Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

The captain's mother turned a corner and went home.

Zhang Xiuhua went home and started to prepare the silver carp. The fish weighed more than 6 kilograms. The fish head and the fish body were made into two dishes. The fish head was made into chopped pepper fish head, and the fish body was braised and served with soaked soybeans. The combination of the fish aroma bursting out by frying the fish and the aroma of soybean sauce was absolutely delicious.

After marinating the fish, she boiled the soaked peanuts and added some garlic, oil and vinegar to make a cold dish. In fact, it would taste better with sesame oil, but unfortunately her family was too poor to afford sesame oil.

Carrots cut into cubes and paired with soaked corn can be stir-fried into a dish that looks good in red and green colors.

Another dish is stir-fried vegetables and pickles.

After the reform and opening up, no one would serve pickles when entertaining guests, but now every household is poor, and her family’s conditions are limited, so they can’t serve too many dishes, so they can only make do with what they have.

She picked half a basket of vegetables from Baolin and exchanged them for three cucumbers and three potatoes at the old house. She made a dish of smashed cucumber, stir-fried potato shreds with chili peppers, and vegetable, egg, and cucumber soup, making eight dishes and one soup, a total of nine dishes. It was considered a grand meal in that era.

Although it is said to be nine dishes, in fact each dish does not take much time to prepare.

When we got off work at five in the evening, everyone arrived one after another.

The first one to arrive was Zhang Wangcai. While she asked Baolin to go to the old house to exchange things, she notified Zhang Wangcai to come over for dinner.

Now that Jidong is back, she will definitely register him in her household registration book, but Zhang Wangcai is the child's grandfather after all, so how could he not spend any money? He took her brother's savings in the first place.

Zhang Wangcai walked into the yard with his hands behind his back and saw three children sitting in the yard washing dishes and chopsticks. Jidong was obviously one year older than Baolin, but he was a whole head shorter. Especially his face was too thin, and there was a scar on it, which showed that he had been beaten a lot.

After all, he was his own grandson. Unlike Jilin, who changed his surname halfway through, Zhang Wangcai still loved Jidong a little. His old bark hands were trembling slightly. He wanted to touch his grandson's face, but was afraid of hurting the child. Tears welled up in his cloudy eyes.

Zhang Xiuhua knew that his emotions came and went quickly, so when he was excited and guilty, she tearfully described Jidong's miserable life at his adoptive parents' home, "He was sold to his adoptive parents' home by human traffickers. At first, they treated him well. But not long after, they had their own biological child, and they treated him badly. They ordered him to work every day and asked him to look after the child..."

Even a selfish person like Zhang Wangcai was saddened by Jidong's experience. He took out five yuan from his pocket and said, "Here! Take it!"

Jin Sufen gave the money just to show off, and also to remind Zhang Xiuhua of what she had said before, that they were not allowed to raise a grandson in the old house.

Zhang Xiuhua knew what they meant and signaled Jidong to accept the money.

Jidong obediently put the money away and called "Grandpa" in response to Zhang Wangcai's expectant gaze.

Zhang Wangcai uttered a low "ah" and secretly wiped away his tears.

As they were talking, the captain and his men arrived.

When the captain came in, he saw Jidong at a glance. After a careful look, he sighed heavily, "This child has suffered." He looked up and asked Zhang Xiuhua, "Have you called the police?"

Zhang Xiuhua had just returned and had not had time to speak. “I was just about to tell you that I will take another day off tomorrow. I will go to the police station to report the incident and see if we can catch the traffickers.”

She didn't know whether buying and selling was a crime at this time, but she absolutely couldn't let the traffickers go.

The captain sighed.

Zhang Xiuhua signaled Jidong and Baolin to help serve the dishes, which were quickly placed on the table.

She didn't have any wine, so she could only make some red date tea for everyone.

"Thanks to your help this time, I was able to find Jidong. There is no wine at home, so I will offer you a glass of tea instead of wine."

The captain's wife smiled and said, "You're so polite. We didn't help much, so this time it's all thanks to Jianguo."

Li Jianguo was a little embarrassed, "I didn't help much."

Zhang Xiuhua watched his dark skin turn red, spreading all the way to his ears. She was stunned for a moment, then looked away, "Come on! Everyone, please enjoy the food. I made it myself, so the taste is average, please forgive me!"

The captain's wife tasted a piece of fish and gave a thumbs up, "Xiuhua's cooking is really good. This fish is not fishy at all. Whoever marries you in the future will be in for a treat."

Zhang Xiuhua smiled and called on everyone to eat together.

