Mother Yang smiled and patted her. "As the old saying goes, wise people don't need harsh words, and loud drums don't need heavy hammers. How many times have I and your husband beaten you since you were little?"
"That's because we are the Ming people, and we don't need heavy hammers on the drums!" Yang Dongmei said righteously.
After hearing this, Yang's father and mother both laughed, "Look, he is so shameless that he even praises himself."
Zhou Huaian felt that his mother and husband believed that good people are born under the yellow thorn branches, otherwise they would not have beaten and scolded him without asking any questions and regardless of whether he was right or wrong.
He thought that he must not treat his children the same way they did and must not let his children follow his old path.
The family sat together chatting and laughing for a while, and before they knew it, it was past three o'clock.
Mother Yang and sister-in-law Yang began to pack the return gifts for the two men.
Cured chicken, cured meat, cured pig's trotters, cakes, and noodles are all loaded into the back of the bag.
Yang Chunyan looked at the two in surprise and hurried forward to stop them from putting anything in. "Mom, sister-in-law, we have these at home... The backpack is full, don't put anything in."
"Yes, we have them at home..." Zhou Huaian nodded repeatedly. If he had known this would happen, he would have come empty-handed. It would have been like moving house and bringing wine back and forth.
Mrs. Yang smiled and said, "What's yours is yours. What we're giving is our thoughts. It's hung on the back of the bicycle. Your things have arrived as well."
"That's right! We made some Yin rice. You can take it back and cook a bowl for yourself when you're hungry."
As Yang's mother spoke, she put a bulging cloth bag back on the back of the bicycle, tied it up with a rope, and asked Brother Yang to push the bicycle over and hang the back of the bicycle.
Zhou Huaian was worried that if he refused again, he didn't know what would come out next, so he hurried over to help.
Seeing that she couldn't push it away, Yang Chunyan could only nod and said, "You've already dried the rice so early?"
Yin rice is usually cooked these days when women are in confinement after childbirth. It has the effects of tonifying the middle and replenishing Qi, clearing away heat and detoxifying, clearing fire and relieving summer heat, and nourishing the stomach.
Long-grain glutinous rice is used here because it is tough and shiny after steaming, has a slight smell and tastes sweet.
Soak the washed glutinous rice in water overnight, then pour it into a colander to drain the water.
Boil a pot of water, put gauze in the rice steamer, pour the rice in and steam it over high heat for about 40 minutes. Pour the steamed rice into a winnowing basket, spread it out with chopsticks while it is still hot, and sprinkle a little cold water to prevent the rice grains from sticking.
Then cover it with wet gauze and place it in a cool and ventilated place to dry in the sun for a day. Rub the compacted rice grains into individual grains and place them in a cool and ventilated place for about three or four days, and the rice is ready.
As the name suggests, shade-dried rice is rice that is dried in the shade and cannot be exposed to the sun. Because sun-dried shade-dried rice is not solid, it is not easy to store and is prone to cracking. Natural shade-dried rice will not go bad even if it is stored for a year.
Mother Yang smiled and said, "Your sister-in-law's family sent over ten kilograms of long-grain rice for wine making. I will make it into Yin rice with your sister-in-law. You can take it back and eat it. We will make it for you when you are in confinement after giving birth."
The yield of rice and wine is low. They have few paddy fields so they didn't plant any rice this year. But my in-laws have many paddy fields so they plant any rice every year.
Mrs. Yang also nodded and said, "If you like it, just send me a message and I'll go back and get some to make for you."
This year, thanks to my sister-in-law and my husband finding a good opportunity, the family has earned so much, and life with my mother's family has become much better. People are mutual. If the sister-in-law is good, the sister-in-law should also think about her, so that everyone can get along for a long time.
Yang Chunyan nodded with a smile, "Thank you, sister-in-law!"
Mrs. Yang smiled in annoyance and said, "We are a family, why are you being so polite?"
At this time, Yang Xiaoxue shouted at the gate of the courtyard: "Chunyan, we are going back!"
"Coming!" Yang Chunyan responded, turned around and said goodbye to her family, "Mom, old man... we are leaving!"
Zhou Huaian pushed his bicycle out and the Yang family followed him.
Mother Yang nodded and reminded: "Go slowly on the road, you are not feeling well...walk carefully...if there is anything, let Dongmei bring back a letter."
Seeing that she looked worried, Yang Xiaoxue smiled and said, "Second Aunt, you are not busy these days, why don't you come with us to play for a few days?"
Mother Yang said cheerfully, "There are a lot of things to do at home in the early spring. I will go after Chunyan gives birth."
Yang Xiaoxue smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's go!"
Fang Zhiqiang smiled at them and rode away on his bicycle.
Yang Chunyan sat down and waved to them, "Don't see me off when you go back. We are leaving."
"Let's go!" Zhou Huaian rode his bicycle to catch up with Fang Zhiqiang.
After getting on the asphalt road, Yang Xiaoxue turned her head and looked at the two people's backpacks. "Yan'er, Second Aunt is so polite. There is no more room in the backpack."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Second Mother is not bad either, yours is also full."
Fang Zhiqiang nodded. "My mother-in-law was so polite that she even gave her a bag of dried sweet potatoes, fearing that she would have nothing to eat when she returned home."
Yang Xiaoxue rolled her eyes at him and said, "We were so busy renovating the house this year that we didn't even have time to dry the dried and shredded sweet potatoes. We won't have anything to eat when we get home!"
She got angry when she thought about this. Other people's parents and sons were busy running in and out happily when they were renovating their new houses, but his family was too lazy to even take a look.
