Meng Wenzhou called out to Xia Xianxian, who was smiling foolishly at the vegetable patch.
“What are you doing? Standing out there facing the vegetable patch all by yourself instead of coming into the house. Want to go out and have some fun in a bit?”
“Where to?”
Tsk tsk, look at that brilliant smile. Her face had been completely gloomy and unhappy this morning, yet now she was smiling foolishly all by herself.
Meng Wenzhou shook his head with a smile and didn’t bother to dwell on the reason. As long as she was happy, it was fine; he would let her be with everything else.
Looking at the letter of introduction in Meng Wenzhou’s hand, Xia Xianxian’s eyes instantly lit up.
The two rode the bicycle borrowed from the old house, pocketed their money and coupons, and happily headed out.
It was just that the distance was simply too far. They pedaled the bicycle for over an hour before they finally reached the county seat.
Upon arriving in the county seat, the memories in her mind felt as if a layer of obscuring canvas had been wiped away, and the entire scene came vividly to life.
Unlike the high-rise buildings of later generations, single-story houses here stood neatly scattered along both sides of the street. The pedestrians on the street mainly wore blue worker overalls and military green uniforms. There were also more fashionable girls wearing white shirts, with military green cloth bags slung across their bodies and their hair styled in two braided pigtails as they shuttled through the streets. When people met and spoke, a slogan or two would pop out of their mouths from time to time.
But for Meng Wenzhou and Xia Xianxian, these things were temporarily not the most important or unusual.
The long distance had already left both of them tired and hungry.
Not to mention, the moment they entered the county seat, they smelled a rich, savory aroma of meat, which made their mouths water intensely.
Without even needing to ask around, they walked straight toward the gray-brick building that bore the large characters ‘State-Owned Restaurant’ by following the aroma.
Pushing open the glass door, about ten tables—large and small, square or round—were arranged in the hall. On the wall, several large characters were painted in red paint:
‘Arduous Struggle, Diligence and Frugality!’
The waitress was leaning against the food service window cracking melon seeds, only giving a casual glance at the newcomers.
“The menu is on the blackboard, look at it yourselves. Count your money and coupons before bringing them to me.”
This attitude toward speaking and doing things was a world away from later generations, but here, it could already be considered a good service attitude.
Meng Wenzhou and Xia Xianxian didn’t say much either. They looked at the menu on the small blackboard, and then handed the prepared money and coupons to the waitress.
“Comrade, please get us a portion of braised pork, an egg drop soup, and two bowls of rice.”
There was no choice; who let them be so hungry at this moment? If they pulled a long face, what if she deliberately delayed and refused to serve the food later?
It was best not to offend the cook and the person serving the food!
Ring ring ring! As soon as the bell rang, the waitress took down the meal number hanging on the wire, looked at it, and shouted outside, “Number 24! Braised pork!”
The enticingly colored braised pork was piled tremblingly in the bowl, and the potatoes lining the bottom were thoroughly soaked in oil, making it incredibly fragrant. Even someone like Xia Xianxian, who disliked eating fatty meat, eagerly ate two pieces along with him.
After eating, Meng Wenzhou ordered four large meat buns. Since they didn’t have a lunch box, they wrapped them in brown paper and tied them with a string to carry away.
After eating and drinking their fill in the county seat and wandering around for another lap, the two finally rode home with deep satisfaction.
It had to be said that Meng Wenzhou really knew how to handle relationships. After returning home and taking a breather, he took out two meat buns and a few pieces of pastry, and led Xia Xianxian toward the old house.
The moment he entered the courtyard, he began to shout at the top of his lungs, “Mother!”
Wang Cuihua, who was stitching insoles in the inner room, thought something had happened. She put down her things and ran outside.
As it turned out, nothing was wrong at all with this reckless boy. He was standing there with his wife, beautifully looking at the pair of chickens raised at home; he was eyeing the eggs again. Thinking about the family split that had just occurred in the morning, the anger in Wang Cuihua’s heart flared right up!
This was actually a misunderstanding of Meng Wenzhou. The moment they entered the courtyard, Xia Xianxian insisted on dragging him to look at the two chickens roaming all over the yard, muttering about wanting chicken feathers to make a shuttlecock. Before he could even figure out how to catch a chicken, he saw Wang Cuihua looking at them both with an unfriendly expression.
“Mother, didn’t we borrow Father’s bicycle at noon? We came to return the bicycle. A good turn deserves another, so it won’t be hard to borrow it again.”
Wang Cuihua was deeply afraid that these two had come to ruin the household again.
