Chapter 85 On Fire
Liu Guizhi and her family first had a hearty meal of stewed pork. Gu Weidong put a lot of effort into stewing the pork.
He thought that with the huge sum of more than 300 yuan in his family, even if there was no unexpected income in the future, they could still live a comfortable life. If he worked harder, he could even get enough money for his three children to marry and Fubao's dowry, so he wouldn't have to worry about his future.
Since life is no longer a worry, there is no need to be too harsh on children. Children are in the period of growth, and they need more nutrition so that they can study well.
So he simply let the children eat as much as they wanted: big pig's trotters, big chunks of stewed meat, whatever they wanted.
The children enjoyed the meal to their heart's content.
After finishing their meal, Gu Weidong said, "I heard from your grandmother that in the past, the landlords and wealthy families didn't eat meat all at once; they would get tired of it easily. So we can't eat like this from now on. Just cut a little and try it when you feel like eating."
Everyone agreed with Gu Weidong's decision. After all, meat must be eaten in a steady stream and cannot be gone after a few meals. The children have all lived through hard times and understand this principle.
But... everyone was puzzled.
Gu Yuejin was the first to ask, "Can you get tired of eating meat?"
Gu Shengtian thought, "I eat meat every day, every meal, and I won't get tired of it even if I eat three bowls!"
Fubao thought for a moment and said, "The meat my parents stew is delicious. I never get tired of it."
Liu Guizhi actually wondered, could one get tired of eating meat? But she didn't ask.
Gu Weidong lowered his head and pondered for a moment: "I don't know either, but what if we get tired of it? Then we won't be able to eat such delicious meat again in the future?"
It seems... to make some sense.
The children all nodded in agreement.
It’s better to eat meat slowly.
But where should they put so much meat? If they bring it back to the old house, the other families will definitely be jealous when they see so much meat and smell the aroma. After all, the other families will definitely not be willing to stew more than 30 kilograms of meat.
Gu Weidong had already thought of a solution: "I dug a manhole here and hid it in here. It won't break down and won't be discovered."
This was his family's house, and they built a kitchen here. Ordinary people wouldn't come here, and there had never been a thief in the production team.
The children were all excited when they saw this and helped carry the broth and meat to the cellar. The cellar here is actually a cellar, usually a square pit about two meters deep, with wood, branches, grass, and mud covering the top, leaving a hole at the edge that is wide enough for one person to go down.
This kind of cellar is warm in winter and cool in summer, making it the most suitable for preserving food. Cabbage and sweet potatoes can be put in it in winter to prevent them from freezing, and fruits and vegetables can be put in it in summer to prevent them from getting damaged by heat.
Because this cellar could only accommodate one person, Gu Weidong asked Gu Yuejin to go down the ladder, and then the people above passed the meat and broth to him. Soon, the meat and broth were put in.
Liu Guizhi was careful and brought some straw and asked Gu Yuejin to cover the broth and meat chunks. She also put some cabbage next to it to block it. This way, if someone came in, they might not discover their broth.
After finishing the work and seeing that it was getting late, everyone decided to go home.
On the way back, Gu Weidong looked around and said, "Our house is in a corner of the production brigade. When we build our house and move in, we need to get a dog to guard our house."
Liu Guizhi naturally agreed.
She was definitely reluctant to keep a dog before, because dogs had to eat after all. But now she is willing to do so. She feels that her family’s life has improved, so she has to keep a dog and keep an eye on it.
The family planned for the future, even figuring out who to ask for help in building the house after the New Year and what to cook for the family. As they were talking, they returned to the old house, but as soon as they entered, they smelled a burnt smell.
I was startled and rushed in to see.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw Liu Zhaodi chasing and beating Xiuni. The chickens in the yard were frightened and flew all over the yard, and their feathers fell in a chaotic manner. Liu Zhaodi chased and beat Xiuni, crying, "I asked you to light a fire, and you caused this to happen. I asked you to light a fire, and you can't even do it right!!"
Xiuni sobbed in grievance, "Do you blame me? I just put that piece of firewood into the stove and you called me, but I went over to chop vegetables first!"
When Liu Zhaodi heard this, she became even more angry: "Why did you pick such a long piece of firewood for no reason? It's so long that it sticks out of the stove. How can it not catch fire?"
Xiuni was choked when she heard this.
Just at this moment, she saw Gu Weidong's family, and Liu Guizhi was holding Fubao in her hand.
