At the end of August, Chen Xihua was preparing to register at Jiangshi Middle School, and the day before, at noon, Grandma Chen came to the Chen family home.
"Second son, I'm taking Xiaobao to the new district in the north of the county for the next few days. He'll be staying at Penghua's house for a while." Grandma Chen stated her purpose as soon as she entered the door, sounding somewhat bossy.
"Mother, why? What are you up to now?" Chen Lao Er's head started to ache at his mother's tone. Was it because he hadn't gone to his elder brother's house to ask for the money back lately, and his mother was just bored and had nothing better to do?
"Yes, Grandma, it seems my uncle's family isn't planning to pay back the money. There's still seven thousand yuan left." Li Yumei frowned slightly, biting her lip, clearly unhappy.
Her first thought was that her uncle's family didn't want to pay back the money, and thought that letting Xiaobao stay for a while would be considered repayment? That was impossible.
"Money, money, money... Li Yumei, all you ever think about is money." Grandma Chen's eyebrows furrowed, her face darkened, and she angrily confronted Li Yumei.
"Mother, then tell me, why did you let Xiaobao go to live in Penghua's new house?" Chen Lao Er asked his mother patiently.
"Isn't Xiaoling five or six months pregnant? Her belly looks so round, I'm afraid it's a girl. I'm thinking of having Xiaobao stay with us for a while. I heard that if someone has the luck of a child, the Goddess of Mercy can send a big, healthy boy." Grandma Chen's expression softened a bit when she spoke to her son, and she explained with an air of importance.
“Mother, you’re being ridiculous. This is superstition and shouldn’t be accepted. We should believe in science,” Chen Lao Er said with absolute certainty.
Hearing this in the dining room, Chen Xihua raised her eyebrows in surprise and turned to look at him twice: "So, Chen Lao Er also knows that you have to believe in science when it comes to having a boy or a girl?"
Chen Lao Er also noticed that Xiao Wu was looking at him, and his gaze was a little strange. But soon, he guessed what Xiao Wu meant.
Then he smiled smugly: he himself had five daughters, how could he not know that?
Actually, he had secretly asked the doctor when Li Yumei gave birth to her fourth daughter.
The doctor said that a biological scientist in the United States concluded a long time ago that there is a scientific basis for the sex of a child, and that it is determined at the time of conception, with the sex of the child mainly depending on the man.
Otherwise, would he really have had no lingering resentment back then and continued living with his wife? He did want a son, didn't he? Besides, the people in the textile factory's residential area always laughed behind his back, saying he was a useless man for not having a son.
“That’s right, Mother-in-law, how can you still believe that? Didn’t you let Penghua and Jianhua stay at my house for a few months back then? Didn’t I still give birth to Meihua, that third daughter?”
Li Yumei gets angry whenever she mentions this. During that time, she was pregnant and had to take care of her daughter as well as her brother-in-law's two sons. Moreover, those two boys ate a lot, and if she cooked less rice, they would go back to their parents-in-law and complain that she was mistreating them.
"Mother, is that so?" Chen San San, who had just come out of the room, suddenly looked at Li Yu Mei with curiosity and interest. Her mother seemed to have just been talking about her.
"Third Sister, Mother was talking about you, not you," Chen Xiuhua explained to San San in a low voice.
"This...this happened later, didn't you have Xiaobao? I don't want to talk to you about it." Grandma Chen turned to look at Chen Baohua. "Xiaobao, isn't Grandma very good to you? I spoil you too. Will you listen to Grandma? Come with Grandma to stay at your eldest cousin's house for a month or two."
"Grandma, I still have to go to school, it's inconvenient for me, Fifth Sister..." Chen Baohua had been a little anxious when his grandmother came in and started talking. Now that his grandmother was asking him again, he could only stammer and say that he disagreed and refused her first.
Then he looked at Chen Xihua, and even tugged at his fifth sister's hand, asking her to speak up for him.
"Xiao Liu, think it through yourself. Don't ask me. I'm going to Jiang City to study high school tomorrow, and you'll be studying alone in Gaoyang County from now on. You can't just listen to me in everything. You have to have your own considerations. If there's something you really don't want to do, find a way to refuse it yourself."
Chen Xihua calmly and softly told Chen Xiaoliu that she really wasn't going to get involved in this matter.
Moreover, Li Yumei would definitely not agree to it; how could she possibly let Xiao Liu leave her and go live in someone else's house?
Chen Xihua could even imagine that when Xiao Liu went to high school and lived in the dorms, Li Yumei would probably want to go with him to accompany him. But by then, Chen Xiao Liu would be grown up and should be able to convince Li Yumei herself, so she should start learning how to refuse people now.
"Think for myself, I think, I think..." Chen Baohua realized that his fifth sister really didn't care about him, so he could only rack his brains to think of a way to refuse his grandmother. Should he just say he didn't want to go?
Less than half a minute.
"Grandma, um...don't you spoil me a lot? If I really go and live there, won't my eldest sister-in-law's unborn nephew be unhappy? Will he think that you only spoil me and that I'm going to compete with him for your affection? What if he doesn't come?" Chen Baohua suddenly remembered that his fifth sister often jokingly scolded him, telling him not to compete with his sisters for affection.
"Oh, is that so?" Grandma Chen was skeptical at first, then nodded immediately and agreed repeatedly, finding it quite reasonable. "Yes, you can't go. If my great-grandson knew I was taking you there, he would definitely think I don't like him and wouldn't come."
While talking to herself, Grandma Chen shook her head, and then, as if she had thought of something, she hurriedly went out and left.
The Chen family was stunned: "...They just left like that?"
Chen Xihua was also a little surprised. She gave Chen Xiaoliu a thumbs up, genuinely admiring him. This Xiaoliu really knew how to win favor.
However, Grandma Chen's thought process was so quick that she changed her mind. She wanted to see what kind of solution Chen Xiaoliu could come up with.
"Fifth sister, am I right? You too, from now on you can only spoil me, you can't be nicer to the other sisters than to me. I'm your favorite little brother." Chen Xiaoliu breathed a sigh of relief after seeing his grandmother leave, then looked at Chen Xihua with a smug expression.
As expected, they were father and son, their expressions exactly the same as Chen Lao Er's just now.
"Sixth Brother, when has Fifth Brother ever not been the best to you?" Chen San San couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't that she wanted to compete with him for favor, but Sixth Brother was too smug, and Fifth Brother always softened his heart towards him.
"Yes, you've improved. You're the best, and I'm the kindest to you." Although Chen Xihua smiled and agreed with him, she was thinking to herself, "Let's wait and see if Xiao Liu will cry again tomorrow."
Fourth Sister Chen Xiuhua smiled and agreed. After Chen Lao Er and his wife found that nothing was wrong, they went back to their room for a midday rest.
The next morning at seven o'clock, the three daughters of the Chen family prepared to leave for Jiang City to attend high school, and the Chen family walked out of the gate of the residential area together.
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