On the morning of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Yumei and her elder sister Chen Chunhua went to Uncle Chen's house to help with cooking.
Before leaving, Chen Lao Er said to Li Yumei,
"Yu Mei, put a five-yuan red envelope in your hand, and give it to Peng Hua's girlfriend later."
Chen Lao Er felt that he still needed to remind her, otherwise she definitely wouldn't do it.
"Five yuan? Two yuan is enough." Li Yumei asked a little unhappily, "Will Penghua's boyfriend give Xiaobao a red envelope in return? Xiaobao is only ten years old." She even thought that Chunhua and the others should receive one too.
Chen Lao Er stared at his wife for a moment, wondering how he had never noticed before how stingy she was.
As the second uncle and second aunt, when their future niece-in-law visited for the first time, they gave her a two-yuan red envelope.
What will my parents and older brother say about me if they find out? I am, after all, a small business owner.
In the Chen sisters' room, Chen Xihua and the others overheard: Li Yumei's thought process was ridiculous. She thought that if the future daughter-in-law was going to give a red envelope to her brother-in-law, then shouldn't the sisters also receive one? This was her sister-in-law, after all; shouldn't they try to get along with her?
Li Yumei probably wasn't thinking that giving away one child would result in receiving six in return—what a bargain! Chen Xihua felt that Li Yumei had indeed considered that.
Actually, Chen Xihua and her sisters didn't plan to go to Uncle Chen's house, but her second sister Chen Jinhua and Chen Xiaoliu wanted to go and see what kind of person the woman was, so they all went.
Chen Xihua and the others arrived just before lunchtime.
When I arrived, they were just about to start serving dinner. They were having two tables set up, with a small low table placed in the corner of the living room!
At this moment, Grandma Chen and her aunt Wang Fen were in the living room talking to a girl who looked to be around twenty years old.
Grandma Chen's face was beaming with a wide smile, and Auntie Chen also wore a smile throughout, seemingly very satisfied.
On the other side, Grandpa Chen, Uncle Chen, and Second Uncle Chen were watching TV.
Chen Penghua sat next to the girl, while Chen Jianhua went in and out of the kitchen doorway, helping to bring out the prepared dishes and set them on the table.
Chen Xihua had guessed that this would be the case. Li Yumei and her older sister were cooking in the kitchen. Fortunately, Chen Jianhua was there to help out. If it were her, she would have quit long ago.
She suddenly remembered something she had seen on Douyin before: the whole family eats together, but one person does all the work. In the video, a woman got annoyed while working and threw a freshly plucked chicken into a ditch.
Although it was a funny video, now that I've actually seen it, Li Yumei didn't resist.
Li Yumei only throws tantrums and curses at home, but she swallows her anger and begs when she's with Grandpa and Grandma Chen. Does she really think it's so shameful to have given birth to her sisters? That she's inferior? Coward.
Only the eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, would come to help without complaint.
Of course, it's not that they just stood there and didn't help when they arrived, but at least everyone pitched in together, rather than relying solely on Li Yumei and her eldest sister.
"Xiao Bao, come here and meet her. This is your older brother's girlfriend, his future sister-in-law, Li Xiaoling."
"Xiaoling, this is Penghua's second uncle's youngest son, Xiaobao. Those are his second uncle's girls; the eldest is cooking in the kitchen, the one you just saw."
As soon as Grandma Chen saw Chen Baohua, she happily waved for him to come over.
"Hello Xiaobao, hello to all the Chen family sisters." Li Xiaoling greeted them politely, and then fell silent.
"Hello, Sister Xiaoling." The Chen siblings greeted her in unison.
Li Xiaoling is a round-faced, slightly chubby girl who is not very tall. She looks very kind, with her hair in two braids and wearing a pink coat, giving her a cheerful and energetic appearance.
At first glance, Chen Xihua felt that it was quite good, but she would only know for sure after getting to know it.
The Chen sisters are really beautiful, and Li Xiaoling also secretly sized up the Chen Xihua sisters.
Director Li of the textile factory is her uncle, and she also works at the textile factory. She and her boyfriend Penghua have known each other for four or five years at the textile factory, but they have only been dating for a little over a year.
Originally, her family disapproved of her relationship with Chen Penghua, but she just liked him. Moreover, Penghua's family agreed, and after they got married, they moved out to live separately and had already bought a house, saying that the house would belong to Penghua in the future.
Also, Penghua's parents won't be living with them; they'll be living with her uncle Chen Jianhua in a house in the family compound. So her family reluctantly agreed.
In addition, Li Xiaoling's mother is unemployed and stays at home, and does not want to go back to work in a factory.
I just want her to visit her husband's second uncle and aunt's pastry shop often after she gets married, take a look around, chat with them a few times, and she should be able to learn how to make it. Then she can go back and tell her mother that she can open a pastry shop too.
Actually, Li Xiaoling's mother had made it a few times before, but the taste wasn't very good.
During the meal, Chen Xihua's family, except for Chen Lao Er who ate at the main table, all ate at another small low table. She regretted coming; there was no excitement or drama to watch.
"Brother, you said you'd lend me two thousand yuan, are you going to give it to me in the next couple of days?"
"Second brother, let me introduce Chunhua to someone."
Uncle Chen and his brother, Chen Lao Er, spoke at the same time.
For some unknown reason, Chen Lao Er brought up the matter of borrowing money as soon as he started eating.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Chen disregarded the matter of introducing a potential partner and asked, "Second brother, when did I agree to lend you two thousand?"
Uncle Chen's family was also stunned. Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen looked at Chen Lao Er with reproachful eyes. They had been annoyed by Lao Er's frequent visits to their home to make trouble and complain about being poor, so they had just casually agreed.
This second brother is really something. Every time he says something, he just wants the money back. It's only been a year.
Moreover, Uncle Chen originally intended to postpone it as long as possible. His eldest son's wedding would cost money; the Li family was asking for a dowry of 1,500 yuan, and the house renovations would also be paid for by his family. They really didn't have much money left.
The woman's family was better off than his own, and both his mother and his wife thought highly of Li Xiaoling as their daughter-in-law.
My mother said: This girl has big hips, so she'll be more fertile. She can only have one child now, so Xiaoling will definitely have a son, unlike my second brother's wife who had five daughters in a row.
At this moment, Uncle Chen was thinking to himself while secretly cursing Chen Lao Er.
But Chen Lao Er ignored everything, looked up at his nephew Peng Hua and Li Xiaoling, then at his parents and elder brother: if they didn't lend him money, he would tell them about the debt for buying the house and let Xiao Bao go live with Chen Peng Hua and his wife in the future.
Uncle Chen also saw the meaning in his second brother's eyes. How could that be? He had originally planned to let his eldest son move into the new house after he got married.
My second brother's son, Xiaobao, definitely won't go to live there. It's too far to go to school in the northern part of the county, and my second brother's wife won't agree to let Xiaobao leave her.
That ten thousand yuan can be repaid slowly, or it can be left unpaid. Dad also meant that we didn't have to repay my second brother.
It's one thing for them to come over and make a fuss all the time, but I didn't expect my second brother to bring it up again now. Where am I supposed to find two thousand to lend him?
My second brother is so reckless. It feels like he's back to before he went to the countryside, before he got married. Is he going to act like a scoundrel and cause trouble?
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