Li Cuihua still felt sad; the more considerate her eldest grandson was, the more she felt sorry for him.
At three o'clock in the morning, Shi Tou got up. He hadn't finished washing up yet. Li Cuihua also got up and went to the kitchen, and Liu Xu came out from behind.
"Honey, I can go by myself. You don't need to. I don't know if my second sister and the others have brought anything back. It would be too crowded."
Liu Xu nodded. "Okay, be careful."
Shi Tou was quite happy; his wife was showing him concern. He grabbed Liu Xu's hand.
"Let go, I'll go to the kitchen and make you something to eat."
Li Cuihua cooked noodles and also poached two eggs for Shi Tou, while Liu Xu served them.
After seeing Shi Tou off, the mother and daughter went back to their respective rooms to rest.
At six o'clock in the morning, Liu Maocai had breakfast. "You three wait for me at home and study hard. If you have time in the afternoon, I'll take you to the market."
Liu Aimin was driving, and there were several women from the village in the car; they were going to the market. Everyone was happy to be able to travel by car.
Upon arriving at the market, Liu Aimin parked the car. "Don't worry, Mao Cai and I will go back first and then come back to pick you up."
Two large men moved quickly through the market.
Liu Maocai bought twenty catties of pork directly. He couldn't skimp on it, since his eldest son's girlfriend was coming over, and he couldn't let her down.
Then I bought two more portions of matsutake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms, ten pounds of eggs, and also tofu and bean curd sheets. I need to eat them for lunch today.
I even managed to buy some garlic sprouts, which were really fresh, and I also bought a few large pieces of fried dough sticks.
The two hurried home. They were waiting for stewed meat to be prepared at home.
Da Shan's mother arrived early. Da Shan's father had come over in the morning and learned that Jianguo's girlfriend was coming today, so he quickly asked his wife to come and help.
"Sister-in-law, you've come at the right time, otherwise I would have been busy for quite a while by myself."
Both of them were hard-working people, and they worked together smoothly. Before long, meat was stewing in the big pot.
Liu Jianguo had already cleaned the fish, and the two of them stewed it.
Before long, the rooster was killed and Liu Jianguo was in charge of chopping it into pieces.
The three main dishes were all cooked. Li Cuihua breathed a sigh of relief, and Liu Xu took charge of tending the fire.
"Sister-in-law, the matsutake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms are all soaked."
"Zhong, Jianguo, come over here and chop the minced meat, and also make meatballs."
Cuihua, these four main dishes are enough. The cold dishes are sausages, chicken soup with bean curd sheets, sweet and sour shredded radish, and cabbage heart with vermicelli, which my sister-in-law brought over.
The stir-fries are matsutake mushrooms and scallions with pork, pickled cabbage with vermicelli and frozen tofu, mapo tofu, and a garlic sprout and egg omelet.
"Okay, this dish is quite good, enough to eat."
"Mom, I'm going to pick up Jiang Yan," Liu Jianguo said to his family as he pushed his bicycle.
"You can ride your bike there, there's no other way." Li Cuihua had originally planned to ask Liu Aimin to pick her up, but since the other party had already made arrangements to go to the market, there was really no other way.
The three children do their homework in the study without adult supervision; they complete it all on their own. No one in the family is idle.
By ten o'clock, Li Cuihua had already cut the meat into strips and steamed buns and rice. The side dishes and cold appetizers were also prepared. Only then did she feel at ease.
"Willow catkins, take a rest."
"Mom, I'm not tired."
"If you're tired, just rest. We have so many things to do at home today."
"It really is you, sister-in-law! Quickly bring a bowl of meat to Da Shan's wife; maybe she can eat a few bites."
"No need, I've already cooked for her."
Li Cuihua completely ignored her, took out a bowl, and filled it with braised pork and chicken.
"If you're not going, I will."
"I got it! I got it! I'm so excited!"
"Willow catkins, I wonder if Stone has picked up your second sister and the others."
Liu Xu checked the time. "Mom, it's already past ten o'clock. I reckon they'll be home soon."
"Grandma, the stewed meat smells so good, I want to eat meat!" Zhiyuan ran out.
"Okay, Grandma will serve you a big bowl, the three of you go and eat."
A little while later, Da Shan's mother returned with two empty bowls. "Cuihua, I must say, Zhiying actually ate a few bites of chicken."
"That's great, we'll give her more of that in the future."
It was almost eleven o'clock, so the two hurriedly prepared to cook.
Liu Jianguo and Jiang Yan were the first to return.
Jiang Yan brought a box of pastries, two bottles of wine, two cans of malted milk powder, and two cans of peaches.
Li Cuihua saw the beautiful Jiang Yan and immediately took a liking to her; the girl had good taste.
"Auntie, I am Jiang Yan."
"Alright, alright, hurry up and come inside. Liu Xu, hurry up and pour some tea."
Li Cuihua pulled Jiang Yan to look at her, and the more she looked, the more satisfied she became. "Girl, your aunt thinks you're so good."
Jiang Yan didn't feel embarrassed at all. She let the old man hold her hand and look at her.
Liu Xu brought over a tea tray and poured water for the two of them.
"Mom, you sit here, I'll go outside and check the fire."
"Auntie, let me join you. If I just sit here, I'll feel embarrassed to eat later."
"Hehe, good, with the three of us working together, I can also help my two daughters-in-law with the work." Li Cuihua was genuinely happy.
Aunt Dashan secretly glanced at Jiang Yan and whispered to Li Cuihua, "This girl looks good."
"Yes, Jianguo can finally live a good life. Even if I'm not at home now, I can rest easy."
All the main dishes are ready, and now we're just waiting for Er Ya and the others.
"Jiang Yan, my second daughter should be here soon. Let's have dinner at 11:30."
"Auntie, it's alright, I'm not hungry yet."
Jiang Yan knew Er Ya. Although they had never met, Hong Mei had mentioned her. Moreover, the fact that all three children of the Liu family had been admitted to universities in the capital made them quite famous in the county.
At 11:15, the three of them, including Shi Tou, returned.
Stone's guess was pretty accurate; Er Ya really did bring back quite a lot of things.
“Er Ya, let Shi Tou and your older brother do it. Here, this is your older brother’s girlfriend, Jiang Yan.”
Er Ya smiled and shook hands with Jiang Yan. "Sister Jiang, I know that Hong Mei has said it more than once. That's Hong Mei's good friend."
"Hehe, I know Er Ya too, I've heard Hong Mei mention her."
Now the family was finally in a lively atmosphere, with Da Shan's mother in charge of cooking. Dinner was indeed at 11:30.
The whole family is very close, so they all pay attention to Jiang Yan and have a very good impression of her.
Jiang Yan wasn't shy at all; she was very open and generous.
After dinner, the mother and her four children went to sit in the living room while the men cleared the table.
“Auntie, I won’t hide it from you. I got divorced because they thought I couldn’t have children, but we’ve all had checkups and there’s nothing wrong with my health.”
“It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s better if you have children, but if you don’t, Pengfei will take care of you in your old age.”
"Yes, Auntie, I feel at ease knowing that you said that. We're both getting married for the second time, and I don't want to go through any more complicated procedures. We'll just get our marriage certificate and start living together."
"How can that be? I'd be so sorry to you."
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