Looking at the situation, there was no need for her to comfort them... Cheng Zhenzhu put Liu Tiao back on the stool and found a bowl to eat. Someone at the table to the right finally noticed their child was crying. They walked over, pointed at the two crying children, and then took them away.
Two crying children walked around, stopping and starting, holding their bowls, tears and snot streaming down their faces. They looked incredibly sad and aggrieved. Not only did they not get the meat, but their mother also scolded them...
"Mom, please sit here." Yitiao saw his mother eating while standing and quickly made room for her.
"Mom, here, here~" San Tiao patted the little butt and signaled Cheng Zhenzhu to pick him up and sit in his seat.
"It's okay, you guys sit down, mom will finish eating soon..." There were eight dishes in total, and when Cheng Zhenzhu came up, it was already the sixth dish. As an adult, she was embarrassed to snatch the food from a child, and she couldn't win anyway, so she picked up two dishes with chopsticks, finished a bowl of rice, and put down her bowl and chopsticks.
When the eighth bowl arrived, she took another bite. Soon, the plate was empty again. Liu Tiao continued to scoop up the food with his spoon. Finally, he found some leftovers, took a bite, and discovered it was ginger, which he didn't like. His mouth immediately wilted.
"No more, I'm still hungry~" Liu Tiao pinched his little belly and acted coquettishly with his mother.
Even a few of them still felt unfulfilled. While eight dishes seemed like a lot, the aunties and grandmothers from the next table kept coming in to grab some food, leaving them with only a tiny portion. Luckily, they found quite a few wedding candies and cakes today...
"Mom, let's go back." Liu Tiao, who hadn't eaten enough, didn't even feel like playing anymore and only wanted to go home. Yi Tiao and the others felt that there was nothing fun to do next and also planned to go home.
"Mom still needs to help clear the table and wash the dishes, you guys go back first." Cheng Zhenzhu gave the key to Tiao Tiao and asked him to lead the others to go first.
Ichijo shook his head and said, "Stay and help mother."
After Cheng Zhenzhu finished cleaning the table, she was surrounded by children. Others shared a large basin, but she was leading six children. Three, to be exact; six, seven, and eight children were all helpless. Cheng Zhenzhu was afraid they might get their clothes and bodies dirty, so she didn't let them do it...
You Yumei, who was seeing off the guests and greeting them, looked at this scene with a bit of envy in her heart. Although there were too many children, and they were indeed a bit greedy and fussy, but each one of them was so well-behaved and sensible, how much blessing would they enjoy in the future?
"Sister Zhenzhu, you have worked so hard today..." You Yumei and the others dispersed and gave Cheng Zhenzhu four red eggs.
Originally, the family was supposed to have two, but Pearl was different and took four. She'd actually said she'd get Pearl a bowl of banquet food to take back, but in the end, there were eight tables of food, and nothing was left. The eldest and second children were currently in the kitchen, preparing to eat...
"It's not hard. Sister Yumei, thank you for the wedding eggs. And thank you for inviting me and Yitiao and the others..." Cheng Zhenzhu looked at You Yumei, grateful. Actually, she hadn't been much help. Sister Yumei had asked her to bring a few children up to join in the fun, and the seven of them, one adult and six children, took up half the table.
Moreover, people in that era were somewhat taboo against "widows," let alone asking a widow like her to help out at a wedding banquet. Ever since Peng Aiqing's passing, Cheng Zhenzhu had been largely ignored by any family celebrating. So when Sister Yumei asked her to share in the celebration, she was truly grateful.
"Hey, sister Pearl, isn't it a bit strange for you to say this?" You Yumei pretended to be angry.
Cheng Zhenzhu went to pull You Yumei and said with a smile, "Okay, let's not talk about this."
"That's right... Sister Zhenzhu, we have some dishes at home. There won't be many guests tonight, just us and Aunt Wa's family. Why don't you bring one for them to come up and eat?" You Yumei invited.
Although there are no leftovers, there are still some fresh vegetables that can be cooked separately.
"Sister Yumei, that's not necessary. The kids are used to eating at home. They were just pestering me to go back..." Cheng Zhenzhu declined. Since the two of them were having dinner together, she didn't want to bring the kids along.
"Oh well......"
"Sister Yumei, we're leaving." Cheng Zhenzhu and You Yumei said goodbye, took four red eggs, and led a pile of dolls home. The dolls had been very noisy that morning, and soon after arriving home, sleepiness hit them. One by one, they took off their shoes and crawled into bed. Eight of them clung to six and followed them into the big bed.
Cheng Zhenzhu washed her face and went to bed for a nap. At four o'clock in the afternoon, she got up, sharpened her knife, and killed the old hen in the woodshed.
The old hen is the one I bought before the New Year. Suddenly, she laid an egg, and the kids stopped yelling "kill the chicken" every day, so I raised her with some wild grass, vegetables, and rice. Now, she's got a couple of ounces more meat than when I bought her...
"Hungry~" Rokujo dreamed of a grand lunch and not getting a single bite of food. He opened his eyes and jumped up in shock. The food in his stomach had been mostly digested, leaving him with a hollow feeling in his mouth, and his expression was gloomy.
"Batiao is hungry too~" He rubbed his sleepy eyes and slept soundly. Today, brother Liu Tiao shared some meat with him, and he and brother Liu Tiao were good friends, sleeping together in each other's arms...
"Go find mother." Six clear ideas.
"Aunt Spider~"
Cheng Zhenzhu was chopping chicken in the kitchen when she saw Liu Tiao and Ba Tiao running to her and saying they were hungry. She peeled a red egg and gave each of them half.
"Dinner will be served soon. Eat half an egg first to fill your stomach. Ba Tiao, eat slowly to avoid choking. Liu Tiao, help your mother to look after your little brother..." Cheng Zhenzhu looked at the two greedy kids and gave them some worried instructions.
"Okay~" Liu Tiao, who had just woken up, nodded his head gently, looking very cute.
"Young chicken!" Ba Tiao took a bite of the egg, stood on tiptoe to look at the stove, and saw large pieces of chicken, his eyes lighting up.
"Yes, we will have chicken stewed with potatoes tonight. Didn't you not eat enough at noon? I will let you eat your fill tonight." Cheng Zhenzhu nodded with a smile.
"Enough, enough!" Liu Tiao said immediately, his eyes shining.
What a pair of foodies... Cheng Zhenzhu put the chopped chicken on a plate. She heard some noise in the house, so she asked Liu Tiao and Ba Tiao to take two red eggs back to the living room to fill the stomachs of the big ones. Each of them got half, and the remaining one was hers.
"Hmm~" The two kids held the eggs, shook their butts and ran away happily...
Cheng Zhenzhu prepared the ginger and garlic ingredients, put a lot of oil and seasonings on the fire and stir-fried large pieces of local chicken. When it was almost cooked, she cut three large potatoes and added them.
About forty minutes later, two large pots full of fragrant chicken stewed with potatoes came out. The six kids were so full that they sat in a row on the sofa to digest the food. Their little expressions were so happy that they were almost ecstatic.
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