The 17th day of the third month of the lunar calendar.

The day before Qingming, the Cold Food Festival, the four absolute days.

Xie Qingquan's birthday.

Xie Wen's family is four, Xie Han's family is four, Xie Ying's family is six, and Xie Xiong's family is five.

The eldest sister Xie Jiadi has a family of ten, two sons, two daughters-in-law and four grandsons also came.

The second sister Xie Jiaxi has a family of two. The second sister's family was originally a family of five, but the second sister and the second brother-in-law Shu Zhiqiang divorced, and the couple first separated, Xie Jiayan took a cub to live in Xie's house, and Shu Zhiqiang took a cub to live in Shu's house. Because the palace magpie made a stumbling block, "it is good to be ugly in the couple, and the double-line mending clothes are also broken", "the toad husband is a master, and the lazy cat scares the mouse", two years later, not only did the marriage not be divorced, but Shu Zhiqiang also took the child and lived in the Xie family in a grand manner.

From then on, before Xie Han got married, Shu Zhiqiang's family lived in the ancestral house with his father-in-law and mother-in-law. After the death of the second brother Xie Wu, the second sister-in-law Tan Yinhe was swept away, and Shu Zhiqiang's family was stationed in Xie Wu's house.

During this period, because the palace magpie nagged all day long, "there are cubs who can't resist women, and there are cubs who don't have daughters for half a lifetime", "raising children doesn't know their mother's hard work, and adopting daughters knows how to repay their mother's kindness", and even set a kitchen knife in the neck, forcing each other to die, not only the family was able to share the reunion, but also gave birth to another girl.

Because it is a marriage arranged by Gong Magpie, the husband and wife lack an emotional foundation, their interests are very different, the two have incompatible personalities, they are not speculative, Shu Zhiqiang is still afraid of heavy work, procrastination and dependence, lazy and greedy, and loves to gamble, and is good at beating his wife and children, and in the end, Xie Jiayan has to pick up the burden of the family.

After Yuan Qiuhua went to the county seat to open a store, the second sister and the couple, who had already passed the run-in period, could not get along well no matter what kind of relatives and friends were, they quarreled with each other, scolded every day, had to fight three times on the second day, and did not speak on the other side in January. Xie Jiayan ran away from home with her daughter, and her whereabouts are still unknown, one says that she works as a cleaner in Beijing, and the other says that she works as a nanny in Shanghai.

Shu Zhiqiang took his two sons to stay at Xie's house for a long time. In the past four years, a relative of him, a widower, has lived in his wife's maiden home for a long time, he has a son-in-law, a lonely man, and has lived with his widowed mother-in-law.

The third sister, Xie Jiajiao, has a family of five.

Seven families gathered together to visit the graves of their ancestors and accompany the old people for the festival.

Today is the birthday of his father Xie Qingquan, the old man passed away six years ago, the daughters sent paper money, clothes, paper cash trees, firecrackers, incense, white candles, and the sons are ready to go to the grave tomorrow to worship the ancestors and sweep the tomb, insert a cash tree for him, burn paper money, burn clothes, and burn incense.

At noon, five tables of people ate, and Yuan Qiuhua was in charge of the chef. Xie Han was the last to get married, and according to custom, there was no reason to separate the family, and the Xie family's parents lived with Xie Han and his wife. Because his parents have lived in the old ancestral house all his life, they are used to it in all aspects, and because Xie Xiong and his family have lived in his father-in-law's house for many years, their parents have always lived in Xie Xiong's old ancestral house. Although Yuan Qiuhua said that the dowry furniture was moved into Xie Han's house, and he was also married in the new house, his daily activities and housework were still mixed with the old man, and he just went back to the new house to sleep at night.

Marrying into her mother-in-law's family to be a thrifty daughter-in-law, she is not as delicate as her mother's daughter, her mother's family sleeps until breakfast is cooked, her mother-in-law does not wait for the rooster to crow, she gets up early to sweep the yard and wash clothes, and picks water and chops wood to make breakfast. Whether it is "Zhu Zi's Family Motto", or "Disciple Rules", or "Daughter's Sutra", it is repeatedly emphasized that there must be the virtue of kindness and filial piety between the upper and lower levels, the difference between husband and wife inside and outside, the order of respect and humility between the elder and the young, the brotherhood must have brotherhood, the concubine must have the virtue of harmony, and the relatives and friends must have the way of benevolence and righteousness. After all, it is the family for the most important, and the most valuable, the family is affectionate, the call should not be slow, the life is not lazy, the teaching must be respectful, the responsibility must be obedient, the old are still different, the elderly retreat from the second line of logistics, as consultants, young people earn money to support the door, men pull seedlings and women plant the top of the field, men and women work as family errands, still mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are different, the morning province is dim, there is something to say, nothing to say hello, decoction to serve the sick, scold Mo squeak, hit Mo to fight back, small hammer is accepted, big stick is to escape.

