When Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo arrived home, Xia Minmin was already sitting at her desk doing her winter vacation homework.

Xia Jianguo handed the dark chocolate he was carrying to Xia Minmin, saying, "It's a gift from Uncle Wang."

Xia Minmin looked at the beautifully packaged chocolates on the table; they must be expensive.

"Your uncle and his family are going back to their hometown today. We're having a farewell dinner for them at noon. Hurry up and pack your things so we can leave soon."

Xia Minmin put the half-finished test paper aside and walked out of the room.

Li Chunmei hummed a song in the living room as she organized the sheepskin coat and wool boots she had brought back from Beijing. She had seen many people wearing such coats and shoes in Beijing; they looked very warm. Winters back home were damp and cold, and the elderly there liked to wander around outside.

"Aren't you going to bring some pastries back for your grandparents?"

"Phew!" Li Chunmei patted her chest with her right hand, looking as if she had been frightened.

"Why don't you walk silently, you unlucky kid? You scared me to death!"

Xia Minmin poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the dining table and handed it to Li Chunmei. "Mom, you're too focused! Aren't you going to bring any pastries for Grandpa and Grandma?"

Li Chunmei took a sip of water, and her rapidly beating heart finally calmed down.

"No, your uncles and their family have a lot of luggage too. These two sets of clothes and shoes will take up a whole suitcase. It would take too long to send them, and your grandparents won't receive them before the New Year. Otherwise, it would be more convenient to send them."

Xia Jianguo came out of the room carrying a suitcase. "Chunmei, this suitcase should be big enough."

The suitcase was laid out in the living room, with two coats and two pairs of leather shoes, which were a little cramped when stuffed into it.

"Xiaomin, come here and sit down." Li Chunmei beckoned to her daughter and pointed to the suitcase.

After Xia Minmin sat down, she easily pulled her suitcase along.

Li Chunmei said, "After I wash my hands, we'll set off."

The buses were empty. Many migrant workers and migratory birds were going home for the Chinese New Year, whether they had money or not. The busiest place recently was the train station, which was crowded with people every day.

The place to eat was about two kilometers from the train station, and after the meal, Li Zhonghua and his group could walk to the train station.

"Xiaomin, your second aunt and uncle, we're here!" It was the voice of Wang Qi, Xia Minmin's aunt's daughter.

Xia Minmin and the others looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Li Qiumei's family was already seated; they were the hosts today.

Xia Minmin's aunt's husband, Wang Hao, got up and pulled out a seat so that everyone could sit down easily. Her aunt, Li Qiumei, poured tea for everyone.

"Sister, what did you bring for Mom and Dad? A whole suitcase is way too much!" Li Qiumei looked at the suitcase.

Li Chunmei explained, "A few days ago, I went to Beijing and saw that many people were wearing these sheepskin coats, so I bought one for each of my parents. The two coats and two pairs of shoes filled up our suitcases."

Can I take a look?

Seeing that the surrounding area was relatively spacious, Li Chunmei opened her suitcase and handed the clothes to Li Qiumei.

Li Qiumei touched the sheepskin coat, "It's so comfortable and warm. My parents will definitely like it. I've already sent back the two kilograms of 20-year-old naturally aged tangerine peel that I bought for them."

"Twenty years? That must be very expensive."

"Hmm. I wonder how effective it is at stopping coughs."

When Li Qiumei and Wang Hao's youngest son, Wang Xingxing, saw this, he stretched out his hand and said, "Let me touch it."

Li Qiumei slapped his hand so hard that it made Xia Minmin's heart skip a beat.

Wang Xingxing's expression remained unchanged, as if she had already gotten used to it.

As soon as Li Zhonghua's family entered the house, they saw his two younger sisters holding up clothes and examining them.

Wang Hao pulled out chairs for his brother-in-law's family and poured them a cup of tea.

Sun Erni said with a smile, "Who bought these clothes? Are you going to wear them yourself? Let me see them too."

Li Qiumei got up and handed the clothes to Sun Erni.

Sun Erni took the clothes and touched the material. "The quality of these clothes is really good. I want to buy one for my parents too."

Li Chunmei said, "Sister-in-law, I brought these two pieces of clothing and two pairs of shoes back from Beijing. Could you please take them back to my parents in my hometown for me?"

Sun Erni said, "That's a pity, we can't buy them."

Seeing that the table was full, a restaurant waiter came over and asked, "Hello, are all the guests here?"

Wang Hao said, "Okay, we can serve the food now."

The three minors sitting together, along with Li Qing, who was pretending to be a minor, were all learning the hand seals of the "Lin Bing Dou Zhe Jie Zhen Lie Zai Qian Zhu Xie" from Xia Minmin.

The commotion attracted the attention of the children at the next table, who stopped eating and ran over to learn the hand seals. The nine-syllable mantra echoed throughout the restaurant.

Wang Xingxing is small, and his hands are small too. Even after all the dishes were served, he still hadn't learned the hand seal gestures.

"Wang Xingxing! Dinner's ready!" Li Qiumei's face was stern, and you could tell from her voice that she was very fierce.

Xia Minmin scooped two spoonfuls of steamed egg custard and mixed it with rice, then added some side dishes and mixed it in—it was incredibly delicious.

Xia Jianguo put a piece of chicken blood on Li Chunmei's plate and asked, "Xiaomin will be becoming a godparent on the twelfth day of the first lunar month. Do you have time to come over for lunch?"

Li Zhonghua said, "We have no problem, the whole family can go. This is the first time I've seen such a grand godparent-godparent ceremony."

Li Qiumei put down her chopsticks. "Second sister, I heard that Xiaomin's godfather's youngest daughter looks just like Xiaomin. Is that true?"

The Li Zhonghua family and the Li Qiumei family all looked at Li Chunmei at the same time.

Li Chunmei withdrew her hand from the food container. "They do look alike. We've all seen the photos, otherwise we wouldn't have agreed to become godparents. It's mainly because he's so pitiful."

Sun Erni said, "It's really pitiful. He lost his wife and daughter in his forties."

Several children rubbed the goosebumps on their faces with their hands.

"So the reincarnation stories on TV are real, not just made up."

"Exactly! Our class talked about these things during break and got scolded by the teacher, who said we were promoting feudal superstition!"

There's a saying that goes, "The end of science is metaphysics!"

"Sister Xiaomin, you've even learned the hand seals. Will you become a Taoist priest in the future, as powerful as Ma Xiaoling in capturing ghosts and zombies?"

cough cough…

Li Qiumei's cough silenced the children who were about to start a discussion, and they lowered their heads and quietly ate the rice in their bowls.

Logically speaking, Li Qing is already eighteen years old and shouldn't be afraid of this kind of feigned threat, but there's a theory that it's due to bloodline suppression!

The adults exchanged glances, their eyes filled with smiles. Li Chunmei gave her younger sister a thumbs-up, meaning, "You're the best."

Li Qiumei smiled broadly. To be honest, even she herself couldn't understand why her children were so afraid of her. However, she guessed it was because of that brat Wang Xingxing, who had ruined her reputation quite a bit.

As everyone saw Li Zhonghua and his family off at the train station after leaving the restaurant, that brat Wang Xingxing kept chanting the Nine-Character Mantra and making hand seals.

Xia Minmin saw that her aunt's fists were clenched, and Wang Xingxing was sure to get a beating when he got home.

"Brother and sister-in-law, please be careful on your way home!"

The two families stood at the train station entrance and watched Li Zhonghua's family enter the station and disappear from sight.