Jiang Yan's well-behaved nature made Hu Aifen and Dashan's mother quite happy.
The young wife was neither servile nor arrogant, and she did not appear distant or unreasonable.
Da Shan's mother was very grateful to Liu Jianguo. It was Jianguo who helped introduce her to her daughter-in-law. Although she was thin and not entirely satisfied with her, she was still much better than Wang Xiaorui.
Now that I see Jianguo has also gotten married, of course I'm happy. The main thing is that I find the girl pleasing to the eye.
“Jianguo’s wife, if your mother-in-law isn’t home in the future, just come to us.”
"Yes, I will. In the future, I will need you two to keep an eye on all the big and small things in the village. My parents are not at home, but my husband and I live in the city, which is not far away, so we can still come back."
"Haha, okay, I'll definitely let you know in time. From now on, it's your responsibility. We're all getting old."
Jiang Yan followed behind them, helping out. The dining hall in the cafeteria had already been cleaned up, and now they were just preparing the dishes.
We also cook lunch, since there are so many people helping out.
However, all four large pots were filled with stewing meat. The aroma practically filled the entire village.
These past few days, Li Cuihua has been receiving gifts at home every day. The whole village is giving gifts. So this is essentially equivalent to the communal dining system of that era.
After lunch, the women busied themselves plating the food.
This is a big job. Sixty bowls of pork chunks were ordered, sixty bowls of pork strips were also ordered, and chicken and beef were also ordered in sixty bowls each. The rest were put in large basins.
The offal has already been taken out of the water and left to dry; we can cut it tomorrow.
At the Xiang family's dinner, there were no cold dishes. Ordinary farming families would just have simple cabbage stew with tofu. But the dinner that Liu Maocai and Li Cuihua arranged for the Xiang family that evening included four bowls of meat, but no fish. There wasn't enough fish, so they had no choice but to do it this way.
The meal consisted of tofu and sauerkraut stewed in meat broth, along with cabbage and bean curd sheets—all substantial dishes—as well as large cabbage dumplings and sweet and sour shredded radish. Add to that four bowls of meat, and this table served as a typical family's main feast.
The whole village came over for dinner, a total of twenty-five tables, a lively and bustling scene. Liu Maocai, with Shitou in tow, went from table to table urging everyone to drink. There would be alcohol tonight, but it was just ordinary baijiu. Nevertheless, this made the men very happy.
It wasn't until 10 p.m. that we finally got everything sorted out.
“You all go home, I have to stay, otherwise stray cats and dogs will come.”
"Dad, you go back, I'll stay." Liu Jianguo felt sorry for the old man.
"No need for you, I'm afraid you'll fall asleep. At my age, I don't need much sleep."
“Jianguo, go back and come back around three or four o’clock,” Li Cuihua said.
The next morning, three young women came to the village to help tidy up the willow catkins.
"Sisters, I don't wear makeup, I don't like it."
"Stone's wife, it's not good not to wear makeup."
"It's okay, sister-in-law. I really don't like it. It's fine as it is."
The three people watched Liu Xu persist without saying anything.
At this point, the two brothers brought their grandmother over. The old lady was either unable to sit or walk.
My mother is the closest to my uncles, and both of my uncles' families had already arrived. Shi Tou went to my eldest uncle's house, where they said he would definitely be there for the meal. My second uncle's family had already come to help.
Relatives gradually arrived, making the house quite lively. My cousins all came to see the new bride.
"Hehe, Stone's wife is the most beautiful in our family."
"Yes, she's even prettier than Sanya." Third cousin was the most cheerful and had the best relationship with Liu Jianguo and the others.
"Hehe, that's right. Stone, you'd better treat your future wife well, or she won't want you anymore."
"Don't worry, second cousin, my wife won't do that."
The house was bustling with activity, and everyone was all smiles. Some of the girls in the village looked on with envy, but they didn't dare to show it. On this special day, if you didn't look happy, you'd be kicked out.
The cafeteria was even busier, with twenty-eight tables now occupied, and many relatives had come as well.
Liu Xu sat with the old man on the kang (a heated brick bed), but there was no need for her on this day.
“Stone’s wife, you don’t have to worry about being bullied after you marry into our family. Stone would never dare to do that.”
Liu Xu also liked the old man very much. She trusted his words completely. Just by looking at their family life, she knew that they treated the women in the family very well.
"Grandma, I understand. I won't let myself be bullied."
“Girl, Grandma knows you are a very capable person. We will entrust the future of Shi Tou to you. He is making great achievements outside, and we old folks are very worried about him. With you here, we can finally put our minds at ease.”
"Grandma, don't worry, I will take good care of Ai Dang."
The two sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) chatting, with Jiang Yan following behind Li Cuihua as she went to meet some relatives.
This meant she was now officially recognized; everyone knew she was Liu Maocai's eldest son's wife. In the countryside, the eldest son was highly regarded, so everyone was secretly observing Jiang Yan.
They all thought to themselves, "This is a capable person."
Li Cuihua would tell everyone she met to come over on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month for a wedding banquet for Jianguo.
Most people readily agreed, but a few petty people felt resentful. They thought, "We already had a wedding for Jianguo last time, why do we have to have one for his second marriage?" But no one showed it.
The lunch was very lavish, but some people were dissatisfied and remained silent after seeing today's wedding feast.
Liu Maocai and Li Cuihua, along with Shi Tou and Liu Xu, went around toasting each other and introducing Liu Xu to the villagers and their relatives.
Good cigarettes, good wine, good food. And rice and steamed buns too—this is practically a wedding feast for the first time.
When her relatives left, Li Cuihua gave them some meat. Although it wasn't much, just one bowl for each family, it was still a generous return gift.
Li Cuihua distributed the remaining vegetables and meat to the villagers, deciding not to invite them to dinner that night.
In the afternoon, I cleaned up the canteen inside and out, because it would be needed again on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month.
By evening, the whole family was exhausted, especially since the plates and bowls hadn't even been brought back yet. Otherwise, they didn't know how long they would have had to keep working. So, Da Shan's father simply gave Liu Maocai the key to the canteen.
Er Ya, Jiang Yan, and Liu Xu tidied up the house, with the men doing the heavy work. It took them an hour to finally get it clean.
Finally, Er Ya got up and made rice porridge. The whole family was too tired to move. As for vegetables, they simply shredded the heart of a cabbage and made a cold salad with soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and chili oil. There was also some pickled red vegetables.
Everyone got up and ate porridge again. With this spicy and sour cold dish, everyone had a bit of an appetite.
Jiang Yan, Liu Xu, and Er Ya tidied up the kitchen again. They boiled water so the whole family could wash up.
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