Today's meal is very rich. Although there are not as many meat dishes as in An Ning's house, it is also quite good.
Wang put the fried meatballs back into the pot. They were crispy and charred, just to An Ning's liking.
In addition to meatballs, there are also pork head, fried radish with meat, fried cabbage with meat, scrambled eggs, and a small pot of chicken stewed with mushrooms in the middle.
As the saying goes, "When a son-in-law comes home, the chickens lose their souls." This is indeed true. Every time An Dashan comes, there will be a stewed chicken. I guess if An Dashan comes a few more times, the chickens in grandma's house will be almost eaten up.
During the meal, because An Dashan had to drive the mule cart back home later, he stopped Uncle Gao from pouring him a glass of wine and said, "Don't drink today. You still have to drive the mule cart back home later. Yingniang is still pregnant, so it's better to be safe."
Uncle Gao was not a person who did not know the importance of the matter. After hearing what An Dashan said, he did not urge him to drink anymore. He said, "Well, since you don't want to drink, then eat more food." As he said that, he picked up several pieces of food with chopsticks for An Dashan.
The same thing happened to An Ning and Gao Shi. The dishes in their bowls were almost piled up into small mountains.
After dinner, An Ning wanted to help clean up the dishes, but her aunt Cui refused. She said, "Go and play with your cousin Cuicui. You two don't play together easily."
Cuicui listened to her mother's words, took An Ning back to the house, and said, "Cousin, just listen to my mother. My mother is afraid that my hands will be rough and the fabric will be damaged, so she doesn't let me do these rough jobs at home."
An Ning looked at her cousin Cuicui's hands, which were as white and tender as water lilies, smiled and said, "Yes, I love these hands of my cousin so much. Who knows who will get them in the future!"
Cuicui is already fifteen years old this year, and she is in the prime of her youth. After hearing An Ning's words, she felt a little shy and a little expectant. She collected her confused thoughts and said, "You are such a clever girl. You are so young and yet you are thinking about these things. I will tell my aunt later."
After saying that, she was about to leave. An Ning quickly grabbed her cousin Cuicui and said, "I'm sorry, cousin, I was wrong. Please don't tell my mother. As long as you don't tell my mother, I will draw a few more patterns for you."
Cuicui glanced at An Ning and said, "Are you serious?"
An Ning nodded quickly and said, "Seriously, seriously, I'll draw it for you right away." Then he took out the charcoal pencil and paper and drew a few more patterns.
Time passed in a flash, and soon it was time for An Ning and her friends to go home. Cuicui took out a handkerchief and handed it to An Ning, saying, "My cousin's birthday is coming soon, and I don't have anything good to give her. This is a handkerchief I embroidered myself, so please don't dislike it."
An Ning took the handkerchief and saw a vivid koi embroidered on it. She looked up in surprise and said, "Thank you, cousin. I like this handkerchief very much."
Cuicui saw that An Ning really liked it, so she smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. I'll embroider another pattern for you in a few days."
An Ning smiled and nodded, folded the handkerchief and put it in her arms, and said, "Cousin, we are going home now, and we will come to visit you after the New Year."
After saying goodbye to his grandmother's family, An Dashan harnessed the mule cart and took An Ning and Gao back to Huaishu Village.
It was already dark when the three of them returned home. An Ning boiled some hot water for Gao and asked her to soak her feet. After Gao finished soaking her feet, An Ning took the hot water back to her room to wash up.
The next day, An Dashan began to deliver New Year gifts to several families with whom he had good relations. The families that An Dashan visited were all those who had helped his family before, such as the village chief's family, Uncle Liu's family next door, and An Dashan's eldest uncle's family.
The An family has few members. By the time of An Dashan's father, only An Dashan's father and uncle were left. Both families had few members. An Dashan was an only child. By An Yong's generation, there were only two siblings, An Yong and An Ning.
The situation of An Dashan's uncle's family is similar to that of An Dashan's family. Now there are An Dashan's uncle, aunt and An Dashan's cousin An Dalin's family. An Dalin had some education in his early years, so he has been working as an accountant in a freight station in the town. Now he has settled down in the town, married the daughter of an ordinary family in the town, and has two sons.
Because their family has always lived in the town, they don’t have much interaction with An Dashan’s family, but there is no conflict either.
An Dashan's uncle lives at the easternmost end of the village, and An Dashan lives at the westernmost end of the village. They seldom interact with each other. When An Ning was in a coma, An Dashan's aunt came to see An Ning once. Not long after seeing An Ning, she was taken to the town and just came back yesterday.
After breakfast, An Dashan went to his uncle's house with a pig's head, a piece of bacon and a few sausages.
When An Dashan arrived, his uncle and aunt had just finished breakfast. His aunt was cleaning up the dishes. Seeing An Dashan coming, she greeted him warmly, "Dashan, come in and sit down. Your uncle is in the main room."
An Dashan nodded, said hello to his aunt, and then went into the main room. An Dashan's uncle was smoking a pipe in the main room. When he saw An Dashan coming in with a lot of things in his hands, he said, "We are all family, why are you carrying so many things?"
An Dashan smiled and said, "Isn't it almost the New Year? I'll bring you something to honor you. Are you used to living at your cousin's place?"
Uncle An shook his head and said, "We are not used to living here. We will not leave this time when we come back. We plan to live in the village with your aunt. After all, a nest of gold or silver is not as good as our own thatched nest."
This was someone else's family affair, so An Dashan didn't want to interfere. He just said, "It's not bad to come back to the village and live there. If you have any problems, just come and find me."
After chatting for a while, Uncle An talked to An Dashan about visiting the graves and offering sacrifices to the ancestors. Uncle An said, "Let's go to the graves on the 29th. Your cousin will be back that day. Bring a few boys with you and burn some paper for the ancestors together."
An Dashan had no objection and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you, uncle."
At this time, the eldest aunt came in after cleaning up the dishes and said to An Dashan, "I heard from the neighbors that your wife is pregnant again?"
An Dashan nodded and said, "Yes, I forgot to tell you that Yingniang is now more than three months pregnant."
The eldest aunt smiled and said, "Okay, this is a good thing, but your wife is pregnant at this age, so you have to be careful."
An Dashan nodded and said, "I understand, aunt."
After chatting for a while, An Dashan stood up and said, "Uncle, aunt, I'm going home first."
Uncle An said, "Let's have lunch at home today. We haven't seen each other for a long time. Let your aunt cook some delicious food and we can have a drink together."
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