Chapter 223 Gift
As they were talking, the two of them arrived at the entrance of the yard, one in front and one behind. Lu Dongcai was carrying a backpack that was filled to the brim like a small mountain, and Hu Qingqing was carrying a basket behind him, which was also filled to the brim.
Looking at the people in the yard, Lu Dongcai grinned, called out to them one by one, and then carried the backpack to the eaves and put it down.
Hu Qingqing followed him closely. There were many people in the yard that she had never seen before, and she was a little nervous.
Lu Dongcai introduced them to her: "That's my eldest sister and her husband. The boy is the youngest in his family. His surname is Li, and his name is Li Guangming."
Hu Qingqing smiled shyly at Lu Chunyan and greeted her, "Sister, brother-in-law."
Then, following Lu Dongcai's introduction, he greeted Lu Chunmei and her husband: "Second sister, second brother-in-law."
After shouting, Lu Dongcai ordered her: "Go fetch some water to wash your hands."
She rushed into the kitchen.
Sister Lu Chunyan glanced at each other, smiled, and said nothing more. He wasn't bad looking, even better than the previous one. He seemed to have a good temper and was a smart kid, which complemented Lu Dongcai's personality. This younger brother was truly the dullest of the brothers. He was just a little young, but being young had its advantages. Once he was old enough and had a child, Chuyi would be older, which would save him another hassle.
Just as they were thinking about it, Hu Qingqing came out with some water. She wanted to ask Gao Xiulan if it was time to eat, as she was very hungry. However, she felt a little embarrassed when she saw her two sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew were there.
Fortunately, the sun had already reached the roof by now. It was around nine or ten o'clock, which was indeed late. The whole family was there, so Gao Xiulan invited her daughter and son-in-law to have dinner.
Lu Chunyan said, "Don't bother to greet us. We all came here after breakfast, and it's not too early anymore. Hurry up and eat."
Gao Xiulan was unhappy: "Why do you have to eat before you come home? Are you so full? No matter how full you are, your stomach should be relieved after walking such a long way. You two are not hungry, but Zhongquan and Guoxing must be hungry, and there are two children! It's just grits porridge, it's not good, is it worth pushing it back and forth like this?"
As he said that, he went into the house to scoop up some rice.
There really wasn't anything good cooked this morning, just corn porridge and cucumber with green peppers. Li Zhongquan and the others had indeed eaten before, but it wasn't like they couldn't eat at all. Since they were invited, they raised their bowls and ate one each.
As soon as I put down the bowl, Lu Donglin came running over. As soon as he came, he liked to play with Li Guangming, and took Duoduo with him. The whole yard suddenly became as lively as a sparrow's nest.
Then, Zhang Hongying brought over a large bamboo basket covered with a white cloth, which was full of buns.
Gao Xiulan hurried forward and continued, "Look at you, how could you be so naive? You got so much, how much food must you have wasted?"
"Hey, sister-in-law, you're being too polite. How can you say you're wasting food? It's all eaten by the people in your own house, not just thrown into the manure pit. Dongfu's admission to a technical secondary school is a big deal, a good thing. We, the uncle and aunt, are not capable and can't provide anything else, but we can still give him some buns."
Gao Xiulan put the basket on the chopping board and said, "That's right. Chun'e has also been admitted to high school. If you give it to me, do I have to think about how to give it to her? Your sister-in-law is penniless and insecure right now. She can't afford to give it to me right now. Just owe it to Chun'e and wait until she finds a partner before we get together."
Zhang Hongying chatted with her for a while, then asked her, "So how are you going to cook lunch? If you need any help, just tell me. It's almost noon and I won't have anything else to do."
Gao Xiulan said, "We're all family, so there's nothing to be particular about. I roasted a big piece of bacon this morning, and it's just been put into the pot. The early corn in our plot is almost ready to harvest. I'll break off a dozen or so ears, grind them on the mill, and add some broken rice to make it delicious. As you said, they're all family, so they won't end up in other people's mouths. As for the food, I'll save myself the trouble if you prepare it all for me. I'll pick some cucumbers and tomatoes from the field later, and we'll have enough for two tables."
"This is already very good, with vegetables and meat, it's more extravagant than a big banquet."
After hearing Gao Xiulan's words, Hu Qingqing finished her meal and ran to her private plot with her basket. Lu Dongcai, who had nothing to do, followed her right after her, which made Lu Chunyan and her sister laugh for a while.
"Mom, Dongcai's attitude is even more clingy than the first one. It seems that he likes me very much."
"Qingqing has a good personality. As long as he's not blind and has a clear heart, he'll like her. Of course, it's not completely love. That girl is a bit too bold. Last time, when she went to the private plot with Dongfu to pick pig grass, she dared to touch a rat snake as thick as her neck. She even killed it and brought it back to peel and make soup. I still feel numb when I think about it now. Do you think she is brave? It's so scary. It was a hot day, and those things were everywhere. Dongcai was also scared by her."
Not to mention Lu Chunyan and her sister, even Zhang Hongying was frightened after hearing this: "How can you be so bold? I haven't heard you mention this before."
"What are you talking about? I'm so scared of her. She's such a fool and will bring back anything to eat. Even if she goes to the river to take a bath, she'll come back with a bunch of whitebait the length of my finger. She'll eat frogs in the fields, snails in the ditch, and everything."
Lu Chunmei said, "As long as it's edible, it's fine. It's better to bring something home. Eating from the same pot, if she eats, everyone else will follow. Isn't that great? I think this is a good thing. Dongcai has finally found happiness after all the hardship. He sent away the God of Plague and found the God of Wealth. In the end, you have good taste, mother. Look at what he picked out, what the hell!"
