"So, Xiaoli's wedding dress is sorted out now, right?"

As soon as Qin Xiaoyu entered Building No. 4, she heard Xiaoli's mother's laughter.

“Of course! That’s why I said it would be better to get married in the summer. Wedding dresses are so beautiful; it’s freezing cold here in the middle of winter,” my cousin-in-law quickly agreed.

"We're just in a hurry to get our daughter-in-law into the family, so we don't care if it's winter or summer. But Fengqin's wedding dress has been in production for three months, hasn't it? It requires a skilled tailor to sew it stitch by stitch." Commander Wang passed the buck to Qin Xiaoyu.

"Not just that, from Sister Xiaoyue's first draft to the final product, it took four and a half months. And that was with the high-end order department working overtime." Qin Xiaoyu wasn't exaggerating.

"Then quickly design one for Xiaoli too, take your time, it should be ready by June, right?" Xiaoli's mother didn't care about arguing about who got married first, and just postponed the date herself.

No matter when, a woman always has a girlish heart. She had seen others wearing white wedding dresses and it would be a lie to say she wasn't envious. Now her daughter can wear one too, and it's even custom-made. Don't say wait three months, or even wait a year.

"June is perfect, not too hot or too cold, and the flowers are in bloom. Take lots of photos in your wedding dress; it's a once-in-a-lifetime event, and you'll cherish the memories forever." These words from her cousin-in-law made Xiaoli's mother overjoyed.

“Look, your future mother-in-law is more thoughtful than my own mother. I was being petty,” Xiaoli’s mother said, raising her glass to her cousin-in-law.

"It was my fault for not explaining clearly. That's why I say relatives should visit each other more often and chat more, otherwise people will become distant." Her cousin-in-law clinked glasses with her, and the two smiled at each other.

"Father-in-law, there's one more thing. We've prepared the betrothal gifts. Besides the appliances for the two children's wedding, we'll also give an additional ten thousand yuan." The cousin said this to Xiaoli's father.

Xiaoli's father was very well-off and had the look of a leader. He was a very steady person and didn't talk much. Xiaoli's mother had been in charge of the conversation, but she couldn't hold back after hearing this.

“What dowry? You’re being too polite, in-laws. We’re not selling our daughter,” Xiaoli’s father immediately objected.

“That’s right, we only have this one precious daughter. Last time I heard Tang Long say that we’ve prepared a TV, stereo, fan and air conditioner, and we don’t have anything else to buy. It was Xiaoli’s dad who said that it’s inconvenient for Longlong to drive, and he has to go around to do business, so he’ll buy a car for Xiaoli so she can drive it and take Longlong with her.”

Hearing this, Qin Xiaoyu was already impressed by everyone present. This scene of the in-laws' meeting was not much different from what one would expect in the 21st century.

Seeing that they were chatting so enthusiastically and wouldn't disperse anytime soon, the children who couldn't stay seated got off the table to play.

Qin Xiaoyu heard that they were laughing too loudly, so she took them all to the living room of Building 1 to avoid disturbing their serious conversation.

When A Lei saw her come out, he followed her. Qin Xiaoyu had something on her mind, so she waited to catch him.

"Are you trying to ask about the person who framed you last time?" A Lei was indeed quick-witted.

How did you know?

"I'm not stupid, am I?" A Lei laughed.

"Fine, will you confess, or should I resort to torture?"

"That depends on the type of torture. If you do it yourself, I'll have a taste." A Lei was in a good mood and started joking again.

"What do you want to try?" Qin Xiaoyu showed no mercy and twisted it directly. A Lei cried out in pain, attracting the attention of all the children.

Qin Xiaoyu dragged him sheepishly into the back room.

“I can’t talk about this, that person is related to my grandfather,” A Lei sighed.

"So there are people you can't afford to offend?" Qin Xiaoyu was somewhat deflated.

"It's not that I can't afford to offend them, it's that I've saved face. But someone has avenged you." A Lei smiled smugly.

Who is it?

"Zhou Yue".

"she?"

"Haven't you heard the saying? Great revenge is taken by those with low emotional intelligence." A Lei laughed and walked out.

Qin Xiaoyu was completely confused. Although Zhou Yue had a very straightforward temper and didn't watch her words, she was a kind-hearted little lamb at heart. Could she take revenge? Even if she did, she wouldn't have the strength to do so.

She still felt suffocated.

Time flies, and New Year's Eve is here. We've all been busy these past few days with gatherings and meals, so everyone's tired. We'll keep New Year's Eve simple.

Although Zhu Bao wasn't going home for the New Year and was called over, Qin Xiaoyu wanted him to rest well and wouldn't allow him to do anything.

In the end, Qi Si found two chefs from the shop who couldn't go home for the Chinese New Year and gave them several times the pay, as long as they could prepare these meals for the New Year.

Grandma Hanhan prepared frozen dumplings and made some fresh ones, so we started eating buffet from morning.

The children certainly had no objections; they were setting off firecrackers outside from morning till night, and when called back, they would disappear again within minutes.

"Let them be. How many more years can they have this much fun? In a few years, we won't have such happy times anymore," Tang Long said with some sadness.

"You little rascal, you're getting married soon, why are you suddenly being so sour? Is it pre-wedding jitters?"

"No, it's that I feel a heavier burden on my shoulders. I have to support a family. My parents used to support me. Now I have to support others. But this is still better than before, when you had to support a whole family. I really hope you can get married and find someone to rely on."

Qin Xiaoyu listened attentively at first, but as she listened, she couldn't help but blush.

"This child is starting to boss me around, he's gone mad!"

She glanced back at A Lei. A new year had begun. How far would they go?

Last year's Spring Festival Gala was a scene of collapse, while 1986 was a year of great harvest.

Qin Xiaoyu had seen online that the 1986 Spring Festival Gala was the most successful one yet. Only after experiencing it firsthand did she realize that this was no exaggeration.

That year, Jiang Dawei sang his hit song "Where the Peach Blossoms Bloom." The skits performed by Zhu Shimao and Chen Peisi were never embarrassing.

There were also Zheng Xulan's "Butterfly Lovers", Zhang Delan's "Beautiful Spring", and the star-studded chorus of "New Year's Greetings Song" which were particularly delightful.

Qin Xiaoyu sat in front of the TV with her family, laughing and joking together, until midnight before they knew it.

The original plan was for the elderly to go to sleep first, but this time the mood was different; with so many people and so much fun, everyone stayed up until it was time to eat dumplings. Even Xiao Si's wife came over to join in after she had put her child to sleep.

Qi Si originally wanted the chef to stay with them, but his cousin-in-law scolded him for it.

"Are you trying to turn us into pampered young mistresses? Who doesn't know how to cook dumplings? Let people have a day off during the New Year. I'll do it myself, you don't need to."

"That's because I was worried you'd get tired."

“One person can just lend a hand. There are so many of us, it’s not tiring,” Zhou Xing’s mother said with a smile.

A Lei and the children had already gone outside to set off firecrackers. When the clock struck twelve and the dumplings were put into the pot, he lit ten thousand firecrackers outside, which were deafening and loud.

My wife is too old to eat much, fearing she won't be able to digest it. She only ate one dumpling to mark the occasion, but unexpectedly bit into a peanut.

In northern China, it was customary to wrap a copper coin inside a dumpling. Anyone who found a coin in their dumpling was believed to have good fortune and wealth in the new year.