Gu Wei Qiang smiled, "Its Uncle and Auntie who care about me." Next to him, Gu An An stared blankly, not expecting that her own father had such good relationships with so many people coming to help. Honestly, previously when An An called Gu Wei Qiang "Dad", it felt a bit awkward, but now it felt smooth as silk, "Dad, youre really amazing."
There isnt a father who doesnt like the adoring gaze of his own daughter, and Gu Weiqiang is no exception. Its as refreshing as drinking iced water on a hot summer day.
Gu Dongdong patted his chest like a little adult, "Ive grown up, Ill definitely be like Dad, with good relationships too."
"Alright." Gu Wei Qiang squatted down and lifted Gu Dong Dong onto his shoulders, riding a big horse.
Dongdong was laughed at by Lele until he couldnt stop laughing.
When they arrived at the Gus house, eight-year-old Gu Dongdong also sensed that something was off and immediately stopped smiling. The crowd following behind didnt need Gu Wei to say anything, everyone voluntarily went into the house.
Listening to Gu Weiqiangs command, they moved away all the things that should be moved from the main house. Actually, after careful calculation, there was nothing in the main house that Gu Weiqiang would care about. They were basically just some tables and chairs, which he could have made at any time by asking his third brother in the county town to make them.
Wang Da Ying was in the east room, got a good scolding. Originally sitting on the edge of the kang wiping away tears, hearing the commotion outside, immediately stood up, afraid that Gu Wei Qiang would move all the things away. She stood at the door of the main hall, like a door god, whenever she saw someone moving things, she would cover her eyes.
They say that some people only remember the good times and not the bad, and Wang Da Ying is one of them. Just then, Zhou Ai Ju, who was helping out on the side, looked over and felt unhappy in her heart, "What are you looking at? Fourth Brother is moving his rightful share, cant even do that?"
Wang Da Ying was indeed in the wrong, she muttered to herself and turned into her own room. She finally understood that with the old witch around, even if she had a hundred tricks up her sleeve, they wouldnt be enough to escape the old witchs notice.
Everyone ignored Wang Da Ying and just moved things.
As he was about to leave, Gu Wei shouted, "Mom, Ive moved three chairs for now, and after a few days when Third Brother helps me fix the chairs, Ill return them."
Zhou Aiju took down the two strings of red chili peppers hanging on the window and put them on that chair, her eyes reddening. "Take it away, this is what you deserve, dont mention anything about not returning it, if theres not enough chili peppers come back for more." Old Fourth loves to eat chili peppers, cant do without them in every meal, in a family of just so many people, when Eldest moved house he took three chairs with him, now Old Fourths household has only three mouths to feed, and she isnt an evil stepmother who wouldnt even spare a chair. Just as she turned around, she saw Wang Da Ying standing stupidly at the door of the east wing looking out, "Scram scram scram, standing at the door like a door god!"
Taking advantage of everyones help in moving things, Gu Weiqiang called his own mother to the private land.
He patted his body and found over 70 yuan, which he handed to Zhou Aijuan. "Mom, this is all the money I have on me right now. When my salary is paid later, Ill add some more to make it a hundred for you. Dont be angry, honestly, after we split up, the burden on my shoulders has been greatly reduced and my whole body feels relaxed."
Outside was originally all white snow, after the sun came out, it melted into a puddle of water, and the sun in the sky also shone dazzlingly.
Zhou Aijus eyes welled up with tears as she pushed the money back, "Youve just split up and are in need of money now. If you wait until mom has no money one day, then ask you for it." Although thats what she said, given Zhou Aijus temperament, as long as she could get by on her own, she wouldnt ask her children for a single penny. Previously, letting the youngest son pay was when they hadnt split up yet, and everything in the family, from food to drink to daily expenses, required money. Moreover, all four sons were flesh of her flesh, and as their mother, she wanted this family to have a better life. Having been wronged for so many years, how could she not feel heartache for Erxi?
Gu Weiqiang saw that his mother really didnt want it, and he couldnt push it away anymore. He put it in his pocket instead. "Mom, do you blame me? I broke up the family and cant even provide for Gu Shus high school education."
