Xu Ningyan smiled and called out "Auntie Shengxia," and Gu Zhiyuan nodded without saying a word.
Xiong Mingxia stepped aside and let the two of them into the courtyard.
Xu Ningyan saw that the door to the main room was open, and in the center was a brazier with firewood burning inside. A man in his thirties was sitting with his legs spread apart, leaning back in a chair, chewing on a handful of peanuts.
There were two girls nearby, one who looked about ten years old and the other about five or six years old, both warming themselves by the fire and eating.
I didn't see Aunt Xie.
Just as Xu Ningyan was about to ask, she heard footsteps and Aunt Xie's voice behind her: "Oh dear, I rushed as fast as I could but I was still a step too late, and you arrived first!"
It turned out that on her way back, Aunt Xie saw her two grandsons running up the mountain with the other children in the village. She chased after them and gave them a few instructions before returning, thus falling behind Xu Ningyan and the others.
Seeing Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan standing in the yard, with her daughter standing to the side, she quickly glared at her and said, "Quickly, come inside and warm up by the fire!"
Meanwhile, she urged Xiong Mingxia to quickly pour tea for Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan.
Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan then entered the main room.
The downside of using firewood for heating is the smoke. Even though Aunt Xie used dried firewood, there was still smoke in the house.
As soon as Xu Ningyan went in, the smell made her eyes sting, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
The man inside, Quan Dajiang, initially sat there lazily, pretending not to see the two people or hear what everyone was saying.
Only after the person entered the main room did he reluctantly raise his eyes, intending to nod perfunctorily.
Doesn't he know his mother-in-law? What respectable man could a widowed woman like her possibly be with?
When he looked up, he saw Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan, dressed so well that they looked like city leaders rather than country folk.
He stood up abruptly, scattering peanuts all over the floor. He didn't even care that the chair he was sitting in had been overturned. With a big smile on his face, he said, "Oh my, we have a distinguished guest! Please, have a seat, please!"
He immediately instructed Xiong Mingxia, "What are you all standing there for? Pour tea for our distinguished guest!"
He then scolded his two daughters: "All you do is eat! Don't you know how to give up your seats? Go play somewhere else!"
The two little girls didn't dare to talk back when they were scolded. The older girl grabbed a handful of peanuts and dragged her younger sister away to the side.
Quan Dajiang quickly placed two chairs at the head of the table, inviting Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan to sit down. He then pushed the melon seeds and peanuts that Aunt Xie had previously served them towards the two of them, saying, "These are homemade roasted melon seeds and peanuts, they smell wonderful, have a taste!"
He added two more pieces of firewood to the brazier and poked at them with fire tongs, trying to get the firewood to light quickly.
In his haste, he extinguished the fire instead of lighting it. The two pieces of firewood he had just put in immediately emitted thick plumes of smoke, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.
Unable to stay in the main room any longer, Gu Zhiyuan dragged Xu Ningyan out. The two stood in the courtyard and took deep breaths for a long time before they recovered.
Aunt Xie and her two granddaughters also ran out one after the other.
Inside the room, Quan Dajiang fiddled with the fire tongs a couple more times, but to no avail. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he threw down the tongs and ran out as well.
Just then, Xiong Mingxia came over with two cups of sweet soup and immediately started yelling, "Where have you been? Don't you know how to make the fire burn brighter? Hurry up and go inside and stoke the fire! Otherwise, are you going to let our distinguished guest freeze in the courtyard?"
Aunt Xie opened her mouth as if to say something, but Xiong Mingxia shook her head and could only hold back.
Xiong Mingxia obediently went into the house, opened the back door, first let the smoke dissipate, and then carefully fiddled with the fire pit for a while before the fire in the pit suddenly caught fire.
After waiting a while longer until the initial smoke from the firewood had dissipated, they closed the back door, tidied up the main room, and invited people in.
Everyone stood there in the courtyard. Quan Dajiang wanted to talk to Gu Zhiyuan and Xu Ningyan, but seeing Aunt Xie staring at him coldly from the side, he was a little afraid and didn't say anything.
Xu Ningyan broke the deadlock by pulling Aunt Xie aside and asking her what delicious food she was going to cook for her son-in-law and grandson for lunch, and whether she needed any help.
Aunt Xie managed to force a smile and reply with a couple of sentences, which made things a little less awkward.
After Xiong Mingxia finished tidying up, Gu Zhiyuan noticed that Xu Ningyan disliked Quan Dajiang very much. So he offered to talk to Quan Dajiang and asked Xu Ningyan to help in the kitchen to avoid her taking offense and directly confronting Quan Dajiang, which would be difficult to handle.
Quan Dajiang followed Gu Zhiyuan into the main room with great enthusiasm.
Aunt Xie sighed as she looked at Xiong Mingxia and walked towards the kitchen.
Xiong Mingxia's two daughters looked at each other and followed behind.
In the kitchen, Aunt Xie had almost finished preparing the dishes. She was an old widow with only money sent back by her son. She could still work and deliver babies. Although she lived frugally, her life was not actually that difficult.
The brigade is doing well this year. Not only did they receive meat, but they also received fish, plus the chickens and ducks they raised themselves. Their supplies for the New Year are quite plentiful.
She was fine with her son-in-law, but she doted on her daughter and grandson, so she prepared an exceptionally large amount of food.
Seeing his two granddaughters enter the kitchen, he couldn't take his eyes off the steamed chicken and duck. His usually stern face broke into a kind smile. He tore off two chicken wings and gave one to each of his granddaughters. "Eat up! Have a chicken wing first. When dinner is served, I'll give you two duck legs!"
The two granddaughters glanced at Xiong Mingxia, but dared not go to greet her.
Xiong Mingxia nodded before taking the chicken wing and retreating to the side to gnaw on it.
The preserved chicken and sausages were steamed, and the other dishes still needed to be stir-fried, so Xu Ningyan took on the job of stuffing firewood into the stove. He sat in front of the stove, where he could keep warm and relax.
Despite her seemingly weak appearance, Xiong Mingxia is quite capable in her work.
Seeing that Aunt Xie was about to chop chicken, he quickly took the knife and chopped the chicken into pieces in a few strokes. He then sliced the cured meat and started washing the pot and cooking vegetables. He was clearly a skilled worker.
Aunt Xie moved a small stool and sat down to pick vegetables, no longer caring that Xu Ningyan was there. Since she had invited Xu Ningyan and the others to entertain guests today, she didn't intend to hide it.
He began, "Is this how Quan Dajiang always treated you at home?"
Xiong Mingxia kept her head down and washed the pot without making a sound.
“Speak up! Are you mute? How can you be so spineless? You married Quan Dajiang in such a grand and glorious way, and you gave his whole family a grandson! Over the years, you've managed both the family and the fields, and you've given them three or four children. Haven't you done right by them? Besides, if it weren't for our Xu family, would so many of them have survived? Why can't you stand up straight?”
Aunt Xie got angrier and angrier as she talked, and stopped picking the vegetables in her hands.
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