On a summer afternoon, the roses on the fence in the Lu family's yard were in full bloom, and bees were buzzing nearby collecting nectar. Under the flowering grape racks, Shitou and Jasmine were sticking their little butts out to watch the ants move.
In the main room of Lao Lu's house, which was like a steamer, Jiang Chunzao, who had just come out of the stove, was waving a big fan. It was so hot. It was a really hot day. How could it be easy for him to live and wash the pot just to make a meal of steamed eggs for the two kids in the family?
At this time, Jiang Chunzao especially missed the days when she used electric cookers to cook in her previous life. Cooking was so convenient back then. However, she always said that the present life was the best, with her parents, Shitou, Jasmine, and Lu Lin...
When she thought of Lu Lin, Jiang Chunzao became angry again. She had just wanted to see how Lu Lin would react to the mischief done by Old Lady Lu, but this guy was just like a dumb log. Since he entered the house, he has been doing his housework like a mute person without saying a word.
This made Jiang Chunzao very angry and he couldn't vent it. He could only fan himself with the big cattail leaf fan in his hand.
Househusband Lu Lin came out of the kitchen holding two bowls filled with steamed egg custard. When steaming the egg custard earlier, Jiang Chunzao specially added some sesame oil and some shrimps to the two children's bowls. Now the egg custard was steamed and it smelled so good.
Lu Lin had just come out of the kitchen with a bowl in his hand when the two kids, who were sitting by the fence watching the ants move, came over following the smell:
"Dad, is the egg custard ready?"
The three-year-old little Jasmine drooled and looked at the egg custard in his hand with interest. The greedy looks of the two little kids made the usually serious Lu Lin curl his lips.
"Um."
"Brother, the egg custard is ready. Let's go wash our hands and eat the egg custard."
Little Jasmine shouted happily and called in a baby voice to Little Stone who was watching the little ants moving under the fence. Little Stone heard it, and the two children held hands and went to wash their hands together.
A smile appeared on Lu Lin's lips, and he returned to the main room with the bowl in his big hand. In the main room, Jiang Chunzao was sitting on a chair, fanning herself with a large cattail leaf fan. Her fair and beautiful face was flushed. She was wearing a pink and white double-breasted long gown that perfectly outlined her seductive figure. Lu Lin only took a glance at her, and her black eyes lit up.
Jiang Chunzao was waving a large palm-leaf fan, and when she looked up she met Benmutou's fiery eyes. They had been husband and wife for two lifetimes, yet she could not tell what was in Benmutou's mind!
In broad daylight, what kind of look does this idiot have? It makes people feel embarrassed!
Jiang Chunzao's heart started pounding, and his face started burning. He sprayed at Lu Lin:
"What are you doing standing there like an idiot? Zaizai's egg custard is ready, why don't you let it go?!"
After saying that, he fled out of the main room with a big palm-leaf fan. After being scolded by his wife, the stupid guy touched his nose awkwardly and carefully blew cool the egg custard for the two kids with a spoon.
~
Jiang Chunzao walked out of the main room with a red face. Grandma Jiang had spread a mat in the yard and was busy taking off clothes on the mat. The clothes on the mat were all cotton jackets and trousers that the young lady and her two sons wore in winter.
In the countryside, winter clothes are kept until the summer, where they are taken apart, washed, and re-stuffed with cotton. Jiang Chunzao has been used to this since she was a child. Even after getting married in the past few years, the winter clothes for her family are all made by Grandma Jiang.
In the courtyard, Aunt Jiang was taking off her clothes on the mat when she saw her daughter running out of the main room with a red face. She said nervously:
"Hey, what's wrong with you?
Why is your face so red? Are you suffering from heat stroke in such a hot day? "
Grandma Jiang had just finished cleaning up and was about to help her daughter tidy up the yard, but when she heard what her wife said, she also became nervous.
"What, what are you talking about, old woman? My son has a heat stroke?"
What? Is this just a case of caring too much and causing chaos?
Jiang Chunzao quickly explained:
"Mom and Dad, I'm fine. I don't have heat stroke and nothing's wrong. It's just that it's too hot today and my face is red."
After listening to their daughter's words, Grandma Jiang and Grandma Jiang looked at Jiang Chunzao's face carefully. They saw that her fair and rosy face didn't look like she had heatstroke, so they felt relieved.
Jiang Chunzao heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her parents were relieved. She saw Grandma Jiang start to take off clothes again, so she took off her shoes, sat on the mat and started taking off clothes with her mother.
In the main room, Xiao Shitou and Xiao Moli washed their hands. Now the two kids were eating egg custard bite by bite. The country courtyard was filled with the smell of fireworks, which turned into human warmth in Lu Lin's black eyes.
