Xia Xiaomei came in from the backyard with wet hands.

Xia Damei pulled out a chair. "Little sister, come sit down and warm yourself by the fire."

"Sister, brother-in-law, when did you arrive? Where is my second sister-in-law?"

"Not long after we arrived, our little glutton saw Xiaomin eating poached eggs in brown sugar water and got really craving them, so my second sister-in-law went to cook some eggs for her."

Xia Xiaomei touched Xia Minmin's bowl, "Xiaomin, hurry up and eat, it's getting cold."

Xia Minmin nodded and quickened her pace of eating.

"Little sister, why aren't my brother and sister-in-law home? We agreed before the New Year that I would come to visit on the third day of the Lunar New Year, but I haven't returned from my sister-in-law's house yet."

Xia Xiaomei said, "Maybe they feel ashamed and dare not face it."

"What happened?" Xia Damei quickly asked.

Xia Xiaomei explained, "On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, my second brother and sister-in-law brought Xiaomin back with them. They bought her some candy, but my eldest sister-in-law saw it and scolded me. My second sister-in-law couldn't stand it and a conflict broke out."

"Is it really necessary to get angry over just a few candies?" Xia Damei was also very angry when she heard this.

“The noise wasn’t loud when the conflict started, but after my sister-in-law went back to her room, she started yelling at us sisters, and her voice became very loud, so that all the neighbors could hear it. The next day, the whole village was buzzing about it, and someone asked her about it in front of her.”

"Serves you right!"

“When she came back, she insisted that we were the ones who spread the rumors. She stood at the door and cursed at us and our parents, and got into a conflict with the villagers. On New Year’s Eve, they didn’t come out to set off firecrackers until after we had gone to bed.”

"How dare she insult Mom and Dad! If it weren't for paying off debts back then, Mom wouldn't have worked all night every day, and wouldn't have refused treatment after getting sick, which only made her condition worse." Xia Damei's eyes were red with anger. If Chen Chunhua were here, she would probably tear her apart.

"Where's Xia Jianshe? That coward?"

"He stayed in the room the whole time, without saying a word or stopping anyone."

"Ha, almost ten years and they haven't made any progress. Forget it, I won't talk about them, it's too upsetting."

Li Chunmei placed the prepared poached eggs in brown sugar water on the chair next to Wang Yu, saying, "Xiao Yu, be careful it's hot, let it cool down before you eat it."

Xia Damei patted the chair, "Second sister-in-law, sit down for a while. It's still early before lunch, no need to rush. We just finished breakfast and came over. Second sister-in-law, I just heard you say that second brother went to buy train tickets. Where are you going?"

Li Chunmei said, "My family of three, plus my younger sister, are planning to go to Shenzhen to take a look!"

"Going to Shenzhen?"

"Yeah, I want to take advantage of my youth!"

"That's fine too. I guess I won't see you again until Chinese New Year." Xia Damei's eyes reddened with reluctance.

"Don't be like this, sister. Once we're settled, you and your brother-in-law can go there to work. I heard the wages are really high there," Xia Xiaomei comforted Xia Damei.

...

Wang Jie put down his teacup and said, "Big sister, let's go to Mom and Dad's graves to pay our respects first, then we'll go to Uncle's and Uncle's houses to deliver New Year's gifts. Second brother will be back around then."

"Hmm, Xiaoyu, have you finished eating? Mom and Dad are going out to visit relatives for the New Year."

Wang Yu hurriedly got up after drinking the last bit of brown sugar water, afraid that her parents would keep her there.

Li Chunmei and Xia Xiaomei also went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.

Xia Jianguo pushed open the half-closed door and saw Xia Minmin sitting alone by the fire in the main room, lost in thought.

"Xiaomin, Dad's back. Look what I brought you!" Xia Jianguo took a bag of rice crackers out of the bag and handed it to Xia Minmin.

"Dad, what is this?" Even though he knew it was a rice cracker, he could only pretend not to know.

