Ever since Ye Hao said he would return on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, Gu Yi began packing her things, preparing to go ho.
Midway, Gu Yi went to the city to bring so local specialties for her family.
She bought a set of clothes for Gu Hui and Gu Min, considering the multiple bus transfers on the road, and given the ti of year, bringing too many things would be inconvenient.
She didn’t plan to buy for others, but luckily, she had bought clothes for everyone and sent them back at the change of season.
Even though she tried to bring as little as possible, she still packed two large suitcases.
But the suitcases were sowhat easier to carry along the way.
She had to thank her two sisters-in-law for buying those suitcases for her.
Thinking about seeing them soon, Gu Yi was afraid she’d be too excited to sleep at night.
The night before going ho, Ye Hao hung the marinated fish and at Gu Yi made on the balcony.
The next morning, Ye Hao and Gu woke up early; after getting ready, they left without having breakfast.
Fortunately, Ye Hao was there, carrying the two suitcases for getting on and off the train.
Gu Yi only needed to carry her own bag.
When the two got on the train, Gu Yi took the tickets and found her seat.
"There are so many people this ti of year, and since we bought the tickets late, we didn’t get a sleeper ticket."
Ye Hao stored the luggage and let Gu Yi sit by the window seat.
Once they sat down, Ye Hao quietly explained to Gu Yi.
"Getting tickets was difficult enough, not to ntion these are two seats together."
Gu Yi said as she slipped her hand into Ye Hao’s hand.
"Besides, this seems to be the first ti we’re going ho together, taking the train together."
Gu Yi felt reassured being with Ye Hao.
All the way ho, Gu Yi felt that Ye Hao was indeed indispensable for traveling.
Way more reassuring than Ye Qian.
When she was with Ye Qian, she was always tense, not daring to relax at all.
This ti with Ye Hao, he took special care of her the whole way, even finding clothes to cover her if she fell asleep, afraid she might catch a cold.
After they got off the train, they first went to the Ye Family’s ho, where Ye’s mother was sweeping the yard.
"Mom, Yiyi and I are back."
Ye Hao called out to Ye’s mother, standing at the gate of the courtyard.
Ye’s mother looked up and saw that it was them, her eyes reddening slightly with happiness.
It had been years since Ye Hao had co ho for the New Year.
This ti, they could finally be together as a family for the special occasion.
"Ah, you just said you’d co back, but didn’t specify which day. I’ve been waiting at ho every day for you. Co in quickly. Yiyi, you probably haven’t eaten breakfast yet, right? I bought so and kept it warm in the pot. I’ll go get it."
Ye’s mother said as she headed towards the kitchen.
"Mom, don’t worry about it. Let us wash up first, and we’ll eat a bit later."
Gu Yi quickly pulled Ye’s mother back.
"Mom, we’re ho. We’ll handle it ourselves, so you can take a break. Where are Dad and Qianqian?"
They got ho fairly early, so why haven’t they seen Ye Qian and Ye Fu?
"Isn’t the New Year coming soon? Qianqian’s cake shop is doing particularly well. Early in the morning, Qianqian and your dad went to the shop to make more cakes."
Ye’s mother explained to the two of them.
"It’s the busiest ti right now; Mom, you should help out too. Go quickly, Ye Hao and I are fine at ho, don’t worry about us."
Gu Yi knew that if it were the usual ti, Ye’s mother would definitely help at the shop, but she stayed ho because she and Ye Hao were coming back.
Gu Yi urged Ye’s mother to go quickly.
"Yes, Mom, go and help. Yiyi and I are tired from the long train ride. After eating sothing, we’ll take a nap."
Ye Hao also urged Ye’s mother to go.
"All right, I’ll go check things out. If it’s not busy, I’ll co back soon. The bedsheets in your room are newly changed, and the quilts have been sun-dried. Sleep well at ho."
Ye’s mother, fearing that Ye Qian and the others were overwheld, left for the shop after instructing them.
Ye Hao and Gu Yi washed up, ate a bit, and went to rest.
Even though Gu Yi had slept a bit on the train, she was sitting the whole ti and was quite exhausted now.
Ye Hao, although physically fit, hadn’t rested much during the journey. Relaxing at ho, he felt both tired and sleepy.
When they woke up, it was almost eleven o’clock.
Ye’s mother had not yet returned, likely because it was busy for Ye Qian.
"Let’s cook lunch, shall we? Could you give a hand?"
Gu Yi looked at Ye Hao and said.
"Sure, let’s first check the kitchen to see if there are any vegetables at ho."
Ye Hao led Gu Yi by the hand to the kitchen.
Gu Yi checked and found that there were quite a few vegetables, although so were a bit wilted.
It was probably because Ye Qian was too busy, so Ye’s mother bought a lot of vegetables at once to stock up at ho.
Gu Yi took out the vegetables for lunch, and Ye Hao was responsible for washing them all.
While he washed the vegetables, Gu Yi lit the fire and put water in the pot to prepare rice.
Seeing sausages at ho, she planned to make claypot rice for lunch.
While the rice was cooking, Gu Yi prepared and cut the vegetables.
When the rice in the pot was almost done, she scooped out the rice soup using a clay pot.
The rice was left in the pot, and the brazier was used to simr the rice on low heat, producing crispy rice crust to enjoy.
When scooping the rice soup, Gu Yi deliberately ladled so rice into it, then placed the clay pot on the charcoal fire for simring, making the rice soup rich and delicious.
Gu Yi then started a new pot to cook the dishes, while Ye Hao sat at the stove adding firewood.
They cooperated quite tacitly.
When Ye’s mother returned and pushed open the courtyard gate, the aroma of the food wafted into her nose.
She hurried to the kitchen.
"Why did you wake up so early? Qianqian’s side was quite busy, so I ca back late."
Saying this, she stepped forward to take the spatula from Gu Yi’s hand.
"It’s alright, Mom, I’m almost done. Don’t bother; just rest for a bit."
Gu Yi dodged her hand and continued cooking when she approached.
Ye’s mother, failing to take over from Gu Yi, tried to have Ye Hao get up so she could add firewood.
"Mom, take a break. Didn’t Yiyi just say it was almost done?"
Ye Hao didn’t let her do it either.
"Mom, will Dad and Qianqian co back to eat, or do we need to send it over?"
Gu Yi quickly redirected Ye’s mother’s attention.
"It’s quite busy over there, so I usually make the food and take it to them to eat."
"The food is ready, Mom. Why don’t you pack it, and we’ll take it over."
Gu Yi found sothing for Ye’s mother to do.
"Okay, I’ll get the lunch boxes."
Ye’s mother thought it was fine and washed the lunch boxes to pack the food.
Gu Yi noticed she took three lunch boxes.
"Mom, eat at ho before you go, no need to pack it."
Gu Yi thought since she had cooked, Ye’s mother could eat at ho before going, why take it to the shop?
"These aren’t for . We recently hired a young boy to help, pretty nice lad. Except his family condition isn’t great, he’s diligent. Your dad and I are thinking of matching him with Qianqian."
Ye’s mother knew Gu Yi misunderstood and quickly explained.
"Oh, how co you never ntioned it?"
Gu Yi thought hiring soone was normal and asked casually.
User Comments
0 comments from readers