Chapter 19: Aunt Sun Gives New Year Gifts
After eating and drinking, Sun Shan’s eldest sister Guyu served tea to everyone to help them digest the food.
Aunt Sun took a sip of tea and said with emotion: "The food at my mother's house is still the best, especially the goose stewed with fermented bean curd. It's so delicious."
Uncle He nodded and said, "Yes, the geese in Sunjia Village are delicious, even better than those in the city."
Huang quickly said, "If you like them, take a few back home. We have some at home. Maybe the varieties here are different, and the taste is different." The eldest daughter liked them, and Huang wanted to give them all to her.
Yu Geer patted his belly and said with a smile: "Grandma, I won't be polite. Goose is really delicious. Please teach me how to cook it later. I will make it for grandma, grandpa and great-grandma when I go back."
When everyone heard this, they burst into laughter.
Uncle He tapped his son's forehead and said with a smile, "Your grandma, grandpa, and great-grandma will definitely be very happy to know that you are so filial."
Aunt Sun was not polite and directly asked for two big geese. She said to her eldest brother, "Bomin, do you have some at home? If not, buy some from the village." After all, they were big geese from Sunjia Village and tasted the same.
Before Sun Bomin could speak, Su said quickly, "Sister, we have some at home, no need to buy them outside."
I gave it to my elder sister-in-law willingly. My elder sister spent a lot of money at home, so two big geese are nothing to her.
Aunt Sun bumped into Uncle Sun, who was watching the fun, and gave him a look.
Uncle Sun understood immediately and said cheerfully, "Sister, I have big roosters at home. You can bring a few back. The chickens at home are also delicious."
Although I felt sorry for the chicken, I had to spend a lot of money to please my eldest sister. When I came to my eldest brother's house, I discussed with my wife that my eldest sister must take away all the things in the house. My wife said that if my eldest sister ate the things in my house, she would be more calm.
It has been almost 10 years since the family division, but who would have known that the eldest sister was so narrow-minded and has been angry for so many years and still hasn't forgiven her daughter-in-law.
When Aunt Sun heard what Uncle Sun said, she nodded with satisfaction. Whether or not to take the chicken was one thing, but the fact that she was willing to give it to me proved that she still had a sister in her heart. She waved her hand and said, "Leave the chicken for your family to eat. The chickens in the city are similar to those in Sunjia Village, so I won't take any."
Uncle Sun also said that he would send chickens and geese to the eldest sister. Aunt Sun smiled happily and felt very happy. The filial piety of the younger brothers proved that her love for them was not in vain.
After chatting for a while, they took out the New Year gifts from Huang's bedroom.
Pointing to something on the ground, he said, “These cloths are for you. Use them to make new clothes.”
Aunt Sun gave two pieces of cloth to the first, second and third wives respectively.
Here, one piece is equal to about 33 meters. An adult's single clothing uses about 3 meters, and a padded jacket for winter uses about 6 meters.
A new set of winter clothes required about 10 meters of cloth. Aunt Sun gave two rolls of cloth, enough for every room in the Sun family to make new clothes for the New Year.
He took out a piece of colorful cloth, a color not available in the village, and said to the girls in the Sun family, "These are for girls to wear. They belong to the first and second families. Divide them between the two families and make new clothes for the girls." The first and second families had baby girls.
Uncle Sun and Aunt San's eyes widened. Why is there no girl in our family? And that cloth, wow, even if I wear it in the county town, people will envy me.
Sun's family's Grain Rain, Beginning of Summer, Grain Full, Cold Dew, Xiaoxue's eyes lit up when she heard it, what beautiful colors, and printed.
Su and Jiang hurriedly thanked Aunt Sun, smiling so hard that their teeth were showing.
As for the cloth for Sun Shan and Huang, Aunt Sun gave them separately.
Sun Shan pretended to be stupid and asked his father and aunt secretly. He knew that a piece of cotton cloth cost 300 coins, and that Aunt Sun would need several taels of cloth to buy it. In addition, she also bought printed cloth and Sun Shan's red dyed cloth, which were more expensive.
She is really generous. No wonder the whole family is looking forward to her aunt coming back to visit.
Aunt Sun also gave some biscuits and candies to the second and third wives.
Degeer from the third room drooled and said, "Aunt, I want to eat candy."
Aunt Sun smiled and said, "You want to eat candy right after you finish your meal? No, save it for the New Year."
Third Aunt Zheng hurriedly agreed: "Eldest sister is right, whatever we eat should be saved for the New Year."
