"Hey—I'm here—"
A smile immediately spread across Zhao Chunmiao's face, and she got up and quickly walked towards the door to greet him.
As soon as the door opened, Qin Hanshu stood there gracefully, her skin white and fragrant, as fresh as a gardenia.
It's so pleasing to the eye.
Zhao Chunmiao's big eyes curved into crescent moons. "Xiao Shu, come in quickly!"
Qin Hanshu paused. When did Aunt Zhao start calling her so affectionately? The last time she saw her, she seemed to be calling her "Little Qin, the Educated Youth"...
"What are you standing there for? Come in quickly." Zhao Chunmiao said to Zhou Ruilan, who had just walked over, "Go and pack some food out, jujubes, honey-glazed pastries, and fried cakes, pack some of everything."
Qin Hanshu quickly said, "Auntie, don't bother. I just came to deliver some things. I'll leave as soon as I'm done."
Zhao Chunmiao then noticed that Qin Hanshu was holding a basin with a lid on it.
When Qin Hanshu lifted the lid, she found a bowl of eggs inside.
Although it had a shell, the shell was broken, and the color looked like it had been braised, so it must have been cooked.
Qin Hanshu said, "These are tea eggs I made. I brought them over for you to try."
Chickens kept in the enclosure lay three eggs a day without fail, while chickens in the yard can lay two a day.
She ate five eggs every day, but she couldn't finish them all, and gradually she accumulated too many. So Qin Hanshu simply boiled a pot of tea eggs.
They sent a few to Zhang Kangmei and the others, and considering that the Zhou family had taken good care of them, they also sent some to the Zhou family.
There's no such thing as tea eggs in this area; Zhao Chunmiao had never even heard of it.
"You should keep all these eggs for yourself!" Zhao Chunmiao felt a pang of tenderness. "It's not easy for you educated youth to be away from your hometown. Your family has everything you need, so there's no need for you to bring us anything!"
Qin Hanshu laughed and said, "My chickens lay two eggs a day, more than I can eat myself."
Zhao Chunmiao retorted, "Then take them and exchange them for money! These eggs are so big, one of them is worth three cents!"
"I'll take it back to exchange for money later," Qin Hanshu said sweetly. "I've already cooked it and brought it over, you can't make me take it back, can you?"
Zhao Chunmiao gave Qin Hanshu a playful glare and sighed, "Alright then! I'll just have to accept it, no matter how shameless I am."
Zhou Ruilan didn't listen to Zhao Chunmiao and Qin Hanshu's politeness. She had already followed Zhao Chunmiao's instructions to pack the food, and it was already packed.
Zhao Chunmiao pulled Qin Hanshu, who wanted to leave, into the house and sat her down on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Zhao Chunmiao was sewing shoe soles, while Zhou Ruilan and Qin Hanshu were eating snacks and chatting idly.
The atmosphere was relaxed and casual, like that of a family.
Qin Hanshu looked at the shoe sole in Zhao Chunmiao's hand and said, "This shoe sole is really thick."
Zhao Chunmiao laughed and said, "It's a thousand-layer sole! My family all love wearing the shoes I make, saying they're much more comfortable than leather shoes."
Zhou Ruilan nodded and said, "Even my second sister-in-law, who has such high standards, praised my mother's shoes!"
"So you're buying shoes for the whole family?" Qin Hanshu pointed to a pile of shoe soles in a basket beside her. "You're making so many at once?"
“No!” Zhou Ruilan chimed in, “These were all made for my third brother alone.”
Zhao Chunmiao also explained:
“My son Weiguang left home when he was sixteen and hasn’t been home since. He wrote back a few months ago saying that he would be coming home to visit relatives this year for the Spring Festival.”
"I was thinking that after this family visit, I don't know when the next one will be, so I made him a few pairs of shoes all at once so he could take them with him."
