Chapter 54: The dispute over the pork meat re-emerges, and the dowry is on the mind

"He said he had something to do and asked us to come back and eat first."

Lin Xiuzhi stayed at home in the morning and did not go to work. She made hand-rolled noodles with leavened dough, served with tomatoes and cabbage, which were so delicious.

Lin Xiuzhi looked outside, left her younger son's portion in the pot, and invited everyone to eat.

"Eat, eat, then go to the warehouse. It's time to divide the pigs."

When Jiang's father and the others were almost done eating, Jiang Xingyan came back in a hurry, holding a cane in one hand and a few small white paper bags in the other.

Seeing this, Lin Xiuzhi sighed helplessly: "Did you go to pack medicine?"

"Well, the fever cannot be delayed. I'll send it to Chu Zhiqing first." Jiang Xingyan didn't bother to eat and went to the yard to find Chu Sangning first.

Chu Sangning was wrapped up tightly. Lin Xiuzhi was worried that she would get a fever if exposed to the wind, so she decided to let her bask in the sun at noon when the sun was at its best.

"This is a fever-reducing medicine. Drink it in half an hour." Jiang Xingyan said briefly, handed the medicine to Chu Sangning, gave a few careful instructions, and turned around to eat.

Looking at his back, Chu Sangning could clearly see that his white shirt was soaked with sweat and there was some dust on his shoulders. It was obvious that he was very tired from the work in the afternoon.

Chu Sangning lowered her eyes and quietly opened the medicine bag. Inside were several colorful pills. She was so moved that she immediately held back her tears. So many? Was she going to poison herself to death?

Although he was very reluctant in his heart, Chu Sangning slowly got up and went to the kitchen.

Jiang Xingyan happened to be the only one in the kitchen. He was sitting on a small stool holding a large bowl. When he saw Chu Sangning coming in, he subconsciously stood up and put down his bowl and chopsticks, "I'll pour it for you."

"It's okay, just sit down and eat. I'll do it myself." Chu Sangning didn't have the nerve to ask Jiang Xingyan, who had been working for half a day, to pour water for him. He was already very tired, so he didn't want to worry about these things anymore.

Jiang Xingyan ate with big mouthfuls but very politely. After he finished in a few bites, he didn't leave in a hurry. He stood at the kitchen door and leaned against the door frame, looking at Chu Sangning, who was sitting lazily beside him with her hair half tied up.

The sun was at its hottest at noon. Jiang Xingyan's shadow shone into the kitchen. It was his own selfishness that was at work. Jiang Xingyan slowly moved his body, allowing his shadow to be in close contact with Chu Sangning, as if they were snuggling together.

Chu Sangning took a deep breath, poured a handful of pills into his mouth, endured the bitter taste, drank a mouthful of water, and swallowed it hard. Before he could say anything, a candy was handed to him.

"Have some candy."

Chu Sangning took the candy and put it in his mouth, then held out his hand: "Where's your bowl? I washed it for you."

"Let me do it. You go and rest. You are not fully recovered from your illness yet."

Jiang Xingyan persuaded Chu Sangning to go out first, while he rolled up his sleeves and cleaned all the dishes and pots in the kitchen, and piled up the firewood, like a hardworking little bee.

Before they had time to rest after dinner, Jiang Xingyan and Chu Sangning only heard Lin Xiuzhi's loud voice, "Brother Yan, Sangning, let's go."

A few people walked towards the brigade warehouse and met a few villagers on the way. They surrounded Lin Xiuzhi and started flattering her, praising her so much that Pan Wenlan next to her felt a little uncomfortable.

"They change every day." Pan Wenlan held Chu Sangning's arm and complained in a low voice. Yesterday she wanted to eat their flesh raw, but today they started to flatter them.

Chu Sangning smiled without saying anything, but patted Pan Wenlan's hand to comfort her.

When we arrived at the brigade warehouse, almost everyone in Changxing Village was there, men and women, young and old, and even a new bride holding her babbling baby. It was like the grand New Year celebrations.

Seeing the Jiang family coming, someone started clapping and cheering, "Look, the Jiang family is here, divide the pigs."

"Divide the pigs! Divide the pigs! Divide the pigs!"

Jiang Zongzheng stood on the stage and waved his hand. Several strong young men carried a dead wild boar and placed it on the ground.

Boil water, scrape the pig hair, cut the meat and bleed it...

The Jiang family naturally chose the wild boar they hunted first. Lin Xiuzhi asked for a bucket of pig blood, two pounds of lean meat and two pounds of fat meat. She didn't ask for the best ones, as she wanted to leave some for the people behind.

There are many families in Changxing Village, probably more than ten or twenty households. Everyone wants to choose first. In order to prevent conflicts, Jiang Zongzhen asked someone to make up some numbers.

"Let's draw lots first, according to 123. Come on, everyone come up and draw lots."

Old Mrs. Luo washed her hands specially this morning, thinking that she would draw a good number, so she picked out the good ones first.

When she heard Jiang Zongzheng say that the drawing of lots had begun, Old Lady Luo pushed aside the other old ladies beside her and trotted forward. There was not enough space to begin with, but she was still squeezing in, causing complaints from those around her.

"What are you doing, Luo? It's such a small place, why don't you just step over my head and get through?"

"Yeah, what are you fighting for? You have the nerve to take the Jiang family's things. If I were you, I would be so embarrassed that I wouldn't dare to see anyone."

Old Mrs. Luo was not ashamed to be squeezed out by others. She said in a shrill voice: "What's wrong with me? I didn't do anything wrong. I am also from Changxing Village. Why can't I draw the lottery?"

Zhao Jiayun saw that Old Mrs. Luo was arguing with someone else again and gave her an irritable look. Luo Yiping's mother was really annoying enough. She felt uncomfortable if she didn't quarrel for a day.

While she was arguing, the line for the lottery was almost up. Zhao Jiayun gritted her teeth and looked at the indifferent Luo Yiping: "Why don't you just do something about it?"

Luo Yiping could clearly understand the complaints in her words, but what could he do? His mother had been quarreling for most of her life, and it was not something she could change in a short time.

"If I could have done it a long time ago, you go and smoke." Luo Yiping motioned Zhao Jiayun to go over.

She went up and picked one at random, opened it and handed it to Luo Yiping, "12."

"That's fine. I can pick some good meat."

After the quarrel was over, Mrs. Luo went up to the stage to draw lots with her head held high and sweat on her forehead, only to find that her family had already finished drawing lots.

She clapped her hands in anxiety, as anxious as a grasshopper: "I didn't smoke, I just didn't come up."

The scorer held back his anger and said, "Your daughter-in-law has just drawn her lot. Hurry up and go down, don't delay the people behind you from drawing lots."

Old Mrs. Luo came down cursing, and when she found out her daughter-in-law had drawn "12", her face turned ashen, and she pointed at Zhao Jiayun with trembling fingers, her lips twitching, and then she started cursing.

"How dare you make the decision yourself? I'm not dead yet, so what is your turn to make the decision?"

"You've grown strong enough to be married into our Luo family for only a few days. Didn't your parents say they would send you your dowry? It's been more than ten days, and I haven't even seen a hair, let alone the dowry."

Zhao Jiayun was scolded by Old Lady Luo, who pointed at his nose. He instantly lost expression and his smiling face became stiff.

She couldn't even smile awkwardly, she felt like everyone was staring at her.