De Ge'er was disappointed and stared at the candy, reluctant to let it go.
There was a candy in Sun Shan's pocket, so he handed him one.
Sun Jiajue'er likes to play with Sun Shan the most. He never thinks Sun Shan is boring. He takes Sun Shan to travel around all day long and is happy to share any delicious food he finds.
De Ge'er's carefree personality is completely different from Zheng's. He is much more innocent and kind than Zheng.
When De Ge'er saw the candy, he happily stuffed it into his mouth and covered his mouth with his hands so that no one else could see it.
When Su saw Sun Shan giving the candy to De Ge'er, she cursed in her heart that her son was just too generous. The candy was so delicious, why not keep it for himself and eat it slowly? Why did he have to give it to others? But there were so many people around that she didn't dare to show it. She thought she would talk to her son in detail in the evening and teach him a lesson.
When the other children saw De Ge'er eating candy, they also wanted to eat it, but their parents would definitely not give it to them, so they quietly turned their eyes away and stopped looking at the candy. As for asking Sun Shan for some, they didn't dare to ask because their eldest aunt was around.
Since Aunt Sun didn't see De Ge'er eating candy, she took out some salted fish, sausages, etc. from the New Year gifts and shared some with each family. As for Aunt Sun's, some had been reserved long ago. Someone had been sent to inform her yesterday. She would probably return to her parents' home early tomorrow morning.
He took out three money bags and handed them to the three brothers of the Sun family, saying with a smile: "Two taels each, take them, this is your New Year's money."
Then he gave them another 1 tael each: "This is money to buy cotton, or to make clothes or quilts. It's cold, so you need to wear warm clothes."
Aunt Sun gave money to her parents' home openly in front of Uncle He and Brother Yu.
She thinks that couples should let each other know everything they do and there is no need to hide anything.
Sun Boming looked at her brother-in-law, waved his hand and said, "Sister, I don't want it, you take it back." She felt embarrassed. Every year, she gave money to her brothers and sisters, especially her brother-in-law. She wondered if he had any complaints.
Uncle Sun was so angry that he really wanted to open up his eldest brother's head to see what he was pretending to be. He didn't want the money. Did he think the money was too much?
The eldest brother said no, and Uncle Sun said helplessly, "That's right, sister, we don't want it."
I glanced at my brother-in-law, and fortunately, he was smiling and his expression did not change.
Uncle Sun also said no.
The three daughters-in-law were heartbroken. How could they say no this year? They had always accepted whatever they were given in previous years.
Aunt Sun was straightforward and waved her hand: "Just take it if it's given to you. Stop pushing it around. We are brothers and sisters, so don't be so formal."
Uncle He also said, "That's right, you keep it. Your eldest sister is the boss's wife and has a lot of money."
This dispelled the awkward atmosphere and everyone burst into laughter.
Uncle Sun was a lively person, so he continued, "Thank you, big sister. I wish your business will be more prosperous and you will make more money."
Second Uncle Sun and Sun Bomin were not good at speaking, so they followed Third Uncle Sun in saying flattering words, and the three sisters-in-law of the Sun family also echoed them.
Huang said to the three brothers, "You must remember the kindness of our eldest sister. Our family is what it is today, all thanks to her."
Then he said to Uncle He: "Thank you for all these years, Uncle. I'm sorry for causing you trouble. Please bear with me."
Uncle He waved his hands and said, "Mother, no, I have to rely on Chunlan now. She is the best at making money in the family."
There was a touch of playfulness in their love. He Erlang and Sun Dagu loved each other freely and supported each other, which was rare in that era.
Aunt Sun rolled her eyes at He Erlang.
She took out a purse again. These were for the children, one for each. Whenever a child from the Sun family took one, Aunt Sun would say, "Study hard and learn to read."
To Sun Shan he said: "Grow up quickly and be healthy."
Several boys from the Sun family were sent to Zheng Tongsheng from Zhengjia Village, Zheng's hometown, to learn how to read. Aunt Sun did not require them to read well, as long as they could read. She thought to herself: If there are any smart and clever ones, she would arrange for them to work in the provincial capital, rather than keeping them in Sunjia Village all their lives.
Sun Shan weighed it and thought it should be silver.
De Ge'er whispered in his ear, "One penny of silver." The corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up, and he was so happy.
1 liang is equal to 1000 wen, and one qian is equal to 100 wen.
Aunt Sun was really generous and gave 100 coins. Now pork was 10 coins per pound, so she could buy 10 pounds of pork.
The red envelopes in Sunjia Village are only a few cents.