Zhou Ruilan said, "My second brother said that the army will provide clothes and shoes. Even if my third brother brings shoes to the army, he may not have a chance to wear them. But my mother won't listen and insists on doing it."
Zhao Chunmiao shook her head indifferently, "Whether they can be worn or not is another matter. Anyway, making a few pairs of shoes is not a big deal."
Qin Hanshu nodded in agreement, saying, "This is also a token of the aunt's goodwill."
"That's exactly what I mean!" Zhao Chunmiao paused, then said to Qin Hanshu, "Xiaoshu, after Auntie finishes making these pairs for Weiguang, I'll make you a couple too, okay?"
Qin Hanshu was flattered and quickly waved her hand, saying, "No need to trouble yourself!"
"No trouble at all!" Zhao Chunmiao gestured towards Zhou Ruilan with her chin, "Just draw a pattern for your little sister Shu's shoes."
"Okay!" Zhou Ruilan obediently replied, then rummaged through the basket and pulled out an old newspaper and a pen.
The group was already sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), and had taken off their shoes, making it very convenient.
Then Zhou Ruilan grabbed Qin Hanshu's foot with one hand, making her step on the newspaper, and with the other hand, she held a pen and traced the shape of the foot.
Zhou Ruilan and her daughter were so enthusiastic that Qin Hanshu didn't dare to struggle too much, for fear of hurting their enthusiasm.
In the end, he had no choice but to comply, and he kept in mind that he had to repay this favor.
"Actually, I'm a year younger than Lan Hua." Although Qin Hanshu didn't mind being called "sister," she still wanted to make that clear.
Zhao Chunmiao asked in surprise, "Then you're only...seventeen?"
Qin Hanshu nodded.
The educated youth in Haowan Village were generally quite young, something Zhao Chunmiao should have anticipated.
She turned to Zhou Ruilan and asked, "What age did your second brother say you have to be to register for marriage?"
Zhou Ruilan replied, "The girl is eighteen, and the boy is twenty."
Zhao Chunmiao nodded thoughtfully, "That's alright..."
Qin Hanshu looked at Zhao Chunmiao, puzzled.
Zhao Chunmiao snapped out of her daze and asked with a smile, "Is your seventeenth year the traditional Chinese age? When is your birthday when you turn eighteen?"
"I've never calculated my age in the traditional Chinese way since I was a child, and as for my birthday..." Qin Hanshu was even more confused, "I'll be eighteen in the first month of the new year."
Zhao Chunmiao nodded.
Seeing Qin Hanshu's confused expression, Zhao Chunmiao thought for a moment and simply said:
"Xiao Shu, how about I introduce you to someone? Don't worry, he's not some farmhand who earns work points. The guy is well-educated, has a good job, and his salary isn't low either!"
After saying that, Zhao Chunmiao looked at Qin Hanshu expectantly.
"Uh..." Qin Hanshu blinked, "Well... I'm still too young and haven't planned on dating yet. Thank you for thinking of me, auntie."
Although disappointed, this answer was within Zhao Chunmiao's expectations.
Undeterred, she said, "Okay, then we'll talk about it again when you have a plan."
Zhao Chunmiao did not mention the matter again.
After sitting for a while, Qin Hanshu made an excuse to leave, politely declining Zhao Chunmiao's offer to stay for dinner.
After Qin Hanshu left, Zhao Chunmiao sighed and said, "I think it's unlikely that things will work out with Xiaoshu. I need to look around and be prepared for both possibilities."
The main problem is that Zhou Weiguang is getting old and hasn't come back for many years. If we don't take advantage of this visit to marry him off, what if he doesn't come back for another nine years? Wouldn't he really become an old bachelor?
He could find one himself at the garrison, but Zhao Chunmiao knew her son's personality well. He was blunt and straightforward in front of girls, and his words could drive people crazy. He was just like a fool.
Expecting him to find a wife on his own is like hoping for gold to fall from the sky!
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