"I invited Fourth Uncle. It's not a big deal and the others can't justify it. Let's forget it tonight. Unless Fourth Uncle comes by himself and invites us when he catches up, otherwise, we can invite him at another time and invite everyone else who should be invited to join in. Son."
Sun thought about it and felt that Yang Ruoqing was right.
I'm in a hurry tonight, so the only meat and vegetables are chicken and bacon. A few people in the family can eat and talk at the same time. On a hot night, it's inconvenient to have more people.
"I'll discuss it with your father later. Let's buy some food and wine tomorrow or the day after, and invite relatives from both sides of our family over for a meal. Everyone was worried about Xiao An and Qing Song last time. , I never had time to thank you.”
Yang Ruoqing had no objection to Sun's proposal.
Farmers deepen their emotional ties in just a few ways: congratulations on weddings, comfort on weddings, visits when sick, and help during busy farming days.
And while each of these is going on, there is one thing that is closely related to everything and cannot be separated.
That is to entertain relatives and friends with good food and good food, and everyone sits down to have a reunion dinner together.
Food is the most important thing. Delicious dishes bring people happiness. Everyone sits around the table eating, drinking, talking and laughing. This is how relationships are maintained and deepened.
This is the happiness of ordinary people, simplicity and reality.
The mother and daughter reached an agreement, and discussed the specific dishes to be cooked that night. After they were settled, they divided the work and cooperated, with pots and pans clattering and smoke curling up.
Luo Baobao had long heard that Xiao An was back. The girl was practicing calligraphy with Tuoba Xian. After practicing, she put down her brush and ran out to find her favorite uncle.
She recently practiced a new set of boxing skills, and she wanted to show off with her uncle.
The younger uncle was not at home and went to the threshing floor at the south end of the village. Luo Baobao, a girl chasing the wind, rushed to the threshing floor to find her little uncle...
When the food was almost cooked, Yang Huazhong and Xiao An came back.
At this time, Yang Ruoqing was sweeping the yard. The bluestone slabs in the yard were swept clean and well water was sprinkled to cool down.
The two of them came in together, both of them covered in dust, with rice husks and vegetation debris stuck to their bodies.
"Ah, Xiao An is helping our father raise rice, right?"
Yang Ruoqing asked with a smile, and quickly handed over two clean handkerchiefs: "Here, wipe it."
Xiao An waved his hand: "Sister, don't wipe it off in a hurry. Dad and I will go to the pond and take a bath together later, and our whole body will be clear."
"Well, that's okay. Then I'll ask my mother to prepare clean clothes for you."
Yang Ruoqing took two steps and suddenly turned around: "By the way, the baby said he would go to the threshing floor to find you, but did he go?"
Xiao An nodded: "He went. We came back together. My father and I were harvesting rice, and she was helping to sweep it. We were afraid that she would be itchy with rice husks stuck on her body, but we couldn't stop her. We went back to take a bath now. Now, let me tell you this, sister."
It turned out that this was the case, Yang Ruoqing smiled: "She just likes to stick to you, no matter whether it's boxing or working, that's just her temperament."
Xiao An grinned, his eyes soft, "She told me before that we agreed to practice boxing together tomorrow morning."
"Ha, then she is happy, right?"
"Well, I was so happy that I couldn't stop chirping all the way."
Yang Ruoqing could imagine that scene, so she covered her mouth and walked away with a smile.
Mrs. Sun quickly found two sets of clean clothes and gave them to Yang Huazhong and Xiao An, "Are you going to be surprised when you dive into the pond with your sweaty and hot body?"
Xiao An said: "Don't worry, Mom, I always take baths like this in the Ministry of War. Our backyard of the Ministry of War is right next to the river. Every summer we go to the river to take a bath. Qingsong and I have the best water..."
As a habit, he talked about his friend He Qingsong. Xiao An's face changed slightly after he finished speaking.
Sun's smile also froze, and she looked at Xiao An a little worriedly, fearing that he would be as silent as the last time he came home.
Fortunately, after this period of 'healing', he went to He Qingsong's hometown again and settled the He family, and Xiao An's knot was relieved.
"Mom, dad and I are going to take a shower first and we'll be back in a while."
He took the clothes, turned around and walked towards the courtyard door with a normal expression.
Mrs. Sun was still a little worried and followed a few steps. Yang Huazhong turned to her and waved his hand: "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on you. If you have time, wipe the cooling bed. Let's sit in the yard as a family at night."
"Hey, okay, I'll wipe it right now."
After the father and son left, Mrs. Sun not only wiped the cooling bed, but also wiped two bamboo chairs.
Together with Yang Ruoqing, I moved the summer bed and bamboo chairs to an open area in the yard, and lit moxa sticks to repel mosquitoes beside the summer bed and at the four corners of the dining table at home.
Moxa sticks are made from aged mugwort that has been dried and mixed with calamus. When the two are mixed together and ignited, the smoke produced is the nemesis of mosquitoes, snakes, and rats.
Baby Luo came here feeling refreshed.
"Mom, why did my uncle turn his back and disappear again? Is he a loach?"
Luo Baobao couldn't find Xiao An again, so he complained to Yang Ruoqing a little unhappy.
Yang Ruoqing was busy flipping the potatoes and roasting chicken in the pot. She said to Luo Baobao who was standing at the door of the kitchen without looking back: "Your uncle and Grandpa went to the pond to take a bath. They will be back soon. You go to the front yard." Wait, there’s a lot of oil smoke here.”
"No, I have to wait at the pond. I want to watch my uncle paddling!"
Before Yang Ruoqing could stop her, the girl chasing the wind ran away like a gust of wind.
This child is such a big girl, why does she still act like a child?
"She will stick to her brother-in-law, and you can go with her to pick her up over there." Mrs. Sun said with a smile.
He looked at the sky outside again, "Fortunately, it's not completely dark yet. Everyone has just returned from work right now. There should be a lot of people bathing by the pond, and it's quite lively."
Yang Ruoqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was because there were so many men bathing at the pond that I didn't want her to go.
The men and boys of the villagers basically bathed in the pond on hot days like this.
Some men are a little more reserved. After taking a bath, they will put a bath towel in front of them to hide their embarrassment.
But some rough guys don't have so many scruples and don't care about image. After taking a bath, they go ashore, all wet, with their sinus pants sticking to their bodies, and all their true colors are revealed.
Especially the ones that sway when walking are really eye-catching.
Some men are even more exaggerated. There are a lot of holes in their sinus pants. When they are wet, they look like the crotch pants worn by Japanese sumo wrestlers. It is unbearable to look at them.
Therefore, Yang Ruoqing usually would not go to the pond to bathe at this time, and would not allow Baby Luo to go there.
But these reasons should not make sense with Sun.
Because Sun's thinking has already formed a fixed mindset, like countless women in the village, she feels that this is only natural and not to mention offensive.
At most, the young wives and eldest girls are embarrassed to look at them and just turn their faces to the side.
"Mom, you can take care of the next thing of setting the dishes and chopsticks. I don't worry about it when it gets dark. I have to catch that girl!"
After much thought, Yang Ruoqing took off her apron and rushed out of the kitchen.
Nine Heavens God Emperor
