Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

Winter Solstice 1985,

Aunt Chen called Zhao Shanhe early in the morning and told him to bring his wife and children home to eat dumplings today. Zhao Shanhe said he had made a note of it.

After breakfast, Xiao Guo was given a day off and asked to go home to visit his family. He would not be at home at noon and would go to Aunt Chen's place in the afternoon, so there was no need for Xiao Guo to stay at home all the time.

Qin Jingru called An Huan again and asked him to go back to his grandmother's house to eat dumplings after class in the afternoon.

Then I called An Tong and told him to remember to eat dumplings today.

Zhao Shanhe also ate dumplings in the cafeteria at noon. Eating dumplings during the winter solstice has become a custom.

After picking up his wife and children in the afternoon, Zhao Shanhe went to the courtyard. When he arrived, all the family members were present. The second and third sons and their couples had also returned early today.

"Dad, you guys just arrived. I've been here for a long time," An Huan came over and said.

"Hello, uncle and aunt." Zhao Shanhe didn't expect that An Huan would bring He Hehua with him.

"My father-in-law gets off work late, and the family doesn't have time to eat dumplings, so I brought He Hua here, and I'll send her back after dinner."

Aunt Chen had been busy all afternoon, and others had no chance to help. Aunt Chen also made dumplings with several kinds of fillings.

Zhao Shanhe had just arrived and started eating dumplings. "Auntie Chen, you've worked hard."

"What's so hard about this? It's just making dumplings. If you said this in the past, you would be scolded to death. Making dumplings is hard work."

"At that time, I was eager to work hard every day, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance. It was good enough to have dumplings and meat during the Chinese New Year."

"Yes, I still remember that after my father died, we encountered difficult times. I didn't dare to eat too much. I just drank water when I was hungry, and I went to the toilet all day long." Shanhu couldn't help but miss that time.

"Second brother, it's not as outrageous as you say. I remember I still had eggs to eat at that time," said the third brother Shanhai.

"Shut up now. You were the one who lived the best in the family. You were the youngest, so they couldn't bear to let you go hungry. When my eldest brother went to college, he arranged for you and Erya to each have an egg, but Aunt Chen gave all the eggs to you."

"Every time it was your turn to eat eggs, Daya and Erya would go out on their own initiative. Daya and I were already older by then, and we knew that you needed to nourish your body. Erya was so greedy that I saw her several times going to add to the bowl you had eaten from."

"Brother, is this true? How come I don't know?"

"What Shanhai and Shanhu said was true. It was not easy for everyone back then. The food rations were reduced again and again. Fortunately, Shanhe asked us to hide some food in advance, and his classmates helped us. There was not enough food, and everyone just drank water when they were hungry."

"People were so hungry, how could there be chickens to eat? The chickens didn't lay eggs, and the eggs were exchanged with others for coarse grains, just to nourish your body. The eggs were not enough for you to eat alone, so I didn't give them to Arya."

"Er Ya has been trying to lick your bowl of egg custard several times, and I pretended not to notice. Your second brother and Daya have never tasted eggs."

"Third brother, you must have believed what Aunt Chen said, right? You were the one who lived the best back then. Everyone saved all the delicious food for you. Even when we ate dumplings before, we only tasted them, and you were the only one who could eat your fill."

"In fact, the ones who suffered the most were Daya and Aunt Chen. Aunt Chen always gave her the least, and we men were taken care of by Aunt Chen, so Aunt Chen and Daya always ate the least."

"Second brother, you are the one who felt it was hard, but I didn't. For a child like me who had no father, it was lucky that I didn't starve to death at that time. I have a small appetite and I get little at each meal, but I just have a small appetite." Daya also said.

Daya's family also came. They don't have parents-in-law, so they come for every gathering. It's different for Erya. They have parents-in-law above them, so when they have reunions, they usually stay at her husband's house.

Zhang Baixue also said, "Actually, everyone was the same at that time. Those years were really hard. I still remember going with my mother to dig wild vegetables to eat."

Qin Jingru also began to complain, "If you want to talk about hardship, life in the city was better back then. At least we had food rations."

"The worst off were the rural areas. After everyone paid their public taxes, they ran out of food soon after. Each village even had areas for hunting and growing wild vegetables. Wild vegetables were good things. After eating the wild vegetables, they started peeling tree bark and ate everything they could eat."

"There were even people in this village who starved to death. I was starving to death at that time, so I thought that I must marry someone in the city and become a city dweller. Even if I didn't marry well and was beaten every day, I didn't want to live that kind of life anymore."

"But at that time, there were too few people in the city marrying rural girls. It was too difficult to marry in the city. I was very pretty at that time, and many people came to my family to propose marriage, but I didn't agree to any of them. I was determined to marry in the city. Anyway, I didn't want to go through that hard life again."

"Mom, was it so difficult for you back then?" An Huan asked

"What do you think? You think I miss you guys, and you complain that my cooking is bad. It was not easy for people with stutters back then, so you guys are lucky to have such a good time."

Shanhai said, "Yes, we have suffered all the hardships, and the happiness has been enjoyed by the younger ones."

"Third brother, shut up. Have you ever suffered? When you were a child, you were given all the good things in the family. You were never hungry. When you were sent to the countryside, your eldest brother arranged for you to work in the factory. You have never suffered at all."

"I heard that even if you went to Shandong, your uncle would provide you with good food and drink. Tell me, what kind of hardship did you endure?"

"Second brother, compared to these little ones who can eat whatever they want and buy whatever they want, am I considered to be suffering?"

"That's the truth. These little ones are lucky to have come at a good time, especially the youngest ones."

After Zhao Shanhe swallowed the dumplings in his mouth, he said, "Look at you guys. We were just eating dumplings, but you turned it into a bitter past recollection. If you think the children are doing well, why don't you let them suffer a little too?"

"Forget it, big brother, you said that we should endure hardships for the sake of our family's well-being. The children are also sensible. It's nothing to endure hardships without any effort."

Shanhai ran to get two bottles of wine, "Come on, big brother, second brother, brother-in-law, dumplings and wine, the more you eat, the more you have. Let's have a couple of drinks."

"Okay, let's do it."

An Huan came up to An Song and said, "Second brother, you said I'm engaged and my eldest brother is married, when are you going to find me a sister-in-law? Don't let me have a son by then and you still don't have a partner."

As they spoke, everyone looked at Ansong, who couldn't help but kick An Huan. "Third brother, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You're really showing off."

After Shanhai filled the glass with wine, he said, "My nephew, you should do your best to help your second brother. Hurry up and bring back a daughter-in-law for him and his wife."

"Uncle San, there's no rush. I haven't met the right person yet. Besides, I'm only 20, not old enough to get married. Let's wait until I graduate from college."