The day before Lunar New Year's Eve, Chen Jianhua, the second cousin of Uncle Chen, came to visit and said that his grandfather wanted his second uncle's family to come to his house for a reunion dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve!
Li Yumei and the Chen sisters didn't want to go, as they were working hard but still not getting enough to eat. However, they had no choice but to go after Grandpa Chen spoke up. On New Year's Eve, the second son's family didn't go to help in the morning. They ate their New Year's Eve dinner around 3 p.m. and then went to Uncle Chen's house together as an early New Year's greeting.
When we arrived at Uncle Chen's house, they started preparing dinner. Since Li Yumei and her daughter didn't come to help, it was Aunt Wang Fen and Grandma Chen, who don't usually do much cooking, who prepared the dinner.
Except for Chen Lao Er himself, who sat down to eat, the rest of Chen Lao Er's family just grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and sat on the side watching TV.
The only slightly appealing thing about Uncle Chen's house was the old black-and-white television set where you could watch the New Year's Eve gala. And Uncle Chen's family must have something important to do to invite them over.
In recent years, Chen Lao Er and Li Yumei still refused to buy a television. If it weren't for the tape recorder, Chen Xihua felt that he was about to become disconnected from society!
"Second brother, I heard the pastry shop is doing very well lately, making over a hundred yuan a day, which adds up to twenty or thirty thousand a year!" Grandpa Chen took a sip of his drink and spoke first!
"Dad, it'll only take a day or two to reach that, it's not a regular occurrence!" Chen Lao Er was a little vague. He used to like to show off when he had some money, but not anymore! Because Xiao Wu always said, "Don't flaunt your wealth!"
“Penghua has a girlfriend, and she wants to have her own house after they get married!” Seeing that Chen Lao Er didn’t respond, Grandpa Chen suppressed his temper and continued, “Your eldest brother wants to buy a small apartment, which costs 56,000 yuan. I was thinking, it would be good to buy another house, so that Penghua and Jianhua can each have one house, one for each of them!”
Chen Lao Er picked up a piece of meat, then ate some vegetables, and then took a sip of wine, but still didn't react.
"Second brother, I'm short 30,000 yuan right now. My little sister Jianhong agreed to lend me 10,000 yuan. Do you think you could lend me 20,000 yuan? I'll pay you back in a few years!" Seeing the situation, Uncle Chen realized he couldn't rely on his father alone to help him, so he started telling his second brother about his family's difficulties. "Your little nephew Jianhua missed getting into Jiang City's high school by a few points last year, so we spent some money to get him into high school in Jiang City!"
“That’s great! Jianhua can go to high school, so he won’t have to look for a job so quickly! My eldest and second eldest sons are both in high school in Jiang City!” Chen Lao Er still didn’t respond.
"Second son, just lend your eldest brother 20,000 yuan. I know you have it. I visit your pastry shop every day!" Grandma Chen couldn't wait any longer and was getting impatient. Originally, she and her eldest son's wife, Wang Fen, had agreed not to ask, fearing that if the women asked, the second son's daughters would interrupt!
Chen Lao Er was indeed too full to eat anymore. He should have eaten less at home. He put down his chopsticks, looked up, and said, "Dad, Mom, eldest brother, my family doesn't have 20,000 yuan. But since my younger sister has already lent it, as her younger brother, I can't say I won't lend her a single penny. But I only have 5,000 yuan, nothing more. I have six children, Dad, you have to understand me! You also have six grandchildren, and their tuition alone is six or seven thousand yuan a year." It wasn't just his eldest brother's family that complained about being poor; he did too!
"Big sister and second sister, what's the point of them still going to high school? They'll be married in a couple of years. Don't send them there next year. And no matter what, you have to lend them ten thousand, not less than your sister!" Grandpa Chen made the final decision, his face darkening, teetering on the edge of exploding with anger, but he held back. Why couldn't his second son just agree readily? He had tried to talk to him nicely, but he always ended up making him furious. Couldn't a father interfere in his son's family affairs?
“Hey Dad, ten thousand it is. Let Uncle write an IOU and sign it. He’ll pay it back within two years. If he doesn’t, then let our little Liu go live in Uncle’s new house. Right now, isn’t little Liu still sleeping in the dining room?” Chen Xihua suddenly chimed in. The whole family can’t rely on Chen Lao Er alone. They’re all being won over by his grandparents and uncle.
