"Mom, I'm just worried about Dazuo and Dayou being torn apart. It's freezing cold, and it's okay for the adults, but it's also painful for the little ones to walk back. I'm thinking of asking the second son's family to borrow a bicycle or harness the donkey cart to use.
Who knew that the second family not only didn't lend a single thing, but also kept complaining about how the daughter-in-law's dowry couldn't be used? I just don't believe they're just offering the donkey and not using it.
"Your dowry is a quilt, and you're giving it to me?" Old Mrs. Qiu is partial, but only when you're serving her. Otherwise, as long as you follow the rules, she won't bother with so many other trivial matters.
"Look at what you said, mother. Mine is a quilt, and hers is a donkey. How can they be the same?"
"It's different. The donkey is more valuable. You don't save it until you need it. It's uncomfortable for you to rush to buy it when the new bride just came home.
Okay, stop talking nonsense. Look at what your daughter-in-law from the city has brought to your family. She's always taking money from her husband's family to her own family. And this month she's borrowing grain again. What's going on? We have all the public grain, but it's not enough to eat?
My husband's family is so hungry, how can they support their family? If you have this free time, think more about what you can do with your own private plot, and be more diligent, raise some livestock, etc., everything can bring in income..."
It would be fine if she didn't say anything. As soon as she did, Old Mrs. Qiu got angry. She's old, but she's still confused about her life. She only sees the thief eating meat but never sees the thief being beaten. I don't want to say anything about her.
Yan Chunmiao felt humiliated. After being scolded, he turned around and went to Wu Xiu's house next door to pick up crickets with his shoe sole.
Besides, on his way back, Qiu Dahe deliberately went to the black market and bought five kilograms of rice at a high price (they don't grow rice here) without a ticket. He also bought one kilogram of white sugar and one kilogram of brown sugar. What was rare was that he also asked someone to sell Huaniu apples, and he also took six of them.
"Where did all this come from?" He put all the things on the kang in the inner room. Li Qingmei chased him in and asked where the things came from.
Qiu Dahe leaned over and whispered to his mother. Li Qingmei gave the second brother a look and said, "You spend money one by one. You really know how to spend money. Yuling brought back candies all the time, and the second brother got some more when he passed by."
Their family is very extravagant now. They put white sugar in milk powder, brown sugar in rice porridge, and sugar in poached eggs. Yuling always has milk candy or fruit candy in her pocket.
She used to lock the cabinet, but now she just leaves it in the cabinet openly. No one will notice it anymore since there are too many.
"Wash your hands and have dinner. After dinner, let's go to your grandma's house."
They were all family members, regardless of gender, and Qiu Yuling in particular never missed the table, so the two kang tables were put together, and everyone sat on the hot kang, eating with their mouths full of delicious flavor and their foreheads covered with sweat.
After dinner, Qiu Dahe rushed to wash the pot, and Li Qingmei brought out a sewn straw mat from the back room. It was wrapped in a sack and filled with wheat straw. It was just the right size for the cart bed.
Then he took out an old, worn quilt that could no longer be washed and put it on top, intending to cover his legs.
This time they finally didn't have to borrow a vehicle from the brigade to go out, they had their own, and that made them feel so proud and satisfied.
Qiu Jianshe and his three brothers took turns riding their bicycles. Huang Duoer and Qiu Yuling sat in the front bed, while Li Qingmei drove. "There's room on the bike. Dashan and Dashu, come sit in the back. Let Dahe carry your dad. If you don't dawdle any longer, it'll be cold when you get back at night."
Qiu Dashu and Qiu Dashan no longer rushed to ride the bicycles, as there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. However, Qiu Dashu and Qiu Yuling sat in the front, while the young couple sat in the back, and Qiu's mother still carried the load on the crossbeam.
For her own donkey, Li Qingmei tried to find a smoother road, for fear that the bumps would add burden to the donkey. This time, she had to take a slightly longer detour.
When I get to my grandparents' house, they have already started preparing dinner, but that's also because people eat early in the winter.
"Her aunt, uncle, go to the kang first. She looks left and right but can't see you. She was worried that you couldn't come today." Aunt Zhou Hongfang chased people to the kang.
The old lady held the new bride's hand, looked at her left and right, and found her pretty, with a good figure, and a good personality. She praised her for a while.
She took out a handkerchief from the kang cabinet, peeled off the three layers inside and outside, counted out five dollars and handed it to the new bride.
"Grandma, please take it back quickly. I can't accept so much from you." Huang Duoer was so excited that she didn't think clearly and said directly that she couldn't accept so much.
"Mom, did you hear that? The new daughter-in-law thinks it's too much, but I, the old wife, don't. Just give me the extra ones, and the new daughter-in-law will dare to accept them." Zhou Hongfang joked quickly.
Huang Duoer finally realized that she hadn't thought clearly and said whatever she was thinking. Her little face turned red with embarrassment.
Everyone joked about it.
"Take it. When you have the conditions in the future, come and visit your grandma more often and help with washing and hanging things." After laughing and joking for a long time, Li Qingmei signaled her daughter-in-law to take it.
"What's the matter? I'm such a useless daughter-in-law who's taking care of the old lady, and yet I ask you to come all the way here to do this? Are you trying to pass on a message or to steal the job?" Zhou Hongfang kept teasing her aunt and the bride with a smile.
She went to Qiuzhuang to help yesterday, but didn't enjoy the fun. Now that she has been brought to the door, she doesn't care about her seniority and still bothers the new daughter-in-law.
The old lady told her to stop showing off, saying that the new daughter-in-law was shy. Zhou Aihong replied that she was old and her skin had become thicker, so she was not welcome to be seen. Everyone laughed again.
"Yuling'er, see, your aunt has only grown older and more gray-haired, but her character hasn't improved at all." After handing over the money, grandma hugged Qiu Yuling instead.
"No wonder my aunt-in-law doesn't have any wrinkles. It turns out she's coaxed her body into thinking she's still eighteen."
Everyone was laughing and making noises again. Zhou Hongfang was happy. She left everyone and went to kill a laying hen.
"Hongfang, no, no, no. What we had at home this morning was what you brought over the day before yesterday. How can we eat like this every meal? Save it for a few more days to lay eggs, and you can eat it after the New Year." Li Qingmei hurriedly stepped forward to stop the man.
"They don't lay eggs properly in the twelfth lunar month. Today is a lively day with many people around, so we'll just eat them. I'll catch chicks next year." If you want to entertain guests sincerely, how can you give up just because someone says so? That would be pretense.
After pushing and shoving, the laying hen was finally killed.
"You're such a fool! I told you to eat meat at noon, but you didn't listen..."
"Sister, go to the kang and talk to mother for a while. My sister-in-law and I will handle it. This is just a small job and it doesn't require so many people." Wang Xiaomai (the second sister-in-law) pushed her sister-in-law onto the kang.
"What? My eldest sister is a guest now that she's back? She can't even touch the stove in her own home?" Li Qingmei smiled and refused. Could she really act like that aunt?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com