Chapter 195 Two in One
Pei Che prepared all the New Year's goods.
A few days ago, in addition to picking up and dropping off my wife from get off work, I was busy buying New Year's goods.
I even took my grocery store book and ran to queue up to buy things at three or four in the morning.
Logically speaking, with Ding Guo's current wealth of an acre of black land and the system mall, he should have no shortage of everything. However, the man took such good care of her, picking her up in the morning and eating with her at noon. Ding Guo had no chance or excuse to get things from the space to replenish supplies for the family, and could only watch him busy himself.
But Pei Che looked very happy, and seemed happy to be busy for the first year after their marriage. He was as busy as a hardworking little bee every day, as if he had endless energy.
Ding Guo just let him go.
In addition to buying things for himself, Pei Che also asked Sui Baoguo to help him get some supplies.
Thirty kilograms of rice flour, two chickens, more than ten kilograms of pork belly, two raw front elbows, seven or eight hairtails, three carps, and a bundle of fresh leeks.
The old man also had someone send over five pounds of pork belly, a piece of pork ribs, a pair of raw pig's trotters, seven or eight pounds of mutton, and two pounds of raw beef.
Since there was no shortage of supplies, Pei Che was able to show off his skills. He made lion's head, fried vegetarian meatballs, meatballs, fried meat, fried fish, and braised the beef, pig's trotters, and pork elbow.
The fish was not only fried, but also smoked. He learned this dish from his comrades in the south.
The old man let the young couple celebrate the New Year at his home, while he himself would stay in the army.
Pei Yu's family also spent the New Year in the army.
Pei Yu and his friends will have a performance in the evening.
If Ding Guo's belly wasn't too big now, Pei Yu would have asked his brother and sister-in-law to go to the army to watch the art performance.
Although there were only two of them, Pei Che was still prepared to show off his skills and prepare a good table.
The man was busy in the kitchen wearing an apron, while Ding Guo was peeling pine nuts in the house and eating them, while collecting money remotely.
During this New Year's Day, she neither called back to scold anyone nor wrote back to criticize anyone. She didn't know what had offended those people. From the afternoon, those 'old customers' took turns to come online and began to contribute internal friction value to her bit by bit.
I even saw Pan Yuanzheng and his wife whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.
It's Chinese New Year, why don't they reminisce about other things, but the process of their downfall? Aren't they just looking for trouble?
Ding Guo didn't provoke anyone from the old Ding family, but they still started fighting among themselves.
Because it is the New Year, Lu Xiaomei has to go back to visit her father-in-law even if she doesn't want to.
The small house is less than 30 square meters, but a whole family is crowded in the limited public space.
There were quite a few people, but cooking became a problem.
Dingxiang doesn't want to cook the whole family's New Year's Eve dinner by herself.
Zheng Wenfang didn't want to do that even more. She covered her chest and retched from time to time. Lu Xiaomei was no better. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were playing a duet, one saying "hew" and the other saying "hew". Anyway, they would rather retch than stretch their hands to work.
Lu Xiaomei even acted more miserable than Zheng Wenfang. She held her daughter in one hand and lay on her side, retching.
Ding Zhigang wanted his eldest son to help, but Lu Xiaomei turned around and stuffed her daughter into Ding Jianguo's arms: "Jianguo, your daughter is looking for you! ... Ugh!"
Seeing his eldest daughter-in-law like this, Ding Zhigang's face turned a little unhappy, but because she was his daughter-in-law, he couldn't blame her, so he had to give up instructing his eldest son.
Let the two brothers of the Jia family go, and they pretend to be busy doing their winter vacation homework.
In the end, Ding Jiandang was the only one who went to help.
What can this clove do?
She turned around and started arguing with Ding Zhigang: "I usually cook and do housework. At the end of the year, Ding Jiandang and I cleaned the house. We should cook the New Year's Eve dinner. Are you looking for a stepmother for us or an ancestor for me? One ancestor is not enough for the two of us to serve, and she has to take care of two little ancestors. What should I do for them?"
Whoever does the housework has a bad temper. In the past, Ding Jiandang never got involved in the housework. Now he couldn't just sit there doing nothing. He was forced to follow Ding Xiang's old path. As he became more and more proficient in housework, his temper also grew. He retorted, "Dad, you are biased. Why don't the two Jias do housework, but only Xiang Xiang and I do it? As soon as you ask them to work, they do their homework. It's been days since they finished their homework. They are so stupid that they might as well drop out of school!"
