A young couple hurriedly smiled and signaled to her, and only then did Chun Gui see clearly what the person was holding in his hand, two large packets of brown sugar, a whole pork leg, and three ducks.

This gift is already very generous.

As soon as Chun Gui was about to resign, Cai had already come over to hold her hand, and said with a smile: "This duck is made by my mother, I loved to eat it before I got married, and you have to try her old man's craftsmanship." And this pork leg, my brother just slaughtered the pig yesterday, after eating a whole year's feed, although he was hungry and lost some weight in August and September, but he also gained weight in the past few months. ”

She was in high spirits, and she was stunned to hold back the words of spring return.

"You can't refuse, I've been friends with Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu for so many years, and I've been with you for so long, my mother is your mother, what's wrong with you as a girl eating a few bites of what your mother gave."

Cai's mouth is not only scolding, but also persuading people, if Chun Hui still shirks, he really doesn't know what to do.

She glanced at her and sighed pretendedly: "Okay, then thank you, auntie!" ”

Cai's mother had tears in her eyes, and the more she looked at Chungui, the more she liked it, and after shaking her hand, she was distressed and pity: "Your child is also a hard life, and when you do such things, a big family wants you to support it." ”

Chungui's nose was sour when he heard this, and he almost burst into tears, and hurriedly put on a smile: "What the eldest mother said, if the eldest mother remembers me so much, how can I be bitter." After she came here, she consciously took on the responsibility of the family, and she didn't care about anything before the children's love.

Seeing this, Cai hurriedly asked his younger brothers and sisters to carry their things in.

"Okay, okay, mother, Zhixing is resting, let's not bother, let the spring return rest, and come back tomorrow."

Her mother nodded hurriedly, and said lovingly: "That's the case, child, you go to sleep quickly, the eldest mother is here to see you." ”

Chungui said "hey": "Auntie, tomorrow is the New Year, you stay here for two more days with Sister Cai, and come to the house for a meal when the year passes." ”

Mrs. Cai didn't shirk and responded, Cai's younger brothers and sisters were fast, put a bunch of food on the side of the door, and it was easy to take it when they returned in spring, and they went to the old lady when they were finished.

After a few people said goodbye, Chun Guimu saw her off, and only after she was far away did she turn around and enter the house. She felt a little heavy when she held the pork leg alone, so she simply hung it on the side of the door, and the mice didn't come out in such a cold day, so she was relieved to put it away. This duck can be added to tomorrow's Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and as for the pork legs, the family has already purchased tomorrow's pork belly, or wait for Mrs. Cai to come over to eat and stew it.

After closing the door, Chungui entered the room, undressing and thinking about tomorrow's meal. There are also some fresh radish, and the children are tired of the stewed soup and stir-fried, so it is better to mix it with sweet and sour cold dressing.

Dumplings must be wrapped, Qi You injured his leg last time and the mushrooms he picked have been dried, cut some pork belly and chop the mushrooms and mix them with filling. Stewed meat, roast chicken, and fish are all indispensable.

The small dessert that children eat is to make shredded sweet potatoes and sweet potato balls. In addition, some dishes can always be put on the table.

Thinking like this, Chungui's eyes slowly closed.

Outside the window, the moonlight is hazy, a little snow is drifting, the old and the new year alternate, and everything is looking forward.

-

"Everything looks forward, and life always has to go on."

In a small house not far from the entrance of the village, Mrs. Cai sat at the head of the bed and held her daughter's hand bitterly.

Cai's head was half-hung down, and tears had fallen one after another.

Mrs. Cai sighed: "Ah Zhen, my mother didn't have long eyes, and I promised you this marriage, and I didn't have the face to teach you after you were widowed for seven or eight years." But now seven or eight years have passed, and the festival that should have been observed has already passed. ”

The old lady's eyes were red: "To put it mildly, now I and your father are still here, but if the two of us leave, your brother has already married a daughter-in-law, and you are two families, who do you go to ask for when you encounter difficulties?" ”

Cai snorted and didn't dare to look at her mother, how could she not understand what the old lady meant, turned her head to look at the sleeping Xiaobao, she gritted her teeth and didn't dare to respond.

"I know that you are afraid that Xiaobao will be wronged if you marry someone, but if you continue to live this life, you will both be suffering. It's not always the same to have a man in the family. The old lady continued to persuade: "Now that you are still young, give birth to a big fat boy at that time, and Xiaobao's life will be better." Although that man is a widower, he is better than having no children, even if he sees your face, he will treat Xiaobao well. ”

Cai closed his eyes and finally spoke: "Mother, you let me think again." ”

Mrs. Cai sighed, patted her daughter's hand, got up and walked next door.

Cai leaned on the head of the bed, bitter in his heart. I haven't dared to marry all these years, and I have lived like a shrew just so that she and Xiaobao will not be bullied, and over time, I will never have time to think about marrying.

In her life, she could see her head at a glance after Xiaobao's father was gone, but now her mother asked her to remarry, and she also looked at a widower for her.

The second day of the spring return early in the morning, yesterday's pasted window flowers called the whole room beaming, Zhiping yesterday was idle to cut the window flowers, today is the momentum, before the spring back up with Zhimin two people sit at the small table to cut paper.

The two children didn't cut a lot under her nose, but yesterday's paste has been frozen into lumps today, and Zhimin wrinkled a little face and didn't know what to do. Chungui hurriedly lit a fire for the two of them, put it in the pot and boiled it again.

The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner was busy from this moment.

