As the Chinese New Year draws closer, every household has begun to prepare various New Year's goods in full swing.
Zhu Cuilan went to the street and bought a lot of fish, meat, eggs and vegetables. It was good to be frugal in daily life, but after working hard for a year, she had to reward her family at the end of the year.
She knew in her heart that she was afraid that Yang Donghu would not be well prepared for the New Year when he was the head of the family for the first time, so she would always buy a little more when buying things. By then, when she had more prepared, Zhao Luochuan and the others could just come and get whatever they needed.
Frying New Year's goods before the New Year is a big project. Even the stingiest woman will not save money on this item, otherwise when she uses it to entertain guests during the New Year, people will criticize her behind her back for being shabby. Who doesn't want to have face during the New Year?
Moreover, this time we fry it and eat it from the New Year to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so it is definitely not possible not to prepare more.
Zhu Cuilan was worried about other people buying things, fearing that they would miss something, so she personally took three laborers from her family to the town.
Zhao Fangchu wanted to follow, but Zhu Cuilan forbade him to go to town again on the grounds that he had bought too many snacks last time.
Yang Donghu was with him at home with nothing to do, so the two of them dug out a lot of red paper and planned to cut some paper-cuts to play with. They would stick them on the windows during the New Year to add some joy.
Yang Donghu doesn't know how to cut patterns, and can only cut the simplest snowflakes. Zhao Fangchu is more skillful, and he can make lanterns, plum blossoms, and cloud patterns.
Yang Donghu was a slow learner, and Zhao Fangchu mocked him while teaching him step by step. It took him three pieces of red paper to make a window paper-cut.
When Yang Anjin came, Zhao Fangchu was holding the red paper cut into pieces by Yang Donghu and laughing uncontrollably.
"Fang Chu, Dong Hu, are you home?"
Yang Donghu heard the voice sound familiar and shouted outside the house: "Are you home, An Jin? Come in quickly."
"The yard was so quiet that I thought no one was home. What are you two doing? You're laughing so happily." Yang Anjin walked in with a bowl of fried fish in his hand.
Yang Donghu raised the red paper in his hand and said helplessly: "Here, cut window paper-cuts."
Yang Anjin thought it was really strange. How could he smile like that just for cutting a paper-cut?
"I'm dying of laughter. Look, Brother Dong is so amazing. He can cut four petals out of a piece of paper. How amazing!" Zhao Fangchu lay on the table, laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.
Yang Anjin knocked on Zhao Fangchu's head and said with a smile: "Okay, stop laughing, or you'll make the fine lines on your face appear."
Yang Donghu looked at what was in Yang Anjin's hand and asked, "What is this?"
"Hey, my brother's back from town. His client got a bunch of fish—something called hairtail. They look really weird, long and thin. I heard they came from the sea. My brother got a few, and my mom battered them and fried them. She asked me to bring you a bowl to try. Where's Aunt? Why isn't she home?"
The fried hairtail smelled very fragrant, not fishy at all. Zhao Fangchu sat up straight as he smelled the aroma and said, "My mother went to town to buy New Year's goods and won't be back for a while."
Yang Anjin looked at his greedy look and said with a smile: "Then wait for your aunt to come back and eat together, but you are not allowed to eat secretly."
"I don't eat anything secretly, who am I looking down on?"
"I won't talk about you. You're the best, okay?" Yang Anjin turned to Yang Donghu and said, "By the way, Yang Yaoguang has also returned from town. He brought someone with him, saying he's a classmate and friend of his, who came to visit your mother. I saw that the man was well dressed and looked like a wealthy young man, but he had shifty eyes and didn't look like a good person."
Yang Anjin and Wang Dujuan are from the same village, so nothing that happens escapes his eyes.
Yang Donghu listened to his description and guessed that the man was Li Shangcai. However, he did not boast of being rich and noble, and he was the most dog-eyed and looked down on people. Why would he come to visit the parents of a lackey in person? Strange.
Yang Anjin waved his hand in front of Yang Donghu's eyes: "What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, I was thinking, I should have met the person you mentioned. He is indeed not a good person. Yang Yaoguang is involved with him, and you can't tell what bad intentions he has." Yang Donghu came back to his senses.
Yang Anjin nodded and said, "My brother also said that this guy is a complete scoundrel who is good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. You won't achieve anything by hanging out with him. You should be careful, lest the Yang family bring disaster upon you."
"I see."
Li Shangcai's gaze was like the slime on an eel, sticky and disgusting. Yang Donghu had only seen him twice, and every time he looked at her, she got goose bumps all over her body. Who knew what dirty thoughts this kind of person had in his mind.
While they were talking, they didn't stop working. Except for Yang Donghu, the other two people cut out a lot of paper-cuts.
The sun gradually moved westward, and the people who went to the town to buy things finally came back.
This time we bought so many things that the cart was almost full. Someone heard the noise and came out of the house, and was shocked for a moment by the pile of New Year's goods in front of him.
Zhu Cuilan saw Yang Anjin and spoke to him with a smile: "Anjin, I haven't seen you for a long time. Have you finished frying your New Year's goods?"
Yang Anjin also smiled and said, "Aunt, not yet. My mother fried some fish and asked me to bring a bowl over. I have nothing to do anyway, so I just came to play with them."
"I was wondering what that smell was. It turns out you brought some fish. It just so happens that Auntie bought some delicious food. Let's eat together later."
"Aunt, don't bother. It's getting late. I'll go back first. My mother will be looking for me later." With so many people around, especially two strange men, Yang Anjin seemed a little restrained. He said goodbye to Zhu Cuilan and was about to go back.
Before the New Year, Zhu Cuilan had no time to go to town, so she simply bought everything she needed at once, including dried fruits, crispy candies, peanuts, and raisins, all of which were snacks that children loved to eat.
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