The ti arrives at the morning of the second day.
It’s the 15th, the sun is shining, and the weather is pleasant.
Xu Lin and the others got in the car around eight in the morning, and then Xu Lin started driving back to his hotown.
Xu Lin’s hotown is in a rural village in a neighboring city, less than two hundred kiloters away. Normally, it takes about two or three hours to drive there.
But now it’s the peak travel period of the Spring Festival.
Xu Lin ended up driving for five hours before reaching the turnoff to the small county leading to his rural hotown.
"Mom, how much longer until we arrive?"
"We’ll be ho in about an hour at most, getting close now."
"Oh, okay."
After an hour, Xu Lin finally drove the car to his rural hotown.
Xu Lin’s hotown village has over a hundred households, and there are dozens of cars as well; almost every family has a car. With tomorrow being New Year’s Eve, almost everyone working away from ho has returned by now, so Xu Lin saw quite a few cars.
He even saw a Maybach, and notably, it was driven by a young person with a group of young people gathered around it.
Damn, could that be a rented car?
These days, there are plenty of young people renting cars to show off.
But Xu Lin didn’t think much about it since it wasn’t his business, and continued driving towards his own house.
His family has a garage that can fit two cars. Xu Lin’s dad’s car was taking up one spot, so after dropping off his mom and the others, Xu Lin parked the car in the garage.
As he finished parking and everyone was getting the luggage from the trunk, Xu Lin saw the old man coming back.
Only Xu Cheng was carrying a hoe on his shoulder, dressed plainly, even wearing those old, unfashionable Liberation shoes. Who knows what he was up to.
"Were there traffic jams today?"
"Yeah, there were so jams."
Xu Lin asked him, "What are you doing with a hoe?"
"Cleaning up the back hill with your elder and second uncle."
"Oh."
Xu Lin’s place is similar to Ning Yuhuan’s ho, with a back hill that needs cleaning as well.
Xu Lin also has an elder and a second uncle, but they’re much older than Xu Lin’s dad. The elder uncle is fourteen years older than Xu Cheng, and the second uncle is eleven years older. Xu Lin also has an elder aunt, who is fifteen years older than Xu Cheng; Xu Cheng is the youngest.
Xu Lin’s grandparents have been deceased for quite a while. He only saw them when he was little.
At this mont, Xu Lin pointed to Rong Xiyi over there, "This is our new family mber."
Xu Cheng had heard from Ms. Ren, and it was even last year’s news.
"Hello, uncle!"
Rong Xiyi was quite timid in front of Xu Lin’s dad. Despite Xu Cheng’s plain clothes and outdated Liberation shoes, he has an imposing presence.
Additionally, Rong Xiyi calls Xu Cheng "uncle" because she still has a dad and can’t call another one; it would feel weird.
Moreover, she had asked Ms. Ren, and it was Ms. Ren who advised her to call him that.
Xu Cheng nodded slightly, noticing her nervousness, and said, "Just treat this place as your own ho, no need to be reserved."
"Okay, thank you, uncle!"
Rong Xiyi was very happy, thinking she’d passed the test, right?
At this mont, Xu Cheng looked at Ms. Ren.
"How about eating a local chicken tonight?"
"You decide."
Ms. Ren glanced at him.
Xu Cheng didn’t say more. They’ve been divorced for many years, but their relationship is like they haven’t really separated. Knowing each other for many years, they don’t say much, but the feelings run deep.
It was already past four in the afternoon and getting dark.
After putting the hoe away, Xu Cheng went out again.
Naturally, the local chicken was obtained from others – the elder uncle’s family happened to raise a lot of them.
However, even with close siblings, transactions must be clear. Xu Cheng paid for it. Such matters must be clearly outlined, especially since the elder uncle has always lived in the countryside, relying on nearby farm work for inco. Now that he’s older, it’s the sons who provide financially.
Among the three brothers, Xu Cheng is the most successful, followed by the second uncle, who is also doing well in the city. Only the elder uncle stayed in the countryside, but he was very great, because a large portion of Xu Cheng’s university tuition and living expenses ca from the hard-earned money his elder uncle made doing nearby farm work.
Not long after, Xu Cheng brought back a large rooster. After removing the innards, the chicken weighed around six pounds, definitely not small.
This kind of chicken can’t be found in the city, because the city’s chickens are all hormone-fed and taste terrible.
Upon returning, Xu Cheng started boiling water with a big pot.
Xu Lin helped with the chicken slaughter. He was in charge of catching it, while Xu Cheng took care of the throat-slitting and bloodletting.
It was Rong Xiyi’s first ti seeing such a scene, and she found it sowhat hard to stomach.
Seeing her reaction, Xu Lin said, "Later, help pluck the chicken feathers!"
"Ah, how do I pluck them?"
"Just follow my lead."
Once the water was ready, they scalded the chicken, and the feathers softened.
Then Rong Xiyi followed Xu Lin in plucking the chicken feathers.
Rong Xiyi’s family is from Gusu, a newly first-tier city. She’s a native city dweller, raised with a life of luxury. She had never even tried plucking chicken feathers before. Moreover, the rooster’s feet still had chicken droppings on them, which wasn’t too bad, and especially the feathers near the chicken’s backside, which were stained with droppings.
"Xu Lin, the chicken is so disgusting..."
At this scene, even soone without a cleanliness obsession would probably develop one.
"There’s no work exemption in my house, okay? Pluck the feathers properly, and if you don’t, you’ll be the one to clean the chicken guts!"
"What do you an by cleaning chicken guts?"
Rong Xiyi was puzzled.
"Removing the chicken poop! Pick one, clean the guts or pluck the feathers?"
"Ah! No, I’ll pluck the feathers, okay!"
"Hurry up!"
Terrified, Rong Xiyi could only obediently pluck the rooster’s feathers with a hint of grievance.
However, her feather-plucking was not as straightforward and rough as Xu Lin’s, but rather gentle and cautious.
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