Chapter 62: Visiting Relatives 2 Dandelion? Sunflower!
"Is that so?" Jiang Xueyi nodded with a look of admiration, and said flatteringly, "Mom, you're amazing! I didn't even know this recipe. Look at me, I'm so clumsy. I used to fry ribs directly in the pan. No wonder Chengze always said my ribs weren't flavorful. I see you've got a good example."
Wang Aiping tried hard to suppress the upward curve of her lips and said calmly, "It's okay."
She said, "Go ahead and do your work. I still have to stir-fry lettuce with oyster sauce."
"Okay." Jiang Xueyi responded and added salt, light soy sauce, sugar and other seasonings to the ribs.
Wang Aiping appeared behind her again without her noticing: "Add another egg white to lock in the moisture."
Jiang Xueyi: ...
She responded crisply, "Okay."
Wang Aiping snorted: "Do you think I'm talking too much?"
Jiang Xueyi was sweating: "How could that be? This is just a normal reminder. I wish it would happen."
Wang Aiping was satisfied, raised her chin, turned around and left.
Jiang Xueyi was amused. This mother-in-law is quite arrogant. She needs to be stroked.
In the living room, He Chengze cleaned up the mess left by the little bun, and because he was disgusted by the smell on his body, he went to the bathroom to take a shower.
He Yuan and the little bun were left staring at each other.
Oh no, it's the old eyes staring at the young eyes.
He Yuan looked around. Wang Aiping and Jiang Xueyi were cooking in the kitchen, and He Chengze was taking a bath in the bathroom, from which he could hear the sound of water.
He opened his hands, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showed a smile: "Little Baozi, come here, call me grandpa~"
The little boy snuggled into He Yuan's arms without any hesitation and even pulled his beard with his hands.
He Yuan felt pain: "Hey, be gentle."
The little boy's mouth just pouted.
He Yuan simply put his hand on his beard: "Forget it, pull it as you like." Then he smiled and said, "Call me, Grandpa~"
The little bun was delighted when he pulled the beard, and he shouted loudly and enthusiastically: "Yeah!"
He Yuan corrected him with a smile: "It's not 'ye', it's 'ye', read it after me, 'ye'."
The little bun tilted his head, looking confused.
He Yuan said patiently: "Grandpa."
The little bun's eyes curved into two small crescents as he smiled, and he said in a crisp voice, "Hey!"
He Yuan: ...
He rolled up his sleeves: "You naughty kid."
He Chengze came out of the bathroom, wiping his hair, and squinted his eyes: "Dad, I saw it. You wanted to beat my son behind my back." He added, "Believe it or not, I will complain to Mom."
He Yuan puffed his beard and glared, "Go ahead and sue me. If you sue me, I'll sue you too." He pointed at the little bun, "This kid..."
He Chengze raised his eyebrows and said, "What's the matter? Go on."
He Yuan turned his head away, crossed his arms over his chest, and sulked: "Forget it, I won't say anything."
If people knew that he was taken advantage of by a one-and-a-half-year-old child, his own grandson, how would he save his reputation?
He inhaled, exhaled, neither breathing nor not breathing.
He Yuan took out his cigarette case and was about to smoke a cigarette to calm down when he caught a glimpse of the little bun out of the corner of his eye: "I'm going to the balcony to smoke a cigarette."
"Go ahead." He Chengze said, "I'll call you for dinner later."
He Yuan walked to the balcony, lit a cigarette, and puffed out smoke.
He saw a row of flower pots on the balcony, with green vegetables, peppers, tomatoes, and Chinese cabbage... Although some vegetables no longer bear fruit in winter, one can imagine that in summer, the tender green vegetables will break through the soil and stretch out their leaves, with tomatoes hanging on the branches, some already ripe, and some still half-green and half-red fruits, and the bright yellow peppers will look like small lanterns. The scene is simply beautiful.
He asked He Chengze: "Did you grow these vegetables?"
I didn't expect that my silly son would have this kind of interest.
"How could that be possible?" He Chengze walked over, snatched the half-smoked cigarette from his hand, and put it out in the flowerpot. "Smoke less, it's bad for your health. These vegetables are grown by my wife. We water them with rice water every day, and they're growing very well. Look, there are also onions, ginger, and garlic. We don't have to go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables. We can just pick a few seedlings and stir-fry them. It's so convenient."