“These are rice crackers. Many children were carrying bags of them on the street today, so of course Dad wanted to buy a bag for Xiaomin to try.”

"Thank you, Daddy!" Xia Minmin's sweet little voice was truly delightful.

Hearing voices coming from the main room, Li Chunmei wiped her hands and came out of the kitchen to investigate.

"Jianguo, you're back! My younger sister and brother-in-law went to visit relatives for the New Year. Did they get their train tickets?"

"I bought a hard-seat ticket for the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. I need to go to the city to catch the train."

"Okay, push your bicycle inside, and set the table later. Your sister and the others can eat when they get back."

Xia Minmin had already torn open the outer packaging of the rice crackers. Inside were twenty or thirty small bags. She fed one rice cracker to each of Xia Jianguo, Li Chunmei, and Xia Xiaomei.

...

Xia Jianguo and Xia Xiaomei carried the dining table to the main room. This table was quite large and was usually only brought out for use when guests arrived.

"Second brother, you're back."

"Second Brother."

"Second Uncle."

"Xiaoyu, go to the table and get some snow cakes." Wang Yu skipped over to the table, one bag in her left hand and one bag in her right.

Xia Minmin stuffed the food into her cousin's pocket, saying, "Cousin Yu, take more of this if you like it!"

Xia Damei said helplessly, "Xiaoyu, eat less. You only ate an apple at your uncle's place. You still have to eat dinner later."

Wang Yu blinked her eyes. "Mom, I was just looking at it, not eating it. My cousin was going to put it in my pocket."

"I gave my cousin the gift from my aunt."

Xia Minmin never expected that Wang Yu was so cute when he was young. Later, Wang Yu gradually became taciturn.

"Big sister, Wang Jie, please sit down for a while. Your second sister-in-law has already prepared the food, and we can eat soon. We'll play mahjong this afternoon."

Xia Damei asked, "Second Brother, have you bought your train tickets yet?"

"All bought, we'll set off on the sixteenth of the first lunar month."

"So fast?"

"We're already considered late; the others went around the tenth of the month."

Li Chunmei and Xia Xiaomei brought out the food from the kitchen, set out the bowls and chopsticks, and prepared to eat. Xia Jianguo quickly closed the door and turned on the lights.

Li Chunmei instructed, "Jianguo, bring the drinks out of the room, and also get a bottle of wine for you and your brother-in-law to have some."

"Second Brother, no need for alcohol. I don't drink alcohol; a soft drink is fine," Wang Jie refused.

"Alright, we won't pressure you to drink anymore. Eat more food later!" Xia Jianguo said.

Li Chunmei poured drinks for everyone, and they all raised their glasses together.

"cheers."

"cheers."

Li Chunmei urged everyone to eat more, saying, "Please forgive me if the food isn't very good."

"Second sister-in-law, don't be modest. Your cooking is recognized as the best in the family," Wang Jie said.

"Second sister-in-law, this big table of food is enough for us to eat for two meals. Don't cook anything new tonight, just eat whatever you like," Xia Damei said.

Wang Yu munched on some chicken and said with a grin, "It's Second Auntie! I love your chicken! It's so much better than my parents'!"

“Your cousin also loves chicken, so you two can each have a chicken leg.” Li Chunmei took two chicken legs out of the pot and gave them to the two of them.

"Thank you, Mom!"

"Thank you, Second Aunt!"

"Everyone, eat more fish. The bones here are all big, not small. Sister, give Xiaoyu some too. Eating more fish makes children smarter." Li Chunmei picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and gave it to Xia Minmin.

After the meal, Li Chunmei and Xia Xiaomei cleared the table and the dishes, while Xia Jianguo poured tea for Xia Damei and Wang Jie to help them digest.

Xia Minmin and Wang Yu stood by the table playing a card game called "Cat Fishing".

Li Chunmei instructed, "Jianguo, bring out the mahjong set so we can play cards."

"It's already taken out, just waiting for you and your little sister."