sister-in-law
"Qingli, Qingli!"
Xu Nian was startled by Xu's mother's loud shout. Just as he regained his composure, he heard his two sisters-in-law say excitedly, "It's my aunt! My aunt is here."
Xu Nian suddenly looked at the woman who was coming towards them, and at the same time, he unconsciously followed his family to greet her.
After the reunion, Xu Nian was attracted by Xu Qingli, the younger aunt of the Xu family who was praised by everyone at first sight. She knew that the younger aunt was about forty years old, but she looked to be in her early thirties. What was different from her imagination was that she thought the younger aunt was the kind of decisive and heroic queen, but the result was completely the opposite.
It was not the short hair of the educated youth that was popular at the time, but a slightly curly medium-length hairstyle. The bangs were blown messy by the wind, but they could not cover the small oval face.
Her facial features were delicate and small, her eyebrows and eyes were smiling, her lips painted with lipstick looked very healthy, and the corners of her lips were naturally slightly upturned, and she seemed to have a good temper. She always felt a sense of familiarity when she looked at Xu Qingli. Before she could figure it out, she heard her say, "Second sister-in-law, what a coincidence, you didn't come to pick us up specially!"
Lv Mei hadn't expected to meet Xu Qingli today. "What a coincidence! The weather is nice today, and I took them to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some New Year's gifts. I didn't expect our family to meet up early."
Lv Mei exchanged a few lively words with Xu Qingli, then hurriedly greeted Mei Xu, who was standing next to her sister-in-law. "It's been a while since I last saw Duan Jiang. You look more energetic now. You must be tired after riding the train for several days!"
Following Xu's mother's words, Xu Nian's gaze shifted again. The man was probably her uncle who had been promoted to deputy regimental commander. He looked to be around 40 years old, with skin a little darker than wheat color. It was understandable, after all, the military profession required them to ensure the intensity of training regardless of wind and rain, so he was tall and strong. It was just that his facial lines were too tough, and he looked very serious when he was not smiling.
Facing his family, Duan Jiang obviously adjusted his expression. A smile appeared on his face, but it was not exaggerated. "Second sister-in-law, it's been a long time. Qingli and I took the sleeper all the way here, so it wasn't too tiring."
Lu Mei clasped her hands together and said, "That's good, that's good." She clapped her hands and said, "The three of us have only been talking." Pointing at Xu Nian and his two wives, she said, "I guess the three of them are too embarrassed to say hello."
As the eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Xu was quite good at handling things. Seeing them talking, she hurried forward and said, "Aunt, uncle, it's been a long time since we last met. The last time we met was when Feng Jian and I got married. This time, my aunt looks even younger. I almost didn't recognize her."
What she said was pleasing, and Xu Qingli smiled. With this smile, Xu Nian finally felt that the place was familiar, as if she was looking in the mirror.
Lv Mei took her second daughter-in-law and introduced her to her younger sister-in-law: "Qingli, you haven't met Fengkang's wife yet, right? Here, this is her. She's quite reserved, sorry!"
Shen Jinxia, who was named, hurriedly said, "Aunt, uncle, I am Jinxia." After saying just a few words, her face turned red, and she looked so ordinary that she didn't seem like a human being.
Finally, only Xu Nian was left without saying hello. In fact, she had cleverly called out to people in a low voice as soon as they met. It was just that the adults suddenly gathered together and started chatting excitedly, so no one listened to her. Only Duan Jiang had sharp ears and heard her and smiled at her.
This time, without Lü Mei saying anything, Xu Qingli approached Xu Nian and said, "This is Nian Nian, you've grown so big." As she spoke, she reached out and held Xu Nian's small hand, "Why is it so cold? Are you cold?"
Xu Nian shook her head. "Aunt, this is natural. My mother always says she gave birth to a snowman."
Lu Meizhen tapped her daughter's forehead in surprise.
Xu Qingli laughed at what she saw, and then she pulled Xu Nian and said to her, "Sister-in-law, please point it out to her. I think what Nian Nian said sounds like what your sister-in-law said."
Xu Nian chuckled twice. Her mother and her aunt seemed to have a good relationship. Perhaps because her laughter was too vulgar, Xu Qingli, who was standing next to her, looked at her seriously again. After a few moments, she said to her husband, "People used to say my niece looked like my aunt, but I didn't think so. But when I look at her today, I realize that Nian Nian and I are strangely similar."
Pulling Xu Nian, he said to Duan Jiang, "Do you think it looks like him?"
Duan Jiang also felt friendly towards Xu Nian, after all, she looked like his wife. He nodded naturally and joked, "This is like seeing what you looked like when you were a child."
After hearing this sentence, Xu Nian knew that the couple must have a very good relationship.
Lu Mei was so happy when her sister-in-law said her daughter looked like her. The main thing was that her sister-in-law was capable, so her daughter would probably be no different in the future. When she saw the couple arrive with two large bags and no children, she asked, "Why didn't Jingjing and Xuxu come with them?"
Duan Jiang replied to his sister-in-law, "They were sent to my parents' place. The child followed us everywhere. The child's grandfather missed them, so I decided to send them there."
Lu Mei realized that her brother-in-law had something else in mind. He was afraid that they would have an opinion about her sister-in-law not bringing her children. He told her in advance that he would make the decision himself, for fear that the blame would be put on her sister-in-law.
But to be honest, she is not her own child, and they have never interacted with each other. To put it bluntly, she doesn't care at all. But she is very happy that her sister-in-law is protected. She has watched Xu Qingli grow up and get married. She is a sensible, smart and motivated sister. No one would dislike her. Even the eldest sister-in-law has nothing to complain about her sister-in-law.
