Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 597 You are the head of the family, Lao Jiang, and you want to remarry?
The sun gradually set, the air became slightly cooler, and by around 6: the sky was completely dark.

It was unusually quiet outside the yard, but the house was bustling with activity. Since there were many people today, two folding tables were placed in the reception room, only two or three steps away from the large round table in the dining room. The three tables were placed in a staggered manner, and there was still a lot of space left in the southwest corner, enough to at least put down a floor table.

Everyone felt that the layout designed by Xu Ning was very good, because it allowed everyone to sit together in one room, and the liveliness and atmosphere were much more pleasant than eating in separate east and west rooms.

Although there was no fireplace, the house was quite hot. The old men were shirtless, holding wine glasses, bragging and chatting happily. The old women and children were sitting at the big round table, but their mouths were not idle, because they were preparing tomorrow's dishes and discussing what dishes to prepare on the day of slaughtering the pig.

Liu Lizhen really wanted to prepare some pig-killing dishes, but no one had sauerkraut at home. What should she do? Yang Shuhua suggested that the restaurant where her eldest brother worked should have sauerkraut, and she could ask her eldest brother to bring some. Liu Lizhen shook her head and said that the restaurant was not owned by Yang Liguo, and if she really wanted to eat sauerkraut, she would have to ask Xu Ning to go to the street...

Tonight, they originally wanted to make pancakes, but with so many people gathered at home, it was really inappropriate to just make pancakes with shredded potatoes, so the old ladies simply gave up on making pancakes and stewed two dishes and fried four dishes, making a total of six home-cooked dishes before they were satisfied and served them on the table.

Xu Laonian raised his glass and clinked glasses with Ma Liu repeatedly, saying that since you are the elder brother, it is only right for you to toast him. He also said that Ma Liu was half a master of Xu Ning. After all this talk, Ma Liu's face turned red. As long as someone toasted him, he would drink it with the glass, and had no intention of refusing at all.

So the gentlemen all enjoyed the wine very much!
At around 7 o'clock, Liu Daming came back riding a donkey. When he entered the room and saw everyone drinking, he hurriedly greeted them.

The reason why he came back so late was because the meat was in short supply in the past two days!
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and everyone wants to eat some meat. From the streets to the villages, only Liu Daming and Lao Jiang sell the cheapest meat.

Since the day before yesterday, Li Feng has been running to Nanbeitun and Shengfeng to buy meat. He even bought four wild boars and two deer, but they were all sold out tonight, without even a deer bone left!

After he sat down, he started chatting with everyone. Although he didn't say how much money he earned, Xu Ning estimated that he and Lao Jiang earned at least 20 yuan in these two days.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and were sitting in the reception room to rest and drink some tea, Liu Daming couldn't help but drag the loudspeaker to the second west room.

"Do you know how much we have earned in total during the days you have been away?"

Loudspeaker shook his head: "How much do you earn?"

“咱仨拢共挣了156块3毛！李峰挣了43块6！咱仨平分，你得52块1，我和姜哥刚算完，这些是你的……”

Da Laba looked down at the money in the aluminum lunch box and said, "Uncle, just give me 30 yuan, and you and Brother Jiang can share the rest. I've made a lot of money with Wangxing."

"Hey, you earned it from Wangxing, that's what you deserve! Isn't this from the three of us as a partnership? Take it now. If you don't keep it, I'll be the boss of the Lengchang in the future, and you don't have to share the money you and Jiang Ge made from selling meat with me."

The loud speaker nodded: "Okay, I'll take it."

"Let's follow this rule from now on. The three of us are originally partners, and our capital is all put together. How can we leave it to you?"

"I was thinking, haven't I also won the battle against Wang Xing?"

"Come on, it's boring to chat like this."

When Liu Daming and Xu Ning went to Wanye to carry ginseng before, the money earned by Da Laba and Lao Jiang from selling meat was also shared with him, so Da Laba naturally could not be missing this time.

As it was almost 9 o'clock, everyone got up and left, returning to their homes.

After sending everyone to the gate, Ma Liu rubbed his face and said, "Erning, take me to the old house."

"Sixth brother, why are you going to the old house? Just live here! There's room..."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Dad, my uncle doesn't like chatting with you. Don't you realize that you are making a fuss?"

Xu Laonian gnashed his teeth and pulled him to kick, but Xu Ning dodged flexibly. Xu Laonian was so angry that he cursed: "If I don't beat you for three days, you will fall off the roof! You little bastard..."

"Hahahaha..." Yang Yusheng and others laughed when they saw this.

Liu Lizhen crossed her arms and said, "Stop messing around, the two of you. The bedding and warm teacups are all ready. They're all on the kang in the west room."

"Got it."

Xu Laonian pulled Ma Liu and said, "Sixth brother, let's go and stroll over there."

Yang Yusheng said, "Why are you just strolling over there? Let Erning drive the jeep."

"Okay, let's take a jeep. I've driven this car before... I haven't driven it before, but I think I've ridden it before."

