Tonight is the weekly dinner time for Xia Minmin's family and Li Zhonghua's family.

Today's dinner is being held at Xia Minmin's house, and Li Chunmei is in charge of cooking.

After breakfast, Xia's maternal grandparents arrived at their daughter's house early to help.

Grandma Xia asked, "Chunmei, are you all alone at home? Where's Xiaomin?"

"Mom and Dad, please have a seat. Xiaomin and her classmate are going to the library and will be back in a bit."

Li Chunmei poured a cup of tea for Grandpa and Grandma Xia, saying, "Mom and Dad, you two watch TV for a while. I'll go and start stewing the braising liquid."

Li Chunmei went to the market early in the morning and bought a bunch of vegetables. She had just arrived home and the vegetables were still on the table when her maternal grandparents arrived.

Seeing Li Chunmei bustling around, Grandpa and Grandma Xia stopped watching TV and got up to sit at the dining table to help pick vegetables, while Li Chunmei was stewing broth in the kitchen.

To make braised meat, you must use fresh meat and stew it in advance for at least six or seven hours, otherwise the taste will be much worse.

Grandma Xia casually remarked, "Chunmei! Your father and I are planning to go back to our hometown with Jianguo for Qingming Festival."

Li Chunmei thought it was just a short trip back, "Sure! You can go back with Jianguo and come back together, so we can work in Shenzhen with peace of mind."

Grandma Xia hesitated for a moment, then said, "Chunmei, your father and I are planning to move back to our hometown to live permanently. We might come to Shenzhen for a few days in the future."

Li Chunmei put down the kitchen knife and came out of the kitchen to sit at the dining table. "Why did you suddenly decide to go back to your hometown to live for a long time? I've never heard you mention it before. Is it because your older brother and sister-in-law are not good to you?"

Grandma Xia patted Li Chunmei's hand on the table. "Don't get agitated. Your older brother and sister-in-law are very good to us. It's just that your father and I miss home. No matter how good this place is, it's not our home. No matter how bad home is, it's still home. We just want to return to our roots. Last time we went back, your uncle's health had deteriorated a lot. We also want to go back and see them more often. Maybe one day we'll never see them again."

Grandpa Xia continued picking vegetables as he spoke, “Chunmei, you young people can live and adapt well anywhere, but we are getting old and want to go back to familiar places, so that if something happens to us, we won’t die far from home.”

Li Chunmei was furious. "Pah, pah, pah... Dad, what are you saying? Even if you want to go back, you don't have to curse yourself with these words!"

Seeing that her daughter was softening, Grandma Xia continued, "We've been thinking about going home for almost a year now. In the past few years, you and your brother have both bought houses and settled down in Shenzhen, so your father and I are relieved. There's not much use for us staying here, so we might as well go back to our hometown."

Li Chunmei hugged Grandma Xia's arm and rested her head on Grandma Xia's shoulder. "Mom, how can you say that? Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. We all need both of you."

Grandpa Xia sighed, "The main reason is that we're both getting old and can't integrate into life here. We don't speak the language, and our film and television habits are different. A few years ago, we had something to do when we helped your older brother open his shop, but now that his shop is stable, we've become idle. Your mother and I just want to go back home, raise chickens and ducks, and spend our leisure time drinking, playing cards, and chatting with our old friends. How peaceful that would be!"

After hearing this, Li Chunmei remained silent for a long time. If it's so difficult for young people to integrate into life in Shenzhen, let alone the elderly. Since her parents are so unhappy here, it would be better to let them go home.

Li Chunmei, "Have you mentioned this to your older brother and sister-in-law?"

Grandpa Xia probably wanted to talk to them one by one, "No, I plan to talk about it during dinner tonight."

Li Chunmei has now largely switched sides. "Going back is not a problem, but we need to discuss the specifics of your retirement with your elder brother and sister-in-law before making a decision."

"Um."

The sound of the lock being opened came from the front door, and Xia Minmin came home from outside, carrying her schoolbag and several bags in her hands.

Li Chunmei said, "It should be Xiaomin who's back."

As the door opened, Xia Minmin's voice came through, "Mom, I'm home."

Grandpa and Grandma Xia walked to the entrance and took the bag from Xia Minmin's hand and the schoolbag from her shoulder. "Minmin's back! Are you tired?"

Seeing Xia's maternal grandparents acting this way, Li Chunmei could only sigh and smile wryly. The bond between grandparents and grandchildren was indeed different; her parents had never treated their children like this before.

"Grandpa, Grandma, when did you arrive? Why didn't you call ahead? Otherwise, I would have stayed home and waited for you!"

Xia Minmin took the hands of her maternal grandparents and walked to the living room, helping them to sit down. She then sat down next to the two elderly people herself.

Xia Minmin took out two tea cakes and sesame glutinous rice balls from the bag she had brought back and handed them to the two elderly people.

"These are tea cakes and sesame glutinous rice balls I just bought from your favorite pastry shop. Do you think they taste any different?"

The sweet tea cakes at this shop aren't actually that sweet, and Grandpa and Grandma Xia really liked them.

Xia Minmin took out a salty tea snack from the bag and handed it to Li Chunmei, saying, "Mom, this is salty, your favorite."

"This is still the best, it doesn't hurt your teeth!" Grandpa Xia has lost a lot of his teeth, and he loves to eat these pastries.

Grandma Xia glanced at her husband and said, "The doctor told you last time to eat less sweets, or you'll lose all your teeth."

"Okay! Okay!" Old woman, you're getting more and more nagging. I'll stop eating after this last one. Grandpa Xia casually took a sesame glutinous rice ball from the bag and went to sit on the single sofa.

"Grandma, it's okay to eat a little. This shop is far away, and Grandpa rarely gets to eat here. I didn't buy many sweets, just so Grandpa can have a taste," Xia Minmin comforted her grandmother, hugging her.

The TV was showing the classic 1998 Hong Kong TV series "The Devil's Tale". This series has been rebroadcast many times and remains a classic no matter when you watch it. My grandparents have also watched it several times.

Li Chunmei: "Mom and Dad, what would you like to eat for lunch?"

Grandma Xia glanced at Grandpa Xia and said, "Let's make some noodles. Your dad ate two pieces of glutinous rice balls, so he's probably not very hungry. We can just eat whatever we want."

Grandpa Xia kept his eyes fixed on the television, but unfortunately, his nervous hands betrayed him.

Xia Minmin couldn't help but find the two of them arguing amusing.

"Okay, we'll have noodles for lunch." Li Chunmei got up and went to the kitchen to get busy.

Xia Minmin cleaned up all the vegetables that hadn't been picked from the table and then took them to Li Chunmei in the kitchen.

The aroma of the braised meat had been fully released, filling the entire room with its fragrance. Xia Minmin kept swallowing, her stomach rumbling.

Xia Minmin stood by the braising pot for a long time. Li Chunmei looked at her daughter, who kept swallowing her saliva as she looked at the braising pot, and took out her chopsticks to pick up a small piece of lean meat for her.

Xia Minmin stuffed it into her mouth without thinking, and Li Chunmei wanted to say something, but it was too late.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!"