Blissful Days After Widowhood

    In the twenty-sixth year of the year, Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin went to buy the New Year's goods for the last time.

    On the twenty-seventh year of the year, the Wang family slaughtered the chicken he bought, Gu Yin cooked, and the whole family ate a delicious chicken meal.

    In the twenty-eighth year of the year, the steamed buns were put on the window grilles, and Mrs. Wang took the red paper and went to the next door to invite Xu Qingchuan to write a couple of Spring Festival couplets and a few words "Fu", and posted them at the gate of the house .

    At the age of twenty-nine, Mrs. Wang was rather sullen.

    She came back from worshipping her parents early this morning. Gu Yin asked her if she was uncomfortable, but she refused to say more.

    Wu An quietly told Gu Yin, "Mother didn't sleep last night, the lights in the room were on for a long time."

    Gu Yin first looked at Wang Shi, but then felt wrong, "You slept with me last night, how do you know that mother slept late at night?"

    Wu An was choked by what she said, and said, "Yes...it's our child! I heard firecrackers set off in the middle of the night, so I had to go out and have a look."

    The child was called, with a blank expression on his face, and spread his hands, indicating that he did not!

    The child ran around the room with a smile.

    Gu Yin didn't care about them anymore, she sat next to Wang's and said, "Mother, why didn't you sleep well last night, do you want to invite the old doctor to take a look?"

    Wang shi immediately shook his head and said, "No, no, I don't feel any discomfort, it's just... ah..."

    She gave a long sigh.

    Where is the physical discomfort?

    Because she had been busy before, busy with family business, busy with the affairs of the previous year, she had no idea that her husband and eldest son had been gone for six years.

    This kind of tear-jerking words Wang Shi did not say, only said: "We came out in a hurry, I only brought your father and Qingyi clothes, even a grave I didn't stand. I don't know where to go to worship."

    Gu Yin held Wang's hand, "When the world is at peace, we must go back to Batou Village and set up a tomb for them, which is also a thought."

    A few years ago, I heard that there was another war outside, and there was a fierce general under the throne of righteousness, with a red scar on his face, like an Asura evil spirit, capable of tearing people apart.

    The army of the imperial court was frightened by the wind, and was defeated by him, and in less than a month, another city was lost.

    Wang looked at her daughter-in-law with warm eyes, wiped her tears, and said, "That's right, in this world, we can live up to now and live better than before, what am I not satisfied with? I don't want that for the new year! You go next door with me."

    Gu Yin was dragged to the next door by her, only to know that Wang was going to name the child.

    There is no ink in Wang's belly. Gu Yin and Wu Qingyi are names that are slightly polite, but she chose Wu An. At that time, she was looking forward to the safe return of her husband and eldest son. , Given the mood at the time, it could be considered a good name for the younger son.

    Now let Wang think, when she sees the child, she thinks of the way she looked like a wild cat when she first saw him, and the appearance of being tied to Wu An every day, at most called a kitten or a string string.

    Xu Qingchuan and Mrs. Xu were pasting Spring Festival couplets at home. Mrs. Xu said when Mrs. Wang arrived, "Didn't you write the couplets for your family! Why are you here again?"

    Everyone in the neighborhood knows that Xu Qingchuan is talented and famous. Since he returned home from annual leave, there has been an endless stream of people asking for Spring Festival couplets, so that at this hour of the day, Xu Qingchuan wrote to his home Finish.

    The Chinese New Year is coming, and she doesn't want to scold people. Mrs. Wang glanced at her and smiled at Xu Qingchuan: "My dear boy, are you tired? Would you like something to eat?"

    The two are already familiar with each other, so Xu Qingchuan curved his lips and said, "Auntie, don't be polite, just talk about it. I haven't had anything to do recently."

    Wang did not go around in circles, and directly talked about the matter that he helped to name.

    Xu Qingchuan cautiously said: "Names will follow people for a lifetime. I have never helped people with names. If my aunt can trust me, let me think about it for two days."

    "Hey! You are a scholar, I can't trust you, think slowly, don't worry."

    Xu Qingchuan immediately entered the study and read the books.

    "Spending ten pennies to fill the streets are all scholars who give names to people." Xu murmured in a low voice.

    "Can that be the same?" Wang Shi said, "Our big girl was named by someone, so what did the scholar say 'the plum market is full of flowers, and the orchid is the grass', I listened I still thought it was pretty, and when I went back, everyone asked about the origin of our big girl's name, and only later did I know that this grass is a small grass that has grown into a piece!

     Mrs. Xu replied, "You know what, this is probably because people see your family as big and thin, and hope that she will grow up like a spring grass!"