Not to mention, the little kid from before can be quite talkative once he wakes up.
Ding Jiandang finished speaking and Ding Xiang followed up: "No wonder the eldest sister refused to acknowledge you no matter what. With a biased father like you, whoever acknowledges you will be in trouble."
"Mom is right. If there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. You are a stepfather." Ding Jiandang didn't understand the meaning of this sentence before, but now he deeply understands it. He pulled Ding Xiang's hand and said, "Let's go to Mom's house to celebrate the New Year."
Although they might not be able to have a good New Year if they went to their mother's house, they still had to serve Zheng's mother and her two children during the New Year, and they just didn't want to fulfill their wish.
The two ran out.
Ding Zhigang's face turned red and white. He was angry, but he also understood that his children were right. He also felt that his two step-sons were a bit too much, but after all, they were not his biological children, so he couldn't say anything too harsh.
But I also feel that Dingxiang and Jiandang are too ignorant. It’s New Year’s Day, what’s wrong with cooking a meal when the family gets together?
The noise brought shame to his face.
Ding Zhigang got angry and shouted, "Jia Anping, Ding Jianguo, come and cook with me."
Seeing him angry, Jia Anping came over reluctantly, and Ding Jianguo hurriedly put his daughter back into Lu Xiaomei's hands and went over to help.
Zheng Wenfang forced herself to stand up, as if to say, "I'm not feeling well but I want to struggle." She took two steps and said, "Zhigang, if you can't do it, I'll do it... Ugh, ugh!"
Ding Zhigang turned around and helped her up: "Don't work if you're like this. Go back to the house and rest."
Zheng Wenfang burped again, holding Ding Zhigang's arm, and said apologetically: "It's all because of my body. I was safe and sound before, and my reaction was not so strong. Maybe I was young then, but now I'm older and my appearance is not good."
While speaking, he also glanced at Lu Xiaomei over there.
As someone who has been through this and is good at acting, even if others can't see it, can't she see that her stepson's wife is also pretending?
When Lu Xiaomei noticed her, she turned around and said, "Aunt Wenfang, whether pregnancy is uncomfortable or not has nothing to do with age. I'm young... Ugh! I'm young, but I still... Ugh!"
Ding Zhigang said in a panic, "Alright, alright, your Aunt Wenfang didn't say anything to you."
Zheng Wenfang felt choked up. She ignored Lu Xiaomei and continued to talk to Ding Zhigang, "Let Anping pack up. You should go and get Xiangxiang and Jiandang back on your bike. It's cold and they're far from their mother's place. Don't let them get frozen."
Ding Zhigang had just been humiliated by his youngest daughter and son, and he was a little unhappy: "You still feel sorry for them, but do they feel sorry for you? You have wasted your money on making clothes for them."
But when Ding Xiang mentioned Ding Guo just now, Zheng Wenfang was worried about the fact that she had not received a response to the letter she sent. She asked suspiciously, "Did the Pei family not receive the letter? At least give a reply!"
Zheng Wenfang didn’t know whether the Pei family had received the letter, but Ding Zhigang knew and was ridiculed by his eldest daughter over the phone.
But because of face issues, Ding Zhigang never mentioned it to Zheng Wenfang.
Later, he asked his colleagues about the report. They didn't mention the name, but only said that the report letter came from the capital. Who else could it be besides Ding Guo?
I didn't even have the courage to tell Zheng Wenfang about this; it was too embarrassing.
"Forget it, let's ignore her. Let's just pretend that we father and daughter are not destined to be together." Ding Zhigang said to save his dignity.
Zheng Wenfang said seriously, "Should we prepare for the reception on the second day of the Chinese New Year? Isn't the eldest daughter going to return to her parents' home for the Chinese New Year in her first year of marriage?"
Just as Ding Zhigang was about to say something, Lu Xiaomei sneered, "They didn't even inform us of their marriage, what's the big deal about the second day of the Chinese New Year?"
Ding Zhigang looked embarrassed and angry, but he didn't say anything.
After all this commotion, thinking back to all those bad things, it would be strange if Ding Zhigang didn't take the opportunity to complain to Ding Guo.
On the other side, Yue Hongmei listened to the hustle and bustle coming from the neighbors, looked at her lonely home, and was busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner while looking after the children. She couldn't help but feel sad and started to cry, cursing as she cried.
They complained that Pan Dingfeng did not come to Fengning for the New Year, and scolded Ding Zhigang for being a heartless person who could not keep his promise and could not live without a woman. He remarried not long after his divorce and was shamelessly planning to have another child.
