Han Yixian watched the children playing happily, patted their heads, and then sat down in the living room to chat with Zhou Zhengye.
He poured himself a cup of tea and filled Zhou Zhengye's cup as well, asking, "How are things? I heard from Yuhan last time that you were transferred to H City. Is work going well?"
Zhou Zhengye nodded and said, "It's alright, much easier than in Kyoto. There aren't as many troublesome things here as in Kyoto."
Han Yixian then asked, "Did you come to H City by yourself, or did your family come with you?"
Hearing this, Zhou Zhengye gave a bitter laugh and said, "I regret getting married now. My wife is a complete shrew; she's constantly fighting with my two younger brothers and sisters-in-law. She even made my mother sick. The last time I went back home, I was there to deal with the conflict."
After discussing it for a long time, we and the third brother and his wife moved out, leaving the second brother and his wife to take care of our parents. Anyway, my wife didn't want to live with my parents, so she was happy to move out.
As for coming here with me, that's simply impossible. Whenever I tell them about the conditions here, they complain it's too remote and the conditions too harsh, and they won't come.
It's better if she doesn't come. If she does, she'll offend everyone around her. I didn't agree to this marriage in the first place, but my mother insisted. I didn't have anyone I liked, so I figured it didn't matter who I married, and I just settled for someone else.
She hid it so well; her true nature was revealed after the marriage. Even my mother felt deceived. But there was nothing she could do but grit her teeth and bear it. Right now, their family is riding high, and I'm afraid of dragging them down with them.
Han Yi patted Zhou Zhengye on the shoulder to express his sympathy.
Han Xiao said, "Then your long-term separation isn't a good thing."
Zhou Zhengye sighed and said, "Uncle Han, I really think I'm better off on my own. If she comes, I'll definitely have to clean up her messes. It's better to let her stay in Kyoto. At least her family can keep an eye on things if anything happens."
The situation in Kyoto isn't good right now either, so we need to be cautious. Otherwise, my parents wouldn't have let this matter pass so easily.
Han Yixian asked, "How did you end up being transferred here?"
Zhou Zhengye said, "You may not be familiar with the current situation in Kyoto since you left. My transfer here was actually my father's idea. It was to help me avoid the limelight and preserve our strength. The whole family staying together isn't necessarily a good thing."
Han Xiao nodded and said, "Your dad's thinking is right. You can achieve results just as well if you work hard here. Now that you're all here, you can look after each other if anything happens in the future. It seems like a good thing."
Zhou Zhengye said, "I really didn't expect Yixian to come to such a poor place as Qianyuan. I came to H City earlier and know more about the situation. Qianyuan County is a very poor county, and the conditions are definitely much more difficult than in C City."
"Since I'm based in the city, please don't hesitate to ask if you need my help in the future."
He Yuhan and her two mothers were busy in the kitchen. Since Zhou Zhengye was coming to visit, they couldn't be too casual, so He Yuhan cut the pork she brought back today in half and made braised pork.
The fish that He Yuhan caught a couple of days ago were still in a bucket and hadn't been eaten yet. He cleaned a few of them and made a braised crucian carp dish.
She soaked some dried kelp, mushrooms, and wood ear fungus, and made a dish of stir-fried cured pork with mushrooms, stir-fried wood ear fungus with eggs, hot and sour shredded potatoes, fried peanuts, shredded kelp salad, and stir-fried greens. With rice as the main dish and a seaweed and egg drop soup, the meal was complete. In those days, these dishes were considered quite a fine feast for entertaining guests.
Looking at all these vegetables, Wen Jinyu said, "Yuhan, you really have a way with things. I was worried about what to cook for lunch today. Soaking these dried goods makes several dishes."
He Yuhan said, "I prepared so many dried goods so that my family could have more dishes to eat. These dried goods have a long shelf life, and you can just soak them in advance before eating them."
He Yuhan set up the dining table in the living room, then brought all the food to the table and called everyone to eat.
Han Xiao said, "Let's sit down and eat. Yi Xian, go get a bottle of wine. Let's have a couple of drinks with Zheng Ye."
Zhou Zhengye also got up and came to the dining table. Seeing the sumptuous meal, he knew that it was because of his visit that such a large sum of money had been spent. He said apologetically, "Why did you make so many dishes? This is too much of a waste. I'm not an outsider, I can just eat whatever I want."
Han Yixian brought over a bottle of wine and said, "You've come all this way, are you going to let me eat cornbread and pickled vegetables? Yuhan and I brought some things back from the county today, so don't worry about it. Sit down and let's have a couple of drinks."
Seeing that everyone was seated, Zhou Zhengye said to He Yuhan, who was still busy, "Yuhan, stop working and sit down to eat with us."
Han Yi first placed the stool next to him and said, "Yuhan, sit here."
He Yuhan sat down next to Han Yixian, held her son in her arms, and fed him, occasionally putting some food on her two nephews' plates. Yu Huiru was also taking care of the two children nearby.
Looking at the table full of dishes, Zhou Zhengye said, "This must all be Yuhan's cooking. I haven't had this for years."
Han Yi first put some food in Zhou Zhengye's bowl and said, "Then eat more. This fish was caught by Yuhan and me from the river at the edge of the village. It tastes very fresh, you should try it."
As Zhou Zhengye ate the delicious meal, he felt extremely envious of Han Yixian. Watching He Yuhan carefully feeding the child, he felt that his own shrewish wife was worlds apart from He Yuhan.
If he hadn't backed down back then, would Han Yixian's life be his now? Thinking about the dream he had, Zhou Zhengye felt a little depressed and took a sip of wine.
Looking at the fair-skinned, chubby little Xu Rui, Zhou Zhengye said to Han Yixian, "You have a son now, I'm so envious."
Han Yixian laughed and said, "You must have gotten married before me, right? And you don't have any children yet? If you want children, just have one already."
Han Xiao also said, "Yes, I remember you got married when I was still in Kyoto?"
Zhou Zhengye downed his drink in one gulp and said, "My wife can't even take care of herself, let alone the kids. I haven't even thought about having kids. Every family has its own problems! Enough said, let's drink."
Wen Jinyu and Yu Huiru were not familiar with Zhou Zhengye, so they didn't know what to say and just listened. He Chenglin and Liu Zhongyi did the same.
Han Yixian knew that the elders were all present at the dinner table, and since there were some things he shouldn't say in front of them, he changed the subject. Everyone enjoyed the meal.
Zhou Zhengye is currently living alone in H City. He usually eats in the cafeteria, and he hasn't had such a sumptuous meal in a long time. He is very satisfied with his meal today.
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