Chapter 283 The habit of making decisions for others comes back again

"Suozi and I opened a shop together. The catering industry doesn't have a break on weekdays. We only have a few days off at the end of the year. We decided to discuss the store's affairs together, do some New Year activities, and then go out for fun. There is a Canglang Mountain near her home, and she has always wanted to take me there. We plan to go there during the New Year holidays." Zhao Xiaojing said half-truthfully.

"Then go in two days. You finally come back, so you might as well stay at home for two more days. Besides, tomorrow is the first day of the new year, so it's not good to go to someone else's house during the New Year. You can stay at my place, and I can cook two more meals for you at home. It's okay even if we go out to eat. You can come with me wherever I go. It's okay to be generous." Dong Mei advised.

"Aunt, you have so many things to do here. You still have to deal with the divorce, right? And no matter where you take me, I won't feel comfortable. I came back just to see you and Sister Yanyan. I'll have no worries when I see you." Zhao Xiaojing said.

"You... don't want to see your uncle? Are you still blaming him? In fact, your uncle is not a bad person, he is just poor and afraid of taking responsibility..." Dong Mei's voice gradually became lower.

"Aunt, he is indeed not a bad person, but he has nothing to do with me. It's not a question of whether I blame him or not. But after seeing you and Sister Yanyan, I am content. There is no point in meeting other people for me." Zhao Xiaojing said frankly.

In fact, even when her mother was seriously ill, Zhao Xiaojing never thought of asking for help from her uncle's family. Firstly, they were all poor people, and she knew they could not help much, so she did not want to trouble them. Secondly, she knew her uncle's character, that he was weak and irresponsible, and would just push things onto others when encountering problems, so she and her mother did not mention this person at the time.

But from then on, whenever they met occasionally, or when they couldn't avoid each other at Dong Mei's house, he would deliberately avoid Zhao Xiaojing, and his words would be like, "A married daughter belongs to another family, and a poor person should have his own integrity," to imply that Zhao Xiaojing should not get involved and that if she had any trouble, she should not get involved with him.

He wasn't really a bad guy, because he hadn't done anything to take advantage of someone's misfortune. He was simply afraid that Zhao Xiaojing would blackmail him. But after something like this, there was really no need to treat him as a relative. Just someone you knew. If you were in a good mood, you'd say hello. If you were not, you could just turn around and leave.

If even his uncle was like this, let alone other relatives. In recent years, when these people saw Dong Mei, they didn't even dare to ask about Zhao Xiaojing, for fear that Dong Mei would ask them for help. Zhao Xiaojing also tactfully pretended not to know them. Every Chinese New Year, she would only have dinner with Zhou Chuyan's family at Dong Mei's house on the night of the 30th. On the second day of the New Year, she would wait for Zhou Chuyan to come back and then go to Dong Mei's house for dinner.

"If it were someone else, I wouldn't say anything if you didn't leave, but your eldest uncle is your biological uncle. He was also very sad when your mother passed away. After all, blood is thicker than water. You should at least meet and have a meal together." Dong Mei frowned and advised, "I'll give half of the things you brought back to him. You can take them to him tomorrow. Then you can talk more with your eldest uncle and aunt, and hug your brother Yun's daughter. Once the knot in your heart is untied, it will be over. In fact, he has asked about you from time to time in the past few years. We are a family, so there is no hardship."

Zhao Xiaojing smiled, knowing Dong Mei's habit of making decisions for others had struck again. "The things I brought back are for you and Sister Yanyan. You can each have one. Since I'm giving them to you, you can do whatever you want with them. You can give them to anyone else. But I won't take them away and give them away in my name."

I have already made an appointment with Shuzi. She will come to Yangcheng to visit relatives tomorrow morning and pick me up. I will leave early, so you don't have to worry about me. You can just go and wish each other a happy new year."

"How did you..."

"Third Aunt, you haven't finished preparing the things Uncle Ren asked you to prepare. Everyone will be back to work on the eighth day of the New Year. You have to hurry up. This is the most important thing now. I'm going to sleep for a while. I'm sleepy."

After saying this, Zhao Xiaojing smiled at Dong Mei and walked straight into the bedroom.

Dong Mei looked at her back and wanted to say something but stopped herself. She moved her body to get up, then shook her head and finally gave up trying to persuade her.

Zhao Xiaojing closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't know if Dong Mei's attitude had changed before and after she became independent, but she did feel a lot less pressure on her now. She used to be so ungrateful and always felt indebted to Dong Mei, finding it hard to refuse. But now, she could finally speak her mind freely and forcefully interrupt Dong Mei's spell.

Sister Yanyan wasn't kidding me. Dong Mei's good mood really only lasted three days! I've already seen signs of it today. If I don't leave tomorrow, I'm going to switch to sullen and lecturing mode. Tomorrow is the day. Run!

Zhao Xiaojing immediately took out her cell phone and sent a message to Su Yuchen.

…

The next day, Zhao Xiaojing got up early, packed up everything in the house, put the items in their original order, took off all the sheets and quilt covers and put them in the washing machine, folded the bedding and put it on the bed. After quickly washing up, she left the bedroom and said goodbye to Dong Mei, who had just gotten up and was about to open the door of the guest room to call Zhou Jianye, and then slipped away before she could react.

"Why are you acting like a thief?" Su Yuchen was yawning in the car when he saw Zhao Xiaojing running out of the neighborhood with a sneaky look on her face. She quickly opened the storage box in the car and threw the luggage in, then quickly got into the passenger seat and closed the door, looking very stealthy.

"It's not like I'm stealing. My third aunt was obviously in a bad mood. I said a few words and ran away when she just got up and didn't react. Drive quickly!" Zhao Xiaojing fastened her seat belt and relaxed a lot.

"Are you in a bad mood because of your third uncle? You don't have to be like this. You're acting like you're escaping from prison."

"Not entirely. There are many factors involved. Sister Yanyan and the others came over last night, and my third uncle also came back from the hospital. The family only has one meal together once a year, and it's a mess again. She was in a bad mood last night." Zhao Xiaojing shook her head with lingering fear.

Yesterday afternoon, Zhao Xiaojing hid in the bedroom, and Dong Mei began to prepare the reunion dinner. She was busy in the kitchen for the whole afternoon. Later, Zhao Xiaojing went over to help and finally cooked a table full of dishes.

It goes without saying that chicken soup, pork rib soup, roasted pig's trotters, family soup, steamed fish, etc. are available every year. Dong Mei also went to great lengths to make boiled meatballs, braised pork with preserved vegetables, and even eight-treasure rice.

As a result, at dinner time, Zhou Chuyan and her family picked up Zhou Jianye from the hospital. As soon as he entered the house, Zhou Jianye started sneezing and throwing a bunch of paper everywhere, and scolded Dong Mei for being heartless. Zhou Chuyan and her husband also started arguing inexplicably in the living room, and the quarrel was so fierce that Hanhan was scared and burst into tears. The house was in chaos before dinner even started.

After Dong Mei came out and yelled, the others quieted down. Zhou Chuyan then instructed Sun Junwei to coax Hanhan, but Sun Junwei was clumsy and Hanhan cried even harder. Zhou Chuyan cursed and scolded Sun Junwei while coaxing the child. Zhou Jianye couldn't stand it anymore and thought his daughter was being overbearing, so he scolded Zhou Chuyan again. Then Zhou Chuyan and Zhou Jianye started arguing again...