Chapter 174 schadenfreude
Li Haitang thought he was going to sleep late again today, but when he woke up, he looked at his watch. It was exactly 6: 50, just in time. Coming out of his warm bed, he heard a slight noise in the backyard. He guessed that it was aunt Fen and the others who got up to prepare breakfast.
She put on her clothes, combed her hair, and opened the door to go out. She happened to see Li Tao, who was living in the opposite room, walking out with his sleepy eyes. Seeing that the zipper of his cotton-padded jacket was not zipped up, and it was so wide open, Li Haitang gently reminded him, "Li Tao, put on your clothes. The temperature is so low in the morning. Don't catch a cold."
"Yes." Li Tao was obviously very angry when he got up, but he zipped up as she said.
The two of them went downstairs one after another and went straight to get some toiletries to brush their teeth and wash their faces. After washing up, they were all awake.
Walking into the kitchen, Liu Fen cooked noodles on the stove, Li Jianhong cooked dumplings on the carbon stove, and Li Jianguo added firewood to smoke in front of the stove.
Li Haitang strode over and suddenly grabbed his arm, snatching the cigarette from his fingertips. His face was not very good, "Dad, smoking early in the morning is bad for your health. If you're addicted to smoking, here, chew gum later, maybe milk candy." As he spoke, he took out a few candies from his cotton pocket and stuffed them into his hand.
Li Jianguo's face stiffened, and he didn't ask for the cigarette back. He was really addicted to smoking and obediently peeled a white rabbit's milk candy into his mouth.
"Hehe, haitang, it seems that your father still listens to you. I've told him many times that he's always on the sidelines." Liu Fen said with a smile as he stirred the noodles in the pot.
"Dad, seriously, you must smoke less in the future. It's very harmful to your lungs, heart and brain. Many smokers will have problems with their lungs when they get older. The mild cases are cough, bronchitis and other diseases, and the most serious ones are cancer. It will be too late to regret it." Li Haitang persuaded with righteous words and threw the cigarette into the stove.
There were very few men who didn't smoke, and they always carried cigarettes with them when they were out in the sports car. She knew it was impossible to ban him from smoking completely, but she hoped he would smoke less.
Li Jianguo really listened to what she said. With a rare grin, he agreed, "Okay, try not to smoke as much as possible in the future."
Li Haitang knew that her father was a man of his word. He would do what he promised and she would not say anything else. He went to the cupboard and brought over the soup bowls. Each bowl contained a small spoonful of lard and salt, soy sauce, msg, and bone soup, sprinkled with a handful of scallions, and waited for aunt Fen to cook the noodles.
"Jianhong, your shop will be open until today. Let's just close it tomorrow and go home for the new year." Li Jianguo added a stick of wood to the stove and casually said to his sister who was busy behind him.
"Okay, that's my plan."
Li Jianhong turned around and answered with a smile, "The last batch of goods that came in has sold out in the past few days. There are only a few suitcases left in the bag and handbag that you sent me. I think we can sell them all today. After the new year, there's nothing left in the shop. We have to make up for it early."
Li Jianguo hasn't been to her store in the past few days to see what's going on, so it's not good for the store to be out of stock."
"Yes, I know." Li Jianhong was a little more cautious in this business this year. Every time he bought the goods, the quantity was not very large, and he sold them almost to make up for them. Now that he was familiar with them, he became bolder.
As soon as the noodles came out of the pot, the Zhou family sisters and Duan Jinqiao were dressed up and brought their own bowls into the hall for breakfast.
While eating noodles, Li Jianguo suddenly asked, "Chunmei, Chunxing, are you two going to the Zhou family during the spring festival?"
Li Jianhong ate her chopsticks. The shop was busy these days, and she forgot to tell her sister and sister about it. Although they were divorced, they were both children of the Zhou family no matter what. Now that their grandparents were still alive and their father was there, it was supposed to be new year's eve.
Zhou Chunmei swallowed the noodles in his mouth and suddenly smiled scornfully, "Go, of course. Hehe, that woman shamelessly ruined our parents'marriage. Now that she has answered that sentence, she has given birth to another money-losing daughter like our sister and sister. How can we not go and see this half-sister?"
This "Money-losing thing" was what her grandmother used to scold them every day. Zhou Chunmei kept these three words in her mind. She hated her father, and she hated her grandmother even more. She wanted to go back and kill them.
"Did you really have a daughter? Chunmei, how did you know?" Li Jianhong was so shocked that her voice became louder. Ever since the divorce, she had not asked about it, nor did she know whether the woman had a son or daughter.
"I was born seven days ago. The day after I came back from Yangcheng, I called my classmate, zhou miao, and told her to tell me when she got the news. Ah, she was born in the town's health center. I heard that when the doctor came out to announce the good news, grandma's eyes went black and she fainted." Zhou Chunmei's tone was full of schadenfreude.
