Chapter 236: Seventies Treasure Appraisal System (10)

The Tongling Brigade has very little farmland; the vast majority is mountainous.

At this hour, the able-bodied laborers of every household are up on the mountains carving out terraced fields, while the old, weak, sick, and disabled members are in the fields pulling weeds and watering crops.

Xie Yang's maiden home is no exception.

When the young couple arrived, only the eldest brother's daughter—six-year-old Xie Xinlan—was home alone watching the house.

"Little Aunt! Little Uncle!"

Seeing Xie Yang and her husband, Xie Xinlan rushed out excitedly, still clutching a handful of chicken feed in her hand.

Xie Yang smiled and caught her: "Are you feeding the chickens, Lanlan? What a good girl! This is a reward from your Little Aunt!"

She took out the White Rabbit Creamy Candy she had prepared in advance, but only gave her niece two pieces:

"Let your grandma put the rest away in a moment; you can have two pieces every day. When you finish them, Little Aunt will buy you more."

The Xie Family is currently still headed by Father Xie and Mother Xie; any good things in the house are kept by Mother Xie.

Fortunately, the Xie Family has a small household; both daughters are married off, and there is only one son, who married an Educated Youth whose maiden home is thousands of miles away, so it makes no difference whether they split the household or not.

Xie Xinlan unwrapped a piece of candy, happily popped it into her mouth, and then scampered out the door to report to the fields: "Grandma! Grandma! Little Aunt and Little Uncle are back! They brought back so, so many things!"

"..."

Xie Chunhua stumbled, nearly falling over: "What nonsense are you spouting!"

"I'm not spouting nonsense! Little Aunt..."

"Alright, alright!"

Fearing that her granddaughter would thoughtlessly leak how many good things her daughter and son-in-law had brought home, Xie Chunhua quickly climbed up from the fields, asked for leave from the Scorekeeper patrolling the field edge, grabbed her granddaughter, and went home to host her son-in-law.

The women weeding alongside Xie Chunhua were all around her age, among them the mother of Bai Xiuyuan.

Someone asked: "Liu Caiju, isn't your Xiuyuan married in the same place as that Yang girl? How come I haven't seen your Xiuyuan return to her maiden home?"

Liu Caiju glared at the other woman irritably: "My Xiuyuan brought my son-in-law back the day she returned for her formal visit."

"That's because the Xie Family's son-in-law was away on a long-haul trip. As soon as he got back, he brought bags and bundles to visit his wife's maiden home. Your son-in-law runs short-haul routes, shouldn't he come back more often!"

Liu Caiju put her hands on her hips and retorted: "Once married into the city, there are naturally city matters to attend to; there's no reason to return to one's maiden home every three days. Besides, didn't my Xiuyuan come back a few days ago?"

"Xiuyuan came back a few days ago? Why didn't I hear you mention it before?"

"Oh my, that was a new son-in-law visiting his mother-in-law; if I told you, would you expect a share of the good things?"

A village woman nearby who loved to watch the chaos chimed in with a sarcastic remark.

She had seen Bai Xiuyuan return to her maiden home last month, but she had come back alone and hadn't brought anything, just carrying a trendy handbag.

Such a small bag, what could it possibly hold?

On the contrary, when she left, she took two Fish that the eldest Bai son had caught in the creek, plus a basket of fresh wild vegetables.

Liu Caiju let them tease her, but inside, she was not as calm as she appeared.

What? The Xie Family's young son-in-law accompanied the lazy Xie Yang back to her maiden home? And carrying bags and bundles? How is that different from what Xiuyuan said?

Didn't Xiuyuan say that after Xie Yang married, she didn't care about anything and loved spending money, that her husband drove long-haul routes while she stayed home buying this and that just to enjoy herself, and that she would be kicked back to her maiden home by her husband sooner or later?

Why would he be willing to accompany her back to her maiden home? And why would he be willing to buy things to visit his mother-in-law?

Could it be that he came to divorce his wife?

Liu Caiju's eyes lit up; if that were really the case, there would be a good show to watch!

As soon as the shift ended, she was more eager than anyone to go home and watch the excitement at the neighboring Xie Family.