Cursing Ding Xiang and Ding Jiandang as two ungrateful bastards.
Since I remembered the two little ungrateful people, I naturally didn't forget about the big ungrateful person Ding Guo. Isn't that just sending money remotely?
As she was cursing, two ungrateful kids came in. Yue Hongmei was obviously a little happy in her heart, but her words were unpleasant to the ears: "Oh, your stepmother kicked you out during the New Year's Day?"
Dingxiang has become accustomed to her mother's sarcasm.
But today she would rather look at her mother's cold eyes than go back to serve that family.
With a cold face, he went to help Yue Hongmei light the fire.
No matter how unhappy the two families were, at least they could have a meal of dumplings. However, Ding Jianshe and Ding Nianjun, who were undergoing reform on the farm, could not even have a meal of dumplings or a steamed bun made of two grains of flour.
Ding Nianjun sat on a low bed made of bricks and wooden boards, gnawing numbly on the steamed bun in his hand.
She always felt that her life shouldn't be like this, but somehow it became like this.
She missed Pan Dingfeng, Yue Hongmei and her son Huihui in Fengning.
But she couldn't figure out what she had done to Lu Xiaomei and why she should report her.
She also thought of Ding Guo, and couldn't help but assume that if Ding Guo was willing to help, with the strength of her in-laws, he could rescue her from the darkness with just a flick of his finger.
But obviously, assumptions are just assumptions and cannot become true.
"sister!"
Ding Jianshe's voice was heard outside, and Ding Nianjun went out chewing a steamed bread: "Jianshe!"
"Sister, my brother-in-law wrote to me and sent me something."
Because of their special identities, their families do not contact them frequently.
Things are not sent frequently, and not all of the things sent to them reach their hands. After being deducted at various levels, only a tiny bit is left in their hands.
Even so, I dare not send it too frequently.
Because they are bad elements, and bad elements don’t deserve to eat well and use good things.
When I opened the package, there were only ten kilograms of coarse grains, a few sweet potatoes, and two or three potatoes.
Ding Nianjun reluctantly swallowed his anger and said, "I'll cook some sweet potato porridge later."
She asked again, "What's in the letter?"
The letter had to be inspected when it was sent to the farm. It had already been opened and the package was not sealed. When Ding Jianshe was called to pick it up, it was just thrown to him with the package open.
He himself had no awareness of respecting other people's privacy and opened it to read on the way.
This was not the first time he had done this, so Ding Nianjun knew that he must have seen it before, so he asked casually.
The letter was sent by Pan Dingfeng, and he also talked about some things that happened in the Ding family during this period.
Ding Jianshe looked unhappy: "Dad's new wife is pregnant."
The news of Ding Zhigang's second marriage was told to him by Ding Nianjun after she came to the farm. Ding Jianshe was stunned for a long time.
Since he didn't know about his parents' divorce and the property being given to his mother, it would be strange if he could understand it if he was suddenly told about his father's remarriage.
He almost exploded with rage afterwards. If he hadn't been on a farm, he felt like he could punch his dad in the face with his fist.
Ding Nianjun was shocked: "Dad is already...at that age, and he's planning to have another child?"
She opened the letter and quickly scanned it, frowning: "Can Dad afford to have another child with his salary? Don't care about Xiangxiang and Jiandang?"
"It's all because of that unlucky star Ding Guo! You still don't believe me!" Ding Jianshe looked around and said in a low voice, "She really is an unlucky star. She has brought bad luck to both of our families."
When people are having a hard time, they always recall the past. Ding Jianshe has recalled it many times and replayed the whole process of the Ding family's decline several times. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Ding Guo was a bit evil.
Her family has been unlucky since she returned to the city. If this isn’t a bad omen, then what else could it be?
And my mother seemed to have said so too.
Although feudal superstition is prohibited, the things passed down by our ancestors always have their reasons.
Ding Guo is truly evil.
Ding Nianjun said: "What's the point of saying all this now? Just do as I say, work hard to behave, strive for a reduced sentence, and go back to help mom earlier. Mom has it so hard!"
Ding Jianshe nodded heavily: "I know, I'll listen to you!"
Ding Nianjun looked down at the few things left, picked up two sweet potatoes, kicked the things on the ground, winked at Ding Jianshe, and said, "Send them to your captain in the evening."
Ding Jianshe was very reluctant, but he knew that he couldn't catch the wolf without sacrificing the lamb, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!"
