Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 395 Send Wu Xiuying out of the hospital

The snow is falling, the wind is blowing, and there is not much noise in the cold courtyard at the moment.

The entire compound, and even the entire Forty-Nine City were silent under the white and pitch-black night.

Xu Qing sat in the house, eating a hot dinner with his wife, son, younger siblings, Hui Lihua and Wu Xiuying.

The kang was very warm. After sitting for a while, Xu Hongzhi felt his butt was hot, so he slipped off the kang and lay down on the edge of the kang, holding vegetables with chopsticks.

The staple food is Zhajiang Noodles, plus four dishes fried by Jinghong and Xiaoya, two meat and two vegetarian dishes, and a plate of pickled vegetables.

Before marrying Xu Qing, Jinghong’s pickle skills were very average, but after marrying into the compound, she has been practicing in the past few years. Under the careful guidance of Xu Qing and Xiaoya, the pickles are crispy and crispy. Delicious.

Every year, Ma Jiefang brings two cans and bottles over, specifically asking for the pickles made by his fifth sister to take home and eat.

No way, Wu Yuemei can pickle pickles, but the taste is far different from those pickled by Jinghong.

Ma Jiefang thought so, and Wu Yuemei gave Wu Yuemei a lot of eyes for this.

Ma Jinghong's craft was taught by Xu Qing and Xiaoya, and further down, it was taught by the old lady in the compound.

The old lady is most proud of her pickled vegetables in her life. Don’t look down upon them, but in the past few decades, whether it was the end of the Republic of China or the early days of liberation, or even in this year, pickled vegetables were in winter when there were few fresh vegetables to eat. It can solve the life-saving ability of the family to eat.

If there is not enough food, then eat more pickles, drink more water, and hold up your stomach, so you can endure it all night.

In the compound, whether it is the first mother, the second mother, the third mother, or Jia Zhang, they all learned their pickling skills from the old lady.

It can be said that anyone who knows how to pickle pickled vegetables in the compound comes from the old lady.

Of course, it's not like a big mother can't pickle pickles, but this seemingly simple, low-tech craft, the pickles made by one person and one person, taste very different in the mouth.

Among other things, Liubiju pickles have been sold in Sijiu City for hundreds of years and have always been very popular. Could it be that no one else in Sijiu City knows it?
That's because the masters in Liubiju are highly skilled in craftsmanship.

This is the same as when a chef stir-fries. For the same ingredients, some people stir-fry them so well that you won’t get tired of eating them, while others stir-fry them so well that you don’t even want to move your chopsticks.

Even though it looks like the same dish, the feeling in your mouth is completely different.

Wu Xiuying took two bites of the pickles and found them delicious. She quickly picked up another bite with chopsticks and put it into her mouth. While tasting it carefully, she hurriedly asked:

"Sister Jinghong, why are your pickles so delicious? How do you pickle them? Please teach me."

Ma Jinghong was eating noodles with fried sauce. Seeing that the corner of her son's mouth was covered with sauce, she took out a handkerchief, wiped her son's mouth, looked at Wu Xiuying and said with a smile:
"Want to learn?"

"Um"

"Then you have to pay the tuition."

Ma Jinghong smiled brightly, teasing Wu Xiuying, not in a hurry to tell the method.

Xu Qing's room was bustling with joy and laughter.

And at Liu Guangtian's house who lived in the backyard, there were constant quarrels.

The second aunt would not let her son take his daughter-in-law away in broad daylight.

But Liu Guangtian made up his mind and never stayed in this dilapidated old courtyard again.While urging his daughter-in-law to pack her luggage quickly, she sat on the bedside with a cigarette in her mouth and said to the second aunt:

"Mom, from now on, my wife and I will starve to death outside and we will never come back again in this life!"

What Liu Guangtian said was categorical, very tough, and very backbone.

But is he a man of integrity?
Ten years ago, he took Liu Guangfu with him, and the two brothers came together like this.

The results of it?
Within a few days, I came back dejected.

The second aunt looked at her son with a sad face and advised:

"Guangtian, your daughter-in-law is still pregnant. Where do you take her in this winter? You are a big man who is not afraid of the cold or cold. What about your wife? Have you thought about her?"

Liu Guantian didn't speak, stretched out his hands to touch his head, his face was arrogant, he didn't listen to a word his mother said, he tilted his head, looked at his daughter-in-law, stared at him, and cursed sharply:

"I told you to pack up quickly, why are you dawdling?"

After Liu Guangtian scolded his wife, he couldn't understand his hatred. He raised his hand to pick up the feather duster and threw it away.

