Chapter 89: Guan Yongying is Pregnant

Chapter 89: Guan Yongying is Pregnant

The relationships among Deng Shirong's relatives are very simple and not complicated at all.

His mother was a child bride, a common practice during the Republic of China era. She was taken in by his grandmother as a baby and raised in their home.

As a result, Deng Shirong has no relatives on his mother's side.

By Deng Shirong's generation, his third sister was the only relative he had left, and he had slightly more relatives on his late wife's side.

There's no need to list these few relatives—he can name them off the top of his head.

As for the villagers, there was no need to write formal invitations. They could simply go door-to-door to inform each household. The list of people Deng Shirong needed to invite mainly consisted of his friends from neighboring villages.

The social circles of people in this era were generally limited to the surrounding two or three villages. Even Deng Shirong, who was more sociable than most villagers, didn't have many friends outside his immediate area. It took him less than an hour to compile a list of everyone he could think of.

After reviewing the list several times in his mind and confirming that all the necessary people were included, Deng Shirong rode his bicycle to the neighboring Horse Village Production Team and asked Deng Yunsheng for help in writing the invitations.

Deng Yunsheng, over 50 years old, was one of the few educated individuals in the Help and Correct Brigade. His handwriting was elegant, and whenever someone had a wedding, they would typically ask him to write the invitations. He was also the go-to person for writing Spring Festival couplets during the Chinese New Year.

As soon as Deng Shirong explained his request, Deng Yunsheng agreed immediately.

After handling the invitations, Deng Shirong turned his attention to other tasks, such as reserving chickens and ducks from the villagers.

Previously, no one dared to raise too many chickens and ducks. It wasn't until this summer, when the brigade announced that land would be divided and households could work independently, that people began raising more poultry. However, the time it took to raise domestic chickens was completely different from the fast-growing feed chickens of later generations.

Those feed chickens could be sold in just one or two months.

In contrast, the chickens raised by rural families nowadays took about ten months to a year to mature.

Therefore, for families that started raising more chickens and ducks this summer, it wasn't yet time to sell them. If Deng Shirong wanted to buy a dozen or twenty chickens and ducks, he would need to make reservations with at least a dozen households.

In addition to chickens and ducks, he also needed to reserve two pigs.

The reason for needing so much was that not only would Deng Shirong's family be hosting a wedding banquet, but the bride's family would also be hosting one. According to the current marriage customs, the food and drinks for the bride's wedding banquet had to be provided by the groom's family. Specifically, on the first day of the wedding, the groom had to send cakes, wine, rice, pork, chicken, duck, and other foods to the bride's family.

The exact quantities of these items had to be agreed upon in advance through the matchmaker. If the groom's family couldn't provide enough pork, chicken, duck, etc., they could discuss converting these items into cash and letting the bride's family purchase them instead.

Now, Deng Shirong was not only the matchmaker but also the father of the groom, which made many discussions awkward to handle directly.

However, while the bride's family might not make any specific requests, Deng Shirong knew the customs well and took the initiative to discuss the arrangements with them. No matter how many tables the bride's family wanted to host, he would ensure they had enough food and wine to satisfy them.

It must be said that whether in this era or in the future, organizing a wedding is a significant test for the parents of both the bride and groom. There are countless tasks involved in hosting a wedding banquet, and many parents lose several pounds in the process.

Fortunately, Deng Shirong had extensive experience in this area.

After all, he had organized weddings for his four sons in his previous life and was very familiar with all the wedding procedures.

…

At Deng Changfu's home, Guan Yongying was preparing lunch.

In the Double Prosperity region, the typical diet at this time consisted of white porridge in the morning and evening, and a mix of grains at noon.

Those who were better off had white porridge in the morning, coarse grains at noon, and rice in the evening.

The habit of eating white porridge in the morning among the people of Bobai County persisted even into later generations.

The tradition of eating coarse grains at noon lasted until the late 1990s.

The coarse grains mentioned here generally included sweet potatoes, cassava, yams, taro, and similar staples.

The lunch Guan Yongying was preparing now was primarily made with sweet potatoes.

In the Double Prosperity region, sweet potatoes were typically prepared in the following ways:

Steamed Sweet Potatoes: The most common method, where sweet potatoes were steamed, peeled, and eaten directly.

Sweet Potato Soup: A more luxurious option, as sugar was still an expensive commodity for rural families at the time.

Dried Sweet Potatoes: Sweet potatoes were washed, cut into pieces, and dried. When ready to eat, a handful would be cooked, with sugar or salt added if available. Sugar, of course, made them taste better.

Braised Sweet Potatoes: The sweet potatoes were peeled, cut into pieces, stir-fried with oil, and then braised with salt, water, and optionally sugar. This method produced sweet, flavorful sweet potatoes.

What Guan Yongying was making now was the fourth option—braised sweet potatoes.

Under normal circumstances, Guan Yongying wouldn't have gone to such trouble and would have simply steamed the sweet potatoes. But now, not only was her husband working hard, but her in-laws, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and other relatives were also laboring to cultivate orchards on the mountains. Naturally, she wanted to prepare something more substantial for them.

Originally, if conditions allowed, she should have cooked a proper meal, especially since relatives were helping out.

But she was pregnant now, and the first three months of pregnancy were critical for the fetus's stability. This was why her family had kept the news a secret. Her husband and in-laws didn't want her to overexert herself, so they asked her to simply steam some sweet potatoes at home for lunch and prepare dinner in the afternoon when her mother-in-law returned.

However, Guan Yongying had been working since she was a child, and making braised sweet potatoes wasn't a difficult task for her. She didn't find it tiring, so she decided to go ahead with it.

Soon, the aroma of sweet potatoes filled the air from the tightly covered pot. Guan Yongying listened carefully and knew they were almost done. She turned off the stove but left the lid on, allowing the residual heat to finish cooking the sweet potatoes and keep them warm.

Braised sweet potatoes were best eaten hot.

About ten minutes later, Guan Yongying's sister-in-law, Deng Changjuan, returned home sweating and asked, "Sister-in-law, have you steamed the sweet potatoes?"

Guan Yongying replied, "I made braised sweet potatoes. They're still in the pot, keeping warm. I'll serve you a bowl first. Eat up quickly, and then take some to your parents."

Because they were in a hurry to cultivate the orchard, Deng Changfu and his companions didn't come home for lunch to save time. Instead, they had someone deliver the food to the mountains. After all, it was just sweet potatoes, and they weren't picky about where they ate.

Deng Changjuan's eyes lit up when she heard this. She had expected steamed sweet potatoes for lunch but was pleasantly surprised to find braised sweet potatoes instead. She immediately said, "Sister-in-law, please sit down and rest. I can serve myself!"

After washing her hands, she grabbed a large bowl and headed to the stove.

When she lifted the lid, a cloud of steam rose, and the rich aroma of sweet potatoes and oil filled the air.

Physical work made her hungry, and having only white porridge in the morning had left her even hungrier. The smell of the braised sweet potatoes was irresistible. Deng Changjuan couldn't wait and quickly served herself a bowl, eating eagerly.

"Mm, delicious!"

After eating three pieces of sweet potato in a row, Deng Changjuan sighed in satisfaction. Then she smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, you haven't eaten yet, right? I'll serve you a bowl."

Guan Yongying smiled and said, "I can do it myself. By the way, put the sweet potatoes in the basin and cover it with a vegetable basket. When you're done eating, you can take some to your parents."

Deng Changjuan nodded and continued enjoying her bowl of fragrant braised sweet potatoes.

(End of this chapter)