Reborn in 1987: The Story of an Abandoned Girl

Chapter 38 new year's eve for father and son

When Li Tao's aunts saw them buying so much meat, their eyes widened and they guessed in their hearts: it seems that Li Haitang really made a lot of money outside. Now that they have broken off their relationship, it is not good for her to be filial during the new year.

With so much meat in the basket, Li Yongchun's mother calculated the bill and said with a smile, "Haitang, the total is forty-five dollars and twenty cents. Don't give me twenty cents. Just give me a whole number of forty-five dollars."

"Well, thank you, auntie." Li Haitang took out a small stack from his pocket and counted five for her. "Auntie, I don't have any change. You can find five."

"Ah, okay." Li Yongchun's mother smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into a slit. Today, the pig was selling really well. This big customer bought so much at once, so they didn't have to go to town to sell it.

Second aunt Li Tao's eyes were fixed on the money in Li Haitang's hand, burning hot.

Naturally, Li Haitang noticed something. He glanced at her and said bluntly, "Second aunt, why are you staring at the money in my hand? Did you forget to bring money when you came to buy meat? Do you want to borrow some?"

Second aunt Li Tao's face was flustered with embarrassment and she said, "Who wants to borrow your money? I came here specially to buy meat and brought enough money with me."

"Oh, that's good. If you want to borrow it from me, I'll be in a difficult position. After all, I intend to keep the money to buy fish." Li Haitang went straight to her and told her what the money was for.

Everyone in the village knew that the second aunt of the li family had dirty hands and feet. The greedy look in her eyes just now was too obvious. Everyone could see that she was thinking about the money in Li Haitang's hands.

When Li Yongchun's mother brought the change over, Li Haitang muttered as if nothing had happened, "Li Tao, remember to put all this meat away when you go back today. It's better to lock it up in the cupboard so that it won't be taken away by wild cats and dogs. The last time I sent you the wheat milk, I lost all the wheat milk. The wild cat and dog that ate the wheat milk must have rotten intestines and lungs."

Li Tao's mouth twitched violently as he lowered his head, wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh out loud, "Okay. I don't know where the wild cat and dog came from. They even took away the bottle containing the malt cream. I was thinking of sending the bottle to my second aunt for chopped chili after the malt cream was finished."

"How can your second aunt like a broken bottle of yours? There are so many good things in her house. All kinds of cans and bottles are filled with cupboards." Li Haitang did not expect Li Tao to be a black-bellied fellow. He was no worse than himself.

The flesh on his second aunt's face trembled with anger, and she cursed them in her heart for hundreds of times. Seeing that everyone looked at her subtly, she said in a rough voice, "Cut me five pounds of meat, one pound of ribs."

The two sisters took advantage of each other, and there was no longer any delay. With the help of Li Yongchun, Li Haitang asked Li Tao to go home with him first, and she went to another house to buy fish.

The fish pond that she worked in today belonged to Li Yuanhua's family. When she went there, the fish hadn't come back yet, so she was chatting with Wang Hongjuan in the house.

After a while, Li Yuanhua came back with two baskets of fish and asked with a smile, "Haitang, when did you come back?"

Yuanhua Uncle, I came back yesterday afternoon. How are the fish in the pond this year?" Li Haitang stood up and asked.

"Not bad. There are seven or eight catties of grass carp and three or four catties of small fish. Other big head fish and carp, and silver carp are not too big." Li Yuanhua took a sip of the hot tea that Wang Hongjuan had sent over, and there were three fish ponds in the village. His family contracted the largest one, and they could earn hundreds of dollars a year by relying on the fish pond.

Li Haitang walked up to the two baskets and took a quick look at the largest grass carp on top. He pointed at it and said, "Yuanhua Uncle, has anyone decided on the biggest one yet?"

"No, none of this has been decided yet. You can choose to leave if you want." His fish is the best this year, and he's not worried about selling it.

"Okay. Then I'll take the biggest grass carp. Please pick out a few bigger ones for me, and a big fish and four or five bigger silver carp." Li Haitang asked for more and prepared to go back to make the cured fish.

Wang Hongjuan had just come out of the house with a weighing stick. When she heard that she wanted so many fish, she smiled and said, "Haitang, you want so many fish. The three of you can't finish them."

"We'll leave two fresh ones for the chinese new year or the spring festival, and the rest for the cured fish." Li Haitang smiled.

Wang Hongjuan said clearly, "Oh, I can make cured fish."

Li Yuanhua picked up a dozen fish that she was satisfied with and threw them into the basket beside her. The couple weighed them, calculated the money, and then asked the eldest son who had rushed back to take them to the li family.

Li Jianguo had just killed the chickens and ducks at home when the big wave of fish was sent back. He left some fresh meat and fish for the new year and the spring festival to put in the cellar, and the rest were all smeared with salt and hung on the kitchen beam to dry.

