Zhou Chenyu finished shaping the last glutinous rice cake, washed the flour between her fingers, went into the kitchen, took out an agar glutinous rice cake, and took a small bite.
The freshly cooked mugwort cakes are slightly warm. When you eat them, the cakes are sticky and elastic, and if you chew them carefully, you can taste the refreshing mugwort shreds.
The cooked peanut filling turns into syrup. Once the glutinous rice cake is bitten, the syrup with crushed peanuts overflows from the cake. The syrup is sweeter than the crushed peanuts, but with the crushed peanuts in it, and paired with the plain glutinous rice cake, the taste seems just right.
"Is it tasty?"
Li Xiuju didn't eat; instead, she stared at Zhou Chenyu and Zhou Baoyu with wide eyes, full of anticipation.
Zhou Chenyu didn't answer. After finishing the one in her hand, she took another one from the winnowing basket, which was the best answer.
Zhou Baoyu stuffed the last big mouthful of glutinous rice cake into his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and mumbled, "Mother, it's delicious."
"Slow down, no one's going to take it from you, there's plenty more in the pot." Li Xiuju rubbed the residue off Baoyu's face, looked at the full basket of mugwort cakes, her eyes dimmed, and she seemed to realize something: "Your father used to love this the most, but unfortunately he never got to eat it before he passed away. Let's go see him tomorrow and bring him some."
Zhou Wenbin was buried on the back side of the mountain behind Zhoujia Village. On the morning of Qingming Festival, Li Xiuju brought some homemade mugwort cakes, a pot of wine, and some paper money and candles to his grave.
The grave was clearly recently erected; the tombstone was new, and only a few weeds grew around it.
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu pulled out the weeds, and Li Xiuju placed the basket of mugwort cakes in front of the tombstone, lit three incense sticks, and burned paper money while mourning: "My child and I are doing very well now. You must take good care of yourself over there, you know?"
Whether it was from deep emotion or from the smoke in her eyes, Li Xiuju shed a few tears.
Baoyu was worried that his father would lack money in the underworld, so he burned paper money frantically. "Father, don't worry, I've grown up now. I will definitely remember your dying words and protect Mother and Sister well."
Zhou Baoyu and Li Xiuju, mother and daughter, both started crying as they talked.
Zhou Chenyu stood there, bewildered and helpless. After thinking for a long time, she lit an incense stick and murmured in her heart:
Mr. Zhou, although I am not your biological daughter, I have still taken on the identity of your daughter. From now on, no matter what, I will stand with them through thick and thin, sharing both food and drink. If you are watching over us from heaven, please bless us with health and safety. If we can become wealthy, that would be even better.
She had just finished reciting when a spring breeze brushed her cheek.
Zhou Chenyu instantly got goosebumps and dared not act rashly again. He solemnly bowed several times to Zhou Wenbin's grave.
After sweeping Zhou Wenbin's grave, they hurried back to the village and joined the villagers in cleaning the graves of the ancestors of Zhoujia Village.
By the time we finished cleaning the cemetery, it was nearly dusk.
They set up two large pots on the grass next to the village ancestral hall, with the men cooking and the women washing and serving the vegetables. The elderly sat around the table, while children ran around chasing each other. The aroma of home-cooked food and the children's laughter made the whole place very lively.
Zhou Chenyu originally disliked this kind of communal cooking, but when she saw the crispy suckling pig that had been offered as an offering being taken down and about to be divided into dozens of plates and served to the table, she was very pleased.
The roasted suckling pig was sliced open, its skin crispy and its meat tender, glistening with oil. One bite would surely be both crispy and fragrant.
Zhou Chenyu's eyes lit up immediately, and she obediently sat down at the table, waiting for that bite of the crispy suckling pig she had been longing for.
However, before the crispy suckling pig arrived, Chen Cuiping arrived first.
Chen Cuiping, carrying her precious grandson, dawdled over here, wondering where to sit, when she caught sight of Zhou Chenyu sitting behind that table and followed him like a shadow.
We will not attack unless attacked.
Zhou Chenyu pretended not to see and sat comfortably in her seat.
The elderly woman with gray hair, who was being helped by others, saw the child and couldn't help but pinch his chubby cheeks. She sat down with him and said, "This boy eats well; he'll definitely grow up to be tall and strong."
"He has the good fortune bestowed upon him by you, the old lady of longevity, and he will surely grow up quickly in the future." Chen Cuiping smiled and looked at Zhou Chenyu: "You little girl, you don't know how to speak properly. Why don't you greet Grandma Lin? She held you when you were little."
Zhou Chenyu paused at the tip of his tongue, such a familiar opening line.
Looking at the people at the table, there were elderly matchmakers who liked to arrange marriages, gossipy older women, and Chen Cuiping who was waiting to cause trouble. Only she, a young, unmarried woman, stood out.
With those predatory eyes of the women, Zhou Chenyu had a premonition that he was about to become their target.
She searched everywhere for Baoyu, but the boy was busy fighting with those young lads and no longer cared about her, his older sister.
Li Xiuju was helping out at the cooking station and couldn't pay attention to her, but given Li Xiuju's personality, she couldn't argue with these few people even if she came.
Zhou Chenyu put down her chopsticks, smiled at the old woman, and said, "Hello, Grandma."
Grandma Lin's eyesight wasn't good, so she squinted and asked, "Who are you talking about?"
Chen Cuiping, afraid that others wouldn't hear her, loudly replied, "Grandma, this is my eldest brother's daughter, Chen Yu."
"Oh, it's Chen Yu." The old lady counted on her fingers. "She should be twenty this year, and still not married?"
These words were exactly what Chen Cuiping wanted to hear. She feigned regret, saying, "That's right, you've aged into an old maid."
What happened to my youngest daughter?
I didn't eat your rice!
Zhou Chenyu muttered to herself that today was the ancestral banquet and she didn't want to cause trouble. She just smiled and ignored Chen Cuiping's words.
Seeing that she did not refute, Chen Cuiping became even more audacious, shamelessly mocking, "That's true. A few years ago, when my elder brother was so sick, what fool would want to marry her? If he did, wouldn't he have to empty his family's savings to support his wife's family?"
"Now that my eldest brother is gone, she is indeed free of burdens, but who would have thought she would be so old? Where would she find a good man to choose from? Only widowers who have lost their wives would dare to take her."
The other women nodded in agreement, finding Chen Cuiping's words quite reasonable.
The old lady also looked at Zhou Chenyu, "Chenyu, you'd better hurry up."
The widower dares... dares to take it?
Zhou Chenyu rolled her eyes. This woman really dared to make such a suggestion.
Hearing the lively conversation, Li Xiuju washed her hands and walked over. "Aunt Lin, you're here too!"
When Chen Cuiping saw her arrive, she said, "Sister-in-law, we were just talking about your daughter Chen Yu, and we're looking for a young man for her."
Another woman continued Chen Cuiping's words, kindly advising, "Xiuju, you're really something as a mother. The child doesn't understand, and neither do you. Chen Yu is so old. If she doesn't find a man to marry soon, she might not even be able to give birth to a son."
"My sister has been through it all, she understands the hardships women face," Chen Cuiping said sarcastically, looking at her beloved grandson.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiuju's smile vanished instantly. Looking at Chen Cuiping's smug face, the resentment that had been building up in her heart for years was about to explode.
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