Chapter 3 Winter Solstice

Chapter 3 Winter Solstice

Sun Shan didn't eat like his cousins, who were fast, fierce and accurate. He was the slow eater, eating one bite at a time, then taking another bite, chewing slowly. During the meal, he would finish all the dishes before he had finished his rice.

Sun Bomin and Su often talked about this. They were worried that their son would not be able to find food when he grew up. He had a nagging personality and they didn't know who he looked like.

Sun Shan had no choice. He was reborn with the memories of his past life, and the habits he had formed over twenty years were difficult to change.

It was good that they gave in to him when eating at home, especially Mrs. Huang, who would serve enough food to Sun Shan before letting other children and grandchildren eat.

This made his cousins ​​jealous, but what difference does it make? Huang is the eldest in the family, so who would dare to disobey?

What's more, Sun Shan's personality is what the villagers like nowadays: humble and courteous, calm and generous, a real good boy.

The meal was swept away in no time, leaving a mess of cups and plates. The dishes on the table as well as the rice and soup in the big pot were all cleared out by the Sun family.

The women cleared the dishes, Su added more charcoal to Huang's fire, and turned on the oil lamp on the table to make the room brighter.

Then I followed my sister-in-law to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

In cold weather, you need to boil some hot water first. Use wood ash to wash, which will make it cleaner.

After the family finished their chores, they rubbed their bellies and sighed with contentment.

Uncle San came closer to Huang and said, "It's still warmer here at Mother's place because the fire is burning brightly."

He licked his face and asked, "Ah Niang, did my elder sister say she will come back this year?"

Today is the winter solstice, and there are more than 40 days left until the Chinese New Year. Normally, if my elder sister came back, she would definitely come back half a month before the Chinese New Year.

Every time I come back, I usually have a message. I usually pass the message to my younger sister, who then passes it back to me.

My younger sister came back to visit her family during the day, and I don’t know if she told them about this.

Huang shook her head and said dully, "Your younger sister said that Chunlan will not be coming back this year. Jing'er is preparing for the Tongshi exam and has no time to come back."

Although it is a pity that my eldest daughter cannot come back, nothing is more important than my grandson taking the imperial examination.

Second uncle Sun Zhongli is as taciturn as the eldest brother, but he is very concerned about the news about the eldest sister. He said in a low voice: "Jin'er has always been a good student. He will definitely pass the exam." Jin'er is 16 years old. Tomorrow is his first time to perform, and everyone in the family is very nervous.

Sun Laosan glanced at his second brother with disdain. Who the hell is Jin Ge'er? It's only a matter of time before he passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar.

He smiled and said, "Needless to say, next year Jing'er will definitely pass the exam. The He family is not an ordinary family. They have a long history of poetry and literature, and they have produced many successful candidates."

Juren and Jinshi can become officials.

In the past, Uncle Sun had never heard of such topics.

Everything has changed since my eldest sister married into the provincial capital. It is only a matter of time before our family has a nephew who becomes an official.

Huang was also happy when she heard her two sons say that her eldest grandson was able to pass the exam.

If my grandson is good at studying, my eldest daughter’s life will get better and better.

The biggest support of the family is the eldest daughter. The four dishes and one soup we can eat tonight are all thanks to the subsidy from her.

Sun Boming took out some wrinkled tangerines from the inner room. The citrus trees had a poor harvest this year, and a large citrus grove was almost completely barren.

There were only a few oranges hanging here and there. Fortunately, my family no longer depended on the orange orchard for food.

He put the fruit on the ground and said with a smile: "Come, eat some oranges, they are so sweet." Although they are wrinkled, they are really sweet and delicious.

He first gave one to his mother, then gave one to Sun Shan, and then they shared them one by one. There were many people in the family, so there was a big basin and everyone got one. There were not many left.

Second Aunt Jiang took the tangerine, peeled it, and gave it to her youngest daughter Xiaoxue to eat. She tasted a slice herself and found it very sweet. She said regretfully, "What a pity! My eldest sister-in-law can't eat it this year."

In previous years, the citrus orchard at home had a bumper harvest. We would cross mountains and rivers to transport the oranges to the city to sell to my eldest sister-in-law, and make a lot of money.

Third aunt Zheng echoed, "Yes, such delicious tangerines are the He family's favorite."

The Sun family’s citrus fruits are not sold to others, but simply to the He family.

My eldest sister-in-law said that the tangerines at home have a unique flavor and are very popular in the He family, especially as gifts, which makes others happy.

The Sun family's citrus fruits are of unique quality and are sold in a boutique format. They are small and beautiful, and are sold at a particularly high price. Even if the transportation time is long and there is a lot of loss, they can still make a profit.

This is why the Sun family, who lived in a remote mountain village, had to go to the provincial capital to sell oranges.

Huang also felt sorry that her eldest daughter couldn't have any, so she asked her eldest daughter, "Did Chunjiao bring any back?"

As he got older, many things were handed over to his eldest daughter-in-law, Su. Naturally, Su was responsible for giving and returning gifts.

Su had just finished washing the dishes and walked into the main hall with her daughters. When she heard her mother-in-law asking, she quickly replied, "Mother, I gave it to you. My younger sister took a lot back."

