Turning his head to the backyard, Shen Xueyuan saw that there were twenty or thirty girls standing on the porch, for fear of missing the time for dinner, so he hurriedly exchanged glances with Shen Xueru, and they all sped up their steps to climb the stone steps, lifted the stone felt curtain, and rushed in.

When they entered the house, they found that Shen's mother was surrounded by many relatives, Shen Xueyuan and Shen Xueru did not dare to delay, and hurriedly went up to say hello.

"I've seen the old ancestor!"

"Please Ancestor Ann!"

Shen's mother was gossiping with her daughters-in-law holding a plum-shaped silver hand stove, when she suddenly heard a delicate sound of greetings, and hurriedly raised her eyes to take a look. I saw that the two sisters took off their hoods and cloaks, and they were all so frozen that they shrank their heads. Shen's mother hurriedly instructed the girl to serve Tang Wo, and then beckoned the two granddaughters to sit beside her.

After a while, Shen's mother squinted her eyes, looked at Mrs. Wu, who was flattering, and asked, "Why don't you see the eldest daughter-in-law coming?" ”

Mrs. Wu held her dignity and said with a smile: "I just walked around Yilan Courtyard, and when I saw that my sister-in-law was still checking the dowry of the Qing girl, I said a few words, and then went to see the Qing girl, and then hurried to the old lady to say goodbye!" ”

"I don't know how much dowry I can have, and I haven't finished it yet?" Mother Shen said to herself, "Second daughter-in-law, you are also idle now, if you have the heart, why don't you help your sister-in-law share some of it?" The old body sees that she is busy in and out every day, her feet do not touch the ground, and even people are so tired that she is out of phase! ”

"The old lady doesn't say it, I also have the heart to help, it's just that the sister-in-law loves the girl too much, and she should do everything she wants, and she does it herself, and I haven't married my daughter, so I don't know the way at all, so it's really hard to do it for me!" Mrs. Wu said sharply, her facial expression was extremely rich, and she completely played the image of a kind-hearted person being rejected thousands of miles away, "Besides, the eldest brother and sister-in-law pay attention to the outfield, and I am used to being small-handed and small-minded, in case there is a trouble in the middle, wouldn't it make their brother suspicious?" So, it's better to be still than to be still, I'd better sit on the sidelines! ”

Mother Shen sighed silently, and secretly thought in her heart: "The eldest daughter-in-law is round on the outside and square on the inside, and the second daughter-in-law is very strong and inward, these two people are usually quite harmonious in front of them, but once they leave me, I really haven't heard of how to get along, and now if they are reluctantly brought together to work together, in case there is a quarrel in the middle and the two families are unhappy, isn't it my own fault?" ”

After figuring out the stakes, Shen's mother didn't care so much, but sighed softly: "Second daughter-in-law, let me say something that I don't like, what you said just now is too unseemly, you and the eldest daughter-in-law are concubines, they should help each other, how can they not interact with each other?" ”

Mrs. Wu listened silently, and the more she listened, the more she felt that Shen's mother had misunderstood herself, and she couldn't get out of her throat in one breath, almost suffocating herself.

At this time, the felt curtain hanging at the door moved, and Chen led the Jin and Yan mothers and daughters to walk in from the outside.

Shen's mother had seen the Jin family before, and she knew that she and her daughter-in-law Chen had a deep friendship, but she never thought that this friendship would last for a long time, and couldn't help laughing: "Other people's sisters-in-law are not enemies, but also enemies, you two are very good, not at all!" ”

Chen deliberately got closer, and said with a smile: "The old lady knows, I am a chronic child, and I do everything like an old cow breaking a car, it just so happens that my sister-in-law is peaceful, indifferent by nature, and has always been compatible with me!" In the past, when we were not out of the cabinet, our aunt and sister-in-law were very coefficient, but now they are going to become the sons and daughters, and they are like sisters, like their own family! ”

"Friendship and harmony are what brothers and concubines should look like; Suspicious of each other, no matter how big the family is, sooner or later it will be defeated! When Mother Shen said this, she deliberately and unintentionally looked at Mrs. Wu, which made Mrs. Wu embarrassed, and she couldn't wait to find a crack in the ground to get into it to save trouble, "The third daughter-in-law, you have a light burden, after dinner, you go to the Qing girl for the old body to send some makeup, by the way, take a look, is there any place for your sister-in-law to use you, if there is, you don't have any worries, you should help, just help!" ”

Chen's eyes froze, and he responded softly, turning his head to arrange for the mother and daughter of the Jin family and the Yan family to take a seat.