The second aunt raised her hand angrily and hit Liu Guangtian, "You don't know that your daughter-in-law has a big belly, and you still hit her?!"

Liu Gangtian ignored it, put the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, lay down on the bed, put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes, and thought about which guest house to stay overnight tonight.

But he couldn't help but hate the three Xu Qing brothers, and secretly felt that they were in the courtyard, which made him have to move out today.

After hearing the laughter from Xu Qing's room, Liu Guangtian suddenly opened his eyes, looking at the roof, filled with resentment!
But it's useless to hate, knowing that I am no match for the three Xu Qing brothers.

Although he also has an eldest brother and a younger brother, they are also three brothers.

But compared with Xu Qing's three brothers, the relationship between the three brothers is terrible.

Liu Guangtian's eldest brother is no longer in the courtyard. In the past ten years, he came back only once when he got married and never came back again.

It is said that he is a cadre, but Xu Qing is the factory manager, and they are all big brothers, but the gap is not a little bit.

Liu Guangtian himself is an ordinary member of the working class, while Ai Guo is a cadre who has studied at university, and he himself cannot compare.

As for Liu Guangfu and Xu Fengming, they are even more incomparable.

Xu Fengming is the section chief, and Liu Guangfu is the only worker.

Three brothers versus three brothers, Liu Guangtian knew that he had no chance of winning, so how could he fight?
In addition, his eldest brother has almost no contact with the family and never comes back during holidays. Liu Guangtian never replies to any of his letters. It simply doesn’t feel like a family.

Even if it was a fight, Liu Guangtian was confident that he could persuade his younger brother Guangfu, but with one person missing, he and Guangfu alone could not defeat the three Xu Qing brothers.

The more Liu Guangtian thought about it, the angrier he became. He sat up and vented his anger on his wife, angrily scolding: "You stinky bitch, you are procrastinating. Have you packed your things?!"

After Liu Guangtian finished cursing, he took out his cigarette, lit it, and started puffing hard.

The wind was blowing loudly in the courtyard, and the snow flakes that had just covered the footprints were stirred up again.

In Xu Qing's house, Xu Qing, his daughter-in-law Jinghong, younger brothers and sisters, Wu Xiuying, and Hui Lihua had all finished their dinner and were chatting together.

When Wu Xiuying and Hui Lihua were about to leave, Ma Jinghong told the two good sisters the steps on how to pickle pickles and the proportions of various ingredients.

In fact, there is nothing special about it. In terms of seasonings, there is a precise proportion. To put it bluntly, it is similar to other dishes. What matters is the precision.

If you know the size well, the effect will be completely different.

Wu Xiuying memorized it carefully, and Hui Lihua also listened carefully.

However, Hui Lihua couldn't help but glance at Xu Qing from the corner of her eye.

I can't let it go, can't say it, and I'm tired of hiding it, so I have to look at it more and chat to comfort myself.

In this year, although people's minds are gradually opening up, they are still quite conservative.

Wu Xiuying buttoned her woolen coat, put on her leather gloves, said goodbye to Ai Guo, Feng Ming and Xiao Ya, bent down and pinched Xu Hongzhi's little nose, and then she and Hui Lihua were escorted by Xu Qing and Jing Hong with flashlights. Get off and go out to the courtyard.

The snow is still falling very little, just as big as when it first started falling. It's not hurried or slow, just falling and floating.
The courtyard was paved with a layer of white flowers, and there was also a lot of piles on the roof and walls.

Xu Qing walked out of the courtyard. The alley was also a white world, spotless. The flashlight in Xu Qing's hand shone brightly on it.

The snowflakes falling in the beam of flashlight are really beautiful.

It was such a cold day that Xu Qing and Jing Hong sent Wu Xiuying and Hui Lihua away, so no one had time to appreciate them.

Ma Jinghong held Wu Xiuying and Hui Lihua's arms, and said to Wu Xiuying:

"Xiuying, your brother-in-law and I haven't met your lover yet. Why don't you leave tomorrow? Just stay for one more day and finally come back. Let your brother-in-law and I see what your lover looks like tomorrow. "

Wu Xiuying frowned slightly, "Sister Jinghong, it's not that I don't want to stay longer, it's that my wife is very busy at work, there is really nothing I can do about it, when I come back this time, I will see you, Sister Lihua, Ai Ling and Shuzhen, I I haven't seen it yet, and I don't want to, but tomorrow's train ticket was bought early this morning."

