Afterwards, the three children went ice skating. "Pengfei, shall we eat in the county before going back?"
“Okay, Dad, let’s go call Aunt Jiang to come along.” Pengfei had no objection; he was happy to play outside.
"Hmm, I'll go ask. She's at work, so I don't know if she can come out. You guys can play for another hour."
At this moment, several children gathered around. Their accents were different, and the children were quite curious.
Each of them had a spinning top, and the children formed a friendship very quickly; in no time, they were happily playing together.
Zhiyuan whipped the top with a small whip, finding it incredibly interesting. He had never played with one before.
It was already eleven o'clock, and the children all went home.
Liu Jianguo brought his three children to see Jiang Yan again.
"Xiao Jiang, let's go out to eat together."
"Okay, I'll give the instructions. I'll treat the three of them to dinner." After Jiang Yan finished giving the instructions, the five of them went to the restaurant.
Jiang Yan was stunned when she came in and saw her ex-husband, but she felt no emotion at all.
The food is pretty good today. "What would you three like to eat? Order yourselves."
"Aunt Jiang, please do it. We're not picky eaters."
Finally, Jiang Yan ordered a braised pork belly, a braised chicken, a stir-fried pork with matsutake mushrooms, and a cabbage and tofu dish. She also ordered five steamed buns and five bowls of rice. She refused to let Liu Jianguo pay.
"You guys eat, and if it's not enough, we'll get more."
Because they had eaten breakfast early and played for a while, all three of them were hungry. They then asked Liu Jianguo for two more steamed buns.
Lin Chong looked at his ex-wife not far away and felt very uncomfortable. He still had feelings for Jiang Yan, and he really looked down on the woman across from him who was eating so heartily.
The guy sitting next to her must be her boyfriend. I feel a pang of unease; is she getting married too?
"Lin Chong, why aren't you eating? I've already eaten even if you're not going to!"
"Eat it." That's the difference. But it's too late to say anything now.
After dinner, Liu Jianguo escorted Jiang Yan back to her workplace and to the bus station to wait for her bus.
At this time, Shi Tou drove to pick up his parents, while Liu Xu stayed at home to prepare dinner, so that the old couple would have a hot meal when they came back.
But they really didn't know where to start. Having no other choice, they went to find Hu Aifen.
"Auntie, what should I cook for dinner tonight?"
Seeing the somewhat embarrassed girl, Hu Aifen found it quite amusing.
"Come on, I'll go back with you. We'll make dumplings, and we'll be full and warm."
With each step of instruction, Liu Xu, being quite clever, quickly began to perform quite well.
Shi Tou drove to the city and went to the grain station first. He bought 200 jin of rice and put it in the trunk. He also bought 20 jin of noodles.
I waited at the station for more than two hours before I finally saw my parents.
"Mom, are you tired?"
Li Cuihua looked at her second son, her eyes squinting with joy. She had been worried about him, and now he was getting married.
"What's tiring? Zigan bought the sleeper ticket."
Shi Tou took the luggage from Liu Maocai's hands. "Dad, give it all to me. I drove back from the capital."
The three got into the car. "Mom, shall we eat out?"
"No need, hurry home. When will your second sister and the others arrive?"
"I called the day before yesterday, and it arrived tomorrow."
Pengfei, Ping'an, and Zhiyuan all came back with me and Liuxu; that is, my second sister and her husband.
"Liu Xu is here too? Then we definitely need to go back." Li Cuihua urged Shi Tou anxiously.
"Mom, my older brother is home too. He brought the kids to town today, and I reckon he should be home by now."
What was he doing in the county town?
“Hongmei’s friend introduced her to my brother, and my brother agreed. He took Pengfei to see her today. He said that Pengfei agreed, and then he would let you two meet her.”
"Phew! I'm finally thinking about settling down."
Liu Maocai asked, "Have you two prepared everything at home?"
"Yes, the fish have arrived. I also bought chicken, beef, and vermicelli at the market the day before yesterday. The pork has also been ordered from our village."
The noodles are made from wheat grown by my uncle Aimin. Today I bought 200 jin (100 kg) of rice from the city, and also some dried noodles.
"Well, nothing's missing on the important matters."
"Dad, we haven't gone to announce the good news yet. My great-grandmother said the sixteenth of the twelfth lunar month is an auspicious day."
"Okay, it's the sixteenth of the twelfth lunar month. Go and deliver the good news to each household tomorrow."
“Dad, we just said hello to my eldest and second uncles, and didn’t bring Liu Xu and the children with us.”
Liu Maocai was taken aback for a moment. "It's alright. Tomorrow, you can take Liu Xu and the gifts to announce the good news." There's nothing that can be done when even brothers have reached this point.
The family of three didn't get home until 7:30. The children hadn't seen Li Cuihua for several months, and Zhiyuan rushed over, "Grandma, Grandma, you're finally back!"
Li Cuihua hugged her three children and said, "I'm back."
Liu Jianguo and Shi Tou carried things into the house.
Liu Xu stood nervously to one side, watching Li Cuihua.
After the mother and her four daughters had gotten to know each other well, Li Cuihua held Liu Xu's hand, showing her great fondness for the little girl.
I used to think this girl was pretty but quiet, but now she's my daughter-in-law. The more I look at her, the more satisfied I become. "Liu Xu, we two are truly destined for each other."
"Auntie," Liu Xu said shyly.
"Still calling me 'Auntie'?"
"mom."
"Haha, that's right."
"Mom, I'm going to cook dumplings. My aunt helped me make these."
“Okay, let’s go together, mother and daughter.” Li Cuihua pulled Liu Xu to the kitchen. The three children followed behind them.
Although the elderly couple said they weren't tired, they were getting on in years. Even in a sleeper berth, it wasn't comfortable.
So after dinner, the three children went to bed with the elderly couple.
The next morning, Li Cuihua got up early to cook. Then she checked the things Shi Tou had brought back and prepared things for her eldest and second eldest brothers-in-law.
Liu Maocai helped out from the side. "Honey, how much cloth should we give each family?"
"Twenty feet per family is enough, that's quite a lot."
"In the middle, there are two bottles of wine and a box of pastries."
Liu Xu was setting out the dishes in the kitchen, while Shi Tou was leading three children in practicing boxing in the yard.
"Let's eat first. Stone, you have to go to many places today."
Shi Tou stopped. "Mom, aren't they just my three older cousins and four older female cousins?"
"And there are your great-uncle, great-aunt, great-aunt, great-uncle, and seven or eight other families."
"That's quite a lot. I can't find any of these relatives either."
"You have a mouth, can't you ask around?"
"Okay, I'll write them all down in a bit. So I won't forget them."
"Yes, your brother will go with you."
"Yeah, I can find almost all of them."
After the family finished eating, Shi Tou said, "Take Liu Xu to your eldest uncle's house first, and then go to your second uncle's house when you come back."
Watching them leave, Li Cuihua immediately prepared gifts for the remaining fifteen families. They were all the same, except she gave her niece's family ten feet of cloth.
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