"I saw that the light wasn't on in that room, so I came to take a look." Seeing Qin Xiaoyu moving from the kang (a heated brick bed) to the floor, the wife added with a stern face, "If you've finished the ginger candy, buy some more."

"Okay, I'll come tomorrow." Qin Xiaoyu thought to herself, how could she possibly finish all that ginger candy? It was clearly an excuse; the old lady liked lively gatherings, but the Tang family wasn't coming to her side, so she was getting impatient. Now she couldn't wait any longer and came to her door on her own initiative.

The lady was helped into the kang (heated brick bed), and Hanhan peeled melon seeds for her. The younger sister followed her brother's example and started peeling seeds too. The lady ate slowly because her teeth weren't good, so she ate little by little. Originally, when she entered the room, Hanhan's grandmother and her cousin-in-law didn't dare to speak, but Qin Xiaoyu didn't care about that. She deliberately started an interesting topic, and the women quickly became lively again.

"Sister-in-law, you said Old Zhang's son next door is getting married soon, what should we give him as a gift?" Grandma Hanhan asked her cousin-in-law.

"Just give me a pair of pillowcases, that's all I have. We haven't had any happy events in our family for a long time, so we haven't received any gifts."

"No need for you to send anything, second son's wife. When you go over tomorrow, I'll bring you a double bed sheet. You can just send it as a gift from the whole family. When your father passed away, his family sent a curtain with the pine and crane motif, and the whole family came for dinner."

The lady suddenly interjected, and upon hearing that they no longer needed to send gifts, the two were naturally delighted.

Qin Xiaoyu chuckled inwardly. This old lady is really vengeful; it's been years already. She must be a Scorpio.

She suddenly remembered something: it's already early November, shouldn't Scorpios be celebrating their birthdays?

Upon reviewing her memories, Qin Xiaoyu was genuinely startled. It turned out that her mother-in-law's birthday was indeed in the autumn. In previous years, her aunt would choose the date to celebrate it, but this year, her aunt had stepped down, and Grandma Hanhan was unaware of the situation.

The old lady has her own pride and wouldn't bring it up herself, but she's probably anxious inside. Her coming out to interfere in the evening might be a subtle way of reminding her.

After taking his wife home that evening, Qin Xiaoyu called Hanhan's grandmother aside.

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten! Let me do the math! It was Sunday. Oh dear! What would I have done if I had forgotten?" Grandma Hanhan said repeatedly, still shaken.

"My wife is turning eighty this year, which is a big birthday celebration, so we should have a proper celebration."

"You're full of clever ideas, so tell me what to do. I'll listen to you." Grandma Hanhan directly delegated authority, which surprised Qin Xiaoyu. But then she thought that it would be a good thing to use her wife's birthday to unite the Tang family again.

"Mom, how about this, I'll think it over tonight and tell you what to do tomorrow."

Qin Xiaoyu went back and made a plan, arranging her wife's birthday. She figured the old lady wouldn't bring it up; besides the eldest aunt, no one in the family remembered. The eldest aunt would never let it slip, just waiting to see everyone make a fool of themselves. The old lady also intended to test her; if none of her children and grandchildren remembered her birthday, it wouldn't matter who she doted on.

Qin Xiaoyu harbored a mischievous thought and told Grandma Hanhan to keep quiet and bring back extra groceries every day. Since it was cold now, some food wouldn't spoil if it was cooked and stored in the big vat in the yard; it could just be reheated later.

On Sunday, let Grandpa Hanhan take his wife to Old Zhang's son's wedding; she should enjoy the festivities.

The women at home have prepared everything; she'll start the feast as soon as she arrives—it'll be a surprise.

"Why go through all this trouble?" Although Grandpa Hanhan didn't quite agree, he still had to listen to what Qin Xiaoyu said.

"Mom, this is for you." Qin Xiaoyu took out an envelope and handed it over. She knew that Hanhan's grandmother was always stingy. Even if she was asked to host a family banquet, the money would come from the family fund, and she would be reluctant to spend it.

If the meal is just a meager, simple meal, my wife probably won't be happy, and it would be better not to celebrate the birthday at all. Why go to all that trouble? So it has to be a beautiful affair, because my wife cares a lot about appearances.

"Give me so much?" Grandma Hanhan was startled. There was 80 yuan in the envelope, which was almost two months' salary. It was quite frightening; this money was too hot to handle.

“This money isn’t all for the birthday banquet; thirty percent is for you.”

"What are you going to do with the money?" Grandma Hanhan was increasingly puzzled.

“We work outside while you stay home taking care of the elderly and doing housework, so it’s normal to give you money.”

"Isn't it my duty to do housework? That's what I do."

“Mom, that’s not how it works. We work outside and earn money, but you also work and don’t earn money. Over the years, I haven’t dared to buy any new clothes or shoes. I feel guilty because I feel like I’m spending someone else’s money. But it’s not like that. You work too.”

When Qin Xiaoyu explained this theory, Grandma Hanhan was dumbfounded. It seemed to make sense, but hadn't it been like this for thousands of years? Women doing housework at home didn't count as work.

"That's too much. Don't give me so much. I'll keep ten yuan. You work hard from dawn till dusk to earn money, and you've spent a lot of money on your family."

Although Grandma Hanhan was greedy, she still had some conscience; she felt uneasy taking the money.

When Qin Xiaoyu took out the money, she didn't expect to hear these words from Grandma Hanhan. She was quite surprised and moved, and felt that the money was well spent.

"Mom, please accept this. I'll give it to you every month from now on."

"What? You give it to me every month?" Grandma Hanhan felt her head spin and her blood pressure spike. Was she dreaming?

"Wenzhi's wife, why can't I understand you?"

"We're a family, whether we understand each other or not, it's all in our hearts."

After Qin Xiaoyu finished speaking, she walked out. She couldn't ride her bicycle anymore, and she couldn't stay out too late.

Grandma Hanhan watched her retreating figure and murmured, "If only Wenzhi were still here, this would feel like a home, wouldn't it?"

Due to the weather, there was noticeably less work in the shop, but they had made a fortune recently. It was a good time to take a break. The two of them knitted sweaters and chatted while watching the heavy snow falling outside. Their peaceful life made them inexplicably content.

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