Zhou Aiju raised her voice, "How could that be? The one who always messed up this family was Wang Da Ying, that foolish woman. Its the second son and his family who dont know whats good for them. In my eyes, Wei Qiang is the most capable, he can hold up half of the sky by himself. As for Gu Shu, Ive thought about it carefully, if he saves a bit, the second son can afford to send him to high school." The old lady was reasonable, and Wei Qiangs side felt better in their hearts.
The two of them said some intimate words and then entered the house.
At this time, the house had almost moved, and the temporarily set up fence yard was also more than half a person high. The west house was officially separated from the old Gus house.
This is the real small family of Gus four houses, eating without worrying, buying clothes for his daughter without being criticized, wanting to buy a good textbook for his youngest son, and not being accused of being biased. ...cop To be honest, when Gu Wei stood at the gate of the west house courtyard and looked inside, he felt extremely relieved.
Everyone who could help in the house has left, leaving only a pair of children by themselves.
When Gu Anan saw Gu Wei Qiang enter, her eyes lit up. She pointed to a pile of things in the corner of the wall, "Dad, this was left by Uncle Hua Zi and the uncle and aunt from next door when they came over. They said its for us to have a hot meal tonight. I told them to take it away, but they ran off quickly."
Gu Weiqiang also saw that in the corner of the wall, there was a pile of things about half a person high, including two pumpkins, half a block of winter melon, seven or eight white radishes, and three big cabbages that had just been dug out of the snow, still with ice chips on them.
Two or three catties of fine white rice, a pinch of salt, two handfuls of dried bean curd, and two pieces of cured meat, but mostly fatty meat. In these times, nobody wants to eat lean meat anymore, everyone likes to eat fatty meat, it can be used to make oil and also helps to stave off hunger.
When Gu Weiguo saw these dishes, a big mans eyes turned red.
He said, "Anan, Dongdong is coming over. Remember clearly who brought what, this is kindness, well return it when the time comes." Sometimes, those outsiders are much better than ones own family.
Gu An nodded, counting on her fingers, "The pumpkin was given by Aunt Gui Fang, the winter melon was given by Third Aunt, the radish and cabbage were dug up from the ground by Ban Xia, and the dried bean curd, bacon, and rice were secretly passed to me by Nai when no one was paying attention. Oh, and Nai also slipped me 50 yuan, which I didnt accept."
At this point, Anan said seriously, "Dad, they are all good people," including her grandmother.
"Alright! Wait for me to go out for a while." After finishing speaking, Gu Wei Qiang went out.
An An and Dong Dong stared at each other, An An had never cooked before, but her original body knew how!
Looking at these dishes, she itched! Very consciously picked up, started preparing dinner, this is their first meal after separation, must eat well, die that Wang Da Ying, huh! Also want to call the milk over.
Lets eat together, otherwise grandma will have a hard time eating alone.
But after just a few days of getting along, An An really integrated herself into this environment, Grandma and Dad, as well as Uncle Huazi, they are all the best people.
An An took advantage of Dongdongs absence to secretly replace the cured meat and rice with materials from her own supermarket. The fine-grained rice that Grandma brought over was also a different type of rice, far inferior to the fragrant rice sold in the supermarket.
There was also cured meat, two slabs of palm-sized cured meat. Although it looked good, it was too hard and more than half of it was fat. If she really had to eat it herself, An would have been a bit disgusted. She directly turned her left hand over and picked out a piece of cured meat with alternating layers of lean and fat.
As for other foods, she didnt dare bring them out again, afraid of being exposed.
An Ans culinary skills were learned from Aunt Jiu Xiang and Grandmother, she started working in the kitchen at the age of 8 and did it with ease.
She looked at the things on the chopping board, planning to make a pot of bacon fried rice. You know, this is a local stove, firewood is stuffed into the stove, and the pot of bacon fried rice is simmered over high heat, smelling very fragrant.
When Gu Weiqiang came back, Anan had already stir-fried a winter melon slice and a sour and spicy big bok choy. As for the vinegar, of course, it was taken out from the space, while the chili peppers were hung on the windowsill of the western house, strung together in a large string. Picking three to five would be enough to make it spicy.