The Xie Family was indeed quite lively.

The household's laborers had all finished work and returned home, and they were now gathered together.

Father Xie and his son, who had worked on the mountain for half the day, were chatting with Qin Zheng in the main room, and Xie Yang had brewed them a pot of tea.

"Little Brother-in-law, I heard from Yang Yang that you brought this tea back from your trip to Jiangnan? It really is different from tea dust! It's so fragrant! Not bitter at all!" Xie Jun praised from the bottom of his heart.

Xie Guohua nodded in agreement: "Tea from Jiangnan has always been famous, but unfortunately, we can't buy it here."

Never mind good tea from Jiangnan; even tea dust that doesn't require ration coupons requires connections to obtain.

The brigade Cadres carry their tea mugs every day, drinking tea brewed from tea dust, and they are all very proud of it.

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "If Dad and Big Brother like it, I'll bring you more next time."

"Don't bother, such expensive things—it's enough that you had the heart to bring it for us to have a taste; we even have something to brag about when we go out, but tasting it once is enough, don't buy it next time."

Xie Guohua quickly interrupted his young son-in-law; having a young daughter at home who spends money without restraint and eats and drinks without limit is already troublesome enough; he couldn't let his son-in-law become like that too.

"Yang girl is loose with her money; don't spoil her."

Qin Zheng smiled: "Yang Yang is quite good; the money she spends is all well-spent."

The Xie father and son: "..."

Even they, her own family, wouldn't dare say that against their conscience.

In the kitchen, Xie Chunhua was cooking, and her Educated Youth daughter-in-law was tending the fire; her daughter rarely did housework before she was married, and now that she was married and rarely returned to her maiden home, she wouldn't let her touch anything anyway.

But Xie Yang couldn't just sit around and eat without working.

"You go outside and chat with your dad and big brother."

Xie Chunhua saw her daughter's hands move with the knife, slicing up the entire two catties of pork belly, cutting them evenly and thickly; her heart ached so much the corners of her eyes twitched.

Two catties of meat could last several meals, and she had actually chopped it all up.

"You should have cut a little to cook for your husband; it would be enough for us to mix the meat broth with our rice. It's not hot today, so it could have been hung in the well and kept for many days."

"Mom, meat should be eaten fresh; even if it doesn't smell bad by tomorrow, it won't taste as good as it does today."

"..."

Who doesn't know meat should be eaten fresh? You're the only one who knows!

What a wasteful girl!

"You don't act like this at home, do you?"

Xie Chunhua thought of her daughter's lazy and gluttonous nature when at home, and her heart skipped a beat; she was truly worried that her son-in-law would discover that troublesome side of her daughter and, unable to stand it, send her back.

Just as she was worrying, the spatula in her hand was taken by her daughter, and then... she saw a scene that nearly made her faint—

Xie Yang took out the white sugar and rock sugar she had brought, as well as star anise, bay leaves, and other spices essential for making braised pork.

She stir-fried the white sugar to create a caramel color, added the blanched pork belly chunks to sauté until the meat rendered its fat, added cooking wine, Soy Sauce, sprinkled in the spices, green onions, and ginger, added a few pieces of rock sugar, and then added water to braise it.

The Educated Youth sister-in-law Wen Ningning took a deep breath; she had only ever eaten braised pork like this at the State-run Restaurant, and it didn't even smell as fragrant as what her little sister-in-law was stewing.

Back then, she hadn't yet gone down to the countryside, and after she went down and got married, she never ate braised pork like that again.

The Pork distributed during the New Year, even when braised, would have a lot of Potato and dried vegetables added, and her mother-in-law was reluctant to use seasonings, let alone sugar, so the stewed meat was far inferior to authentic braised pork colored with sugar. It was only because there was usually no meat to eat that she felt Pork was delicious no matter how it was cooked.

She hadn't expected that today, thanks to her sister-in-law, she would have the good fortune to eat such authentic braised pork; Wen Ningning's heart leaped with joy, and she became even more proactive in helping out.

Xie Yang smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, if you like it, I'll make it for you again next time."

"..."