Mother Zhang left the house, thought for a mont, and went back to the main room to take so money with her. She checked her clothes, smoothed them out, fixed her hair, and hurriedly said sothing to the two daughters-in-law in the kitchen before leaving.
She left the courtyard and walked briskly towards the Xiao Family at the village entrance. When she reached outside the Xiao Family courtyard, she wasn’t sure if anyone was ho at this work hour. She shouted from outside, "Sister-in-law Xiao, are you ho?"
"Yes, who is it? Co in quickly." A voice ca from inside. Mother Zhang happily pushed open the courtyard gate.
The Xiao Family courtyard wasn’t big but was well kept. They had a single lineage with only Xiao Shitou as the son. After he married, he had two grandsons and a granddaughter, which made Old Xiao very happy. He set off firecrackers in the mountains in the middle of the night, making the villagers think sothing big had happened, causing quite a stir.
"Sister-in-law, you’re not working today? I was worried you wouldn’t be ho. How’s your health? Are you still taking your dicine?" Mother Zhang saw her preparing lunch, coughing from ti to ti, probably having her old problem due to the cold weather.
Aunt Xiao cheerfully handed her a stool to sit on, "I’m fine, it’s just my old man making a fuss. This bronchitis is an old problem, worsens when it gets cold. What brings you here, the new yard keeping you busy?"
"I heard yesterday that your Dash caught so fish, wanted to see if there were any left at ho?"
Aunt Xiao pulled her to the large water tank outside the kitchen, "Look, there are still several here. You take them all; with this cold weather, if you don’t eat them, they’ll freeze. You’re feeding your daughter-in-law, right?"
Mother Zhang happily looked at the fish in the tank, noting they were still fresh in this weather. "Give three, keep the rest for yourself. Sister-in-law, these fish are worth quite a bit; why didn’t you sell them while they were alive?"
Aunt Xiao brought out four fish strung on straw from the kitchen, handing them to Mother Zhang, "Sell them for what? You can catch them from the river if you want to eat. Your family is busy; otherwise, you wouldn’t need to co to my house. Four should be enough, right? We have fewer people at ho, can’t finish them all."
"You’re just being polite, of course, you can finish them. I bet you plan to make dried fish. I won’t be polite either, but I must give you the money. I’m in a hurry; I’ll head off now, co by our place for a chat when you’re free." With that, Mother Zhang placed a dollar on the table and hurriedly left with the fish.
Aunt Xiao chased after her with the money, insisting she take it back, refusing to take the fish otherwise, "We’ve eaten plenty of your Xiao Wu’s at. Are you settling accounts with now? Go back, and co back after you’ve finished eating. Our Dash said he’ll catch more fish in the coming days, we’re not short on fish."
Mother Zhang couldn’t refuse anymore, feeling bad to push further, deciding to send so cured at over later, "Hehe, alright, I’ll take it then, but don’t stuff things everywhere, you almost got to my ticklish spots."
"Hehe, go back early to catch lunch, I won’t keep you." Aunt Xiao watched Mother Zhang leave before returning indoors. She secretly envied Mother Zhang with her three successful and filial sons, the youngest being capable, and a new grandson added to the family, no worries left. No wonder she happily finds things to nourish her daughter-in-law’s body. But her Dash is also filial, so she wasn’t jealous. She decided to cook more fish for lunch when the kids ca back.
In the kitchen, Lin Juhua saw Mother Zhang bringing in four fish, and exclaid, "Mom, where did you catch the fish? You’re amazing, you went out and caught four big fish."
Mother Zhang was amused to laughter, "You silly daughter-in-law, do you think your mother has that skill? They were from the Xiao Shitou’s family, and they wouldn’t take money. Later you let the kids bring so cured at over in the evening."
"Okay, we’ll go during dinner. Mom, how should we cook these fish? They’re fresh, should we leave one for Jiao Jiao for her milk tomorrow?" Lin Juhua examined the fish and asked.
Mother Zhang thought for a while, realizing the children at ho hadn’t had fish for a while, and Xiao Wu ntioned kids beco smarter eating more fish, "Cook three into a fish stew pot, and the other one stew with tofu for Jiao Jiao, no need to save it, such a big fish, she can’t finish it with her little stomach even by tomorrow. Whole stew is better, longer the cook, better the taste."
Saw Huang Cuilan coming out of the cellar, "The eldest, what’s missing?"
Huang Cuilan was carrying a wild boar’s leg, "Mom, I saw we have bones for soup and so ribs, I’m afraid it won’t be enough for at dishes when Uncle Zhou and the others return. What should we do with the leg at?"
