, "Grandpa, Juan is right. You should be better to yourself. When I have a long vacation, I will come to see you every few days. You can tell me if you want to eat anything or if you need anything."
He was not being bragging. Although he didn't have much money, he was confident that if he asked Juan for money to give to his grandfather, she would give it to him.
Of course Xu Xiangjuan would not be stingy with the money given to grandfather. Strictly speaking, the money she has now belongs to the child's father. Apart from anything else, if the child's father wants to show filial piety, she will definitely not stop him.
"You are all good children, Grandpa knows."
Guagua finally became lively, "Me too!"
Grandpa Zhou responded to Guagua's words with a smile, "Yes, Guagua is also a good child, great grandfather knows."
After staying at grandpa's house for half an afternoon, the family left.
Before going out, I hang my quilt out to dry in the yard so I can put it away when I get home.
Niu Niu exercised too much today. He cooperated with his sister by waving his hands and kicking his legs. He was carried by his mother and kept exercising. He felt sleepy and fell asleep on the way back. Even though there were some bumps on the road, he still slept soundly.
Guagua was also sleepy. The two children went home to take an afternoon nap. Xu Xiangjuan was busy collecting the quilts, and Zhou Chengning was still driving the tricycle.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't know what to say when she saw that her husband was so diligent in driving the tricycle and looked so happy.
After Zhou Chengning finished brushing the tricycle, he helped Xu Xiangjuan with the work and took the big quilt from her hand, "Juan, let me hold it."
"Put it in a bag and put it in the outer room first." Xu Xiangjuan went to the outer room and propped up the woven bag to make it easier for Zhou Chengning to stuff the quilt in.
After the quilts were put away and the clothes could be dried again, Xu Xiangjuan was busy sweeping the floor, wiping the windows, and stacking firewood, while Zhou Chengning followed behind to help.
Xu Xiangjuan did small jobs that she could finish by herself. "If you are tired, you can go to the inner room to rest first. Don't disturb the children."
Zhou Chengning was stacking firewood. "I'm not tired. Juan, is there anything else you want to do?"
Xu Xiangjuan: "I'll knit a sweater later. I don't need your help with this."
"Then I'll watch Juan knitting."
"boring."
After finishing the small work in the yard, Xu Xiangjuan took the bag of wool to the outer room. It was still daylight, but a little cold outside, so she closed the outer door to prevent the cold wind from blowing in.
Fortunately, the outer room is bright and not very dark even with the door closed, so knitting does not hurt my eyes as it does when I light a kerosene lamp.
The door to the inner room was also closed for fear of disturbing the children.
Guagua is fine, he can play by himself after waking up, but Niu Niu needs to be coaxed for a long time.
The couple, Xu Xiangjuan was knitting a sweater, while Zhou Chengning was quietly holding the ball of yarn, waiting until she had almost finished knitting before continuing to loosen some of the yarn.
After watching his lover's deft hands for a long time, Zhou Chengning asked tentatively, "Juan, can you knit me a scarf?"
"Yes, sure. I'll knit you a scarf once Gua Gua's sweater is finished."
Scarves are simpler and less labor-intensive than sweaters.
"Juan, make a note for yourself too, we want the same."
Xu Xiangjuan almost wanted to tell them not to copy the couple's style of young people, but she swallowed the words when they were on the tip of her tongue. Now they were not that old, "I know, I'll send one to Guagua as well."
Before marrying Zhou Chengning, Xu Xiangjuan knew that Zhou Chengning was four years older than her and thought he was a little old, after all, there were many men of the same age in the village who were growing up quickly. But when she saw Zhou Chengning himself, she didn't care about his age anymore.
It's such a waste of time to hit this and that.
Zhou Chengning didn't ask his lover about his experience next door today. If he asked her, she would say it was nothing. He also didn't plan to ask Gua Gua. It wouldn't be of much use after all, Gua Gua was young and had poor expression skills... If he really wanted to know, he would have to wait for his lover to be willing to tell him.
...
This morning, as usual, the children's father went to work, and Xu Xiangjuan took the children to their grandparents' house.
As soon as he entered the yard, his mother called him to the main room to talk.
"Look, why did you buy a tricycle with the bicycle ticket? Now the women in the village laugh at me when they see me and ask if they can borrow the tricycle to transport food."
News spread quickly in the village. Her daughter Aning had only been riding a tricycle for a few days when the news spread everywhere and even reached her mother's ears. Although it was Aning who wanted to buy the tricycle and she was not fake about her happiness after buying it, but...it was also bought with her consent, so she had responsibilities, "Mom, a tricycle is not bad..."
Xu Xiangjuan's voice softened unconsciously.
"Your husband is a teacher. It's better to walk to school than to ride a tricycle. It's bad enough that you get humiliated, but you also make me and your dad humiliated. Tell me, who are you trying to embarrass by buying a tricycle?"
Now Wu Caifeng knew that it was her daughter's idea to buy a car.
"Mom, it's not impossible to buy a two-wheeled bicycle. I still have some money at home."