“My eldest and second eldest sisters won’t drop out of school. If they don’t have money to go to high school, we’ll have my eldest sister borrow from the bank. She’s already eighteen. At worst, the bank will just earn some interest!”
Chen Xihua knew that she couldn't refuse to lend money to her uncle's family. The pastry shop was open for business every day, and she could guess that they were making some money. However, she couldn't say outright that her family had bought a new apartment in the northern part of the county and didn't have much money left. Otherwise, her uncle's family would have her older cousin go and stay there.
Their family only has one son, Xiao Liu, but they own two houses, and one of them is empty. Even if Grandpa Chen has no shame, he will ask about it. At worst, he, as the biological father and mother, will go and live there. Chen Lao Er, the son, has no way to argue with that!
Upon hearing about bank interest rates, Chen Lao Er also thought of his new house. He felt he couldn't let his father and the others know he had bought a house, so he looked troubled, as if he had made a very difficult decision, and said, "Dad, eldest brother, ten thousand yuan is all the money we can come up with right now. My family has to open a pastry shop on the second day of the Lunar New Year, otherwise I won't be able to afford Chunhua and the others' tuition fees when school starts. I can't really let Chunhua, a girl, borrow money from the bank to go to school, right? People will laugh at me to death!"
"We need to write an IOU, and eldest brother has to sign it!" Chen Lao Er hurriedly demanded again!
"Second son, you're brothers, why write an IOU!" Hearing that he was willing to lend 10,000 yuan, Grandpa Chen's expression improved considerably, and he felt relieved. He was already short 20,000 yuan, and his youngest daughter was willing to lend him 10,000 yuan. Moreover, he didn't intend for his eldest son to repay the money. If it dragged on for a few years, it would just be forgotten!
The eldest son has two grandsons, while the second son only has one. It's only right that the second son gives the eldest son some money for household expenses, since they are all grandsons of the Chen family. As for the granddaughters, they will all get married sooner or later, so using the Chen family's money is a waste!
Although Li Yumei was very reluctant to lend money, she knew it was impossible at this moment. If the people in the western district of the county knew that she refused to lend money, they would spit on her family. After all, it was her parents-in-law who gave her and Chen Lao Er the job back then, although a big reason was that they were old and could not work properly. They had already found other jobs and planned to sell their jobs.
"Father-in-law, mother-in-law, and my brother-in-law must write an IOU, with clear notes and my brother-in-law's signature. If it can't be repaid in two years, my baby must have a share in my brother-in-law's new house! Otherwise, I won't agree to the loan, and I also have a share in the family's money!"
"Li Yumei, what right do you, a mere woman, have to speak? My son's family is none of your business!" Grandma Chen was already very dissatisfied, glaring angrily at Li Yumei. A rural woman, if it weren't for her second son's willingness to marry her, who knows which remote mountain village she would have been married off to! And she gave birth to so many daughters, a waste of money.
“I made both the osmanthus cake and the water chestnut cake. Without me, what would Chen Lao Er sell to make money? If you don’t write an IOU, I won’t lend it to you. Mother-in-law, you don’t need to look down on me. It’s been so many years since we entered the new society. Women have long been able to hold up half the sky!” Seeing that her fifth daughter could speak up for her without fear, Li Yumei, as the mistress of the house, could not be timid and be bullied by her parents-in-law and her husband’s family!
Chen Xihua never expected that Li Yumei, who was so sexist, would actually say that women can hold up half the sky!
"Penghua, bring me paper and pen, I'll write!" Uncle Chen knew that saying more would be useless. His second brother was becoming more and more shrewd, and his fifth daughter always caused trouble at crucial moments, and no one cared about her. She wasn't even afraid of her own father. If it were his daughter, he would have slapped her until her mouth was swollen!
Aunt Wang Fen got up first and went to her room to get paper and pen. She didn't want to care about or care about the petty thoughts of her parents-in-law and husband. She wouldn't lower herself to borrow money, but unfortunately, the family was short of money, so she just pretended not to see it!
