Cuihua ladled out another small bowl of white rice, poured on some meat gravy, and handed it to Wujinban: "Good boy, eat your rice with the meat gravy and see if it tastes even better."
Wu Jinban started eating rice again. The white rice was fragrant and shiny. After being drizzled with meat gravy, the taste was indescribably good. Wu Jinban ate very slowly. He was reluctant to eat the good stuff in one bite.
The aroma woke Southwest from her deep sleep. Following the scent, she went to the kitchen and immediately saw Wu Jinban eating rice and pork with relish. Her nose felt a little sore; since Nan Nan left, there hadn't been any meat at home.
Southwest helped Cuihua move the food to the courtyard, and the family began to eat. Southwest loved Cuihua's cooking the most, and after eating three bowls of rice, he finally stopped eating with a burp.
Yan Xiaoqiang frowned but didn't speak. Grandma Yan wanted to say something but also shut her mouth. Only Cuihua asked, "Southwest, doesn't your wife usually cook meat? And isn't there white rice in the cellar? Why don't you cook it for her?"
“Mom, Tang Xiaoling is used to being frugal. She doesn’t usually cook rice because she says it doesn’t last long. So she only cooks rice for holidays. As for pork, it’s really hard to buy. Sometimes I go to work early and manage to snag half a pound of pork. But by the time Tang Xiaoling gets the news and goes to town, it’s already all gone,” Southwest explained.
"I heard your wife got fired. Do you have any money left?" Cuihua asked again.
“We have money. We haven’t spent a penny of the 500 yuan that Grandma gave us when we divided the family property. We also haven’t spent a penny of Xiaoling’s salary from work. It’s all saved.” Although Southwest doesn’t manage family affairs, she still has a good idea of how much money the family has.
Grandma Yan nodded: "Your daughter-in-law is good at hiding money, which is a good habit. Just don't overdo it and ruin your health. What's the use of saving so much money if it's just going to be spent by others?"
Southwest nodded repeatedly: "Grandma is right. I'll have a good talk with her when I get back. We've been married for so many years, and she won't even make a single piece of clothing for us. I don't know why she's hiding money."
Cuihua glanced at the clothes on Xinan's body. The clothes were made by Cuihua herself when Xinan was twenty years old. Fortunately, Xinan had been careful since childhood, and the clothes were not torn. Cuihua then looked at Wujin's clothes. Goodness, they were all too small for Liujin's body, and there were patches on the knees and elbows.
Cuihua thought about the family's stock. There was still some fabric left over from the clothes Xue Ying had given Ai Dang to make. If it was cut properly, it could still make a garment for Xinan. As for Wu Jinban, Nan Nan and Ye Chen'er had bought a lot of fine cotton fabric when they went shopping, saying it was for making undergarments. So, let's make two short jackets for Wu Jinban.
After lunch, Grandma Yan wanted to take a nap, and Southwest and Wujinban also went to sleep. Yan Xiaoqiang went to play chess with the neighbors. Cuihua returned to the west wing, found some fabric, and spread it on the big table. She was going to start making clothes for Southwest and Wujinban.
Cuihua was quick and efficient; she made two sets of clothes for Wujinban in just one afternoon. One set was a short-sleeved jacket with knee-length shorts, and the other was a long-sleeved sweater with trousers. Tomorrow, she would ask Qiangzi to go out and buy two pairs of shoes for the two of them.
After waking up, Wu Jinban found two sets of clothes by the bed. He picked them up suspiciously and checked the size. Could they be his? But he didn't seem to have any new clothes. Maybe he should go out and ask his grandma.
Holding the new clothes, he found Cuihua, pointed at them, and asked, "Grandma, why are these new clothes on my bed? Whose are they?"
Cuihua took the clothes and helped Wujinban put them on, saying as she did so, "This is a reward from Grandma to Wujinban because Wujinban is very well-behaved and eats very politely."
Five-and-a-half cat's eyes lit up. It was a new set of clothes that Grandma had given him as a reward. There were two sets! He happily jumped into Cuihua's arms and said, "Grandma, I'm so happy, I'm so happy! The teacher asked us to write a summer vacation composition called 'The Taste of Happiness.' I didn't know how to write it before, but now I know. I'm going to write it now."
Looking at the bouncy and jumping Wu Jin and Liu Jin, Southwest felt as if she had returned to her hometown a year ago. At that time, Nan Nan and Liu Jin were there, and the two children were always bouncy and jumping from one place to another, never stopping.
Since Nan Nan went to the capital and Liu Jin returned to his home in the county, Wu Jinban hasn't been this happy in a very long time. But I, on the other hand, have only just realized how irresponsible I have been.
"Mom, thank you, thank you for making Wu Jinban happy again, thank you for letting Wu Jinban know the taste of happiness." Southwest sincerely thanked her.
"Fool, you're my son, and Wu Jinban is my grandson. Isn't it only right that I treat you well?" Cuihua said with a laugh and a scolding.
"Southwest, Nan Nan found a furniture factory and wants to take over that...something. She wants you to take a look. Do you think you can do it?" Grandma Yan asked.
Upon hearing about the furniture factory, Southwest perked up: "Grandma, I don't know much about furniture. I only know whether the wood is good or not, and whether the style is good or not. I really don't know anything else."
"Knowing this much is enough. Nannan will tell you the specifics when she comes back the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, take Wujinban out for a stroll and get familiar with Beijing. In case you live in Beijing permanently in the future, you'll need to be familiar with this place." Grandma Yan gave a direction to the southwest.
Southwest was a little uneasy: "Grandma, I can't just bring Wu Jin and a half here to eat and live for free. I have to pay for his living expenses."
Grandma Yan nodded: "Then you can give me five yuan every month."
"Grandma, I'll give you ten yuan, five and a half jin (2.5 kg) for five yuan, and five yuan for Mom and Dad's retirement money. I'll give you twenty yuan." Southwest said, reaching for his money.
Grandma Yan waved her hand: "Just five yuan. How much can a child eat? Why give him living expenses? As for your parents' retirement money, you can give that separately. I don't care."
Southwest knew that her grandmother was helping her save money, so she nodded obediently and started packing her bag, which contained gifts for her grandmother, Nannan, and her parents.
Grandma Yan got angry and pointed to the pile of things on the table, saying, "You've only been back for a short time, and you still have to spend this money to buy things? Do you think you have too much money? You can't just spend money like this."
Southwest waved her hands repeatedly, pointing to a large bag of dried meat and said, "Grandma, Grandma, you misunderstood me. This is roe deer meat, which Zhongnan gave to Nannan. I asked Tang Xiaoling's mother to make it into dried meat. These were all made by Tang Xiaoling's parents, who said they were giving them to their in-laws to try. These are the ones that Xiaoling and I bought to give to you to sweeten your mouth."
Hearing that Zhongnan had given it to Nannan, Grandma Yan's heart warmed. Zhongnan was so loyal! Looking at such a big bag of dried meat, she thought, "This roe deer is quite big!" She asked, "Southwest, how is Zhongnan doing now? Is he in good health?"
"Grandma, Zhongnan and that guy are both old, but they still have good teeth. Nanfeng is the wolf king of Mushroom Mountain now, and Nannan has made all the arrangements. You can rest assured."
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