Chapter 1794: Times Have Changed (Part 5)
Xibao sent her off at the door and returned to the main room, where she saw Lu Erxiong holding a salted duck egg. He cracked the top, peeled off the shell, and used chopsticks to scoop out the egg white and yolk, eating it with porridge and steamed buns, relishing every bite.
The yolk was slightly reddish, almost oozing oil.
Dundun and Ye Yan followed suit, but only Zhuangzhuang and Fubao held their porridge with no salted duck egg.
Cheng Baoguo was full of praise, "Compared to before, your skills have greatly improved."
Miao Fengqin was originally a maid of the Lu Family; when Cheng Baoguo was a study companion for Lu Jiang's father, he naturally tasted Miao Fengqin's cooking.
Lu Jiang's father smiled and said to Xibao, "After finishing the meal, take your siblings to visit a few of your grand-uncles, and don't miss your grandaunt's house. I've seen the things you brought back; each family gets two bags of fruit and two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes. Keep the candy for the children who come to our house to play; don't give it to them just yet."
Cheng Baoguo chimed in, "Hard candy scattered to the children who come to play will be enough. When Ajiang and Xiaoxue were not at home, Zhengguo and the others helped you a lot. Give half a pound of milk candy to each family, totaling two pounds for four families, and keep the remaining few pounds for our own kids."
Lu Jiang's father thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Before Xibao took her siblings out, Lu Jiang's father reminded them, "Put some candy in your pockets, and give one piece when you see a child."
Eat from someone's mouth, soften one's hand.
In Wanglou Brigade, not all elders and villagers were righteous and kind. Why did they all want to protect them and allow them to remain unscathed in turbulent times? Wasn't it because Lu Jiang held a position of power? People also needed the Lu Family's connections to gain some benefits for themselves, although nothing came for free, but in these times, having money didn't mean you could buy what you wanted.
Stepping out of the Lu Family's small courtyard, Fubao and his siblings felt an unprecedented warmth from everyone, something even in the military compound they hadn't experienced, and there, people's attentiveness was due to their parents' high status, not as direct.
Xibao constantly taught her siblings to greet everyone—grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, brother, sister-in-law—and such.
The four siblings were very composed, obedient, and sweet, their greetings were so sweet they reached the hearts of others, praises about their cleverness, fairness, and beauty poured out of mouths as if for free.
The most reassuring thing for them was actually seeing that they didn't hold any disdain for the village folks.
Wanglou Brigade had bountiful harvests every year, and in recent years, had expanded into farming. The value of labor points continuously increased, so the brigade members weren't as timid as those from other brigades. Going to the city was commonplace, even obtaining Industrial Coupons from Lu Jiang's father for Cheng Baoguo and his wife meant they had to go into the city to buy desired items. What's more, some ventured into the black market in private.
Thus, they had seen enough of city folks looking down on village folks.
"Xibao, take your siblings for a stroll, later Auntie will fry some dumplings and send you a bowl!" Jin Cuihua watched the five children in front of her, her eyes filled with uncontrollable envy and joy.
Fubao and the triplets naturally didn't recognize her, so Xibao introduced, "She's our grand-uncle's niece-in-law, we should call her Cousin Auntie."
"Hello, Cousin Auntie!" This time their voices were perfectly in sync.
Jin Cuihua laughed until her face was full of wrinkles, "Ah, truly polite!"
Xibao glanced at Wang Zhenguo's house nearby and said with a smile, "Auntie, we're looking for Uncle, we'll go ahead first; Auntie said she'd wait for us at home after sending us things in the morning."
Upon hearing this, Jin Cuihua quickly made way.