Chapter 63: Worrying Life
Wen Wan warmed her hands by the fire and stood up and said, "Have you started wrapping yet? I'll help you. I can do this too."
Zhang Hongying folded the rolled noodles, cut them, and placed them in a basin on the table by the fire. She said, "Your hands are cold. Chun'e and I can wrap them. It's pretty quick. You bake yours."
Wen Wan didn't listen to her. She scooped up water to wash her hands, then took a piece of dough out of the basin: "It's different from the ones we make at home. Our dumpling skins are round." This one here is almost square, but one end is bigger than the other.
Zhang Hongying said: "Dumplings here look like this. We call them dumplings, and some people call them chao shou." As she spoke, she slowed down her hands to show Wen Wan: "It's easy to wrap them, look." Wen Wan was willing to learn, so she was naturally willing to teach. No matter what kind of meal it was, it would be beneficial to be able to cook it.
It is indeed easy to wrap. Wen Wan knows how to make dumplings, and she has clever eyes and hands. After making one, the second one became easy.
"Sister Wenwan, you are so amazing. It took me several years to learn this." The key point is that the family's conditions were not good in the past few years. Eating was like hanging on to life. We were very happy if we could have enough to eat. How could we dare to hope to eat fine grains and meat?
This is how people are. They can endure as much sin as they can enjoy as much blessing.
When I was hungry, I thought the happiest thing would be to have a full meal someday. Then, when I finally had a full meal, I wished I could eat something better. When I was eating Guanyin soil, I thought wheat bran and rice bran were all delicacies. But when wheat bran mixed with corn grits was enough to keep me alive, I thought it was too watery and I wished I could eat something solid every meal.
Wen Wan smiled and said, "Maybe I am a good eater, so I learn this quickly."
"No, it's you who are clever and smart."
The two men were praising each other, and Lu Donglin ran out with his new gloves.
First, she ran to Lu Minghai's house next door, slipped into the kitchen, and shouted "Uncle" and "Auntie" with a smile. Then she squeezed next to Lu Dongfu, raised her hand and waved it in front of his eyes: "Look, this is the New Year's gift my sister gave me."
Lu Dongfu took a look and said: "Wow, I didn't realize Chun'e has such skills."
Lu Donglin snorted: "It's not her. How could she have that ability? It was given to me by Sister Wen Wan. It's a New Year's gift. My brother doesn't even have it." The last sentence is the key point.
Gao Xiulan came over and took a look. "Wow, they really are new gloves. Are they made with the newly bought wool yarn? Not many people can do this kind of craft, and wool yarn is not easy to buy."
Lu Donglin was stunned for a moment: "Aunt, is wool yarn very expensive?"
Gao Xiulan said, "I don't know. I can't knit, and I've never bought that stuff. Anyway, I've never seen it in the commune supply and marketing cooperative. Years ago, Liu Chaoxing's daughter-in-law was knitting some sweaters, and she told everyone she met that wool was hard to buy, cost a lot of money, and you even need coupons. That's when I found out."
Lu Donglin looked at the gloves over and over again: "This thing is too expensive."
"That's right. You can't run around with the whole team showing off, or people will gossip about you. You are the youngest in your family, so Wen Wan took the trouble to knit this for you. You can't cause trouble for her." Wen Wan and Lu Dongping are not together yet. If people knew that she made such a rare thing for the Lu family, there is no guarantee that those people in the team would not be jealous and say something behind her back.
They were fine, but Wenwan was a girl, a foreigner, and young, so she couldn't stand this.
Lu Donglin nodded, not quite understanding: "I won't let anyone know." It would be better to keep such a valuable thing away. After all, it was a gift for him, so it was enough for him to know about it.
Without anything to show off, Lu Donglin felt bored and could not sit still for a while. He made an appointment with Lu Dongfu to have dinner and go up the mountain, and then he ran away.
After he left, Gao Xiulan said to Lu Minghai, "That little girl is really willing to give up. I think she looks almost the same as Dongping. She looks pretty good, much better than the two who came here first."
Lu Minghai smiled: "Oh, it's rare for you to praise someone like this."
Gao Xiulan leaned against the stove and said, "It's rare to meet such a person. It's just that this family is too far away, and the gap between our conditions is too big. I don't know what the family thinks and whether they will agree."
Lu Minghai said, "It's too early to talk about this now. The two of them should get along first. Then, if she shows any interest in settling down here, I'll send Dongping over. No matter what the family's financial situation is, proper etiquette should be observed, but those rigid rules are not acceptable. Marriage is free, but it can't be muddled. Look at Liu Zhaoxing and Lu Changgui's family. They just think they've gotten a great deal. No one can predict what will happen in the future."
Gao Xiulan said, "You've been worried all your life. You worry about your daughter and son, and you also have to worry about your nephews and nieces. There's no peace and quiet."
Lu Minghai's wrinkled face looked particularly lively when he smiled, and his eyes, which had seemed a little cloudy, became bright and energetic when he smiled: "This is the fate of my life. I raised my younger brother. Although he has no future, at least there is one who has not grown up astray. I will take care of him as long as I can."