Sitting down, Chen looked at Mrs. Wu's expression on the opposite face, and then asked: "Second sister-in-law, why did you come alone, and you didn't see Cuilian's child?" ”

Mrs. Wu sighed and said, "Maybe it's because of the cold weather, in recent days, Akang has been having diarrhea, and Cuilian is busy taking care of him, so she has no time to separate!" The day before yesterday, Heng'er invited a doctor to enter the house from outside, and after the doctor checked the pulse, he said that he would take medicine to treat it, but Cuilian felt sorry for the child, and Akang was still in swaddling clothes, and the improper medication was afraid of hurting the child's celestial body, so today I specially found a doctor to pinch the chiropractic! ”

Chen raised a boy and a girl under his knees, and naturally knew that pediatric diarrhea was a common thing, but Mrs. Wu naturally liked to exaggerate the facts, that is, she had a mung bean in her hand, and she couldn't wait to say that it was a watermelon, and she could only believe half of her words at most.

"Speaking of this chiropractic, Dr. Ma in the east of the city is the most experienced!" Chen sighed and continued: "I still remember that Fu'er often had diarrhea when he was young, even if he took the medicine prescribed by the doctor, it was not very relieved, and in the end it was Deng Fu who recommended this traditional Chinese doctor, and the old man invited him to enter the house with a lot of money, and pinched Fu'er a few times, and Fu'er slowly recovered!" ”

"Dr. Ma is indeed a holy hand of national medicine who has a wonderful hand to rejuvenate, but last year his family suffered a disaster, and he was the only one left in a family of seven! After this difficulty, Dr. Ma was grief-stricken and his sanity was no longer normal, who would dare to ask him for a diagnosis now? Mrs. Wu's expression was solemn, and she recounted the joys and sorrows of others in a gentle tone, and finally raised her eyes and asked: "Hey, I usually see Fu'er dangling in front of me, why is it this time today, and I still don't see his shadow?" ”

"He's coming, coming and going, unrestrained, this time, who knows where he went to play nonsense?" Chen's words were half bored and half loving, "Most of them are with Yun Yatou, the two of them, they are like glue and paint all day long, and the honey is oily, and they are almost sticky!" ”

Mrs. Wu smiled in agreement, and just as she squinted, she caught a glimpse of Shen Fu and Chen Yun slowly coming in, so she quickly gave Chen a look.

Seeing her frowning and winning, Chen didn't understand what she meant at first, but then he heard Shen Fu's laughter reach his ears, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Why did you come at this time? The old lady and your second aunt are in a hurry! Chen approached Shen Fu and asked with concern.

Shen Fu stopped, stared at his mother's kind face, and said with a smile: "In the afternoon, Sister Yun and I nested in the study to copy poems, copying and copying, but I didn't realize that it was getting late, and I happened to come to Yimei Courtyard in winter to pass on the instructions of the ancestors, so we hurriedly packed up the manuscripts and hurried to the ancestors. Penalties! ”

When Chen heard this, he did not have a look of blame on his face, but looked back and forth at his cousin and brother a few times, and said with a faint smile: "You, go and prepare to be seated, and when you get to the old lady, say more soft words, so as not to suffer the reproach of her old man!" ”

"The ancestor usually loves me the most, so he is reluctant to punish me!" Shen Fu said, grinning and walking away.

Chen was funny and helpless, so he had to turn his head, pull Chen Yun's arm enthusiastically, and said: "This kid is born a lazy horse, someone has to whip him, he is willing to run forward, and when you marry into the Shen Mansion in the future, half of the burden on my aunt's body will be removed!" ”

Chen Yun hadn't entered the door yet, and she didn't know how to answer this question, so she could only nod deeply, which was an indirect response to Chen's words.

Seeing that she was well-behaved and sensible, Chen liked her even more, so he personally took her in to wash, and then specially arranged for her to sit next to Shen Xueru.

Shen Xueru was very clever, and as soon as she saw Chen Yun sitting down, she hurriedly leaned up and asked, "Sister Yun, where did you go in the afternoon?" ”

"I just went to the Meditation Courtyard to look for you, and you're not there!" As soon as Shen Xuerufu finished asking, she immediately stared at Chen Yun with a nervous face.

Chen Yun looked at her expression and guessed that she probably knew her whereabouts, so she didn't hide it, and told the truth: "On the way back from Sister Yuan in the afternoon, I happened to meet Brother Fu, who said that he was looking for me for something, so he dragged me to him!" ”

"It's been lonely for a long time, what are Sister Yun and Brother doing together?" Shen Xueru blinked her big aura eyes, looked directly at Chen Yun, who was dodging her gaze, and guessed: "Poetry? Oppose? Play? ? Draw? Tea? ”

Chen Yun saw her ask one question after another, and she couldn't open her mouth. Fortunately, Shen Fu's ears and legs were long, and he rushed behind Shen Xueru in a few arrows, then patted her shoulder and warned: "Don't say anything when you eat, don't say anything when you sleep, have you forgotten the rules set by your father?" ”

Shen Xueru didn't bother to pay attention to him, and turned his head to ask, but Shen Fu was alert and sharp-eyed, and he flashed sideways and sat directly between Shen Xueru and Chen Yun.

