As An Dalin spoke, his gaze fell on An Le again, and he sighed.
"Look how hungry the child is, you can tell he didn't eat well outside."
"Granddaughter, come here, let's eat and tell you all about it. This is your eldest uncle sitting on the east side, next to him are your second and third uncles, and over here are your eldest aunt, second aunt, and third aunt."
Anle patiently nodded and greeted everyone.
An Dalin glanced at An Mancang and his wife, who were sitting next to him and hadn't had a chance to say anything yet.
"Daughter-in-law, what are you standing there for? Serve your granddaughter a bowl of tofu soup. She's eating so fast, don't let her choke."
Qiao Qiuniang stared blankly at Anle's hearty meal, then quickly came to her senses and served Anle soup. Under the gaze of everyone at the table, especially under Qiao Qingnian's cold and stern gaze, serving the soup was a real struggle.
The younger generation of the Qiao family at the table stared dumbfounded at their ill-mannered little cousin.
He then stole a glance at An Dalin, who was leading the way in disrespecting his elders.
However, they only stole glances. After all, without Grandpa's permission, the younger generation had no say. Besides, being under his roof, they dared not say anything.
An Dalin slowly and deliberately served food to An Le while continuing his introduction.
"These two boys are Zhishu and Zhili, your eldest and second cousins from your maternal uncle's family."
These two girls are Zhiyi and Zhiqin. Your cousin Zhiyi is your maternal uncle's cousin. She is like your eldest sister, not talkative, but sensible and well-behaved.
This Zhiqin is from your second uncle's family; she's a bit lively.
These two boys from your third uncle's family are still young. There are also two younger boys from your second uncle's family.
Those four kids outside are them; they're all little rascals.
Anle nodded, said little, gave everyone a smile, greeted them, and then buried her head in her food.
An Mancang disregarded the rules of his father-in-law's side and forgot about them for a moment. He started serving food to Anle and was no longer so reserved. He just looked at his little girl with a loving expression.
I put two pieces of braised pork on Anle's plate and added a few desserts that Anle likes.
"Le Wa Zi, eat some meat, don't just eat vegetables."
"Dad, that's enough, that's enough, don't add any more, this is enough to eat." Anle lifted her face from the bowl, glanced at Anmancang, then buried her head again, shoveling large mouthfuls of rice into her mouth, her cheeks bulging.
As for the group of people An Dalin introduced to him, An Le casually greeted them and then forgot about them. He couldn't match the names of any of them to his cousins.
She had no interest in getting to know these cousins and relatives right now. Her eyelids were closed, she was chewing her food, and her head was practically drooping on the table, ready to doze off.
"Grandpa, I'm sleepy, I'm going to bed." After finishing half a bowl of rice, Anle yawned, still half asleep, and got up to walk out of the dining hall.
Standing in the dining hall, Anning was dumbfounded as she watched Anle's smooth and effortless movements as she sat down to eat.
Needless to say, they dared to sit at the table to eat, but even their greetings were so perfunctory. Looking at their lazy and listless demeanor, they seemed to have no bones left, and their eyelids were clearly never even lifted.
His lazy, listless demeanor infuriated Qiao Qingnian, who slammed his chopsticks down on the table with a loud bang.
The atmosphere in the dining hall froze instantly.
The younger generation of the Qiao family, who were sitting around the table, didn't dare to utter a sound.
Completely oblivious to the stiff and stagnant atmosphere, Anle strolled out of the dining hall and lazily wandered towards her room in the courtyard.
Anle wasn't truly oblivious; she wasn't someone who couldn't read the room or sense the atmosphere. It's just that she didn't have the energy to deal with these things right now.
At most, he's just a bit unruly and his behavior is unseemly and vulgar in front of these old folks.
She wasn't bothered by the old folks' disapproval, nor had she done anything wrong; she didn't dwell on such trivial matters.
These old-fashioned people are willing to stick to these etiquettes and value them more than anything else; let them struggle with their own issues.
All she wants to do right now is get a good night's sleep; she'll deal with anything else, no matter how big the problem, once she's awake.
She remembered that when she first entered the courtyard, she saw that the roof of the side room where she used to live had been repaired.
The inside of the house should be tidied up by now.
It's a good time to go back to my room and get a good night's sleep.
Even from a distance, one could still hear Qiao Qingnian's angry, deep voice behind them.
"This is outrageous! It's utterly unruly!"
An Dalin smiled leisurely, his temper quite good, and he tried to smooth things over for Anle.
“My dear brother-in-law, why are you arguing with a child? This child has been out there for many days, he must be starving and exhausted.”
Besides, what kind of manners or rules can you expect from a six-year-old child?
"She's six years old now, it's time to set some rules for her. When Zhiyi and Zhiqin were this age, they had already started learning rules. Which member of the Qiao family didn't start learning rules at this age?"
An Dalin took a sip of wine, grinned, and spoke earnestly.
“My dear in-law, you’ve said that. Isn’t that in your Qiao family? This is in my An family. We don’t do this kind of thing in my An family. The most important thing is to eat and drink our fill.”
Those kids who didn't learn manners still grew up to be sensible, didn't they? There's no need to be so harsh on children.
Look how scared these kids are.
"Everyone should eat and drink as they please," An Dalin said, trying to smooth things over.
The younger generation of the Qiao family held their chopsticks, but because of Qiao Qingnian's cold and angry face, they ate with no taste, as if chewing wax.
As An Dalin said, this was on An's territory, so Qiao Qingnian couldn't cause a scene. He could only suppress his anger, eat half of the meal, and then go back to his room to rest.
Seeing that Qiao Qingnian had put down his chopsticks and wasn't going to eat anymore, the old lady had no choice but to put down her chopsticks and leave with her husband.
“Qiu Niang, you all eat first. I’ll go check on him. Your father has always been like this, so stubborn.”
"Even now that we've come all this way, you're still putting on airs."
"Mother, it's alright. Hurry up and go see him. Bring this plate of pastries over too. I saw that Father ate two pieces, so he must really like them." Qiao Qiu's mother handed Qiao's mother a plate of pastries.
With the two elders no longer in the dining hall, the younger members of the Qiao family began to eat more freely, appearing less reserved. However, they still observed proper table manners, their every action clearly demonstrating excellent upbringing.
Seeing Qiao Qingnian's face contorted with anger, An Dalin felt completely satisfied.
"Eat, eat, eat whatever you want. Don't be shy here. Don't listen to your grandpa's nonsense. We don't follow those rules here. The most important thing is to eat your fill and enjoy yourself."
Qiao Zhili pursed her lips and gave An Dalin a polite smile.
"Hey, Grandpa An, the food here is the best ever."
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