In other words, the father is dead, the mother is old, and the brothers and sisters gather to accompany the old man for the holidays, Xie Han is the male host, Yuan Qiuhua is the hostess, and as a housewife, she can't help but abide by her duties.

Yuan Qiuhua entered the kitchen early to prepare, although the children's favorite spring rolls with shredded leeks and pork, fried bean curd potatoes with pork belly, spiced braised eggs with rice vegetables, dried shrimp, seaweed minced meat, vermicelli dumplings and other accompaniments, last night when she was busy, she had already wrapped and marinated and only waited for the pot, or fried, or cooked, but the adults' appetizers had to be cooked.

The main dish is live chickens and eggs, which are fed by the mother-in-law, and the meat and fish are the gifts sent by the sisters, who kill the chickens, chop the meat, and cut the fish.

Xie Han carried water, chopped firewood, washed rice and cooked rice, made a fire to stew chicken, stewed meat, and gave her a hand.

Every time I go home, the chef is either short of oil and salt, or poor seasoning, not even ginger, vinegar and garlic, how to fry sweet and sour fish pieces? How to braise Dongpo meat?

Yuan Qiuhua paid out of his own pocket and asked Xie Han to buy it temporarily. When she was about to wash the fishy cutting board, she found that the dish soap was also empty, so she called Xie Han to buy a pot to go home by the way.

She muttered: On weekdays, what kind of cooking does my mother-in-law have?

Shu Zhiqiang's eldest son, Shu Shilei, heard Yuan Qiuhua say, "It's gone." He slipped into the kitchen and whispered to Yuan Qiuhua: "Fourth aunt, I saw that my grandmother was put away and hidden under the bed."

Yuan Qiuhua took a chicken leg to him: I don't believe it, you are coaxing the fourth aunt, I know, you just want to trick the chicken leg to eat.

Shu Shilei gnawed on the chicken leg and said: I'm not a liar, I really didn't lie to you, I know where it is.

Yuan Qiuhua stroked his head: I also know where it is, last time it was stored in the big closet.

Later, I heard my grandmother blame my father, saying, "I blame you for not putting the oil pot right, letting the oil splash on my clothes, causing me to clean my clothes and wash them again."

Yuan Qiuhua said: Planting mines to blow up devils, have you changed your position again this time? You can see clearly, can you be sure that you are under the bed?

Shu Shilei said: I can see it clearly, can there be a fake? You give me another braised egg, and I will take you to get it!

Yuan Qiuhua said: Braised eggs, chicken legs, I'll give you two. I'm not going, you take your aunt and uncle to see it.

Shu Shilei was really obedient, really led the way, led the two aunts, and the four uncles to the inner room, turned to the back of the bed, he reached out and lifted the bedspread, under the bed was placed half a pot of Arowana edible blended oil, half a bag of flour, a few mentions of bacon and smoked fish, a few packets of seasonings, a pot of dish soap, a few stacks of convenient bowls, convenient chopsticks, and convenient cups.

Sure enough, as Yuan Qiuhua expected, the last time I bought back what I didn't use up, and my mother-in-law didn't use it up every day, my mother-in-law put it away and hid it, leaving it for my mother-in-law to use in the future. This time, if you want to use it yourself, you have to buy the whole pot and bag again, and if there are deficiencies and omissions, you have to pay for it yourself. Small items are not worth a few dollars, but the mother-in-law's calculation of herself is very hurtful and makes her feel cold.

The items used last time were bought by Xie Han, and the items needed this time were bought by Xie Han on errands. The unused ones under the bed could have been used again, and there was no need to buy them at all. He went to buy it, he had to spend money, and his mother kept it for use, so his mother saved the money, but he gave his mother's living expenses every month, and he only gave more and not less to his wife, so who did the mother use this method of exploitation to save the money? When he saw it, he thought about it again, and immediately became angry, took the oil, put it in front of his mother's eyes, and asked, "What's the matter?" Mother, what do you mean by doing this? What are you doing for?

Gong Magpie slammed his chair and got up, and scolded angrily: No why, I can do what I want, I am your mother, what do I do, do I still have to report to you?

Shu Zhiqiang stretched out his hand and slapped Shu Shilei: "You're a delicious ghost, I can't starve you to death!

The crowd dragged and dragged, persuaded and persuaded, and stopped and blocked, separating mother and son, father and son. Yuan Qiuhua hurriedly went to the living room, pulled Xie Han into the kitchen, she stir-fried the vegetables, and asked him to make a fire.