EBE Chapter 108 Tired of eating chicken feet?
Chapter 108 Tired of eating chicken feet?
Qingchuan scratched his head and chuckled, "Yes, yes, it's just a little strange to do it all at once."
Xiao Tang was incredibly excited. They had finally changed their surname, taking another step closer to completely getting rid of the Shen family. It was just a matter of changing her name to Lin Xiao Tang from now on. Her father wasn't used to it, but she was.
"Dad, look at me."
She smiled and looked at the well-behaved Xiaoyu with her big, bright eyes, and called out, "Lin Xiaoyu!"
Xiaoyu immediately nodded in response, "Hey, Sister called me...what's up? Wait, why is it Lin...not Shen?"
"Xiaoyu, remember that we've changed our surname to Lin. From now on, we'll both have the surname Lin, just like Dad. Your name will be Lin Xiaoyu, and mine will be Lin Xiaotang."
Xiaoyu nodded blankly and grinned, "It sounds good, it sounds good, Lin Xiaoyu sounds so...so good."
The village head was genuinely happy for them; the Lin family finally had someone to support them again.
By the time they got back to town, it was already quite late.
Liu was alone by the well next to the kitchen in the Su family mansion, burning pig hair and washing pig trotters.
She is diligent and patient, and her work is very meticulous.
Lin Qingchuan led the mule back to the Su residence through the back gate, unloaded the mule from the cart, and led the mule to the stable, throwing some hay he had cut from the road on the ground for the mule to eat. (PS: From this point on, we'll use the surname Lin; please get used to it gradually.)
Xiaoyu ran off to find her mother with her short legs, and Lin Xiaotang, afraid that her younger sister would fall, immediately followed.
"Mother...mother..."
Seeing her mother by the well, Xiaoyu ran over and threw herself into her mother's arms.
A smile appeared on Liu's face as she gently instructed, "Yu'er, you're back. I'm working and I'm very dirty. Don't get your clothes dirty."
Xiaoyu said in her childish voice, "Mommy, we've all changed... changed our surname to Lin, why don't you change yours?"
"Really? You've all fixed it?" Liu paused, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Lin Xiaotang walked towards her mother and nodded to her, "Yes, it's been revised. The village head has already written the document for us. Once he sends it to Mr. Wu and gets it stamped, it'll be done."
"How come it went so smoothly? Didn't your grandpa and the others stop you?"
"Mother, Master doesn't know that we really went to the village head's house today. We'll talk about it after the official document comes down. We can't let him know now."
Once the documents are stamped and the matter is settled, no matter how much the grandfather makes a fuss, it will be to no avail. If he really wants to sever ties with the family, that would be even better.
Liu was overjoyed that her husband and daughter had changed their surnames. She was genuinely afraid of her father-in-law and stepmother-in-law, and she would do anything to stay away from them.
After finishing his work, Lin Qingchuan also came to the kitchen. Perhaps it was the village head's words that enlightened him, and after changing his surname, he felt much lighter.
"Fengniang, why didn't you wait for me to come back before you started washing? You're washing so much by yourself, what if you get tired? You should take the two children and sit down to rest. Let me do the rest."
"Dad, it's almost washed. Just rinse it twice more, and we can braise it after dinner."
"Alright, I've brought the water. You and Tang'er just need to divide the ingredients."
Lin Qingchuan filled two large basins with water and rinsed each pig's trotter clean, then placed them in a clean wooden basin to dry.
Xiaoyu kept asking her mother why she didn't change her surname.
Liu had no choice but to explain to her.
“Since our ancestors, children have always taken their father’s surname. So if your father changes his surname, you and your sister will change yours too. Your mother will definitely take your maternal grandfather’s surname, silly girl.”
"Shouldn't Father take... take Grandpa's surname?"
Xiaoyu couldn't quite grasp the situation and became even more confused.
