CH 17.1

Chapter 17

"He ge’er, do you see how good these earrings look on me?"

Xu He was sweeping the floor when he heard the voice and looked up. Xu Shaochun was sitting on the side of the charcoal basin, with a bronze mirror standing in front of her, holding a pair of earrings and comparing them back and forth.

He nodded: "It's pretty."

There were a pile of gift boxes on the table like small hills, all of which were Xu Shaochun's spoils during the New Year. The New Year was really busy, there were so many gift-givers, and they had to visit relatives and friends, so many gift boxes, she didn't even have time to take a look, and she didn't even have time to take the ones she didn't like to Xu He so he could return the gift, so she had to accept everything as it was ordered.

Fortunately, during the New Year period, everyone had more money in their hands. To be precise, they were more willing to spend money than ordinary days, so the gifts they sent were more expensive than usual, which made Xu Shaochun very satisfied.

The second sister was satisfied, and Xu He was also satisfied. During the New Year, he traveled a lot to receive the gifts from the young talents in the village, and he could even save dozens of copper cons.

"Mother said that aunt is coming to visit today, so you have to cook earlier. My hands and feet are not as clumsy as you, so I will talk to my aunt when the time comes."

Xu Shaochun was very satisfied with her younger brother's answer, and took a moment to glance at Xu He, Looking at the dingy people who had cleaned up after the New Year, she shook her head secretly.

Xu He responded, anyway, he didn't like talking with his elders, and the elders didn't like talking to him either, after all, they couldn't talk together.

"Then I'm going out to work."

"Yeah."

Xu He went out from Xu Shaochun's warm room filled with the fragrance of flowers collected and dried in spring, and wanted to carry some firewood into the kitchen. There were many guests coming and going during the New Year, and the stove was burning firewood every day, and the firewood was used up quickly. Before the New Year, the so many firewood he saved was almost completely burned.

" He ge’er!"

He was hunched over and hugging a piece of firewood when he heard someone yelling over from afar. Xu He straightened his waist, watching his aunt's hair combed smoothly, her waist twisted and her complexion rosy, and he went to open the gate of the courtyard.

"Knowing that aunt is coming, are you ready to cook so early?"

Xu He also said politely, "It's hard for aunt to come over, so I should treat her well"

Xu Shaochun in the room heard the voice and hurriedly packed up his things, and ran out in small steps: "Auntie! "

Liu Xiangmei looked at her little niece who was as delicate as a flower, and immediately left Xu He and went forward: "Shaochun has grown a lot taller, let aunt take a good look at you, but your appearance is even more lovely.

"Auntie, go and sit in the house, mother started talking about you two days ago, she said that aunt is coming today, and Shaochun specially lit a charcoal fire in the house. It will be warm for a while, and I can't let my aunt come back to the village to catch the cold."

"This little girl's words are getting sweeter, go into the house, and it happens that aunt brought you some gifts."

Seeing aunt and niece entering the house talking and laughing, Xu He carried the firewood to the kitchen.

His aunt married in the city, and her life was better than in the village. Every time she came to visit, his mother, Liu Xianglan, would bring out the best things to entertain her, just because she didn't want to be inferior to her elder sister from the city.

Xu He knew this very well, even if her mother didn't confess, he also knew to get a piece of good meat, not only that, but at least an old hen had to be caught.

He lit the fire and put the rice into the pot first, thinking about what to cook.

The old hen must be used to make soup. In the soup, put some mushrooms he collected in spring and dried to stew; Every time aunt came to the house, the food must be better than the New Year.

While the chicken was being scalded, Liu Xianglan came to the kitchen with an oiled paper bag. First, she checked the dishes that Xu He had arranged for today. She was quite satisfied, and then she put the things in her hand on the table: "Your aunt brought the pig's trotters, cook them for lunch, you can figure it out."

Liu Xianglan also cleaned up in a very energetic way today, and even put the plain silver hairpins in her hair that she couldn't bear to wear even when she went to the city.

Xu He agreed, so he didn't use their own pork.

It was easy to handle the pig's trotters, used the uneaten winter bamboo shoots to make a hoof flower soup (

蹄花汤). His aunt also loved it. Every year after winter, his mother would dig some in the village and send them to the city.

Liu Xianglan didn't say anything about helping Xu He to light the fire, and turned back to the middle hall.

"Hey, by the way, Zhang Fangyuan, the laowu of the Zhang family in the village, do you know what he's doing?"

Liu Xiangmei peeled the melon seeds that Liu Xianglan took out while chatting.

Liu Xianglan also felt strange, since her sister married to the city, every year when she visited her relatives in the village, she couldn't stop talking about the happy life in the city, but this was the first time she talked about the good and bad of the village.

"He, didn't he hang around in the city at first, suddenly he wanted to start a family for some reason, and asked a matchmaker to talk about marriage, but it turned out..."

Liu Xianglan vividly told her sister about the bizarre events in the village. Once again, when visiting relatives and friends during the New Year, everyone in front of the table and behind the stove must bring up this matter and talk about it, in the end they sighed: "After he caught the thief, everyone's opinion of him changed

a little bit, and he stayed longer in the village."

Liu Xiangmei listened with gusto. After all, she was from Jijiu Village before she got married, and she could tell other people about such a big gossip in the village when she returned to the city: "Then is he still looking for relationship now?"

"I haven't heard of it. At first, it was very urgent, maybe it was his bad luck to meet with the Guang's family, but now everyone don't say anything about him, and they don't see him continue to propose marriage."