By noon, the courtyard was filled with the aroma of zongzi, the fire in the stove was burning, and the pot was bubbling with steam.
The rice dumplings are wrapped together, but after wrapping, the two families divide them and go back to cook them. Otherwise, the two families combined will not be able to hold all the food in one big pot.
It’s okay to make more rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival. After cooking them, put them in a basin of cold water and change the water once a day. They can be kept for up to half a month.
Zhu Cuilan asked Zhao Fangchu to send some cooked rice dumplings to Old Lady Ju. She had agreed with Old Lady Ju yesterday not to let her do it herself, so she probably hasn't eaten the rice dumplings yet.
The realgar was not spread completely, so the rest was taken away. Zhu Cuilan asked him to spread it on Old Lady Ju before coming back, so that she would not be unable to see as her eyes were blurry at her age.
The prey brought back from the mountains were all fresh, so there was no rush to go to town to buy them. The pheasant stewed with chicken mushrooms that we had agreed to have yesterday is now out of the pot.
Zhu Cuilan didn't want to stew it at first, as her family had no shortage of meat and a pheasant could be sold for a lot of money. However, she couldn't stand the nagging of the younger generation in her family, and seeing that the two hunters in the family agreed, she couldn't argue with them and was too lazy to care.
She served a bowl and asked Zhao Fangchu to take it with him. She covered the rest of the soup in the pot and waited until everyone was home before opening the pot, otherwise it would get cold and lose its flavor.
Zhao Fangyu killed the pheasant. He specially chose a big and fat one. Zhu Cuilan could see that the children were greedy, so she added a lot of dishes to the chicken.
Zhao Fangchu was thinking about the pot of chicken, so he agreed very readily. It was not a difficult task anyway. He estimated that it would only take a quarter of an hour to go back and forth.
The chicken stewed by Zhu Cuilan for the New Year's Eve dinner was delicious, and it was cooked in the same way today. Yang Donghu didn't know how to cook, so he just focused on boiling the pot. He wanted to laugh when he saw Zhao Fangchu's greedy look, so he threatened him that if he came back late, he wouldn't be able to eat a single bite.
Zhao Fangchu didn't believe what he said, but he still complained that Yang Donghu was learning from Zhao Luochuan and becoming mean, and made a face at him in protest.
Zhao Luochuan was implicated for no reason and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He also thought that Yang Donghu didn't like to go to the village to talk and didn't know many people. He wanted to let Yang Donghu go out more often and become familiar with the villagers.
"Let me do it, you and Fang Chu go together." Zhao Luochuan replaced Yang Donghu from the stove.
Zhu Cuilan fried another vegetarian dish and just added a little more fire. She was happy to see that Zhao Luochuan was good to her husband, so she was not like others who were afraid that her daughter-in-law would take advantage of her or her son would suffer any loss.
The two young men usually did everything together. When Zhao Fangchu heard that Yang Donghu was going with him, he happily pulled him out the door.
Old Mrs. Ju was very enthusiastic. She was old and didn't like to join in the fun. She usually didn't leave her little house. She knew that Zhao Fangchu was the young man from Zhu Cuilan's family, but when she saw Yang Donghu's unfamiliar face, she was not sure where he came from.
When Yang Donghu came, there was no banquet and no talk of getting married, so it was understandable that Old Lady Ju didn't know about it. Zhao Fangchu smiled and explained that he was Zhao Luochuan's husband.
Old Mrs. Ju was confused when she first heard this. After she came to her senses, she didn't ask the two when the banquet was held. She just took out a few candies from her pocket and asked them to eat them for fun.
Yang Donghu thanked Old Lady Ju, and the two of them sprinkled the realgar that Zhu Cuilan had asked them to do at the back of the cupboard. The rice dumplings and chicken were still hot and could be eaten at noon. Yang Donghu picked out two rice dumplings and soaked the rest in cold water, and asked Old Lady Ju to put them back in the pot and cook for a while when she was ready to eat.
The big yellow dog from the old home at the door was no longer lying under the tree. It came to the table after smelling the aroma of meat. It was not very conspicuous when it was lying on the ground. When it stood up, Yang Donghu saw that the dog's belly was bulging. It was actually a female dog about to give birth.