Ma Jinghong sighed softly, stepped on the white snow and said, "Okay, when you come back next time, remember to bring your lover to our house so that I can meet her."

Wu Xiuying's pretty face turned slightly red from the cold. She grinned and showed her two tiger teeth, and said with a smile: "Sister Jinghong, next time I come back, I will definitely take him to your house to try it." The pickles you made.”

Before I knew it, the alley that usually seemed quite long was completed in the blink of an eye.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, Wu Xiuying tugged the scarf to her mouth, turned towards Xu Qing and Jinghong, and hugged each other. Her eyes were full of reluctance, but she still managed a smile on her face and said:
"Sister Jinghong, Brother Xu Qing, you guys go back. Sister Lihua and I are leaving."

And Hui Lihua really wanted to take this opportunity to hug Jing Hong and even Xu Qing, but finally held back, she was in Sijiu City, and she was not like Wu Xiuying.

Hui Lihua stared at Jinghong twice, then moved to Xu Qing, pinched the flashlight that Xu Qing gave her earlier and said:

"You go back."

After saying that, he huddled with Wu Xiuying, stood up, and walked forward along the quiet and deserted street.

Ma Jinghong leaned next to Xu Qing, looking at the backs of the two people leaving with some reluctance.

The main reason is that Wu Xiuying has left. Who knows when we will see each other again.

Accompanying his wife, Xu Qing stopped at the entrance of the alley for a long time before reaching out to pat the snowflakes off Jinghong's head and saying:
"Let's go back, we can't see anyone anymore, I'm sorry if you catch a cold."

Ma Jinghong raised her head slightly, glanced at the man, her heart was filled with warmth, her frozen red face flushed, she patted the snowflakes on Xu Qing's hair with her slender and tender right hand, and hummed softly.

There was no one in the alley, only Xu Qing and Jing Hong behind the beam of the flashlight.

Although it was only around nine o'clock in the evening, no one in the compound wanted to run outside on this snowy night.

It can be freezing cold in winter, and it snows. Unless there is something urgent, everyone huddles in the warm room.

It was rare for Xu Qing to have this hard-won alone time with his wife. The two snuggled together and walked slowly in the alley.

But the cold was really cold. Xu Qing and Jing Hong were so cold that they couldn't even speed up their pace.

When returning to the compound, Xu Qing saw that the houses where the third uncle and Yan Jiecheng lived in the front yard had lights on.

It's the same across the middle courtyard.

The lights in Jia's house were shining brightly, as were Daye's house and Shazhu's house.

It's still early, no one can sleep.

When Xu Qing took Jinghong back to the backyard where he lived, Liu Guangtian's house was still noisy.

As soon as Liu Guangtian pulled his wife out of the house, he bumped into Xu Qing and Jinghong who had just returned. His face suddenly turned cold, he glared at Xu Qing fiercely, and he dragged his reluctant wife to the middle courtyard.

The second aunt chased out of the house and saw Xu Qing and Jing Hong in the courtyard. She was too embarrassed to ask Xu Qing to help her stop her son Guangtian and his daughter-in-law, so she hurriedly ran into the middle courtyard to stop them herself.

And Xu Qing didn't want to care about her family's troubles at all.

If it weren't for Liu Guangtian's grandson making trouble in the yard, who would not be kind in the yard today.

Liu Guangtian insisted on stirring up trouble and brought the matter into such a disgusting situation. Damn it!
Xu Qing and Jing Hong returned home. Xiaoya was washing the dishes in the kitchen, Aiguo was helping, and Feng Ming was sitting on the kang in the front room, accompanying his little nephew, and they were reading comic books together.

When Feng Ming saw that his elder brother and sister-in-law had returned, he said, "Brother, just now you and my sister-in-law saw Lihua and Xiuying away, and the second uncle came to our house."

"What is the second uncle doing at our house?"

"It's okay to pay for it, oh, by the way, big brother, the second uncle still left a cigarette."

Xu Qing said coldly: "Feng Ming, go and return it to the second uncle and tell him that it is not needed."

Xu Fengming got the order, jumped off the kang, clamped the big front door under his arm, and went to the second uncle Liu Haizhong's house when he went out.

Liu Haizhong was sitting in his own room, sighing, he was so angry with his two sons that he couldn't even eat, when he saw Xu Fengming coming to the door to return the cigarette.Immediately understanding that Xu Qing refused to accept his family's apology, he sighed again.

Liu Haizhong took out the cigarettes on his body, handed one to Xu Fengming and said:

"Feng Ming, help me and tell your elder brother, don't take this matter to heart today, let your elder brother not care about it, you know that bastard in my family, mud can't stick to the wall, you can't be serious with him .”