"Oh dear, you're still young, don't ask anymore. You'll naturally know when you grow up." Lin Xiaotang immediately covered her younger sister's mouth and pulled her to play in the backyard, not letting her ask in front of their father.
A month later.
The village head, carrying a cloth bag, passed by the roasted sweet potato stall and saw Liu leading her youngest daughter to sell roasted sweet potatoes. He told Liu that the document for changing her surname had been stamped.
“Fengniang, I’ve already stamped the document. Mr. Wu will report it to the county. Once the county’s household registration records are updated, the matter will be considered settled.”
Liu was overjoyed and nodded quickly.
"Sigh, Qingchuan has gone out. I'll tell him when he gets back that this matter has troubled the village head."
“What trouble is there? There are several things to do in the village, so we can take care of them all in one trip.”
Liu hurriedly took out two large roasted sweet potatoes from the oven, wrapped them in green leaves, and handed them to the village head.
"It's still warm. The village head will take it and eat it when he gets hungry on the way."
“You’re such an honest girl. I’ve already eaten my fill before I got home before noon. Qingchuan gave me a few pieces the other day, just to try them out. You can’t eat them every time. You should keep them to sell.”
Liu thought to herself, "The village head is really a good person. He only ate it once and didn't want any more. Even if he were her father-in-law, he wouldn't pass up a good opportunity."
She grinned and said, "Since you've already taken it out, if you're not hungry, take it back and let your aunt eat it."
After saying that, she quickly stuffed it into the village head's hand.
Although she was poor in the past, she was never stingy. She was never stingy with money as long as people treated her sincerely.
The village head held a warm sweet potato in his hand, feeling a warmth in his heart.
Qingchuan and his wife are honest and kind, and they are clearly filial. It's just a pity that they met a selfish father and a biased stepmother. The family has been suffering for so many years, but they have finally stood up for themselves.
"Alright, this is Fengniang's kind gesture, I'll accept it."
When her husband returned at noon, Liu told him what the village head had said.
Lin Qingchuan and his daughter Lin Xiaotang were very happy. After the county's household registration was changed, they would become members of the Lin family completely.
When we've saved enough money to buy a house, we'll put the Lin surname on the property deed!
Ever since she went to Dushui County to deliver braised pig's trotters, she and her father had been setting off before dawn. Her mother would braise two large pots of braised pig's trotters for Yunlai Restaurant every morning and have the restaurant's staff pick them up.
Today was the monthly bill for braised pig's trotters. After lunch, Lin Xiaotang went to the restaurant with her father, but they entered through the back door.
Lin Xiaotang inadvertently saw the restaurant's chef place a basket of chicken feet on the ground at the kitchen entrance, which puzzled her.
"Master Pang, these chicken feet are a real delicacy, why did you just leave them at the door like that?"
The chubby chef said nonchalantly, "Well, most of the people who come to our restaurant are wealthy people from town. They don't eat chicken feet. And those who don't have money rarely come in to eat. So, as long as the customers don't order whole chicken, these chicken feet are chopped off and left. The manager and Manager Yao treat everyone well and allow us to take the raw chicken feet home, but we're all old-timers at the restaurant. We'd get tired of eating them every day."
Are you tired of eating chicken feet?
My goodness, the benefits at Yunlai Restaurant are amazing!
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Those who work at Yunlai Restaurant get paid every month, and if their families also farm, they generally don't live in poverty.
It will never be like before they separated from their grandfather and stepmother. There were eggs, but none for the four of them. The money was all controlled by that old hag, the stepmother. The whole family would fight over the thick soup, while they could only drink the thin soup.
Although the Shen family's life has become increasingly difficult and frugal, they have never reached the point of being destitute.
Their family was so miserable because of the favoritism of their grandfather and stepmother, and the weakness of their parents, which allowed their uncles and aunts to bully them without fear.
Lin Xiaotang sighed heavily, trying to put those unpleasant memories behind her.
She smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling, and said, "Master Fatty, could you give me these chicken feet today so I can take them home?"