Ding Nianjun went to cook sweet potato porridge, pure sweet potato porridge, without rice or noodles, but at least it was a hot meal.
Doesn't she want to get her sentence reduced and leave this damn place sooner?
Of course she wants to, but weighing the pros and cons, even if she loses weight, she will not leave earlier than Jianshe. It is better to let Jianshe go back first. Jianshe is not as gentle as her eldest brother. If he goes back, the Ding family will not have an easy life.
Even though Ding Nianjun just mentioned Ding Zhigang as "Dad", she actually hated Ding Zhigang's coldness and ruthlessness.
He called her dad for twenty years, but their relationship was severed in an instant.
If she doesn't have a good life, then that old man Ding Zhigang won't have an easy life either, and neither will that bitch Lu Xiaomei.
She couldn't do anything to Ding Guo for the time being, so could she not deal with these two people?
Ding Nianjun lowered his head and washed the sweet potatoes with a sinister look in his eyes.
In the capital, Pei Che brought the last dish to the table.
In order to avoid leftovers, the portion of each dish is not too big, and they are made based on the appetite of two people.
Exquisitely presented braised spare ribs, half the usual amount of stir-fried bacon with green peppers, stir-fried lamb with green onions, old-style Chinese cabbage, and shredded pork with Beijing sauce.
A platter of beef and pork knuckle, smoked fish, braised lion head and meatball soup.
The staple food was dumplings. Pei Che did something great without making any noise. He actually made three kinds of fillings: white radish and oil residue filling, cabbage, tofu and vermicelli, and leek and pork filling.
Ding Guo closed the backend and stopped paying attention.
The fact that these people could appear in the backstage on New Year's Eve showed that they were not living a happy life. Knowing that they were not happy made her happy!
The room was warm and the dishes on the table were delicious.
Pei Che raised his glass, his eyes were tender and his expression was somewhat moved: "Wife, this is the first year after our marriage. I am lucky to have met you and married you. This year, because of you and our unborn child, this year has become extra special. Wife, Happy New Year!"
Pei Che wasn't drinking wine. His cup contained tea, while Ding Guo's cup contained...prepared milk powder.
In previous years, he would either spend the New Year in the army or come back to spend the New Year with his grandfather in the army. He would return home with his grandfather in the middle of the night, and the two would chat about training and then go to rest.
This year is different. He has his own little family and is about to welcome two babies. He has an indescribable sense of happiness, which is very wonderful and makes him very greedy.
Ding Guo was also somewhat moved. She had her own little home in this world, and the feeling was very different. She smiled and said, "Pei Che, marrying me is your luck; marrying you is also my luck. I hope that when we finish this life, we will still feel that we are each other's luck. Happy New Year!"
The two of them clinked their glasses lightly, raised their heads and toasted, smiling at each other, with a hint of happiness flowing in their eyes.
Pei Che put down the cup, picked up a piece of braised pork ribs and put it in Ding Guo's bowl: "Wife, more pork ribs!"
Ding Guo also picked up a piece of pork ribs for him: "Eat more, you've worked hard these past few days!"
Pei Che raised his head: "It's not hard, serving my wife is not hard at all!"
Ding Guo chuckled: "That's a good idea, keep it up!"
There were eight dishes and one soup, and the two of them finished them all. The dumplings were not fully cooked, only a small half were cooked, so there were still a few left, which they could heat up and eat tomorrow morning.
After dinner, Ding Guo walked around the house in circles. Pei Che cleaned up the mess, cleaned the kitchen, put the dishes in the cupboard, and came back to continue walking with Ding Guo.
The two got up early the next morning, and Pei Che cooked dumplings.
He ate the leftovers from last night and re-cooked them for Ding Guo.
After breakfast, I went to the compound.
Although the old man said that Ding Guo didn't have to go there on the first day of the new year, he still went there.
The old man gave Ding Guo a big red envelope, and the money given to the old man before the New Year returned to Ding Guo.
After wishing the old man a happy new year, the two went to the study to call their parents and brother and sister-in-law to wish them a happy new year.
While they were talking, someone from the Pei family came to wish the old man a happy new year.
Pei Che went out to say hello and exchanged a few words with the neighbors who came to pay New Year's greetings. After everyone left, he returned to the study, and Ding Guo had already finished his call.
"I'll take you to the second floor to rest. I'll go out for a walk."
Ding Guo nodded: "Okay, I'll go to the bathroom first."
Pei Che took care of Ding Guo all the time and sent him to the second floor to rest. He went downstairs and prepared to go out.
