Several of Su Manxiu’s people turned their gazes to Grandma Su.
They didn’t understand why Grandma Su was so flustered.
“Little Jiu, go invite your Aunt Taohua’s family and Uncle Zhuzi’s family over for a meal. Look at me, I remembered when I was kneading the dough, but now I’ve forgotten!”
They had come last night and were treated as the closest of relatives. Inviting them for a long noodle meal the next morning was a way to reciprocate and maintain good relations.
Qi Liangying had some reservations, feeling it was a bit stingy to treat people to such a good meal.
But then she thought, their own family was doing so well in the capital, and she no longer felt reluctant.
With money, who would be stingy?
It was just that they had lived through hard times for so many years.
When Su Xiaojiu went, she also brought a bag of pastries and a bottle of canned goods as New Year gifts.
By the time the two families arrived, the noodles had already been cut, a basket of pristine white noodles, a considerable amount.
“Auntie, why didn’t you wait? We could have come over to help.” Su Taohua quickly found a basin to wash her hands, ready to help.
Su Manxiu smiled and said, “It’s just a small matter. With four women in the family, do we need to wait for you?”
As she spoke, Su Manxiu was meticulously slicing the pickled vegetables.
Grandma Su’s cooking was good, and Su Manxiu’s was naturally not bad, especially her knife skills.
Grandma Su was busy preparing the soup base.
The noodles themselves had no flavor; the taste was all in the soup.
The soup was made by stir-frying finely diced fatty pork into meat sauce, and then simmered with diced eggs, tofu, and daylily buds.
As for seasonings, they were indispensable. Fussy families would use over a dozen types of seasonings.
Long noodles not only required the noodles to be firm but also the soup to be fresh, fragrant, rich, and mellow.
Only with good soup could the noodles taste good.
Finally, the soup was poured over the neatly arranged noodles, sprinkled with vibrant green chopped scallions, and it was ready.
The yellow diced eggs, green chopped scallions, and white noodles looked exceptionally beautiful.
Those who liked spicy food could add a spoonful of chili oil, which would make the taste even more delicious.
“Auntie, I’ve wanted to learn your cooking skills since I was little, but I’ve never managed to learn it.”
Although the technique was simple, each person’s soup base had a different flavor. Su Taohua simply felt that Grandma Su’s soup base tasted the best.
“Don’t bother yourself. What reason is there to let visiting relatives do the work?” Grandma Su quickly stopped Su Taohua from helping.
Li Zhuzi’s wife, after placing her child in Li Zhuzi’s hands, also came to the kitchen to help.
Amidst the women’s laughter and chatter, the bowls of noodles were carried from the kitchen to the main hall, one by one.
Shen Zizhen had lived there for a few years and had eaten long noodles before, but smelling this rich and mellow aroma, she still couldn’t help but sigh a few times.
“With your skills, if you opened a noodle shop in the capital, you could earn a lot of money.”
The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart. Qi Liangying wondered if she could try it, what if it worked?
But she was also reluctant to lose her current stable job. What should she do?
As Qi Liangying was contemplating, Su Xiaotian spoke.
“Although making noodles can also make money, our long noodles are not suitable. They are too time-consuming. If we were to open a noodle shop, hand-pulled noodles would be feasible.”
Qi Liangying instantly deflated. Hand-pulled noodles, she didn’t know how to make them either!
But as Su Xiaotian said, making long noodles was too time-consuming. If a bowl of noodles was priced too low, it wouldn’t be profitable. If it was priced too high, no one would want to eat it!
Apart from this small interlude, there was nothing else.
The three families gathered for a meal, which was incredibly lively.
The other families in the brigade knew that Su Taohua and Li Zhuzi’s families had gone to the old Su family, and they were filled with envy and jealousy.
Although the Su family hadn’t said much about the capital when they returned this time, seeing their generous gifts for each family, even if they were just a few typical items, showed that they were living well.
But this was not something that could be envied; those two families had always had a good relationship with the Su family.
Others just thought about it and let it go, but Liu Xiuying felt very uncomfortable, muttering to herself.
“You always think about your brother and sister-in-law, but look at you, they’d rather treat unrelated people to a meal than you!”
Su Shan, annoyed by what he heard, cursed her back.
Why did the relationship between the two families become like this? Wasn’t it because of this petty woman?
But Su Shan still felt uncomfortable.
He actually felt that his elder brother and sister-in-law had gone too far.
Clearly, their two families were the closest, so why were they closer to unrelated families like Su Taohua and Li Zhuzi?
On one hand, he felt that the Su family couldn’t distinguish between insiders and outsiders. On the other hand, he felt that Su Taohua and Li Zhuzi’s families were flattering the old Su family.
Liu Xiuying didn’t want to be scolded anymore, so she went out for a walk.
As a result, she heard that Su Manxiu was actually spending the New Year at the old Su family’s home.
She privately said, “If a daughter spends the New Year at her maiden home, her maiden family will be poor for a year. I’ll see if their family can still have good luck this year!”
When she said this, her tone was extremely agitated. The reason was simple: it was almost New Year, and she had been driven home by her nephew’s wife.
Why was it that Su Manxiu, an married-out daughter, could spend the New Year at her maiden home?
As for Su Manxiu staying at her maiden home for the New Year, the people in the brigade only talked about it for a while and then let it go.
Good or bad, it was the old Su family’s business, and it had nothing to do with them.
If they were willing to let their daughter stay at home, then so be it. Whether their lives would be good or not didn’t seem to depend on this.
After noon, the Su family members from the main branch began to come one after another to pay New Year’s greetings to Grandpa Su and Grandma Su.
The time for paying New Year’s greetings also had its customs in the local area. The main family visited on the first day of the Lunar New Year, while relatives could only visit after the second day.
Grandpa Su and Grandma Su also sent the children of the family out to pay New Year’s greetings to the elders of the Su family.
The first day of the Lunar New Year was spent by the Su family members greeting others and being greeted by others.
The second day of the Lunar New Year was the day to return to one’s maiden home.
Liang Xiu did not want to go back. She knew that as soon as she went back, she would surely be upset.
She knew what kind of people her parents were. She had sold her job and gone to the capital for half a year. Her second sister-in-law had told her that her brothers had looked for her at the factory.
They were probably holding a grudge and waiting for her to return.
However, if she didn’t go back during the New Year, she was afraid that her maiden family would stir up a lot of trouble.
Su Laosan saw his wife’s thoughts and patted her shoulder to comfort her, saying, “It’s okay, I’ll accompany you later. We won’t bring the children!”
After all, it was just the two of them going. They would stay for a short while if they could, and leave early if they couldn’t!
Once they had visited, others wouldn’t be able to say anything unpleasant.
Su Xiaotian heard this and said, “I’ll go with you too!”
Although her parents’ personalities were not exactly gentle, the other party still used filial piety to pressure them.
Her parents couldn’t say much, but she was a little child and didn’t have many worries.
Unlike Liang Xiu, Wang Xianghua and Qi Liangying, the two sisters-in-law, were going back to their maiden homes. Their mother-in-law had also prepared generous gifts. The gifts brought back from the capital were very presentable.
The two sisters-in-law were overjoyed and very happy!