Wu Caifeng: "You are deliberately trying to piss off your mother. Hurry up and write to your second sister and ask her for a bicycle ticket. Buy a bicycle and keep the tricycle at home. You can ride it out when you need it... It's a pity that the bicycle at home is rusted, otherwise I would give it to you to ride."
Although she had some opinions about her son-in-law, Wu Caifeng couldn't stand being criticized. Nowadays, it was quite good for farmers to have a car, but as a teacher at the town middle school, riding a tricycle would make her stand out from the crowd and make her an outlier.
Xu Xiangjuan originally thought that as long as her man was happy, she would be fine. But when she actually bought it, and saw that he was still very excited, she found it hard to get over it...
Riding to school is not very sociable.
Xu Xiangjuan: "I will write to my sister and buy her a bicycle."
Wu Caifeng: "Write quickly and buy a bicycle as soon as possible to avoid embarrassment."
Xu Xiangjuan thought that she could go buy some wool when the time comes, as the wool she got from her mother was almost used up.
Her mother was also angry, so Xu Xiangjuan chose to change the subject, "Where is Dad?"
"Let's go watch the fun and catch loaches."
"Why are you going so early today?"
"It's the last day. After that, the land there will not be open this year. Your father went there early."
Guagua listened to Niuqiu and wanted to join in the fun. She remembered the way and said, "Grandma, Mom, I'm going to find Grandpa."
"Guagua, don't go. Keep an eye on the loaches in the bucket outside. Don't let them run away."
"I won't let the loach run away!" Gua Gua had something to do, so he immediately went to see the loach and tried not to let it run away.
After his sister left, Niu Niu kicked his short legs and continued to stay obediently in his mother's arms.
Xu Xiangjuan spent the next half hour listening to her own mother's "self-narrated experience".
The details were even explained clearly, including which road in the village and which woman was met.
Her mother meant that because of the tricycle, the family was almost humiliated and could not even hold their heads up.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't believe that her mother couldn't hold her head up, she thought it must be an exaggeration.
Just buy one, there is no other big expense for the family this year anyway.
1800 is definitely not something you can save.
Her mother was also surprised. She was very opposed to it before, but now she wanted her to buy a bicycle and take it home. She was indeed a typical person who was too eager to save face and suffered in vain. Moreover, she didn't even realize that she was the kind of person who was too eager to save face.
...
November 15th was Zhou Chengning's payday. When he got the pay slip and salary, he was in high spirits. He rode his tricycle home as fast as he could in the afternoon.
Niu Niu was already sleeping in his little bed, Gua Gua was also asleep, and Xu Xiangjuan was cooking by herself.
There will be pork tonight. I went to the market this morning and picked out a piece of fat and lean meat. I didn’t weigh much, just one pound. It’s a reward for the child’s father on payday.
Last night he told her that the salary was paid today, and after working hard for a month, she should be rewarded.
Slice the pork and there is no need to add oil. The oil will come out after simmering it in the pan for a while. In the evening, she will make stir-fried pork slices with onions. The meat needs to be fried a little longer until it is slightly browned. She thinks it smells better this way, similar to lard, but it doesn't have to be boiled for as long as lard.
In addition to fried meat with onions, there is also loach stewed with tofu that I brought home from my parents, which Gua Gua really likes.
Tofu is generally difficult to absorb flavor, but the loach stewed with tofu she made was delicious. Although the tofu was old, it absorbed the soup. Gua Gua ate a small bowl of it and took the other bowl home to steam and heat up over rice in the evening.
The vegetarian dish was a plate of stir-fried celery without any meat, so it was quite plain.
When Zhou Chengning came back, Xu Xiangjuan was frying the last dish of celery. Today her husband came back earlier than she expected. "Take Guagua to wash his hands first. It's almost time for dinner."
"Juan, I'll take Gua Gua to wash his hands later. Today's salary has arrived, so I'll give it to you first." Salary is the important thing.
His favorite day of the month is when he gets his paycheck, because it brings in extra income to the family and his wife can be happy too.
"Put it in my pocket first."
"Okay." Zhou Chengning put 37 yuan and the salary slip into Xu Xiangjuan's pocket.
Just as I was about to go look for Gua Gua, my lover called me back.
"Wait a minute, taste it, be careful it's hot." Xu Xiangjuan picked up a piece of pork with chopsticks and passed it to Zhou Chengning's mouth. Zhou Chengning took a bite and immediately smiled, "Delicious."
"Okay, go wake up Gua Gua." Xu Xiangjuan continued to stir-fry the celery and ignored Zhou Chengning.
Gua Gua went to the market with his mother this morning, and went to the market with his grandmother in the afternoon. He went home and fell asleep immediately.
I went to the morning market with my mom, and she wanted to buy fresh things. I went to the afternoon market with my grandma, and she wanted to bargain for a cheaper price. After all, the stalls would be closed in the afternoon, and the fruits and vegetables would not be very fresh, so they would be sold at a low price.
Whether it was the morning market or the afternoon market, Guagua walked for a long time, and when he was tired, he naturally fell asleep.
He was sleeping soundly at this moment. Niu Niu's bed was placed next to the big bed where the whole family slept. Zhou Chengning walked quietly.
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