Smelling the aroma of Jiang Qiao's stir-fried pork, Zuo Xiangnan almost drooled. "So much oil is wasted. Use less, just enough to satisfy your craving."
Jiang Qiao smiled and said, "You've come all this way, I have to make sure you eat your fill."
At least when you go back, it'll be a memory. Whatever you want to eat, I'll cook it for you during this time. How long can you stay?"
Zuo Xiangnan sighed, "I still have to go see my parents, it'll be at most two days."
Jiang Qiao sighed, "Okay, I'll prepare the things for you in the next couple of days. Take them home first, and I'll mail them to you later. You'll definitely be going back after the New Year, right?"
Zuo Xiangnan said with deep melancholy, "Go back, otherwise, where can I go?"
Then, he said in a very obsequious manner, "Little sister Qiao'er, I can rely on you from now on. I can't count on anyone else. With your hunting skills, I'd be happy to at least drink the broth, if not eat the meat myself."
Jiang Qiao smiled and nodded, "I think it's a good idea. I'll come over and help take care of my nephew later."
"Of course, he's my eldest nephew. If I, as his uncle, don't look after him, who else can I rely on?"
The two of them were playfully bickering in the kitchen when dinner was ready, enveloped in a delicious aroma.
Zuo Xiangnan is not a lazy person. Even if he were, he would have been transformed into a diligent person over the years.
After Jiang Qiao finished preparing the food, she put some in a food box and asked Zuo Xiangnan to take it over and eat with the old man and the others.
We can't just let this kid see his grandpa eating well; we also need to let him see where the old man and his family live, so he understands that everyone has a hard life and that he should cherish his future. Freedom is something that can't be bought with anything.
Just as Jiang Qiao had expected, seeing several old men crammed on the kang (heated brick bed) in the cowshed, with the cattle and horses living outside, one could only imagine the smell. And this was in winter; he couldn't even imagine how his grandfather would survive in the summer.
Seeing his grandson walk in with tears in his eyes, Zuo Zhankui understood everything.
"It's alright, Grandpa's doing fine now. Don't let the slightly unpleasant smell of this place fool you; it's actually quite nice. Come, come, let me show you around—"
Zuo Zhankui then introduced his eldest grandson to everyone.
Zuo Xiangnan knew Cheng Baichuan, but he had never met the others before. After greeting them one by one, he quickly took out the food from the lunchbox.
"Grandpa, Jiang Qiao made this for you. Eat it while it's hot!"
Cheng Baichuan patted Zuo Xiangnan on the shoulder. "Good lad, you've made something of yourself. Going out and getting some exercise isn't a bad thing. You look much stronger than before. Come on, come on, have a meal with Grandpa—"
To be honest, the food tasted really good; it would have been even better if we could ignore the smell in the house.
That's what I was thinking, and I just blurted it out.
"Kid, be content. Don't let this cowshed fool you. Apart from this, we're really doing pretty well here. Look at this kang (heated brick bed), how warm it is. If it weren't for being with your Grandpa Gu, we old folks wouldn't have such good treatment."
You didn't see it! What kind of place did we live before? It wasn't a cowshed, but it was drafty everywhere. We had to go out to collect firewood every day, otherwise we would have frozen.
Look at me now, my legs and arms are all fine, aren't they? I have to thank Jiang Qiao for that. If it weren't for her help, we would all be half-crippled.
Therefore, we are all content with our current lives; compared to others, we are truly blessed.
This meal left a deep impression on Zuo Xiangnan, one he would never forget. He had thought that their life in the countryside was hard, but after arriving here, he realized that his grandfather was not even as good as him.
If Jiang Qiao hadn't brought them food, the old man and the others would have had to eat only porridge with pickled vegetables, and even that wouldn't have been enough, since they had come halfway and hadn't received much food even when it was distributed.
Although he was having dinner with the old men, Zuo Xiangnan didn't eat much. Seeing how much the old men enjoyed their meal, he didn't touch his chopsticks. He decided to eat later and let the old men have more good food. This was the only thing he could do for them.
"It's only because Qiao'er came back that we old guys could have just cooked the food properly, and we wouldn't have been able to expect any real taste."
After dinner, everyone chatted. Zuo Xiangnan listened for a while and then realized how much of a role Jiang Qiao and his family had played here. In particular, when he saw He Wenqing's hands, even he had to admire them.
"Jiang Qiao's medical skills are that amazing?"
He Wenqing smiled and said, "That's my apprentice. What do you think? That kid is smart and good at traditional Chinese medicine. It's a pity he didn't take the college entrance exam. Otherwise, he would have been a great surgeon."
Actually, what everyone envied more was that Zuo Zhankui had his grandson come to visit. They had been here for so long, but no one from his family had ever come to visit them.
More than anything, everyone wanted to know what was going on outside. They really wanted to know. However, Jiang Qiao and the others were staying in the county town, so she probably didn't know what was happening outside.
Speaking of this, Zuo Xiangnan's originally sunny expression turned gloomy.
"It's all the same. Your place is actually not bad. I've figured it out. The good thing about remote places is that they're much quieter."
Cheng Baichuan put his arm around Zuo Xiangnan's shoulder and said, "Xiangnan, go back and find out what's going on at home. My wife always reports good news and not bad news in her letters, so I don't know what's going on either."
Zuo Xiangnan nodded. "Okay, I'll take care of this. I'll write to you later. Do you two want to know about your families? I can ask around for you."
He Wenqing and Wang Duo waved their hands dismissively. "Forget it. My wife passed away a couple of years ago. Old Wang, his wife separated from him years ago, and they have no connection anymore. So, he has even less to do with his wife and children. As for me—"
He Wenqing gave a bitter smile. "When I left, my daughter didn't even see me off. I don't have anything to worry about. As long as they are doing well, that's all that matters. My suffering is none of their business."
These words made everyone present feel sad. Wang Duo put his arm around He Wenqing's shoulder and said, "Hey, we two brothers can keep each other company now. I can't count on my children. Speaking of which, I envy you. At least you have a skill. You can go to the hospital and work there or something."
"Someone like me, farming every day, barely making ends meet, who has the mood to look at paintings? My skills aren't very good."
He Wenqing laughed, "Jiang Qiao said your skills aren't wasted. These past few days, she's been sending us red paper, asking you to help everyone write couplets or something—"
Wang Duo was dumbfounded. "You can do it like that?"
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