    The two of you are going to fight again.

    Wu An and the child ran over, Wu An chased him several times, but could not catch up. This child is too cunning. Whenever Wu An feels that he can't catch up and wants to give up, he deliberately slows down, and when Wu An is about to touch the hem of his clothes, he will accelerate again.

     Mrs Wang reached out to see Wu An’s bursting chestnuts, but was stopped by Gu Yin, Wu An felt a little aggrieved in retrospect, pulled Wang’s clothes and explained in a low voice: “Mother, he was the first Just kidding me."

    "You're stupid too, can you run past him?" Wang Shi looked at his stupid son and rubbed his head helplessly, "What's wrong, mother go back and give you fried oil cakes. "

    Wu An's eyes suddenly lit up, "Let my sister-in-law fry it, she frys deliciously!"

    The child can speak several words now, and because he spends the most time with Wu An, he likes to learn how to speak.

    And he seemed to think that calling "Mother" would give him something to eat, so he immediately pulled up Gu Yin's skirt and shouted, "Mother, I'll eat!"

    The two little guys jumped and followed, and Mrs. Wang couldn't help laughing and scolding: "You can eat one or two!"

    Someone just came to Xu's house to ask for Spring Festival couplets, the woman saw the excitement and laughed out loud: "This is the name of the child, Mrs. Wu has thought about it, and called the name. I feel emotional when I shout, but I can't bear to send it away."

    "What are you going to send away? He's so big, and he doesn't eat as much as a kitten. Although our family is poor, can we eat without him?" The woman chewed her tongue, and naturally had a bad face at her, and hummed: "The county magistrate has rewarded our family for this! Some people are jealous and don't catch up with the good things, and they say sour words. right?"

    "There are men in our family who do the heavy work, why do we have to invite others to do it, and why are you hurting your family?!" Thinking of something, he said coolly: "Yes, your eldest son died at a young age, and there is no son. Our tradition is to have a junior fall to the basin and die, otherwise, the rest of the road will be uneasy and let the next one die. The people who are ridiculed have no successor. Isn't it good to accept this wild child?"

    Without waiting for Mrs. Wang to scold him back, Mrs. Xu crossed her waist and said, "Bah! My mother doesn't scold you for the New Year, and you treat me as a sick cat, right? You are so mean, no wonder your family If the food business is not good, your man is not good! Get out of our house, and you want Spring Festival couplets, you want a fart!"

    Similar to Wang, Xu’s temperament is fierce, and she has lived in orphans and widows for many years. In the early years, when Xu Qingchuan was still young, her pungent reputation was also very loud. . That is to say, the later son was admitted to the title, and Xu felt that as a scholar, his own mother had to be more cautious, so he restrained his temper.

    Seeing that the other party walked away in a daze, Mrs. Xu also put away her anger and pulled Mrs. Wang: "Don't pay attention to her, she is sour. It is also a food business, your family just started a few Months have been more prosperous than her family for many years. She is just sour on your family's good days, don't have the same knowledge as her. It's not worth it for the New Year's to be broken for this kind of popularity! "

    Originally from the neighborhood, Gu Yin did not hesitate to give pointers.

    But after chatting once, she found that something was wrong. This family is not the kind who really wants to make good food, but just wants to make money. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but in order to earn the unconscionable money, she also told Gu Yin that she knew which restaurant would sell kitchen waste, pretending to be mysterious and authentic: "Those things are not bad for people to keep and eat, but they are not very fresh, but add more seasonings. , no one can eat it! With this savings, you can make more money by keeping the little lady's business!"

    She wanted to use this method in exchange for Gu Yin's careful guidance, but she did not expect this to touch Gu Yin's bottom line, and immediately said that she did not have the ability to give guidance to her, and invited her from home out.

    The woman was still entangled, making Wang pull the collar out of the house.

    Because of this, this woman completely hated Gu Yin and Wang Shi.

    But there was a catcher in the alley, and she didn't dare to make any trouble, so she could only say something sour like today. But in general, she can't quarrel with the Wang family, so today she suddenly thought of the situation of the Wang family, and deliberately said such words to poke people's lungs.

    Wang brooded for a while before saying, "It's okay, I'm too lazy to get to know her in general, I'm going back."

    After going back, Gu Yin fried rice cakes for the two children. The rice cakes were browned and crispy, and the mouthful of rice was full of fragrance.

    Wu An brought a small bowl to the Wang family, "Mother, you can eat too."

    The child followed the example and handed the bowl to Gu Yin, "Mother, eat!"

    Gu Yin took a closer look, the child's bowl of rice cakes had already been eaten by him, and there were only a few grains of rice left, what did she want her to eat?

