Chen Ming's wife, Xiaohong, looked like an ordinary farm woman, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with dark skin and plain appearance. She was wearing a cotton-padded jacket, which made her medium-sized figure look very bloated. She wore a patched black and red plaid coat with a slanted collar outside the cotton-padded jacket, which was clean. She greeted Feng Qingxue warmly, "Come in and sit down. Don't be so polite next time."

Chen Ming's two sons were at home, and they were a little shy when they saw the guests.

Chen Ming laughed and scolded, "Your Uncle Lu came here just a few days ago, so you don't recognize him today?"

His eldest son Chen Tianzuo was older and had a better memory. He called out "Uncle Lu" with a smile, then looked at Feng Qingxue curiously and shouted loudly, "Hello, Aunt Lu!" He pushed his younger brother Chen Tianyou and asked him to follow him and shout.

Chen Ming and Xiaohong laughed out loud, but Feng Qingxue's face turned red.

When guests came to the house, Xiaohong greeted them and then went to the kitchen to get busy.

Residents of other towns either lived in a large courtyard with several families living side by side, or lived in a tube-shaped building with each family sharing a small space, with more than a dozen people living in 30 or 40 square meters. However, Chen Ming's family lived in a small courtyard bought for him by his father Lu when he got married. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, no one dared to covet his house because of his background and contributions.

Feng Qingxue handed the things in her hand to the two children and went over to help.

"Sister, you are a guest, how can I let you cook?" Xiaohong turned around and saw Feng Qingxue, and hurriedly pushed her to the main room to sit and drink tea.

Feng Qingxue smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, I can't interrupt you, so I'll just help you."

After hearing this, Xiaohong had no choice but to give up.

Feng Qingxue entered the kitchen and found a stove similar to the one in Lu's house. There were two iron pots, one large and one small, on the stove. There was also an iron coal stove next to it. On the coal stove sat a large copper kettle, with steam coming out of the spout. There were neatly piled honeycomb coals in the corner, and two broken wooden barrels. There were lush garlic sprouts growing on the soil in the barrels, and a small part of them had been cut off.

Radishes and cabbages are winter vegetables stored in every household. In the kitchen there were some that had been dug out from the cellar in the morning, as well as a pile of potatoes of different sizes. Xiaohong picked up the large copper kettle and poured hot water into the basin, added cold water, and quickly washed seven or eight radishes and a large cabbage. She also cut a handful of garlic sprouts and washed them, and peeled and washed the potatoes.

Feng Qingxue said she was helping out, but in fact she was washing and cutting vegetables just like Xiaohong, and was never idle for a moment.

After the vegetables were cut, the earthen stove and coal stove were used together. The latter had its door opened, and a small iron pot with two handles was placed on the stove.

Xiaohong dug a large piece of lard from the oil can and put it into the pot. It melted immediately in the hot pot and the aroma filled the house.

Cabbage stewed with vermicelli, stewed radish slices, scrambled eggs with garlic sprouts, and spicy and sour shredded potatoes, each one is very filling.

"My kids are greedy. Old Chen's pork supply was used up at the beginning of the month, so there's not a single piece of meat at home to treat you when you come." Even though today's meal consumed as much as their family could eat in three days, Xiaohong still felt very embarrassed.

Feng Qingxue smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, please don't be so polite. Everyone knows that there is a shortage of supplies now. Whether there is meat or not, being able to eat enough is a blessing. Ah Jiang brought me to visit Brother Chen and Sister-in-law because he wanted me to get to know Brother Chen and Sister-in-law so that it would be convenient for me to visit them in the future, otherwise we would not recognize each other when we meet, which would be a joke. If we get angry because we don't have a bite of meat to eat, then who are we?"

After hearing these words, Xiaohong couldn't stop smiling and felt particularly comfortable. No one doesn't like a considerate customer.