Chapter 110: Uncle and his family will come_1
This was an old village custom – if there were descendants in the family, it was always expected to find some time to visit the grave before Qingming Festival.
However, for grandsons, it wasn’t strictly necessary; they just went along with Grandpa Song Youde.
The Lao Song’s family grave was on a barren hill that had been allocated to Song Sancheng’s eldest uncle.
It was a bit far, requiring a detour around the back hill, followed by a walk of another fifteen to twenty minutes to get there.
There was no helping it; that was the piece that had been divided to him in the beginning.
Even though it was a bit distant, as the eldest son, the eldest uncle got a whole fifty mu of mountain and farmland, far more than what Song Tan’s family had.
Nowadays, it was all Tea Mountain wasteland. No one attended to it anymore.
But Song Sancheng was content – it was the old rule that the eldest got more of the family property. What objections could he have? Besides, living closer was convenient for him!
He spoke with a hint of regret: “Had you said earlier that you were coming back, we could go to the fields tomorrow to pick some Milk Vetch for your uncle and aunt to take back.”
By now, everyone was turning over soil; by tomorrow it would definitely be buried.
Song Tan smiled to herself, thinking this was quite unlucky indeed!
She didn’t say much, but just cautioned:
“Dad, we can’t give away the tea leaves and honey – we still owe money.”
As soon as she said this, Song Sancheng immediately felt the pressure.
“That’s out of the question; they’re too expensive. I don’t even drink them myself.”
Song Tan added: “Then don’t serve this year’s good tea tomorrow. What if Uncle says it tastes great – are you going to tell the price or not?”
If you tell, for one, they may not believe you. Second, you might show off your wealth unintentionally.
If you don’t tell, your hesitant and begrudging attitude can be embarrassing – it would seem like you’re too stingy to enjoy your own tea leaves!
The same goes for honey.
Song Sancheng was honest but not foolish, and now his face showed his dilemma: “Really not let them drink? I was thinking…”
What could he be thinking? He just likes to show off, that’s all!
Now that he had come to his senses, he could only sigh once more: “Why did it have to be after Milk Vetch was gone that you returned? In previous years, you would be back by the end of March!”
Mao Li, the elder uncle’s wife, and her daughter-in-law Sun Yanyan were holding a grudge, that’s why!
Ever since Mao Li had an argument with Song Tan at the vegetable market that didn’t end well, she’d been stewing over it. She went home and told Sun Yanyan about the twenty yuan per jin Milk Vetch affair.
Sun Yanyan initially didn’t believe it either.
But after Song Ziyi cried and threw a tantrum in the house, insisting on eating the vegetables Brother Qiaoqiao had brought, Sun Yanyan began to ponder:
“Mom, I think our little uncle’s vegetables might really be worth that much this year.”
“Think about it, what kind of vegetables could taste so good? People are willing to pay for it these days!”
But if it really was twenty yuan per jin, and the Milk Vetch grew right there in the open field without costing anything, wouldn’t that make a fortune?
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law agreed on a time to go to the vegetable market early in the morning and waited until almost noon before they saw that old pickup truck parked by the roadside.
And in less than half an hour, those vegetables were sold out, many families buying them as if money was no object, purchasing ten or eight jins to take home.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law counted silently; in that half-hour, at least one or two hundred jins had sold!
In just a short time, two to three thousand yuan was made – earning money seemed as easy as cutting grass, how could it be so simple!
Neither spoke a word.
On the way home, they started to grumble: “No wonder Tantan was so confident the last time; it turns out her family struck it rich.”
“…All high and mighty on the sly, good intentions taken for granted…”
Uncle Song couldn’t believe the ruckus about the market’s grand state after hearing their murmurs:
“Really twenty yuan a jin? I thought Qiaoqiao was just talking nonsense last time.”
“That’s for sure,” Sun Yanyan sat on the side cracking sunflower seeds:
“Dad, you’re just too honest with your own family. Look at my little uncle, he’s making a killing off of the wild vegetables from these fields. He still acts so generous sending us three to five jins, as if we should be grateful.”
“What nonsense are you talking about!” Uncle Song didn’t want to argue with his daughter-in-law and asked Mao Li, “Did you really see it, is that the price?”
Auntie’s eyes rolled in disdain: “How many times have I said it, could I have seen it wrong? I went to buy it, didn’t realize it cost that much at first, gave too little money, and she even mocked me for it.”
“Really, they earn so little money out in the countryside, yet when they talk about it, they hide this and that, are they afraid we’ll get envious or what, doesn’t everybody have land?”
Uncle Song sat there, his face also turning sour.
As a result, when Aunt Song Hongmei called at the end of the month to ask when they would return to the old home, the couple mumbled excuses to put her off:
“The store’s a bit busy these days, let’s wait a couple of days…”
They kept delaying, and soon it was almost Qingming Festival. They couldn’t put it off past Qingming!
They hurriedly set a date.
Aunt Song Hongmei hadn’t set up her stall this morning, feeling as if her heart was being gouged, she looked around the house, and finally, with great reluctance, picked up a jar of oil and cut some meat.
Only then did the couple take the bus to Uncle Song’s doorstep.
They had no other intention but to hitch a ride back together.
By coincidence, they saw his family bustling about, moving things into the car.
Son Song Xuehai was in charge of picking up kids and going to work today, and Uncle Song was driving, taking Mao Li, Sun Yanyan, and the couple Song Hongmei back.
When Song Hongmei arrived, she saw Sun Yanyan and Mao Li placing a large plastic crate used at the wholesale market for fruits in the back seat, along with several plastic bags.
She was puzzled but didn’t ask, only saying to Uncle Song:
“Big brother, what do you plan to buy when you go back? I’ve brought a jar of oil and some meat for our parents, remember not to buy the same.”
Sun Yanyan sweetly called out ‘auntie’ and then, looking at her stuff, kept praising, “Wow, Aunt, you’re so thoughtful, look at this meat, how fresh! It was cut this morning at the market, right?”
“And this oil, this is good oil too, it costs dozens of yuan a container at the supermarket!”
Who doesn’t like being flattered?
Aunt joined in the conversation, “That’s right, I didn’t even go to my stall today!”
Thinking about the money she hadn’t earned made her chest ache, and then thinking about the meat cut and the oil carried…
How to put it, if only everything in the world could be had without spending money, that would be great.
However, conversation leads to conversation, and suddenly she remembered, “Oh, last time Tantan sent over a basket of Milk Vetch, it tasted really good!”
While saying this, her face also showed a look of regret — she had planned to eat it over two or three days, but couldn’t control herself and it was all gone by the evening.
She even ate an extra pot of rice.
She sighed woefully, “I don’t know if there are any vegetables left in the fields, I’ll have to check the vegetable garden when I get home.”
Sun Yanyan felt contempt in her heart.
The only one who could be so blatant about taking advantage was her tightfisted Aunt.
However, this thought happened to coincide with her own family’s plans.
So, she also responded with a smile, “Yes, we had some last time too. But, you know… oh dear, we should ask Baba to send more. It’s just that little bit, Ziyi finished it in one meal.”
“We’ll have to take more back this time.”