The brother-in-law merely said to invite everyone for a meal to satisfy their cravings, and naturally, Liu Shouren and Liu Shouyi’s family couldn’t decline. Even Lianshan personally came to pick them up, so even if it was just to drink a glass of cold water, as the brother and sister-in-law, they’d surely feel from the bottom of their hearts that the sister’s family’s water was sweeter and more refreshing, right?
After all, they took more pride in the fact that their brother-in-law and sister always remembered their two brothers rather than in what they were eating.
Meanwhile, the two little ones, Jianguo and Jiandang, were taken by their uncle by car and left first. As soon as they entered the yard and smelled the rich aroma of meat, they started drooling immediately.
Aroma, simply too fragrant!
Upon entering the house and seeing their aunt serving a large pot of half pork ribs and half string beans dish, and noticing Hai Zi’s aunty adding water to the pot for braising slices of pork with cabbage, potatoes, and vermicelli, the two little guys were thoroughly amazed.
Even though the meat was fragrant and delicious, the little ones were taught well.
With longing yet disciplined eyes, they glanced twice before quickly averting their gaze, avoiding the kind of unpromising behavior their parents warned against — staring at someone else’s dish. At five and three years old, they didn’t quite understand what ’unpromising’ meant, but they knew anything their parents didn’t approve of must be bad.
Yes, their parents had also told them to greet their elders; polite children were good children.
"Hello Auntie, hello Hai Zi’s Aunty, hello Aunt Lian Yue, and here come Jiandang/ Jianshe!" the cute little voices sounded in unison as they greeted everyone, including Xiao Yue, who was stoking the fire under the stove.
"Good, good, good! Jiandang, Jianshe, how are you both! It’s smoky in this outer room, why don’t you two little guys go inside and play with Jiezi, Jiajia, and our little Ning An? Your uncle got you kids some orange soda; let Uncle Ning pour it for you." Almost enchanted by the little cuties, Xiao Yue nearly turned into a doting aunt, wanting to scoop them into her arms for a good cuddling.
Too adorable, aren’t they?
Indeed, yes, Qiu Fang nodded.
Though mothers universally take pride in believing their children are the best, compared to little Jiandang and Jianguo, Qiu Fang felt her Jiezi seemed to lack a certain something.
Hmm, she needed to chat with Hong Ying Saozi later, asking how children of the same age were taught to be so well-mannered?
The clever and well-mannered nephews gave Shuzhen immense pride and an even stronger commitment to protect them.
Yes, a commitment to protect.
Ensure the Liu family never experiences the same downfall again due to vile traps set by vile people. Keep her two brothers safe and sound, and let the already brilliant young nephews grow up smoothly, into marvelous talents and qualities.
Liu Shouren, Liu Shouyi, and Su Hongying were walking slowly behind, and when they arrived, they saw two tables placed indoors, both filled with six dishes each.
Braised pork ribs with string beans, sliced pork stewed with cabbage and potato vermicelli. A large plate of shiny, tender pork belly was set in the center, next to an equally tempting pot roast meat. There were also two plates of store-bought small roast chicken, one on the bed and one on the ground. Cold salads made of cucumber mixed with mung bean noodles, shredded black fungus, cabbage, and carrots, with their colors alone felt comforting even before eating, not to mention the thick broth poured on top.
Tsk tsk, with all this, even the only vegetarian dish is no longer vegetarian, is it?
A whole table more sumptuous than the New Year’s feast, the men’s table placed with white wine, and the women and children’s table placed with bright orange and delightful orange soda.
Never expected the little sister-in-law’s feast to be such a high standard, Su Hongying was amazed: "This, I mean your aunt, we all know you two want to have a heartfelt moment with the family, but there’s no need for such abundance!"
If this is merely for treating us, then if you two end up eating gruel for half a year, we would feel guilty!"
Having the same worry seeing those large ribs and fatty meat, upon having her confusion cleared by the brother and sister-in-law, both Lian Hai and Lian Yue could not hold back their laughter.
In the room filled with laughter, it was Shuzhen who resolved her swiftly laughed-to-tears sister-in-law’s doubts: "Sister-in-law, that’s not quite right! Though the meal is prepared at our place, it wasn’t us two who hosted this event.
We sold a lot of the mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms we picked the other day for good money.
Three hundred and seventeen yuan and eight cents!
Even after clearing the old debts, we still have nearly two hundred remaining."
Seeing everyone staring in shock, Shuzhen’s grin grew wider: "Initially thought to use picking mushrooms as an excuse to trap the Lin family. Never expected us to harvest such a vast amount in one day. After selling them with Lianshan, we thought of splitting the bounty amongst the family. Today we waited for you since you were busy diving into the mountains collecting herbs, mushrooms to earn some pocket money."
Isn’t it over three hundred yuan that our five families will share, isn’t there a little change left?
Lianshan and I just thought we might as well use this spare seventeen yuan to prepare a delicious table, letting everyone gather and satisfy their cravings.
Once sated with food and drinks, we’ll split the money.
The remaining three hundred will be divided into five, sixty yuan per family. Of course, Xiao Yue and Hai Zi’s share will be reduced by forty yuan of old debt, so they’ll get twenty yuan to take home."
Earned three hundred yuan in a day from mushroom picking, the sum is daunting.
This, this is nearly as much as a strong laborer’s two-year harvest, isn’t it?
Su Hongying was stunned for a while, ensuring neither her ears were mistaken nor her sister-in-law joking.
She hastily waved her hands in refusal, saying they initially agreed to help, and it would be unreasonable to argue for a share.
Even though money was hard to come by, and sixty yuan had considerable buying power.
Anyone would be tempted to improve a meal and still divide sixty full yuan, Su Hongying’s mind inevitably wavered too.
But after contemplating the consequences of accepting this money, which might cause her husband and elder brother-in-law to be discontented, and possibly strain the newly warmed relationship with her sister-in-law, her not-so-strong resolve faded swiftly.
The men were capable, the family’s foundation was strong, and her sister-in-law was intelligent and lucky, managing to make money out of even worms and rotten stumps.
Devoid of any need for money, she would be foolish to risk disappointing her men and brother-in-law, and distancing the deeply connected bond with her sister-in-law just for money!
Although the Liu family brothers who helped didn’t clamour for money, Lian Hai and Lian Yue, being one of their own, remained silent.
Seeing that everyone was satisfied with better meals, there was no need to discuss division. Anyway, the items were a matter of luck, consider it a boon for you young ones. It’d feel wrong not to, so perhaps invite everyone over a few more times. In this season, good pork is hard to get; even with money, it’s not easy to improve meals ."