"Your wife is not bad." He Yuan said.
People who love life will not have bad character.
He Chengze smiled. The old man usually didn't praise people casually. It was rare for him to praise someone, and it was obvious that he was very satisfied with Jiang Xueyi.
He raised his head proudly and said, "Of course, this is the wife I chose myself."
I completely forgot how dramatic their first acquaintance was.
He Yuan: "I thought you would never get married in your life and would live alone for the rest of your life."
"Thank you." He Chengze rolled his eyes and said, "I already have a son. You should worry more about Xiaoya than me."
Speaking of his youngest daughter, He Yuan sighed and said, "Neither of you two siblings gives me peace of mind."
In the kitchen, Wang Aiping started stir-frying lettuce with oyster sauce.
Even though she boasted to Jiang Xueyi, she actually hadn't cooked for a long time.
The hot oil has been poured into the pot, and the oil is sizzling.
Wang Aiping's hands were shaking as she held the spatula.
Seeing Jiang Xueyi looking over here, Wang Aiping hurriedly threw the lettuce into the pot. "Splash", the water droplets on the lettuce leaves splashed into the hot oil, making a scary sound. A few oil droplets even splashed out of the pot. Wang Aiping was so scared that she jumped back half a step, and she didn't hold the spatula firmly, and it fell to the ground with a clang.
"This... why is this thing so slippery?" Wang Aiping quickly squatted down to pick up the spatula, and said in a way that made things more obvious.
Jiang Xueyi: "Mom, are you okay?"
"It's okay." Wang Aiping raised her voice and said, "Don't worry about me. Just make your garlic ribs. There's no way I can't make a small dish of lettuce with oyster sauce."
As soon as he finished speaking, flames shot out, licking the bottom of the pot with a sizzling sound, and the smell of burnt oyster sauce instantly filled the entire kitchen.
Wang Aiping panicked and quickly poured water into the pot. When the water met the hot oil, oil bubbles exploded with a "crackling" sound, scalding her arm. She was frightened and wanted to turn off the fire quickly.
While paying attention to the movement in the pot, he was groping on the stove and accidentally knocked over the soy sauce bottle.
Jiang Xueyi was startled and asked quickly, "Mom, are you okay? Are you hurt?" She then asked, "Do you need my help?"
Wang Aiping clutched the spatula, her face flushed like a sunset cloud, her lips pressed into a straight line, but she still said stubbornly, "I don't need your help, I just... I just want to try a new way to cook lettuce with oyster sauce."
Her eyes lit up: "Yes, that's right, I'm trying out new methods."
She pushed Jiang Xueyi: "You go ahead and do yours, don't worry about me, the ribs are about to get burnt."
Jiang Xueyi was skeptical and continued cooking.
Wang Aiping just breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to clean up the mess.
He Chengze and He Yuan rushed into the kitchen: "What's going on?" "What happened?"
Wang Aiping smoothed her hair awkwardly: "Well, it's nothing, I just accidentally knocked over the soy sauce bottle."
He Chengze was speechless: "Mom, are you here to help in the kitchen, or to make trouble?"
When he and Jiang Xueyi were cooking, there wasn't so much trouble. It was obvious that his mother was making things worse.
Wang Aiping glared and said, "Go away, you are the one who is causing trouble."
"Okay, okay, I'll make more trouble." He Chengze picked up the broom and cleaned up the broken glass on the ground.
He Yuan pointed at the burnt lettuce in the pot and said, "Do you still want this?"
His wife is really good at it. She can even fry lettuce until it becomes burnt.
Wang Aiping: …
He put the spatula on the stove and said, "What a crap dish! I won't eat it anymore!"
She had completely lost face in front of Jiang Xueyi today, wuwuwu, her reputation as a mother-in-law was ruined.
With so much anger in his stomach and nowhere to vent, he simply confronted He Yuan and He Chengze: "What were you two talking about outside just now?"
She raised her eyebrows and said, "It's winter, and you don't think it's cold."
He Chengze: "We just took a shower and our bodies are still warm."
Wang Aiping squinted her eyes and said, "Those who drowned were all good swimmers, and those who caught colds were all those of you who weren't afraid of the cold."
He Chengze was speechless and patted his strong chest muscles: "Have you forgotten that both my father and I are soldiers? How can this little bit of cold wind make us catch a cold?"
