Snails cannot be eaten right away, so Old Lady Miao kept the snails that the children found in a bucket, added a few drops of vegetable oil, and waited until the snails had spit out most of the mud before eating them. However, no matter how fast they were eaten, they still had to be eaten at noon every day.
In the evening, the old lady made a bowl of loach and tofu soup with the loaches they caught. The smaller loaches were coated with batter and fried in lard until golden and crispy. The fattest loaches were cut open and cleaned by the old lady to make a full plate of spicy loaches.
The loach was so delicious that several people almost swallowed their tongues. However, the most outstanding thing was the half bucket of lobsters caught by Jiang Yiliu. After the heads and tendons were removed, the old lady fried it with chili peppers and other spices. It was spicy and numbing. Even though Jiang Wencheng's lips turned red from the spiciness, he was reluctant to put down the lobsters in his hand.
Each person got only four or five lobsters out of the half bucket, not even enough to fill the gaps between teeth. Just when the craving was aroused, only some soup was left on the plate of lobsters.
Jiang Wencheng insisted on going lobster fishing again tomorrow, and no one tried to stop him. After all, they were also craving for it.
The host and guests enjoyed the meal very much. Xia Ai and Jiang Wencheng ate the watermelon that had cooled down in the well and were looking forward to tomorrow's snails even more.
At six o'clock, Xiang Qian came into Jiang's house to pick up his wife and children. He had just returned from the factory and had not had time to change his clothes. There were many oil stains on his sleeves and trouser legs.
Maybe it was the special connection between father and daughter. Before the moving bicycle even arrived in front of them, Niu Niu, who was nestled in Jiang Dani's arms, started to get excited, waving her little hands and wanting to go outside.
Jiang Yiliu hadn't seen his brother-in-law for a long time. To be honest, he was very dissatisfied with him at first. But after a few years of getting along with him and seeing how considerate he was to his sister and children, even if Jiang Yiliu wanted to find fault with him with prejudice, he couldn't find any fault. Gradually, Jiang Yiliu began to recognize the man in front of him.
"Grandpa, grandma, dad, mom."
Xiang Qianjin greeted the elders and took out a leg of lamb in a nylon bag from the iron box on the back seat of the bicycle.
"The farm sent sheep to the supply and marketing cooperative today. I thought Xiaobao and Erni would come back from school and bring their classmates with them, so I bought a leg of lamb and sent it over."
"Qin Jin is still sensible." Old Mrs. Miao happily took the lamb leg that weighed at least ten or twenty pounds. She was worrying about what dish to cook every day, and then Xiang Qian Jin brought her the lamb leg. He was sensible and a good granddaughter-in-law.
Niu Niu is now sitting on Xiang Qianjin's neck, grabbing Xiang Qianjin's hair with her two chubby little hands and giggling.
"It's getting late, so Dani and I will take the children back. Xiaobao, second sister, third sister, and fourth sister, you can bring your classmates to the city to play some other day. I'll ask your eldest sister to cook a delicious meal for you."
He said hello to Qianjin, then rode away on his bicycle with his wife and daughter.
Jiang Yilu thought about his reminder to his elder sister, but he didn't know whether she had listened to it or not. He would have to find an opportunity to test her opinion another day.
There is not much activity in the mountains at night. The most valuable item in the Jiang family is Grandpa Jiang’s radio. However, the signal is poor at the foot of the mountain. After switching between channels, he can barely receive two stations.
After driving for two nights a few days ago, he went down to dig for screws again today. Jiang Wencheng, who had the most energy, couldn't stand it anymore. He took a shower in the yard, and several people went to bed early.
Over there, the lights in the Jiang family's old couple's room were still on.
******
The old couple of the Jiang family were sitting on the kang. Jiang Dahai walked in and closed the door.
Speaking of it, the doors of the Jiang family were only installed in recent years. Before, they were blocked by curtains. Later, when the house was renovated, they asked for a few wooden doors and asked their son-in-law Meng Pingchuan for some door parts. This way, the sound insulation is better and it is safer.
"Your wife is asleep." Old Mrs. Miao raised her eyelids, curled her lips and asked.
Jiang Dahai felt a little embarrassed and responded in a muffled voice.
"You heard what Xiaobao said today. Your father and I also have some ideas." Old Mrs. Miao stood up and took out a wooden jewelry box from a locked large mahogany box at the foot of the kang.
