It was almost dinner time when Lu Xiaoxiao and the captain returned to his house. Previously, when they were looking for the captain, he was the only one in his house. Now, it was probably time to eat. His entire family had gathered in the main room.
After the captain's partner, Auntie Cai Hua, introduced Lu Xiaoxiao to their family, she learnt that the old couple had three sons and two daughters. The eldest son was called Liu Baozhu, who was 38 years old that year. He was married to Madam Zhang and had two sons and two daughters.
His second son, Liu Baoguo, was 36 years old. He was married to Madam Wang and had two daughters and a son.
His third daughter, Liu Xiaohua, was already married at the age of 35.
His fourth son, Liu Baoliang, was 33 years old. He married Madam Zhao and had a son and a daughter.
As his fifth daughter was born at their old age, Liu Xiaofeng was only 16 years old this year. The old couple also doted on her very much.
Lu Xiaoxiao felt a little dizzy just hearing these people's names. There were really so many people in their family!
In this era, the more people in the family, the better. With more people, there would be more labor force and they would earn more. Naturally, there would be more food. Auntie Cai Hua arranged for her to stay with her youngest daughter that night, so Lu Xiaoxiao was led by Liu Xiaofeng to her room with her luggage.
After Liu Xiaofeng came to the room, she pointed at the bed and said, "You'll sleep here tonight. Did you bring a blanket? If not, I'll get Mother to find a blanket for you."
When Lu Xiaoxiao heard Liu Xiaofeng's words, she hurriedly said, "I brought a blanket. It's in my bag. I can take it out and lay it on the bed when I sleep."
When Liu Xiaofeng heard Lu Xiaoxiao's words, she asked her to pack her things first before she went out to see if the food was ready.
Actually, Lu Xiaoxiao really didn't have much to pack. She sat on the bed and thought that since she was coming to someone's house to disturb them, it wasn't good to not bring anything to their house, even though she was already at their house.
Lu Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and took her backpack over. She placed it on the bed and opened it. Then, under the cover of the bag, she took out half of the braised pig head meat wrapped in oiled paper from her space. This was because the braised pig head meat was cold when it was bought with cold vegetables. It was just right to take it out now.
Then, she took out the 10 vegetable buns that Auntie Zhang had given her and planned to bring them to Auntie Cai Hua later.
As soon as Lu Xiaoxiao closed her bag, she saw Liu Xiaofeng open the door and come in to call her for dinner. Hence, she took her things and followed her into the main room.
When Lu Xiaoxiao arrived at the main room, she saw that the men were all sitting on the brick bed and chatting. The women and children were sitting at the table beside the brick bed.
Liu Xiaofeng led her to the two empty seats at the woman's table for her to sit. Lu Xiaoxiao did not sit down immediately. Instead, she walked towards Auntie Cai Hua and handed her the things in her hand. "Auntie Cai Hua, this is the pig head meat I brought from home and the vegetable buns I didn't finish on the way. I hope you don't mind that they are some leftovers."
Seeing Lu Xiaoxiao's determined expression, Auntie Cai Hua had no choice but to take the oiled paper bag and open it.
When the captain's family saw that there was half a braised pig head meat and 10 steamed buns made of white flour in the oiled paper, they subconsciously swallowed their saliva. However, everyone also understood that these were not leftovers. They had clearly been specially prepared. Even if they were really leftovers, they did not mind. These were real meat and steamed buns made of white flour. They could only eat them twice a year. Instantly, everyone felt at ease.
As the pig head meat was in a whole piece and the buns were cold, Auntie Cai Hua took them to the kitchen to process them. When she returned with the food, everyone began to prepare to eat.
There were four bun at the women's tables and six at the men's tables. On the woman's side, there was a small plate of pig head while the men had a bigger plate. The captain said, "Everyone, let's eat." Only then did everyone pick up their bowls and eat.