After lunch at home, Li Haitang went to the wang family again. Yesterday, he made an appointment with Duan Meifang to calculate the profit of this year's deputy food factory.

The business has been good for the past six months. The accounts have been recorded in three thick books, which took more than two hours to complete.

After the accounting, Li Haitang taught Duan Meifang to make new snack cat ears. As for where she learned it from, she naturally lied to her classmates that it was a specialty.

As soon as Duan Meifang touched the new snacks, he couldn't stop. He occupied the kitchen and tried for more than an hour. Pots and pans of cat ears were brought out from the kitchen. The people in the living room outside watched tv while eating.

Before Li Haitang left, he took a big bag and bought some ciba and bean cake on the way back. She wasn't very interested in snacks, but she liked them better. They were made by her own family with pure glutinous rice and sweet potatoes. They were clean, hygienic and healthy, and she planned to bring them back for supper.

When she went back, Li Tao was in the kitchen warming up the leftovers for lunch. When she came back with a big bag of things, she asked curiously, "What did you buy again?"

"I bought some ciba and bean cake, and made some cat ears at mei fang's sister-in-law's house. I brought them back to give you a taste." Li Haitang put ciba and the others into the cupboard and closed the cupboard door.

"What are cat ears?" Under the dim yellow light, Li Tao's eyes shone brightly. Although he had never heard of cat ears, he instinctively decided that it was a good thing.

Li Haitang opened the bag and a strong fragrance came out, "Here, this is the cat's ear. The main ingredient is flour, fried."

"Kacha!" Li Tao reached out to pinch a piece and threw it into his mouth. His eyes lit up again, "Delicious, delicious!"

Li Jianguo, who came back from outside with a large basket of vegetables, saw something new on the stove and smiled, "Has this made new sweets?"

"Yes, I plan to mass produce after the new year. Dad, come over and taste it." Li Haitang had eaten enough at the wang family today. He had eaten a lot of sweet, salty, and numb food.

Li Jianguo tasted a piece and said with satisfaction, "This is really good. It's very fragrant and crispy. It's definitely easy to sell."

After Li Tao put the food in the pot, he asked quietly, "Sister hoi tong, can I pack a small bag for Li Yang?"

"Sure." Li Yang was not a bad boy. Naturally, Li Haitang agreed. He withdrew the firewood from the stove and brought the vegetables into the hall.

With permission, Li Tao took out a newspaper from the cupboard, folded it, packed a small bag, and ran quickly to his third uncle's house.

After dinner, Li Haitang went home early, curled up in her small room and read some books while she was cooking. She didn't lie down until 10 pm.

Li Haitang spent new year's eve with the li family. The house was not as noisy as the others, but it had a rare warmth and quiet.

Li Tao pasted up the couplet window flowers he had bought early in the morning, and the red color added a little festive flavor to the house. Li Jianguo shoveled the snow from the suntan to the side and cleaned the front and back of the house. Li Haitang was busy in the kitchen. Although Li Tao could cook the food, he could not give the dishes for the new year's eve dinner to him for fear of wasting good ingredients.

The new year's eve dinner was well prepared. Fried chicken, fried duck with ginger, pork with plum, braised fish, steamed pork ribs, braised pork trotters, soup with lotus seed and pork belly, home-made tofu, stir-fried red vegetable bolt, nine dishes filled the table.

With all the true colors and smells, Li Tao was already swallowing by the side. After offering sacrifices to their ancestors and setting off firecrackers, they immediately began to eat.

"Delicious, too delicious. Sister hoi tong, your cooking is definitely comparable to that of the chefs in the restaurant. I think you cook even better than before." Li Tao complimented as he ate. Every word was true.

The dishes cooked by the original owner were not bad, but they were still slightly inferior to her. Li Haitang explained solemnly, "Wang li's food is good. I learned it from her mother and sister-in-law."

"Well, their food is delicious." Li Tao didn't think much about it at all. He glanced at his father who was drinking and said to Li Haitang in a deliberative tone, "Sister hoi tong, can you come back tomorrow morning and help me?"

Li Haitang had told them before that she would spend the spring festival in her own house because the father and son were going out to visit their relatives, and there would be other relatives visiting their house. She did not want to listen to gossip here.

Now that he had volunteered, he understood that he had asked her to come over to help with the cooking and replied, "Okay."

The li family's three brothers' house had already discussed it a few years ago. On the first day of the first month, they had three meals in the morning, middle and evening. Each family prepared one meal. The eldest Li Jianguo's house prepared breakfast.

After the new year's eve dinner, she accompanied Li Tao to set off fireworks in the yard for a while, gave him a new year's purse of 20 yuan, and stayed with them until they were old enough to go home and sleep with the flashlight.

The clock struck zero, which meant that the first year of her rebirth was over. Recalling the memories of her past life, she fell asleep in a daze.