Wang Aiping snorted, "Wait until you catch a cold and you'll know you were wrong."
Without Wang Aiping to cause trouble, Jiang Xueyi prepared the meal quickly and efficiently.
On the table were garlic spare ribs, lettuce with oyster sauce, braised chicken wings, mapo tofu, shredded pork with green peppers, and a pot of corn, carrot and water chestnut soup. It was a very sumptuous meal.
Wang Aiping saw the egg custard and knew it was made specifically for the little bun. She quickly picked up the bowl and said, "I'll feed him."
He Chengze stopped him and smiled as he stuffed a spoon into the little bun's hand: "You don't have to feed him, he can eat by himself."
Just as he said, the little boy took the spoon and scooped the egg custard properly. Although he missed one out of three spoonfuls, he still managed to get it into his mouth.
Wang Aiping looked a little distressed, but still said, "How about I feed him?"
He Chengze said: "Really, there's no need. Now we just need to train him to eat by himself. He's already one and a half years old, and if he needs to be fed everything, he'll be a useless piece of shit when he grows up."
Wang Aiping also knew that He Chengze was right.
But as a grandmother, she just couldn't bear to see this scene, so she simply focused all her attention on eating.
The garlic spare ribs are rich in garlic flavor and very tasty. The lettuce with oyster sauce is re-fried with perfect heat, and it is tender and refreshing. The mapo tofu is spicy and delicious... The corn, carrot and water chestnut soup is sweet and refreshing.
He Yuan was very satisfied with the meal. He couldn't help but pat He Chengze on the shoulder and signaled to him with his eyes: You are enjoying a much better life than I did when I was young. I don't even want to mention your mother's cooking skills.
He Chengze gave him a look that expressed sympathy and gloating.
After dinner, he cleared the table and made some tea.
He Yuan and He Chengze were chatting about current affairs, but Wang Aiping was too lazy to listen to them, so she just held the little bun and played with him.
If the weather wasn't so cold, she would have dragged the little kid to play dress-up games.
She pointed at the little bun's nose and asked Jiang Xueyi, "Look, does the little bun's nose look like mine?"
Jiang Xueyi was embarrassed. The little boy's nose clearly looked like his father's, with a high nose bridge.
Although my mother-in-law's nose is not low, it is definitely not as high as the father and son's.
She said insincerely, "They look alike, very much alike, they could have been carved from the same mold." She added, "The neighbors all said that the little bun had his high nose bridge, inherited from his father, and that he would definitely be a handsome boy in the future. Now that I've seen you, I realize it was actually inherited from you."
Wang Aiping was very satisfied and raised her chin slightly: "Chengze and Chengya's high noses are inherited from me. If they inherited their father's flat noses, they would not look good at all."
“By the way, you haven’t met Chengya yet, right?”
Jiang Xueyi shook her head. She had only heard He Chengze mention this sister occasionally: "I've never seen her."
Wang Aiping took out a photo and pointed it out to her: "This is Chengya. She is three years younger than her brother."
Jiang Xueyi took a closer look and found that the girl in the photo looked somewhat similar to Wang Aiping, with big eyes, fair skin, willow-shaped eyebrows, and was wearing a green military uniform. She looked very energetic.
She smiled and praised: "It's beautiful."
Wang Aiping smiled and said, "I'm not exaggerating, but she's one of the most beautiful girls in the art troupe." She sighed, "Just like her brother, she's old and still can't find a partner. Chengze's fine, he has you and his little one now, but Chengya is still single, which worries me to death."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Sister is so beautiful, it's only a matter of time before she finds a partner." She added, "As elders, we should just relax. Instead of just looking for someone who doesn't fit the bill, it's better to take your time and choose a good one. Marriage is a lifelong event."
"It's said that marriage is a woman's second life. Marrying the wrong person is like stepping into a grave."
Jiang Xueyi's words touched her heart. Wang Aiping nodded and said in agreement, "I think so too."
Jiang Xueyi was talking to Wang Aiping and had nothing to do, so she simply took out the bib she was half-finishing for the little bun and continued working on it.
She is now teaching the little boy to eat with a spoon by himself. The little boy is not very good at using chopsticks and spoons, and always gets his clothes dirty. Bibs are in short supply now.