The mother and the others were chatting and laughing, and soon Lu Dongcai and his wife came back from outside with a basket full of things.
Lu Dongcai called Li Zhongquan and the others down to the dam. Lu Dongfu and Lu Donglin, unable to stay home, followed suit. Only Lu Minghai and his brother were left at home. They spread a bamboo mat under the eaves and lay on it, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans and chattering away. It was truly a rare leisurely and comfortable day in the year.
As soon as the older child ran away, Guangming and Duoduo became bored, so Lu Chun'e took the two little ones to her home to play.
By the time the aroma of bacon and stewed dried radish fills the air, it's already late.
Two tables were set up in the shade of the courtyard. Dishes were spread out, including cucumbers with green peppers, eggplant stir-fried with green peppers, tomatoes with sugar, bacon stir-fried with fermented black beans, and cured pork ribs stewed with dried vegetables and radish. The steamed buns were reheated in the pot, and I ate them while drinking sweet jiangpapa. Even before I ate them, I could already taste their deliciousness.
The meal was about to be served when Lu Dongping happened to come back just in time for dinner. Xu Qingming was also with him. Wen Wan had specifically mentioned him a few days ago, and Lu Dongping called him again on the way today.
Xu Qingming was Wenwan's mother's relative. He often went to the Lu family in the production team, but Lu Chunyan and her sister rarely came back, so they were not very familiar with him.
As soon as he arrived at the yard, he congratulated Lu Minghai and Lu Mingjiang first, and then Lu Minghai introduced his daughter and son-in-law to him.
He is different from Li Zhongquan and others. He comes from a big city and is a cultured person, but he can get along well with others.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Gao Xiulan started clamoring for dinner. This time, Li Zhongquan took the initiative and said to Lu Minghai, "Dad, do you want to drink some wine today?"
Lu Minghai's weather-beaten face was full of smiles: "I want to drink, I want to drink. I must drink today."
As soon as they mentioned drinking, the men started drinking and even called Gao Xiulan and Zhang Hongying to the table.
Wen Wan and Hu Qingqing were entertaining Lu Chunyan and Lu Chunmei at another table. Together with Lu Dongfu and Lu Donglin, brother and sister, and two children, the table was also full.
Gao Xiulan, feeling sorry for her grandchildren, had specially prepared meat for them. She cooked the bacon, a mixture of fat and lean meat, and cut it into thin slices before placing them on the plate. The fat was translucent and slightly yellow, while the lean meat was bright red. The two children's mouths were filled with grease. Even Wen Wan, who didn't eat much fat, took two slices.
Of course, her favorite is Jiangbaba. The Jiangbaba made with broken rice is really fragrant, and the sweet taste of corn pulp fills her mouth. It goes well with rice when added with green pepper, cucumber and fried eggplant. She almost ate too much.
The sun set after we finished eating.
The old brothers Lu Minghai and Lu Mingjiang said they wanted to drink a little, but they were so happy that they drank too much and started playing finger-guessing games while drinking.
Xu Qingming stood up, but was grabbed by Lu Minghai again: "Qingming, what are you doing? Sit still and don't try to run away!"
Xu Qingming held his forehead helplessly: "No, I'm going to the bathroom."
"Don't try to play tricks on me. You lie and run to the toilet after drinking a little bit of wine. You even hold your urine. Come on, keep drinking."
Knowing he was happy, Gao Xiulan didn't stop him, letting him drink. Everyone gets drunk a few times in their life. She followed Zhang Hongying to clear the table next to them, and then the two sisters-in-law chatted with their two daughters.
There was nothing else to do, so Wen Wan said goodbye to Lu Dongping and went back with Lu Chun'e to feed the chickens and pigs. After they had finished cleaning up, they came back to join in the fun.
Lu Minghai was really drunk and started snoring while lying on the table.
Lu Mingjiang was also drunk and laughed at him: "No, you can't refuse to accept your age. Brother, you are old, you can't refuse to accept it!"
Gao Xiulan then began to clear the table.
Lu Chunmei asked her: "Mom, do you want to take Dad to his room to sleep for a while?"
"No, just let him lie there for a while. If we start now, we'll have to drink."
Li Zhongquan and Wang Guoxing also drank a lot, and their dark faces were visibly red, making their already dark faces look even darker.
Xu Qingming lazily leaned over and called out to Lu Dongfu and Lu Chun'e. When the siblings stood before him, he sat up straight and pulled out two pens from his pocket. He gave a black pen to Lu Dongfu and a silver one to Lu Chun'e. "This is a gift for you. Congratulations! But even if you pass, you still have to keep working hard. Come on!" In a big city, getting into high school wasn't a big deal, but in the mountains, where life was so difficult, getting into a technical secondary school or high school was undoubtedly a big deal.
Lu Chun'e looked at the smile on his face and suddenly felt embarrassed: "No, I just passed the high school entrance exam, it's not a big deal." She did not forget that the man in front of her graduated from high school, and her sister-in-law also graduated from high school, and both of them had excellent grades. If they could pass the exam, they would definitely be admitted to a good university, so what's her problem?
Gao Xiulan and Zhang Hongying who were standing nearby also saw it.
Gao Xiulan said, "Qingming, what are you doing? We're just having a casual meal at home, why are you giving me gifts? Take them back immediately." Her lack of education doesn't mean she doesn't know how to count. That thing is very expensive.
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