Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

When I came back from He Yushui's place, it was around two o'clock.

Zhao Shanhe and Shanhu and Shanhai hurried over to his second uncle's place, carrying things with them, as they had agreed to do last weekend.

Normally, it would be more formal to visit someone in the morning, but there was no other way as it happened to coincide with He Yushui's wedding, so I had to go in the afternoon. Although it was a bit impolite, at least I did not break the appointment.

The three brothers all had long legs, so they quickly got to the destination and successfully found their second uncle's house.

After knocking on the door, the old lady opened it and quickly let the three brothers in.

Zhao Shanhe brought two bottles of wine and two cans of malted milk. "Uncle, these two bottles are good wines specially brought for you, and the malted milk is for grandma and my brothers to nourish their bodies."

"Come, let me try the good wine my nephew brought," Zhao Yin said

"Let me introduce you to your aunt, and my two disappointing sons, Zhao Shanwen and Shanwu."

The three Zhao Shanhe brothers greeted each other, "Hello, auntie, hello, brothers too."

"Hello, brothers." Zhao Shanwen and Zhao Shanwu also greeted

Aunt hurriedly asked the three of them to sit down and poured them tea.

Zhao Yin then said to the three brothers, "Shanhe, let me tell you, your grandma got up very early in the morning to wait for you. She asked your aunt to buy vegetables at dawn and she asked your aunt to cook before noon.

I wanted you to have a hot meal, but you didn’t come this morning, and your grandma was so anxious that she asked me to drive over to find you.”

No wonder it was an old lady who opened the door just now. She must have been so anxious that she couldn’t sit still.

"Grandma, Second Uncle, I'm really sorry. After you left that day, a girl from the courtyard came to invite me. She's getting married soon. I grew up with her, and I went to attend the wedding today." Zhao Shanhe explained.

"Uncle doesn't mean to blame you. If you don't come, uncle will really take the old lady over, just to make her feel at ease. Well, grandson is here, let's have a couple of drinks later, is that okay?"

"How can you entertain people like this? You haven't even eaten yet, but you want to drink two glasses. These three nephews are here for the first time. You guys sit down first. I'll go cook. You can drink two glasses after dinner," said the aunt.

After Zhao Shanhe sat down, he took a look at his aunt. She was petite and very pretty. She spoke Sichuan dialect. When she and her uncle stood together, they were a combination of beauty and the beast.

"Aunt, no need. We have already had lunch. It's still early in the afternoon," Zhao Shanhe said.

"Nephew, it's not a big deal. Just ask your aunt to heat it up. It's ready for lunch. Your grandma was too anxious to eat it, so we didn't eat it either."

"Come, let's have a couple of drinks first, and then eat after the meal is ready." The second uncle invited the three of them to drink first.

Zhao Shanhe just realized that his cheap second uncle was the kind of person who would have a few drinks whenever he had nothing to do. He couldn't be Xu's soldier. It seemed that Shandong was liberated by the Huaye Army.

"Uncle, you are not Xu's soldier, are you?" Zhao Shanhe asked immediately.

"I guess so. I was a soldier in 45. At that time, the Central China Field Army was formed. Xu was right here. I wasn't Xu's man, but I had met him a few times.

I am from the guard corps. The commander saw that I was tall and strong, so he arranged for me to be a guard for the chief. I won’t tell you which chief it was. Later, I was in the guard corps and was recently transferred here. "My second uncle explained.

That person is probably a big shot who can drink, Zhao Shanhe guessed secretly. There are only a few big shots, and only a few of them can drink. Zhao Shanhe knew in his mind that that person would not fall.

After dinner and drinking, the three brothers went back. The second uncle told him that the third uncle would probably come over next weekend. He had already sent a telegram last week and they would go together then.

It seems that I will spend my next weekends with my grandma, uncle and their family.

Just after returning home, Xu Damao came again, "Shanhe, come to my place, I'll treat you to a drink"

"Da Mao, do you think I can still drink in my current condition? Let's drink next time. I've already had two drinks today. I really can't drink anymore. I feel dizzy now." Zhao Shanhe refused. He really couldn't drink anymore.

"Well, Shanhe, my baby's one-month-old birthday is coming this Saturday. Come over tonight and we'll have a few drinks. We'll have a banquet in the yard on the weekend," said Xu Damao.

Zhao Shanhe didn't expect time to pass so quickly. Xu Damao's baby is almost one month old and it's time to have another banquet. His grandmother will come over next week, and there's also his third uncle whom he has never met.

On Saturday night, Zhao Shanhe had a drink with Xu Damao and his son. He was drunk by their various drunken words and woke up with a headache the next day.

I got up late in the morning and had just finished my breakfast. It was just a little after eight o'clock when my grandma and second uncle came over. My third uncle, whom I had never met before, also came.

After another round of introductions, "This is your third uncle Zhao Tie, and his eldest son Zhao Shandong."

Wow, Third Uncle looks much older than Second Uncle. He probably looks to be in his 50s.

Later, after asking, grandma found out that his father Zhao Jin was born in 21, his second uncle Zhao Yin was born in 25, and his third uncle Zhao Tie was born in 27.

Then the second uncle is just forty, which is consistent with his facial features. The third uncle is only 38 years old, but he looks too old.

After learning more about it, we found out that the third uncle was farming in his hometown. Zhao Shanhe's grandfather was a farmer who had been farming all his life. The land was the root and it could not be lost. He worked in the wind and sun all day to earn work points, so of course he aged quickly.

No wonder grandma lives with my second uncle. Generally speaking, the elderly either live with their big son or their youngest son. They rarely live with their second son. I guess my third uncle must have a hard time.

Uncle San's family has three sons and one daughter. It is true that you need to collect three ingots to collect one pearl. The eldest son Zhao Shandong is 19, the second son Zhao Shannan is 17, the third son Zhao Shanbei is 15, and the daughter Zhao Yaomei is 13. They come every two years, very regularly.

Third uncle got married early and his three sons are older than those of second uncle's family. So in the entire Zhao family, there are eight brothers in this generation with the character "Shan" in their names. Zhao Shanhe is still the eldest, Zhao Shanhu is the second, and Zhao Shanhai is directly the sixth.

What Zhao Shanhe didn't expect the most was that Zhao Shandong was already married at the age of 19, and it was not yet time for them to get a marriage certificate. In fact, Zhao Shanhe didn't know that although the age requirement was 20 for men and 18 for women in this era, it was common in rural areas not to get a marriage certificate.

Uncle San was planning to go back and look for a wife for Zhao Shannan after the Chinese New Year.

Uncle San's family were all going to come, but they had no money, so in the end they had to choose the eldest brother to come along to see the world.