— So you’re from the village? We thought you were a city girl. Well then, wait up, I have a special drink for you for the celebration—you’ll definitely like it! — said Mark Ivanych and ran off to the pantry, jingling bottles.
— What’s that? — Tatiana didn’t quite understand all the fuss from Ivanych, who until then had only touched a glass of peach juice.
— What do you mean what? It’s moonshine! Since you’re from the village, you’ll have some! — declared Mark Ivanych, half-seriously, half-joking, chuckling at the girl.
This evening was special for the Zaitsev family. Their son Anton had finally brought his girlfriend to meet his parents.
Tatiana had prepared as much as possible for the introduction, understanding that first impressions matter most. She put on an evening dress, did her hair and makeup, and baked her signature cake that was supposed to absolutely amaze Anton’s parents.
— So, tell us about yourself, daughter? — after a few awkward moments of silence, the head of the family, Tamara Igorevna, started the conversation, and Mark Ivanovich nodded in agreement.
— Well, what’s there to tell… I graduated from medical school two years ago, I work as an ultrasound doctor, — Tatiana began, knowing this was a necessary formality.
— And where do your parents live in the city? In our district or nearby? — Mark Ivanych interrupted, curious about Tatiana’s parents’ professions, because judging by her expensive dress, neat makeup, and faint perfume, she had that sense of style highly valued in Anton’s family.
Mark Ivanych taught at the department of exact sciences, and Tamara Igorevna was a philologist at the university, so naturally, they wanted a suitable match from a good family for their son.
— Actually, no… My parents are from the village. I myself grew up all my life in the village. Maybe you’ve heard of Zarechye? It’s about 200 kilometers from here! — Tatiana brightened at the mention of her hometown. She loved her village very much and could tell a lot about village life, and was already ready to start, when…
— So you’re from the village? We thought you were a city girl. Well then, wait up, I have a special drink for you for the celebration—you’ll definitely like it! — Mark Ivanych said and ran to the pantry, jingling bottles.
A couple of minutes later, Ivanych placed an old vodka bottle filled with a cloudy yellowish liquid on the table, bringing along two faceted glasses. He put one glass in front of Tatiana, the other in front of himself, and poured the strong drink, suspiciously winking at Tatiana.
— What is that? — Tatiana still didn’t quite get all the fuss from Ivanych, who until then had only touched a glass of peach juice.
— What do you mean what? It’s moonshine! Since you’re from the village, you have to drink! — Mark Ivanych said, half-seriously, half-jokingly laughing at the girl.
Tatiana looked more closely at Mark Ivanych’s somewhat goofy face and even with her medical education couldn’t tell for sure if he was kidding, mocking her, or genuinely thought that since she was from the village, she must honor this drink.
— Dad, maybe you’re confusing things with your own village youth, when you all probably got obsessed with this “divine” drink, but things aren’t so straightforward now, — after a pause, Anton put Ivanych in the picture.
— What, you don’t respect moonshine?! — Ivanych looked at his future daughter-in-law disappointed.
— I don’t drink alcohol at all! — Tatiana said just as surprised, seeing the disappointed grimace on Ivanych’s face.
Indeed, Ivanych looked like someone who had caught some village drunkard by the roadside, invited him to sit and have a shot of homemade drink, and he had turned up his nose.
— Not at all?! — Ivanych scratched the back of his head. — Are you sure you’re healthy, or are you in rehab? — the man chuckled.
— Stop your lame jokes, — Ivanych’s wife felt uncomfortable. — No one to drink your favorite moonshine with, drink alone, no one forbids you!
— Listen, Antosh, what was that at the introduction? I honestly didn’t get your dad’s humor. What kind of associations do they have? — Tatiana asked Anton only after they got outside following the feast.
— Honestly, I’m shocked myself… My dad never offered me moonshine himself, and now these associations popped up in his head… Maybe really back in their village youth, everyone went crazy for moonshine like manna from heaven…, — Anton shrugged.
Apart from the moonshine incident, the meeting with the parents went well, and about six months later Anton and Tatiana got married.
At first, they lived in Anton’s premarital apartment, then their finances improved, and they bought a decent house in a suburban settlement.
No, it wasn’t an elite settlement, but it had everything necessary for living—large plots, electricity, water, gas.
People lived a completely measured life here within a 5-minute drive from the city.
Those who had settled in the settlement for a long time even had home farms, although the land here was exclusively for individual housing construction (IZHS), which didn’t stop practical people from doing some agriculture—growing a vegetable garden, putting up greenhouses, raising domestic animals.
After buying the country house, naturally, Tamara Igorevna and her husband decided to visit the young family of their son and find out how things were arranged here.
— Didn’t you rush the purchase? Such money after all. Maybe it would be better to get a three-room apartment in a new building? You’d even have money left for repairs…, — Tamara Igorevna looked somewhat concerned about the purchase.
— Oh, Tamara Igorevna, honestly, I can’t stand apartments. How can people live on top of each other, no space, no quiet, and no land at all! I’ve always loved digging in the soil, we always had a farm in the village—a garden, poultry! — Tatiana smiled at her mother-in-law.
— Here we have a sauna, there’s a shed, paths, everything left by the previous owners, even the lawn in some places, although I think lawns are nonsense—I prefer wild herbs! — Tatiana smiled.
Tamara Igorevna walked around the house with a tense face, her brain actively considering one rebellious thought.
— You’re right, Tanya! I heard a program on TV this morning where a famous doctor said rabbit meat is very healthy, dietary, especially for those with health problems, like me for example! — Tamara Igorevna suddenly looked closely at her daughter-in-law.
— Yes, rabbit meat is healthy, and chicken that roams freely is incomparable to poultry farm chicken, — Tatiana still didn’t understand where Tamara Igorevna was going.
