With Xiao Jiu acting as a goading tool, Tao Xiaoan's wonderful holiday came to an end. Apart from having a crazy day of fun on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he had to set aside two or three hours every day for intensive training. Tao Xiao Jiu naturally participated in these sessions, and each time she managed to provoke Tao Xiaoan to no end.
The question was too easy, but her academically challenged brother still couldn't answer it. She was so anxious that she wanted to ask him what he had been doing all these years.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yue changed the subject, "Why don't you go to school?"
Tao Xiaojiu pointed to herself, "Me? I don't want to go. I find it boring. I'd rather stay home and raid bird nests or catch crawfish. Besides, I can learn the material at school by myself. I don't need to go. I'll wait a few more years. Zhou Xing has been in the army for several years now, why hasn't he come back yet?"
“I came back, but only paid respects to my grandparents before getting into my car and leaving. Grandpa and Grandma Tao know this, and my brother came to kowtow to them.”
Having handled the funeral arrangements for their loved ones and taken care of Zhou Yue, Zhou Xing, as the older brother, would definitely come to pay his respects to the elderly couple.
However, Xiao Jiu wasn't home at the time, and the Tao family elders felt there was no need to mention it to her, so she didn't know.
"Is Brother Xing very powerful now?"
"Yes, compared to a few years ago, my brother has indeed changed. He's already earned a third-class merit award."
"Wow, does that mean he'll be promoted?"
Zhou Yue couldn't help but reach out and tap her forehead. "You little rascal, you know quite a lot. Let's not pry into things in the military."
Xiao Jiu stuck out her tongue. "Okay, okay, I won't ask. Then, Brother Yue, could you take me to the temple fair?"
Taking advantage of the temple fairs in the county and city during the Spring Festival, Xiao Jiu wanted to go out and see them. She had been cooped up at home for several years. Her older brother started school on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. He would be taking the college entrance examination this fall, so school started very early.
Zhou Yue and Tao Ran will start school on the tenth of the month, which is only four days away, so they plan to go with Tao Zui and study in the dormitory for those few days.
Now that Xiao Jiu said he wanted to go to the city, Zhou Yue subconsciously looked at the Tao brothers.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Lingli was the first to react.
"Ah Jiu, why don't you have your brother take you around the county town? Don't go to the city, since there's no one to take you there and then pick you up."
"Mom, I'm all grown up now. I'll go with my brothers and come back by myself."
"No, it's too dangerous for a young lady. If it really doesn't work, I'll have your third brother go with you."
"Mom, no, school starts on the tenth of the month, so I can't go even if I want to."
The elderly folks wanted to bring some wine, but unfortunately they were too poor to afford it. After considering all the people in the group, there really wasn't a single suitable one.
"Mom, how about this? I'll go with my brothers. They can put me on the bus, and I can take the bus to the bus station. Then Dad can pick me up. As long as we find out the bus schedule in advance and agree on the return time, there won't be any problems. I'm already seven years old. I have a mouth under my nose, so I won't ask questions. Besides, I'm so smart, who can fool me?"
But Zhao Lingli was still worried, and unexpectedly, her grandmother mediated the situation in the end.
“Lingli, let the child go. She’s been staying with us at home for so long, it’s a rare treat for her to go out and relax. Let her go to the city with her two older brothers to broaden her horizons. She’s very clever and can ride by herself without any problem. Consider it a good experience.”
Xiao Jiu was so bold simply because she believed that there were more good people than bad people in this era, and besides, she wasn't really a child, so what was she afraid of?
The old lady truly possessed great wisdom; she knew how to let go appropriately and allow her child to grow.
Although her brothers didn't approve of her coming back alone, their grandmother's words made sense, so they all expressed their opinions.
"Tomorrow we'll go to the bus station to check the timetable, and once we've agreed on the time, one of us will see you off at the bus stop and the other will pick you up at the bus stop. That way, it'll be a seamless connection, and there shouldn't be any major problems."
And so the matter was settled. Actually, she didn't have much desire to go to L City for anything. There wasn't much of a tourism industry back then. It was just about eating, playing, and seeing things, mainly for the sake of having fun.
She originally wanted to go there to see if she could sell something, but look, the way they arranged things for her was so intense that she couldn't even slip away halfway through.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Cuihua led her sisters to pay New Year's respects to the Tao family. Tang Cuixiang was in charge of cooking that day, with Tang Cuihong helping out. The two were now trying to communicate. When Cuixiang was cooking, Cuihong would watch over her and teach her what to put in and how to cut the ingredients.
Cuihong was a foodie, and knowing that Cuixiang was a good cook, and that Cuixiang seemed to have little strength in her wrists, she wanted to teach her and was willing to do so. She immediately realized that this was an opportunity, so the two of them worked together in the kitchen.
Xiao Jiu loves watching a good show, especially these two people—one deaf and the other unable to use sign language—communicate through eye contact, spoons, knives, and seasonings, yet they both understand each other perfectly. What is this? Two sisters with telepathic understanding?
"Wow, Sister Hong, Sister Xiang, the food you made is so delicious! And these shredded potatoes are cut so perfectly! This sweet and sour pork is so good, I want to learn how to make it next time, it's really delicious!"
Tang Cuixiang made the sweet and sour pork to cater to Xiaojiu's taste, and sure enough, it was the most popular dish. Even Zhao Lingli and Grandma Tao couldn't help but praise it. But no one mentioned how complicated the dish was, involving frying and stir-frying, and how much oil and seasoning would be wasted.
People won't be so tactless. After all, if you want to eat fresh food, you'll naturally need to use some oil. The point of the New Year is to have a festive atmosphere. It's too tiring to keep worrying about the daily necessities.
This year, Tang Cuihong also brought shrimp to the Tao family. These were rare delicacies, so they were simply boiled and served with a garlic and vinegar dipping sauce. They ate the shrimp, including the heads and shells, without worrying about the shrimp veins. People in this era didn't care about such things.
Cuihong couldn't hear what others were saying, so she rarely communicated; Cuihua spoke for her.
“This was bought by Cuihong. Fortunately, it’s cold and it hasn’t thawed.”
Although Cuihua was also curious about where Cuihong got these shrimp, she thought that although Cuihong didn't like to communicate with people, she was very strong. Maybe she was helping someone and they gave them to her.
They didn't think about it in any other way, but Cui Mei, Xiao Jiu, and even Tang Cui Xiang all took a few more glances at the prawns.
The shrimp were exceptionally fresh, unlike frozen shrimp, as if they had been caught directly from the sea. Moreover, the shrimp were quite large, at least larger than the ordinary shrimp that the well-traveled chef Tang Cuixiang had ever seen.
This is definitely not an ordinary shrimp!
It's really worth wondering how Tang Cuihong, a village girl, managed to get such high-quality shrimp.
The number of shrimp seemed to have been calculated, one for each person, no more and no less. Moreover, it was clear that Cuihong had brought them out as a gift, but none of the sisters had ever eaten them before, which made it even stranger.
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