Wang Aiping saw her sewing something and came over to ask, "What are you sewing?"
Jiang Xueyi smiled and handed it to her: "The bib is a bib, used to wipe the saliva of the little bun."
Wang Aiping saw that Jiang Xueyi's bib had a green bamboo pattern with a silver edge sewn on it. The bamboo grew taller and taller, which had a good meaning. She felt a little itchy and couldn't help but said, "Do you have any more that need sewing? Bring one over and I'll help you sew it."
There were a lot of blank bibs, and Jiang Xueyi quickly took one out for her: "Yes."
It seems that my mother-in-law is going to show off her cooking skills again. I guess it’s because she made a fool of herself while cooking just now and wants to get back at her.
She smiled encouragingly, "Mom, you sew, and I'll follow you and learn a little bit."
Wang Aiping said proudly: "Just wait and see."
She picked up the needle and quickly spun the thread on the bib.
He Chengze's mouth was dry from talking. He picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that his mother had actually started doing needlework.
He hurried over to her and asked, "Mom, what are you sewing?"
Wang Aiping handed him the bib in her hand and said, "I'm sewing a bib for your son. Take a look at this and see if the pattern looks good."
He Chengze stared at the crooked plant on the bib, was silent for a while, and said unwillingly: "Well, not bad, this dandelion is sewn quite..." He really couldn't find the word "beautiful", so he simply said, "It looks quite real."
Wang Aiping's face changed and she cursed, "What dandelion? I'm sewing a sunflower!"
Sunflower is a sunflower, which means confidence and sunshine, and has a good meaning.
Dandelion? Pah! What kind of weed is that? How can it compare to a sunflower?
"A, a sunflower?" He Chengze widened his eyes and looked left and right, but he didn't think that the weed on his bib looked like a sunflower.
Wang Aiping was anxious and pointed to it and said, "I'm obviously sewing a sunflower. Look, I'm using yellow thread. For a dandelion, shouldn't I use white or gray thread?"
He Chengze was speechless: "Mom, whether this is similar or not, you can't tell it by the lines."
Wang Aiping ignored him and asked her husband to judge the matter: "He Yuan! He Yuan! Come and see, is this a dandelion or a sunflower?"
He Yuan slowly drank a sip of tea before walking over with his hands behind his back to take a look.
He looked at it for a long time before asking, "Dandelion? Sunflower?"
"That's right." Wang Aiping said as a matter of course, "Your son said I was sewing a sunflower, but I was clearly sewing a dandelion, okay?"
He Chengze: "Ah?"
Wang Aiping: "Bah!" She added, "It's all your fault for pissing me off. I said the wrong thing. I meant, I was sewing sunflowers, and this guy said I was sewing dandelions. Do you think he's blind?"
He Yuan: "Neither of them look alike." He pointed at the bib and said, "This one is clearly sewn with chrysanthemums."
Wang Aiping stamped her feet and said, "Sunflower, sunflower!"
He Yuan took another uncertain look. The petals were so densely and pointed that it really looked like a partially opened chrysanthemum.
He said firmly: "Yes, it is chrysanthemum."
Wang Aiping was so angry that she rolled her eyes and almost fainted.
Jiang Xueyi quickly helped her sit down, poured her some tea, and stared at her as she drank it before saying, "This is clearly a sunflower. Mom, four people vote, one for dandelion, one for chrysanthemum, and two for sunflower."
She glanced at the little bun and said, "Little bun also thinks it looks like a sunflower, so it's three votes. We win, and this is a sunflower."
Wang Aiping finally calmed down and snorted, "That's right, that's right, it's clearly a sunflower."
She glared at He Yuan and He Chengze: "It doesn't matter if you two don't understand appreciation. It's okay if Xueyi and Xiao Baozi understand me. Anyway, this bib is for Xiao Baozi, he will definitely like it."
He Chengze: ...
He took one look at the crooked plant sewn on the bib and decided to get rid of it as soon as his mother left.
No, it cannot be handled. Find a place and hide it quietly and properly.
Otherwise, with her damn stubborn nature, next time she comes and sees the little kid not wearing the bib she sewed for him, she will definitely throw a tantrum.
He Yuan glanced at the wall clock: "Hmm...it's getting late, we should leave."