    "You know how to learn!" She reluctantly rubbed the child, put another piece on him, and told the two children: "Be good, don't you know? Well, there are no more contradictions."

    The two little guys were still making a fuss just now, and now they are as good as one person after eating, and they went outside hand in hand to watch other people set off firecrackers.

    After feeding the two children, Gu Yin returned to the main room and saw Wang Shi frowned again.

    "Mother, do you want to eat something? I'll make it for you."

    "I'm not Wu'an and the others, so are you coaxing me with food?" Wang's face relaxed, "I'm just thinking about it. You say this child... is counted in my name Is it still in your name?"

    "The mother was worried about this." Gu Yin also relaxed and sat down next to her, "He always learns Wu'an and calls her mother, and calls me every time. It should be recorded in my name. , but if you don't want to..."

    Although the child is the closest to Gu Yin, but Gu Yin is busy and has little experience.

    "It's not unwilling," Wang Shi frowned again, "but it's in your name, we know that you adopted it, and we don't know... sigh, and you will later It's not good to go to another house with such a child!"

    Without waiting for Gu Yin to speak, Mrs Wang called Wu An to bring the child in.

    "You have to call my mother later, don't you know?" Wang looked at the child seriously.

    The child was a little afraid of him. Seeing her serious expression, she instinctively took two steps back.

    "Mother, you scared him." Wu An stepped forward and blocked the child behind him.

    "Don't worry about it," Wang shied away from Wu An and grabbed the child's hand, "Do you want to call my mother?"

    The child's eyes widened with fright, looked at Gu Yin helplessly, and called out "mother" weakly.

    "Why is this child so stubborn? If you don't obey me, I will send you away at the beginning of the year." And many parents who like to scare their children, "If you don't obey me, the big bad wolf will take you away" Likewise, Wang subconsciously took this wrong approach.

    "How did the mother say such a thing." Gu Yin immediately pulled the child to her side, "I don't have to scare the child for the new year."

    Wang also felt that she was talking too much, and just came back, but when she heard a "wow", the child rushed into Gu Yin's arms and cried.

    For the first time, he said a long sentence—

    "Mother, I, I'm good! I won't leave... I won't send it away!"

    Gu Yin's heart softened and her nose became sore, tightly hugging his thin body.

    "Hey my mouth!" Wang slapped his mouth heavily, "A mouthful of huh!"

    Gu Yin held Wang Shi and coaxed the child for a while before coaxing him and letting him and Wu An go out to play.

     "Why is my mother so good?"

    Wang shi talked about the woman's words, and said, "I was in a hurry, I really didn't want to send him away."

    Gu Yin nodded, "Mother is soft-hearted, no one knows better than me. Just keep the child in my name, what about others? Besides, what the mother said, go to someone else's house. , it's even more of a shadowy thing. Isn't this my house? Why am I going to someone else's house?"

    "You know what I mean..."

    "I'll tell you again, I really don't have that kind of thought. Of course, we have a few decades of life, and we may not know what the future will be like now. But in three or five years, I definitely don't want to." Seeing that Mrs Wang wanted to persuade this again, Gu Yin hid in the kitchen on the pretext of going to eat some food.

    Wang shi did chase after her, but instead of forcing her at this time, she said, "In that case, I'm thinking about letting you name the child?"

    "That's ok." Gu Yin laughed, "Actually, I don't think the name has to be particularly nice, just like what you named Wu An is very good, the child grows up safely. The meaning is Very good. Mother doesn't always say that he is a wild cat, so let's take the word 'wild'. I hope he is as tough as weeds, which just echoes the Yin of my name. "

    "Yes, yes, you are right, you don't need to pay too much attention to the name, there are cheap names in the countryside, it is easy to support!"

    Gu Yin whispered, "Wuye, very good."

    Wang said: "My name is Gu Ye! With your surname, everyone will know that this child is only related to you, not our old Wu family, not you and our Wu family!"

    Yes, I'm still thinking of letting her remarry in the future.

    However, the child is the closest to him, so his surname is also very good, so Gu Yin replied with a smile.

    "Wu An, Gu Ye, come and eat sugar cake!"

    The child finally has his own name and becomes an official member of the family.

    And Wu An was the happiest, because he became Gu Ye's little uncle, and said old-fashionedly: "O Ye will listen to his little uncle in the future."

    …

    The New Year's Eve was filled with firecrackers, and the New Year's Eve dinner was cooked by Wang and Gu Yin together.

    The population of the Xu family next door is simpler than them, and it is more about the life of the catcher and the apprentices.