~
The sun sets, the summer sunset fills the earth, smoke rises from Lujia Village, and the daughters-in-law in the village are busy cooking at home. In the stove room of Old Lu's house, Jiang Chunzao and Jiang Chunzao also put on aprons and are busy in the stove.
Today, Grandma Jiang and Grandpa Jiang are both at home for dinner. Jiang Chunzao wants to cook a table full of delicious food for his parents, and also let the stupid Lu Lin have a good meal as well.
Although there is a shortage of clothes in the countryside, there are more edible things in summer than in winter. In addition, Lujia Village is located near mountains and rivers. There is a stream with fish and shrimps in front of the village. Cicadas chirp endlessly on the rows of big trees at the entrance of the village.
Jiang Chunzao was thinking about what delicious food to make for his parents when he heard the cicadas chirping. He simply asked Lu Lin to take the two children to the back of the village to catch cicadas, and he went to the creek in front of the village with a bucket of water.
When Jiang Chunzao was still a young girl, she learned how to catch shrimps from her father. Grandpa Jiang was a good shrimp catcher, and Jiang Chunzao was not bad either. She caught half a bucket of shrimps in a short time.
While waiting for Jiang Chunzao to return home after catching shrimps, we happened to meet Lu Lin who came home with his two kids. It must be said that Lu Lin was a naughty boy in the past and he must have climbed mountains and trees a lot, otherwise how could he have caught so many cicadas with his two kids?
Jiang Chunzao put the cage of cicadas that Lu Lin and his two kids caught in a clay basin and started washing them. He was smiling happily as he washed them. "Look at these cicadas. They look plump and delicious. They will be delicious when they are fried in the pot."
Aunt Jiang, who was picking vegetables in the yard, heard her daughter's words and chatted with Lu Lin, who was washing his face nearby:
"My daughter has loved eating cicada monkeys since she was a child."
Lu Lin took the water from the basin and washed his face and hands. He also laughed after hearing what Grandma Jiang said.
Jiang Chunzao stood up and looked at the other end of the yard. The tall and handsome Lu Lin was talking to Grandma Jiang. His ink-black eyes were glowing softly. She didn't know what she was thinking of in her heart. Her pretty face turned red and she quickly went into the house.
~
The cicada monkeys that Lu Lin and his two kids caught and brought home were really fresh. Jiang Chunzao put the cleaned cicada monkeys into the pot, fried them in hot oil, added chili powder and salt, and stir-fried them briefly. A fragrance came out from the kitchen.
Next door, in the old courtyard of the Lu family, Lu Mutou, who was born with a good nose, sniffed the meaty aroma in the air carefully and confirmed that the tempting meaty aroma came from the three-room courtyard opposite. He grinned and shouted:
"Meat! I want to eat meat!"
Lu Mutou howled in the yard and called the entire Lu family into the yard.
Old Mrs. Lu was thinking about how to hide the pig's trotters in the house. When she heard Lu Mutou yelling in the yard, she jumped into the yard and yelled at her second grandson:
"What are you doing, it's late at night, what are you talking about, you little brat!
What are you doing, second brother?
Liu Hongyan, who had been lazing around in the house, quickly got up from the kang and dragged Lu Ershan, who was lying dead beside her, out of the house:
"Mom, what's going on?"
"What's the matter?
Second brother, what are you doing in the house so late at night instead of helping your sister-in-law cook in the kitchen?
"What is Mu Tou yelling about at home? Our Lu family is so poor, where can we get meat?"
Liu Hongyan was unhappy when she heard what Old Lady Lu said, and she said in a weird tone:
"Mom, what you said is not right. Yes, our Lu family is poor, but we are not without meat. Didn't the third brother's family just give mom two pig trotters?
Those two pig trotters are nothing but meat, mother, your grandson is hungry for meat, why don’t you take out the pig trotters given by the third son’s family so that the whole family can have a treat.”
What!
You’re dreaming if you want her to take out the pig’s trotters. The pig’s trotters must be saved for her grandson to eat!
When Mrs. Lu heard this, her eyebrows raised:
"What pig's trotter! What pig's trotter!
The pig's trotters are reserved for me to eat, so it would be a waste if I gave them to you!"
Liu Hongyan was not one to sit around and do nothing. She started to talk nonsense as soon as she heard this:
"What's the matter? What's the matter? My son Mutou is also the eldest grandson of your Lao Lu family. Why can't he eat a piece of pork? And all the pig trotters in our house are for Xuedong to eat!
Xuedong eats delicious food and drinks spicy drinks in the town all day long, which is not as good as our life in the countryside. If there is a piece of pork at home, I have to save it for Xuedong so that I can’t eat it alone!
Mom, I'm not saying you're too biased! "
Liu Hongyan's words hit Mrs. Lu in the face, and Mrs. Lu was so angry that she started to curse with her triangular eyes:
"That's right, I'm biased, I just don't want to make you angry!