When she saw Fubao, she remembered that if Fubao had not insisted on taking the longest piece of firewood, she would not have thought of taking that one. But Fubao wanted to take it, and she was not convinced, so she simply took the longest one and burned it. She thought that if she burned it while passing it into the stove, nothing would happen. But who knew that the fire would get bigger and burn the whole kitchen!
In fact, there was not much in the kitchen, which was not a big deal. The key was the pot of meat. The meat was burnt to ashes and turned into black hard lumps!
When Liu Guizhi, Gu Weidong and others heard this, they hurried to the kitchen to take a look.
The kitchen was indeed black from the burn. Although the pots, pans, and utensils were not damaged, they were all blackened. It would probably take some effort to clean them.
At this time, Liu Zhaodi was still scolding the child, causing chaos.
Shen Hongying was furious when she remembered that her own belongings had also been destroyed: "I just chopped three pounds of meat, and you also burned it!!"
She weighed only a little over thirty kilograms in total. She gave three kilograms to her parents' home, kept five kilograms for herself to eat slowly, and took the rest to the market to exchange for food and other things.
In other words, after being burned by Liu Zhaodi's Xiuni, she only had two pounds of flesh left! !
Chen Hongying was heartbroken and stared at Liu Zhaodi. She wanted Liu Zhaodi to compensate her.
Gu Weiguo grabbed her, and although his heart ached, he still told her: "Forget it, don't bother with it. It's gone, it's gone. The child didn't do it on purpose."
Chen Hongying was furious when she heard this: "I only have five pounds of meat left. Three pounds were burned, so I only have two pounds left. Everyone knows I raised a big fat pig, and now I only have two pounds of meat for the New Year. How can I live like this? How can I live like this!"
Gu Weijun listened to this and looked at his wife who had hit her daughter. He sighed and said, "Brother, don't worry. I will find a way to compensate you for the three pounds of meat. I will also fix what needs to be burned in the kitchen and wash what needs to be washed. I will take care of it."
Gu Weiguo and Gu Weimin heard this and hurriedly advised: "No, this is not necessary."
In fact, Gu Weimin didn't do anything bad. Niu Sanni had stewed the meat early and put it in the cellar behind the house. There was basically no loss in her family. She just had to wash and clean the bowls and spoons.
Liu Zhaodi became even angrier after hearing what Shen Hongying said. She stopped beating Xiuni who was jumping up and down. She squatted on the ground and cried loudly: "Why is my life so miserable? I didn't even have a bite of meat to eat during the New Year, and this damned girl ruined it all. My life is so miserable! I, I don't want to live anymore!"
As she said that, she rushed to the toilet. There was a pesticide bottle hanging next to the toilet. There was 1605 in the bottle. She grabbed the bottle and was about to pour 1605 into her mouth.
Shen Hongying and Niu Sanni were dumbfounded. They rushed over and grabbed her, holding her down tightly, and snatched the pesticide bottle away to prevent her from drinking it.
Gu Weiguo and Gu Weimin were reluctant to attack, as they were their brother's wife after all. Gu Weijun also hurried over, threw the pesticide bottle aside, and yelled, "What are you fussing about? Are you going to die just for a few pounds of pork?"
Liu Zhaodi wiped her tears and said, "I have to compensate you. I have to compensate you for your sister-in-law's pork. Where can I get the pork to compensate you? I will compensate you with my life. You guys can live your lives well. I will compensate you with my life!"
When Shen Hongying heard this, she was shocked.
She wants pork, she doesn’t want Liu Zhaodi’s life! !
Even if Liu Zhaodi's life is taken, the pork cannot be returned!
But Liu Zhaodi just didn't want to give Chen Hongying pork. She just wanted to pay with her life. Anyway, there were so many people around, and she couldn't grab the pesticide bottles, so she grabbed them as much as she could: "Give it to me, give it to me, let me die and be done with it..."
Shen Hongying was so angry that she almost said, "Give it to you, drink it. If you don't drink it, my surname is not Gu!"
Amidst this commotion, Miao Xiujiu and Gu Dayong came out of the house.
Gu Dayong said nothing with a dark face. Miao Xiuju sneered, "Let her drink!"
Shen Hongying was delighted, as it was exactly what she wanted. She liked the way her mother-in-law spoke.
When Miao Xiujiu said this, Liu Zhaodi was stunned.
Of course Gu Weijun understood what his mother meant and he sighed.
Miao Xiuju said sarcastically, "If you want to die, then drink. When your parents come to ask why their daughter is dead, I'll say she was forced to death by three pounds of pork. That will sound great if that gets out."
Liu Zhaodi suddenly lost her strength, her whole body went limp, and she fell to the ground.
