Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 12118

Yang Ruoqing smiled and said, "Perhaps things got out of hand around noon, and my second brother felt embarrassed!"

"The whole family definitely won't go. It just so happens that Xiaohua and Lian'er are both pregnant, so they have a good excuse not to go. Your father can be their representative!"

"Yes, I think the other rooms should do the same, each should send a representative."

"I wonder if your second brother will go and ask your fourth uncle," Sun muttered to herself again.

Yang Ruoqing said, "I will definitely ask him. Second Brother is always thorough in his work."

"But I must say, having a meal like this, inviting everyone over to sit down, eat some meat, and drink some wine, allows us to talk things out over the dinner table, and prevents any rifts from forming between us and Uncle Si and Kang boy."

"By the way, did you go to the Luo family to invite them?" Madam Sun suddenly asked again.

"Yes, he invited me, but I declined. My second brother knew that Tang Ya and I didn't like those kinds of occasions. My uncle was receiving treatment and my aunt didn't go out at night, so he exchanged a few pleasantries and then went elsewhere."

……

The small room was quite lively at night.

The octagonal table in the main room was full of people.

Old Yang, Old Sun, Xiao Jie's father, Yang Huazhong, Yang Huaming, Yang Yongzhi, Kang Xiaozi, and the brothers Sanxi and Sixi.

"Mother, I told you a long time ago not to invite Si Xi's father, did you see? My father-in-law will never come. They won't even show up for anything that's related to us." In the kitchen, Xiu Hong muttered unhappily as she helped Cao Ba Mei cook.

She hadn't known that her father had also gone to the Si Xi family's old house to invite them; otherwise, she would have stopped him.

As expected, Si Xi's father and the eldest and second brothers all made various excuses to refuse, while only the third brother, Xi happy, came happily.

"I've figured it out too. Of that whole family, only Sanxi and Sixi are truly close; otherwise, they wouldn't have come," Cao Bamei added.

If even Sanxi doesn't come, it would seem that Sixi has absolutely no face in her family of origin.

Xiu Hong's expression softened a bit. "Yes, Sixi told me that when they were little, Erxi often bullied him at home, and Sanxi always helped him fight against Erxi. The two little ones often fought with Erxi together."

"Although they lost many times, the way the two brothers fought together could intimidate Erxi. Over time, Erxi stopped daring to bully either of them."

Hearing this, Cao Bamei laughed along: "In families with many brothers, and with parents who are biased, the only option is for the brothers to stick together for warmth."

Xiu Hong laughed too: "Yes, it's quite interesting. Later, when Sanxi and Sixi grew up, Erxi suddenly became well-behaved and dared not lay a hand on his younger brothers anymore."

Cao Bamei said, "If you make another move, two against one will give him a real beating!"

"Hahaha, Mom, you're right. Let alone two against one, whether it's Sanxi or Sixi, either one of them could easily beat Erxi. Of the four brothers in their family, Erxi hasn't grown to his full height yet, and Sixi is the tallest!"

Cao Bamei suddenly stopped what she was doing, looked at Xiu Hong, and her eyes darted around as if she had thought of something.

"You know what, when you and Sixi were discussing marriage, Sixi didn't seem this tall, did he? It's been almost three months since the wedding, and he seems to have grown a lot taller!"

Xiu Hong was also stunned, seemingly trying hard to recall Si Xi's height and such in her mind.

"Mother, you know what, it seems to be true!" After a moment, Xiu Hong exclaimed in surprise.

“When I married him, he was about half a head taller than me. When he stood with Sanxi and the others, he was only about a finger taller than Erxi. He was also very thin and frail.”

If he hadn't been so thin and weak, and lacked physical strength, he wouldn't have twisted his ankle before they even reached the mountain gully behind the village when they eloped, forcing them to hide in that small wooden house in the gully...

“In the past three months, he has obviously grown a lot taller, and his body seems to have become more robust and fleshy,” Cao Bamei continued.

Xiu Hong nodded, "That's right, Mother. Why is that?"

Cao Bamei said, "Is there any need to ask? Ever since you two got married, you've been taking him back to your parents' house for meals every few days. After you moved into your own little home, you can cook whatever you want to eat yourself. It's no longer like the days when you were living under the eaves of Sixi's parents. As long as the food is better, it's not surprising that you've gained weight!"