Zhixing set up a stove outside to bake the preserved duck that Mrs. Cai sent last night, and it has not been thawed overnight, and when the stove is baked, it will continue to be roasted, and it is delicious to roast it until it is shiny and shiny. Qi You helped Chungui cook some delicate dishes in the house, cut the radish into thin strips, and put sweet and sour sauce. In the past, when his father and mother were there, he had never cooked so carefully, and the villagers had enough to eat. Since living in Liu's house, Chungui's attention to food has really surprised him, bone broth, dumplings, sweet potato syrup, everything makes him unforgettable.

Chun Gui was busy for a while and took the time to see how he cut it, this look almost didn't laugh, Qi You cut carefully, the whole person was tense, his eyes were meticulous, and he vowed to make every radish as thick as hair, she looked at it so hastily, the cut pile was no different from the chef with good craftsmanship.

"It's almost done, don't be so careful."

Qi You's ears were red, and after answering, his movements sped up, and after a while, he returned to his old appearance. Chungui also went with him, the dumpling skin was rolled, the stuffing was chopped, today's dishes were basically put on a plate waiting to be put in the pot, and I was going to be busy after eating in the afternoon.

Seeing that there was nothing to do at hand, Chun Gui took out two cloth bags from the cupboard, one bag contained some pastries, rice cakes, and steamed buns. The other bag was a few yellow pears.

She glanced at Qi You, divided the things in her hand into two parts and put them aside, and then walked to another room with miscellaneous items, where there were sacrificial offerings such as incense and candles on the ground. It is a custom in this place to worship ancestors before the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and this process cannot be avoided, and she has long been prepared. In this room, it is to worship the ancestors of the Liu family, but Qi You is also here, and all he can think of when he returns to the spring is to prepare the Cheng family's share.

After retidying it, Chungui washed his hands and went into the kitchen. A large plate of shredded radish has been cut and soaked in water to keep it fresh. Qi You was sitting in front of the stove and making a fire, and two chickens were stewed in the pot.

Chungui thought about it, opened the pot and stirred the chicken soup, and said casually: "I have prepared all the things I need before the meal, and I will go to the pond to catch two fish and steam them in the evening at night." ”

Rice cakes, steamed buns, fish and pears, and a plate of chicken are all set. There is still the leftover wine that Liu's father drank in the past, so there is no need to prepare new ones.

As soon as Chun Gui finished speaking, Qi You's hand holding the branch paused slightly, and Chun Gui couldn't see his expression when he turned sideways, and after a slight pause, he threw the branch into the stove.

Although Chungui was stirring up the soup, Yu Guang always paid attention to him, and seeing that he was silent, Chungui continued: "This ritual is sincere, no matter where it is, your father and mother can't blame it." "If there is really a spirit, it's a big deal that Cheng's father and mother eat Cheng Tianbao's and then eat at Qi You's place.

As soon as she finished speaking this time, Qi You turned to her sideways, his gaze was unusually gentle: "Thank you, Sister Chun." ”

Chun Gui breathed a sigh of relief.

Worshipping her father and mother must be done, but what has happened in the past six months is too chilling, will a young man like Qi You not know what face to face his father and mother, she only said it today.

Qi You didn't know the entanglement in her heart, lowered his head and smiled after pondering for a moment. The gentleman is ashamed, the villain is ashamed, even if he sees his father and mother, there is no need to argue. It's just that Sister Chun planned for him early on, and he didn't expect it. He raised his eyes to look at the spring return who had already breathed a sigh of relief to adjust the sweet and sour sauce, and his heart was warm beyond words.

After the New Year, he will be sixteen years old, and the March college exam is a test, the first self-proof of the ups and downs of life, whether it is for himself or to take him into the spring return of the Liu family, he has to do a good job.

In the afternoon, it's time to officially get busy, there are two readers at home, and the Spring Festival couplets don't need to be bought, and they begged for two red notes, Qi You and Zhixing can write, and the spring return is afraid that Zhixing will be in a hurry and write poorly, staring at him throughout the whole process, seeing that the line is hairy in his heart, and he can't help but have a bitter face and be trained by the spring: "The Spring Festival couplets for the New Year are still bitter, and this year can't be over!" ”

He hurriedly pulled out a smiling face and wrote the Spring Festival couplets one by one.

wrote his own Qi You and pasted it on the door, the window flowers on the side set off each other, and the fragrance from the kitchen, this year has arrived.

After pasting the Spring Festival couplets, Chun Gui hurriedly went into the kitchen, followed by a group of small ones, brought out the dumpling filling, released the dumpling skin, and several children gathered around to make dumplings. Spring returns from time to time to look at a few glances and point a few times, and then continue to fry the dishes in the pot.

When the four children finished wrapping the dumplings, the two chickens were also cooked, one was cut for white and one was braised for braised food, and the white cut was separated separately and put together with the ceremony.

Rice cakes, steamed buns, steamed fish, chicken, pears, incense candles and other items have been placed on the table. She is not a serious Liu family, saying that she is a child daughter-in-law has not passed the door in the end, and now it is not good to kneel like this, she excused herself for a while, and Zhixing also gave up, kneeling with her head, and the two small ones in the back were also connected.

As he spoke, he started from the drought period and counted the days of the past six months. After chattering for a long time, it was all about the good return of spring, saying that the days were already very good, and there was no need to worry, and I would protect my younger siblings and sisters-in-law in the future.

Chun Gui looked at the child who knelt on the ground gently, and after kneeling on this place, she quickly packed up the offerings and replaced them with a new table, which was Qi You's.

Unlike Zhixing's chatter, Qi You only knelt in silence for a moment before getting up.

After the two rituals were done, it was really dark.