Mei Si and her three apprentices strolled home after school. As soon as Mei Si and Mei Liang entered the yard, they found Mei's father sitting there in a daze.

"Dad, it's so cold outside, come inside!" Although Mei Si hadn't been sick since she regained her strength, the cold she had when she was a child left a deep impression on her.

"Haha, I felt it was too stuffy inside, so I came out to sit for a while. You should go back inside; it's cold outside, don't catch a cold." Mei's father laughed awkwardly and urged his daughter to go inside quickly.

Mei Liang rolled his eyes, thinking that his father must not have come out because the house was stuffy. When Mei Liang went inside, he saw that his mother's expression was indeed off.

"Mom, what's wrong? Did Dad upset you?" Mei Liang asked with a grin.

"Hmph! Your dad's a real buddy, he lent all the cloth ration coupons in the house to someone for their wedding." Mei's mother shouted towards the door, clearly wanting Mei's father outside to hear.

“We only got married once, so we had to make sure the other family had a respectable daughter-in-law! Besides, when we got married back then…” Mei’s father felt he had done the right thing.

"Don't bring up the past. Tell me yourself, how many cloth coupons did he lend you back then? Look at yourself now, you've run out of cloth coupons. Are you not going to make new clothes for the New Year? Do you want the children to wear old clothes for the New Year?" Aunt Mei got angry whenever she brought this up. Back then, he only lent Uncle Mei one foot of cloth coupons, and Uncle Mei lent them all out.

"Given the conditions back then, it was already a great favor that we lent him the money. Besides, Brother Xu said he would pay it back as soon as possible." Mei's father felt that there were still a few months until the New Year, so Brother Xu would definitely be able to pay it back.

"Come on, he was just saying that casually. Do you really think he can pay it back before the new year?" Mei's mother was so angry that she stood in front of the door, put her hands on her hips and shouted outside.

“Why can’t we pay it back? Brother Xu and I agreed.” Mei’s father felt that Mei’s mother thought too badly of Brother Xu.

"Bang!" Aunt Mei kicked the door open.

"Heh, why didn't you do some research before you lent him the money? His son went bankrupt to get married this time. They've spent a fortune on wedding preparations alone. They're in a lot of debt right now. Are you sure he'll pay you back first?" Mei's mother sneered, glaring at Mei's father.

"You're talking nonsense. Don't listen to those rumors. Brother Xu told me he borrowed it..."

"You don't need to tell me all this. Just go to the factory and ask around. He's probably already borrowed from everyone in your workshop. You'll know if you ask tomorrow." Mom waved her hand, unwilling to listen to Dad's nonsense anymore.

Mei's parents were speaking quite loudly, which woke up the little devil in the room. He sat up, looked around, and when he didn't see Mei's parents, he started to wail.

Mei's parents blocked the doorway, preventing Mei from going out. When she saw the little devil open his mouth, Mei had no choice but to go over to him for the sake of her ears.

"Don't cry!" Mei Si said, glaring at the little devil on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Waaah...hug!" The little devil Kaba Kaba's eyes widened, and he stretched out his hands to Mei Si for a hug.

"Brother, hold me." Mei Si directly ordered Mei Liang, who was hiding far away, to fulfill the little devil's request.

“Me? I won’t hug him. Last time he even pulled on me!” Mei Liang shook his head repeatedly, refusing to get close to the little devil no matter what.

"If you don't carry me, do you expect me to do it for you?" Mei Si raised her chin and adopted the airs of a master.

"...How about you teach me some other moves?" Mei Liang suddenly had a bright idea, thinking this was a good opportunity to make a request.

"Are you asking for a beating?" Mei Si frowned as she looked at Mei Liang, who was threatening her, and thought that he might be asking for a beating, just like Mei's father had said.

"I……"

"Waaah..." The little devil raised his arms for a long time, but when Mei Si still didn't hug him, he pouted and opened his mouth to howl.

"Alright, I promise you!" Mei Si waved her hand, signaling Mei Liang to quickly pick up the little devil.

"Little devil... cough, Jianjian, don't cry! Big brother will hug you." Mei Liang immediately stepped forward happily and picked up the little devil.

"Hmm~~No~! Hug!" The little devil didn't like being hugged by his smelly older brother. He reached out and pushed Mei Liang's face hard, twisting his body back and forth, and turned to shout "Hug!" at Mei Si.

"Behave yourself, or you'll fall to the ground! Sisi, come and hold him, I can't hold him any longer." Seeing that the little devil didn't like being held, and afraid of dropping the restless little devil to the ground, Mei Liang quickly stuffed the little devil into Mei Si's arms.

"..." Mei Si supported the little devil's buttocks with one hand and stiffly supported the little devil's back with the other.

Mei Si was very, very gentle, afraid that she might break the little devil's bones if she used too much force.

"Hehe... Daddy~!" The little devil rested his head on Mei Si's chubby shoulder and felt very comfortable!

"Pfft! Jianjian likes his older sister!" As soon as Mei's mother entered the room, she saw her youngest son leaning on her daughter's shoulder, looking very happy.

"Mom, take him away quickly." Mei Si heard her mother's voice but didn't dare to turn her head.

"What's the rush? Hold her a little longer." Mei's mother found her daughter's expression particularly amusing.

"Mom, you'd better take Jianjian away. Sisi has never held Jianjian before. She's heavy-handed. If she pinches Jianjian and makes him bruise, he'll scream in agony!" Mei Liang was also very worried about the little devil's safety.

"Don't talk nonsense. What do you think your sister is? You even pinched her until she was bruised?" Mei's mother rolled her eyes at Mei Liang, but still stepped forward and hugged her youngest son.

"Mommy, Mommy..." The little devil was so excited to see Mei's mother that he kept calling "Mom".

"I know, I know, come on, let's go have some milk." Mei's mother kissed her son and carried him to the inner room to breastfeed.

Before long, Grandma Mei finished cooking. Seeing that Dad Mei was still waiting outside the door, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her son.

"Come inside quickly. As for the cloth ration coupons, I'll ask my colleagues tomorrow and borrow some from them. It should be enough to make clothes for Mei Liang and the other two for the New Year."

“Mom, Brother Xu isn’t like that…” Mei’s father and Brother Xu have known each other for so many years, and Brother Xu has always taken good care of him.

"Alright! Let's not talk about this anymore. Hurry up and eat. I'll be chatting with my wife a bit these next couple of days." Grandma Mei winked at her son and glanced towards the inner room, signaling him not to upset his daughter-in-law anymore.

"Fifth Sister, you eat first, I'll hold Jianjian." Grandma Mei went into the inner room to ask her daughter-in-law to eat first.

"Mom, you guys eat first. Jianjian is nursing and won't be letting go anytime soon."

"Okay, I'll eat first, and then I'll come and take over for you." When Grandma Mei saw that her grandson was indeed nursing, she knew that there was no way to get him to stop now.

The next day at work, Grandma Mei tried several times to borrow cloth coupons from her closest colleagues, but she couldn't bring herself to ask.

Grandma Mei was widowed when she was young and raised her children alone. Even in the most difficult times, she never borrowed anything from others.

As I get older, I can no longer open my mouth.