Xu Fengming hesitated for a moment before taking the cigarette from Liu Haizhong and said:

"Second uncle, it's not me and my eldest brother, my second brother has trouble with Guangtian, it's him who has trouble with us.

When it just started snowing tonight, brother Jie Cheng asked me if he could help me develop the photos I took for everyone in our hospital. I said, if you want to develop the photos, you have to have a place, and I have to be there. Who would have known that your son would not be happy to build a house in the courtyard and would insist on doing so. "

Liu Haizhong listened to Xu Fengming's words and remained silent. He took two puffs of cigarette and sighed:

"Feng Ming, I know it was my little bastard who did something wrong today. Just look at the old face of the second uncle and me. Let's forget about this matter. I'll beat him up as soon as I come back. Dun, you and the people in our hospital have all seen it, right?"

Xu Fengming did not respond to Liu Haizhong, but said:
"Second uncle, I don't care about this, but my eldest brother said that in a few days, when the weather clears, our family will build a house in the courtyard. My second brother and I are still living with the old lady for several years. Well, there is no way to go on like this, so we might as well just build two houses."

When Liu Haizhong heard this, his brows were furrowed, and his heart skipped a beat. Xu Qing's family wanted to build two rooms in the courtyard.
Liu Hai was thinking in his heart, and just opened his mouth to tell Xu Fengming if the matter could be slowed down and discussed with the people in the courtyard.

But after Xu Fengming finished speaking, he left without giving Liu Haizhong a chance to speak.

Liu Haizhong sat on the kang, looking at Xu Fengming in the dark courtyard outside the house, knowing that Xu Qing's family had been completely offended today.

Turning his head to look at Liu Guangfu, who had been squatting in front of the stove, Liu Haizhong scolded him sternly:
"You bastard, have you seen it? It's just your second brother's mindless thing, which has caused our family to let Xu Qing's family not even want to look at it. If you dare to imitate your second brother, I will interrupt you." Dog legs are not allowed!"

Liu Guangfu shrank back behind the stove in fright, and muttered in a low voice:

"That was something my second brother caused. It has nothing to do with me."

Liu Haizhong's face darkened and he cursed: "You bastard, if I hadn't been in the courtyard today because of your business, how could I have made such a fuss?!"

Liu Guangfu remained silent, lowered his head, huddled his body together harder, and hid behind the stove.

Turn around early in the morning.

When Xu Qing woke up early in the morning, he saw that the glass on the window sill had been frozen out of the window grilles.

The snow in the courtyard also stopped, and the courtyard was completely covered with silver.

Xu Qing got dressed, emptied the urinal, and when he came back, he patted the snow off the frozen clothes hanging on the clothesline in the yard. As soon as he entered the house naked, he asked his wife Jinghong to wake her up quickly. Son gets dressed.

Yesterday's New Year's Day passed, and today those who should go to work go to work, and those who should go to school go to school.

After a simple breakfast, Xu Qing went out with his younger siblings, his wife Jinghong, and his son Hongzhi.

In the front yard, Xu Fengming handed the camera to the third master Yan Bugui who had been waiting in the yard.

Yan Bugui took the camera with joy on his face, shook the scarf around his neck, and asked Xu Fengming again about the function of each button on the camera.

Xu Fengming took the newly knitted woolen gloves that his sister Xiaoya had knitted for him. After explaining the camera to Yan Bugui, he warned:

"Third uncle, my camera is new. Please be careful with it. If it breaks, I will take my partner to your house to cry."

Yan Bugui knew that Xu Fengming was joking with him, but he was really worried about damaging it. He quickly turned around and asked the third aunt to bring him a cotton bag from the house, put the camera inside, slung it on his body, and said with a smile:
"Feng Ming, don't worry now. I will only spend one day and return the jade to Zhao in the afternoon."

Xu Fengming pushed the bicycle assigned to him by the factory, shook his head towards Yan Bugui and said, "Third uncle, there is no one named Zhao in our compound. You have to return the jade to Xu in the afternoon."

Yan Bugui laughed and said, "Yes, I will return the jade to Xu."

At this time, Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li came out of the hut where they lived with their daughter, and Shazhu in the middle courtyard, the elder brother Yi Zhonghai, and Qin Huairu also walked into the front yard.

All the people went out of the courtyard together, walking along the alley, stepping on the snow, talking and laughing towards the entrance of the alley.

(End of this chapter)