Chapter 186 - 186

Chapter 186 Buying groceriesThe morning market is very lively now. Since the reform and opening up, there have been many vendors selling seafood, fresh vegetables and all sorts of other things."You go buy the ribbonfish, I'll go buy the other vegetables. Let's split up," Mother Yun instructed before heading to the vegetable stall.The vendors, their breath steaming in the air, called out their wares. Father Yun squeezed his way to the seafood stall, pointed at the ribbonfish on the ice, and gestured to the stall owner, "Give me a wider ribbonfish; my son is bringing his girlfriend home." The stall owner smiled and agreed, wrapping the ribbonfish twice in newspaper before handing it to Father Yun, who quickly took it."Oh, and get me two more pounds of oysters."Mother Yun carefully selected vegetables at the market, buying some of everything from vibrant green spinach to potatoes still covered in soil.Then I went to the butcher shop and bought five pounds of pork ribs and three pounds of pork belly.Not seeing any chickens for sale, the two elderly people met and looked at what they were holding."I bought some tofu, but not chicken.""Go check the back alleys to see if there are any chickens for sale."Sure enough, when I got to the alley entrance, I saw a few people there, and an old man had a cage with a few chickens in front of him.Mother Yun quickened her pace, "Hurry up, or everyone else will have bought it all.""Hey bro, how much is this chicken?"The old man, speaking in a thick local accent, said, "They're all home-raised, absolutely fresh. Live old hens are 1.16 yuan per jin!""Give me two, can't you give me less?""Of course, these are all carefully fed by us. Look at their glossy feathers, how lively and energetic they are.""Alright! I'll take these two. Weigh them for me.""It weighs thirteen and a half jin in total, and at 1.16 yuan per jin, that's fifteen yuan and sixty-six. I'll round it down for you, so it'll be fifteen yuan and sixty-six!"Father Yun quickly took out his money, counted it out, and handed it to the old man selling chickens.He quickly tied the feet of the two chickens with straw rope.Seeing this, the people nearby were afraid that the chicken would be gone in no time, so they all rushed to grab some."Grandpa, give me one.""I want two..."By the time the two of them were carrying their heavy baskets of vegetables back home, it was already broad daylight.When we met people from Family Compound on the street, they would ask curiously, " Old Yun,Yun Mu's name, did you go grocery shopping so early this morning?""Yes! My second son brought his girlfriend home today, so we went to buy groceries early this morning.""Oh! Where is your daughter-in-law from? Your second son is an officer now, shouldn't he find someone suitable?""Sigh... What's this about being a good match or not? As long as they can live a good life, we don't care about these things.""You bought quite a lot of vegetables? Oh, these two old hens look pretty good.""Yes! I'm planning to make chicken soup for my eldest son's wife to nourish her body, and her grandmother, Child, has worked hard too.""Haha, Yun Mus name, you're such a good mother-in-law!""Didn't we all go through this? We can't let our daughter-in-law go through the same hardships we did, can we?""Yes, yes, Yun Mus name, you're right. It's just that those old women who torment their daughters-in-law don't understand these things.""Alright, I have to go back now. We can chat some more when we have time!""Okay, sure."Mother Yun was unaware that her words would soon be spread by this woman. Everyone said she was a good mother-in-law, but there were still a few disdainful people who said she was just putting on an act and was actually one of those who tormented their daughters-in-law.Liang Dan's parents naturally heard what Mother Yun said and were happy for their daughter, thinking it was a blessing to have such a good mother-in - law."You know, once you meet someone, you can chat for ages and you can't even walk anymore…" Father Yun muttered."Am I not going to let you go? You can go back by yourself first! Don't you know the way home?"Father Yun hesitated for a moment, then didn't dare to speak again.Upon returning home, Father Yun was immediately ordered by Mother Yun to boil water and kill a chicken.Seeing her in-laws busy at work and that their baby was asleep, Liang Dan went to the kitchen. "Mom and Dad, is there anything I can help you with? The baby is asleep.""Xiao Bao is asleep, you should sleep for a while too. Your dad and I are here! The chicken soup will be ready soon, and Mom will wake you up to drink it.""Mom made me chicken soup?" Liang Dan said happily."Yes! Your grandma and child have worked hard too.""Mom, I'm fine. Xiao Bao is very well-behaved. I'm not sleepy right now either, so I'll stay and help out!"Seeing her insistence, Mother Yun looked at her for a moment, then handed her a few cloves of garlic. "Here... you can help me peel the garlic cloves!"Liang Dan: "…""Mom, when will my second brother and the others arrive?""I don't know, he didn't say the exact time, but I guess it will be around noon.""Did you invite your younger sister and brother-in-law over for lunch?""Oh dear... I forgot about that. Honey, go to our daughter's place and tell them to bring Childback for lunch.""Okay, I'll prepare the chicken before I go.""It's rather cold today, Dandan, wear more clothes so you don't catch a cold.""Mom, I know, you should too. Take care of yourselves."Mother Yun deftly placed the prepared old hen from Father Yun into a clay pot to stew before going off to do other things.The old hen in the casserole was bubbling away. She lifted the lid, grabbed a handful of soaked shiitake mushrooms and threw them in, then took out a small handful of red dates from the cupboard and sprinkled them in: "Adding shiitake mushrooms enhances the aroma, and stewing them with red dates makes the soup sweeter and more nourishing."These red dates were prepared for the family by Yun Ting when she came back."Mom's chicken soup is the best," Liang Dan said sweetly."You're just like your little sister now, you've learned to coax me.""Mom, I'm not lying to you, I'm telling you the truth."The chicken soup had been simmering for over two hours, and it was almost ready. The aroma of chicken soup wafted from the kitchen. Mother Yun stirred it with her chopsticks and poked the meat; it was tender enough.She skimmed off the surface oil with a spoon and ladled a bowl for Liang Dan, which contained a lot of chicken."Dandan, Mom put this chicken soup on the table. Drink it while it's hot to warm yourself up.""Okay, Mom, I know. I'll go out in a bit." Liang Dan was changing Xiao Bao's diaper in the room at the moment.Just as Mother Yun had guessed, Yun Huai and the others arrived at noon."Grandma, when will Uncle arrive? I'm starving."Little girl heard her mother say when she got home from school that Uncle was bringingSecond Aunt home today.She was incredibly tempted by the large table of dishes her grandmother had prepared, but her mother said they had to wait for her second uncle and aunt to come back before they could eat."Yes! Why haven't my second uncle and aunt arrived yet?" Xiao Zhi asked anxiously.Xiao Rui remained relatively calm, sitting obediently on the sofa and holding his younger sister."Hey! Who's talking about me?" Yun Huai had just entered the courtyard with Li Man when she overheard Xiao Zhi's words."Second Uncle...you're finally back.""Second Uncle..."Upon hearing the sound, Mother Yun hurried to the door, with Father Yun following closely behind.He saw his son wearing a crisp military overcoat, with a pretty girl beside him."Mom and Dad, this is my boyfriend, Li Man."Li Man blushed and greeted them with "Hello, Uncle and Auntie".Mother Yun hurriedly ushered her into the house, her fingertips trembling with panic. "Good child, it's cold outside, come inside quickly!"