The bacon pot rice in the pot is almost done, Dongdong sits in front of the stove, the big fire in the furnace makes his small face red, and he cant stop drooling. He sticks out his neck and urges, "Sister, when will this bacon rice be ready?"
An An wiped the sweat, lifted the wooden lid of the pot, leaving only a slit. She took a look and said, "Still need to wait for a few minutes, Dong Dong, the fire in the stove is slightly smaller, its just right for cooking the rice crust!" As expected, An An opened a slit, and the fragrance inside the pot couldnt help but waft out. Gu Wei Qiang was holding a chicken in his hand, smelling this fragrance, he even thought that this chicken might not be as fragrant as his own daughters homemade cured meat.
He pushed open the small door and put the cleaned chicken on the chopping board, asking, "An An! What are you doing? It smells so good, I could smell it from outside the door."
Anan turned her head and saw the chicken in her fathers hand. Her eyes lit up, "All we need is a mother hen soup!"
"In the evening, well have braised pork belly with rice, and then a radish stewed old hen soup, accompanied by two vegetarian dishes, its definitely delicious." Not even done yet! Gu Wei just listened to it, and he was already drooling along with Dongdong.
He scooped a ladle of icy water from the water tank and poured it into the bucket, repeating this three times to wash everything clean. He then chopped up the chicken into pieces before handing them over to Anan.
Anan was in charge of stewing the soup. After chasing Winter and her own dad out, she rummaged through the supermarket and found the seasoning area. She picked a bag of ingredients for clear-steamed chicken soup, which included longan, red dates, and dried tangerine peel. She also chose two large pieces of fresh ginger. This clear-steamed chicken soup was not to be underestimated, as it could easily become too fishy-tasting if one wasnt careful.
With this ginger, the taste can be removed.
The big pot cooks quickly, the stoves fierce flames, and this chicken meat is soon stewed to pieces. When its time to get up, Anan deliberately pulls out that small packet of seasonings with a string and throws it into the supermarket, destroying all evidence.
At least from the pot, its just radish stewed chicken soup, no other ingredients, but smelling the aroma, its different from usual, so fragrant that its almost intoxicating.
The old hen stew was done, the fragrant rice stuck to the bottom of the pot had already turned golden brown. She lifted the lid, and with a gentle stir, poured the savory sauce from cooking the crusty rice onto her meal. "Dinners ready!" she called out. Only then did she realize that the supermarket-bought ingredients shed brought were actually cheating - little shortcuts to make life easier!
Gu Wei Qiang and Dong Dong, who were stuck on the kitchen door, suddenly pushed open the kitchen door, and the smell spread into the courtyard.
It was passed on to the next door, and it wasnt until then that they separated. The next door is different from Anans side, there are more people in the afternoon, and they were roughly collected.
On their side, the eldest and second childs families shared a kitchen, and since they had just split up, there wasnt much good food to eat. In the evening, they made a sour noodle dish. The noodles were made from wheat grown by themselves, ground into coarse powder, and rolled out with a rolling pin into brownish-colored noodles that felt slightly rough in the mouth.
Wang Da Yings cooking is almost as bad as pig food, he made a sour noodle dish and then stir-fried another sour vegetable dish, being stingy with oil, using a coarse cloth to wipe the pot rim twice, just for show.
Apart from Zhou Aiju, the five members of the second house, plus Old Man Gu sitting around the table, smelled the fragrance coming from next door. Wang Da Ying dared to say that in this life, he had never smelled anything so fragrant.
The bacon is fragrant to the bone.
The whole family was eating the sour noodle soup, but Gu Shuang couldnt hold back, and slammed the bowl onto the table, spilling the broth everywhere. "Mom, I want to eat fragrant meat, not this disgusting sour noodle soup!"
Wang Da Ying, who usually spoiled Xiao Er, slapped a chopstick on Gu Shuangs head. "All you know is eating! Is that meat for you to eat?!?" She deliberately raised her voice, "That was specially brought back by your fourth uncle from outside, what are you? Youre not even the son of the family, its not your turn."