“Fine, leave the bicycle by the foot of the wall. If there’s nothing else, you two go on back. I won’t keep you.”
“We just left home, so we’re not quite used to it yet. We came back since we have nothing to do and wanted to sit and keep you company.”
Holding the things in his hand, Meng Wenzhou pulled Xia Xianxian and took large strides into the inner room.
“Mother, these are things we bought for you and Father when we came back. This is our filial respect as your son and daughter-in-law, keep them for yourselves to eat.”
Looking at the food in her hand, Wang Cuihua felt deeply moved. In the end, it was still this youngest boy who knew how to care for his parents. Aside from the daughters in the family, raising sons felt like raising them for nothing; she had never seen anyone remember their parents when they had good things.
“Keep them for yourselves. Your father and I are both old, how can we eat meat?”
Xia Xianxian didn’t like hearing these words. If there was food to eat, then eat more; if there wasn’t, then eat less. This kind of self-sacrificing display was undesirable.
“Mother, look at what you’re saying. I think you and Father both look quite young, why shouldn’t you eat it? If you and Father eat well and live well, we can also feel at ease living outside.”
“Fine, then Mother will keep these things.”
Wang Cuihua had always been a decisive person. Looking at the young couple who took turns persuading her, she stopped being overly formal. Her own son showing filial respect with a bite to eat—what was wrong with that!
Thinking of the two who hadn’t blinked their eyes just now, Wang Cuihua said, “In a bit, Mother will get a few eggs for you. Be careful when you go out, don’t let the others in the family see you.”
“Mother, we don’t need the eggs. Keep them for yourself and Father to nourish your bodies. It’s just these chicken feathers—we want to pluck a few to take with us.”
“Chicken feathers?” Wang Cuihua looked at the two suspiciously, unable to figure out what kind of play this was.
“Yes, chicken feathers. Xianxian wants to make a chicken feather shuttlecock to play with.”
“Alright then, I’ll go get them for you.”
Bringing along the return-visit gifts given by Wang Cuihua, the eggs, and a handful of chicken feathers, the two walked out joyfully. They ran right into the third brother and his wife. Looking at the things in Meng Wenzhou’s hand, Yang Zhaodi’s eyes turned red with envy.
Seeing his younger brother and sister-in-law, the third brother greeted them very warmly, “Old Fifth, you came over to visit Mom.”
“Didn’t we borrow Father’s bicycle in the morning? We just brought it back.”
“Old Fifth, the family is already split up. How can you still take Mom and Dad’s things? It sounds so bad if word gets out.”
Everyone was already accustomed to Yang Zhaodi’s virtue.
Meng Wenzhou pulled up a smile on his face and said, “Yes, Third Sister-in-law, the family is already split up, so you should hurry back and cook too. Don’t let my third brother stay out here on an empty stomach keeping you company while you wag your tongue.”
Hearing the commotion, Wang Cuihua knew things had gone wrong. This Yang Zhaodi was completely brainless, making an exhibition of herself outside day after day.
“What, did you pay for your own return-visit gifts?!”
She came out and glared at the third brother and his wife, then signaled for Old Fifth and the others to quickly head home. It was exactly dinner time, and everyone was standing outside their houses holding their bowls and talking; making a scene at the doorstep right now would just provide perfect gossip for everyone.
……
After entering their courtyard, Meng Wenzhou looked around left and right, and checked the windows and doors of the house before crossing his arms to interrogate Xia Xianxian.
“Speak.”
Only then did Xia Xianxian know things had gone wrong. Meng Wenzhou had definitely sensed something.
Her eyes darted left and right, deliberately avoiding the Meng Wenzhou right in front of her. “Speak about what? I’ve been tired all day, why don’t you boil some bath water for me?”
Meng Wenzhou was almost angered into laughter by her shameless words. This Xia Xianxian had been unusual since last night, and today she had even made a scene at the old house just to get a chicken feather shuttlecock.
Who didn’t know who? Back when she was a child, Xia Xianxian had been pecked by a big rooster; usually, she would hide as far away as possible whenever she saw a live chicken. Yet upon arriving at the old house, she had first dazed out for a moment, and then with her eyes shining, she had dragged him around the yard to chase the chickens.
If he still couldn’t see any pattern to this, then he, Meng Wenzhou, would be a fool.
Seeing that Meng Wenzhou didn’t say a word but just kept staring at her, Xia Xianxian felt increasingly guilty.
She kept calling out to the system in her mind, “System, look quickly, who could withstand this? If you still don’t agree, he will guess it on his own, and we will face punishment together then!”
“System! System!”
It was the first time the system had discovered that humans could actually be this noisy!