The village road was covered with a black sunshade net in the middle of the air.
Around ten o'clock, the villagers brought their own tables and benches.
They were placed symmetrically on both sides.
After they were arranged, they realized there were sixty tables for the meal.
Captain Tian wasn't just being polite; he had truly invited everyone, young and old.
And so, they didn't hold back.
The feast began.
The sunshade net only blocked the sun, not the heat, so several high-powered industrial fans blew from all directions.
The villagers were accustomed to hard work and hardship; what was a little heat to them? The real heat would come in a couple of days when they harvested and dried the wheat.
Fortunately, the village had bought several small harvesters two years ago, so harvesting wheat no longer required manual labor, but drying and threshing still did.
Li Weibo and Yu Ziyu, accompanied by Li Zhengguo and Tian Jing, went from table to table to toast.
The villagers hadn't intended to drink, but how could they refuse when the bride and groom toasted them?
Once the bottles were opened, how could they not have a second glass after the first?
As a result, everyone was slightly tipsy before they went to the hot spring valley to bring the rest of the family down.
After the guests finished eating and left, Sister-in-law Niu and Sister Gui Lan also quickly ate lunch and went to clear the tables and wash the dishes.
Then, they busied themselves with the preparations for dinner.
Today, since Yu Ziyu couldn't help with the work, she asked her mother-in-law how much red envelopes she would give to Niu Dasao and the others who helped.
This red envelope would come from them.
Tian Jing shook her head: "No red envelopes. In Kushan, ordinary social interactions don't require them."
Yu Ziyu was surprised: "Then what do we give as thanks?"
Tian Jing said: "Leftovers, processed semi-finished products that haven't been used up."
Under Yu Ziyu's astonished gaze, Tian Jing explained:
"In the past, when Kushan was poor, those who helped received the host family's leftovers and prepared semi-finished products."
"At that time, receiving these was better than any thanks."
"Now, no one in Kushan lacks money; what they still lack is the desire for good food."
"Xiao Yuan has good cooking skills. If there are no leftovers, then we'll go buy some more ingredients tomorrow and ask her to work a bit harder."
Yu Ziyu nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, then we'll thank Xiao Yuan."
"Alright," Tian Jing nodded this time: "Give her a red envelope of twenty thousand; she's been busy for several days."
"Mhm, mhm." Yu Ziyu agreed without hesitation.
This made Tian Jing feel much more at ease.
Could it be that once a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship was established, they truly became natural enemies?
Fortunately, she had more than one son.
Later, when she married off her second son, Tian Jing understood that her thoughts at this time were not entirely accurate.
Because, generally, mothers-in-law tend to be more strict and picky with their first daughter-in-law.
Even though she was more satisfied with Yu Ziyu than her eldest daughter-in-law, she still felt a bit uncomfortable because Yu Ziyu was the first female to intrude upon her territory.
Therefore, she was just an ordinary mother-in-law, not as good as her own mother-in-law.
...
The sun was setting in the west, and dinner began.
After another round of toasting, Yu Ziyu busied herself checking for leftovers.
Many messy empty basins were piled on several temporarily erected platforms.
There were still some semi-finished products left, but it didn't seem like enough.
"Xiao Yuan."
Before, Yu Ziyu used to call Xiao Yuan "Sister Yuan," and even though Xiao Yuan insisted on calling her "Miss," she still called her "Sister Yuan."
Now, she was senior to Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan wanted to call her from a distance, and she disagreed.
"Miss Ziyu."
Yu Ziyu had known Xiao Yuan for a long time and knew she was a stubborn person:
"Xiao Yuan, Mother-in-law said we should thank Sister-in-law Niu and the others with semi-finished products, but I see there aren't many left."
Xiao Yuan didn't know that Captain Tian was thanking the helpers with semi-finished products, otherwise she would have made more: "I'll go buy more tomorrow morning and process them."