Li jianhong patted the table with a smile and gloated at the same thing, "Haha, when we divorced, that old woman stuck her neck and said that the woman was a boy in her stomach. She could inherit the incense of the Zhou family in the future and scolded you for being money-losing. At that time, the people of the Zhou family were all there. Her face was badly fanned by herself. It should be very painful."
Li Haitang frowned slightly. This mother and daughter were really, ah, it was rare for such a family to value men over women.
"Chunmei, Chunxing, you are going to visit the new year on the second day of the first month. Mom will prepare something for you today. Bring it over when the time comes. Don't let others underestimate you sensible and obedient sisters." Li Jianhong was now feeling at ease.
When they thought that the other party had a daughter, and that the woman was not a first marriage, but also a second marriage, and had a son with the man before them, they were now violating family planning and laughing happily again: "Haha, and ah, they had violated the family planning policy and risked the risk of being fined to give birth to this self-righteous boy's child, and now they are probably regretting it. Go and take a look, see how much of the Zhou family's stuff is left. It's probably all moved away by the family planning staff. That woman will definitely die from being despised by those two immortals in the future."
The two of them: ... "" they really didn't know that there was such a thing. Her mother said that, as if this bustle could really go to see
Li Haitang and the others were a little sluggish. It was too obvious that they were gloating at each other. In any case, the other party was very bad, but at least it was your ex-in-laws husband. But looking at their mother and daughter's expressions, one could at least guess that they had a particularly unhappy life in the Zhou family.
Seeing the three of them immersed in their own happiness, the others silently ate noodles, cleaned up the dishes and returned to the kitchen to wash.
Li Tao filled a thermos with the steamed pork button, cooked dumplings, and half of the stewed chicken.
Liu Fen went to the room to get some sweets, candies, fruits, and so on. He packed a big bag for Duan Jinqiao and asked her to carry the bag. Although Li Ting had nothing to do with the family, she was Li Tao's half-sister and Li Jianguo's child, so she should go and see them for the sake of both father and son.
The Zhou family sisters went over today with Zhou Chunmei. Zhou Chunxing helped sell the goods in the store, but Li Jianhong had already prepared two sets of sweaters and pants that she knitted with her own wool. Although none of them had been to prison, nor did they know what kind of life the people were living in, they could guess that apart from the lack of freedom, life was probably very poor.
Li Jianhong and her daughter also went to town by car. As soon as they left, Liu Fen and Li Haitang began to work on the new year's food tomorrow.
"Haitang, aunt fen will stew this pigeon first. You can make the brine soup. Your father and tao' er both like to eat the braised meat. Yesterday, the pig's head noodles and ears and the like were all cleaned up, and we'll all eat them later." Liu Fen scooped some boiling water from the pot and put it in the basin, intending to start shedding the pigeons.
"Okay." Li Haitang took Li Tao's usual apron and tied it up. He took out all the spices he bought from the provincial wholesale market and boiled it into brine.
Around ten o' clock, a footstep came from the hall outside. Li Haitang wiped his hands and walked out. Lu hongyu, who was wrapped up tightly, came. "Third aunt, why are you here?"
"Hehe, haitang, I just went to the vegetable field to pick a few cabbages. I brought some to your house and put them at the gate. You can smell it from afar. What are you cooking at home today?" Lu Hongyu looked into the kitchen like a searchlight.
Li Haitang stepped aside to let her in. The three aunts still couldn't change their shallow eyes and used the excuse of delivering cabbages to find something to eat. However, she was too lazy to argue with her and replied, "Didn't you buy a pig's head yesterday at uncle yuanlin's house? You used pig's head noodles and pig's ears to marinate it. The sauce smells good. It's not good yet. Let Li Yang come over and take some back for lunch."
"Oh, that third aunt is not polite."
Lu Hongyu walked into the kitchen and greeted Liu Fen. His eyes were glued to the pot of pork head on the carbon stove. His throat rolled down and he asked, "Haitang, can you share some of this brine with Third aunt after you use it? Third aunt bought a pair of pig's feet yesterday and wanted to have them marinated."
Li Haitang gave her a suggestion, "Third aunt, I can give you some of this brine, but the amount is too small. The pork trotters are not transparent. Why don't you bring the pork trotters here?"
"Well, that's fine. I'll go back and get it now." Lu Hongyu felt that what she said made sense. It was easy to bring it here. He told Liu Fen and left in a hurry.
Looking at her back, Li Haitang curled his lips, "Aunt Fen, you see, my second aunt will be here later, and she will probably bring a big pile of things."
Liu Fen shook her head and laughed. She had already gotten close to the nature of the two sisters-in-law. There was no cure for this little habit of taking advantage and craving, but she was too lazy to care about it. These little things between sisters-in-law could be ignored.