The old man warned him: "Don't waste too much time. After you finish worshipping, hurry back to Zizhu Bridge with Guoguo. The house will be filled with smoke and chaos today. Guoguo won't be able to rest well."
The living room smells of cigarette smoke now.
Pei Che nodded, turned around and walked out.
Ding Guo picked up a book from the space upstairs to pass the time, and from time to time he listened to the lively greetings and the old man's hearty laughter coming from downstairs.
Pei Che came back in less than an hour. There happened to be other neighbors there, so he chatted with them for a while. As soon as the neighbors left, he went upstairs and helped Ding Guo down. The old man arranged for Xiao He to send the young couple back home, and also reminded them: "Family doesn't need to follow those polite rules. You should rest at home and let Pei Che run errands if you need anything."
"Got it, Grandpa!"
Back at Zizhu Bridge, Pei Che opened the stove that had been sealed in the morning, and the room quickly became warm.
Ding Guo said, "You go to Aunt Yu's house, Uncle Song's house, and Uncle Huang's house. I won't go this year."
Several families knew about her situation, and no one would say anything if she didn't visit them to pay New Year's greetings this year.
On the contrary, if she really went, people would still be worried.
Pei Che said: "Okay, I'll be back soon."
Before he went out, he brought in the large urine bucket that had just been cleaned in the morning, refilled it with ash, and put it in the west room.
The chair above the urine bucket has been replaced with one that he had specially made. It is more comfortable than the one he made himself and is also covered with a cushion.
The discarded chair has been burned as firewood.
"Don't go out to the toilet, just go inside and I'll come back to clean up!" Pei Che thought of his wife's love for roasted sweet potatoes, so he said, "Do you want to bury two sweet potatoes under the stove?"
Ding Guo shook her head. The roasted sweet potatoes she had eaten two days ago were what she took out from the space and had already been eaten.
After getting used to eating the soft, glutinous and sweet ones, I don’t want to eat the white-fleshed sweet potatoes anymore.
Pei Che placed peanuts and melon seeds on the table, made her a bowl of milk powder, and rode out with great concern.
As soon as the man left, Ding Guo slipped into the space.
Although it is warm in the house, the climate is not as comfortable as in the space.
As soon as he came in and saw the black soil full of various fruits, Ding Guo felt his eyes brighten up a little.
On the edge of the black soil, the fruits on the two apple trees are already half red, and the pear tree was harvested last week, and this batch of flowers is just beginning to bloom, competing with the peach tree next door... but it can’t win.
The white pear blossoms are not as beautiful as the pink peach blossoms.
Ding Guo held her belly and looked straight past the pear blossoms to see the blooming peach blossoms.
Next to the peach tree is the orange tree. The branches are full of green oranges, which will be harvested in a few days.
Two banana trees were planted in the corner of the field not long ago, and they are growing well.
Judging from the situation, it can be collected in two days.
In my previous life, I heard from my classmates in the south that they ate bananas that were naturally ripe, while the bananas sent to the north were harvested before they were ripe and then ripened on the way.
This time she wanted to try naturally ripe bananas.
Because the system is hardworking, there is nothing for her to harvest in the fields at the moment, but she can still appreciate it.
Ding Guo walked slowly on the ground, holding his stomach. The system kept reminding him: "Be careful, don't step on the strawberries on the ground... Host, you stepped on my spinach!"
Ding Guo: ...
She took two steps back and looked down.
A spinach leaf that she accidentally stepped on into the mud was being carefully lifted up by an invisible force and was visibly standing up again.
Ding Guo twitched his lips, decided not to bother the rats here, and went back into the house.
The corner of the living room was filled with things that Haozi had collected for her. Wheat, corn, and various vegetables and fruits were neatly stacked in baskets.
There are some in the kitchen too, but at Ding Guo's request, only a small amount of fruit is placed in the kitchen so that she can wash and eat them whenever she wants.
Ding Guo made himself a fruit platter.
There was a whole plate full of strawberries, grapes, cut apples, pears, watermelon and peeled oranges.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t finish it, the space can keep it fresh, and you can still taste fresh next time you eat it.
He took it to the chair in front of the dining table next to him and cooked for himself.
After eating the fruit, I went outside for a walk on the lawn.
After playing in the space for more than two hours, Ding Guo flashed out and it was less than an hour outside.
She felt that Pei Che would not stay outside for too long.
Sure enough, Pei Che came back not long after, with two little tails following him.
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