Yu Ziyu nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, they really appreciate your cooking."
"Mhm," Xiao Yuan replied faintly.
Yu Ziyu then went back to report to her mother-in-law.
Tian Jing was quite satisfied with Yu Ziyu's proactiveness.
She was a lazy person and didn't like to manage these things. If her daughter-in-law was willing to manage the household, she wouldn't object.
Dinner ended.
More than a dozen lights, dismantled from the greenhouse and used here, lit up the village road as brightly as daylight.
The villagers who helped clear the tables were from each household; after tidying up, they directly carried their own tables and benches back.
A few more women joined Sister-in-law Niu to wash dishes, wash steamers, tidy the platforms, and finally move these items into several rooms in the front courtyard of the siheyuan, which served as storage.
Yu Ziyu pulled Li Weibo, asking him to remember who had helped out tonight.
Tomorrow, they would go to each family to express their thanks.
Li Weibo gently tapped her forehead: "I've noticed that since you came to Kushan, you've become very much like the head of the household."
"Ah?" Yu Ziyu was stunned: "I just want to help; I don't want to take over the leadership."
Li Weibo chuckled: "Silly, I said you're like it, not that you are."
"My mother doesn't like to manage these things. She's very happy that you can help."
"Really?" Yu Ziyu smiled, her eyes curved: "It's just what I need to learn these things. As long as Mother doesn't mind, I'll take on more to learn."
"However, I will ask Mother or Grandma; I won't make decisions on my own."
After Li Weibo noted down the names, Yu Ziyu hurried to find Xiao Yuan: "Xiao Yuan, there are sixteen aunties who helped."
Xiao Yuan nodded: "I'll process them for twenty portions."
It wasn't until ten o'clock that they finished. Yu Ziyu felt so tired. She hadn't done any work and was already this tired; weren't the people who did the work even more tired?
The next day, she woke up after eight o'clock. Seeing the brightness outside the window, she sat up abruptly.
After a hurried wash, she went to the kitchen. Xiao Yuan was already preparing dishes.
She opened the electric rice cooker on the counter; indeed, breakfast was left there.
After breakfast, she walked out the door and saw Li Weibo washing the ground at the entrance.
The open space at the entrance served as an open-air kitchen, and the ground was covered with many oil stains.
Seeing Yu Ziyu, Li Weibo looked up and asked, "Are you awake?"
Yu Ziyu stood on the steps and glared at him: "Keep your voice down; what will others think if they hear you?"
"Heh heh." Li Weibo chuckled: "Alright, alright, I'll keep my voice down."
Yu Ziyu saw him wearing rain boots and wielding a bamboo broom and asked, "Did you also wake up late? Why are you only washing the floor now?"
Li Weibo didn't look up: "I got up before dawn."
"My dad and I washed the entire village road. Dad went to work, so I'm washing here by myself."
Washed the entire village road?
Yu Ziyu's mouth gaped slightly in surprise: "How long did it take?"
"Over an hour." Li Weibo had already swept all the concrete ground.
He threw down the bamboo broom and picked up the long water hose on the ground: "Go turn on the faucet."
Yu Ziyu turned on the faucet plugged into the water pipe on the small pool by the front courtyard wall.
When she turned back, she saw Li Weibo pulling the hose and rinsing the foam off the ground.
She rolled up her trouser legs and stepped down the stairs in slippers: "Let me do the rinsing."
Li Weibo handed her the hose and told her to pinch the nozzle for greater water pressure.
Yu Ziyu treated rinsing the ground as playing, so she had a lot of fun.
Now she understood why it only took a little over an hour to wash the village road.
It was very fast when one person swept and another rinsed.
After rinsing off the foam, Yu Ziyu was still not tired of it.
Li Weibo turned off the faucet, not allowing her to waste any more water:
"Go wash up and change your clothes. We'll be leaving to deliver the thank-you gifts shortly."
"Oh."