Shen Xueru couldn't help but be taken aback when she saw her brother's quick movements.

Her gaze froze instantly, and Shen Xueru stared at Shen Fu, who was speechless with a face full of poisonous attitudes. Just as she was about to vent her anger, Shen Xueru turned her eyes and caught a glimpse of Wu and Chen's mother holding half of the silver-haired Shen mother out from behind the large screen of the landscape in the Huanghuali high-relief courtyard, slowly and leisurely towards the dining table, quickly extinguishing the nameless fire in her heart, showing everyone's beautiful demeanor, and following the sisters to greet Shen's mother, and then waiting for Shen's mother to speak, she silently followed everyone to the table.

Fang's mother, who was the chef, had been waiting for a long time, and when she saw that everyone had finished saluting and sitting down, she hurriedly ran out on tiptoe and passed the meal loudly.

Suddenly, a large round table with mahogany inlaid marble was filled with dishes. When everyone looks at it, there are roast venison, duck wrapped shark fin, squirrel osmanthus fish, ham fresh bamboo shoot soup, three white soup, pork bone soup, osmanthus sugar powder chestnut cake, almond crisp, five-spice sesame cake, etc., there are many items, so delicious.

Shen's mother is old, and she has always disliked dishes that are difficult to control, so she picked a few soft dishes to eat. After tasting a few bites, she felt that the taste was not as good as before, Shen's mother put down the bamboo chopsticks in public, took a square towel from the maid's hand to wipe her mouth, and then stared at the juniors with a kind face to eat.

The Chen family is the most filial, and inadvertently saw Shen's mother put down the bamboo chopsticks, sandwiched two pieces of fatty venison on the one hand, and persuaded her mother-in-law to eat more.

"Farmers often say that spring is born and summer is long, autumn is harvested and winter is hidden, in fact, the changes in our people's bodies are also in line with this! Now it is the middle of winter, the weather is cold, the north wind is steep, and people are curled up in the cold all day. This roast venison is tender and delicious, not greasy to eat, it can regulate the essence and blood, nourish the strength, the old lady should eat more, and nourish the body! ”

Mother Shen knew Chen's intentions, so she glanced at the table full of delicacies. Helpless people are old, appetite is not as good as before, I used to see the delicacies of the mountains and seas, I can't wait to break the belly, eat it all, now, but I see the mountain food and wild mushrooms feel more kind.

Sighing, Shen's mother said: "I know that you have filial piety, but when you are old, your appetite has deteriorated, and you don't have any chewiness to eat, so it's better to drink clear soup and be comfortable!" ”

Chen guessed that Shen's mother had eaten too much greasy, so she smiled and said, "This sauce fried eggplant tastes good, why don't I clip a few pieces for the old lady!" ”

Mother Shen stared at the oily ball, and her face was full of dislike: "June Luosu, it's better than pork belly!" Now that it's a cold winter, it's too early to give an order! ”

Chen Shipin read out his mother-in-law's words, and hurriedly changed his words: "The old lady is afraid that she has eaten enough of these, and she has no appetite to look at, why don't I tell Chunzhi to go down and bring a few more side dishes in?" ”

Mother Shen waved her hand and said, "Don't bother, I'll just make do with some clear soup!" As he spoke, he really instructed the big girl to fill a bowl of Sanbai soup in Lichun.

Mrs. Wu reacted quickly, took the first step to ask for a blue and white porcelain bowl from Lichun's hand, stirred it in the blue and white porcelain soup bowl with a big silver spoon, filled most of the bowl of hot Sanbai soup, and then carefully served it to Lichun, and Lichun gave it to Shen's mother.

Although Shen's mother doesn't like Mrs. Wu's way of being in the world, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have been together for so many years, and at least they still have to save face. After taking the soup bowl, Shen's mother blew away the heat in the bowl and said with concern: "By the way, Yi'er went to Anhui to visit business opportunities, I estimate that he has been gone for a while, during this period, he has a letter to go home, did he say when he came back?" ”

Mrs. Wu was pleasantly surprised when she saw Shen's mother take the initiative to talk, but after a short period of joy, she felt uneasy again, "Originally, Heng'er was supposed to go on this trip, but Yi'er always thought that she was not young and could go out to practice, so she pestered the master to ask for this errand." Now that he has been gone for more than half a month, there has been no news back to the house, and I, who is a mother, am also worried! ”