The road to town and the road to Xia Damei's house are about the same distance.
Xia Jianshe and Chen Chunhua set off and returned at roughly the same time.
Wang Jie, carrying Xia Damei and Wang Yu, followed Xia Jianshe back.
Xia Damei looked at the strange man standing outside the courtyard and said loudly to Xia Jianguo, "Second brother, second brother, this must be our brother-in-law, Xiao Wu!"
Xiao Wu grinned and said, "You must be the eldest sister. I've heard Xia Xia mention you; she said you treat her very well."
Xia Damei jumped out of the car and immediately went into the house. She didn't even care about Wang Yu, who was still in the car. She hadn't seen her younger sister for several years. "Little sister."
Now, with Xia Da Mei's laughter, Xia Xiao Mei has also appeared.
The two sisters embraced and wept.
Xia Jianshe helped Chen Chunhua move all the vegetables from the car to the kitchen.
When Xia Minmin saw Wang Yu coming over, she immediately handed her the dried lychees in her hand, "Cousin, these are delicious, would you like to try some?"
Wang Yu's lips curved slightly, and she hid behind her father again, occasionally stealing a glance at Xia Minmin.
Wang Jie reached out and pulled Wang Yu, who was standing next to him, out to introduce her, "Xiao Yu, do you remember this is your second uncle, this is your aunt's husband, and this is your little cousin?"
Wang Yu looked timidly at Xia Minmin and the others. Xiao Wu took out a red envelope from his pocket and held it in front of Xiao Yu. "Xiao Yu, if you call me Uncle-in-law, this red envelope is for you."
Wang Yu saw the red envelope in front of him and reached out to take it.
Xiao Wu immediately raised his arm, "You have to call me Uncle-in-law before I'll give you the red envelope."
Wang Yu moved her mouth slightly but ultimately didn't call out. She glanced at Xiao Wu, then buried her head in her father's lap and stopped talking.
Seeing this, Xiao Wu had no choice but to stuff the red envelope into Wang Yu's hand. Unexpectedly, Wang Yu refused to take the red envelope and dropped it on the ground.
Having no other choice, Xiao Wu had to stuff the red envelope into Wang Yu's pocket.
Wang Jie patted Wang Yu's head and said, "Brother-in-law, I'm really sorry. Xiao Yu is shy around strangers, please bear with her."
Wang Jie asked, "Second Brother, how have you been these past few years?"
Xia Jianguo looked at his somewhat unfamiliar brother-in-law and said, "We're all doing well. How are you and your sister? I remember you two had a really bad fight the year we went to Shenzhen. Does your sister still gamble often these days?"
“We are all in good health. The factory is not doing well. Recently, many people from our village have gone to work in Shenzhen. I am thinking about whether I should go there too.”
After thinking for a moment, Xia Jianguo said, "If you want to go there to work, then come with us this time. We have some connections in Shenzhen, and we can introduce you to some better factories."
Xiao Wu added, "Yes, my brother-in-law's supermarket is located in the factory area, and we are very familiar with many of the factories there."
Wang Jie looked thoughtful. "Second brother, Xiao Wu, my sister and I will discuss this properly when we get back."
"Okay, if you want to go, let us know in a couple of days so I can arrange your train tickets."
Xia Jianshe also came over with Xiaobao, who had just woken up.
Xiao Wu then took out another red envelope to tease him, "Do you want this red envelope? If you call me Uncle-in-law, this red envelope is for you."
Xiao Bao glanced at the red envelope, then turned to look at Xia Jianshe, who nodded at him.
Xiao Bao called out in his clear, childlike voice, "Uncle!"
Xiao Wu handed the red envelope to Xiao Bao, who played with it for a while before giving it to Xia Jianshe.
At this moment, Wang Yu seemed to become a bit more lively, and he also called out along with Xiao Bao, "Uncle!"
Wang Jie pulled a red envelope from Wang Yu's pocket. "Here's the red envelope your uncle gave you!"
Wang Jie looked at Xia Minmin standing next to him and said, "Xiao Min has really grown a lot taller since she went to Shenzhen. She also looks much smarter. She doesn't look like a seven or eight-year-old child. Even our Xiao Yu looks like a child in front of her."
Xia Minmin pouted and glared at Wang Jie.
"No girl likes it when people talk about her age, even if she's only seven or eight."
Xiao Wu truly lives up to his reputation of having known Xia Minmin for so many years.
"Xiaomin, I'm so sorry for Uncle's loose tongue. He really doesn't know what he's talking about. Please forgive him, Xiaomin."
After saying that, Wang Jie patted his mouth twice with his hand.
Xia Minmin then turned her head away, letting out a hum, looking incredibly smug.
Several men stood there, bursting into laughter.
Xia Jianguo cleared his throat. "Big brother, we're going to our uncle's house later. Why don't you come with us? We should treat them to a meal to show our sincerity."
Xia Jianshe readily agreed, "Sure! Wang Jie can come along too."
Wang Jie waved his hand and refused, saying, "I'll pass. It's not a holiday, and I didn't bring any gifts. The elders might even scold me for not knowing the proper etiquette. My younger sister and I will stay home and help my sister-in-law cook. With so many people eating today, my sister-in-law will probably be too busy."
Xia Jianguo and Xia Jianshe thought about it and realized it made sense, so they didn't force him to go.
After Li Chunmei and Xia Xiaomei finished getting ready, they took Xia Minmin's hand and set off with the gifts.
According to the custom in Xiajia's hometown, if a younger generation returns to visit their elders after many years, they are required to carry gifts on a horse to do so, which is considered a severance of kinship.
Xia Minmin still remembered what happened during the Spring Festival a few years ago, and when she saw Uncle Xia again, she felt that he had aged a lot.
Jianshe called out from the doorway, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle, we've come to see you. Jianguo's family and Xiaomei and her husband have also come."
Uncle Xia, leaning on his cane, hobbled to the gate and opened it for Xia Jianguo and his group.
Uncle Xia's cloudy eyes stared for a long time before he recognized Xia Jianguo and his younger sister.
Uncle Xia Er stretched out his trembling hands and took Xia Jianguo and Xia Xiaomei's hands in his own, "It's Jianguo and Xiaomei who have arrived."
Xia Jianguo and Xia Xiaomei's eyes were a little red. They never expected that they would become like this after only a few years apart.
Uncle Xia made way for Xia Jianguo and the others to enter the house.
Xia Minmin looked around at the furnishings in the room. The furnishings looked no different from those of a few years ago, but they had lost their vitality.
Uncle Xia wanted to take out a water cup to pour water for everyone, but after shaking the kettle, he realized that there was no water in it.
Xia Xiaomei and Li Chunmei got up, took the kettle, and went to the kitchen to boil water. The kitchen was messy and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
Li Chunmei and Xia Xiaomei rolled up their sleeves and tidied up the kitchen for Uncle Xia, and also boiled a kettle of water.
Xia Xiaomei felt a pang of sadness looking at everything before her. "If my second uncle hadn't been so biased back then, things wouldn't have turned out this way."
As Li Chunmei washed the kettle, she said, "This is what you reap! Everything has a cause and an effect. To put it bluntly, this is reaping what you sow."
Xia Xiaomei let out a long sigh.
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