Xiu Hong also agreed with this reasoning. During the time she and Sixi were setting up a stall on the street, they often ate at restaurants in town and returned home after lunch.

If there were any leftover fried eggs or stir-fried potato shreds from her stall every day, she would roll them all into rice balls and stuff them into his bowl so he could scrape the bottom of the bucket.

Many times, Sixi would touch his belly and sigh to her, saying that only by following her could he finally live a life like a human being, eating and drinking his fill every day, and even having meat every day. It was as if he had jumped from a chaff basket into a rice basket!

"Sixi is only 18 years old this year, right?" Cao Bamei asked again.

Xiu Hong nodded, "Yes, he's almost two years younger than me."

Because she was almost two years younger, when she was little, Si Xi initially joined a group of little kids in the village to fight against her, and she was quite mischievous.

After being beaten twice by her, he not only became obedient whenever he saw her, but he even became her little shadow, often secretly following her to dig wild vegetables for her.

Cao Bamei said, "It's possible that he can grow a little more. Men grow and mature a little slower than women, and their bodies also take longer to reach their full size."

"Really, Mother? Then I'll have to get him some nourishing food."

“It’s true, it’s true. It’s good that you feel sorry for Sixi, but daughter, we women can’t mistreat ourselves. We should also take better care of ourselves.”

"Don't worry, Mom, I'm taking good care of myself!"

……

That night, at the dining table in the small room, amidst the aroma of steaming food and the jar of daughter's liquor left over from the last wedding of his daughters that Yang Yongjin had opened, he stood up and held the wine cup in both hands in front of Yang Huaming.

"Fourth Uncle, my fourth aunt and I had a little misunderstanding and exchanged a few words today. We are the younger generation, so I'll drink this cup first, and you can drink as you like!"

Yang Yongjin tilted his head back and drank the liquor in the wine cup in one gulp. Then he turned it upside down to show everyone that there was not a drop left in the bottom of the wine cup, which could hold three ounces of liquor.

Yang Huaming was actually sitting there, chatting and laughing with the others around him, seemingly oblivious to what had happened at noon.

However, if you look closely, you can still see a hint of stiffness hidden beneath his smile.

It's a fact that my wife has a sweet tooth and likes to freeload at other people's houses. Putting those facts aside, do you younger generations really have no faults whatsoever?

It's all just a few bites of food, a bowl of fried rice with eggs. What's the big deal?

That's incredibly disrespectful to his fourth uncle!
But now, seeing Yongjin personally holding a wine glass to toast him, Yang Huaming felt quite pleased with this attitude.

Regardless of what Cao Bamei and the other women thought, at least her nephew was a good nephew; he cared about her as his elder.

With Old Yang, Old Sun, Xiao Jie's father, Yang Huazhong, and others watching nearby, Yang Yongzhi even picked up his wine cup and offered it to his younger brother, Kang.

"Kang, let's have a drink together, brother."

Kang Xiaozi immediately picked up his wine cup and stood up. "Third Brother, I'd like to toast you."

At this point, Yang Huaming felt that the eldest son's family had given the fourth son's family enough explanation and saved face.

So Yang Huaming sat there, picked up his wine cup, and before drinking, said to Yang Yongjin, "Yongjin, with your attitude, your fourth uncle is a man of great character. Let's put this matter behind us!"

"Yes, yes, it's over!"

Everyone around echoed this sentiment, and then they all picked up their wine cups and found their drinking companions to drink with. Yang Yongjin picked up the serving chopsticks and invited everyone to eat, telling them not to be shy. The atmosphere in the main room became lively again, and the temperature gradually climbed to its peak. As for what happened at noon, no one was so oblivious as to bring up the sore subject anymore.

"This is a wild rabbit caught by my second son-in-law. Everyone, have a taste and see how it is." After a few rounds of drinks, Yang Yongjin pointed to the large bowl of spicy rabbit meat in the middle of the table and called out again.

"Grandpa, this rabbit meat is cooked so tender by Eighth Sister, you and Grandpa Sun can both eat it." Yang Yongjin said, picking up the serving chopsticks and putting a piece of rabbit meat into each of the two old men's bowls.

Old Yang and Old Sun both tasted it with smiles and then praised it repeatedly.

They praised Cao Bamei's cooking skills and Sixi's competence.

Xiu Hong and Sixi sat together, listening to the endless praise. Xiu Hong turned her head and secretly glanced at Sixi, and found that Sixi's face was red.

