Reborn in 1985, starting from a machine factory

Braised pork knuckle!

This is my aunt's cooking technique; the caramel coloring seeps into the pork knuckle so thoroughly that it sticks to the chopsticks with just a light touch.

The stewed pig's trotters are so tender they're coated with five-spice leaves and Sichuan peppercorns that they can be easily pierced with chopsticks.

Cold pork head salad, cold jellyfish salad.

One dish after another was brought out of the kitchen and slid onto the octagonal table.

Chen Fen had long forgotten about her uncle and the golden hamster; her gaze was fixed on the dishes, and she couldn't bear to look away.

"Please sit down!"

"Squeeze in and sit down!"

The aunt stood up to greet them.

"Chen Mo's aunt, sit next to Chen Fen."

"Youngest brother, have a few drinks with your brother-in-law."

"Guihua, stop what you're doing and come over here!"

"Hey lady, where should we put this chair?"

"Chen Mo, get a new TV."

After a while of arguing, more than a dozen people were crammed together around the octagonal table, pulling and tugging at each other.

"Raise your glasses! Raise your glasses!"

As the aunt called out, everyone raised their glasses.

Those who can drink baijiu (Chinese liquor) will pick up their glasses; those who can't will pour soda.

"Cheers!"

Everyone's arms were outstretched, yet their shouts were remarkably synchronized.

Everyone had a smile on their face.

Even the eldest aunt was no exception; she even took the initiative to pick up a piece of pig's head meat and put it into the eldest uncle's bowl.

"Xiao Mo, if you're going to do something, just do it properly and don't worry about anything else!"

As the wine was poured, Chen Mo's uncle and aunt raised their glasses to him simultaneously.

Chen Mo held up the wine glass with both hands: "Uncle, Aunt, is this the right way to drink wine?"

"I hope I won't choke!"

Upon hearing this, both my aunt's husband and my other aunt's husband couldn't help but smile.

My aunt tilted her head slightly: "What rules? Drink!"

"Eat your vegetables, eat your vegetables!" the aunt shouted.

"Auntie, you should eat some vegetables too!" Chen Mo pushed the plate a little further.

Chen Rui smiled, but didn't touch her chopsticks, glancing towards the door every now and then.

Grandpa and my uncle were standing in the yard.

Even though the report was almost successful, the uncle was still unwilling to give up and held onto his grandfather there.

Chen Mo glanced at him, then stood up: "Grandpa, would you like to come in and have something to eat?"

"Dad, do you want some?" the uncle asked his grandfather.

Grandpa's expression was complicated.

I've been outside for quite a while now, and these clothes are already soaked through by the cold wind.

He was getting old, and his stomach was empty, so he had been feeling dizzy and lightheaded for a while.

eat!

Time to eat!

The thought had crossed his mind several times, but when he saw his third son beside him, he gave up.

"Third son, let's go home!" Grandpa said.

"No!"

"Then you stay here!" Grandpa turned around.

"Dad, so you need money to repair the house, and I'm the only one living here, right?" the uncle raised his voice.

"I'll fix it myself!" Grandpa stepped forward.

These words could be heard inside the room, and Chen Rui unconsciously stood up.

"Dad, let's finish eating before you leave!"

Grandpa didn't turn around.

"dad!"

Chen Rui pushed her chair back and got out of her seat.

"Auntie, wait a minute!" Chen Mo said.

As he spoke, he grabbed two steamed buns and deftly broke one of them in half.

The aunt saw through Chen Mo's thoughts and picked up another one.

The two of them picked up a few slices of meat, put them into the steamed buns, and then pressed them down with their hands.

"Here, Auntie, let Grandpa have a bite." Chen Mo handed the steamed bun to his aunt.

Chen Rui was taken aback. She took the two steamed buns and hurriedly walked out of the house.

"Xiao Mo, how did things get like this with Grandpa and Grandma?" Auntie asked.

"Auntie, actually I don't know either."

"Just when things were starting to look promising, a lot of things started happening, I don't know why," Chen Mo said in a low voice.

"Let's drink! Let's drink!" the younger brother shouted. "Sister-in-law, won't you have a drink?"