The jewelry box was exquisite, with two layers, the body of the box was carved with intricate and gorgeous patterns, and the lid had two intertwined phoenixes, all gilded, with various jewels engraved on the phoenix's tail. The upper and lower layers of the jewelry box were locked with a small brass lock. Old Lady Miao reached into her collar and pulled out the red rope that had been tied around her neck. Jiang Dahai then saw that the other end of the red rope was two exquisite keys.
"This jewelry box was passed down to me by your great-grandmother. No one knew about it except your father. Of course, now you have one more." Old Mrs. Miao touched the well-preserved jewelry box in front of her, a trace of nostalgia flashing in her eyes.
"Your great grandmother's father was a cook, and he learned the craft from his ancestors. It is said that your great grandmother's ancestors produced a royal chef. I don't know if it is true or not, but your great grandmother told me anyway."
Old Mrs. Miao seemed to be reminiscing about the past. What she said were things that Jiang Dahai had never heard his mother say before.
"Your great-great-grandfather had only one daughter, your great-grandmother. A man without a son has no roots. Your great-great-grandfather was always depressed because of not having a son. He had such a skill but could not make a name for himself. Later, when the world was in chaos, your great-great-grandfather took your great-grandmother to escape, but he died on the road in the end, leaving only a cookbook for your great-grandmother. Your great-grandmother was only seventeen years old that year, and she simply married your great-grandfather who was five years older than her at the time, and stayed in Xiaoqian Village."
"When your great-grandfather was dying, he regretted it and realized that he should have passed on his skills to your great-grandmother while he was still alive, so that the tradition would not be broken. Later, he asked your great-grandmother to pass on the recipe to whoever had the best skills, regardless of gender."
Speaking of this, Old Mrs. Miao couldn't help but feel a little proud. There were four sisters and seven brothers of her generation, but in the end she was the one who came out on top.
"This jewelry box and recipe were given to me by your great-grandmother. Your uncles and aunts don't know about them." The old lady could never be as good as her brothers in her entire life, and she defeated them in this respect.
In fact, Old Mrs. Miao knew very well the pain of favoring boys over girls. When she was a girl at home, she did more work than her brothers and ate less than them. Even though she was a good girl with a good reputation in the surrounding area, she still could not win the praise of her parents.
She herself had gone through this, but she had never had the consciousness to resist. In this world, women's lives are cheap. Look at her great-grandfather. If he had a son, would he have ended up like that and died on the road to escape?
Many perpetrators were victims at first. When they got used to bullying and oppression and reached a high position, they would treat others with the same standards they had experienced. Mrs. Miao's life was a repetitive process. She might know it was wrong, but she had gotten used to it.
The reason why Old Mrs. Miao cherishes that jewelry box so much, besides its value, is perhaps because this box also contains her tiny expectations, and it is the proof that she is better than her brothers.
"Mom, why are you talking about this all of a sudden?"
Jiang Dahai was a little confused. Could it be that his mother discovered his cooking potential and wanted to pass on the recipe to him? But he had never cooked before. Jiang Dahai scratched his head, feeling flattered and panicked, wondering how he would refuse if his mother asked.
"Brickhead, how could I have given birth to such a stupid son like you."
Old Mrs. Miao knew at a glance that her son had wrong ideas, and her sadness disappeared immediately. She reached out and touched her son's forehead in anger.
"Your mother and I have been thinking about something this afternoon, which is the matter of the house that Xiaobao mentioned." Old man Jiang spoke, attracting Jiang Dahai's attention.
"House? Doesn't Dani want to buy a house?" Just now, his wife whispered to him before going to bed, wanting him to talk to his eldest sister, but this was really not a simple matter, so how could he open the mouth.
"The house your father and I were talking about wasn't Dani's, it was Xiaobao's." Old Mrs. Miao glared at her son who didn't understand and made her point clear.
"Xiaobao's house?" Jiang Dahai had never thought about this. In his opinion, his son was still young, and the family had already approved a residential plot for Xiaobao. When he reached the age to get married, he could just build a house, wouldn't that be enough?
"I say you are a blockhead and you're not happy about it." The old lady wanted to jump up and give her son a slap on the head. His wife is stupid and he is dull. They are really a perfect match. Fortunately, her grandson is like her, smart and clever.
The old lady smiled happily, glanced at her son who hadn't figured it out yet, sighed, and took the key to open the brocade box on the top layer.
