On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Yunying was eager to return to her parents' home as soon as possible. She prepared breakfast early in the morning, and after eating, she packed up and took the children back to her parents' home.
On the way, I met several families with children who were heading to their wives' parents' home to pay New Year's visits. I wondered if it was because I had given the children lucky money the day before, but the adults and children all greeted me.
Xiao Yunying gave a few polite replies and then quickened her pace, pulling the children along.
She really doesn't feel comfortable chatting with people she doesn't know well. They don't have much in common, and there's always an inexplicable sense of awkwardness surrounding her.
The gate to her parents' home was wide open, and Xiao Yunying went straight in, greeting everyone with a Happy New Year before reaching out her hands to her parents with longing.
She feels awkward around strangers, but she's very relaxed around her family.
She arrived early, before her family had finished eating. Xiao Shan Hai was momentarily stunned to see his daughter like this, and asked, "What's wrong, daughter? Haven't you eaten? Sit down and eat."
Then he placed his bowl of porridge in Xiao Yunying's outstretched hand.
Xiao Yunying pretended to be disgusted and put the bowl back in front of her father, then said to her mother, "Mother, Father is pretending to be confused."
Mu Lianrong rolled her eyes at her old man, took out a red purse from her bosom, and placed it in Xiao Yunying's hand.
"I've already prepared it for you."
Xiao Shan Hai then realized that his daughter wanted New Year's money.
Even if you ask him, he doesn't have any. The money in the house is all managed by the child's mother, so you can't blame him for not thinking of it.
Xiao Yunying happily withdrew her hand, weighed it in her hand, put it in her bosom, pulled the children to get stools and sit down, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and waited for them to finish eating.
When Xiao Yunbo saw that his younger sister had New Year's money, he whispered, "Mom, why did you only give it to my little sister and not to me and my older brother?"
All the children in the family received New Year's money, even his sister-in-law and wife, but his two brothers did not.
Mu Lianrong wasn't so patient with her son: "How old are you two? Why do you still need New Year's money? Aren't you ashamed?"
"Why does my little sister have one?"
"Can you compare to your little sister?"
Xiao Yunying, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, repeated, "That's right, can you compare to me? I'm my mother's sweet little cotton-padded jacket."
Xiao Yunsong picked up a dumpling and put it into his second brother's bowl: "Second brother, you must have forgotten that in our family, daughters are more precious than sons."
Xiao Yunbo wasn't really concerned about the New Year's money; he was just saying it to make everyone laugh. Then, following his older brother's words, he sighed loudly.
"Big brother is right. Come on, big brother, have some dumplings. Since we don't have any lucky money, we can only eat more food. We should make up for it as much as we can and not skimp on ourselves."
Wang Shi chimed in, and then poured the dumplings from the plate in front of her into Xiao Yunbai's bowl: "Yes, yes, eat more."
Xiao Yunbo said with a smile, "My wife still cares about me the most."
Wang put the empty plate aside and continued, "Yun Tao's family is coming today, so we need to prepare a good meal for lunch. If we can't finish this food, we'll have to save it for the next meal. It's taking up plates and delaying things. You should eat more so we can make room for fresh food."
Xiao Yunbai's smile froze on his face: "So, all I'm good for is cleaning up the leftovers?"
When the children heard that they were going to have something new for lunch, the eldest son, being a dutiful child, picked out the best pieces of meat from the leftover vegetables and put them into his father's bowl.
"Dad, eat more."
"Yes, Dad, eat quickly."
"Dad, eat this, this meat is delicious."
"Alright, alright." Xiao Yunbai waved his hand to stop his sons' filial piety: "Trying to support... will ruin your father's life."
Luckily, I changed the subject quickly; otherwise, I would have gotten a scolding from my mother.
Xiao Yunying smiled and waited for her family to finish eating, clean up the table, chatted for a while, and then started preparing lunch.
Because it was the day to welcome the son-in-law, ten dishes were prepared for lunch, no less than the New Year's Eve dinner.
This time, Mu Lianrong didn't let Xiao Yunying do much of the cooking; she mainly took charge of the cooking herself, letting her two daughters-in-law assist her.
As noon approached, the sound of an oxcart came from outside the door. The children who were squatting on the ground in the yard writing large characters saw people first and shouted loudly towards the kitchen.
"Grandma, Auntie and the others are here."
Mu Lianrong responded, handed the shovel to Zhang Shi, took off her apron, and went out to greet her.
Xiao Yunying put the picked vegetables into a basin and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm going out to check on my sister. I'll come back to help in a bit."
Wang was washing the vegetables: "Yun Tao finally came back, you should go and talk to your sister. Don't worry about this, there are only two more vegetables left to finish."
Xiao Yunying didn't stand on ceremony and agreed; she was quite curious about this older sister she hadn't met yet.
As she left the kitchen, she saw a young couple enter the yard, and her mother was holding a woman's hand and talking to her.
Judging from the woman's appearance, she should be her third sister, Xiao Yuntao.
Presumably for the festive occasion of the New Year, Xiao Yuntao wore a slightly faded light red cotton coat and dark blue trousers. She had delicate features, and her eyebrows and eyes looked more like a woman's.
A man was standing next to him, wearing a cotton coat that looked brand new.
Although the man had a smile on his face, his brows furrowed slightly when he looked away, and a hint of impatience flashed across his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
Xiao Yunying had a hunch; this must be her third sister's husband.
I don't know much about this person. I only know that his brother-in-law is named Ge Changjian, and his family is also farmers. He works as a porter at the dock, earning a hard-earned living.
Upon their first meeting, Xiao Yunying, not being one to easily make friends, tried to walk over naturally and said, "Third Sister, you're finally back! Mother has been talking about you all morning."
Xiao Yuntao was slightly taken aback when she heard the person in front of her call her that, but then she realized what she meant and took her hand.
"Is this my little sister? She's lost so much weight, I almost didn't recognize her."
Xiao Yuntao was surprised not only by how much thinner her younger sister had become, but also by her sister's attitude towards her. Compared to before, her sister seemed to be much closer to her and was not as indifferent as before.
Perhaps because of lingering memories from the past, Xiao Yunying found herself less averse to Xiao Yuntao's touch.
She replied with a smile, "What's wrong, Third Sister? Don't I look prettier?"
Xiao Yuntao was about to speak when someone next to her spoke first.
"Yes, Yunying, it's been two years since I last saw you. You're much prettier than before."
The courtyard fell silent for a moment. Even Luo Li, a little foodie, felt that it was inappropriate for these words to come from a man, thanks to the teachings of his two older brothers.
Xiao Yunying couldn't control her expression, and her face darkened for a moment.
The two sisters were talking, and this man interrupted them, saying such abrupt things.
Feeling Xiao Yuntao tighten her grip on her hand slightly, she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Perhaps the atmosphere was too awkward, Ge Changjian realized that his words were abrupt, gave an embarrassed laugh, and handed the things in his hand forward.
"Well, Mom and Dad, Yuntao bought you some snacks and meat. Let's cook them for lunch."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com