She didn't want to die, and she didn't want to die because of this. It would be embarrassing if the news got out.
Liu Zhaodi didn't want to die, so Miao Xiuju started asking, "Where's your pork? If you don't want to die, you have to return it to the old family."
Shen Hongying was so moved that she wanted to cry. Her mother was so kind that she still thought about her pork.
Gu Weijun's face turned grim, and after a while he managed to utter, "Mom, there's no pork left at home."
Huh? Gone?
Shen Hongying's eyes widened: "How could it be gone? Thirty kilograms!"
Her pork, her pork!
Miao Xiuju: "Where's the meat?"
Gu Weijun looked at Liu Zhaodi and sighed.
There's no way, there's really no way. There are only four pounds of pork left at home, and now it has been burnt into black lumps and is inedible.
Everyone looked at Liu Zhaodi, and she burst into tears: "I am unlucky. I am unlucky. I have no meat left. Not even a single bite of meat left. There is nothing left to eat..."
Shen Hongying's heart suddenly felt cold.
What does that mean...it's impossible to return it to her?
Gu Weijun hung his head.
Miao Xiuju: "What's going on? Explain it to me!"
Gu Weiguo also had a dark face, but he didn't say anything.
They were all brothers, so of course he couldn't chase his brothers to collect debts, but three pounds of meat, three pounds of meat, for him, this was a huge sum of money, and he felt distressed.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Gu Weijun had no choice but to confess, "Zhao Di gave eight pounds of pork to her parents, and the rest was taken to the market to exchange for food. I only kept four pounds of pork for myself, and I burned it all at once."
Shen Hongying stared in despair, then suddenly remembered something and stamped her feet: "Mom, I don't want pork, I want food. Since you exchanged pork for food, it's the same if you give me food."
Gu Weiguo sighed deeply and said with a heartache: "Forget it, don't do it. It's not easy for Weijun either."
He is sincere.
However, he really didn't want it, but Shen Hongying didn't dare. Shen Hongying stared at Liu Zhaodi with grief and anger, wishing she could eat her up.
Miao Xiuju looked at the situation and finally said, "This incident was caused by Xiuni making the fire, but Zhaodi did the same. You gave such a big thing as stewing meat to a child. If something goes wrong, isn't it your fault? Now that it has happened, I, as your mother, will see to it that you don't have to eat a single bite of meat. But now that we have separated, how can I subsidize you two sisters-in-law separately? If someone's family is poor in the future, won't I have to subsidize them? So this kind of custom cannot be broken. I have to treat everyone equally. So I thought of this. I will take out eight pounds of meat and give two pounds to each of your families. In this way, both Weiguo and Weijun will have meat to eat."
Everyone was naturally satisfied when they heard this. Shen Hongying realized that it was impossible to get any meat from Liu Zhaodi. She had lost three pounds of meat at the hands of Liu Zhaodi, and Miao Xiujiu gave her two pounds. Although she had to pay one pound as compensation, it was better than having no meat at all, so she had no choice but to agree.
Niu Sanni was naturally happy to get two pounds of meat for no reason.
Liu Zhaodi thought about it and realized that all her meat was gone, so her mother gave her two kilograms as compensation. It sounded good, but others also had two kilograms, everyone had two kilograms, so she still had several kilograms less meat than others.
So the few pounds of meat that were burned could not be recovered. It was still painful to think about it, but what else could she say? She could only agree.
Liu Guizhi listened and quickly said, "Mom, we don't want the two pounds of meat. Let's just give it to you and Dad as a filial piety."
Miao Xiuju glanced at her and said, "Are you trying to make me treat everyone equally?"
Liu Guizhi: “…”
She didn't dare say anything, she could only accept the two pounds of meat.
Niu Sanni and Liu Guizhi were naturally happy to have two more pounds of meat for no reason. The elderly couple at their mother's place didn't have the same appetite as the children, so they couldn't finish most of the more than 30 pounds of meat. Even if they gave the younger children 8 pounds of meat, they could still trade the rest for food at the market.
But Shen Hongying only had four pounds left, so she carefully stewed it and cut it into very small pieces, only giving some to the children when they were craving it. This caused Niu Dan and Niu Shuan to be extremely dissatisfied: "We want to eat meat too!"
Chen Hongying: "No! We only have four pounds of meat!"
Niu Dan and Niu Shuan felt so pitiful because they had no meat to eat.
Chen Hongying was actually greedy, and the more she craved, the more she hated Liu Zhaodi: "Your Third Aunt burned our meat, so we can only eat this little!"
It makes me angry just thinking about it.
