Dajun was there, which was no surprise to Shen Mianmian. Dajun hardly had any relatives and was usually alone. In the village, he had a relatively good relationship with Lu Siyuan, and since Lu’s grandfather was still around, he definitely needed to make a New Year’s visit.
"Thank you, Grandpa Lu."
Shen Mianmian grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and sat in front of the brazier to warm up by the fire. Lu Siyuan also took some sunflower seeds and sat down beside her.
Lu’s grandfather and Shen Mianmian started chatting about family matters. "Siyuan mentioned you would come over on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Seeing this heavy snow, I thought you wouldn’t arrive until after the fifth day." Today’s weather was good, but the snow wasn’t melting that quickly. The snowfall had been intense. It would take quite a few days for it to completely melt. The city was quite a distance from here, yet she arrived on the second day.
Shen Mianmian responded with a smile, "A friend drove to Zhao Family Village, so I took the opportunity to come along."
Upon hearing that Shen Mianmian came with a friend, Dajun guessed that it was He Nan who had brought her, but he didn’t comment on it.
On the other hand, Lu’s grandfather was relieved. He knew about the issues between Shen Mianmian and her family, but after all, he was an outsider and didn’t feel it was his place to comment, though he always told Lu Siyuan to be nicer to Shen Mianmian.
Shen Mianmian was sensible and got along well with Lu Siyuan. He always liked Shen Mianmian very much and even thought about making her his granddaughter-in-law, but it was only a thought.
It was an era of freedom of marriage, and he couldn’t impose those old-fashioned ideas.
After chatting with Grandpa Lu and Dajun for a while, Shen Mianmian prepared to join Lu Siyuan in the kitchen to cook. Grandpa Lu was reluctant to let Shen Mianmian do any work and kept telling her not to go.
"Let Siyuan do it. It’s cold outside; take a rest here."
Lu Siyuan pouted, "Grandpa, as soon as Mianmian shows up, you forget about me, your grandson."
"You’re a grown man with thick skin; a little cold won’t hurt you." Grandpa Lu cared for Lu Siyuan, but never coddled him. In his view, men should be diligent, always active. How could a man support a family if he got lazy?
Men are the pillars of the household and must be diligent and capable.
"..." Lu Siyuan stood up, "Fine, I must be an adopted grandson. You two sit by the fire! I’ll go cook."
As these words were spoken, both Dajun and Grandpa Lu laughed.
Still, Shen Mianmian stood up. "Grandpa, I’ll go keep an eye on him so he doesn’t slack off."
Dajun knew that with him and Grandpa Lu chatting there, Shen Mianmian would be bored just sitting around, so he followed up with, "Let her go! It’s also warm by the stove."
With Dajun saying so, Grandpa Lu didn’t stop her. "Wear an apron, don’t get your clothes dirty."
Shen Mianmian agreed and headed to the kitchen, where Lu Siyuan had just poured a pot of hot water, getting ready to heat it up to wash the vegetables. Seeing her come over, he didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately began to give orders.
"There are some matches over there. Hurry up and light the fire, while I go dig up some radishes from the yard." Content orıginally comes from 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱
It was cold in winter. The family bought some radishes for the New Year, but to prevent them from freezing, Siyuan had buried them in the yard. They could dig them up when needed; it kept them fresh and prevented spoilage, as that’s a typical way to preserve radishes in the countryside.
Shen Mianmian noticed a pile of sweet potatoes in the corner of the kitchen. She picked two or three small ones and tossed them under the stove. Fire-roasted sweet potatoes smelled delicious, far tastier than those baked in the big metal barrels of the twenty-first century.
When Lu Siyuan came back, he caught her in the act. With a snort, he said sarcastically, "What’s the matter? Got used to eating meat in the city and now you miss the taste of sweet potatoes?"
His tone made it obvious he was still upset about her decision to stay in the city for the New Year. Shen Mianmian didn’t take it to heart.