"Hahaha, Sixth Brother, even if you don't explain clearly, I know what you did before. It's okay, it's been so many years."

"I couldn't stand the nightmares for so many years."

Xu Ning, Guan Lei, and Wang Hu entered the house and put the bedding and other things in the back seat of the jeep. Then they took the keys from Xu Long and saw Yang Yusheng pulling open the passenger seat. He smiled and said, "Sixth brother, get in the car?"

"Hey!" Ma Liu got into the passenger seat and said, "This seat is quite soft."

"Well, technology is more advanced now than before. There are several layers of sponge under the seat."

Xu Ning got into the driver's seat, said hello to everyone, then started the jeep, backed up, turned onto the bridge and drove towards the old house.

"Uncle, what are you talking about with my Third Uncle?"

Ma Liu grinned and said, "Just for fun! Your Third Uncle is quite smart. He is still young and he may be able to move up in life."

Xu Ning nodded: "Yes, I think he will be working at the grassroots level and will have to return to the province in a few years."

"...You have a pretty good brain, you know all these twists and turns, I didn't understand them well enough before and suffered a loss..."

"Just stay here and don't get involved in those things. Just look back. Two of my friends will come over in a couple of days. I'll let them live with you in the old house then."

"Okay! I was a little dazed when I came down the mountain today. After drinking, I was still thinking about staying on the mountain. My brain is getting worse and worse."

It can be seen that Ma Liu, Xu Ning and others were already talking incoherently, and they changed the topic before they finished their sentence.

The door of the old house was locked. Xu Ning opened the padlock and said, "Uncle, I don't need you to do it. I can get it myself."

"I'm not too old to carry things yet. Come into the house quickly. I want to have a good sleep now."

Xu Ning didn't argue with him, and walked towards the main room with the bedding in his arms. Ma Liu turned around and saw the wing room, and asked, "Is this room habitable?"

"Yes, but the kang was not heated. Huzi heated the kang in the east room..."

"Oh, why would I need to heat the kang at this time? I'll just live in this room."

"Why do you live in this room when you have the main house?"

Ma Liu put the washbasin on the ground, picked up the thermos and pulled the door of the east wing. He walked in despite Xu Ning's dissuasion, pulled the light cord, and warm yellow light came on in the room.

He nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad! This room is very good, just throw your bedding on the kang and go back."

Xu Ning said helplessly: "Uncle, you are so stubborn. What's so good about this room? This kang is so cold..."

"I can just light some firewood myself."

Except for the cold kang, the floor, counter and kang in the room were quite clean because they had been cleaned just the day before.

Ma Liu squatted in front of the stove and took out matches. There was a half basket of bean shells next to it. He stuffed some into the stove, put two pieces of firewood on top, and lit it.

"It burns very well! It catches fire immediately."

Xu Ning spread the bedding on the kang, then took out two packs of Yingchun from his pocket and threw them on the edge of the kang, saying, "This room has a kang built three years ago, so it must be easy to burn. Thinking about it this way, you are quite good at choosing a room. The kangs in the two main rooms are much harder to burn than this one."

"Of course! You go back to sleep, I'll clean myself up and go to sleep."

"Okay, I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning. Remember to close the door."

Ma Liu chuckled and said, "I'm not a child, how could I not know to close the gate? Let's go quickly." After Xu Ning left the yard, Ma Liu closed the gate and bolted it.

After hearing the car driving away, he slowly walked towards the east wing, muttering, "It's been so many years since it's been this lively, at least fifteen or sixteen years, eh..."

When they returned home, Wang Shujuan had already spread out the bedding in the west room. She and Xu Long were going to stay in east room 2 tonight. Originally, Xu Ning wanted them to stay in the west room, but Xu Long said that they would not come back often in the future, so why bother? It would be better for them to stay in east room 2. So Xu Ning did not argue with them about it. They could live wherever they wanted, as they were family after all.

While Xu Ning was soaking his feet, Xu Feng came over holding a pillow and said with gritted teeth: "Second brother, I'll sleep in this room!"

"Get lost! Mom! Hurry up and get Feng'er back to the house. Stop wasting time on me."

Xu Feng immediately pursed her lips and said, "I just said half a sentence, why bother you, I'll sleep in this room!"

Liu Lizhen shouted from the east room, "Feng'er, don't let me slap you on this holiday, come here quickly."

Xu Laonian walked into the room in slippers, took Xu Feng's arm and said, "Go back to the room with Dad and sleep. Don't you know he's annoying you?"

"No!" Xu Feng said in a low voice with his head down.

Xu Ning frowned: "How old are you? How can such a girl sleep in the same room with me?"

"What's there to be afraid of..."

At this time, Liu Lizhen opened the door curtain and entered the house. She grabbed Xu Feng's arm and dragged her to the living room, saying, "Hurry back to the house."

"Oh, my second brother is going to get married in a few days, and I can't even flatter him."