How dare I not give it to her? My sister-in-law is the youngest, so she is favored by my mother-in-law and brothers. If I don’t give it to her, the head of the family will slap me in the face.

When Sun Shan saw his mother and sister come in and noticed that there were fewer and fewer oranges in the basin, he quietly walked over, picked up the oranges, and gave one to each of them.

The sisters had a low status in the family, and they would never dare to reach out to take the oranges without Huang and Sun Boming's nod.

Sun Shan took advantage of his young age and did his best to get benefits for them.

The fourth sister is 8 years old this year, just a half-grown child. When she saw the tangerines, she took them with a smile, peeled them and ate them by herself. She couldn't eat them normally, so she kept them for sale.

Those who wear silk and satin are not silkworm breeders, and those who eat tangerines are not tangerine growers.

The eldest sister Guyu was 14 years old and almost an adult, so she was much more sensible. She took the tangerines, peeled them one by one, and shared them with her mother and younger sister.

Put the biggest piece into his younger brother Shanzi's mouth.

Sun Shan shook his head and put the oranges at home in grandma's bedroom. He could take them whenever he wanted to eat them. He was very free.

When Third Aunt Zheng heard that Sun Xiaomei had returned and brought back a bunch of gifts, she curled her lips. This younger sister-in-law was completely opposite to the older sister-in-law. The older sister-in-law brought things home, while the younger sister-in-law took things home.

snort!

Seeing my sister-in-law foolishly returning a bunch of gifts, I rolled my eyes and thought, this is a fool.

Fortunately, the family was divided, and the things my sister-in-law took away only belonged to the eldest wife, so it doesn’t matter.

Zheng thought so, and so did Sun Lao San. In the morning, he saw the little sister bring a piece of pork that weighed less than 2 kilograms and some cheap biscuits.

I went back in the afternoon, took a goose, a duck, and a big bag of oranges. What's more, I stayed alone in the bedroom with my mother, so my mother must have given money to my younger sister.

Don’t ask me why I make such a guess. Just look at my brother-in-law smiling like a cooked dog’s head and you’ll know.

If my mother gives her more, it means there will be less left for us brothers. It’s so infuriating!

Sun Laosan and Zheng Shi slept in the same bed and had exactly the same ideas.

When Sun Laoda heard that his wife had returned the gift, he was relieved and said with a smile, "This year is a bad year, and there is no orange harvest. Next year should be a good year, and there will be a harvest. Then, my sister will be able to eat it again."

Among their brothers and sisters, Big Brother Sun and Big Sister Sun have the best relationship.

My elder sister feels sad because she can’t eat delicious tangerines.

Sun Laoer peeled an orange and gave it to the child at home. It was very sweet and everyone in the family liked it.

He smiled and said, "This year's Spring Festival is a warm one."

As the saying goes, "If the Winter Solstice is warm, it will be cold until mid-March; if the Winter Solstice is cold, it will be warm early next spring." This year's Winter Solstice is particularly cold, and we need to light a charcoal fire. It seems that the Spring Festival will be warm.

Sun Laosan said indifferently: "It doesn't matter if it's cold or warm, as long as it doesn't rain." He is most afraid of rain during the New Year because he can't go anywhere and many interesting activities will be cancelled. How boring that would be.

This statement drew everyone's approval.

The family ate and drank, and around 9pm, it was already dark outside and the villagers had already fallen asleep. Farmers eat early, go to bed early, and get up early.

It's rare to see the Sun family still chatting so late.

Everyone felt it was late and dispersed.

Sun Lao Er and Sun Lao San lived not far away. One walked east, and the other walked west. They were only 200 meters away from the old house, which was Sun Shan's house. Even in the dark, they could find their way home.

The cold wind was blowing outside, and Sun Shan went back to the main house with his grandmother Huang to sleep.

Huang's main room is large, with a large bed and a small bed.

At first, Sun Shan slept in the same bed with Huang.

When he was 4 years old, Sun Shan pestered his family and finally convinced them to make a small bed for him and placed it opposite Huang's big bed.

The two grandparents and grandchildren sleep in separate beds.

Huang entered the main room with an oil lamp, covered Sun Shan with a quilt, and said gently, "My dear grandson, is the quilt warm? Do you want another one?" She was afraid that her grandson would feel cold in the middle of the night.

Sun Shan put an old cotton sheet under his bed and covered himself with a small quilt that was about 8% new. He said calmly, "Grandma, it's not cold. The quilt is warm."

Huang was relieved when she saw that the quilt was thick and warm, and went back to her bed to sleep.

Sun Bomin took Su and his four daughters back to the east wing. There were three rooms here, one for the couple and one for the four sisters. The room where the daughters lived had two beds, so two people could sleep in one, and it wouldn't seem crowded.

Su said to her four daughters, "Go to bed quickly and get up early tomorrow."

The farm work at home has been completed long ago, and the rice has been harvested and stored in the warehouse, but there are still many chores to do. As a farm boy, you can't sleep in.

The four sisters nodded, said good night to their father and mother, and went back to their room to sleep.