"Why am I so unlucky? Nothing goes well for me!"
"Since we split up, nothing good has happened!"
Niu Dan curled his lips from the side and said, "People say that Fubao is blessed and can bring good luck to our family. You insist on dividing the family, you insist on dividing the family. If you divide the family, my fourth uncle will live a good life, and we will start to have bad luck."
When Shen Hongying heard this, she almost died of anger.
She glared angrily.
At this moment, Niu Shuan also said, "Mom, don't always dislike sister Fubao. She is so nice. Hey, how come my fourth aunt caught Fubao, but you didn't catch her, Mom?"
Shen Hongying was unable to catch her breath and almost choked to death.
She coughed and choked for a long time before she could barely catch her breath.
Fubao, can bring good luck? She didn't catch it?
It was clearly her who caught Fubao!!!
Shen Hongying's eyes were wide open. She stopped eating meat, drinking soup, and didn't want to celebrate the New Year.
Fubao, is this really good luck?
Did she force the good fortune she had obtained onto Liu Guizhi?
I dare not even think about this. If I do, it's like stabbing myself in the heart with a knife!
Just when Shen Hongying was full of pain, Liu Zhaodi felt extremely miserable.
She only had two pounds of meat, and the thought of the pounds of meat turning into black lumps made her feel so painful that she wanted to die of anger.
"Eat, eat! Don't eat these two pounds of meat! Let's exchange it for food!"
"A poor girl thinks you deserve to eat meat, but you don't!"
Bao Ni suddenly said: "I went to my grandma's house a few days ago, and they all ate meat. They ate our meat."
This sentence annoyed Liu Zhaodi, and she scolded Baoni.
Miao Xiujiu couldn't stand it anymore when she heard the children being scolded. She really couldn't stand it anymore, so she asked Baoni to come over, take the two pounds of meat she gave her, stew it thoroughly, and then bring it over to eat with her.
Seeing this, Liu Zhaodi was unhappy: "Mom, you promised to give me two pounds of meat, why did you take it back?"
Miao Xiuju sneered: "This is for my granddaughter to eat. If you don't give it to them, you might give it to your parents. Why should I waste the meat for nothing?"
Having said that, he stewed it directly and let the children eat it to their heart’s content!
Liu Zhaodi was completely dumbfounded.
So during the Spring Festival of that year, Chen Hongying ate the only four pounds of meat she had left, Niu Sanni had two pounds of meat extra, and they stewed it and ate it with great pleasure. Liu Guizhi and the others ate to their heart's content, but Liu Zhaodi and Gu Weijun were the only ones who had no meat to eat.
When they smelled the aroma of meat coming from other people's houses, they swallowed their pickled vegetable steamed buns dryly.
Gu Weijun sighed: "Why bother? We already have meat to eat."
Liu Zhaodi thought about how she had lost two pounds of meat to exchange for food, and she hadn't even eaten a single bite of meat. She felt so miserable, as if a cat's claws were scratching her heart: "Mom is so cruel! She said she wouldn't let us eat, and she really didn't let us eat a single bite."
Gu Weijun: "Don't blame mother for this. It's just two pounds of meat. Leave it for the children. I won't treat them badly anyway."
Liu Zhaodi stood up and looked out through the crack in the door. The door of the main house was closed tightly.
She sighed helplessly: "These three heartless people didn't even think of secretly sending me a piece of meat to eat. They don't have a mother in their hearts. They raised me in vain. My daughter just can't do it..."
Gu Weijun raised his head and glanced at her.
He suddenly felt that he and his wife deserved it because they had no meat to eat.
He took a big bite of the steamed bun and said to himself, you deserve it!
——
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone should wear new clothes, whether rich or poor.
Fubao, who had just eaten the delicious stewed pork, put on the new clothes made by Liu Guizhi. Actually, they were not brand new, but were altered from an old dress of Liu Guizhi's niece from her mother's side. However, Liu Guizhi was skillful and the altered clothes looked very good.
After Fubao put it on, everyone said it looked fashionable and made his face look whiter.
Fubao is now seven years old. She has lost her baby fat. Her peach-shaped face is bright and tender, her almond eyes are moist and bright, and her cherry mouth has a faint rosy glow. The maroon coat makes her skin look as white as the snow on the mountain. Although she is young, she is a real beauty at first glance.
Gu Shengtian looked at Fubao like this and felt happy. He held her hand tightly and said, "Mom, why don't I have such beautiful clothes?"
Gu Yuejin said with a snort, "With your looks, what do you need nice clothes for?"
When Gu Shengtian heard this, he touched his face. Is he ugly?
