Chapter 52: Chapter 31: Grandmother and Uncle Come to Visit (Part 2)

She was squinting at the village when a few people emerged from a path at the far end. She stared at them absentmindedly, watching as they headed toward her house. It was like a camera zooming in—their figures grew clearer and larger with every step.

When they got a little closer, they started to look familiar.

“Mother, look! Is that Grandma coming?” Juhua sat up. She had been leaning over, which made it hard to see them clearly.

Mrs. Yang quickly squinted toward the yard entrance for a moment, then her face broke into a smile. “Who else could it be? Your uncle and aunt are here too!” As she spoke, she wrapped her thread around the shoe sole she was working on, placed it in her basket, and put it away. Then she stood, patted the loose threads off her clothes, and went out of the yard to greet them.

Zheng Changhe also sat waiting with a cheerful smile for them to come in.

Juhua’s grandmother, Mrs. Wang, walked into the yard with a spring in her step. She was as brisk and tidy as ever, smiling kindly at Juhua. “Juhua, my sweet granddaughter! Did you miss your grandma?”

Juhua felt a little embarrassed by her grandmother’s affectionate, doting tone. ’I’m not a little kid anymore,’ she thought. ’Calling me her “precious darling” and all that is so mortifying!’

She just smiled shyly as usual, then brought over a few small stools for her grandmother, uncle, and aunt to sit on. Then she hurried off to pour them some water.

The adults exchanged pleasantries as always, asking after Zheng Changhe with concern. They had come especially to see him; they’d only just heard the news, which was why they hadn’t come until today.

Juhua’s uncle, Yang Defa, was an amiable middle-aged man. He wore a clean, starched long gown, and his plump, friendly face, much like his mother’s, made him seem very approachable. His wife, Juhua’s aunt, had a square face with somewhat stern features, which suited her tall frame. One look at her, and you could tell she was a straightforward person.

“Juhua, don’t tell me you knew we were coming today and prepared all this! What are you cooking that smells so good?” her aunt, Ms. Zhang, called out in her loud voice.

Juhua smiled and looked at her mother, waiting for Mrs. Yang to explain.

Mrs. Yang laughed. “It’s pork offal! We had no idea you’d be coming today, Brother and Sister-in-law. You’re just in luck—it’s a happy coincidence!”

While taking things out of her basket, Mrs. Wang asked in surprise, “Pork offal? That stuff stinks to high heaven! Is it even edible? Juhua! Here, take this chicken and give it some food. It’s nearly suffocated on the journey here!”

She pointed to the hen on the ground as she spoke to Juhua, then took out some pastries and put them on Zheng Changhe’s bed. The basket was filled to the brim with noodles, eggs, and other things.

Juhua carried the hen, which had a cloth strip tied to its leg, over to the edge of the vegetable patch. She scattered some feed for it and filled a broken clay pot with water. ’Mother probably won’t have the heart to kill it,’ she thought. ’We’d be better off buying pork offal than killing it. It’s much better to keep the hen for its eggs!’

Meanwhile, Mrs. Yang was telling her mother, brother, and sister-in-law all about how Juhua could cook pork offal, leaving them all amazed. Mrs. Wang said they were indeed in for a treat and that she was looking forward to trying it.

When Juhua returned to the bedside and sat down, her grandmother handed her a packet of pastries and said, “I bought these especially for you to eat. They’re peanut crisps, and they’re delicious.”

Juhua took the packet, opened it, and picked one up. It was a beautiful golden yellow, with a sweet, tempting aroma. A lump formed in her throat. ’This feeling of being doted on is just too wonderful,’ she thought, ’especially since I’m so old and so ugly, and yet I’m still loved!’

She gave one peanut crisp to each person and then savored the rest, holding the packet in her hands. She had only eaten them as a child in her past life. After growing up, she had been so afraid of gaining weight that she strictly avoided such things. Who would have thought that after coming here, they would become such a rare delicacy?

Yang Defa looked at the acorns drying in the yard and asked Zheng Changhe, “What are you drying these ’pig chestnuts’ for?” In his village, that was their name for acorns.

Zheng Changhe beamed. “To feed the pigs! It was Juhua’s idea. You soak the nuts thoroughly, shell them, and then rinse them in water for a few days until the bitter taste is gone. Mix them into the pig slop, and the pigs love it!” He was full of pride as he said this.

Mrs. Wang had seen Juhua and Qingmu preparing these on her last visit, so she quickly asked, “You’ve tested it? The pigs don’t get sick from eating them?”

Mrs. Yang smiled. “Mother, they’re great for the pigs! They’re fattening up nicely. They won’t get sick at all. It’s just a lot of trouble to prepare them.”

Mrs. Wang’s expression grew animated. “What’s a little trouble? As long as it can be used for pig feed, it’s worth it, no matter how much work it is. But don’t let anyone else find out, or you won’t be able to gather so many. Next year, I’ll help you get a couple of piglets from my village. Raise them well, and you’ll have some extra income.”

Mrs. Yang nodded repeatedly, saying she went to the mountains to gather them whenever she had a spare moment. There were plenty up there, she added, and their cellar was already full.

The aunt, Ms. Zhang, looked at Juhua and praised, “So Juhua has this kind of talent, too! And so well-behaved. That Liu Fugui must be blind to find fault with Qingmu and Juhua!”

Mrs. Wang shot her a glare, signaling for her to stop talking.

Ms. Zhang said indignantly, “What’s the big deal? Didn’t his daughter, Yunlan, come to apologize? She even specifically asked us to have Qingmu go over for a look!”

But Mrs. Yang knew Juhua didn’t care about that anymore, so she didn’t speak as cautiously as she normally would have.

Hearing her sister-in-law, she asked in confusion, “What’s going on? Why does his daughter want a meeting now?”

Mrs. Wang shot her daughter-in-law an annoyed look, blaming her for being too blunt. Then she turned to Mrs. Yang and said, “It’s all because of that brainless couple, Liu Fugui and his wife. They said such things to the matchmaker—actually daring to look down on Juhua. Their daughter wasn’t home that day. When she got back and heard about it, she gave her father a piece of her mind. Then her mother came to our house to make a small apology, saying she’d been muddle-headed and wanted to invite Qingmu over for a look.”

Yang Defa, who had been chatting with Zheng Changhe, overheard and chimed in, “Liu Fugui speaks without thinking. How can you take his words seriously? If it weren’t for that daughter of his, who knows what would have become of his family. Now he hears people saying how capable Qingmu is and how handsome he is, so he’s come begging again!”

Mrs. Yang said to her brother, sister-in-law, and mother, “Sigh, it’s useless even if they beg. Qingmu doesn’t want to discuss marriage right now.” She then recounted the events of the past few days.

At this, Mrs. Wang’s face changed, her kind expression twisting into a scowl. The aunt, with her fiery temper, started cursing Matchmaker Wang and Liu’er’s mother, calling them no-good scoundrels. Yang Defa asked Zheng Changhe unhappily, “And you just stood by and watched them bully your wife and children?”

Zheng Changhe said guiltily, “I wanted to hit them, but I’m a grown man. It wasn’t right for me to get physical. We did chase the matchmaker away, though. And when Sun Jinshan’s wife came, my leg wasn’t working, but I still cussed her out and sent her packing. Later, the kids’ mother even got into a fight with her!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep