As soon as the sky turned pale, Yang Xu got out of bed. He carefully got out of bed and put on his clothes, and then lifted the quilt for Yu Ge'er to prevent him from sweating from the heat.
October weather starts to get hot early in the morning. Waking up early is fine, but if you get up late, you'll definitely be sticky. Today is the day to visit relatives, so Yang Xu went to the duck shed and caught two ducks. He tied the wings of one and left it in the yard. He will slaughter the other one later and make it into roast duck.
Yang Xu's father, Yang Guang, also came to help. One of the father and son held the duck wings while the other sharpened the knife. Wu Yuehe carefully handed over a bowl of salt water and then went to prepare other items.
Four-colored cakes, dragon and phoenix wedding cakes, red-paper wrapped brown sugar, and a jar of Shaoxing Huadiao wine tied with red silk. Wu Yuehe looked at the gifts with satisfaction and carefully placed them in her backpack. She would carry the duck later, and the roast duck would be placed in a basket to avoid being seen.
Yu Ge'er slowly woke up to the sound of ducks quacking. He glanced out the window and saw that it was already bright daylight. He guessed that it was already noon. Yu Ge'er lingered for a while before struggling to get up. He couldn't get up late to go back home today.
Because Yu Ge'er worked in the embroidery shop, Wu Yuehe didn't have to get up early to prepare breakfast. Yu Ge'er was grateful and secretly made up his mind to give his mother-in-law half a tael of silver from his pocket every month.
Yu Ge'er's monthly salary as manager is two taels of silver. In addition, he takes time to embroider purse handkerchiefs and sells them in the shop. He also has customers who specifically ask him to make clothes, so his monthly income is not low.
Yang Xu privately told him to just save his own money and not worry about the family. Yang Xu was the only man in the Yang family, and apart from giving a few taels of silver to his father and mother every month, he saved the rest of his earnings.
Yu Ge'er got dressed and walked out of the room. He saw the return gifts packed up in the main hall, but he didn't see anyone in the yard. Only the duck with its wings tied was flapping its wings unwillingly. Suddenly, he heard voices coming from the backyard, mixed with the aroma of roast duck.
Yu Ge'er knew that Yang Xu was making roast duck, so he walked to the backyard curiously, wanting to see how Yang Xu was making it.
Because of his marriage, the shop was closed for the past few days and the shop assistants and cooks were on holiday. Yang Xu did not cook any food these days, so Yu Ge'er had never seen him make roast duck.
Yu Ge'er came to the backyard, where there was a dome-shaped oven made of bricks. When making roast duck, fruit wood was placed inside to make a fire. When the charcoal was burned to red hot and smokeless, the duck was hung in the oven with an iron hook and the oven door was closed to roast it.
At this moment, Yang Xu was adjusting the position of the roast duck so that it could be heated more evenly.
"How long will it take?" Yu Ge'er asked. Yang Xu was startled when he heard the voice. He turned around and saw it was Yu Ge'er. He patted his chest and let out a breath, "You walked without making any sound. You scared me."
Yu Ge'er laughed out loud, "Haha", wondering how this guy could be so timid.
"It will be ready in about half an hour. Let's go have breakfast first. Mom made some steamed buns." Yang Xu clapped his hands and pulled Yu Ge'er to the front yard.
*
When they arrived at the front yard, Wu Yuehe had already placed the steamed buns on the table and cooked a pot of fragrant multi-grain porridge. Yu Ge'er ate with gusto. He rarely ate steamed buns at home, but he tried all the breakfast foods in the shop.
Half an hour later, the roast duck came out of the oven, rosy in color and fragrant. Yang Xu carefully took the roast duck out and let it cool slightly before putting it back into the basket.
The two of them, bearing their gifts, set out on their journey home. Along the way, Yang Xu carried the basket on his back, the live duck in his left hand, and held Yu Ge'er's hand tightly with his right. Yu Ge'er, in turn, carried the basket of roast duck. As they passed, many villagers, sensing the aroma of roast duck, would turn back to look.
Yangjia Village is not far from Luoyang Village, only about two quarters of an hour away. The Yang family does not have a donkey cart, so they usually push a cart to go to the town.
"Brother Yu, are you tired?" Yang Xu wiped the sweat off Brother Yu'er's face with his sleeve and sighed helplessly, "We should buy a donkey cart, it will be more convenient."
It's not that the family is short of money. Yu Ge'er thought that it was very hard for them to push the cart to transport ducks to the town every day. It would be better to buy a donkey cart. He would also contribute some money to buy a better donkey.
From a distance, Li Yuemei was seen looking out the door, with Zhao Qiming standing behind her. Yu Ge'er waved happily, "Ah Mo! Dad!"
Li Yuemei smiled, took a few steps forward and took Yu Ge'er's hand, "You must be tired, come in." Zhao Qiming took the things in their hands.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, they heard Zhao Yian screaming, "Ah! Uncle! You're back!" and then he flew over to Yu Ge'er. Yu Ge'er smiled and hugged Zhao Yian, kissing him on the cheek, "Yes, I'm back. I missed our An'an so much."
Several people sat down in the main hall. Li Yuemei brought out the mung bean soup that had been drying for a long time. "It's too hot today. Come on, have a bowl of mung bean soup to cool down."
Yu Ge'er looked around while drinking, "Where's Gefu?"
"He and your brother went to the vegetable garden and will be back soon."
As they were talking, Zhao Shiyun and Lin Yan came in. Lin Yan's belly was slightly bulging, and she was about four months pregnant. Seeing Yu Ge'er coming back, Lin Yan happily walked a few steps faster. Zhao Shiyun was so anxious that he reminded her a few times from behind, and then Lin Yan slowed down.
"Brother Yu, I've finally got you back." Lin Yan held Brother Yu's hand, his face full of smiles. Brother Yu looked at Lin Yan's bulging belly and said with concern: "Brother, you have to be careful and don't get tired." Lin Yan smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, I'm taking care of myself."
At this time, Li Yuemei came in with a plate of washed grapes, "Don't just sit there and talk, eat some grapes." Everyone sat together, eating fruit and chatting. Lin Yan picked up a grape, peeled it, and fed it to Zhao Yian's mouth, reminding him, "Remember to spit out the seeds." The grapes were a little sour, and Zhao Yian frowned and nodded.
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