    The Wang family simply invited the two families to have a reunion dinner together.

    In this way, Guan Zaitou, Li Zatou, and Xu Qingchuan sat at a table, and Xu Shi, Wang Shi and Gu Yin took their two children to sit at a table.

    The common people don't pay much attention to it. Although they share the table, they do not divide the room. They eat together in the main room.

    Braised elbows, fried meatballs, steamed fish, salted chicken and salted duck, bacon sausages, and dumplings stuffed with hot cabbage and pork are all good things that people are reluctant to eat at ordinary times .

    Everyone ate well, Guan Chuotou also took out his precious daughter Hong, and shared with Li Chutou and Xu Qingchuan.

    When the hour passed, everyone dispersed and went to their door to set off firecrackers.

    In the sound of crackling firecrackers and children's laughter, everyone said "auspicious New Year" to each other.

    Gu Yin didn't like the smell of gunpowder smoke, and was about to go back to the house, but was stopped by Xu Qingchuan.

    He drank some wine, his white face was stained with crimson, stood three books away, and said: "The book that Mr. Wen gave is too precious, I have already copied it. After that, I originally wanted to return it to the original owner. But when I visited a few times a few years ago, people from the Wen family said that the old man was not in good health and was inconvenient to see guests. I just wanted to ask you to help transfer it. "

    The old man gave him a copy of the Analects of Confucius and the Doctrine of the Mean, which are very common Four Books and Five Classics.

    But what is precious is precious, and it is full of comments from the old man.

    The firecrackers sounded again while he was talking, Gu Yin had to read his lips carefully, and then replied: "Okay, then I will pass it to the old man when I go to Wen's house in the new year."

    Xu Qingchuan thanked him again, but Gu Yin really couldn't hear what he said, so she waved her hand to say no thanks, and went back to the room.

    …

    On the first day of the new year, Mrs. Wang took Gu Yin and her two children to the next door to pay New Year's greetings.

    Xu Shi and Guan Jutou had long thought about giving the money from the New Year's Eve dinner to Wang Shi, but Wang refused to accept it, so they sealed a thick red envelope to the two children.

    When he got home, the Wang family collected the red envelopes, and then divided them ten cents per person, letting them spend it themselves, saying that the rest would help them save.

    When the two children happily walked out of the door hand in hand, Mrs Wang turned her head and gave the two red seals to Gu Yin.

    When she returned to her parents' home on the second day of the lunar new year, Mr. Wang would naturally not touch the bad head—not to mention that the relationship was already bad, but that she only had two children, and her two brothers had several grandchildren. Going back is equivalent to giving people money for free, and living at home.

    On the third and fourth day of the middle school, the stage in the town was set up again.

    Wang and Xu led their two children to listen outside all day.

    Gu Yin doesn't like listening to dramas, and after taking a solid rest, she can't be idle and wants to think about doing something else.

      Second, of course, it's still for my own small business.

    Last year, my business was booming. The main reason is the delicious food and the freshness. Just like when an ordinary store first opened, customers would want to try it when they saw it.

    Those have been out for a few months now, it's time for a change.

    Gu Yin remembered that she didn't seem to see preserved eggs during the Chinese New Year.

    It is reasonable to say that during the New Year, every household will make cold dishes with preserved eggs. Is it not in this era, or is it just that Hanshan Town does not have this custom?

    When Mrs Wang came back from the play, Gu Yin asked her if she had eaten preserved eggs.

    "What preserved egg, I only heard of leather hat and collar, what is this preserved egg?"

    "Um, or Songhuadan?"

     Mrs. Wang also went to ask Mrs. Xu, and Mrs. Xu said she didn’t know.

      do not know.

    Gu Yin started to make preserved eggs.

     Brew a bowl of strong tea for later use, then wash the fresh duck eggs and let them air dry.

      After stirring evenly, put in the plant ash and stir again. When a pile of mud is obtained, put the dried duck eggs in and roll it on a layer, and finally put it in the rice husk pile and roll it again, and pinch it tightly with your hands. Made.

    Wang was very convinced of her daughter-in-law's craftsmanship, but she hesitated when she saw this thing: "This is putting white ash noodles again, and removing the rice husk from the pillow... Really Can you make duck eggs delicious?"

    Gu Yin made fifty preserved eggs in one go, and said with a smile, "It will be marinated for half a month, it must be delicious!"

    Wang is still skeptical.

    On the fifth day of the first year, Gu Yin reported to Wen's home, helped Xu Qingchuan return the book, and gave the old man a new year, and told him that she had made something new, but she had to wait a bit longer. One day to eat.

