Chapter 29: Tomb Sweeping
Wang Dadi stood up and his legs felt numb. Xie Shuangbai hurried to help him up. "Okay, don't go back at noon. Just ask your aunt to cook the meat we bought yesterday."
Xie Shuangbai pinched his leg and said, "Okay, I'll have another free meal here today!"
"Eat, eat as much as you want. Your appetite is even smaller than Tiantian's. I'm not afraid if you come here every day!"
Wang Dadi stared at him, and Xie Shuangbai chuckled.
In order to show that his meal was not in vain, Xie Shuangbai decided to show off his cooking skills at noon.
Cui looked at him with a puzzled look:
"Can you cook?"
"Auntie, you underestimate me."
Xie Shuangbai tied up his clothes and searched the Wang family's kitchen before he found the ingredients he wanted.
He was full of joy and ready to show off his skills. Cui, who was standing by, saw him scoop a large spoonful of oil and a large piece of sugar. Her face turned green and she slapped his shoulder with her fist in pain:
"You are such a waste, kid. So much oil and such a big piece of candy!"
Xie Shuangbai glanced at the oil in the pot. There was only a small spoonful, which was not enough. He prepared to add some more.
Cui saw him about to pour the oil and took the oil can away.
Xie Shuangbai was stunned. What was going on?
Cui didn't wait for his reaction:
"Alright, alright, just make this one dish, and I'll do the rest!"
Cui showed the most unfriendly side she had in a long time and pushed him out directly.
From then on, every time Xie Shuangbai wanted to enter the kitchen, she would push him out without mercy.
Xie Shuangbai returned to the main room feeling very depressed.
Xie Qiushi knew why his brother was so listless and asked quietly, "What's wrong? Aunt Cui doesn't want you to cook anymore?"
Xie Shuangbai was surprised: "You know that?"
Xie Qiushi looked at Xie Shuangbai with a smile: "That's normal. The way my brother cooks will definitely scare Aunt Cui."
Well, Xie Shuangbai found that some concepts are indeed difficult to change. The common modern cooking method is a waste here.
The dinner was quite sumptuous, and the braised pork made by Xie Shuangbai was the most popular dish.
"Delicious, this pork smells so good."
Wang Dadi also took a bite and said, "It's delicious."
"Mom, how did you do it? Teach me!" Xue said while biting the meat.
"How can it not be delicious? It uses a lot of ingredients!"
After Cui said this with a distressed look, she also took a big bite of meat.
Xie Shuangbai couldn't eat anymore after taking a small bite. The pig had a fishy smell because it wasn't castrated, and the Wang family didn't have an iron pot, so the smell was even more indescribable.
He put down his chopsticks and looked at everyone: "Come to my place someday. I'll cook a meal in an iron pot and it tastes quite different from the one cooked in a clay pot."
Wang Shunyi was impressed by his cooking skills and agreed immediately.
Wang Tiantian ate like a little cat, licking her lips and saying, "This meat is so delicious!"
Wang Manman's little mouth was so full that he couldn't even speak.
Seeing everyone enjoying the food, the little son in Li's arms also babbled and waved his little hands.
Li smiled and said, "Look at how greedy Tiantian is."
Xie Shuangbai didn't react: "Tiantian?"
Xie Shuangbai's words finally brought everyone back to their senses. Xue said, "Mantian, Tiantian only said reduplicated sounds, and it's really the same as Tiantian!"
Wang Dadi hadn't thought of this when he was naming it. He ate a mouthful of meat and said, "That's not difficult. Let Shuang kid come up with a new one."
Xie Shuangbai was stunned when his name was called. He thought for a moment and realized that farmers all like to have more food. So why not call out, "Wang Shinan, how about that?"
No one in the room spoke. Even Wang Dadi probably didn't know how to write such a foreign-sounding name.
Wang Shunfa read it out and said happily, "That sounds good."
"A good harvest in a good year means a good harvest and a bountiful harvest."
Sure enough, after Xie Shuangbai finished his explanation, everyone thought the name was really good.
Xue was also a little tempted: "What a nice name! I really want Xiaoshuang to change it!"
Xie Shuangbai knew that if he didn't explain the meaning of this name well today, his sister-in-law would definitely feel unhappy.
"Sister-in-law Manman is such a great name. It represents everyone's love for him. He will surely be blessed in the future."
Cui also smiled and said, "Indeed, my eldest grandson is very blessed!"
After hearing what her mother-in-law and Xie Shuangbai said, Xue felt a little better: "Yes, we are full of sweetness!"
Wang Da nodded and smiled: "Yes, yes, that's what I meant when I named it!
Xie Shuangbai looked at Tiantian and Manman beside him with their mouths full of soy sauce, so he took out a handkerchief to wipe them.
Then add the sauce in the plate to the rice, steamed soft potatoes and green leafy vegetables, mix them together and share half for each person.
The two stared at him with wide eyes. He explained in a gentle voice, "Children need to eat more vegetables to stay healthy."
