"Okay, okay, we'll do whatever you say."
Er Ya playfully stuck out her tongue. She thought her mother was really too good. She was thinking about what gift to buy for her mother when she went to the market again tomorrow. What should she buy?
With braised meat readily available, Jiang's mother didn't cook anything too complicated. She simply made some soup, stir-fried some hot and sour cabbage, and steamed some rice since she hadn't eaten rice for several days.
I had just finished preparing the food when I heard Big Black barking outside. Who could it be? If it was Li Taohua, Big Black must have gotten used to her by now.
Jiang's mother glanced at Lin Jianguo and asked him to go open the door and see who it was. Last time, Er Ya excitedly went to open the door and even tripped and fell. Could it be Old Lady Shen again this time?
Regardless of whether it was her or not, Jiang's mother quickly put the braised meat into the kitchen cabinet. She didn't want that old woman to take all of such good food.
Lin Jianguo dragged his shoes to open the door, only to find it was Lin Jianqun. This was a rare guest; this was probably the first time he had visited since the family split up.
"Second brother, what are you doing? It's not even dark yet, and you've been closing the door for ages. Are you looking down on your older brother?"
Lin Jianguo quickly pulled him in: "No way, what brings you here today? Have you eaten yet? If not, come and have something to eat."
Lin Jianqun originally wanted to say that he had already eaten. What could the second son's family possibly have? He had eaten enough of wild vegetables and cornbread. He was so tired of eating them every day that he was about to choke to death.
But when he got to the table and saw the neatly arranged rice, his eyes widened. Had the second son's family suddenly become rich? It wasn't a holiday, and they were already eating rice! The words he wanted to refuse turned into:
"Are you eating? I haven't eaten either. Sister-in-law, go get a bowl of rice. Today, I want to have a good chat with my second brother while we eat."
Jiang's mother glared at Lin Jianguo, then reluctantly ladled out half a bowl of rice and placed it in front of Lin Jianqun.
"Sister-in-law, are you trying to fob me off like this? This little bit isn't even enough to fill my teeth."
Jiang's mother smiled and said, "No, it's just that I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't prepare much."
"You women are useless at everything you do, always so stingy."
He glanced at Er Ya, who was eating, took her bowl, and scooped out half of the rice: "Why does this little brat eat so much? She can't carry on the family line, isn't that a waste?"
Er Ya, who was cooking, watched helplessly as her rice dwindled to just the bottom of her bowl. She glared fiercely at Lin Jianqun, then ran into Jiang's mother's arms and remained silent.
“This girl has no manners. I’m your uncle, and she dares to glare at me. Second brother, you should really discipline your daughter.”
Jiang's mother picked up her own rice and pulled Er Ya to the kitchen to eat. She gave Er Ya some more rice, but Er Ya pushed the bowl away, refusing to take it.
"Mom, I've almost finished eating, but you haven't eaten a single bite yet. Hurry up and eat your meal. I'll just have some braised meat later."
Jiang's mother insisted on giving her some of the food, and then took out the braised meat. The two of them ate it with rice, and once again they were glad that they had the foresight to put the food away first.
Lin Jianqun, who was inside the house, didn't care that they had all left. He thought that women shouldn't sit at the table when men were eating.
He shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth, then picked up a piece of vegetables with his chopsticks, thinking to himself: This second son's family may not be good at anything else, but their cooking is quite good, much better than that woman's. Compared to the second son's family, they eat pig feed every day.
After finishing a large bowl of rice and a pot of spicy and sour cabbage, Lin Jianqun let out a long burp. With something in his stomach, his voice became louder.
"Second brother, you're quite something now. No wonder you're making a fuss about splitting up the family. Did you have some secret savings before, or did you make a fortune outside? Look at the amount of oil you put in this dish. It's enough for your sister-in-law to cook for two days. Now that you're rich, don't forget your brother. We came from the same belly."
Lin Jianguo shook his head like a rattle-drum. "No, I don't have any money. You know what we got when the family divided the property. We still owe the village money for this house we live in."
Fortunately, Er Ya reminded him that if anyone asked about the money, he should blame it on the house. He couldn't very well ask the village chief, could he?
Lin Jianqun slammed his hand on the table: "Bullshit! I've heard it from the villagers. You go to the market every few days, and every time you come back in an oxcart with big bags and small packages."
Perhaps realizing his tone was a bit harsh, he lowered his voice and said, "You can't fool me, no matter who you are. Have you forgotten how I fought back when Shi Tou hit you when we were kids? I even have a scar from that. Now that you're grown up and have money, are you going to deny it?"
Lin Jianguo mentally recounted: "The reason the stone hit me was because you stole someone's cornbread. You hid, so of course they took their anger out on me. Besides, that scar was clearly from when you fell and got scratched by a tree branch while running away."
But having grown up with him always giving in to her, and seeing how rarely he treated her well, she couldn't help but tell the truth:
“I went to the market to sell some things, not to buy a lot of things like they said. Don’t believe what they say, like getting rich, it’s all nonsense.”
Lin Jianqun was surprised that he had actually gotten the question out of him, and quickly asked, "What are you selling? How much money have you made?"
"We've only just started selling, and we've made a few dollars so far," Lin Jianguo said, keeping some details to himself.
Seeing that there was money to be made, Lin Jianqun pretended to be desperate and said pitifully:
"Second brother, you two are living a happy and harmonious life now that you've separated from your family. You have no idea what my family is going through. We eat boiled wild vegetables every day. I'm getting so sick of it. Look at your dishes, how much oil do you use? I haven't tasted lard in a week."
"Brother, even though our family had a hard time before, it wasn't this bad."
Knowing he had overdone it, Lin Jianqun rolled his eyes and said, "It's because you left that Mom said she had divided all the money among you, so we have to be careful with the money at home. That's why things are like this. I came to you because I couldn't make ends meet. Can you lend me five yuan so I can buy some food and oil?"
Lin Jianguo felt bad when he heard this. His family was doing well, but he never expected that there would be no food left in the old house. But then he thought that it was only five yuan, so he agreed immediately.
Knowing he had the five yuan, Lin Jianqun asked pitifully, "Are you still going to eat?"
To be continued!
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