Xu Laonian stood at the door and did not leave. Instead, he grinned and said, "Why didn't you call your Uncle Zhang and Xiao Liu on the day of the pig slaughter?"

"Summon them! Didn't you tell them?"

"Aren't you the head of the family? How can I, as a father, have such rights?"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Dad, can you stop being so sarcastic? Are you afraid that my uncle Zhang and the others will say that you only treated them to two meals, and then you told my mom that you treated them to three meals?"

Xu Laonian got anxious when he heard that, and quickly stepped forward to cover his mouth: "Stop talking nonsense!"

"That means treating them to a meal and telling my mom about three meals..."

"Hey, kid, why are you like this? I'm here to file a report, but you insist on exposing my shortcomings. So should we call them?"

"Can you not shout? My Master Zhang hasn't retired yet, has he?"

"No, he has to be around 20."

"Call my Master Zhang over. The forest farm isn't too busy right now anyway."

"Okay, then why don't you give me some money for the work?"

Xu Ning wiped his feet and said with a smile: "If you pour out the foot washing water, I will give you five dollars, hahahaha..."

"How do you send away beggars? Ten bucks at least!"

"Okay!" Xu Laonian gritted his teeth, picked up the foot washing water and poured it into the swill bucket, then turned back and stretched out his hand, "Give me the money!"

Xu Ning took off his clothes and said with a smile: "Let my mother give it to you tomorrow."

"Small……"

Before Xu Laonian could shout, Xu Ning shouted, "Mom!"

Xu Laonian quickly waved his hands and stepped back: "Don't shout, don't shout, I don't want it anymore! Just wait for me."

Then, he turned around and left angrily. Xu Ning crawled into the bed and muttered, "I can't do anything to you, you little brat!"

Guan Lei and Guan Hua went back home tonight, while Yang Yusheng went to sleep at Li Fuqiang's house.

The next day, after Xu Ning got up, he went to the old house to pick up Ma Liu. As soon as they entered the house, Guan Lei, Liu Daming, Li Fuqiang and others were sitting in the reception room chatting, while Wang Hu and Li Mantang went to Lao Qin's house to get soy milk and tofu pudding, and Liu Lizhen and others were making mutton buns in the north kitchen.

Han Fengjiao got up at around four o'clock to make the noodles. She had chopped the mutton last night and kept it in the cellar overnight. She then seasoned it with onions in the morning.

The old ladies started talking about Lao Jiang while they were working. Liu Daming said, "He took his daughter to a restaurant on the street. I guess he won't be back until the evening."

"Did they go out to eat?"

Wang Biao asked, "Uncle, does my uncle Jiang have any relatives in the street? Otherwise, what restaurant should we go to?"

"Yesterday he told me that he had some money and he should buy some clothes for his daughter and go to the street to eat something good. He doesn't have many relatives in the street, but he seems to have a friend. I didn't ask him about the details, because when I asked him, he was very secretive."

At this time, Da Laba's family of three came in. Zhang Guifang went directly to the kitchen to help roll the dough. Da Laba said, "Before, when he and I went to sell meat, he would go to the street from time to time. Later, I found that he would send some meat to a family in Yongping from time to time, and he paid for the meat himself. I thought he must have come to his senses."

"Oh my god, is this true? Guoxing, are you watching?"

Loudspeaker shook his head: "No, I want to see it..."

Zhang Guifang said: "If he keeps an eye on us, everyone in the village must know about it."

"Hahaha……"

"That's the thing. Anyway, I think he might be thinking about remarrying."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "It's good to find someone. It's not easy for my uncle Jiang to raise Jiang Qiuer by himself, right?"

"Not really! I talked to him about this before, and he said he didn't have much spare money then. Maybe he has saved some money now."

After Xu Laonian finished speaking, Liu Daming clapped his hands and said excitedly: "Oh my god! I remember now! At the beginning of spring, Lao Jiang and I went to Xiaoshi River to catch fish, and he was looking at an old woman in the woods..."

The loud speaker interrupted hastily, saying, "That old woman is already over 50 years old, stop making random arrangements for her."

"Hahaha!"

Wang Erli said: "Don't worry about it. If Lao Jiang can really find a good wife, we will be happy too."

Wang Biao pouted and muttered, "What if I find a stepmother to abuse my little Qiu?"

"Get out of the way. Why are you just talking nonsense?" Wang Hu kicked Wang Biao on the butt.

Li Fuqiang said with a smile: "Uncle Jiang, can you let others bully your own daughter? Biao, you can't say this in front of Uncle Jiang. He may remember your casual words. What will you do if you don't find him?"

"That's what I said."

At this time, Xu Ning suddenly remembered that he had not seen Huang Guofu, so he asked, "Brother, why didn't Brother Guofu come?"

"He left in a hurry this morning. I asked him to follow me, but he wouldn't let me. Then I went to the village and called Lao Jin's apprentice, hoping that he would give my brother a discount."

"Does it work?"

"It must work! Apprentice Lao Jin also knows our relationship and is very considerate."

(End of this chapter)