After the two families reached an agreement to jointly buy the house, everyone went to the kitchen to make final preparations for dinner.
Xia Minmin, Wang Yu, and Xiao Bao arrived home amidst their playful bickering.
"It smells so good." Xiao Bao stood at the door with his eyes closed, sniffing the fragrance in the air, and smiled happily.
Not long after, Xiao Bao suddenly changed his expression, "Oh! What a pity! In a few days, my aunt and uncle will be leaving, and I will have to suffer from my mother's poison again. The food she makes is so awful."
Xia Minmin and Wang Yu watched Chen Chunhua bring the dishes out of the kitchen and kept tugging at Xiao Bao's clothes. Unfortunately, Xiao Bao was still immersed in the aroma and did not notice his two older sisters' gestures at all.
"If you're so capable, then don't eat my cooking, just cook for yourself."
Chen Chunhua's gloomy voice rang in Xiao Bao's ears.
Xiao Bao looked at Chen Chunhua standing next to him and immediately covered his ears with both hands.
The skill in those movements was so practiced it was heartbreaking.
Xia Minmin and Wang Yu also shivered.
After a while, Xiao Bao didn't sense Chen Chunhua's next move. He squinted at the situation and, finding Chen Chunhua still there, immediately closed his eyes again, pretending nothing had happened.
Chen Chunhua was also helpless when she saw Xiaobao like this. "You should put your schoolbag down and wash your hands. Look at how dirty you are."
After hearing Chen Chunhua speak, Xiao Bao immediately ran back to his room to put down his schoolbag; his ears were safe now.
Chen Chunhua watched as Xiao Bao ran back to his room, gesturing wildly, and decided to let him off easily, thinking he was just asking for a beating.
Chen Chunhua smiled kindly at her nieces standing beside her, "Xiaomin, Xiaoyu, you should go wash your hands too, we're about to eat."
When Wang Yu saw Chen Chunhua's expression change instantly, she was so frightened that she pushed Xia Minmin and headed towards the backyard.
Chen Chunhua watched her two nieces walk away, somewhat bewildered. "I don't think I scolded them. Why did they run away so fast, looking at me like I was a ghost?"
Once in the backyard, Wang Yu kept patting her chest and said, "Oh dear, my aunt scared me to death just now. Xiaomin, when my aunt smiled at me, I was terrified. She was like the Big Bad Wolf from a fairy tale."
Xia Minmin burst out laughing. Chen Chunhua had tried to appear kind, but her smile was forced and looked rather scary, which could be frightening to a real child.
Seeing that Xia Minmin was somewhat skeptical, Wang Yu deliberately stood next to Xia Minmin's ear and whispered, "My aunt really likes to pinch people's ears. I've seen her pinch my uncle's and Xiao Bao's ears more than once. I'd better behave myself at her house in the future, or I'll be the next one to get my ears pinched."
Li Chunmei, who was busy in the kitchen, saw that Xia Minmin and Wang Yu had gone to the backyard and hadn't returned for a long time, and thought that the two of them had caused some trouble again.
Li Chunmei stood at the doorway from the kitchen to the backyard and saw the two children whispering to each other. "You two hurry up and wash your hands. The guests have all arrived, and we need to prepare dinner."
Upon hearing what Li Chunmei said, Xia Mingming and Wang Yu quickly washed their hands in the sink.
The two people washing their hands were restless, constantly splashing water on each other's faces.
Li Chunmei could only clear her throat.
The two little monkeys immediately quieted down and obediently began to wash their hands.
Xiao Bao also came over from Li Chunmei and joined his two older sisters in washing their hands. Because Li Chunmei was watching, the three children obediently finished washing their hands.
Li Chunmei returned to the kitchen with a sense of relief. "We really can't let these three children stay together all the time, otherwise they'll really turn the world upside down. They're too naughty!"
Xia Xiaomei laughed, "I never realized Xiaomin could be naughty before. I only discovered this after she came home. It turns out that Xiaomin, who seems so mature, can be naughty too."
Xia Damei watched the children shoving and jostling past the kitchen. "They've probably been corrupted by our Xiaoyu."
The main room was full of people, and the noise of their conversations could be heard in the kitchen.
Xia Xiaomei glanced at it and said, "We can start preparing the stir-fry now."
The weather isn't very hot yet, so we have to wait until all the guests arrive before we start cooking, otherwise they'll have to eat cold food.
The Xia family's old house still uses a wood-fired stove with two large iron pots, which are especially suitable for cooking when there are many guests. They are not only fast but also perfect for preparing banquets.
Uncle Xia's daughter-in-law came into the kitchen and said, "Thank you for your hard work today, you sisters-in-law, you've made so many delicious dishes!"
Li Chunmei took her arm and said, "Why are you being so polite? You're doing this for our family's sake, and we'll have to trouble you again tomorrow."
Xia Xiaomei took off her apron and said to them, "Sisters, let's go eat. They must be getting impatient waiting outside."
The other three tables were already full, and everyone had started eating.
“Jianshe and Jianguo, you two brothers are really generous, cooking so many delicious dishes to entertain us.”
"Jianguo is a big boss now, how could he possibly try to fool us with inferior food?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Jianguo had no choice but to stand up and clarify, "No, no, my older brother paid for all the meals these past few days."
Wow! How could Chen Chunhua be so generous?
"Really? I've never had a decent meal at Jianshe's house before!"
"We have to eat our money's worth today."
Chen Chunhua stood up and laughed, scolding, "Did I ever mistreat you before?"
One of them quickly exclaimed, "No! No!"
The person sitting to his right sneered, "Haha, if you've got guts, don't back down!"
"This is my way of showing respect to the host!" he said, taking a sip of wine.
At this moment, Xia Jianshe stood up and raised his glass, "We'll need everyone's help to erect the monument tomorrow. Come to my house for breakfast and lunch, adults and children alike, there'll be plenty of food!"
"Build a grand future!"
"Then don't complain that we eat too much."
After the banquet ended in the evening, people from each family who had eaten came over to help clean up the pots and pans.
Looking at the clean house, Li Chunmei couldn't help but marvel at the power of many hands; the group of them had worked all day to prepare four tables of dinner.
Chen Chunhua said, "Remember to come over for breakfast tomorrow morning. I bought a lot of rice noodles today."
"Around what time? We'll come to help this morning too!" said one of the daughters-in-law.
Chen Chunhua looked at Li Chunmei, who had been so busy these past few days, going to town to buy groceries every day, that she had forgotten what time the auspicious hour was.
Li Chunmei: "Let's have breakfast at 7! 9 is an auspicious time!"
“Okay, we’ll come over at 6:30 to help! We expect even more guests for lunch tomorrow, and my aunts should be back too.”
Chen Chunhua replied, "Yes, the construction team invited a few of them a couple of days ago."
"Okay, if there's nothing else, we'll head back now. See you tomorrow!"
Li Chunmei and the others stood at the door, watching their sister-in-law and brother-in-law who had helped them go home.
"Remember not to cook tomorrow, the whole family should come over for dinner!"
"Okay, you can go in now and get some rest."
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