On the morning of the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu's mother got up at dawn and went to help the Wu family without eating anything.
Wu Yuezhu and Liu's mother had agreed in advance to go to her house for breakfast this morning so that they could prepare some lunch early.
Wu Yuezhu originally wanted to keep a low profile and not hold a banquet, but the villagers liked the two practical doctors of the Wu family. In the more than half a year since they came to Liujia Village, they have helped many villagers cure or alleviate some minor ailments. They are very respected by the villagers, and most of the villagers want to come and ask for a glass of wine.
After discussing with each other, the two grandparents and grandchildren of the Wu family decided to hold a banquet with four or five tables, which would serve as a testimony to their family's formal integration into Liujia Village and the start of a new life.
He also secretly bought a rabbit from Liu's father, and of course told others that he had exchanged it for something from another village. Almost every household in Liujia Village would go up the mountain to get food, and whether he could get it depended on his own ability.
Everyone knew the truth and would not report them for this, thus cutting off their own and others' sources of income. Many poor families in the village relied on going to the mountains to get things and then exchanging them for food to fill their stomachs.
The Liu family had always kept a low profile when it came to hunting. Father Liu would often go out in the middle of the night and return at dawn. The Liu family lived in a secluded area. It was almost as if the villagers had no idea when Father Liu went up the mountain. They assumed he rarely went hunting because of his position as village chief.
Normally, Liu's father never traded what he found in the village. In recent years, he'd been more careful, usually trading it with Xuemei's colleagues. Whatever was left, he'd eat it himself, never risking his life outside. At most, he'd secretly give some to relatives.
Just for Xuemei and Han Chen's banquet, he went to the mountains and hunted two rabbits and a pheasant. He planned to ask Xuemei to take them to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange them for meat coupons. The meat coupons at home plus the ones Xuemei had accumulated only gave him a pound of sliced meat.
On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, when the rabbit was left at home, it was discovered by Wu Yuezhu, who had come to ask Liu's mother to cook. The rabbit weighed only a little over a pound, and it had gnawed a little through the cage, escaped, and ran into the yard, where Wu Yuezhu saw it. Liu's father and mother had no choice but to explain that they had found it while they were chopping firewood in the mountains a few days ago.
That night, Liu's father and mother dealt with the remaining rabbit and pheasant.
The next morning, Xuemei went to the commune at dawn and gave the exchange to her colleague at the supply and marketing cooperative, in exchange for half a pound of meat tickets, two soap tickets and one yuan and eighty cents.
Xuemei kept the meat coupons for herself, bought two bars of soap with her own money, and gave two dollars to Liu's father and mother. She said that she was lucky this time because everyone's bids were more straightforward, and the things and money she got in return were a little more than usual.
The marriage of Wu Yuezhu and Li Quanmin went smoothly, but unexpectedly, when Wu Yuezhu went to pick up Accountant Li and Li Quanmin in the morning, Li Quanfang's wife Yang Meihua, who was not good at judging the situation, came out to block the way.
Wu Yuezhu took Luo Yao, Liu's father, and several young men from the village to the Wu family to pick up the bride. Because the two families lived close to each other, they did not leave the Wu family until 7:30.
Luo Yao arrived yesterday afternoon. Wu Yuezhu's wedding was so rushed that neither her parents could get leave. Luo Yao slept with Xuemei that night. The two of them chatted until late, and now they were yawning non-stop. They had to rush back today and planned to catch the 10 o'clock bus, so they might not be able to make it to the Wu family's lunch.
Wu Jianye and Wu Xingqiao were waiting at home, pacing anxiously in front of the house. Wu Jianye had been very nervous for the past two days, always wondering whether the decision he and Wu Yuezhu had made this time was right. He hoped that Li Quanmin would not let them down this time.
Wu Jianye thought of Wu Yuezhu's ex-husband again. He'd met Yuezhu at a military social, a group matchmaking event. He'd unexpectedly introduced a Zhongshan wolf into the Wu family, one who'd even sacrificed his wife and children for power. If it weren't for the help of his students and others, the Wu family wouldn't have survived this time.
Fortunately, Wu Yuezhu was open-minded. Although she was sad for a while, she gradually let it go with the birth of Wu Xingqiao.
On the other side, Wu Yuezhu picked up Li Quanmin and was about to take him away on his bicycle.
The bicycle was Li Quanmin's dowry. A few months ago, Li Quanmin couldn't stand it anymore, so his elder brother and sister-in-law locked the bicycle in their room every day and spent fifty yuan to give it to Li Quanfang. From then on, they had nothing to do with the Li family's bicycle, so now Li Quanmin only has more than forty yuan left.
Wu Yuezhu and Li Quanmin were in a hurry to get married, so Accountant Li and his wife only prepared one set of clothes for Li Quanmin and a new quilt weighing more than six kilograms that had just been made this year.
Accountant Li and his wife felt that it was too little, so Wu Yuezhu gave them a betrothal gift of 66 yuan. The old couple thought about it and decided to give the bicycle at home to Li Quanmin. Originally, Li Quanmin was supposed to take two-thirds of the bicycle, so the thing given to Li Quanmin was almost 60 yuan.
"Wait, Li Quanmin, this is our family's bicycle! What do you mean by tying a big red flower on it? Are you planning to borrow it or take it away?" Yang Meihua stopped the bicycle with both hands and asked sarcastically.
It's a happy day, and no one feels comfortable being stopped by someone. Li Quanmin said with a sullen face, "None of your business! This bike has nothing to do with your family, and you charged me fifty yuan!"
"It has nothing to do with me, but it has something to do with my parents! I think you just want to take it to the Wu family, and your elder brother and I don't agree!" A trace of guilt flashed across Yang Meihua's face, but she immediately started to argue.
After the primary school exams yesterday, Li Quanfang’s eldest son Li Dong, along with his two younger brothers and sisters, was originally there to join in the fun. When he saw his mother arguing with his grandparents again, he quickly went to pull her hand and told her to stop and go home.
His mother ignored him, glared at him and pushed him away.
Li Quanfang's eldest son is already nine years old, ten years old in lunar age, and it is time for him to be sensible. He heard the gossip in the village and learned that his parents were asking for separation because they disliked his uncle's disabled leg.
After the family split up, he also knew that his mother often deliberately picked on his grandparents and uncle. Therefore, every time his uncle and grandparents gave him delicious food, he was embarrassed to accept it. He had to go home after school and secretly put some firewood at the kitchen door of his grandparents when his parents were not at home.
Originally, Li Dong wanted to take his younger siblings with him, but since the family separated, his younger siblings have gradually become estranged from their grandparents. Now they are from the same country as his parents, and they all hate his grandparents and his uncle. Li Dong feels embarrassed every time he thinks of this. He feels that he is too stupid and has no solution at all. Li Dong hopes that when he grows up, he will be able to find a way to solve these problems. By then, the family will be as good as when his uncle's leg was healed.
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