Xu Erchun nodded, "You can't blame my second brother for this. My mother said that my eldest brother's family has four sons, and my second brother's family has only two girls. There will be no descendants, and there won't even be anyone to break pots in the future."
"They insisted on him adopting a child from my eldest brother's family. My eldest brother and his wife were willing, but my second brother and his wife disagreed. My mother said it again, but the couple made it clear that they were unwilling to help raise another person's son."
He spread his hands and said, "My mother said that she adopted her own children and nephews for the good of my second brother and his family... I don't know what the point of making such a fuss every day is."
Zhou Yiding sighed, "I think that's how adults are. They always say, 'I'm doing this for your own good,' and then they make decisions for you, regardless of whether you're willing to accept it or not!"
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Your child still has opinions? I think Uncle Daqing is already open-minded enough."
"That's not the case. I was thinking of Cai Ermei. His mother said Ye Xiaoshuang looked restless and forced him to marry his current wife. As a result, the couple's relationship was not good at all and they lived in chaos."
"He didn't insist on it himself, so he can't blame others." Xu Erchun suddenly remembered something and turned to the two of them, "Da Kuan went to the earthen kiln to carry coal. Did you know that?"
"I haven't seen him since I last came down the mountain."
"Me too. I haven't seen him since he borrowed bullets from me last time."
"The girl's family insisted on having a sewing machine and a bicycle, otherwise they would not get engaged. We went to the mountains to look for honey but didn't get any money, and her mother couldn't afford that much money, so she had to go out to carry coal to earn money to buy them." Xu Erchun sighed, "Seeing Dakuan like this, I don't dare to look for a partner anymore."
"To be honest, these two things are indeed useful." Zhou Huaian said with a smile, "Besides, the private money you have saved is enough to buy these two betrothal gifts."
"You all have partners, so I'd better wait for someone to introduce me to you!"
Zhou Huaian brought the two of them home and saw that Zhou Dachun, Zhou Dahe brothers, Secretary Xu and Captain Zhou had already arrived. After exchanging greetings, everyone sat down.
Zhou Huaizhong and his brother brought a table over, and everyone set up a table in the main room and two tables on the steps.
Yang Chunyan, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law put the dishes on the table one by one.
There are meat dishes such as twice-cooked pork, cold chicken, duck and taro, and pickled fish in the earthenware bowl in the middle.
Zhou Huairong bought the silver carp for sauerkraut fish from the village pond in the morning, and the sauerkraut was made from vegetables chopped last autumn.
First, clean the whole green vegetable and cut it in half. Then hang it on a rope to dry until it is 70% dry. Add salt and rub it to extract the juice. Wrap each half of the green vegetable with a few chili peppers and ginger slices, and tie two or three green vegetables into a small bunch.
Then put the cabbage handfuls into a jar with a water rim, arrange them neatly and press them tightly, then pour in the sour water left over from pickling cabbage in previous years, and add some spring water for pickling.
Sichuan people's kimchi jars are a little different from those in other places. Most of them have a rim, and water must be added to the rim to submerge the lid of the jar. The water in the rim can isolate the air and also serve as a good seal.
The Zhou family’s sauerkraut jar is half a person’s height. Zhou’s mother is an expert at pickling sauerkraut. The sauerkraut she pickles is yellow in color and tastes neither salty nor bland, but sour, crispy and delicious.
Secretary Xu smiled and said to the old man, "Old man, no one would have dreamed that the first one to buy a tractor would be your youngest child!"
The old man thought of the steel bar indicators of Secretary Xu's family, raised his glass and said gratefully: "Thanks to the Secretary's help over the years, otherwise how could my Dasong support this family!"
Secretary Xu also raised his glass and said, "You are too polite, old man. They are just hardworking."
Everyone raised their glasses, drank a toast, and started eating.
Captain Zhou picked up a piece of pickled cabbage and ate it. "Second sister-in-law's pickled cabbage is still the best. The one I make at home is not as delicious as Second sister-in-law's!"
Zhou's mother came in with a dish of cold-mixed zheergen. She laughed and said, "It's just that it smells good from another pot. Who wouldn't praise your Xiulan's cooking skills?"
Zhou Yiding said with a smile: "Uncle Datian, be careful that Auntie finds out and pulls your ears."
Captain Zhou looked at him with a smile, "Xiao Ding, when are you going to invite us to your wedding?"
"I'll treat you guys to drinks in the second half of the year!"
Captain Zhou nodded and looked at Xu Erchun again, "Has Erchun decided on a date?"
"No!" Xu Erchun said with a smile, "I would like to ask Aunt Xiulan to introduce one to me!"
"Yes, go back and ask her to help you take a look."
The men were drinking and chatting. On the steps, Zhou Jiaming danced and boasted to his uncles, brothers, and sisters about how powerful the tractor was in plowing the land.
Several boys exclaimed from time to time and said they would go to see their father ploughing the fields in the afternoon.
Yang Chunyan, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Zhou Sanshen, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and Aunt Zhou sat at the same table.
Zhou's mother said to Zhou Jiaming: "If you want to see the tractor, eat quickly and wait for Third Dad to come back for dinner."
Zhou Jialiang and others also said, "We all want to go!"
"Xiao Qian, are you guys going?"
Zhou Xiaoqian shook her head. "I'm not going. I want to go with Aunt Yao to pick lantern fruits to make ice jelly."
Zhou Jiakang immediately betrayed, "I'm going to pick lantern fruit."
Yang Chunyan was thinking about going to cut some lantern grass later.
The scientific name of the lantern grass is Physalis alkekengi, which is an annual herb of the Solanaceae family and also a Chinese herbal medicine.
The whole plant of Physalis alkekengi is used as medicine, and the seeds are used as medicine, called Physalis alkekengi seeds. The leaves contain Physalis alkekengi ketone... The roots contain Tropinone...
It has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, diuresis and sedation. It is often used for colds and fever, sinusitis, hot stranguria, carbuncle, furuncle, epilepsy and rabies.
Physalis alkekengi often grows in patches beside fields, fences, and wastelands. Its flowers are light blue-purple, shaped a bit like morning glories, and the light blue flowers are dotted among the green leaves.
After the flowers fade, small lantern-like fruits will form. The fruits can be picked after they have naturally dried from the persistent calyx green to light brown.
The brown seeds inside, which are somewhat similar in shape to sesame seeds, can be used to make ice jelly.
"Stupid!" Zhou Jiaming looked at the two of them. "There are plenty of Chinese lantern fruit in the wasteland. We can just pick them with a bag later."
Yang Chunyan smiled and nodded after hearing this. "Jiaming is right. There are some on the wasteland where your father farms. You can pick more later. I will make brown sugar water and white fungus at home."
"Oh, you're willing to give me that!" Chen Ping looked at her with a smile, "Brown sugar and Tremella fuciformis, what are you going to make?"
Zhou Jialiang shouted, "Aunt, my youngest aunt wants to make ice jelly!"
Chen Ping smiled and said, "Xiaoliang, when your aunt is done, will you give her something to eat?"
"If you want it, just come."
Aunt Zhou smiled and said, "Your aunt eats a big bowl at a time. Aren't you afraid that she will eat it all?"
The children were dumbfounded after hearing this and looked at Yang Chunyan, "Aunt, can you do more?"
"Okay, Auntie, do more."
"Oh~Oh~" several kids cheered.
"Eat quickly, then we can go pick lantern fruit." Several kids started eating. (End of this chapter)
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