I don’t know if the two little guys understood or not, but they started eating with big mouthfuls.
Seeing Xie Shuangbai caring so much about Tiantian and Manman, Xue felt warm in her heart. "Don't worry about them. Just eat quickly."
"I'm done eating, sister-in-law. I'll just watch them eat. You and aunt can eat quickly."
Seeing how much he ate, Cui felt very distressed: "Oh my, your appetite is even less than that of the little civet cat at home."
"I really can't eat anymore, auntie!" Xie Shuangbai said coquettishly while touching her stomach.
Xie Shuangbai was also puzzled. He had always had a good appetite. It might be that his original body had not eaten enough for a long time, which caused his stomach to be damaged, and he felt uncomfortable after eating too much.
Wang Dadi said with a worried look on his face, "I'll have to check on your health some other day."
"It's okay. Uncle Li said to take care of it slowly."
Cui thought for a moment and said, "You can take some back with you after Xiaomi has cured its health."
Xie Shuangbai waved his hand: "I bought it yesterday."
"By the way, uncle, is there any news about the stone mill I mentioned yesterday?"
"I asked you, I want two taels of silver."
“It’s so expensive!”
Xie Shuangbai was really surprised that a piece of stone was so expensive!
"What do you think? It's hard to quarry stone for a stone mill. It's very time-consuming and expensive, so the price is naturally high. Otherwise, our village can buy a mill together."
Wang Dadi didn't want him to buy a mill either: "Why don't you just grind it in the village?"
"It's too heavy. I can't grind it. Even if I could, I still have to carry it home."
Wang Dadi looked at his thin arms and shook his head: "Shunyi and Shunfa have nothing to do these days, so you two can help Shuang kid pull the mill."
"Okay, Dad, don't worry."
"Then I'll have to trouble Brother Wang. Let's try it for a few days. If it doesn't work, I'll still have to buy a grinder."
Wang Dadi thought it was okay, "You should try it first, and save your money."
He still felt that Xie Shuangbai could not endure hardship and spent money without knowing how to count.
After dinner, Xie Shuangbai bought some paper money at Wang's house, and agreed to come again tomorrow afternoon, then went back with her sisters.
The next day was a rare sunny day. Xie Shuangbai took paper money, a pot of wine, steamed buns and meat to the Xie family cemetery.
Grandpa Xie was very far-sighted and set aside a piece of land for a cemetery.
The cemetery is quite large and looks a bit deserted.
Xie Shuangbai's mother and father were buried side by side, and his grandfather Xie Huai'en was buried in the distance.
He looked at his mother's bare grave and felt a little sad.
The original body had a very hard life after his mother passed away. His father didn't care about his affairs, which led to him being treated harshly by Huang, so he didn't have much feelings for Xie Zhi, and was more sad for his mother Bai.
He laid out the steamed buns, meat, and wine, and took out paper money from the basket: "Let's burn more paper. Dad spends money without counting. If he doesn't save enough, he still has to make Mom work hard."
The three sisters also knew what their father was like. They nodded, took a thick stack, drew a circle, and began to burn it while muttering.
Xie Qiushi looked at the paper money being quickly devoured by the flames and muttered, "Dad, you have to be nicer to Mom. If you don't have enough money, please send us a dream."
Xie Xiachan also said: "Mom, don't be stingy with your money. If it's not enough, tell us."
"Dad, don't bully Mom when you get there! Otherwise I won't give you any money!"
Xie Qiushi had no choice but to call her.
Xie Chunmiao felt aggrieved: "Sister, am I wrong? Dad was not good to us before. If it weren't for my brother, we wouldn't be alive. Burning money for him now is filial piety. If he dares to treat mother badly, I won't burn money for him!"
After saying that, he started crying loudly.
Xie Shuangbai watched her cry for a long time before gently patting her shoulder: "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay after you cry it out."
Xie Qiushi and Xie Xiachan listened to her crying and shed tears silently when they thought of their previous lives.
Xie Shuangbai saw that they vented their emotions in front of their parents by visiting the graves.
He didn't stop it. The sooner he expressed the emotions that were pent up in his heart, the better.
Xie Shuangbai glanced at Grandpa Xie’s grave in the distance, thinking of all that Grandpa Xie had done to his original body when he was alive.
He took wine and meat and offered sacrifices to his grandfather with his three sisters.
He looked at the grave that was already overgrown with weeds and sighed in his heart. After a few people pulled out the weeds on the grave, they burned a thick pile of paper money.
Xie Shuangbai poured a glass of wine and spilled it on the ground: "Grandpa, thank you!"
The three younger sisters also cried. Although they had never seen their grandfather, they had heard a lot from their brother.
The winter sun shone on them, warm, and a breeze blew by, bringing up a cloud of burnt ashes.
They stood in front of the grave for a while, then got up, packed their things and went back.
The few people on the road were silent, all immersed in deep memories.
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