After finishing the talk about selling the horses, the family chatted for a while longer. Wang Li and his family of four arrived, followed by Shen Wei and Zhao Cuiyun, who each brought their children.
When everyone began eating the poached fish and gnawing on beef bones, they naturally showered Wang An with another round of praise.
Truth be told, being praised all evening had left Wang An feeling a bit lightheaded and floating on air.
It was a lively dinner, and everyone ate until they were completely stuffed.
Of course, drinking was for the adults; the children drank soda.
After dinner, Shen Wei, Zhao Cuiyun, and the second mother, Yao Ping, helped clean up the mess before everyone headed home to rest.
It must be said that the beef bones and offal Wang An had stewed were quite impressive.
Although the meat on the bones hadn't been stewed to the point where it fell off at a light touch—it still had a bit of a chewy resilience—it wasn't like Mu Xueqing's version, where one had to use a knife to scrape the meat off.
Furthermore, whether it was the beef or the offal, everything felt just right.
In short, everyone was very satisfied with the meal.
The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.
In the morning, just as Wang An had finished his martial arts practice and was about to wash up, Huang Baoguo appeared at the front gate, leading Huang Li, Huang Zhong, and a man named Er Gangzi.
Truth be told, these four had arrived incredibly early. Wang An wondered if they had set out from Weizigou in the middle of the night.
Because Huang Li was with them, the dogs only barked a few times to alert the people inside before lying back down to sleep.
Wang An put down his toothbrush and walked toward the gate.
After a brief greeting, Wang An said with a smile
"Uncle Huang, Uncle Gangzi, you've arrived quite early. You must have left home before dawn, right?"
Huang Baoguo smiled somewhat shyly.
"Mm-hmm, we were afraid of delaying the work, so we came early, hehehe."
Er Gangzi didn't speak, but simply smiled at Wang An.
Wang An laughed.
"Quick, come inside, come inside. It's almost time for breakfast."
As he spoke, Wang An opened the gate and welcomed the party of four into the courtyard.
Upon entering and seeing the main house and side rooms built entirely of brick and tile, the various livestock pens, and the crawler tractor, four-wheel vehicle, and walk-behind tractor—agricultural machinery rarely seen in this era—Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi immediately became more awkward.
There was no helping it; the visual impact of the buildings and machinery in Wang An's yard could instantly make many people feel a sense of shame or inferiority.
Then, seeing the herds of sika deer, wild boar, roe deer, and yellow goats, as well as the cluster of mule, horse, and donkey heads peeking out from the stables, the two men felt as if their eyes weren't enough to take it all in.
It had to be admitted that, for this era, Wang An's family was simply too wealthy.
It was no exaggeration to say that even in later generations, the vast majority of rural families would not reach the living conditions of Wang An's home.
Without explaining anything to the two men, Wang An led the four of them inside. Subsequently, Wang Dazhu took over the reception of Huang Baoguo, his son, and Er Gangzi, while Huang Li had already taken the initiative to go to the back room to help Liu Guilan with the chores.
After Wang An finished washing his face and brushing his teeth, Shen Wei and Zhao Cuiyun also arrived.
With the women bustling about, breakfast was soon on the table.
Seeing the food, Huang Baoguo, his son, and Er Gangzi insisted on holding their bowls and eating by the hearth, but they were rejected by Wang An's family. Primarily, although they were hired hands, the Wang family would not treat them differently.
Regardless, a guest is a guest, and a guest should eat at the same table as the host; there was no way they would let guests squat by the hearth to eat.
Breakfast consisted of the usual mixed-grain steamed buns and corn grits porridge. As for the dishes, besides pickled cucumbers, pickled green peppers, and garlic eggplant, there were leftovers from last night's beef bones and stewed fish.
Looking at the beef bones and stewed fish on the table, Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi were too embarrassed to reach out with their chopsticks. Even Huang Zhong only tasted a tiny bit, picking up a few small scraps of meat from the beef bone basin.
Consequently, Wang An took action, grabbing the three largest pieces of beef bone and placing them in their bowls, urging them
"Uncle Huang, Uncle Gangzi, and little Zhong, what's with you not using your chopsticks? I'm telling you, don't be polite here. Just treat it like your own home; eat and drink your fill. Our family isn't that fussy."
After Wang An spoke, Wang Dazhu added
"Exactly, why be so distant? Eat up, don't be polite."
Huang Baoguo smiled awkwardly.
"I reckon having these buns and porridge is already great, hehehe..."
Er Gangzi also said awkwardly
"Mm-hmm, these buns are truly delicious. I reckon I could just eat the buns without any side dishes, hehehe..."
After speaking, Er Gangzi let out a few embarrassed, dry laughs.
Wang An felt that when he first reincarnated, his family's life had already been bitter enough. Every meal, aside from boiled sweet potatoes, potatoes, or squash, was a damn cornmeal pancake that scratched the throat; they went long periods without seeing any meat.
But when Wang An saw the displaced wanderers who couldn't even scrape together a set of clothes for everyone and spent their days living on wild vegetables and mushrooms, he realized that compared to them, his family's life back then had actually been quite good.
At the very least, although their food was poor—arguably very poor—it was actual grain.
One must understand that filling one's stomach with wild vegetables and mushrooms is a completely different concept from filling it with grain!
Yet, hearing Huang Baoguo and the other say "just eating buns is great," Wang An still didn't quite know what to say.
Because it had to be admitted that the wanderers of Weizigou were very hardworking and not lazy at all, yet they still couldn't get enough to eat. Who the hell do you even reason with about that?
At this point, Liu Guilan chimed in
"If the buns are good, eat more. I steamed two big pots this morning. And don't leave those beef bones; meat keeps you full."
As she spoke, Liu Guilan called out to Wang Dazhu
"Dazhu, you're closer, give them some of that fish too..."
Truth be told, Huang Baoguo, his son, and Er Gangzi could really eat—even more than when Wang An first reincarnated. Each of the two men ate seven or eight buns, each weighing two liang, and two or three bowls of corn grits porridge.
And that was not counting the beef bones and fish meat that Wang An and Wang Dazhu had served them.
However, Wang An believed that after eating at his house for two or three days, their appetites would drop. Once a person's stomach has some grease in it, they can't eat nearly as much.
After breakfast, Wang Dazhu drove the four-wheel vehicle and Wang An drove the walk-behind tractor, and the large group headed toward the wheat fields.
(End of Chapter)