Liu Guizhi smiled. Of course, the boys also prepared clothes. They were altered from Gu Weidong's old clothes, but of course they were not as well-made as Fubao's clothes.
No matter how nicely boys are dressed, they will still look gray after playing. Liu Guizhi thinks there is no need to dress up too carefully.
After dressing Fubao, Liu Guizhi braided her hair into two small braids and placed two small red velvet flowers she made herself on the braids.
Fubao touched it herself and liked it very much. She felt very happy. When she went out, others would definitely praise her for being pretty...
After getting dressed up, Fubao went out to play on the street with his three brothers. There were some candied peanuts and other things in his pocket. He saw his brothers setting off small firecrackers on the street. At this time, Chen Cuier and her brothers and sisters also came out, and everyone played hopscotch and skipping rubber rope together.
Normally, when Gu Shengtian saw this, he would definitely yell at Fubao for ignoring him, but now he was having a lot of fun playing with his brothers.
As for jumping rope and playing bouncy houses? Those were for little girls, he didn't care!
While they were playing, Nie Dashan also came over. Nie Dashan stood beside them with eager eyes, watching the increasingly beautiful little Fubao jumping rubber rope there. His little legs jumped nimbly in the rubber rope, and his two little braids with red velvet flowers swung back and forth.
When Fubao finally broke the rules and it was Chen Cuier and the others' turn, Nie Dashan came over and secretly took out an egg from his pocket: "Fubao, this is for you."
Fubao smiled when he saw the egg and took out some peanuts from his pocket: "Brother Dashan, this is for you."
Nie Dashan knew what was going on at Fubao's house, but he couldn't help but ask, "Did you eat pork?"
Fubao nodded repeatedly: "I ate it, it was delicious! How about you, brother Dashan?"
Nie Dashan's family was well off and had received a good share of grain this year. Her mother was reluctant to exchange the meat she received from the production team when they slaughtered pigs for grain, so she stewed it all.
The two little siblings were talking nearby, and Gu Shengtian happened to see them.
Gu Shengtian and Nie Dashan are already good friends, but that doesn't mean Gu Shengtian can ignore it when he sees his good friend and his good sister whispering to each other.
He ran over and grabbed Nie Dashan: "Brother Dashan, play with us!"
Nie Dashan didn't want to play tricks with Gu Shengtian, he just wanted to talk to his sister Fubao.
However, Gu Shengtian held on tightly, and Nie Dashan had no choice but to look at the cute little Fubao behind him and hit the crutches.
Who knew that at this moment, a voice suddenly shouted: "Brother Dashan, have you seen my mother? Why is my mother gone?"
Everyone looked over and saw that it was Shengyin running over.
Shengyin was the first to see Fubao. He bit his lip, his eyes cold, and then he looked at Nie Dashan: "My mother is missing. I've been looking for her all morning. I just went to my eldest aunt and second aunt and asked them to help look for her."
Nie Dashan knew something was up when he heard it: "How could he disappear?"
Shengyin stamped his feet: "I don't know!"
Wang Fugui's wife was present. When she heard this, she chuckled, "Could he be hiding in someone's pigpen? But no one has pigs at this time!"
The pigs have been turned in and slaughtered.
Shengyin was filled with resentment. She was now six years old, and she was even more proud. She hated it when people brought up the past. However, her mother was nowhere to be found, so she didn't want to say more. She gritted her teeth and said, "Brother Dashan, let's go find my mother!"
Although Nie Dashan's mother and Shengyin's mother had conflicts before, they both had the surname Nie after all. At that moment, Nie Dashan didn't bother to talk to Fubao anymore, and hurriedly took Shengyin to look for him everywhere.
They searched around but still couldn't find it. Soon the news reached Chen Youfu's ears. He had no choice but to gather everyone together to help look for it.
If it were someone else's family, it would be fine, but Nie Lao San's wife is not popular. She suddenly disappeared during the New Year, and everyone had to look for her everywhere. Naturally, some people would not be happy about it and complain that they couldn't have a peaceful New Year.
Chen Youfu was also helpless. He was really fed up with Nie Laosan's family.
But no matter how annoyed he was, he was still the production team leader. If a member was missing, he had to call on everyone to look for him. There was no other way. If an official didn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes. After all, he was an official!
After searching for a long time, finally someone's dog started barking at a manhole. Everyone went over to take a look, and hey, they finally found it. Nie Laosan's wife was lying in someone's manhole with a pale face!
Gu Weidong was also helping to look. He took a look and said, "This is my manhole. Why is she going to my manhole?!"
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