The train back to Shenzhen on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month had very few passengers; in modern terms, it was like a private car.

After arriving at Shenzhen Railway Station, Xia Jianguo and Li Zhonghua came to pick them up. Li Chunmei and Sun Erni were at home preparing dinner.

Fewer and fewer people were coming out of the train station, and Li Zhonghua was getting anxious as he still hadn't seen the grandfather and his three grandchildren. He paced back and forth incessantly.

Li Zhonghua said, "Jianguo, it seems like most of the people on this train have gotten off. Why haven't we seen Dad and the others yet?"

"Brother, don't worry. Xiaomin called before we boarded the train. If there's any problem on the train, someone will definitely contact us. It's probably just a delay!"

"That makes sense!" Li Zhonghua felt a little relieved.

Xia Jianguo kept his eyes on the exit. "They're coming out."

Li Zhonghua also saw them. He saw the three of them pushing suitcases to the exit. It was Grandpa Xia, Li Qing, and Xia Minmin who came out, but he didn't see Grandma Xia.

Li Zhonghua asked, "Dad, why did it take you so long to come out? Where's Mom?"

"We'll talk about it later, I still need to help your mother carry her things." After saying that, Grandpa Xia pulled Li Qing back.

“Dad, Uncle, we still have four woven bags that we haven’t carried out yet. Before we went back to Shenzhen, all our uncles, aunts, and other relatives sent us a lot of things, and that’s why it looks like this now!”

Xia Minmin sighed deeply. It had been a difficult journey back, with the elderly and the young, carrying three suitcases and four woven bags, getting on and off the bus.

Xia Jianguo watched as his maternal grandfather and Li Qing carried out a woven bag, and there were probably three more woven bags that his maternal grandmother was watching over.

Xia Jianguo offered a cigarette to the ticket inspector, "Comrade, could you please make an exception and let us go in to help my dad with his luggage?"

Xia Jianguo pointed to his maternal grandfather and Li Qing's unsteady steps as they carried the woven bag.

Xia Minmin explained, "Yes, Uncle, could you let my dad and uncle in? We still have three woven bags."

The ticket inspector took the chimney and said, "Alright, alright! Hurry up, I'm waiting to get off work!"

"Okay, okay. Don't worry, we'll be there soon."

"Xiaomin, you wait here and don't wander off," Xia Jianguo instructed before running inside with Li Zhonghua to move their luggage.

With the addition of two able-bodied young men, the speed of moving the luggage increased considerably.

Xia Jianguo and Li Zhonghua fell silent as they looked at the large pile of luggage on the ground, wondering how they, young and old, had managed to bring it all over.

"Xiaomin, why didn't you rent a car when you brought so much luggage to the city to catch the train?"

Xia Minmin gestured towards her maternal grandfather's direction with her chin, "Grandpa thinks it's too expensive and won't let us rent a car!"

“It’s Dad, you have no idea how stingy Grandpa is! He thinks renting a car is too expensive. We were exhausted after changing cars twice. Even Grandpa’s back was sore last night.”

Xia Jianguo and Li Zhonghua were both shameless, but they dared not say anything.

With so much luggage, I could only rent a minivan to go home.

Li Chunmei looked at the luggage piled up in the living room and was speechless. Her father really loved to show off. "Dad, why did you bring so much cured meat, cured fish, and glutinous rice cakes?"

Grandpa Xia retorted, "These are all the good intentions of your uncles, aunts, and cousins, as well as your sisters. We can't refuse them, can we?"

"What do we do now, with so much stuff?"

Grandma Xia said, "You take half, and your brother takes half."

“I only need one piece of meat and ten pieces of glutinous rice cake. My family is small and there’s no place to put them. The other brothers can take them to his restaurant to sell.”

After deciding where to put the four large bags of vegetables, Xia Minmin finally breathed a sigh of relief. If they had taken half of them, it would have been impossible for the three of them to eat for one or two months. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.

There's no rule about not talking while eating in their family; they all like to chat during meals and catch up on each other's lives.

Sun Erni asked, "Chunmei, is your sister-in-law coming to the capital with us?"

"My sister-in-law isn't going. She's with Xiao Wu from our supermarket. They're planning to get married, and she went back to her hometown with Xiao Wu for the Chinese New Year a few days ago."

"I seem to remember her being a few years older than Xiao Wu."

"Hmm, three years older. 'A woman three years older than her husband is like a golden brick,' and this Xiao Wu has truly found that golden brick this time!"

"Sister-in-law, don't say that. Xiao Wu is a very good young man. He works very hard and sets up a street stall after get off work. He has bought a house in Shenzhen through his own efforts."

"That's actually pretty good, much better than Xiao Xiao's boyfriend!" Sun Erni was very dissatisfied with Li Xiao Xiao's boyfriend.

"Xiaoxiao hasn't broken up yet?"

"No, Xiaoxiao insists on getting married, it's like she's under a spell! That guy is already living off her, who knows what will happen if they really get married?"

“Sister-in-law, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. The more you and your brother oppose it, the more Xiaoxiao wants to be with you. You might as well let it go. Maybe they will break up after a while.”

"Forget about them. Let's just have the eight of us go to Beijing this time. I'll have Zhonghua find someone to buy tickets, and we'll leave on the first day of the lunar new year."

Li Chunmei whispered, "Are you really not going to tell Xiaoxiao anymore?"

"She said she wasn't going, so don't worry about her. She's not a child anymore."

On New Year's Eve, the two families had a reunion dinner together. In the city, many steps of celebrating the New Year have been simplified.

When Xia Minmin arrived at her uncle's house, she found that the young lady was not home. "Sister Qing, where is the young lady?"

Li Qing pulled Xia Minmin aside, "Keep your voice down, my sister had a big fight with my parents this morning and ran away."

"Sigh, I really don't know what's so good about love that makes people so crazy," Xia Minmin complained.

Li Qing teased, "You little brat, you know about love?"

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