She followed Duan Jiang's words and said, "It's definitely sad that my in-laws haven't seen their grandchildren for such a long time. But when there's a chance, we must let Jingjing Xuxu come and live here for a while. Their grandparents also miss them."
When Xu Qingli thought of her parents, she felt even more guilty. She was not very filial. For the sake of her career and her family, she had not visited her parents for almost five years. Duan Jiang saw that his wife was in a low mood and changed the subject.
"We were planning to head home right away, but when we got here it was already noon, so we decided to just have lunch and head home. Then we remembered your letter saying Feng Cheng is working at the county timber mill, so we decided to invite him to go to the state-owned restaurant for a quick meal."
Lu Mei clapped her hands again, "As the saying goes, 'Birds of a feather flock together.' After we finished shopping, it looked like it was almost noon, so we decided to call Feng Cheng to go have lunch with us!"
Xu Nian wanted to laugh after hearing this, not for any other reason but because he suddenly thought of his third brother's miserable appearance. If he knew that he was so popular, he would probably be so proud of himself.
Speak of the devil, and he will appear. As soon as the bell rang at the timber furniture factory, a lot of people rushed out of the door in an instant. His third brother ran quite fast, and when he saw her, he came over and waved to her.
Xu Nian's hand was still in her aunt's hand. She shook her hand gently, interrupting the four women's conversation, "Mom, aunt, my brother is here."
As she finished speaking, Xu Fengcheng also came over. When he saw his aunt, he was surprised and asked in surprise, "Aunt? Uncle-in-law?"
"Ahem, aunt, uncle, you're here!"
Xu Qingli had always been very gentle and kind, but when she saw Xu Fengcheng, she gave him a thumbs up and said, "Fengcheng, well done. Last time I left, he was worried about studying every day, but now he's become a worker."
After hearing this, Xu Nian just wanted to laugh!
Xu Fengcheng scratched his head awkwardly, then hurriedly said, "You haven't eaten yet, right? I'll take you to the state-owned restaurant for dinner."
The large group had been busy all morning and were naturally hungry, so they didn't hesitate to leave.
To be honest, the Xu family was quite considerate. After consulting Duan Jiang, Xu Fengcheng placed all the packages, including the New Year's goods he had distributed, in the duty room, and then went to the restaurant chatting and laughing all the way.
As soon as he entered, he made eye contact with his girlfriend. Their eyes hooked up for a moment and then looked away immediately. After Xu Fengcheng settled himself in his seat, he was about to order food. Duan Jiang, a grown man, also stood up to make arrangements after hearing this, but he didn't expect his nephew to be so bold. He pushed him back to his seat and went to the front desk by himself.
Xu Nian saw that her aunt said something to her uncle and he stopped moving. She saw that they continued with other topics, so she secretly left her seat and went to the front desk.
Before she even got close, she heard her brother say to someone, "Qiaoqiao, my aunt just arrived today and is visiting her family. Bring me whatever delicious food you have today. I have to treat her well."
A female voice said, "How about five dishes and a soup? Finally, I'll give you a big bowl of hand-rolled noodles."
"Don't we always say that we eat dumplings when we get on the bus and noodles when we get off~~~~"
Xu Nian smiled inwardly at the lingering sound of the last word, thinking that her brother must be feeling very happy.
"Qiaoqiao, how come you are so kind and know so much? Thanks to you, my mom will definitely praise me today. She will definitely say that I have improved and understand people and can get things done... Hehe, they don't know that I have an expert behind me who guides me every day."
Xu Nian, who was watching secretly, felt a pang of pain in her teeth. However, she had heard from her third brother some time ago that they had a plan in mind. After paying back the money for the family's job, they would probably make the couple public...
After a while, the food was served one by one. Maybe everyone was hungry, so they just ate without vainly eating. However, everyone's eating manners were acceptable. Only she didn't expect that her tall and strong brother-in-law was quite sticky.
After thinking about it, she didn't think the word "sickly" was accurate. It could be said to be romantic. She saw the man pick the lean meat of the braised pork and give it to his wife, leaving the fat for himself. Xu Nian felt that her sister-in-law had a good eye for choosing men. When she took a bite of the spicy tofu, she thought that Xu Hongqi seemed to have done something similar for her.
——
When Xu Hongqi returned home, he found it very quiet. He was a little puzzled. It was already past five o'clock. Usually, smoke would be rising from the kitchen and people would be cooking. It should be lunchtime by then.
He was also holding a bag of donkey rolls in his hand. Xu Nian had eaten it last time and couldn't forget it. During the few days he stayed at home during the winter vacation, he often talked about how delicious it was. He had been looking for it for a long time today just to buy it. Mainly, people only buy it in these few days. He even rode a bicycle back and forth, and the "stall" was very unstable.
He originally wanted to give her a surprise, but there was no one at home. He went to the backyard to look for someone. During the winter vacation, Xu Nian was more responsible for taking care of the children, and the children could not stay in the house. But recently, because Tiedan fell into the river, the three little ones had to obediently go to the backyard to run and play.
But Xu Nian didn't want to go out all the time, so he coaxed and tricked them into playing in the house. When he couldn't keep still anymore, he would open his drawer and share the snacks he had stored with them.
Xu Hongqi wanted to laugh when he thought about it. It was even more strange when he saw that the two chickens in the backyard had fresh feed in their rice bowls. Where did they all go?
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