He Chengze was still wondering what to do with the bib his mother had sewn. When he heard this, he was stunned for a moment and asked, "You guys want to leave?"
He thought that He Yuan and Wang Aiping would stay for several days when they came to visit their relatives.
He Yuan said, "We finally got a vacation and came south to visit friends. We just stopped by to see you when we were passing by."
He patted He Chengze's shoulder: "Don't think too highly of yourself."
He Chengze: ...
I really want to have a fight with his dad, how about now?
He guaranteed that his father would never be able to defeat him.
Seeing the small flames burning in He Chengze's eyes, Jiang Xueyi hurriedly comforted him, and then said: "Dad, Mom, how about staying for another day?"
He Yuan waved his hand: "No need, we were planning to have a meal and leave, so we stayed an extra afternoon."
No matter how He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi persuaded them, He Yuan and Wang Aiping refused to stay for another night.
He Yuan even took out the train ticket he had already bought and said, "If you guys delay any longer, I won't be able to catch the train."
Having said that, He Chengze had no choice but to borrow a car from the army and take the two old people to the train station.
Wang Aiping hugged the little bun and kissed him again and again reluctantly.
He also told Jiang Xueyi: "Take more photos of the little bun and send them to me. I want to see them every day."
Jiang Xueyi was amused. Why did both the mother and son have the problem of being reminded of someone when seeing something?
She agreed immediately: "Okay, I'll buy a camera and take a growth photo album and send it to you."
She had this idea a long time ago. The little bun looks different every day, so she needs to take more photos to commemorate the occasion.
Wang Aiping nodded and was about to say that if she didn't have enough money to buy a camera, she could tell her. But then she remembered that He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi both had jobs and would not be so unable to afford even a camera, so she swallowed her words.
The green train made a "thump" sound and arrived at the station.
Jiang Xueyi held the little bun in her arms and waved his little hand: "Say goodbye to grandpa and grandma."
Little Baozi: "See you, grandpa and grandma!"
Wang Aiping smiled broadly.
He Yuan also smiled, which was rare: "Well, just send it here."
The train carried the two away, taking away their longing.
Jiang Xueyi watched the train turn into a small black dot and curled her lips.
They are really two very good old people.
On Monday, Jiang Xueyi had to go to work again.
As usual, she was riding her women's bicycle, but just as she arrived at the gate of the compound, she ran into Xue Jun.
Xue Jun saw her, glanced at her sexy women's bicycle, turned his head away, and snorted coldly.
Jiang Xueyi was confused. She went to the Women's Federation and asked Liu Lu, "Why did she humph at me?"
Liu Lu suppressed her laughter and said, "You may not know yet, but she failed the Women's Federation exam."
Jiang Xueyi was stunned for a moment. She really didn't know about this: "When did it happen?"
"It was the day before yesterday." Liu Lu knew more, so she explained to Jiang Xueyi, "Director Xie and the others originally scheduled the recruitment exam for September, but then they were busy with a lecture on menstruation knowledge, and we were also busy accepting our awards, so it was postponed to the day before yesterday."
The day before yesterday, which was last Friday, she took a special leave to receive He Yuan and Wang Aiping.
However, the Women's Federation recruitment is mainly the work of the office. She only knew about it but did not participate.
Jiang Xueyi raised her eyebrows and said, "Doesn't she only have a high school diploma? How could she fail the exam?"
Liu Lu suppressed her laughter and said, "You ask me, who should I ask?" She added, "You deserve it. She made fun of you every day, saying you had a low education and got in through the backdoor. She also said she was sure she would pass. Now, it's so funny."
Having a high school diploma is something that is worthy of praise, but it does not mean that Xue Jun can use this to mock others at will.
Liu Lu also has a high school education, but she never brags about it.
Using one's own strengths to mock others is what a mean person does.
Jiang Xueyi just listened and moved on. She chatted with Liu Lu for a few more minutes and then returned to the office.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw Xu Shanshan lying on the table, sighing.
Jiang Xueyi was amused: "What's going on? What's this?"
Xu Shanshan glanced at her and said, "You may not know yet, but Xia Ying is coming back."
Jiang Xueyi searched her mind and remembered that Section Chief You had mentioned this to her when she first started working.
Comrade Xia Ying became pregnant shortly before she started working. She took leave on the grounds of fetal instability and stayed at home.
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