Chapter 41 Neighbors
It was getting dark, people were walking hurriedly, and people on the street were going home at night.
The night in Dayang Village was dark, let alone oil lamps, and people were reluctant to light candles.
But people in the county town had much better conditions. As soon as it got dark, they lit oil lamps one after another, and those with better conditions could even turn on electric lights.
When Yuan Xiao finished the things on hand, it was completely dark.
The aroma of the stewed big bones made people salivate, and the thick white bone soup made people want to swallow their tongues.
Yuan Xiao left some mushrooms to stir-fry, and only put a handful of green and red peppers, which was refreshing and delicious. The
little hen happened to lay a few eggs, so she made a steamed egg for Qin Qin, and pinched a handful of scallions for the remaining ones to make a plate of fried eggs.
By the way, I chose a tender beef, paired it with minced garlic and coriander, and made a sour and spicy cold beef.
When the dinner was called, everyone put down what they were doing and washed their hands.
Yuan Xiao held Qin Qin in her arms and washed her hands in the yard. Just as she dried her hands, she heard a knock on the door.
She didn't plan to open the door first, but shouted, "Who is it?"
There was no man in their family, all women, and they couldn't open the door easily.
An old voice came from the door: "Girl, I live next door."
Before Yuan Xiao could say anything, she saw Wang Yazhi come out and open the door, "Uncle Gu, you are here?"
Yuan Xiao was confused. When did her mother become so familiar with the people next door?
Uncle Gu was old and looked older than the old lady.
He and Wang Yazhi looked at Yuan Xiao, "Madam, this is your daughter, right?"
Wang Yazhi wiped her hands, with an awkward look on her face, and nodded.
She asked Uncle Gu to call her by her name, but Uncle Gu was a fussy person and insisted on calling her "Madam", which made her uncomfortable.
She was not an official's wife.
"Xiaoxiao, this is our neighbor, Grandpa Gu."
Wang Yazhi was an enthusiastic person. On the first day she moved in, she took a lot of rose cakes and rose jam to give to her neighbors.
Anyway, Yuan Xiao was only interested in making money and would not think of so much.
"Hello, Grandpa Gu, we were just going to have dinner, would you like to join us?" Yuan Xiao invited with a smile, it was just a matter of having an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks.
Uncle Gu refused with a smile, "I won't eat it, but Xiaoxiao's cooking is really good. The smell of the fragrance makes me unable to move. I wonder if you can give me a bowl of soup so that I can take it back for my grandfather to taste?"
Yuan Xiao subconsciously agreed, "Please wait a moment, I'll go in and get some and bring it back to you."
It turned out that Uncle Gu was a housekeeper, so the "grandfather" he mentioned must not be an ordinary person.
Yuan Xiao doesn't flatter others, but it is always good to be kind to others.
Both of them are old people, so Yuan Xiao naturally won't be stingy to give only one portion.
Some time ago, when Wang Yazhi went to the fields to plant rice, Yuan Xiao bought a lunch box to deliver her meals, and it came in handy today.
She put out a small plate for each dish, and also served a large bowl of rice and a large bowl of bone soup. The bamboo lunch box was heavy to lift.
When Uncle Gu brought the lunch box over, a touch of warmth appeared in Cangsang's eyes.
As Wang Yazhi said, Yuan Xiao is a kind-hearted child.
"Thank you, Xiao Xiao, I will wash the dishes and return them."
"No need, just bring them back after you finish eating, and I will wash them."
Yuan Xiao had already imagined the tragic scene of "unfilial children and grandchildren, and lonely old people who are disappointed and go to live in seclusion in the countryside. "
Left-behind children and the elderly, what a miserable situation, right?
Uncle Gu brought the things back, the house was dark and silent, and even the lights were not turned on.
He walked into the main house, put the things down first, and slowly lit the oil lamp.
"Master, the neighbors next door sent some food over."
The man called Master was less than 40 years old, tall, but slumped in a chair, looking decadent and lifeless.
Hearing Uncle Gu's words, he only moved his eyebrows slightly, but said nothing.
Uncle Gu sighed and brought out the dishes one by one.
The aroma of the food filled the room, and the man sitting on the chair finally had some reaction.
After a moment of silence, he fumbled to pick up the chopsticks. Uncle Gu was surprised and put a bowl of rice in his hand.
"I'll serve you a bowl of soup. Don't look at this girl's young age, but she has good cooking skills. I can smell the fragrance from a long distance away."
After the meal, all you can hear is Uncle Gu chattering about trivial things, but the man didn't respond at all.
But what surprised Uncle Gu was that the man ate a whole bowl of rice!
Uncle Gu was so moved that his eyes welled up with tears, and he couldn't help but wipe his tears secretly.
He watched the young master grow up, from being called "young master" to "old master", and also watched him go from being a proud son of heaven to having nothing.
After the man ate and drank his fill, he almost let out a sigh and said, "You can't eat other people's food for free, give her the calligraphy in my room."
His voice was hoarse, and there was a sense of awkwardness as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
Uncle Gu wiped his tears and nodded repeatedly, "Okay! Okay! I'll take it after I pack it up now."
Yuan Xiao opened the door again and was surprised to see Uncle Gu coming over with a return gift.
"It's just a meal, how can I accept your things."
Yuan Xiao hurriedly refused.
But Uncle Gu insisted on giving it to him, "If you don't accept it, I won't dare to ask you for food next time!"
Yuan Xiao accepted it, thinking of the fried chicken she had just made, and walked in to give Uncle Gu two cans to take away, and also gave him a few bunches of fresh grapes and a basket of apples.
Uncle Gu's old face was full of embarrassment, "I came to give you something, how come you gave me so much!"
Yuan Xiao smiled indifferently, and gave him two packs of freshly made rose cakes, "These are all made by me, bring them to your family for your grandfather to taste."
As the saying goes, a neighbor is better than a distant relative. Yuan Xiao's relatives are all unreliable, so it is natural to build a good relationship with the neighbor.
When she goes to school in another place in the future, there will be someone who can take care of Wang Yazhi and the old lady.
After seeing off Uncle Gu, Yuan Xiao unpacked the things sent from the neighbor.
They were all calligraphy and paintings, with the words "Jiang Ping" stamped on the bottom.
She didn't understand painting, but she still had some appreciation for calligraphy.
One of the calligraphy was in running script, and the other was in cursive script.
The brushstrokes were vigorous and sharp, the former was calm and reserved, and the latter was unrestrained and unrestrained, vaguely revealing the author's unrestrained and unrestrained style.
She didn't have much interest in collecting calligraphy and paintings, she just thought they looked good, so she hung them in the room.
Wang Yazhi couldn't read, and when she saw Yuan Xiao hanging calligraphy and paintings, she asked what they were.
"It was sent by the old man next door. I hung it up because I thought it looked nice."
Wang Yazhi didn't know much about calligraphy and painting, but she felt that it was not an ordinary item because it was so exquisite. "Why don't we return it? How can we take things from an old man? Uncle Gu said that his old man is blind. We can help him when it is convenient, but we can't take things from him."
Yuan Xiao was stunned. It turned out that he was blind. He thought that the words were written by the old man.
She didn't take the painting down. "Mom, since they sent it to me, I think it's not too expensive for them. In this case, you can send some food often in the future. Anyway, the thing we don't lack the most is food."