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Meizi mysteriously leaned closer to her and whispered, "Do you think Spring Peach likes Teacher Xiao?"
Yezhi pushed Meizi, who was sitting next to her. "Stop talking nonsense!"
"Otherwise, why would Spring Peach...?"
"It doesn't matter whether she does or not, so keep your mouth shut!" Yezhi actually thought the same as Meizi, but if they continued discussing it, it would feel like gossiping behind someone's back. She didn't want to be known as a gossip before even getting married.
"I won't say anything more. But really, Spring Peach is quite bold!" Meizi said while patting her stomach.
Yezhi, annoyed, poked Meizi in the waist with her finger. "You still dare to talk...!"
Meizi pleaded, "Alright, good sister, I really won't say anything more. By the way, when does your family make mooncakes?"
Yezhi was surprised to hear that mooncakes were made. "Do we all make mooncakes ourselves in our village?"
Meizi replied cheerfully, "Yes!" In reality, Meizi exaggerated a bit; there were mooncakes sold at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. However, the residents of Zhou Family Village had been living quite frugally in previous years, and who would spend a few cents on mooncakes? Even if making mooncakes was economical, not every household had the means like Jiajia's family. But this year was different; the villagers were eager to celebrate and were highly motivated to make mooncakes.
Yezhi wiped the cucumber slices off her face and climbed up to the bed to check the calendar: Mid-Autumn Festival was on September 12, which was quite close to Teacher's Day.
"Meizi!"
"What is it?"
"Do you think we should wish Xiao Chengqing a happy Teacher's Day on the 10th?"
"Teacher's Day? Is that a holiday?"
"Of course there is! It's a national holiday, a day to thank the teachers for their contributions to education." Before Yezhi could finish speaking, Meizi sprang up like a coiled spring. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Last year we didn't treat them well, are we going to do the same this year?"
Yezhi was picking up the cucumber slices that Meizi had dropped and said, "Aren't I discussing it with you right now?"
Meizi felt this was not just her own matter and shouted, "I'm going to find my dad and let him decide."
Yezhi also thought it would be more formal and representative of everyone if Village Uncle got involved. She chased after Meizi's departing figure and reminded her, "No matter what Village Uncle decides, we will respond unconditionally!" Little did she know, she had created a big misunderstanding.
On September 10th, Xiao Cheng was first startled by the kids' synchronized shout of "Thank you for your hard work, teachers! Happy Teacher's Day!" Then he was baffled by the villagers' sudden enthusiasm. For instance, Flower Sister stuffed two large goose eggs into his arms, and although Spring Peach had clearly said she wouldn't come to learn characters today, she still showed up to wish him a happy holiday! Da Zhu even invited him over for dinner that evening... As one of the "elders" in the village, he felt quite uncomfortable with all this attention. He hurried over to the village chief's house seeking answers, only to find someone had arrived even earlier than him. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he was bombarded with colorful paper from Yezi, Er Zhu, and Wolf Child.
"Happy Teacher's Day, Teacher Xiao!"
Xiao Cheng glared at Yezhi. "What holiday are you talking about?"
Yezhi replied with a smile that didn't address his question, "Oh, Xiao Cheng! I just noticed your eyes are quite big today!"
Wolf Child looked closely and chimed in, "Big eyes! Very big eyes!"
Seeing that Xiao Cheng looked displeased, Er Zhu tugged at Wolf Child and said, "Come on! Let's go help my mom serve the dishes." Serving dishes was something Wolf Child loved to do; as soon as Er Zhu called her, she followed along.
Once the two kids left, Xiao Cheng no longer maintained his teacherly demeanor and asked angrily, "Yezi! Did you come up with this Teacher's Day idea?"
Yezhi laughed and said, "This isn't just my idea; everyone wanted to express their gratitude for your contributions to our community."
In her memory, there had never been a time when "Teacher's Day" went unnoticed. Recognition events and awards for outstanding teachers were always held on Teacher's Day.
When she was young, they even got half a day off on this day. She remembered giving pens to teachers along with her classmates; as she grew older, those colleagues who became parents also made gestures on Teacher's Day.
People nowadays are simple, and Xiao Cheng is quite enlightened, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to hear her students say "thank you for your hard work." Anyway, when One Egg said to her today, "Sister Ye, you've worked hard," it made her feel good.
"Teacher Xiao, just accept it happily; today is your day."
