Chapter 213
213 Fresh Taste
After putting everything away, Li Xiaoran grabbed a basket of melon seeds and peanut candy.
There were also some snacks that Li Xiaoran had packed from the teahouse and some snacks she had bought from the grocery store.
After telling everyone to eat whatever they wanted, Li Xiaoran didn’t see her mother, so she took a few pastries and went to look for her.
In the end, Li Xiaoran saw her hardworking mother, Zhao Xiu, at the laundry counter at home.
It was winter. Even though the sun was out, the water was still freezing.
The water on this side of the laundry table was taken from the stream on the mountain by a hose made of bamboo.
It was very convenient to use it for laundry.
Li Xiaoran took a piece of mung bean cake and stuffed it into Zhao Xiu’s mouth.
Zhao Xiu took a bite of the mung bean cake and ate it as she washed her clothes.
“Sigh, this mung bean cake is really delicious!”
When Li Xiaoran heard her mother’s words, she smiled and fed Zhao Xiu another mouthful.
Just like that, the mother and daughter ate while talking.
“Mother, don’t be so tired. Leave these clothes here. I’ll wash them later!” Li Xiaoran looked at her mother’s red hands and said with some heartache.
“I’ve already washed them. Why are you trying to interfere?! If I wash them alone, I’ll be the only one freezing. Why drag you down with me? Besides, the clothes I wash now are much less than when I was at the Li family’s house!” Zhao Xiu said with a smile.
Speaking of the Li family, Zhao Xiu thought of something.
“By the way, you probably don’t know! Li Yan is getting married today! I don’t know what happened, but Li Yan actually got married in such a hurry! Your father and I thought about it and didn’t give her anything. We pretended not to know! We’re afraid the Li family will hara.s.s us!”
Li Xiaoran was stunned when she heard her mother’s words.
“She’s getting married today? I remember that the date was set after the new year.”
“That’s right. I wonder what your uncle’s family is thinking. They’re in such a hurry to marry her off!” As Zhao Xiu spoke, she recalled another rumor. “Daughter, you don’t know, right? Now, everyone in the village is talking about how Li Qiang swallowed all the betrothal money sent by Pei Xuanxin and didn’t give Li Yan anything at all. Even the dowry was pieced together. How embarra.s.sing!”
When Li Xiaoran heard this, she immediately sneered.
“Mother, it’s not like you don’t know that with my grandparents’ selfish personalities, they can’t raise any good children. Among the three children, only my father is better, but doesn’t my father also have a lot of problems? If my father had been more unyielding in the past, we wouldn’t have suffered so much in the Li family.”
“Don’t say that in the future. Your father will be sad if he hears it! Your father has already changed a lot!” Zhao Xiu glanced at her daughter and said disapprovingly.
After Li Xiaoran received her mother’s reminder, she chuckled.
“It’s mainly because of what my father did in the past. Just thinking about it makes me angry! Don’t worry! Mother, as long as Father changes, he’ll still be the best father in our hearts!”
As soon as she said this, the mother and daughter laughed.
“Girl, I really can’t do anything about you!” Zhao Xiu said in the end.
After washing the clothes, Li Xiaoran also washed her hands and helped Zhao Xiu cool them.
“During the two days you were gone, your father and I cut some radish and shredded vegetables and dried them. After another two days, we can put the seasoning in the jar. The cured meat and sausages are also smoked well. Why don’t we get some cured meat and sausages to eat today?! Speaking of which, I’m really craving the taste!” Zhao Xiu muttered when she was drying the clothes.
“Mother, if you want to eat it, just cook it!” Li Xiaoran said.
“That won’t do. The first bite of this year’s cured meat sausage has to be eaten with the entire family! With you and Luo Cheng around today, all our family members are here. We can cook it today. In the future, if you’re not at home, I’ll cook it myself if I want to eat it!” Zhao Xiu said insistently.
Li Xiaoran was very touched. Perhaps this was parental love!
If there was anything delicious or fun, they would immediately think of their children.
Even if it was just something very ordinary, they still insisted on keeping it until their children returned home to taste it together.
Although she said that she would cook it herself next time, Li Xiaoran was sure that her parents would still miss them and wait to eat it together when they were around.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you. I’ll ask Ziyang to get the cured meat and sausages now! Speaking of which, I’m drooling!” Li Xiaoran said with a smile.
Zhao Xiu couldn’t help but laugh when she heard her daughter’s words.
“Hurry up and go! I’ll hang this last piece of clothing myself! Speaking of which, I’m hungry too!”
Li Xiaoran nodded and shouted into the house.
“Ziyang, bring down a piece of cured meat and a few sausages. We want to try something new today!”
When Luo Ziyang heard his sister-in-law’s words, he immediately smiled and agreed.
“Got it, Sister-in-law!”
With that, Luo Ziyang went to get the knife and began to choose.
“Brother Ziyang, this one!” Guan Kang was also interested and chose another piece of cured meat.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you!” Luo Ziyang smiled and came to the piece Guan Kang had mentioned. Then he took down the piece of cured meat.
After that, he cut off several more sections of sausage and placed them in a wooden basin.
When Li Xiaoqing heard her sister’s words, she had already filled the kettle and placed it on the small stove to boil.
On this side, Luo Ziyang held the cured meat with tongs and placed it on the stove to burn the skin.
As the skin burned, a fragrance wafted out.
When Guan Kang smelled it, he felt his mouth water.
“Brother Ziyang, you don’t know, but I’ve never eaten cured meat sausage before!” Guan Kang suddenly said.
Li Xiaoran happened to walk in to see how the cured meat was cooking. When she heard Guan Kang’s words, her heart ached.
“Is it because you weren’t in good health in the past that you couldn’t eat bacon and sausages? Can you eat them now?”
When Guan Kang heard Li Xiaoran’s voice, he nodded obediently. “I can eat them now! My body is no different from an ordinary child’s, but I can’t eat too much!”
Seeing how obedient Guan Kang was, Li Xiaoran reached out and touched his head.
“It’s fine. Then let’s eat less! There are too many cured meat and sausages at home. If you want to eat them in the future, just tell us. We’ll cook them for you!”