    After a year, the old man has seen a lot, no longer entangled in the old things, so there is no need to "embarrass" Gu Yin thinking of new things to pass his time.

    So he didn't ask more, just looked Gu Yin up and down and smiled with satisfaction: "Yes, I still look energetic in this way, it's not the 'big bear' from years ago!"

    Gu Yin made another round and generously, and showed the plum blossom hairpin on her head to the old lady - it was specially put on by Wang's that day.

    "That's not it, you always said that I have to take care of myself."

    The old man smiled and said, "It's still thin, you still have to learn from Chef Xu. I see him gaining weight again in the past few days."

    "Okay, then I'll go to the kitchen and steal it in a while!"

    The two talked for a while, the old man asked Gu Yin to make some cakes, and let her go to the kitchen.

    As the old man said, Chef Xu followed his masters to eat meat during the Chinese New Year, and looked a lot fatter. When he saw Gu Yin, there was no slit in his eyes when he smiled.

    After greeting each other for the New Year, they each began to do their own work.

    In the middle of the first month, the weather started to get warmer. Before Gu Yin left, her preserved eggs were finally ready.

    Wang shi was stunned and didn't dare to say anything, and Gu Yin made a vinegar salad later.

    Gu Yin presented the preserved egg to Mrs. Wen who can appreciate new things.

    Grandpa Wen didn't dare to move when he saw the dark preserved egg. Only when Gu Yin reassured that he could eat it, the old man picked up his chopsticks and tasted it.

     "Not bad." The old man frowned and praised.

    Gu Yin is a fool and can see his reluctance.

    However, when the preserved egg was first eaten, it was indeed difficult to accept.

    Gu Yin made porridge with preserved egg and lean meat and tofu mixed with shallots instead.

    This time the old man can accept it, especially like the porridge with preserved eggs and lean meat, saying that the taste is mellow, coupled with Gu Yin's craftsmanship, it is simply the best porridge in the world.

    For ten days in a row, the old man's morning food was preserved egg and lean meat porridge.

    When Gu Yin went to collect the tableware and chopsticks that day, she couldn't help laughing: "You always like people like this, so I can rest assured. I will sell this in a few days, for sure It can make business more prosperous.”

    The old man was stunned for a while after hearing this, and then said strangely: "Are you still going to set up a stall?"

    Gu Yin said yes, "I meant to do it for two months. Isn't this the first month of the month? The weather is getting warmer."

    After the Spring Festival in modern times, the weather is getting warmer every day. There is no global warming in this era, and the winter in Hanshan Town is extremely cold, so it is not until the first month of the year that it is the season of spring flowers.

    The old man hesitated, "How hard it is to set up a stall, is it bad to be a cook in our Wen's house? Or the salary..."

    "No no," Gu Yin said immediately, "the wages you gave are already very generous."

    The salary is indeed rich, but Gu Yin doesn’t just want to make money, she wants to sell food to more people, she likes to watch others eat her food, her face can’t help but emerge a happy expression.

    "Hey, don't worry about me. I still have some skills. It's a little harder to set up a stall, but when I save more, I'll go back and set up a shop... these days, always The better it goes!"

    The old man liked her optimistic, open-minded and energetic appearance. He was able to get out of the slump so quickly, and it was also this time that Gu Yin was slowly influencing her.

    When Gu Yin put away the bowls and chopsticks and left, the old man couldn't help sighing - there are children and grandchildren in the family, how come there is no daughter or granddaughter?

    Then he thought of the eldest nerd, and the second child's eyes, and the daughter born would not be too flattering.

    At this time, Mr. Wen Er, who was in the eyes of money, came over.

    This second master was scolded by the old man a few years ago for coveting the dowry shop of his deceased mother.

    He consciously lost face, and was afraid that the old man would continue to blame him, so he hid outside until the end of the year before returning home.

    During this time, he looked at the old man in a much better mood than before, and his mind became alive again.

    When he entered the room, he smiled and said, "Father, has already eaten it? It's unfortunate that my son is here, otherwise I'll try the porridge that my father likes recently."

    The old man lifted his eyelids to look at him, then lowered his eyes, the old **** was asking him what he was doing.

    Master Wen Er rubbed his hands with a smile and said, "The first month is just around the corner, isn't the mother's dowry shop still empty? Such a good shop, with a good market entrance, and close to our home. An empty day is a loss of rent for a day, you see…”

    That shop is indeed the good shop that Mr. Wen Er said, and the reason why it is still empty is very simple.

    I thought that even if the old man agreed, he would have to scold himself first, but he didn't expect that the old man not only didn't scold him, but brought a smile on his face.

    Yes, there is an empty shop at home!