Sanxi, sitting on the other side of Sixi, felt the liveliness and harmony of the Yang family and was warmly welcomed by Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei. Sanxi was also filled with emotion and felt gratified for Sixi from the bottom of his heart.

They have many sons, and the father doesn't manage things. The mother usually controls everything in the family, big or small.

If something gets out of control and escalates to the point where it involves Dad...

Before that, without even asking what happened, he raised his hand and slapped her repeatedly.

As for Mother, she was completely biased towards the eldest brother. The second brother was sweet-talking and knew how to say flattering things, so he never suffered any losses at home.

I am a little older than my fourth brother, so he was the one who was mistreated the most in the family since childhood.

Now things are much better. My fourth brother has finally met a caring and understanding sister-in-law, and because of her, he has such a friendly and kind in-law family.

That night, Sanxi ate and drank his fill at Yang Yongjin's house, and even almost got drunk.

But he was happy, even drunk. When he left, Xiu Hong and Sixi saw him off at the gate of the small second room. Under the moonlight, Sanxi held Sixi's hand tightly, his words slightly slurred, but he kept urging Sixi: "Fourth brother, you've been fortunate to live such good days. Fourth sister-in-law is a good person, and her family is good people. You, you must treat fourth sister-in-law well and make your life prosperous!"

……

After dinner, Yang Huaming did not go back to the old house with Old Yang. Instead, Yang Yongjin kept him there and invited Yang Yongzhi and Xiao Jie's father to play cards together.

“It’s been a long time since we got together to play cards. The last time we played cards was the night before the Lantern Festival when Qing Xiaozhi and his friends went to the restaurant in town and played all night. It’s been more than a month since then,” Yang Yongzhi said.

Yang Yongjin nodded with a smile, "Qing went to the restaurant in town, and this area around here seems a bit deserted."

Yang Huaming said, "You guys are a little better off. I live in the backyard. The Qing boy's family went to town, and the backyard is all deserted."

"Haha, Fourth Uncle, how can it be deserted? My grandma is back from town and lives across the street from you. I think it's even more lively than before!"

As Yang Yongzhi said this, he didn't forget to smile and wink at Yang Huaming.

Yang Huaming gently kicked Yang Yongzhi under the table: "You brat, why do you have to bring up such a sore subject? I'm numb to your grandma and your fourth aunt arguing, it's not worth mentioning, let them argue!"

Everyone laughed good-naturedly.

Yang Huazhong and Kang Xiaozhi watched them play cards from the sidelines, occasionally joining in with a few words of laughter.

Cao Bamei was cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen, with Xiuhong and Sixi helping her. The young couple even carried the swill bucket to the pigsty in the backyard to feed the pigs.

"Go to the main room and watch the card game. I can handle these things," Xiu Hong gently reminded her.

She grew up in the village, where the men, regardless of age, liked to gather together to play cards during festivals and slack seasons.

Compared to the women's gossip, they preferred to play cards with a little money. Often, the card table was filled with four people sitting in a square, and then several layers of people stood inside and outside.

Based on Xiu Hong's understanding of Sixi, he should also enjoy the lively atmosphere.

Sure enough, Si Xi's face showed a hint of longing, but the next moment he shook his head: "I don't want to watch. It's so late at night, I don't feel comfortable leaving you here feeding the pigs alone."

"What a fool! This is my home! Before I married you, did I ever come here to feed the pigs every night?"

Xiu Hong felt a warm glow in her heart and pushed Sixi out of the pigpen. "Go ahead, I'll finish scooping these few ladles from the bucket and then go back to the kitchen. We'll go home together then."

"Okay then, call me if anything comes up later."

The distance from here to the main room isn't far. While the two of them were talking, the sounds of people playing cards could be heard from the main room from time to time.

After Sixi left, Xiuhong continued feeding the pigs.

There are two pigs in the pigpen. They are piglets that were caught after the Lunar New Year. They weigh about 50 or 60 pounds now.

The two piglets were very restless while eating and were very possessive of their food. They often fought while eating. The worst time was when one of the piglets had its ear bitten open by its companion. It whimpered in pain all night and for the next few days, it huddled in a corner and dared not go near the food. As a result, it visibly lost weight during those days.

How could a pig farmer see his pigs getting thinner instead of fat? So every time Cao Bamei fed the pigs, she had to stand by the trough, holding a gourd ladle to keep order at all times.