Li Yun stood at the gate of the yard, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corners of her clothes, her eyes slightly red.

Li Jianghai sighed and patted her shoulders twice with his rough hands. "Children are all debts... Your sister-in-law is just angry. She just said it out of turn. Don't take it to heart."

In the twilight, Li Yun lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly: "Brother, it's all my fault. It's New Year's Day..."

"Alright, alright," Li Jianghai interrupted her, pulling out a crumpled cigarette case from his pocket. "Let's go back quickly. It's getting dark."

He paused, then added, "Be careful on the road."

Li Yun nodded, turned and walked out the door.

I took a few steps and turned back, and saw my brother standing at the door, his figure stretched out by the setting sun.

She opened her mouth but said nothing in the end. She just held the bag her sister-in-law stuffed into her arms tighter.

On the way, even Nan Nan, who had been chattering all the time, followed her family silently. Ji Enli could only touch the little girl's head to comfort her!

Li Yun suddenly stopped and looked at the twinkling lights in the distance, tears falling on her bag.

In addition to the hot sauce given by her sister-in-law, there were also two big unity notes that she secretly put back - she knew that her brother and sister-in-law's family were also living a tight life.

If Li Guifang were here, she would take her sister-in-law to her Guifangzhai for a stroll and show off!

It’s all her fault for being too low-key. What a pity!

Back then, my sister-in-law was a rural kid who was married to a section chief in the county town and lived in a government housing estate. She also heard a lot of gossip!

Now that the family has some capital, we should also let my sister-in-law be happy.

At least in the eyes of my husband's family, I'll stand taller. Oh well! What a mistake.

Next time when you meet some people from my aunt’s family, you have to act like a smart guy!

"Mom..." Qi Xiangbei called softly.

Li Yun wiped her face and walked forward without looking back: "It's okay, let's go."

The night wind blew away her voice and dried the tears from the corners of her eyes.

But the guilt in her heart weighed heavily on her like the chili sauce in her bag.

——

When Li Yun and her friends took the last bus and returned home, it was already 8 o'clock.

"Oh my god, this rickety car is shaking my butt so much it's split in two. Ouch! My waist is so sore too!"

Nan Nan rubbed her waist and kept complaining after jumping off the minibus.

Li Yun hugged the little girl who was still complaining, "What nonsense! How can a child have a waist? Okay, stop talking. Isn't it coming?"

Qi Xu first took out the key and opened the gate. The iron gate creaked with a sound that was particularly harsh in the quiet night.

"Hey, you still remember to come back? I thought you were going to be at Li's house after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month!"

As soon as the lights in the main room came on, Old Lady Qi's wrinkled face appeared at the door.

As soon as I opened my mouth, I smelled a sour and smelly smell.

Mr. Qi, your mother specially changed into a crimson cotton-padded jacket today, which made her old face look like a wilted eggplant.

He was holding a handful of melon seeds in his hand, cracking them with a "crunch" sound.

Li Yun's heart skipped a beat, knowing that her mother-in-law was going to find fault again.

This old lady is over seventy years old, but she is more energetic than young people. She can find fault with her daughter-in-law from different angles all day long.

"Mom, you're joking again. My brother-in-law treated me so warmly that he insisted on having dinner before letting me go. It's hard to refuse such hospitality!"

Qi Jixian spoke to comfort the old lady who was about to start making trouble again!

"Tsk, a warm hospitality? How can we be so warm and welcoming? The Li family is so poor, it's good enough that they don't come to ask for money, but they still want to be warm and welcoming!"

She hasn't forgotten that a few months ago, she borrowed money on the pretext that her child needed to go to school, and she even planned to pay back a small amount in order to borrow a large amount. It was hilarious.

He already has several grandchildren, but he still comes to borrow money for his son’s education. How funny!

Although he didn’t come to borrow it later, who knows, maybe this daughter-in-law sent it back!

"Grandma! You're right!"

Granddaughter Nan Nan suddenly jumped out and touched her round belly, "The local chicken stewed by my uncle's family is so delicious. I haven't even digested the chicken legs and ribs in my stomach yet!

If you don't believe me, how about I burp and let you smell it to see if I've had a big meal? Smell it carefully—burp!

As he said this, he burped towards the old lady's face.

"You're going to die!" Old Lady Qi slapped Nan Nan on the butt, then turned and glared at her daughter-in-law, "Look at the good girl you taught!"

Old Mrs. Qi was so disgusted that she counted on her wrinkled fingers and scolded, "You guys are so many people that the gifts you brought over would have to be transported by truck. You're so happy to be given some leftovers? You must be really hungry!"

It seems that he is scolding Nan Nan, but in fact he is still scolding Li Yun!

"Yes, yes, grandma, you're right! We even gave away half-drunk wine as a gift. The gift we gave was incredibly generous!"

I think my aunt is too practical. She can’t steam some pumpkins or winter melons for us. Why should we eat chicken? It’s not nutritious at all!

Qi Xiangdong doesn't indulge Old Lady Qi. Ever since Old Lady Qi came to the city to live with their family, his second uncle has come to ask for money every now and then.

I'll beat him if I want. The problem is that Mrs. Qi gave all the things to her uncle to take back. Suddenly she felt that there were not enough things.

I was still suspicious, wondering if my mother Li Yun secretly took things to help my uncle's family.

He was impressed by the old lady's train of thought!

When Li Yun heard what her mother-in-law said, she didn't know where to put her hands. The family opened the New Year's goods that her sister-in-law brought back directly, and it was obvious whether they were leftovers or not!

Li Yun opened the two large plastic bags in her hand one by one. One bag contained fried meatballs, spring rolls, and lotus root boxes, and the other bag contained homemade sausages and blood sausage.

"Grandma, these are all given by my uncle and aunt." Ji Enli said softly, but her words did not pamper the old lady.

If you don't like these scraps, mother-in-law, can you give them to me tomorrow and take them back to my own home? My father has always liked them!

Old Mrs. Qi was so choked that she stared blankly, not even cracking her melon seeds: "How can you talk like that, child? Are you still thinking about the gifts your mother-in-law's family sent you?"

"Mom, don't think too much," Li Yun quickly tried to smooth things over, "My sister-in-law asked me to bring these back for you to try.

I have prepared something to bring back to Enli!"

"Hmph!" the old lady plopped down on the sofa. "Who knows if you've sold all our good things to your parents in exchange for these?"

The old lady is being unreasonable!

I counted the ribs in the refrigerator yesterday, and three were missing!

Li Yun almost laughed out loud.

Who would still care about those spare ribs during Chinese New Year? Besides, she had clearly bought those spare ribs herself before the New Year!

Even if I bring it back, so what?

The old lady seemed to realize that she was being unreasonable and abruptly changed the subject!

"Hey, where are the Xiangbei couple? I'm still having Xiaoxia massage my legs!"

Whenever the old lady mentioned Qi Xia, the whole family felt as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly!!!