Sometimes, Xiao Cheng really "dislikes" Yezhi's playful demeanor. "Teaching Er Zhu and One Egg is my job; I really don't need this." Xiao Cheng said it seriously, a seriousness she had never shown before.
Yezhi was taken aback. "No need to be so serious! Friends, relax! If you don't like it, we can just go on quietly."
"Comrade Yezhi, I understand your intention in creating 'Teacher's Day,' but this puts me in a difficult position." What intention? How could Xiao Cheng not understand? Teacher's Day! It was created by her; could she really have that capability? If she still couldn't see what was wrong at this point, she would truly be a fool.
"Master, Xiao Fang has found out that China's 'Teacher's Day' was established by the sixth National People's Congress Standing Committee at its ninth meeting in 1985."
Yezhi's chicken nugget fell into the soup with a splash; she... had assumed too much!
Feeling annoyed as Mid-Autumn approached, many outsiders came to the village. Aunt Ren Er said that this year our village finally had something to celebrate; many villagers invited friends and relatives to Zhoujiatun for the festival. She also mentioned that there would definitely be more weddings this winter.
Indeed! Zhoujiatun is now very popular, and with all these visits from relatives and friends, the "bachelors" who have been waiting for years in their village will surely find matches.
"Yezi, I'm here to bring you mooncakes!" Flower Sister's loud and cheerful voice rang out from outside the courtyard.
Lazily lying on the Big Wooden Platform, Black Treasure perked up at the mention of "mooncakes," wagging its tail affectionately and giving Flower Sister a big hug.
"Oh~ Black Treasure is so good; auntie has a mooncake for you." Flower Sister lifted the blue cloth covering the basket, and a sweet aroma rushed toward it. Black Treasure happily barked in excitement; Flower Sister's mooncakes must be delicious.
"Flower Sister, don't spoil Black Treasure!" Black Treasure was unhappy. "Mama Bear," why did she say that? Would it spoil the mooncakes? Each mooncake was nourishment for its growth!
"Only once a year; let Black Treasure try my mooncakes. Are they good or not?" Black Treasure opened its mouth wide, happily anticipating the taste. It had eaten no less than thirty mooncakes in the past few days, and currently, One Egg's mooncakes were its favorite.
"Yezhi, you should have one too!" It was hard to refuse, so she took a piece and put it in her mouth. "Mmm, delicious!" Don't blame her for the lack of originality in her praise; she had eaten quite a bit over the past couple of days and could hardly taste anything, only feeling the overwhelming sweetness.
"This is the first time our family is making mooncakes. Zhou Da's dad ate five in one go. This year, everyone in the village is making them; Jiajia is willing to spend on them." Hearing this made Yezhi happy. Isn't life all about enjoying food? Saving money from the mouth isn't as good as earning more. The aunties in the village, Aunt, didn’t waste her time chatting at her house; she didn’t waste her breath either.
"Sister Yezi, we’re back!" Xiao Fan shouted as he carried Niu Niu, One Egg held a Bamboo Basket, and Wolf Child walked into the yard with a water bucket.
Yezhi excitedly stepped forward. "Let me see! Are they big?"
One Egg opened the Bamboo Basket, and crabs the size of fists were bouncing around inside.
Flower Sister leaned closer. "Yezhi, what do you need so many crabs for? They have no meat, just shells."
As the saying goes, "On the fifteenth of August, Chrysanthemum Crab." She had picked some chrysanthemums in the mountains yesterday and placed them in a Black Pot; they looked quite beautiful. As for Chinese Mitten Crab from Northeast, there weren't any, but catching a basket of crabs to eat wouldn't be too much.
Oh right, there’s also Rice Cake. The Glutinous Rice pounded into Rice Cake, wrapped in egg batter and fried, sprinkled with sugar—sweet, crispy, and soft... various flavors that lingered on the palate. Unfortunately, there was no Glutinous Rice at home. It seemed that next year Zhoujiatun would have to plant some glutinous rice to enrich village life. (In reality, it was just her craving.)
These were all customs from her memories. In their place, during Mid-Autumn Festival, besides eating mooncakes and Rice Cake, they also had Sesame Cake. Yezhi thought it was called Sesame Cake because the round brownish-yellow pastry was sprinkled with sesame seeds. She remembered that the Sesame Cakes she used to eat were purely sweet with thin skin and generous filling; they were flaky and moist, often leaving her with rock candy stuck in her teeth.
Thinking back on it made her nostalgic. Her thoughts had changed; she no longer wanted to abandon her past or seek an entirely new life. Her life had begun from the moment she was born, regardless of whether it was good or bad!
