When the two came out, the brigade leader and Aunt Guihua had already arrived, and several children were playing in the yard.
The brigade leader's son, Huo Guodong, has two daughters, Da Niu and Er Niu, and a son named Xiao Shitou. His daughters are about seven or eight years old, and his son is three. Huo Guoliang's two children are boys, Tiezhu and Shuanzhu, who are about four or five years old.
Little Tiger, Daya, and several other children were having a great time playing together.
As soon as Yun Ningyan came out, the children looked at her curiously. Da Niu and Er Niu had seen her at home before, and they politely called her "Auntie".
The two of them were the oldest, and they called out first. Everyone else followed suit and called them "Auntie," except for Little Tiger.
Yun Ningyan was watching Xiao Huzi with a relaxed expression when she heard him say, "From now on, you'll be my third aunt, so I can't call you auntie."
He was counting on his fingers with his little hands, his brows furrowed, as if he was seriously thinking about what to call Yun Ningyan.
He muttered to himself, "I can't call her Third Aunt or Auntie, so what should I call her?"
His few words made everyone burst into laughter, making Yun Ningyan blush to her ears. Huo Junshan's lips also curled up as he looked at Yun Ningyan with a smile.
Seeing that Yun Ningyan was extremely shy, Li Xiangyun pretended to slap Xiao Huzi's bottom and said, "You little brat, who taught you to say such things?"
Little Tiger wasn't afraid of her. He hid in his mother's arms and didn't dare to make a sound. He had just seen his third uncle looking at him.
Li Xiangyun quickly interrupted, saying, "Let's eat. You guys bring out all the food."
Only then did everyone stop laughing and bring out the food.
There was spicy rabbit meat, braised pork, stir-fried bok choy, braised eggplant, stir-fried potatoes, green peppers, and eggplant, and finally, tomato and egg stir-fry.
These dishes were quite a feast for this era.
Knowing that Yun Ningyan liked to eat rabbit meat, he specially placed the rabbit meat in front of her. Yun Ningyan was a little embarrassed and was about to say that she didn't need it when Huo Junshan gently scratched her with his hand.
The captain put down his pipe and watched with a smile as Huo Changgen took out the bottle of Moutai. Huo Changgen poured a few glasses, and his sons stared longingly at the bottle.
Huo Changgen laughed and said, "Boss, why don't you try some?"
Huo Jianguo was extremely excited. Huo Changgen poured a few cups for his sons as well, and said stingily, "You can each have a cup to taste, the rest is for me and your uncle."
The captain was overjoyed; he had never tasted such fine wine before!
Yun Ningyan was caught in the middle between Huo Junshan and Li Xiangyun, waiting for Huo Junshan to embarrass her!
Yesterday, Huo Junshan said he didn't drink alcohol. Today, she wants to see if he really doesn't drink alcohol.
Unexpectedly, Huo Junshan glanced at Yun Ningyan before picking up his wine glass, and only dared to drink when he saw that she didn't react.
Everyone noticed his little action. Huo Jianshe muttered, "Third Brother, why are you looking at Sister Yun? She didn't say you couldn't drink it."
Huo Junshan glared at him, Huo Jianshe stuck out his tongue, lowered his head to eat, and dared not say another word.
But his ears turned red, which Yun Ningyan found somewhat amusing. "If you want to drink, then drink! It's just a glass of wine, nothing to worry about."
After the men finished their first drink, they started eating. Li Xiangyun took good care of her, constantly using serving chopsticks to put food on her plate. She even specifically told her sons, "From now on, use serving chopsticks when serving food to others. It's more hygienic!"
Yun Ningyan felt a warmth in her heart; her future mother-in-law was quite good at handling things.
During the meal, Sister-in-law Huo didn't say a word, just kept her head down eating or feeding her youngest daughter.
It wasn't that she didn't want to talk, but Li Xiangyun had already warned her in the kitchen not to talk carelessly, so she simply kept quiet.
She's become much smarter lately, her mother-in-law is treating her kindly, and Huo Jianguo has returned to his usual attentiveness towards her.
The captain and Huo Changgen drank several cups in a row. The captain was still not satisfied and kept asking Huo Changgen to pour him another cup. Huo Changgen was already a little dizzy and his tongue was a little slurred. "Big brother, no! This can be bought for me by the third brother. If you want to drink, ask your son to buy it for you."
Li Xiangyun glared at him, and Zhang Guihua laughed, "Look how smug your second brother is. The third brother bought him a bottle of wine, and he's afraid we won't know."
Yun Ningyan ate her fill during the meal; her bowl was never empty. Huo Junshan would put food on her plate, or Li Xiangyun would put meat on her plate.
After the meal, the brigade leader and Aunt Guihua left. Sister-in-law Huo was washing the pots and dishes when Li Xiangyun made her a cup of hawthorn water with added sugar. It was sweet and sour and tasted very good.
After Huo Junshan saw that she had finished drinking the water, he got up and offered to take her home. However, Huo Changgen said, "Third brother, come back early later. I have something to say!"
Looking at Huo Changgen, he didn't seem drunk at all; he just wanted to leave more wine. Huo Junshan nodded.
He took Yun Ningyan back to the educated youth settlement. Yun Ningyan said, "You go back, I want to sleep for a while! I'm a little tired."
Huo Junshan felt very sorry for him; he must have been exhausted from the day in the county town!
He wanted to kiss Yun Ningyan's lips, but Yun Ningyan pushed his face away, seemingly disgusted, and said, "No, you smell like alcohol! It's awful!"
Huo Junshan immediately regretted drinking that glass of wine; now he couldn't even kiss her, it was a losing proposition.
Yun Ningyan was drenched in sweat on her way back. The weather was hot and humid, and she expected it to rain again.
Huo Junshan took out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat and pinched her cheek. "I'm leaving now. I'll come back to keep you company later."
Yun Ningyan glared at him but didn't say anything. Huo Junshan strode away.
Huo Junshan returned home, where Huo Changgen and several brothers were waiting for him in the main room. He was puzzled as to what his father was up to.
Even the eldest sister-in-law was sitting there holding her child.
Huo Junshan pulled up a stool and sat down, just in time to hear Huo Changgen say, "Your mother and I were planning to have Jiandang get married. We were originally planning for next year, but third brother, you're practically done for now..."
Huo Jiandang was a little excited. He hadn’t expected that his parents wanted him to get married soon. But when he thought about the house he was living in now, he felt a little sad. There wasn’t enough room at home, and he couldn’t let Hongying come and live with him in that dilapidated house.
Huo Junshan understood what his parents were going to say.
“Your mother and I have discussed it, and we think it would be better to build two houses on the vacant land next to Jiandang’s house so that Jiandang can use them for his wedding.”
After he finished speaking, he turned to Huo Junshan and asked, "Third brother, what do you think of this? When you get married..."
Huo Junshan originally wanted to wait until Yanyan agreed to marry him before talking about building a house, but now was a good time, so he said directly, "Father and Mother, it's too early for Ningning and me to get married. Ningning is still young. I want to build a house on our own when the time comes."
Sister-in-law Huo was startled. Building a separate house would be much more comfortable than living in the old house.
The family is biased. They built a new house for the third son's wedding. His parents must have secretly subsidized him a lot. Otherwise, how could someone from the city be with him?
Listening to his sister-in-law's thoughts, Huo Junshan sneered inwardly. He was right not to tell his family about selling wild boar meat back then; otherwise, given his sister-in-law's personality, who knows how many troubles would have occurred!
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