The group rode in the car for the whole day. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the vehicle finally entered the village and stopped safely at Sun Aimin's house.
Everyone here started to move the things from the car one by one, and then divided them into categories to determine who owned them, and took them back to their own homes.
When they heard that they were coming back, some people had already gathered in front of the Sun family's door after lunch.
The family members of Sun Aiguo and Sun Aijun's apprentices have been away with their masters for nearly a year and have only returned once in the meantime. Now they are all waiting there anxiously.
There were also villagers who knew that the Sun family was doing well outside and rushed over to watch the fun and get close to them.
When the parents of Sun Aiguo's apprentice Liu Lei saw their son getting out of the car, they almost didn't recognize him.
She looked a little rustic when we met last time, but now she is wearing a beautiful and well-fitting down jacket, shiny cotton leather boots, and her hair is neatly combed, just like those stars on TV.
It was Liu Lei who called out first, and only then did the couple recognize him.
Mother Liu looked Liu Lei up and down, her heart was filled with joy, but she was not forgiving: "You are dressed up like a bunch of people, and you spend all the money you earn on dressing yourself up, right? I have to talk to your master and his wife later and ask them to keep a closer eye on you.
You are not young anymore, it is time for you to get married. If you are more careful and save more money for a wife, wouldn't it be better than this empty talk? "
Mrs. Sun said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, please don't blame Xiaolei. He knows what's going on. He bought himself a new outfit just for the New Year!"
Didn't you say last time that you'd arrange a blind date for him as soon as he came back? If you were dressed up like that, wouldn't that girl be completely captivated by you?"
Liu's mother was also amused and replied, "That's right. I'll go find a matchmaker tomorrow and quickly introduce us to a suitable girl..."
While talking, they helped Liu Lei move the New Year's goods and returned home happily.
There were even more people coming to the home of Sun Aijun's apprentice Wang Xiaowei, including his parents, grandparents, wife and son.
When he left home, the child was only two years old, a tiny kid. Now the child is only one year older than last year, but he has obviously grown taller, and is very cute with his chubby face.
However, he did not recognize his father at first. It was only when his mother pointed out who his father was that he opened his little arms and ran over, hugged Wang Xiaowei's legs, and asked his father if he had bought him a big car.
Half a year ago, the school was on vacation for a few days, and he came back and promised to buy a car toy for the child when he returned home. As a result, the first thing the child asked when they met was this, which made a group of adults laugh.
The Wang family also went back in a lively manner, and the only ones left were the Sun family and the Yuan family.
When the two old people met, they felt particularly cordial and called each other "father-in-law" and "mother-in-law".
Although we didn't see each other for a year or two, there was no barrier between us when we met and we started chatting at the door.
The old couple from the Sun family took the initiative to introduce the old couple from the Yuan family to the villagers who were watching the fun, and then led them in.
It's freezing cold now, so we have to quickly take everyone into the house to warm up.
The family lit fires in the stoves in the outer room, the east room and the west room, and now the big kangs are all warm.
Both rooms had radiators installed, and the heating pipes were connected to the stoves against the wall in the outer room. Both stoves were now filled with coal and burning vigorously. As soon as I entered the room, I could clearly feel the huge temperature difference between the inside and the outside.
When the old couple saw the two children of their youngest son, they loved them even more.
Sun Aiguo and his family stayed here for a while, left the things they bought for the old couple, and then went back home.
Now that Sun Min and Sun Ming have returned home for the holidays, the two children are cleaning the house together. Just like at their grandparents' house, they have a kang and a stove.
Originally, the Sun family had a relatively good life in the village. Several families built new houses in the first few years, and the places they lived in were large enough.
Just like Sun Aiguo, who has three children, considering that the children are grown up, he planned an independent room for each child.
Although there are only two children in Sun Aijun's family, they built their house based on the model of Sun Aiguo's. The structures and overall areas of the two houses are similar.
Therefore, if there are many guests at home, they can definitely be accommodated if you plan the room allocation carefully.
The old couple had already bought a lot of food and daily necessities for the New Year before their children came back.
The village was slaughtering a pig for the Lunar New Year these past two days, so they bought half a pig. Today, Grandpa Sun first stewed the ribs and pork belly.
In addition to pork, he also bought ten free-range chickens from other villagers. Mr. Sun killed four of the chickens, stewed two, and then put the other two in a bag and froze them in a large vat, chopping them up as he went.
The remaining chicken was mainly kept for my daughter Sun Aihua to eat during her confinement period.
When the old couple went to the market, they bought a lot of vegetables that were not available in the village in winter, and they also prepared a lot of river fish, sea fish, and large prawns.
Mr. Sun has been preparing banquets for his entire life and has long calculated the amount of surplus based on the number of people.
The old couple also kneaded the dough, minced the meat, and prepared rice dumplings and fried bean curd sheets, waiting for everyone to arrive before frying qianzi (steamed glutinous rice balls) and buddha's hands. This is a traditional New Year snack here, and every household makes these during the New Year.
These foods are at their best texture and flavor when they are just out of the pot. Although they are delicious if they are made in advance and then put back into the pot, they are still a little lacking in flavor.
When celebrating the New Year in the countryside, the festive atmosphere always feels stronger.
The old couple of the Yuan family are from other places, and the customs at home are somewhat different from those here.
Although they had lived in Qingyang City for quite a while in order to take care of Sun Xiaohao, they usually returned to their hometown during the Spring Festival. This was the first time they felt the authentic New Year atmosphere in Qingyang City.
The families of Sun Aiguo and Sun Aijun cleaned up their homes briefly, and soon their entire families came over to help light the fire and cook. In the evening, they set up two large round tables and had a meal together to welcome the old couple from the Yuan family.
Since everyone in the family is a cook, the quality of the food is naturally excellent. This meal was a lively and joyful one for everyone.
In the evening, the families of Sun Aiguo and Sun Aijun went back to their respective homes to rest, and the rest of the people stayed with the old couple of the Sun family.
Grandpa Sun, Grandpa Yuan, and Sun Aimin lived in the east room, while the two old ladies and Yuan Jie lived in the west room. As for the two children, they also lived with their mother, which made Grandma Sun very fond of them.
Especially when I hear my grandson and granddaughter calling "Grandma, Grandma", my heart feels like it's been filled with sweets.
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