— Listen, Tanya, here’s an idea! You now have your country house, large territory, maybe you and Anton should raise rabbits? You’ll have your own dietary meat in abundance, instead of going to the market and spending money! — Tamara Igorevna suddenly proposed directly to her daughter-in-law.
— Only Antosha isn’t used to this kind of work; he won’t clean the cages! — the mother-in-law immediately warned Tatiana.
— And you, Tamara Igorevna, decided I’m the one who will do this? — Tatiana beat her to the question.
— Well… I don’t know who will do it…, — Igorevna looked at her daughter-in-law with surprise.
— Well, I don’t know either, maybe you and Mark Ivanych will run the household, I’ll give you a corner, you’ll build sheds, come feed and clean up after them! — Tatiana suggested.
— No, no, daughter, my health doesn’t allow, and Mark is an aesthete, he’s not used to village labor…, — Tamara threw the ball to the opponent’s side.
— So… Anton can’t, you and Mark Ivanych are out too, — Tatiana counted on her fingers. — Looks like only I remain as a candidate?
— Well, what? You’re from the village, right? You’re already used to this work! — Ivanych muttered to himself.
— Yeah, I used to go check on the rabbits at my parents’, it’s nothing complicated, just routine work! — Tatiana said, thinking to herself that these “city folk” who only moved here in their youth were too arrogant.
— Well, good, rabbits are good! Always have your own meat, and plenty of it, unlike what they sell at the store nowadays! — Tamara Igorevna sincerely rejoiced.
After the housewarming, Tamara Igorevna and Mark Ivanych happily went home, but their good mood didn’t last long.
— Tamara Igorevna, what about the rabbits? Anton refuses to build the rabbit hutch for me, says he doesn’t know how to screw two boards together, and here it’s a whole hutch… — Tatiana called her mother-in-law.
— Yeah, and why are you trying to load Anton? I told you, it’s not his thing, he won’t do it! — yawning, woken up by the early call, Tamara Igorevna was about to make strong coffee.
— Well, that’s what I’m saying. I found a suitable heated outdoor rabbit hutch, a good-sized one, so we don’t have to buy a second later, costs about 60,000 rubles, plus 10,000 for delivery, — Tatiana gave Tamara Igorevna the price.
— Well… But you’ll have your own dietary meat! — the mother-in-law repeated like a mantra.
— Yes, Tamara Igorevna, that’s what I’m saying. You transfer me 35,000 rubles to the card, I’ll order it then. Plus 5,000 rubles for feed. It’s better to feed good feed right away so they grow well, — Tatiana declared.
— Why is the feed so expensive? — Tamara asked.
— Because, Tamara Igorevna, if you feed rabbits only greenery, they grow slowly, and then you’ll need another cage, because while the old ones grow, several generations of youngsters will be born, and you have to keep them somewhere! — Tanya told the harsh truth.
— Yes, but the meat is dietary…, — Igorevna clung to the important point and mentally weighed forty thousand rubles against dietary meat.
— How much?! — Mark Ivanych was outraged when he heard the round sum.
— For that amount, I’ll build you not a rabbit hutch, but a space shuttle! — Mark Ivanych was so confident in his handyman skills that he came to the son and daughter-in-law’s house fully equipped to do something himself.
In the end, after a week of trips to the son’s house, many curses, a couple of visits to the emergency room, a semblance of a rabbit hutch was ready, and battered but satisfied Ivanych handed it over to Tatiana.
— Well, Tanya, now it’s your turn, get the animals and give us dietary meat! — Ivanych smiled.
— You say it like, Mark Ivanych, that if anything happens, you’ll eat me instead of the rabbits, — Tatiana laughed at the phrase “give us meat.”
— We need to buy rabbits from a farm. Need to get 4-5 does and one buck! — Tatiana told Ivanych.
— Oh, my! Money again! — Ivanych flared up.
— No, if you find some for free, I’m not against! But usually, they’re bought for money! — Tatiana smiled at the naive Ivanych. — When I find out the cost, I’ll transfer half the amount needed to Tamara Igorevna.
— Damn her with her rabbits…, — Ivanych spat, but there was nothing to be done.
Soon the rabbits were purchased, but the cage Ivanych made was unsuitable, and they had to buy a “proper” expensive cage after all.
— Well, mother, you stirred up everyone with your rabbits! — Ivanych swore, and after an hour, the coveted sum arrived on Tatiana’s card.
— Well, now everything, Tatiana? — Tamara Igorevna asked her daughter-in-law cautiously about the next steps.
— Now everything, Tamara Igorevna! — Tatiana smiled. — Only you and Mark Ivanych will feed our animals at lunch.
— How do you mean “feed”? — Tamara Igorevna was surprised.
— Well, they’re fed three times a day: morning and evening I feed them, but at lunch I’m at work, so please mow fresh juicy grass and feed the rabbits.
— Well, Tamara, why did you get involved in this rabbit fuss? — Ivanych said to Tamara Igorevna.
— Who would have thought, Mark, I thought she would do it herself, and here’s what! — Tamara Igorevna pointed to the insatiable rabbits.
By mid-November Tatiana went on maternity leave, so feeding, watering, and especially cleaning up after the rabbits had to be done morning, noon, and evening by Tamara Igorevna and Mark Ivanych.
— Well, Tamara, just wait! — Mark Ivanych was losing his temper while cleaning straw bedding mixed with rabbit droppings and cursing his wife.
— Well! Look, you’re city folk, but you’re doing pretty well too! — Tatiana, the daughter-in-law, smiled at the chilled mother- and father-in-law meeting them at home.
— Well? Maybe we should have some moonshine to start the rabbit breeding dynasty? Your brother-in-law passed it on to you for your labor merits! — Tatiana laughed at her “city folk” relatives who were hoping for free perks.