"Is the bone soup and stead cornbread ready? Quite fast. Let our helpers eat first, your Uncle Zhou’s people probably won’t co back for lunch, it’s almost ti, they should eat in the county. He did ntion there was no need to prepare lunch. Oh dear, look at my mory."
Huang Cuilan put the boar leg back into the cellar, then told Mother Zhang, "Mom, then let’s not prepare extra for lunch, cook less fish, and cook more for dinner; we have dishes for lunch."
"No worries, cook a fish stew pot for the kids and a stew fish for Jiao Jiao, save two for the evening. Juhua, you watch over it, don’t have to send the als. I’ll go with your eldest sister-in-law."
"Okay, I’ve got it. Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll handle it well. Eldest sister-in-law, the last pot of cornbread isn’t done yet, still needs so ti. I sent Xi Zi and Shi Tou to call Dad, they should co by soon for picking, we can start serving the dishes and soup now." Lin Juhua saw her sister-in-law put away the cornbread and hurried to stop her.
Mother Zhang watched her two daughters-in-law helping with the soup and dishes, and sighed, "So many cornbreads and dishes, it’s exhausting, they say building a house is like shedding a layer of skin, really tiring. Luckily it’s not midsumr, with the heat of construction, we’d get heatstroke. Fortunately, only a few days of busy work, finally can take a breath."
Huang Cuilan and Lin Juhua also breathed a sigh of relief, managing so many als every day was hectic for the three of them. After preparing the dishes, Huang Cuilan observed Lin Juhua busily moving on to fish, and took a mont to ask, "Juhua, have you found all the carpenters? The second brother doing it alone could be too much."
Lin Juhua busy replied without looking up, "I don’t know, I haven’t managed these things, just follow the kids’ dad’s lead. Presumably, working on it with Xiao Wu’s family, I haven’t even seen the wood, have no idea what materials they’ll use."
"Hehe, you are not worried at all. Move your things to the new courtyard first; lacking things can be slowly added later. Now we should tidy the courtyard before the ground hardens, and in spring plant a batch of corn and sweet potatoes, you two flip the ground, next year it’s solely yours." Mother Zhang said and seeing Lin Juhua’s worried face, could only smile.
Lin Juhua looked at her with grievance, "Mom, how can I manage such a big courtyard? I’m not afraid of plowing, but you should help identify where to plant vegetables, where for sweet potatoes, corn. All I saw were stones scattered, not sure if we could grow crops, the kids’ dad said after plowing, fertilization is needed to nourish the ground."
"Yes, it’s wasteland initially, nourishing the land takes ti, no rush. The backyard is just the sa as here, nothing special needed. If you’re not raising pigs, plant less sweet potatoes, more corn."
Huang Cuilan worriedly looked at them, "Mom, second sister-in-law, what should we do with Xiao Wu’s courtyard? I’m worried for Jiao Jiao, she’ll probably cry upon seeing it."
Both Mother Zhang and Lin Juhua burst into laughter.
Putting tofu into the pot, Lin Juhua laughed, "I hadn’t even thought about this until the eldest sister-in-law ntioned it. Such a big courtyard left unplanted is a waste. Even if they work in the county, they’d hate seeing it empty. Later, ask her if her mind cos up with any good ideas."
Mother Zhang smiled and said, "Jiao Jiao isn’t aware that Xiao Wu has it all planned. Let tell you, Xiao Wu said to plant more grapevines in the front yard for ease. In the backyard, divide into three plots for vegetables, sweet potatoes, and corn. Most of it is for fruit trees. The vegetable garden would only have waterlons, lons, tomatoes, cucumbers, with gourds, winter lons, and pumpkins in corners, rotating with seasons. Co autumn, they’ll fill it with Chinese cabbage and radishes, planting whatever’s easiest."
Huang Cuilan nodded approvingly, "Sounds great, saving labor. Xiao Wu can’t handle it all alone, no matter how strong."
Lin Juhua expressed disbelief, "So no keeping chickens and ducks?"
Huang Cuilan nudged her, "They need feeding. Their couple doesn’t want to burden mom and dad. Besides, they can keep so in the county courtyard."
Mother Zhang didn’t add much else; once in the county, the couple certainly wouldn’t keep chickens there. City yards aren’t as big as village ones. Knowing Jiao Jiao’s aversion to dirt, she already planned on keeping so chicks in their backyard once they moved, visiting occasionally to feed them requires little effort, plus, leaving the house empty, they’d probably co by occasionally to check on them and the courtyard too.
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