The God of Cooking Educated Youth in the 70s

47

Chapter 47 New Year's Eve Dinner

Whether you have money or not, you go home for the New Year. New Year's Eve is a day for family reunion. Xue Miao got up early in the morning and saw that the guesthouse was particularly deserted. People who were on business trips checked out and rushed home. So she packed some things and went home.

She found dried mushrooms, dried black fungus and some dried fruits from Fudeju, and took out ten yuan as a gift to her parents for the New Year. These were enough.

Xue Miao took the tram to the original owner's house based on her memory. The original owner's house was not far from the guesthouse. It was by the river. It took only a quarter of an hour to get there by tram. She got off the tram and it was there.

The building in front of me was originally a customs building of a certain country. It occupies a large area, is square and has a particularly grand scale. My memory is different from what I saw with my own eyes. After entering the building, Xue Miao, a person from the future, was still shocked by the scene inside.

The Customs Building has five floors in total. The original office cubicles are now divided into several hundred households. There is no kitchen. Every family puts stoves and pots around the patio to cook. She came out early. At this time, some families are cooking breakfast, and some are preparing food for the New Year. The smoke from cooking is curling, and the smell of coal smoke, food, and other smells are intertwined. The collision of various cooking utensils and human voices add a tone to this scene. It looks both full of urban atmosphere and a bit surreal. This is the daily life of ordinary families in Shanghai in the 1970s.

The original owner's home was on the third floor. He went up the wide stairs, avoided various obstacles in the corridor, and finally arrived at the door. He took a deep breath and knew that he had to face what he had to face. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he looked down and found that it was locked?

Where did this family go when they were not at home during the Chinese New Year? Just then, an old lady came out of the next door. I remembered her name was Grandma Sun. She was surprised to see her standing outside the door. "Little girl, why are you back? Did you just arrive this morning?"

Xue Miao nodded and asked, "Grandma, where are my family members?"

The old lady glanced at the iron general guarding her house and frowned, saying, "I heard from your mother that your grandmother celebrated her 11th birthday, and everyone in the family had a holiday. They took the train back to Suzhou to celebrate the New Year last night. It seems that only your eldest brother did not have a holiday. He has a girlfriend and should go to his mother-in-law's house to celebrate. New Year's Eve."

Xue Miao was a little tired from selling things these past two days. She didn't get enough rest and wore an old dress she wore when she left home, so she looked dusty. Grandma Sun felt sorry for her and invited her, "Your family is the same. You should have written home before the holiday, right? How can I not wait for you? I locked my daughter away from home on New Year's Eve. Even if I don't wait for you, I can at least leave you the key with me." Xue Miao's mother was stingy. She didn't leave the key because she was afraid that the neighbors would break into the house and rummage through things, right? Thinking of this, Grandma Sun got even angrier, "If they don't care about you, then come to Grandma's house to celebrate the New Year. You can stay at our house at night."

Xue Miao shook her head and declined, "Grandma, I can go to my friend's house to celebrate, so I won't bother you." She stuffed the dried food in her hand to Grandma Sun, "Since they are not here, you can take this home and eat it. It's a good addition to your dishes." Don't blame her for this little thing She didn't even leave anything for that family. In fact, she had written back a month ago saying that she would be home by New Year's Eve at the latest. She also sent them ten yuan with the letter. They knew she wanted to go home, but they still let the iron general guard the door and went to another province to celebrate the New Year. If they wanted her to rush to Suzhou, they should at least leave a message for the neighbors. In the end, they didn't even say anything and directly blocked her out. This was really chilling. Did they deliberately take advantage of her because she didn't send money home?