Ji Pianran was overjoyed. She squeezed the corner of her clothes and nodded excitedly.
'Thank you, Auntie Zhang!'
Auntie Zhang waved her hand and said, 'Oh, it's nothing!'
...
The two of them chatted for most of the afternoon.
At this time, Gu Chen had already reached the entrance of the village.
He happened to bump into the butcher, and bought two catties of beef.
It had been a good day, and he had bought new clothes and bedding.
Gu Chen decided to eat dumplings!
He took all the bedding he had bought from the space and carried it out.
He held the meat in his left hand, and with his right hand, he carried all the bedding on his shoulders, walking home with his head bowed.
It was already dark, and Auntie Zhang looked at the sky and saw that it was getting late.
She stood up and patted her bottom.
'Pianran, it's getting late, I'll go back first, I still have to go back and cook dinner.'
Upon hearing this, Ji Pianran hurriedly stood up as well, 'Auntie, I'll walk you there.'
Auntie Zhang smiled.
'What's the point of walking me there, it's only a couple of steps, what's there to worry about, it's not like I'll get carried off by a wolf,'
After saying this, she turned around and walked towards the door.
Gu Chen happened to be walking to the door at this moment.
As soon as she opened the door, she ran into Auntie Zhang, who was preparing to go home.
She hurriedly smiled and said, 'Oh, Auntie, you're here? Why don't you go home after eating?'
After saying this, she lifted the meat in her hand.
'Today we're having dumplings!'
Auntie Zhang couldn't help but be happy to see the boy carrying meat in his hands.
But it wasn't for her own happiness, it was for Tang Tang and Ji Pianran.
'Oh, it seems like you really can't go wrong with this lifestyle. Every day you eat meat, and every day the aroma drifts out of the yard, it's really tempting!'
Gu Chen also laughed, 'Or dare I keep you at home for dinner.'
Auntie Zhang stuffed her hands into her sleeves.
'No, I was supposed to feed the rabbits this afternoon, but when I heard Shen Cuilan put Piran in a difficult situation, the rabbits didn't even get a full meal, so I came out. If I don't go back, the rabbits will be starving.'
The heat from her breath was particularly visible as she spoke.
Gu Chen smiled.
'Okay, then you go back and feed the rabbits first. Feed them well, and next year you'll be holding a litter of rabbits!'
These words struck a chord with Auntie Zhang.
But isn't that exactly what she was hoping for next year?
She smiled, 'Okay, then I'll go first.'
As soon as Auntie Zhang left, Gu Chen hurried over to Ji Bianran.
'Did Shen Cuilan give you a hard time again?'
This Shen Cuilan, taking advantage of the fact that I'm not at home to give my daughter-in-law a hard time, is really annoying!
Ji Bianran brushed the stray hairs in front of her forehead behind her ears and said casually, 'It's nothing, just a little argument.'
Seeing that her father and mother were talking without paying any attention to her,
Little Tangtang was very anxious.
She threw her arms around Gu Chen's legs, tilted her little head, looked at Gu Chen, and spoke in a baby voice.
'Daddy, I know!'
The little one's cute appearance melted Gu Chen's heart.
He bent down, reached out, and held the little one in his arms, speaking in a gentle tone.
'What do you know?'
Tangtang looked at Gu Chen seriously.
'I know, Auntie Shen just said you don't have any money to buy us clothes, and that you stole the money!'
Even though Tang Tang is young, at just over two years old, he is at the age where he is starting to repeat what people say.
Ji Pianran's big brother was speechless, and she looked at Tang Tang with a face of helplessness.
'You're the only one who knows everything. Daddy's tired after a long day, so come down quickly.'
This child, instead of saying what he should, just blurts out whatever comes into his head.
There was no need to tell Gu Chen these things.
Let him suffer the consequences of these idle words.
Gu Chen frowned, looking at Tang Tang with a curious expression. 'Oh? So what happened next?'
Tang Tang smiled.
'Then Mum talked about Madam Shen, saying that Dad earns money to buy Tang Tang clothes with his own abilities! And she said that whether our family is good or bad has nothing to do with her!'
Gu Chen nodded. 'And what happened next?'
'And then, Grandma Zhang came out and scolded Auntie Shen!'
The little girl said seriously.
Gu Chen understood now.
He looked at Ji Bianran with a face full of guilt.
'I'm sorry.'
It's all my fault for being incompetent. It's because I was unpromising in my previous life that I let Ji Bianran be looked down on along with me.
I was happily buying new clothes for my daughter-in-law and child, but who knew there would be another incident like this.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt guilty.
Ji Pianran looked at Gu Chen, her brows furrowed, her beautiful, moist eyes full of confusion.
Why did he say sorry to her?
If it weren't for him, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to get through the New Year.
'It was that Shen Cuilan who was stirring up trouble for no reason. Don't take it to heart,'
she said softly, trying to comfort her.
Gu Chen looked at her seriously and took the plastic bag with the change from his clothes today and handed it to Ji Pianran.
Then she handed it to Ji Pianran.
'In the future, I will work even harder and never let anyone look down on us again!'
Ji Pianran was extremely surprised to see the bulging plastic bag in Gu Chen's hand.
She looked at Gu Chen in disbelief.
'So much?'
My goodness, this is more than the money earned from selling cauliflower in the morning!
That money was less than half of this!
Gu Chen smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
'I went to buy wolfberries this afternoon. I listened to you and bought them from the hospital. Business was good.'
Then he added, 'As usual, you and Tangtang go count the money, I'll go cook, and we'll have dumplings for dinner!'
Ji Pianran was shocked.
'Dumplings? Isn't that something you eat on the first night of the year?'
They usually only got to eat dumplings on the first night of the year.
On the third day, life basically returned to normal.
There was no way around it. Their family was poor, and a meal of dumplings required two catties of meat.
Now that they've had dumplings, what will they do on New Year's Eve?
Gu Chen laughed, 'Who says you can only eat dumplings on New Year's Eve? As long as you have money, you can eat dumplings every day!'
After saying that, she went to the kitchen with the meat.
Ji Pianran pinched the bag in her hand, but she wasn't in a hurry to count the money first.
Instead, she first carried the bedding that Gu Chen had brought back into Gu Chen's room.
Tang Tang followed Ji Pianran like a little shadow.
Ji Bianran first took down Gu Chen's bed sheets and then puffed up the newly purchased mattress.
It was puffed up flat and even before it was puffed up again.
Her idea was simple.
Gu Chen had been tired all day, so she wanted to make his bed early so that he could sleep well at night!
After doing all this, the two of them returned to the small wooden table in the living room, just like last time.
They started counting the money!
Gu Chen started by mixing the dough and then the dumpling filling.
She chopped the meat, added a handful of chopped spring onions, some grated ginger, soy sauce, a little salt and finally some oil.
Once the dough had risen, she started to make the dumplings.
She rolled out the dumpling skins and then pinched them closed with her hands to make the dumplings.
In no time at all, Gu Chen had made about twenty.
But Gu Chen was prepared to make more today.
He wanted to give a bowl to Auntie Zhang next door.
After all these years, she had taken good care of Ji Pianran and Tang Tang.
In a previous life, he had been young and ignorant, and it was an exaggeration to say that he had abandoned his wife and children. But what he had done was actually more or less the same.
Auntie Zhang had helped him take care of his wife and children, and for this kindness, he should remember it for the rest of his life!
Not to mention dumplings, he also wanted to give Auntie Zhang some fresh wolfberries!
Whatever he has, he must give some to Auntie Zhang!