"Thank you, Second Uncle and Second Aunt!" Chen Penghua said his thanks sincerely. Although it was hard to tell if he was being sincere, he was about to get married and had learned a lot about social etiquette and how to save face.
Actually, it was Wang Fen who reminded him. This second brother's family were not good people. Before, this younger brother liked to show off and was very concerned about his reputation. He was easily flattered. He was able to become a self-employed business owner, so he must have been showing off everywhere, saying how much money he had made. Now he is much more composed and smarter and knows to restrain himself!
"Grandpa, Grandma, we're going home now. Dad, remember, write the IOU and sign it before you borrow money!" Chen Xihua didn't care about the others. Now her grandparents and Uncle Chen didn't bother arguing with her anymore. When she mentioned writing the IOU, no one contradicted her. They just kept focusing on her father, probably knowing they couldn't win the argument, or perhaps they thought this little girl dared to argue with an adult and didn't want to talk to her!
This winter is particularly cold. When the Chen siblings ran home, they were choked by the wind as soon as they tried to speak!
As soon as she entered the house, Chen Jinhua couldn't help but complain, "Really, my grandparents always help my uncle's family swindle money from us. They are so biased. They won't let my older sister and me go to school. Although I don't like studying, I will continue to study for them. Isn't our Xiaobao their grandson too? Xiaobao doesn't even have a room to sleep in! My uncle's family has a three-bedroom house, which is much bigger than ours."
Apart from Chen Xihua, none of the Chen siblings knew that Chen Lao Er had bought a commercial apartment. At the time, Chen Xihua reminded him privately, and Chen Lao Er had learned his lesson, so he didn't tell the rest of the family!
"That's right, Grandpa and Grandma only think about my eldest and second cousins, why don't they buy a house for our little one too?" Chen Meihua was also very unhappy!
At this moment, Chen Baohua, who had been a little unhappy before entering the door, suddenly changed his expression to a smile. "Sister, I'm fine!" In fact, he understood everything. He was in the third grade, and he knew that his grandparents sometimes spoiled him and gave him red envelopes for the New Year. His sisters didn't get any, but he couldn't compare to his two older cousins!
"Little Six, don't be unhappy. When I make money, we'll buy our own house. Fifth Sister will buy you a big house in the future!" Chen Xihua couldn't bear to see Chen Xiaoliu pretending not to care. This little fat boy had never needed to pretend since he was a child. His parents spoiled him. Any unhappiness he had was always written on his face and could be seen at a glance. When he was little, he would immediately throw a tantrum if he was unhappy, but now he actually knows how to be patient!
"Okay, Fifth Sister promised you'd buy me a house. I'm your favorite little brother!" Chen Baohua was only unhappy for a moment. Anyway, he had parents and sisters, and his sisters were very good to him.
He is the only younger brother in the family, and he will support his older sisters in the future!
Seeing that Chen Xiaoliu didn't seem to care, Chen Xihua wanted to comfort her Xiaoliu again. "Yes, I love Xiaoliu the most. People are naturally biased. It's normal for grandparents to favor the eldest uncle's family. Just like me, I always favor our Xiaoliu and not the eldest sister and the others. Xiaoliu also has people who are biased!"
Chen Baohua suddenly couldn't hold back anymore. She felt a little wronged, her heart ached, and her eyes reddened. "Fifth Sister is the best!"
"Who asked you to be biased?" Chen Jinhua retorted arrogantly; she didn't need it. The other three sisters, however, fell silent, lost in thought. After figuring things out, they no longer felt wronged or angry; they were simply used to it.
"Yes, I do favor Sixth Sister, but I also like Fifth Sister!" Chen Xiuhua said shyly, revealing her true feelings. She had always silently admired Fifth Sister before.
"Ugh, so pretentious! You guys are really something else, you're giving me goosebumps!" Chen Meihua, who loves being pretentious the most, actually called others pretentious!
As the eldest sister, Chen Chunhua has always had a strong sense of responsibility. It is her duty to be good to her younger siblings and to love and care for them.
She felt very bad and guilty before. She and her sisters were not well treated since they were young, and she could not help them. Every time her grandparents opened their mouths, they would talk about marrying her off.
Now that she had heard what her fifth sister said, she felt much better. They would also favor their own people, so she didn't need to care about others!
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