"Third Uncle, is this a bicycle?" Da Bao ran up to the bicycle, then suddenly stopped and carefully touched the wheels.
I was afraid of hurting the bicycle.
"Yes, it's a bicycle," Xie Zhuo said as he pushed the bicycle into the yard, set up the kickstand, and went to untie the basket tied to the crossbar.
Wow, it really is a bicycle!
Xiao Bao had never seen a bicycle before. Although two families in the brigade owned bicycles, they rarely rode them. Da Bao and Xiao Bao also didn't go out to play often, so they had never seen one.
Even though they had never seen it before, it didn't stop them from being very excited. They ran around the bicycle several times, and Xie Zhuo almost got dizzy from their running around.
"When it gets cooler in the afternoon, your third uncle will take you out for a bike ride," Xu Yan said, taking the packed food out of his basket. "Now we need to eat."
"Eat, eat," Da Bao repeated several times, his little face full of smiles.
"Third Aunt," Xiao Bao stopped turning around and came over to hug Xu Yan's leg.
Xu Yan really adores these two children. They're so cute and have such good personalities; they're not the kind of naughty kids who won't listen to reason at all.
"Go wash your hands quickly," Xu Yan bent down and affectionately pinched their cheeks. "Your third uncle specially bought you some delicious braised pork. It will be gone if you're late."
"Ah, meat!" Da Bao immediately grabbed Xiao Bao's hand and rushed into the house. "We want to eat meat!"
Xie Zhu watched Xu Yan and the two children playing around. After carrying the basket into his room, he went to set up a table under the tree and bolted the front door before taking out all the food.
Xu Yan glanced at him.
"I expect everyone will come to check on the bicycle soon," Xie Zhuo said. "Let's wait until An Sheng finishes eating before we start driving it."
"Third Aunt, wash your hands," Da Bao and Xiao Bao not only washed their own hands, but also brought over half a basin of water for Xu Yan to wash.
"Thank you, Da Bao and Xiao Bao," Xu Yan's attention was drawn to the two little rascals, and her smile never faded. "They are so kind to their third aunt."
Xie Zhuo had already washed his hands in the kitchen and was setting the food on the table. Hearing Xu Yan's self-reference, he couldn't help but smile slightly.
While they were eating, another disturbance broke out at the educated youth settlement.
The incident started when Zhou Jingjing complained about the pungent smell of smoke while cooking, so she stuffed a handful of firewood into the stove and then ran out to squat in the yard to wash clothes.
She probably thought that once the clothes were washed, the water on the stove would boil, and she could then cook the noodles.
Although they haven't been working lately, they've been eating better and better. They originally thought that they wouldn't be so hungry after they stopped working and could eat one less meal a day. But after not working, they've been so bored every day that they've been thinking about what to eat.
After eating noodles for the last meal, I'm craving noodles again for this meal.
Unexpectedly, the firewood that fell out of the stove ignited the firewood on the ground. Ye Wei only discovered the fire in the kitchen when she felt too hot and went to scoop water to wash her face.
What followed was a period of chaos and disorder.
When they finally put out the fire, the entire kitchen was blackened by smoke, and a small stool next to the stove had been burned in half.
Wu Shi immediately lost his temper and cursed at Zhou Jingjing.
Zhou Jingjing wasn't exactly known for her good temper either. She pointed directly at Wu Shi's nose and berated the male educated youth for being too lazy. She told them that if they were so capable, they should cook for themselves. They didn't help out and just ate whatever was offered to them every day, and now they were even blaming her.
"You're absolutely unreasonable!" Wu Shi glared and cursed.
"I'm unreasonable?" Zhou Jingjing's voice was even louder than his. "If you're so capable, cook for yourselves! We cook and wash dishes every day, and you don't even bother to help us out, but now you have the nerve to scold me?"
“Cooking and washing dishes are things that women should do,” Wu Shi said stubbornly.
"Bullshit," Zhou Jingjing retorted. "Why would Xie Zhuo cook for himself and invite Xu Yan over to eat?"
She said those words without thinking; they just came out of her mouth.
Yesterday, when Da Bao and Xiao Bao came to call Xu Yan to have dinner, they were both there, but none of them said a word.
Now, when the educated youth suddenly hear her mention Xie Zhuo, everyone's expressions change.
Wu Shi, however, seemed to have caught her by the nose and sneered, "Heh, so you also envy Xu Yan for marrying a peasant from the village? Since you think men from the countryside are so good, why don't you go find one and marry him too?"
“Exactly, maybe you’re even luckier than Xu Yan, your man can cook meat for you every day,” another male educated youth mocked.
Zhou Jingjing's eyes turned red with anger.
In the end, Ye Wei stepped forward to end the farce, but the male and female educated youth at the settlement fell silent.
Xu Yan was unaware of all this. She was eating the braised pork that Da Bao had prepared, the scrambled eggs that Xiao Bao had prepared, and drinking the water that Xie Zhuo had poured for her, looking completely satisfied.
She had initially thought that the food in this era wouldn't taste as good as in later generations, since the variety of seasonings wasn't as complete. However, the chef at the state-run restaurant proved to her with his true skills that real culinary skills don't require those things.
After all, this was the third time they had eaten at the same table, and Xu Yan had become much more relaxed than she had been the first time.
Occasionally, they could tease Xie Zhuo about what Da Bao and Xiao Bao had said.
Xie Zhuo didn't refute, only occasionally raising his eyebrows or something.
After they finished eating and cleaned up the table, Xie Zhuo went inside to get wild ginseng and also took Xu Yan's books out of the basket and neatly arranged them on the table.
This was Xu Yan's first time entering Xie Zhuo's room.
The house is on the right-hand side after entering the main gate, and it doesn't look very big.
Like the dormitories at the educated youth settlement, there was a single-story bed, but the walls were carefully covered with newspapers. A large blue-gray sheet was laid on the kang (a heated brick bed), and a quilt and a pillow were placed in the corner.
Xu Yan glanced at the bed sheets, blankets, and pillows.
It's very clean and tidy.
To be honest, let alone in the countryside, many men's rooms in the city are a mess. It's rare to see someone like Xie Zhuo whose bed is completely creased.
Xie Zhuo glanced at Xu Yan, then pointed to the books on the table, "We don't need to take these books back to the educated youth settlement, right?"
Xu Yan was still looking around his room when she heard this and finally snapped out of her daze and hummed in response.
"We'll be moving here in a few days, and it'll be a hassle to move things around," she said.
"Then, I'll put it away for now," Xie Zhuo glanced at her again, then placed the book on a homemade wooden bookshelf behind him.
Xu Yan blinked.
He took the book... into his room.
Xu Yan had always said that she would move out of the educated youth settlement after getting married, but she hadn't thought about how she would live after moving to Xie Zhuo's house.
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