Xing Ge’er was circling around the stove in surprise.

　　After getting the stove back, Li Da made a few short wooden stools. There was a pile of wood and wood chips in the woodshed at home, which were easy to make. He knocked out three stools in no time. Li Zhouzhou was busy in the morning and was just saying that he would find some clothes that he couldn’t wear in the afternoon, cut off the good parts, piece them together, and use them to cover the wooden stools.

　　”What is this? I know it’s a stove, but I’ve never seen it look like this.” Xing Ge’er asked Li Zhouzhou who came into the main room.

　　Li Zhouzhou held a coarse porcelain bowl with melon seeds and peanuts in it, which he used to treat Xing Ge’er. He placed the coarse porcelain bowl on a long bench and said, “Let’s sit down and talk.” He pulled out a wooden bench and sat down.

　　Xing Ge’er followed suit and sat down, his legs close to the stove, “It’s warm.”

　　”It was my husband’s idea. The stove for decocting medicine was made bigger so that we can boil water, cook and keep warm in the main room.” Li Zhouzhou handed the bowl to Xing Ge’er to eat melon seeds.

　　Xing Ge’er was not polite either, he grabbed a handful and started knocking. He just saw the stove and heard it was a medicine stove, he moved his legs further away and said, “A medicine stove? Isn’t it unlucky to have this thing in the house?”

　　”If it’s too big and not used for decocting medicine, it’s not a medicine furnace anymore.” Li Zhouzhou rarely refuted. This furnace was his husband’s idea, and he thought it was very good.

　　Xing Ge’er spat melon seed shells onto his hands and said, “I noticed that once you got married, anyone who said something bad about your husband, you got angry. No, I didn’t say anything bad about your husband. Now that it’s done, I know you two love each other, so I won’t say anything.”

　　Li Zhouzhou nodded and started to work on his work.

　　The clothes in his hand were what he wore when he was thirteen or fourteen years old. Later, he patched up the seams, added some other clothes to the trouser legs, and lengthened the sleeves. He could not wear it until he was fifteen, but it was really unusable because the clothes were too thin and would tear after being rubbed and washed twice.

　　Even so, the clothes were not thrown away, and they were all put away. Li Zhouzhou pondered for a while, measured the stool surface with his fingers, and gestured with the clothes, and decided to sew a double layer, so that it would be sturdy.

　　Li Zhouzhou began to work with the sound of scissors cutting cloth. He knew that Xing Ge’er would tell him without him asking.

　　Xing Ge’er was used to it. He ate melon seeds while watching Li Zhouzhou work and started talking. “It’s the same thing as the last time we went to town. I said I wanted to go to town and asked my sister-in-law to help me with a day’s work. Before my sister-in-law could say anything, my mother-in-law said that it was still early for the New Year and it wouldn’t be too late to go after the New Year. We have everything at home, so what should I spend money on…”

　　”We have everything at home. Yuanyuan has to look at his grandmother’s face before he can eat maltose, and he has to look at the mood of his mother-in-law before he can eat rice. If she wants something salty, she’ll add a pinch of salt. Sometimes, my mouth doesn’t taste good, and I have to ask my mother-in-law for more salt.”

　　The Wang family’s main house was managed by Xing’er’s mother-in-law. The cabinet in the kitchen was locked, and salt, maltose, eggs, and lard cans were all kept inside. Before cooking every day, Xing’er’s mother-in-law took the key to open the cabinet, and locked it after cooking.

　　Life is very meticulous.

　　Li Zhouzhou learned this from Xing Ge’er.

　　”Your mother-in-law lives a frugal life. She’s not harsh in her words, but she’s nice at heart.” After cutting the cloth, Li Zhouzhou began to thread the needle.

　　Xing Ge’er first asked where to throw away the melon seed shells that had accumulated on his palm. Li Zhouzhou liked cleanliness, and Xing Ge’er was not a sloppy person. He was more casual when eating at home, but when visiting other people’s homes, he would not deliberately mess up other people’s houses with bad intentions.

　　”Throw it into the stove.” said Li Zhouzhou.

　　Xing Ge’er thought it was fun, so he threw it in with a slap, and watched the firewood burn cleanly. He grabbed a handful of melon seeds and started to eat them again, “What did I just say? Oh, yes, it depends on who you compare with. But you keep nagging me all day long, and my head is about to explode. My sister-in-law has a bad temper, and she doesn’t say anything to her mother-in-law. I can only endure it, otherwise I will look like a nobody.”

　　The Wang family had never divided up the family. All the money from selling grain and pigs would be divided between Xing’er and his mother-in-law. Each family would get 50 guan as pocket money for the year. On weekdays, if each family raised chickens and ducks, or sold the eggs they saved, the mother-in-law would not take the money.

　　The public housing agency pays for the food for the whole family throughout the year. If you want to eat better, you can cook something in private without using the public housing agency’s oil and salt. Brother Xing’er will only say a few greedy words, knowing only the words of eating well, but they will not interfere.

　　There are always some bumps and bruises when living in a big house, but generally it will be successful.

　　Xing Ge’er knew it in his heart, but even though he knew it, he was annoyed by his mother-in-law’s constant criticism of this and that. “When we came back from town, I bought a lot, but I spent my own money. I stuffed a lot of maltose into my sister-in-law’s mouth in front of her, and she ate sugar-coated eggs every day!”