Chapter 92
National Day is coming soon. There were fewer holidays in the 1980s. The state-mandated holidays were one day off per week, one day for New Year's Day, three days for Spring Festival, one day for Labor Day, and three days for National Day.
Second uncle called from the village and said that Su Miaowu's uncle's new house was completed and asked if they would have time to go back for a drink. If not, he would help pay for the red envelopes.
After Su Yuanzheng and Su Miao discussed it, they decided to go back to the village to celebrate the National Day.
The first was that Su Yu had been with them for several months and had not been able to go home once, so he wanted to have a good rest when he came back. Su Miao had not been to the countryside for vacation for many years.
Su Yuanzheng called Hu Zi and said that the delivery of the goods would be postponed until the last day of National Day.
Hu Zi said directly on the phone: "This is unfortunate. Business is very busy during the National Day holiday. I have to go back and forth between Yongcheng and Ning County every day. What time does Miaomiao finish class today? If you can catch up with you, just take my car back. I will give you a ride to Sujia Village on the way. Then on the last day of National Day, I will pick you up with your goods and save you from waiting for a car on the roadside."
"Hey! That's a good idea! But Miaomiao doesn't get out of school until 5:30."
"That's fine, I'll be back around this time too, I'll go pick you up directly."
After Su Miao came back from school, she simply packed a few sets of clothes and toiletries and put them in her luggage bag.
The road conditions are bad now, so we have to go back early. It is not safe to drive after dark, so Su Yuanzheng did not cook. Instead, he bought a lot of buns and everyone ate them together on the way.
Uncle Hu Zi was very precise with his schedule. They set off at 6 o'clock and arrived back at Sujia Village at 7:10 in the evening. Uncle Hu Zi was in a hurry to go back, so he didn't stay long. He dropped them off and left, and would come back to pick them up in two days.
The lights were on in the ancestral home. Ever since my second uncle told me the day before yesterday that they would come back to stay for a few days, my second uncle and second aunt had cleaned the house thoroughly. Every corner of the house was spotlessly clean, and it didn't look like it had been uninhabited for a long time.
Seeing them get off the car, the second uncle hurried over to greet them: "Put down your luggage and come eat first. You must be hungry. The food is hot in the pot, just bring it out."
Su Yuanzheng said, "Brother, have you eaten yet? Why are you waiting for us? We can just make some noodles."
The second uncle took their luggage bags and walked towards Su Miao's ancestral home: "Hey, why are you still eating noodles when you're home? Your second sister-in-law has already prepared the meal. We ate first and left a portion for us."
After putting down the luggage, the second uncle took them to eat. Su Yu followed happily behind. He took a quick look and thought, "Well, as long as there are no missing limbs, it's fine."
Stir-fried pork belly with green peppers, braised grass carp with tofu, stir-fried melon sprouts with garlic, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes are all very attentive dishes in the countryside.
The pork belly and tofu were weighed at the shop at the village entrance in the afternoon, the grass carp was caught at the reservoir at the foot of the mountain, and the vegetables were grown in our own vegetable garden, and they were delicious and tender.
Second aunt was busy serving them rice and soup, while third aunt was sitting in the corner fanning herself, her eyes full of love as she looked at them.
After dinner, my cousin went to Su Miao's room with a thin quilt.
"Miao Miao, the pillows and quilts on the bed have been freshly dried in the past few days, and the mosquito net and quilt cover have also been freshly washed. You can sleep well. It's cool in the village at night, so don't kick the quilt."
Su Miao went over and touched the quilt. It was very soft, and the quilt cover gave off a faint scent of soap.
"Thank you, Sister Hui."
"Why should I thank you? There's nothing interesting to do in the village. If you feel bored, I'll take you to the movies at the village entrance. The county cinema is showing "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" today."
Su Miao shook her head. She didn’t like watching this movie. It was always shown at school and she felt uncomfortable every time she watched it.
"Is Aunt Miaomiao back?"
"Is Auntie back? Come out and play!"
Sister Hui chuckled and said, "It seems you won't be bored anymore, a group of little sparrows are coming to see you!"
As soon as the voice fell, several little heads appeared at the door of Su Miao's room. They looked at the tidy room and didn't dare to come in. They just peeked in the doorway and said, "Auntie, do you want to come out and play?"
Things cannot be kept secret in the village, so my second uncle told several cousins that they were coming back to celebrate the festival and asked them to gather together to chat.
The children found out and said they wanted to come and play with Su Miao. Although there was a generation difference between them, they were about the same age and rarely saw each other, so they still liked this beautiful aunt very much.
At least she was not like other people who went to the county town to study and were looked down upon by their friends when they returned to the village.
Su Miao waved for them to come in. They looked at the mud on their shoes, shook their heads, and told her to come out when she was ready. They went to wait in the yard.
Su Miao took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from her backpack and gave them to them. The youngest of these nephews and nieces was 6 years old, and the oldest was 12 years old like her, but he failed to get into junior high school and had to repeat a grade.
The children ate the sweet candies and showed Su Miao the toys they brought.
Some are various small grasshoppers woven from straw, some are bamboo figures made by sawing bamboo into small pieces and stringing them together with ropes, which can change their shapes freely, and there are also homemade small stilts.
What is more special is a pomelo lantern, which is special because it is only available in this season.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has just passed, and many people still have a few grapefruits bought for the festival at home. You can remove the cover of the grapefruit and use a spoon to dig around the edge of the grapefruit peel to get the flesh out, and then carve hollow patterns on the grapefruit peel.
Use a knife to cut the inside of the pomelo into a slightly flatter shape, use candle oil to fix the candle at the bottom, and then use a rope to hang the pomelo lantern on a wooden stick.
In order to save candles, my nephew Xiaogang did not light the candle when he came over. Now he lit the candle inside, and a big smiling face was shining.
Xiaohu laughed beside him: "Xiaogang! Can't you carve some nice-looking patterns? The face looks like a monster."
Xiaogang was also a little embarrassed. It was not easy to carve this smiling face. The previous one was even broken. But he would not admit it.
He pointed to Xiaohu's hand and said, "Why don't you bring a toy to your aunt? Why are you holding a small bottle?"
"Huh! You can make a pomelo lantern, but I can't make a lantern? Auntie! Have you ever caught fireflies? I'll take you to catch some fireflies. They'll look so beautiful if you put them in this glass bottle."
As he spoke, he pulled out two small net bags for catching fireflies from his back, which had been stuck behind the elastic band of his pants.
Su Miao also became interested in catching fireflies. In the past, he could see fireflies in the grassy areas on the outskirts of the county town, but he hadn't seen them since he went to Yongcheng with his mother in his previous life. He was very busy during the summer vacation and had no time to play.
"Okay! Where are we going to catch them?"
"I know! I know! The grassy fields at the foot of the mountain are so plentiful and spacious, and there are more fireflies there than the stars in the sky."
So a group of children marched towards the grassland in a heroic and high-spirited manner. When they passed by the village, many people were watching a movie. They asked them where they were going.
"Let's take Auntie to catch fireflies!"
The adults in this village no longer cared about the children's routine activities, but only told them to take good care of Aunt Miaomiao.
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