Li Jianguo picked up a piece of meat from the fish belly. The meat was fresh and tender like tofu, but it had more meat flavor than tofu. If you smelled it carefully, you could also smell the spicy aroma of Sichuan peppercorns. The gravy made your mouth water. If you mix this gravy with rice, you can definitely eat three bowls of it.

He couldn't help but glance at Zhang Xiuhua, only to see her pick up the best piece of fish meat near the gills and put it into Jidong's bowl.

Jidong pursed his lips and looked at her with sparkling eyes. Zhang Xiuhua lowered her head and looked at him, thinking that he thought it was too little, so she gave him another piece of fish meat and reminded him to be careful of fish bones.

Jidong secretly curled the corners of his lips and started eating.

The meal was a great pleasure for both the host and the guests, and the children burped as they ate.

Zhang Xiuhua was afraid that they would have indigestion, so she let them play in the yard.

At this time, there was nothing fun for the children to do, so the three of them took a rope. This rope was not elastic, but a nylon rope used to mark the rice planting line. Such ropes were bundled, and the extra ropes were distributed to each family. Adults would use it to tie their pockets, and parents who loved their children would let them jump rubber bands.

Three children were playing in the yard. The team leader, Zhang Wangcai and others had left first.

The captain's mother enthusiastically helped Li Jianguo make connections.

"Xiuhua, if you have anything to say, just ask Jianguo. Marriage is a lifelong event. You didn't choose the right one the last time, so you better be careful this time. Don't be so confused again."

What she said makes sense.

Zhang Xiuhua has lived two lives. In her previous life, after the reform and opening up, people's thinking changed dramatically. Being shy when seeing a man? Not possible.

After she cleaned up the dishes, she invited the two to sit down in the main room and told them about her situation.

Her ex-husband was an educated youth who abandoned her and the children. She had no intention of looking for him for the time being. When he found a job and saved some money, she would take the two children to ask him for child support. But the two children must stay with her.

As for Jidong, he will also follow her. "His mother has remarried. I heard that she has a child. Jidong has suffered too much before. His mother may not be able to take care of Jidong. I will raise him."

Li Jianguo nodded, "Okay."

Seeing that he agreed readily but not at ease, Zhang Xiuhua added, "I will treat the children as one. I hope you will too. In the future, you will send 70% of your salary back to support the family, and I will write down the expenses every month and send them to you. You can save the other 30% for your children to use when they get married. As for my three children, I have some savings now, which I will leave to them in the future. When I marry into your village, the food I save will be used to raise the children, but the money must be kept for my three children. I hope to settle accounts clearly and not engage in conspiracies and intrigues."

She was not a smart person in her previous life, otherwise she would not have been bullied so badly by the Xu family.

The female boss taught her that before she wants to do something, she should list the part she needs to pay and the part she will get. If the difference between the two is almost the same, she can do it.

If the effort is greater than the gain, it cannot be done.

If the gains are far greater than the costs, you should also think about whether it is a trap.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, only traps. As long as you don't try to take advantage, you won't suffer any loss.

She listed the prices she had to pay, which generally came down to two things: sexual value and raising children.

What she can get is: one level improvement in her child’s quality of life and tuition for her child.

Both are equal and no one takes advantage of the other.

Li Jianguo hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Okay."

Zhang Xiuhua then added, "But I want a dowry of fifty yuan."

Thirty years later, many young people think that the bride price is too high and that there was no bride price in the 1970s. In fact, this is wrong. At that time, there was no marriage without a bride price in rural areas. After all, the country does not advocate free love, but only advocates marriage autonomy.

The bride price varies in every place. The more serious the preference for boys over girls in a place, the higher the bride price.

The price of the bride price in Liushui Village is neither high nor low. Three turns and one ring is the standard for city workers. Rural people don't have the money to buy it, let alone the tickets. Most people give food or money, usually ranging from twenty to thirty to one hundred.

Zhang Xiuhua dared to ask for fifty yuan as a dowry for her second marriage, which really surprised the captain. She was stunned for a long time. Seeing that Li Jianguo looked a little embarrassed, she quickly pulled him aside and asked, "You are getting married for the second time, how dare you ask for such a high dowry?"

Zhang Xiuhua explained, "He is a soldier, and if I marry him I will have to take care of his three children. If I don't have the betrothal gift, I will be a little worried."

In fact, there is another point. He is a soldier, and marrying him is a military marriage. Military marriage is to protect soldiers, not to protect military wives. Even if he cheats, she can't divorce. Of course, soldiers don't dare to cheat at this time because it is a hooligan crime. But the law will change. She has to leave a guarantee for herself and her children.

The captain's mother hesitated about how to explain to Li Jianguo to facilitate this marriage, but she heard him speak first, "Just do as you say."