The second day of the Lunar New Year is the day when most women return to their parents' home.
The couple from Qingshan were invited to stay for dinner after visiting relatives for the New Year yesterday. After discussing it today, they brought gifts and accompanied the daughter-in-law on her formal return visit to her parents' home.
We keep Little White and Big White at home to guard the house, and we provide them with plenty of food and water.
Jiang Yue, feeling uneasy, gave the house key to her mother-in-law at the old house. She planned to take her daughter, Da Niu, to her house to help look after her if her mother-in-law had time. She estimated that they would not return to the village until tomorrow.
Old Mrs. Zhou readily agreed, and even took two dried salted fish from her home, asking her third son's wife to take them back to her family to try.
This fish was one of the fish that the family received when the village's fishpond was harvested last year. Old Zhou usually doesn't eat it often, so she saved it specifically for visiting relatives during the Spring Festival.
Seeing that her mother-in-law was adamant, Jiang Yue thanked her family on behalf of her own and left with the dried fish.
Relationships need to be reciprocal for them to last...
The roads are a bit crowded today; most people are walking to visit relatives.
Some men complained about wasting money on the trip, while the women just nodded obsequiously, smiling ingratiatingly, not daring to utter a word in reply...
Heh~
Men~
Of course, some men will gently wipe away a woman's sweat, help with her luggage, and carry her children on their backs...
However, there are too few people who show such tenderness.
At least, Jiang Yue saw very little along the way.
Qingyao nestled in her mother's arms, her big, watery eyes curiously taking in the surrounding scenery.
She saw her little sister, even younger than her, wearing torn shoes that exposed her big toes, trembling as she followed behind her parents, her eyes filled with envy...
She also saw older brothers and sisters crying and making a fuss, pointing at her family's oxcart and saying they wanted to ride in it too.
As a result, the other person's father slapped him, and immediately a cacophony of noise and shouting erupted...
Jiang Yue frowned. She had the utmost contempt for men who were incompetent yet beat their wives and children!
However, she wouldn't invite trouble and didn't try to speak up for the woman. Instead, she covered her daughter's ears and gently coaxed her:
"Sweetie, don't look, sleep in Mommy's arms for a while. Mommy will call you when we get to your uncle's house."
Okay~
Qingyao smiled sweetly in response to her mother, nestled in her mother's warm arms, and gradually fell asleep.
Qingsong was driving the ox, not daring to be distracted, and meticulously steered it.
There are so many people today, the roads are all blocked. If we're not careful, we might accidentally overturn in a ditch.
Qingyun sat opposite her mother and sister, with thick quilts on her legs and a thick hat and scarf wrapped around her head.
Perhaps because it was his first time visiting his uncle's house, he was very curious about everything on the way, looking around constantly.
At the same time, every household in Jiangjiawan opened their doors wide to welcome their daughters and sons-in-law home.
Jiang Nian and his wife were no exception. They had almost sold all the ducks from the mountains, and with the Lunar New Year approaching, they caught the remaining ducks to raise at home. Thinking that their younger sister would definitely return on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the couple got up early to catch ducks...
The Jiang brothers, Lei and Jiang, also got up early to tidy up their respective rooms.
My parents said that my aunt is going home today and they'll be staying at their house for the night. My cousin/older cousin will each stay in their own room.
The youngest, Jiang Yu, had been looking forward to her aunt and younger cousin coming to visit for a long time.
Sure enough, she had been eagerly waiting at the door for a long time.
"Thump thump thump~"
"Giddy up!"
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they finally saw their cousin driving an oxcart towards their home!
"Second cousin~"
"Auntie~"
"Third cousin~"
"Little cousin~"
........
When Jiang Yue and her family arrived, they received a warm welcome.
Even the oxen on their journey were delighted to receive a bucket of hay, which they ate with great relish in the cowshed.
"Moo moo moo~"
Poor old ox of the Jiang family, seeing this, panted heavily in displeasure, instinctively hating this young fellow who came to steal his job!
"Moo moo moo~"
The young ox had incredibly innocent eyes. After thinking for a moment, it nudged some hay with its nose and offered it to the old ox.
Respecting the elderly and caring for the young, it's a good cow~
"Moo moo moo~"
The old ox thought for a moment, then leaned in and took a few bites.
The young ox, showing goodwill, quickly let bygones be bygones; their horns bumped briefly, and nothing happened.
Inside the hall, gifts of all sizes were carried in from the oxcart.
After making brown sugar water and serving it to her sister-in-law's family, Liu frowned and said it was too extravagant; they didn't need anything from Yunyun...
"Sister-in-law, I'm hungry, and Yao Yao and the others are hungry too."
Jiang Yue smiled but remained silent. Someone who truly cares about you will feel it's a waste if you spend even a single copper coin.
Similarly, with insincere people, even if you spend a hundred taels, they'll still think you're being ripped off, and it won't be nearly enough!
"Ugh, look at my mouth, I can't stop rambling once I start. Are you hungry, Lei? Take your younger siblings to get the food."
Upon hearing this, Liu stopped nagging, grabbed a strip of rag hanging under the table, wiped the table first, and then served her sister-in-law's family dinner!
"Qingsong, Qingyun, go and help."
Jiang Yue instructed her sons to help, then scooped up a spoonful of boiling hot brown sugar water, blew on it, and fed it to her daughter beside her.
"Okay, Mom~"
Okay~
The two brothers were very sensible. Without saying a word, they put their arms around each other's shoulders and chatted and laughed as they went to serve the dishes.
Braised pork knuckle, steamed meatballs, braised pork belly, a combination of salted fish and cured pork, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, pumpkin soup, steamed duck egg custard, and finally, the grand finale: roast duck, sliced into pieces, with a small dish of sauce for each person...
A fruit platter to cleanse the palate, rice as the main dish, and large white steamed buns.
Seeing such a level of hospitality, Jiang Yue couldn't help but joke:
"Sister-in-law, did you and my brother bring out all the food we had stored at home?"
Ms. Liu got up, worried that her sister-in-law's family might feel embarrassed to serve her food, so she took the initiative to use serving chopsticks to serve food to her nephew and niece.
Hearing her sister-in-law's teasing words, she couldn't help but smile and replied:
"No way. My family makes a lot of money from roast duck and salted duck eggs. Now that we have money, we can't just become misers, can we?"
"Yes, your sister-in-law is right. I'm thinking of raising twice as many ducks again in the spring. I plan to invite your sister-in-law's brothers to come to the mountains to see the ducks. Our family will focus our energy on building a house and developing sales channels."
When Jiang Nian talked about this, he felt more than just gratitude towards the girl; he also felt admiration.
His family's current prosperity is all thanks to the girl who encouraged them to raise ducks and gave them recipes for roast duck and salted duck eggs!
It's shameful to admit, but as the eldest brother, he failed to take good care of his sister; instead, she took care of him instead...
"Well, it's good that you have a plan in mind, but I'll just say something: it's fine to hire someone to raise ducks, but you and your wife must remember that the recipe cannot be revealed to outsiders."
Jiang Yue nodded and calmly gave her sister-in-law a warning.
Madam Liu wholeheartedly agreed and did not feel offended; on the contrary, she felt at ease because of her sister-in-law's frankness.
Since her family's life improved, her relatives have been coming to her to complain about being poor, and she knows what's going on.
After much thought and discussion with the head of the household, we decided to only accept the two youngest brothers from my mother's family to help, paying them three hundred copper coins a month...
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