When Liu Aimin heard Zhang Hongmei say she wanted to go up the mountain, he said, "Hongmei, I'll go with you. I'm worried about you going alone."
"No need, Uncle, I can go by myself. If you're really worried, you can take a net and go fishing in the pond. I'll go check on the prey. I've always been very lucky."
That way, you can get here quickly if anything happens.
"Tomorrow I'll go find Da Shan's father and Mao Cai, and we'll go up the mountain with you. We'll go fishing, and you can wander around the mountain, but don't stray too far from us."
"Uncle, don't worry."
The dumplings were already cooked. Hu Aifen came in and called them to go out for dinner.
"What kind of filling are your dumplings for today, Auntie?"
"Dried radish and chive dumplings, shrimp dumplings. And chive and egg dumplings. Eat whatever you want. It's just that we don't have any meat at home. Otherwise, I would have made you chive and pork dumplings."
"Auntie, this is perfect. I like dumplings with shredded radish."
Liu Changhe's family of five, plus the three of them, made a total of eight people sitting around the table.
Zhang Hongmei ate half a bowl of dumplings filled with dried radish and a few dumplings filled with chives and eggs. She still preferred the dumplings filled with dried radish.
Wang Xinyi and Wang Ying each ate two bowls of dumplings. They tasted even better than meat dumplings. In particular, Wang Xinyi, like Zhang Hongmei, also liked the radish filling.
After dinner, Zhang Hongmei and the other two went home. But things were far from peaceful at Liu Changhe's house.
Liu Changhe's wife sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and chatted with Liu Changhe. "Daughters are still the best. Look at Hongmei, when she came back, she thought of bringing gifts for everyone in the family. Our own granddaughter doesn't even come back for holidays. We raised her for nothing."
Liu Changhe soaked his feet on the ground, sweating profusely. "Yes, she's not a blood relative, but she's even more filial than a blood relative. Otherwise, our mother wouldn't care so much about Hongmei. She can see that this child is kind and righteous."
Liu Aimin and his wife lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), "I hope Jingze will be blessed." Liu Aimin sighed.
"Yes, it's heartbreaking to give such a good girl away to another family. It's better for her to come to our family. I will definitely treat her even better than my own daughter," Hu Aifen said with emotion. She felt she had raised her own daughter in vain, since Zizhe had grown up right beside her. But, after all, he was a boy, not as perceptive; her daughter was still the most considerate.
Zhang Hongmei and the others returned home. They sorted out the gifts they had brought back. They would deliver them to Liu Maocai's family in a little while, and the rest would be delivered to each household tomorrow. Originally, they had planned to give each family twenty catties of each kind of candy, but after thinking about it, they decided to give each family ten catties, and put the rest in the canteen so that everyone could have some.
Liu Maocai's family brought two Zhongshan suits, ten catties of brown sugar, ten catties of white sugar, ten catties of rock sugar, a plate of bananas, three jars of meat sauce, and ten meters of work cloth in four different patterns. They could take all of this with them to make clothes for Er Ya and San Ya.
In the end, I only sent fifty kilograms of rice. I still have to eat at home, and I also need to give Wang Hongxi a little extra.
The three of them carried baskets on their backs this time. Li Cuihua looked at the things Zhang Hongmei had brought and patted her on the back, saying, "You're always wasting money."
Zhang Hongmei tore off a piece of banana, peeled it, and stuffed it into Li Cuihua's mouth. "Third Aunt, this is a southern fruit, it's especially sweet, you should try it. Shitou and Sanya, you two should eat quickly too, it's been like this for several days. It's got black spots, it'll rot in a couple of days." As she spoke, she tore off another piece and handed it to Liu Maocai.
Sanya took a bite and said, "Mmm, it's so sweet. My second sister, Hongmei, won't be able to have any."
Wang Xinyi sat to one side. "Bananas can be dried in the sun to preserve them."
"Aunt Wang, won't it rot then? Can we keep it until my second sister comes back?"
"Yes, but it has to be a sunny day, and it would be best to cover it with gauze. There are a lot of flies these days, so don't waste it."
"Okay, Aunt Wang, I'll cut it dry tomorrow."
It was already dark, so the three of them didn't linger and went back after a while.
When Zhang Hongmei arrived home, she had prepared two jin of brown sugar, two jin of white sugar, a third of a plate of bananas, and a Zhongshan suit. She then knocked on the door next door.
The old principal saw Zhang Hongmei today, but there were too many people, so he didn't push his way forward.
Zhang Hongmei exchanged a few simple polite words and then went home.
I prepared a Zhongshan suit for Wang Hongxi, and later added five jin of brown sugar, five jin of white sugar, and ten jin of rice. It was still a full basket, but I thought I'd better deliver it tonight, as there would be too many people around tomorrow and it wouldn't be convenient.
Wang Ying went along, but this time Wang Xinyi didn't go. Instead, she stayed home to boil water, as she would need to wash up when she returned.
Wang Hongxi's family very politely invited the two people into the house. Zhang Hongmei put down the gifts and went home without staying any longer.
"Hongmei, you are so popular in the village."
"Hehe, yes, I've been living here by myself since I was five years old. The villagers help me with all the work. And look, all the canteens in other places have closed down, but our village is still operating. That's because the people in this village are united."
"Yes, it feels really warm and welcoming here."
"Yes, Wang Ying, your description is very apt; it's all about warmth and human touch. No matter where I go, I only feel at home here."
“Hongmei, I really envy you. You have so many elders who love you. I am an orphan. It was Old Master Gu who took me in. My childhood was spent practicing martial arts and learning.”
Zhang Hongmei didn't detect any resentment or other negative emotions in Wang Ying's tone. She felt that the girl had no complaints and should be a grateful person.
"Hehe. I spent my childhood farming."
When the two returned home, Wang Xinyi had already boiled water.
"Aunt Wang, please go wash up first. I still need to prepare a gift."
Zhang Hongmei's gift was for Huang Ying: five jin of white sugar, five jin of brown sugar, five jin of rock sugar, and ten jin of rice, all packed in a basket. She also asked Huang Ying to bring a women's Zhongshan suit so she could stop by the post office when she passed through the city.
I also prepared two jin of brown sugar, two jin of white sugar, and two jin of rock sugar. This was for Li Juying.
I currently have 61 jin of brown sugar, 61 jin of white sugar, and 8 jin of rock sugar left.
Zhang Hongmei decided to deliver 100 jin of rice to the canteen tomorrow, along with 50 jin of each of the three types of sugar.
The next morning, Zhang Hongmei carried a basket on her back and took a machete, then went up the mountain.
Wang Ying wanted to go with Zhang Hongmei, but she refused. She also didn't care whether Liu Aimin and the others were going fishing in the mountains.
So Zhang Hongmei's goal this time was very clear: to bring out a wild boar. Before the wheat harvest, she wanted to give everyone a good meal to keep them motivated, as the wheat harvest was very tiring.
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