Grandma Song was very fond of the two little girls and busied herself handing them water, saying, "Big Grass and Little Grass, eat slowly, there's more left. Don't choke, have some water."
Lin Fengyao: "..." Grandma, don't you love me anymore?
Before Song Anxin could reply to Lin Daxi, the laughter of Lin Erxi and Lin Dongzi came from the doorway. They each carried a few strings of candied hawthorns and walked into the yard. To their surprise, their eldest sister and Da Cao and Xiao Cao were sitting there.
Lin Erxi immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Big sister, Big Grass and Little Grass, what brings you here?!"
Upon hearing Erxi Dongzi's voice, Lin Daxi immediately stood up: "Erxi Dongzi, where are your parents?"
Then came Sister-in-law Lin's voice: "What? Your eldest sister is back?"
When Sister-in-law Lin walked in, she saw that it really was her eldest daughter and two granddaughters. She quickly stepped forward and took Lin Daxi's hand, saying, "Oh my, it really is my eldest daughter."
Then she looked at the big and small grass behind her with a face full of love: "Big and small grass, come here and let Grandma hug you. Grandma has missed you so much."
Da Cao seemed to really like her grandmother. After swallowing what was in her mouth, she immediately ran into Sister-in-law Lin's arms and said to her, "Grandma, Da Cao missed you too."
Little Grass, being young and rarely seeing her grandmother, seemed to have forgotten her. