After the two finished unloading the miscellaneous New Year's goods, Zhou Mingtao unloaded the mule cart, led the mule into the house, washed hay for it, and fed it. Su Xueli came into the house.
When she entered the room, she saw Cao Maizi holding a pair of small dolls on the bedside table, looking at them with a grandmotherly smile on her face.
She whispered to her husband, "If our son could give us a pair of grandsons like these, I, this old woman, would spend my whole life eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist prayers."
Su Xueli was a little embarrassed. She took a step back and came in saying, "Mother, the New Year's goods are unloaded."
Cao Maizi then placed the doll on her daughter-in-law's bedside, not hiding it from her, "Xueli, Mother saw the doll you made, it's so lovely."
Wei Tiezhu, being a father-in-law, couldn't linger in his daughter-in-law's room. Hearing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law whispering, he got up and walked out, saying, "I'm going to feed the mule. Call Shenzi over to do some work."
Knowing that their daughter-in-law made money by selling straw weaving, the elderly couple also regarded this as the most important thing for the whole family.
After her father-in-law left, Cao Maizi asked her daughter-in-law, "My dear daughter, do you recite the songs your mother taught you every night before you go to sleep?"
Su Xueli said, "I read it aloud."
"You didn't mispronounce it?"
"You didn't misread it."
Su Xueli read it aloud.
Cao Maizi was overjoyed. "Let's go to Longwangfang to pray to the Dragon King and Dragon Queen on the first day of the Lunar New Year. I guarantee that our illness will be cured and we'll soon be able to conceive a pair of chubby babies."
Su Xueli couldn't stand it anymore. She sat down, picked up some straw, and said, "Mother, you've been busy at the market all day. You must be tired. Go back inside and rest."
Cao Maizi agreed and went out with a chuckle.
Su Xueli had to hurry up and come up with the story of the kitten she had promised her second aunt.
While making dinner, Cao Maizi saw the seaweed and asked where it came from. Su Xueli told her, and she said with a face full of regret, "Your second aunt is good in every way, but she's too stubborn. If she had let go of that person and found someone else, she wouldn't be so lonely now."
Su Xueli said, "Mom, everyone has their own way of life. There's nothing wrong with Second Aunt's life. She's much happier than many women."
Cao Maizi straightened her face and said, "Nonsense! Men should marry when they are of age and women should marry when they are of age. How can anyone live alone? Men are called bachelors and women are called old maids. They are both called half-humans and are inferior to others everywhere."
Well, it's a convention, hard to overturn.
Su Xueli pretended to be persuaded by the old woman and stopped talking.
She asked, "Mom, we can't just accept gifts during the New Year without giving them back. What should we give Second Aunt in return?"
Cao Maizi said, "Your second aunt doesn't know how to steam buns, so we'll steam some tomorrow and send her a dozen or so."
With the Lunar New Year approaching, every household steams and deep-fries buns, and they make a lot, enough to last until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Su Xueli said, "Okay. By the way, Mom, what kind of filling should we make for the buns?"
She loves eating the big steamed buns that her family makes.
Mrs. Cao asked her with a smile, "What kind of filling do you like for your buns?"
Su Xueli smiled like a child and said, "I love both meat and vegetarian food."
Cao Maizi said affectionately, "Then let's make a pot of cabbage and pork filling, and another pot of tofu, vermicelli, and dried shrimp filling..."
“I love pork blood and bean sprout filling,” Wei Mingyue said eagerly.
Cao Maizi said, "I know, I know, I haven't finished yet. I'll only make these three kinds of fillings. Whoever wants to eat whichever filling they want can eat it."
Wei Tiezhu chuckled and said, "This year I've really helped my daughter-in-law out; she can eat buns with three different fillings."
The whole family burst into laughter... except for Wei Mingyue.
Because she delivered a letter to Lin Meizhi today, Lin Meizhi couldn't wait to read it and angrily told Wei Mingyue about its contents: "Your brother said that we shouldn't have any contact before he divorces Su Xueli, because that's not fair to anyone."
Wei Mingyue had personally witnessed her brother and Su Xueli getting closer and closer, and she was afraid that her brother would develop feelings for her over time, which would ruin her plan to become a teacher.
Therefore, seeing Su Xueli laughing and chatting in this house made her feel as if she had eaten straw and her heart was breaking.
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