"You are still thinking about the small shabby house in our village. Xiaobao has been admitted to university and will live in the city in the future. Look at Dani and her husband. They have been doing this for so many years, and it is still so troublesome to divide the house. Have you ever thought about where your son will live when he gets married in the future? Houses in the capital are much more popular than our small county town."
As the old lady spoke, she opened the drawer and took out a small cloth bag tightly wrapped in red paper.
"Your father and I thought carefully about what Xiaobao said. As more and more people come, this house will definitely become more and more valuable. Your father and I thought about using our family savings to buy a small house for Xiaobao in the capital."
After that, the old lady opened the cloth bag, which contained a thick stack of Datonghe notes neatly arranged inside, as well as several stacks of five-yuan, two-yuan, and one-yuan notes. This was also the first time that Jiang Dahai knew that his family was so wealthy.
"Over the years, you and your wife have worked hard. Not only do we not owe the team any money, but we can also get 100 or 200 yuan every year. You also know your father's subsidy. It was 35 yuan a month at first, and now it has increased to 60 yuan. In the early years, we only used food coupons and cloth coupons, and we spent very little money. Later, we spent 500 yuan to repair the house. Over the years, your father and I have been very frugal, and now our family still has 7,300 yuan."
Jiang Dahai took a deep breath and couldn't believe what his mother said. It turned out that their family was so rich.
In fact, the biggest part of this comes from the subsidy from old man Jiang. In the past few years, the food they ate was distributed by the team, and the meat they ate and the cloth they wore were the subsidies from old man Jiang. The old lady was generous to her grandsons, but her granddaughters were barely able to survive starvation, so there was not much place to spend money, so the money was saved just like that.
Old Mrs. Miao was very satisfied with her son's expression, which also showed that she was good at managing the household.
"I discussed this with your father. When we wrote the separation agreement, we said that we would leave all our personal savings to you. But now we have seen your brother's situation. He has a lame leg and his wife ran away. Although your two nephews are planning to take the exam next year, the result is still uncertain. Mom and Dad still have to think about them. So your father and I decided to give the two thousand to your second brother."
Old Lady Miao knew that her son was stupid, kind, and filial, so he would not object. She did not want to hide the fact that it would hurt the brotherhood between the two children. The conflicts in the early years had finally been resolved. After they passed away, the second son might still have to rely on the eldest son's family for help. They did not want to leave any grudges between the two children.
But I can't hide it from my son, and I have to keep it a secret from my daughter-in-law. If I let her know, even if she doesn't say anything openly, who knows what she will do secretly.
The eldest daughter-in-law is becoming more and more crooked. Old Mrs. Miao gets angry whenever she thinks of her weird and whining eldest daughter-in-law. Before, when she didn't give birth to a son, the old lady could still scold her, but now, even for the sake of her grandson, she feels embarrassed to say anything too harsh.
Just as Old Lady Miao and Old Man Jiang thought, Jiang Dahai didn't mind at all. After all, the bulk of the 7,000 yuan belonged to his parents, and his younger brother was also his parents' son, so what right did he have to mind? Moreover, now that his children had made progress, he was willing to help his younger brother in need.
"Okay, okay, I know you're kind-hearted. But don't worry, I love Xiaobao the most. The remaining 5,000 yuan is for Xiaobao." The old lady loved her youngest son, but she loved her grandson even more. "This time you accompany Xiaobao back to the capital and ask your uncle Bai to help buy a house. I've inquired about it. 5,000 yuan is enough to buy a small courtyard. A dozen houses, when the child gets married and has children, your wife and I will have enough space to live in when we go to the city to take care of them."
Old Mrs. Miao thought that if she was going to buy a house, she should buy a bigger one. She was still waiting for her grandson to give her a lot of great-grandchildren. Old Man Jiang also meant that Chinese people just like houses. Only with houses can they have roots.
"Dad, Mom." Jiang Dahai was so excited that he was speechless.
"Okay, I'll give you the money after we set off. Keep it a secret when you go back, especially from your wife. Don't let her know about the two thousand yuan." Old Man Jiang waved his hand and urged his son to go back quickly.
Jiang Dahai responded, and left the old couple's house in a daze and light-headed. He returned to his own room and looked at his wife who was sleeping on the kang on her side. Although he still felt a little embarrassed to keep it a secret from her, he finally felt that what his parents said made sense. He tiptoed to the kang, covered himself with the quilt, and soon began to snore.
Gu Dongmei, with her back facing Jiang Dahai, opened her eyes after he fell asleep. She clenched the corner of the quilt tightly with her hands, and veins bulged on the back of her hands.
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