The time for money and food has come. The pickled bacon, sausages, dried mushrooms, and dried sweet potatoes are all sent to his sister. It seems that the couple will be the ones to support them in their old age and see them to the end of their lives.
Fang Zhiqiang knew that she blamed her parents for being partial, but he could do nothing about it. No matter how bad they were, they were still her parents. Just like no matter how ugly her nose was, she couldn't just cut it off!
He changed the subject, "Youngest, are we going to harvest the red mushrooms this year?"
Zhou Huaian: "Receive it! Go there as soon as the time comes. It's the same quality as last year. Just send it to my house."
"Okay!" Fang Zhiqiang was full of energy thinking that he could go up the mountain to collect herbs and sell them in the spring.
Yang Xiaoxue suddenly remembered something, "Chunyan, I wanted to tell you this morning that Yang Hui's boyfriend didn't come to pay New Year's greetings today. Is there a conflict between her and her boyfriend?"
Yang Chunyan shook her head. "I don't know! Last time she came to Funiu, she came to my house and sat for a while. I saw that they got along pretty well!"
Yang Xiaoxue hesitated for a moment and said, "I heard from my sister-in-law today that the youngest grandmother asked the man to make up the betrothal gift, but I don't know if it's true."
Zhou Huaian recalled what Xu Erchun said last time, "Erchun used to say that his mother-in-law is a nice person, and that her family doesn't want a betrothal gift, and that the only requirement is that the two of them have to have their own house when they get married.
Now the house has been repaired, Erchun has bought a watch for Yang Hui, and plans to buy a bicycle and a sewing machine after they get engaged. These things will also belong to their family in the future!"
"We don't know either, and it's hard to ask!" Yang Xiaoxue sighed, "Grandma Yao is the hardest to please, and Yang Hui is carefree. It's hard to be caught between them!"
Fang Zhiqiang smiled and said, "Don't worry. Wasn't Yang Hui smiling happily when she was playing cards at Second Aunt's house this morning? I don't think she looks like she has something on her mind."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "I didn't see that she was unhappy!" He felt that if there was something wrong, Erchun should have told him and Yiding yesterday. If he didn't, it might be because he was delayed by something.
The four of them chatted and soon arrived at Guanyin Brigade. Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian sat at Yang Xiaoxue's house for a while and then continued on their way back.
Before I had walked far, I heard Zhou Yiding shouting from behind, "Youngest, wait a minute, Youngest..."
Yang Chunyan turned her head and looked, and said hurriedly: "Huai'an, Yiding is here."
"Fuck! I can even encounter this!" Zhou Huaian squeezed the brake, stepped on the ground, turned his head and waited for him to come over, "Where's your wife? Why didn't she come with you?"
Zhou Yiding looked at the two of them with a smile, "She was going to come originally, but I thought about going up the mountain with you tomorrow, so I asked her to come a few days later."
Zhou Huaian saw that he was smiling brightly, "Tsk tsk! Your face is almost broken from laughing. Your mother-in-law must have made a lot of delicious food for you, right?"
Zhou Yiding nodded proudly, "That's right, the future son-in-law is coming to visit, how dare she not prepare delicious food! Do you think it's like you used to be, tsk tsk! Not welcome at all!"
"Climb!" Zhou Huaian glared at him, "Ask my Chunyan how popular I am at my mother-in-law's house. Every time I go there, they serve fried eggs in a bowl and I can't finish them!"
"If you want to brag, just brag as hard as you can!" Zhou Yiding rolled his eyes, "It's not like I just met you today."
Yang Chunyan looked at the two people who started fighting as soon as they met, and shook her head in amusement!
Zhou Huaian thought of Xu Erchun's matter, "Ding Ding Cat, Erchun didn't go to his mother-in-law's house to pay New Year's greetings today. Do you know what happened?"
"Alas!" Zhou Yiding sighed, "Last night in the middle of the night, the old man suddenly said he was not feeling well, so Erchun went to Fangtian to ask a doctor to see him."
"The doctor examined him and asked them to send him to the hospital. It was the middle of the night and it was Chinese New Year, so they planned to send him to the hospital at daybreak. But he couldn't speak before daybreak. His brothers were all at home waiting for him!"
Zhou Huaian and the others realized what was going on. "We got up early in the morning, had breakfast and left. We didn't hear any news at all!"
Yang Chunyan asked in surprise: "Erchun knows the relationship between Yang Hui and my family, why didn't he come and ask us to bring her a message?"
Zhou Yiding thought for a moment and said, "His daughter-in-law next door married into your family. Maybe he asked them to bring the letter over?"
Yang Chunyan frowned after hearing this. Since someone had already sent the letter, why didn't Yang Hui come to Fu Niu to take a look? Could it be that the betrothal gift was true?
Zhou Huaian thought about how Yang Hui was laughing in the morning at his mother-in-law's house. If she knew that old man Erchun was dying and still acted like this, she would be really heartless!
He thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back and visit Erchun's house."
Zhou Yiding nodded, "I haven't gone to see Uncle Xu yet either. Let's go together later."
Zhou Huaian thought of the old man who would pant like a bellows after walking a few steps, "Alas! Uncle Xu has been ill for so long, I wonder if he can make it this time?"
Zhou Yiding shook his head. "I don't know! Erchun's sisters-in-law don't have a good relationship with him. They are worried that his mother will be alone after her husband passes away. They are also worried that his girlfriend doesn't want to live with her!"
Zhou Huaian thought of Yang Xiaoxue's words, "Yes! At the beginning, the Yang family did not ask for a betrothal gift, just to let him build a house and move out to live alone. Now... Alas!" (End of this chapter)
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