Auntie's eyes flickered: "Let your older brother drink. He's in a good mood today, let him have a few more drinks."

The eldest uncle nodded slightly, picked up his wine glass, and clinked it with the youngest uncle from afar.

"Ha, big brother, eat up!"

Just then, Chen Rui returned to the house.

The room fell silent, and everyone stared at Chen Rui.

Chen Mo asked, "Auntie, has Grandpa left?"

"Let's go!"

"She left with steamed buns!" Chen Rui wasn't very interested.

"Auntie, it's alright, it's not too far from home!"

"Um!"

Chen Rui raised her hand to lower the curtain and returned to her seat.

The curtain was intentionally left open, hoping that Grandpa could come in and have a meal.

The old man is a bit confused, but he's been confused his whole life, and there's no way he can change now.

You still need to eat.

Now that Grandpa has left, the person outside the door isn't worth the people inside the house keeping him warm.

The curtain fell, and several shouts and curses came from the courtyard.

Chen Mo did not speak.

Chen Fen stood up: "Auntie, come on, let's drink!"

"Okay!" Chen Rui picked up her drink and clinked glasses with Chen Fen.

"Xiao Mo, what are you planning to do?" Uncle asked.

"I want to open a factory!" Chen Mo said.

"Huh?" The people in the seats looked up at the same time.

Nowadays, opening a shop or setting up a stall is easy.

A factory.

That's an incredibly ambitious vision!

"A small factory, a small factory!" Chen Mo added, "The kind with about ten people."

"Oh!" The younger uncle nodded.

"We should give it a try now. So-and-so in our village made tens of thousands of yuan a year."

The aunt glanced at the uncle and said, "Are they all making money? Why are there so many who aren't?"

The younger uncle shrank back, "Who knows!"

"Don't you know? Engineer Xiao Mo was doing so well, but you've led him astray," Auntie said.

"Xiao Mo, just do what you want to do. If anything happens in the future, just ask your uncle for a meal."

My uncle immediately straightened up: "No problem, meals will be provided now. In a while, I'll go south to learn hair perming techniques."

"Not only will meals be provided, but we'll also give you an extra chicken leg with every meal!"

Chen Mo smiled.

Chen Fen, who was standing to the side, suddenly raised her head: "Uncle, you should go learn quickly, and then you can feed me."

"I want to eat a chicken leg."

"Hahaha!"

My uncle burst out laughing, and my aunt and the others couldn't help but make noises as well.

"Here, have a bone!"

After finishing almost the pork knuckle, Chen Mo put a large bone on Chen Fen's plate.

"Second Brother!" Chen Fen stamped her foot.

The food was almost gone.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The noise outside the door grew louder and louder.

The uncle yelled at the top of his lungs, "This is outrageous! My own nephew, my own elder brother, sitting by the stove, eating meat and drinking wine!"

"Your own brother and uncle are out here getting chilled in the wind."

"What kind of logic is that?"

"How should I write this whistleblower letter?"

Upon hearing the voice, the faces of the people at the table darkened.

Even my aunt showed impatience on her face.

"Xiao Mo, if all else fails, just give this guy some money and send him on his way!"

Chen Mo shook his head firmly: "Aunt, it's not about that. Once you start, you can't stop."

"Let's eat, let's eat."

"Ignore him!"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you making such a fuss?" Auntie said, pulling open the curtain a crack.

"They have absolutely no shame!"

Chen Mo picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Chen Fen's bowl: "Eat more!"

Suddenly, another voice came from outside the door.

"I remember it being here!"

"Excuse me, sir, does Chen Mo, the second brother of the Chen family, live here?"

The uncle paused.

They'd been shouting for ages, and a few neighbors were gathered at the door to watch, but none of them came forward.

Now that this person had finally stepped forward, he immediately drew out his words: "You be the judge!"

"Who?" The person asking for directions was a young man, and he instinctively took a step back.

"Chen Mo!" the uncle said bitterly.

"Oh, this is fine for him." The man replied, "Brother, the second brother of the Chen family lives here!"