Qian Duoduo ignored the grandfather and grandson outside the door and went back to the kitchen to continue making mushroom sauce for Jin Jinxiu.
As Jin Jinxiu stirred the mushroom sauce in the pan with a spatula, she asked, "Who is it?"
Qian Duoduo: "Old Mrs. Liu next door always asks me for something, so I slap her hard (this is Qian Duoduo's imagination)."
Jin Jinxiu sighed and said, "It's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person. Old Lady Liu is a petty person."
Qian Duoduo nodded and said, "Then what can she report? It's something we made ourselves. Does she think she can just eat it whenever she wants? Does she think she's some kind of old lady from a wealthy family?"
Jin Jinxiu chuckled and said, "That's hard to say."
Qian Duoduo said, "Mom, after we finish making this mushroom and chicken sauce today, I'll have my third brother send it to my eldest and second brothers tomorrow."
"Make some more mushroom sauce with just mushrooms later. Even if someone comes to check, don't worry, I'll just add an extra two ounces of oil, what's it to them?"
Jin Jinxiu nodded, and the mother and daughter got busy at home again.
Early the next morning, Qian Mao packed the mushroom sauce jars made by Jin Jinxiu and Qian Duoduo into a bag and rode away in an oxcart. He planned to put them into canning jars he had prepared himself when he got to the county town.
Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, Qian Sheng went to the brigade headquarters, Jin Jinxiu went to the commune to buy things with He Ying. The parents were not at home, so Old Lady Liu took the old Party Secretary to Qian Sheng's house and said, "Old Party Secretary, you are the pillar of our village. The brigade leader's family has been making delicious food all day long. You have to keep an eye on things."
Qian Duoduo crossed her arms over her chest and noticed that the old Party Secretary's expression was not good. However, she didn't say anything and just watched as Old Lady Liu launched into her veiled criticisms.
Old Mrs. Liu said, "The smell of meat wafts from the brigade leader's house every day. We are all so poor that we can barely afford to eat meat, but his family is celebrating the New Year."
Qian Rao snorted from the side and said, "So what if we eat meat? We have meat coupons, do you?"
Old Mrs. Liu immediately shouted, "Old Party Secretary, listen to this! They have meat ration coupons! They actually have meat ration coupons!"
The old Party Secretary snorted and said, "Isn't it normal for people to have meat ration coupons? Isn't that what Qian Da and Qian Er earned in the army?"
The military issues ration coupons for rice, flour, and cooking oil every month, so isn't it normal to have some meat coupons too?
Qian Da and Qian Er receive monthly stipends, so their living conditions are better. What's wrong with that?
Qian Duoduo almost tripped and fell on his backside when he heard what the old Party Secretary said. What the hell are Qian Da and Qian Er? Old Party Secretary, did you watch "Boonie Bears"? Come on, find me a Bald Qiang!
Old Mrs. Liu slapped her thigh and wailed, "We don't even have a decent meal every day, while they eat meat every day. How are we supposed to survive?"
Qian Duoduo said with a smile, "Grandma Liu, it must be so hard for you to live in our east courtyard. You smell the aroma of our cooking every day."
When Qian Duoduo spoke, Old Lady Liu only dared to glare at her secretly. Everyone knew that this girl was ruthless; even when she was little, she knew that whoever spoke ill of her parents would get their child punished.
Qian Duoduo smiled and looked around at the crowd of onlookers, especially Liu Laotai's son and daughter-in-law, and said, "As a daughter of the Qian family, I am very happy. Who can blame me when my mother's cooking skills are famous throughout the village? Even if you give my mother a potato, she can still make a feast."
Grandma Liu, if you're so capable, why don't you try it too?
Old Mrs. Liu snorted and said, "Do you think everyone has her skill?"
Qian Duoduo laughed: "Oh dear, if you don't have this skill, then you'll just have to put up with it. If it really doesn't work out, then you should move."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Liu jumped up immediately, her eyes widening: "Move? Why should we?"
Qian Rao said, "In the future, our family will continue to cook delicious food often. We don't care whether it's meat or not. As long as it's my mother's cooking, we'll think it's delicious."
You're enjoying the delicious smells from our house in the east courtyard, and all you do is indirectly criticize and beat your child every day. Your child's bottom must be getting spanked every day; how can he possibly sit still and study properly?
That's why people say Qian Rao and Qian Duoduo are brothers; their thought processes sometimes cleverly align.
Qian Rao's words immediately drew laughter from the onlookers.
Upon hearing the laughter, Old Lady Liu glared at the source of the laughter, then glanced at Qian Duoduo, who was grinning mockingly, and said, "You are rich but heartless."
Qian Rao: "Oh, Grandma Liu, you've learned something new! You can even use idioms now!"
Qian Rao's words made everyone around laugh again! Old Lady Liu's daughter-in-law turned around and went home; it was too embarrassing!
Qian Duoduo stepped forward and pulled Qian Rao back. Why was this child's focus so peculiar? He might steer the conversation astray again!
She stood in front of Qian Rao, her expression serious, and said in a cold tone, "Grandma Liu, I respect you as an elder, but don't take advantage of your age here."
Are we rich but heartless? Our family has been poor peasants for eight generations, and my eldest and second eldest brothers were both members of the People's Liberation Army.
You're saying we're rich and heartless, which is an insult to military families and will get you arrested, do you understand?
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Liu immediately jumped up and said, "I'm going to the police station just for saying a few words?"
Qian Duoduo snorted and said, "You're insulting my eldest brother, my second brother, and our whole family. If we don't take you to the police station, are we going to keep you here for a meal?"
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Liu immediately ran away, shouting as she ran, "I want to go home, I want to go home!"
The old Party Secretary, who was called over, was dumbfounded. He hadn't even said a few words when he saw the two Qian children scolding Old Lady Liu away with their words.
Watching Old Lady Liu's retreating figure, he snorted and said, "What the hell?"
Qian Duoduo's gaze swept over Liu's son, then he invited the old Party Secretary into the courtyard for a drink of water.
The onlookers realized the commotion was over and went home. However, the incident caused by Old Lady Liu made the villagers realize that the Qian family was not someone to be trifled with. They were military dependents, and slandering military dependents could land you in the police station.
Qian Duoduo smiled and handed a bottle of mushroom sauce to the old Party Secretary, saying, "Old Party Secretary, thank you for making this trip. This is mushroom sauce made by my mother. It goes quite well with rice. Take it back and try it."
The old Party Secretary chuckled and said, "Is this the thing that made Old Lady Liu so angry?"
Qian Duoduo nodded and said, "My eldest brother and second brother have been away from home for so many years, and they miss the little things my mother makes. We can't make anything else, so we made some mushroom sauce from the mushrooms we picked on the mountain and sent it to them. I didn't expect that this old lady Liu would come to our house with her child and ask me to give her some. There's no reason for that."
The old Party Secretary looked at the mushroom sauce and said, "They're always causing me trouble."
Lu Yuan hadn't expected to encounter such an interesting scene right after he finished his mission and arrived in Beian Village. He looked at the closed courtyard gate and thought, "Little girl, interesting!"
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