"Yes, indeed." Gu Lingling said with a smile, "Didnât I ask Auntie to bring some calligraphy copies back for you and Chao Yang to practice?"
Li Yujiao pouted.
At that time, Gu Chunmei wanted to praise Gu Lingling to the skies, but just hearing this made her so angry that she didnât even think about looking at the calligraphy copies she brought back.
So until now, the calligraphy copies were still pressed under her kang mat.
"Itâs okay, after the New Year, if you have nothing to do, you can come over to play at home, and Iâll teach you how to write," Gu Lingling said with a smile, as if she hadnât noticed Li Yujiaoâs inner conflict.
This year, Gu Chunxia arrived earlier than in previous years, and accompanying her were Zhao Jingmiao, her cousin from Gu Chunxiaâs family, and cousin Zhao Xuefei.
Gu Chunxiaâs husband, Zhao JianShe, is a carpenter, honest and simple, and the family of four arrived in such a rush.
When the Gu Family was splitting up, Gu Chunhai wrote a letter to let someone pass it to Gu Chunxia, so when she came, she knew about the separation, but she didnât know the specifics.
As soon as she entered, Gu Chunxia wanted to go to the kitchen to cook, but was stopped by Gu Lingling, "Big Aunt, take a rest, we just have one more dish to cook before we can eat."
One dish is just one dish, Gu Chunxia didnât think much about it, "Big Aunt will do it, you go and play with your cousins."
"Big Aunt, I really can do it." Gu Lingling smiled and slipped into the kitchen.
"Sister, just let her do it, I wanted to help, but she chased me out," Gu Chunmei said with a laugh, pulling Gu Chunxia away.
Well, that works too.
Gu Chunxia thought, itâs just one dish, if the niece wants to make it, let her. A girl like her being able to prepare a dish for them is already quite something.
"Big Aunt, donât go back tonight, have breakfast with us tomorrow morning before you leave," Gu Linglingâs voice came from the kitchen, "Later, let my dad go to the team office to make a call to your village."
"Is that... is that okay?" Gu Chunxia was a little unsure.
"Whatâs not okay?" Gu Chunmei said in a teasing manner, "How many years has it been since youâve stayed at your parentâs home? Before there was no place to stay, now thereâs plenty."
"Besides, how can you bear to let Jingmiao and them be so tired?"
Children are a motherâs precious darlings, even if not thinking about herself, just seeing the tired looks on her childrenâs faces each time coming back home made Gu Chunxiaâs heart ache.
"Then Iâll tell your brother-in-law in a bit," Gu Chunxia said.
When Gu Lingling brought the dish to the table, Gu Chunxia realized what exactly this "one dish" was.
Turns out it was the last dish to be cooked, not that they just prepared one dish.
"This... this is too extravagant," Gu Chunxia said in a daze.
When did their family become this well-off? In previous years when she came back for New Year, her mother and sister-in-law only served them returning daughters a bowl of noodles and a dish of pickles for the second day, at most a plate of bean sprouts salad.
It all depended on Old Mrs. Guâs mood.
How come today thereâs stewed chicken and meat, is this really the New Year?
"The chicken was raised by my grandma," Gu Lingling said with a cheerful smile, "The potatoes were distributed by the team this year."
So she made stewed chicken with potatoes, and the meat was also distributed by the team.
Basically, as long as itâs not the disastrous years of the past, their familyâs situation has been quite good in these years, except that Old Mrs. Gu doesnât like Gu Chunxia, and Zhao JianShe isnât very good at pleasing Old Mrs. Gu.
So every second day of the New Year, Old Mrs. Gu only served them some noodles and called it a day.
On better days, she would serve a plate of leftover bean sprouts salad from lunch, if there was any left, otherwise, it would be just a plate of salted vegetables.
After all, Gu Chunxia lives far away and couldnât be counted on.