Seeing him staring at the yellow dog, Old Lady Ju smiled and asked, "It's going to give birth in a few days. If you like, I'll leave you a puppy to raise."
The big yellow dog was well taken care of by Old Lady Ju, and its fur was shiny and smooth, unlike the dogs raised in the village whose fur was tangled everywhere.
Yang Donghu was originally just surprised by the female dog's big belly and didn't want puppies. But when he heard Old Lady Ju mention it, he also felt a little itchy, so he nodded and said that he wanted one.
This yellow dog is not the first time to give birth to puppies. Each time, she can give birth to seven or eight puppies. Old Mrs. Ju cannot raise them all by herself, so she gave away all the puppies in the previous litters. The same is true this time.
Zhao Fangchu came over and said that he wanted one too, and Old Lady Ju smiled and agreed to save one for him.
Ever since the two of them arrived, Grandma Ju always had a smile on her face and nodded repeatedly when everyone spoke. Yang Donghu felt that Grandma Ju was kind and couldn't help but think of his grandmother.
The whole village knew about Wang Dujuan's bragging about her trip to the town. Yang Donghu had also heard a thing or two about it and thought that since Wang Dujuan was not at home, he would have time to visit his grandmother.
Unexpectedly, Yang Dali was also a hateful person. He ran into Yang Donghu when he went there just after the New Year. After losing money in gambling, he set his sights on Yang Donghu and insisted that Yang Donghu pay money before he could go in to see him, otherwise he would tell Wang Dujuan.
Yang Anjin was with him at that time. When he heard Yang Dali say this, he secretly cursed him for being shameless. If he did it once, he would do it again. As long as he had the evidence, he could ask Yang Donghu for money every day from now on.
Yang Donghu was either reluctant to spend the money or afraid that Yang Dali would pester him again in the future, so he had to give up and wait for a chance later.
But Yang Dali was desperate because of his loss, and he knew that Old Lady Yang was Yang Donghu's weak spot, so he didn't leave her any room for error. He didn't know how he managed to trick the idle rascals in the village into watching over him, so that they would inform Yang Dali as soon as Yang Donghu approached.
Later, he even refused to let Yang Anjin get any closer to the house. It seemed that he would not give up until he tore a piece of meat from Yang Donghu's hands.
Yang Donghu didn't want to drag Yang Anjin down, so he didn't let him take anything to the Yang family.
Five months have passed in a flash. Old Mrs. Yang originally said that she wanted to come and see Yang Donghu, but she didn't know if she was stopped by Yang Dali.
Yang Donghu sighed inwardly, and the two of them sat for a while before standing up and saying goodbye to Old Lady Ju.
After returning home, Yang Donghu gave Zhao Luochuan one of the candies given by Old Lady Ju, and told him that Old Lady Ju had left him a puppy. The puppy was so young that even its barking sounded like milk. Yang Donghu's face was full of smiles just thinking about it.
Of course, Zhao Luochuan had no objection. He would go to the mountains for several days at a time. If he raised a dog at home, it could grow up to guard the house. Having a living creature around Yang Donghu would also add more vitality.
The aroma of the chicken on the table filled everyone's nose. Zhao Fangchu couldn't help but pick up a piece first, but Zhu Cuilan scolded him for being rude.
Zhao He warmed up some realgar wine on the stove. Usually, Zhu Cuilan treated Zhao Fangchu like a child and didn't allow him to drink alcohol, but realgar wine can drive away evil spirits and cure diseases, so today she poured him a small cup.
Zhao Fangchu had never drunk alcohol and didn't like it, but he knew it was a custom and there was nothing he could do about it, so he pinched his nose and drank it all in one gulp. He drank so fast that he choked and kept slapping his chest and coughing, tears almost coming out.
Zhu Cuilan calmed him down and scolded him with a smile: "Why are you drinking so fast? If you don't want to drink, just take a small sip. Who told you to finish it?"
"Ahem...why...why didn't you say so earlier...ahem..."
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