Chapter 13: Full Moon Wine to Guard Against Thieves

[Mom, you can accept gift money for the full-month banquet. Tell grandma quickly.] Jiang Xiaoxiao waved her little fist anxiously.

Aunt Jiang simply couldn't understand those profound and difficult principles.

But if you tell her some simple and easy-to-understand principles that can help her gain advantages, she will definitely listen.

Although the conditions of every household in the village were difficult in the 1980s, the gifts given as gifts were not particularly expensive. Most of them were just some cloth, and only a small number of people gave money directly.

However, for the Jiang family, who were so poor that even wearing socks was a luxury, these gifts were already a considerable fortune.

Besides, the Jiang family has been giving away gifts over the past few years and has never received a single gift in return.

When Liu Xihua heard her daughter's voice, she suddenly realized: That's right! In the past, her family always gave gifts to relatives, but she never had the opportunity to hold a wedding and collect money.

"Mom, our family has only given gifts to relatives before, and we haven't held a wedding and received gifts for a long time. It's a good opportunity for us to take advantage of Xiaoxiao's full moon this time to get some money back, right?" Liu Xihua asked cautiously.

Aunt Jiang's eyes lit up when she heard this. Oh my God, how could she have forgotten about this!
It has been a long time since the last wedding at home. The most recent one was when our eldest daughter got married, but that was three years ago.

In the past three years, she has given out five big gifts when she returned to her parents' home, plus four gifts to the Jiang family's relatives. The total amount is not a small amount!
If we don't hurry up and hold a banquet, wouldn't we be at a huge loss?

"Yes, yes, let's quickly organize a banquet. Daguo, you should notify all the relatives at home immediately, including your uncle's family, your aunt's family, and your aunt's family. Ask your father to notify the uncles and aunts at home, as this side is closer." Aunt Jiang said, slapping her thigh.

This means consent.

Jiang Daguo nodded, "I understand, Mom."
-
Jiang Daguo and Liu Xihua picked up Jiang Xiaoxiao at around 11:00 p.m. on March 18th.

The couple counted that day as Jiang Xiaoxiao's birthday.

[Xiaoxiao’s birthday is March 18th, love you mom and dad] Jiang Xiaoxiao waved her little fist happily.
-
There were only five days left until the 18th, so Jiang Daguo hurriedly borrowed a bicycle and rushed to the homes of distant relatives to notify them door to door.

After nearly a month, most of the Jiang family's friends and relatives had heard that Jiang Daguo had picked up a daughter.

When they learned that Jiang Daguo was planning to hold a full-month banquet, many relatives and friends responded politely, "We will definitely go!"

However, those relatives who were older, more outspoken, or had a more direct personality did not hide their dissatisfaction and said bluntly: "Daguo, it's just a baby you picked up, and a girl. Is it necessary to hold a full-month banquet? You two value this girl so much. If she grows up and goes to recognize her biological parents and refuses to recognize you, won't you have worked in vain?"

Jiang Daguo never thought about what would happen in the future.

He always believed that as long as he treated his daughter sincerely, she would never betray him.

Jiang Daguo said firmly, "We are good to her, she will not be ungrateful."

Seeing Jiang Daguo so persistent, the relatives could only sigh and shake their heads helplessly, "Hey, you fool, you are so stupid." After all, they are relatives, so they finally said, "Okay, we will definitely go to have a drink on that day."
-
Uncle Jiang will notify the relatives and neighbors who live nearby.

Everyone was smiling politely on the surface, but laughed at the Jiang family's actions behind their backs, saying they were not worth it.

The gossip reached the ears of the Jiang family, making Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang so angry that they didn't want to talk for several days.

But thinking about the money they had to get back, the whole family held back.
-
In the blink of an eye, it was March 18th.

Early in the morning, before the sun had fully risen, Jiang Daguo pushed his family's tattered wooden cart to the town and bought wine, meat, fish, firecrackers and candies for the banquet.

After putting the things he bought back into the main room, Jiang Daguo rushed to the village team's agency store and borrowed bowls, chopsticks, spoons and wine glasses for the banquet.

There were obviously not enough tables, chairs and benches at home, so Jiang Daguo borrowed some from his neighbors.

It is the custom of the villagers to lend tables, chairs and benches to each other for free when holding a banquet.

When returning, just give them a bowl of meat and vegetables. At the same time, some relatives and neighbors who lived nearby also came to Jiang's house early and offered to help.

Everyone worked together and quickly built a spacious and shady shed.

The yard in front of the Jiang family’s door is as big as a basketball court, but there is no wall built around it, so the space is particularly open, making it a great place for banquets.

But the Jiang family’s kitchen is small, making it inconvenient to cook and serve food.

The experienced men found some discarded old bricks and built a simple open-air temporary stove next to the kitchen.

The Jiang family's house was bustling with activity inside and outside.

Jiang Xiaoxiao, lying alone in bed, was unable to sleep because of the festive noise.

In fact, she felt uneasy and couldn't sleep well.

As the plot of the novel develops, the Jiang family does hold a full-moon banquet for their adopted daughter in order to recoup their share of the money.

But after the banquet, the Jiang family was not happy.

Because the Jiang family was not smart, something went wrong at the banquet.

The whole family is either honest or has difficulty walking, or like Jiang Meilan, they only know how to eat, drink and have fun and don't care about anything.

Since there was no one in charge of the family, many of the wine, meat, bowls, chopsticks and other items used for the banquet were stolen by the villagers.

According to the original budget, these materials should have been sufficient, but the actual situation was that after the banquet, it was discovered that there was a shortage of enough wine, meat and fish for two tables.

When counting the tableware, they were shocked to find that twenty-two bowls, sixteen pairs of chopsticks, twelve spoons and eight wine glasses were missing.

Jiang Daguo had no choice but to buy more wine and meat to fill the gap. At the same time, he also had to pay the corresponding amount of money because the tableware he borrowed was lost.

This made Aunt Jiang very angry, and she scolded Jiang Daguo and Liu Xihua for a whole month.

The banquet has to be held, and theft has to be prevented.

At this moment, Jiang Daguo and Liu Xihua were both busy outside, and the bedroom was empty.

Jiang Xiaoxiao sighed. Who can help with this?

squeak-

The bedroom door suddenly opened, and Jiang Meilan timidly slipped into the room.

Jiang Xiaoxiao's face was tense. Was Jiang Meilan being lazy again and coming here to look for food?

Since no one else is available, let Jiang Meilan run errands.

【Auntie! 】

Jiang Meilan had just walked to the jar of candy and touched the jar when she heard her little niece's inner voice calling her, which scared her.

"Xiaoxiao, you haven't slept yet? Let your aunt coax you to sleep, okay? Everyone is busy, you have to be obedient and don't cry." Jiang Meilan tiptoed to the bedside and gently patted Jiang Xiaoxiao's belly.

[Aunt, someone wants to steal our wine, meat, fish, and bowls, chopsticks, spoons, and wine glasses.] Jiang Xiaoxiao sighed. She didn’t want to sleep. She wanted to keep an eye on the thief.

(End of this chapter)