Not long after Flower Sister left, Aunt Ren Er also came to deliver mooncakes. Her family's "mooncakes" were piling up dangerously. Hearing the courtyard door creak open again filled Yezhi with helplessness as she scrubbed crabs with a toothbrush; at this rate, they would be eating mooncakes every day.
"Who is it?" There was no response for a long time.
Yezhi had no choice but to put down the toothbrush and cover the lively crabs before going out to see who it was.
"Ah~!"
"How did you get here!" Yezhi joyfully rushed into Xiaobinzi's arms.
Xiaobinzi didn't bother moving things off the bicycle, holding onto the figure that pounced towards him tightly, reluctant to let go.
"Oh my! Xiao Fan, close your eyes!" One Egg covered Xiao Fan's eyes but was enjoying the view himself.
The beautiful atmosphere was completely ruined by One Egg. Yezhi glared at him, "You're making a fuss over nothing, being so dramatic and unstable."
One Egg raised his shiny round face, grinning mischievously, "Brother-in-law, look at Sister Ye still clinging to you. That shows how much she misses you; you have to treat her well!"
"Yes, you must treat my daughter well!" Aunt Zhou's half face appeared at the door, along with Sister Luo and Elder Brother Yu's hearty laughter. Yezhi's face turned a bit hot as she finally let go of Xiaobinzi.
Aunt Zhou led Xiaobinzi into the house, while Niu Niu eagerly climbed onto his head. Perhaps used to it, Xiaobinzi didn't shoo it away. Aunt Zhou looked at the pile of things and scolded, "Xiao Lin, we're almost family now; why are you still buying things?"
"I need to!" This was his first time visiting as a future son-in-law; he even thought he hadn't bought enough.
"Xiao Lin, you even bought pork. What are you thinking...!"
Xiao Fan clapped his hands in cheer, "Oh~ we have meat to eat now!" Yezhi, who was bringing water into the room, tapped his forehead, "We just had meat yesterday; why do you act like you haven't eaten in eight hundred years?"
Xiao Fan retorted, "That was fish. I'm a pork fan!" Yezhi laughed upon hearing this; in fact, she felt the same way—one day without eating felt like three autumns had passed; it had been so long.
Sister Luo said with satisfaction, "Xiao Lin still cares for Yezi!"
"Of course! If he doesn't care for me, who will?" Yezhi said proudly. One Egg called her thick-skinned while Xiao Fan continuously declared that he cared for her too. The adults laughed until their stomachs hurt, and Lin Haitao felt warm inside.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, both the moon and people were reunited. Her family was also complete as they went to pick up Barefoot Aunt and Madwoman for the festival. However, Madwoman was nowhere to be found. Yezhi felt a bit regretful; she wanted to introduce Xiaobinzi to her.
“Barefoot, Yezi, why hasn't Madwoman come?”
“She has been going into the woods a lot lately, sometimes for a day or two.”
Aunt Zhou let them sit down, poured wine for everyone, and raised her glass, saying, “My husband passed away early. I thought I would die alone without anyone caring, but Yezi came, Xiaofan came, Less came, Xiao Luo came, Wolf Child came, and now there’s going to be another son-in-law. I have dreamed of such days countless times…!”
Barefoot Aunt interrupted her, “Why are you bringing that up!”
Aunt Zhou wiped her tears and said, “I won’t mention it anymore. I’m just so happy. From now on, we will live well as a family and make our lives prosperous.”
Yezhi agreed, “That’s for sure! Let’s toast to family reunion!”
“Cheers!”
On that Mid-Autumn night, everyone stayed up late. The dishes on the kang table were mostly prepared by Elder Brother Yu except for the steamed crabs and fried crabs that she made. His cooking skills were getting better and better, so Yezhi could only step back.
However, not having to cook herself and still enjoying delicious food made her very happy. “Xiaobinzi, you should learn to cook from your brother-in-law. I want to eat your cooking every day.”
Aunt Zhou heard this and gave Yezhi a light slap on the back of her head. “Little Lin is so busy with work; how can he cook every day!”
Yezhi protested, “Aunt, you have a son-in-law now; you don’t need a daughter anymore!”
“A daughter is like water spilled out; a son-in-law is like a son coming into the house. Of course, I favor my son-in-law.” No wonder they say mothers-in-law grow fonder of their sons-in-law. The wedding date she had been postponing was also settled at the Mid-Autumn dinner: December 29th was an auspicious day for marriage.
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