So Dad thought this was an antique. Sigh, it's scary to be uncultured. But with this, can we have hot pot now? Yan Xiaonan swallowed hard. "Dad, this is for hot pot. You bought the best thing. We're having hot pot today!"
Yan Xiaonan asked Cuihua to prepare some pork slices, vegetables, mushrooms, some fish and tofu, and then heated the copper pot with charcoal. Since there was chicken soup available today, she added half chicken soup and half boiling water to make the soup base, and also took some sauce to make dipping sauce.
A copper pot was placed in the center of the stone table, surrounded by various dishes. Watching the broth in the copper pot boil, Yan Xiaonan put a few dishes in, dipped them in the sauce, and put them in her mouth.
Grandma Yan took one look and realized that this was the Manchu hot pot from her hometown. She had heard of it but never eaten it. It seemed that mutton and beef were needed to make it flavorful, but pork was good too. She quickly picked up her chopsticks and cooked a piece of pork just like Yan Xiaonan had done. Once the meat was cooked, she dipped it in the sauce and stuffed it into her mouth.
Yan Xiaonan was glad that her grandmother had good teeth; apart from a few cavities, she still had teeth. However, her uncle had to accompany her to get the cavities filled, otherwise it would be troublesome later.
Yan Xiaoqiang and Cuihua immediately understood that they had bought a really good thing, worth the eight yuan. They quickly called Chen'er to get two stools to sit down and eat hot pot, but they saw Chen'er looking at the hot pot with tears in her eyes.
Yan Xiaonan understood. This girl was homesick. Thinking about it, it made sense. In Mushroom Village, Ye Chenming was there to keep her company, but here, she had no blood relatives to accompany her. The hot pot had stirred up her longing for her family.
Grandma Yan felt sorry for Chen'er as soon as she saw him: "Chen'er, come here and sit here with Grandma. This is your home too. Don't be sad. You'll be a bride next month. Aren't you ashamed to shed tears?"
Ye Chen'er felt incredibly warm inside and hugged Grandma Yan's arm tightly, saying sweetly, "Grandma, I'll listen to you, I won't cry anymore, let's eat hot pot."
Cuihua also put the blanched pork slices into Chen'er's bowl: "Tomorrow, have your uncle go see if there's any mutton to buy. We can make some mutton to cook; it'll definitely taste better than pork."
Ye Chen'er nodded repeatedly. Yan Xiaonan made a face at her, and Ye Chen'er couldn't help but laugh. Yan Xiaoqiang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally at ease. This girl was quite pitiful, but fortunately, she was with Ai Dang, so she had found the right person.
While Yan Xiaonan was still reminiscing, Cuihua had already started preparing. When she heard her daughter say she wanted to eat hot pot, she quickly told Yan Xiaoqiang to put a table on the stone table. The stone table wasn't small; it could comfortably seat four or five people, but not many. So Yan Xiaoqiang made a table himself, which was quite spacious enough to seat ten people.
Cuihua, Ye Chen'er, and Xue Ying had already gone to the kitchen to get the ingredients. Baoguo, Daqiang, and Aidang were vigorously slicing the mutton into thin slices. The mutton slices had to be sliced very thinly, which required good knife skills. Fortunately, the mutton slices were almost thawed, so slicing them was not too strenuous.
When Xue Ying heard Nan Nan mention the word "hot pot," her mouth started watering. It had been so long since she'd had hot pot, and she was determined to feast today. Oh, and she needed some alcohol to really make it flavorful: "Old Yan, Old Yan, did you bring any alcohol?"
Yan Aidang rolled his eyes. His mother was drooling. If his father could get a leg of lamb, wouldn't he bring some wine? Even a few peanuts could be used as an excuse to say it was a meat dish and that he absolutely had to have some wine with it.
Sure enough, Yan Daqiang took out two bottles of liquor from the pocket of his military uniform, one a bottle of Zhuyeqing and the other a bottle of Laobaigan. Yan Xiaoqiang liked it at first sight; the liquor was good and strong.
As dusk settled, Yan Xiaoqiang turned on the courtyard lights. The fading light of dusk illuminated the dim lights, and the wisps of steam rising from the hot pot broth created a surprisingly harmonious and warm atmosphere in the courtyard.
Everyone felt a strange sense of peace, and even their voices quieted down. They tacitly filled their glasses with white wine and prepared to start eating. There was a knock on the door. Ye Chen'er's heart skipped a beat, and she rushed to open the door first. Sure enough, when the door opened, Ye Huiguo and Sheng Lijuan were standing outside.
"Dad, Mom!" Ye Chen'er rushed over, and the two quickly hugged her. Ye Huiguo's eyes were red, and Sheng Lijuan was in tears. Yan Daqiang and Xue Ying rushed to greet them. The in-laws had arrived.
Yan Aidang ran up to them without hesitation, took the bags from their hands. It would take two arms to carry his daughter. Ye Huiguo glanced at Yan Aidang and said, "You must be Aidang. I'm Chen'er's father, and she's Chen'er's mother."
Yan Aidang was extremely excited: "Dad, Mom, come in quickly. I am Aidang. This is my grandma, this is my dad, this is my mom, this is my uncle, this is my aunt, and this is my sister."
Grandma Yan stood up, and Ye Huiguo quickly ran up to her, saying, "Grandma, don't move, don't move. I'm the younger generation, I should be the one to show you respect."
Sheng Lijuan also ran over and bowed deeply to Grandma Yan: "Grandma, I am extremely grateful to you. With your care, Chen'er's life has become much better. Without you, Chen'er and Chenming would not have such a good life."
Grandma Yan was embarrassed by what she said: "Not at all, not at all. Both children are very good. You have taught them well. Are you hungry? Go wash your hands and eat. We're having hot pot today, and there's mutton in it. Chen'er, go and take your parents to wash their hands and get two sets of bowls and chopsticks."
Yan Daqiang and Xue Ying couldn't just sit idly by. Xue Ying quickly ran up, grabbed Sheng Lijuan's arm, and said, "In-law, come on, I'll take you to your room. Do you want to change your clothes? I have some in my room."
Sheng Lijuan really wanted to change her clothes. The train wasn't very clean, and her clothes were already dirty and wrinkled. When Yan Daqiang saw Xue Ying leading Sheng Lijuan into the first room of the rear-seat compartment, he was stunned: "Aidang, when did your mother reserve a seat? And she even brought a change of clothes?"
Yan Aidang laughed: "The day after the guest room was ready, Mom came over with three bags of clothes, one for you and two for herself."
Yan Daqiang shook his head. This wife of his really is right. She did the right thing. He just wanted to live with his mother and keep her company.
Holding Ye Huiguo's hand, he said, "I am Ai Dang's father, Yan Daqiang. If Ai Dang dares to bully my daughter-in-law in the future, I will break his legs."
Ye Huiguo shook his head repeatedly: "In-laws, you can't lay a hand on him. Ai Dang is a good thing, and he even saved Chen'er. He would never bully Chen'er."
"Haha, can you drink? Sit down, let's drink until we drop today." Yan Daqiang waved his hand, and Bao Guo cleverly ran out. When he came back, he had two more bottles of wine in his hand.
Cuihua quickly stuffed the bowl and chopsticks into Baoguo's hands: "Here, package, are you hungry? Eat quickly."
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