What else can you do? "
Liu Hongyan also got angry and sat down in the yard, kicking her legs and howling. Lu Mutou also glared at Old Lady Lu and cursed:
"You damned old woman, how dare you bully my mother? I will definitely punish you in the future!"
Seeing this, Old Lady Lu was furious and yelled at Lu Ershan:
"Second brother! You raised a good son and married a good wife, but now your mother is being bullied. How can you still stand firm?"
Lu Ershan was so embarrassed by his mother's scolding that he raised his fist at Liu Hongyan and her son who were sitting on the ground and throwing tantrums. Old Man Lu and Lu Dashan couldn't stop him. Soon, the shouts of Liu Hongyan and her son killing a pig were heard from the old yard of the Lu family.
Mrs. Lu, who was in the kitchen, saw the chaos in the yard, took a numb look and turned away.
~
In the quiet courtyard of the third room of the Lu family, Grandma Jiang frowned as she listened to the scolding coming from the Lu family next door, and said to Grandma Jiang next to her:
"The Lu family can't have a day of peace!"
Mrs. Jiang sighed and said to the girl in the kitchen with a smile:
"Well, your father went out for a while and bought some pig bones from the old neighbor. I'll wash the bones and make soup with them later."
"Hey! Mom knows."
Jiang Chunzao, who was in the kitchen, poked his head out and responded with a smile. He picked up a fried crispy cicada with chopsticks and brought it to the sullen Lu Lin, coaxing him:
"This cicada monkey is delicious, why don't you open your mouth and try it?"
Lu Lin looked at her pretty red lips with a sullen face, and his cold black eyes softened:
"tasty."
When the man said this, Jiang Chunzao's face turned red again. What the hell is delicious? You didn't even eat it, how can it be delicious?
Lu Lin:........
The Lu family had a delicious meal tonight, including spicy crayfish, crispy fried cicada monkeys, delicious braised pork, and a few home-grown side dishes. The family was very satisfied with the meal, which they ate with freshly-cooked cornmeal cakes.
After the family had dinner, Grandma Jiang helped Lu Lin fix the table at home that had a missing leg. After tidying up, they prepared to drive back to the village.
Jiang Chunzao knew that there was still a lot of work to do at her mother's house, so she couldn't let her father stay at home to rest for a night. She could only try her best to prepare more good things for her father.
While Jiang Chunzao was tidying up the house, Lu Lin came in with a military bag on his back. He took out two bottles of good wine, a pack of Grandma Jiang's favorite cigarettes, some canned fruit and supplements, and put them all into Jiang Chunzao's big bag.
Jiang Chunzao glanced at the things in his pocket in surprise:
"Did you bring these things back from the army?"
Lu Lin nodded:
"Dad has a share of these things, too."
Jiang Chunzao understood what Lu Lin meant. He meant that old man Lu also had the same gift. She quickly packed up the things and pulled Lu Lin out of the yard.
At the door of the Lu family, Aunt Jiang, who was going to stay at the daughter's house for a few days, was nagging Aunt Jiang with a worried look on her face:
"Old man, when you return home, don't forget to add some food to the chickens at home, and keep an eye on Chunyu. This brat only knows how to play in the village all day long. Make sure he reads more books... You can't drink all the time, and remember to eat in the morning. Skipping breakfast is not good for your health..."
Mrs. Jiang kept talking and talking, which made Grandma Jiang look like she had lost all hope in life. After waiting for a long time for her daughter-in-law and son-in-law to come out, Grandma Jiang was as busy as if he had been liberated:
"My dear daughter-in-law, my son-in-law, there is nothing to do at home. Dad is leaving now, but there is still a lot of work to do at home!"
Jiang Chunzao put the packed big bag into Grandma Jiang's arms and continued her mother's words:
"father!
This is what the young lady has packed for you, all food and drinks. Please go home by yourself and be careful. It’s getting dark outside, remember to watch out for the road... And dad, drink less and remember to eat in the morning..."
Jiang Chunzao talked a lot before sending Grandpa Jiang away.
~
Grandma Jiang and her daughter watched their old man leave. The mother and daughter chatted in private for a while before going back to their rooms to spread out on the kang to rest.
Grandma Jiang slept in the west room, and Jiang Chunzao's family slept in the east room. Grandma Jiang was old, so she blew out the lights and went to bed early.
Lu Lin was washing up in the yard. He looked up at the lit kerosene lamp in the east room. His heart softened. After a while he went into the house and waited for the two children to fall asleep. Thinking of Jiang Chunzao's cute red lips and soft skin, the man's black eyes became hot in the dark night.
After Lu Lin cleaned himself up carefully, he entered the house with anticipation. He saw Jiang Chunzao and her mother sleeping soundly with their two children on the mat, with the lonely quilt beside them.
The man's passionate heart broke into eighteen pieces in an instant.
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