Lu Donglin had just returned when Lu Dongping came back from the mountain. There were leaves stuck on his head and mud on his hands. He washed his hands outside the door and patted himself before entering the house.
Zhang Hongying complained in the house: "It's freezing cold. When I opened my eyes this morning, you were gone. I don't know why you were running around."
Lu Dongping said, "I just went for a walk in the mountains. I don't have time normally." As he said that, he sat down next to Wen Wan and watched her skillfully wrapping dumplings. Her hands, as white as scallions, were so beautiful that people couldn't take their eyes off them.
Zhang Hongying was so annoyed that she called out to Lu Chun'e, "There's not much left. You and Wen Wan can wrap it up while I boil the pot."
Lu Dongping stood up consciously: "I'll cook it, you have a handful of noodles in your hand."
As he said this, he went to the stove and scooped a few ladles of water into the pot, covered it with a lid, went to the back of the stove and stuffed some pine needles into the stove cavity, then got up and went to the fire pit to get the fire scissors and pick up the fire.
He lit the fire, then asked Zhang Hongying: "Where is my father?"
"Who knows where he went? He was gone when I woke up early in the morning. He was never home from work or school."
Dumplings are quick to cook, just boil the water in the pot and pour it in.
The dumplings had just been put into the pot when Lu Mingjiang's footsteps were heard from outside.
Zhang Hongying complained as she stirred the pot with a spoon: "Look, I don't see anyone until it's time to eat. I don't need to call him to eat, he will come back at the right time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Mingjiang walked into the house: "Wow, I'm back on time. Is it time to have dinner?"
Lu Donglin chuckled and said, "Yes, we can have dinner soon."
Lu Mingjiang sat down by the fire pit and told Lu Dongping, "I was out for two days during the New Year holiday. I'll take a half-day break today. Tomorrow we have to get busy. We need to find a suitable place to stack the firewood again and clear that space. Then we can build the wall. We'll have help and it should be almost done in a day. Then it's more troublesome to knock the soil. It will soak up the mud as it's knocked. If there's not enough mud left, we'll have to dig it up and carry it back. The sooner we start, the sooner we can."
Lu Dongping nodded: "Okay!" He was more anxious than anyone else.
Zhang Hongying scooped a ladle of cold water into the pot, then said, "Repairing the house is a big deal, so we can't rush it. We have to get it done properly."
"That's all the work. The foundation had already been laid, so we just had to dig out the loose soil on top. There were no other requirements, and we didn't have to tear the whole house down and rebuild. The main house was still there, so we just added two more rooms.
Zhang Hongying said, "I don't understand these things. Just keep them in mind. Let's eat!"
As he spoke, he called Lu Dongping to get Wen Wan's lunch box and filled it up for her first: "Wen Wan, you have to eat more today. You bought the noodles, you bought the meat, and you made the dumplings. Our whole family benefits from you." In the past, he had never been willing to eat like this.
Wen Wan said hurriedly: "I can't finish it. I can't eat all of this." The lunch box was so big, full of dumplings. It would be difficult for her to finish it, let alone one meal, or even two meals.
"You should eat more. It's so rare for you to eat white flour. You've suffered so much by coming to our place."
No matter how rare it is, I can’t eat it.
Fortunately, Wen Wan already had experience and couldn't refuse, so she turned around and called Lu Dongping.
Zhang Hongying saw it but pretended not to see it, with the corners of her mouth raised high.
After dinner, Lu Dongping called Wen Wan: "Do you want to go to the mountains? I'll take you there to play?"
Before Wen Wan could say anything, Lu Donglin started yelling, "I'm going, I'm going, brother. I want to go too."
Zhang Hongying, who was sitting next to him, slapped him rudely: "Why are you involved in everything? Just stay home and help me if something happens after dinner."
Lu Donglin's mouth drooped. "Mom, what's wrong with you? Why are you beating people on New Year's Day? Are you going to make me get beaten all year round?"
Zhang Hongying glared at him with a dark face: "Come in, I want to tell you something."
Lu Donglin reluctantly told Wen Wan: "Sister, I'll go with you, wait for me."
As soon as he entered the house, Zhang Hongying scolded him in a low voice: "Lu Donglin, what's wrong with you? You usually look quite smart, why are you so stupid now? Your brother took Wen Wan out to play, why did you follow them? You are so old, and you are still chasing people on the road. Aren't you ashamed?"
Lu Donglin was unconvinced: "I didn't chase her away. I took Sister Wen Wan up the mountain to catch rabbits. She likes them. She gave me gloves, but my aunt said they were hard to knit and the wool was expensive and hard to buy. I didn't have money to buy her anything, but since she likes rabbits, why can't I take her to catch them?"
"Okay, okay, but can't we change the time? Your brother rarely has a holiday at home. Whatever Wen Wan likes, he should know how to get her. Why are you meddling? Didn't you say you like Wen Wan and want your brother to pursue her and marry her to be your sister-in-law? You're being so stubborn. How can Wen Wan be so shy as to get along with your brother? Dating is a matter between two people. How can you be together if you follow them around like a tail?"
After saying that, she left the room, leaving Lu Donglin to pout so much that an oil bottle could be hung on his face.
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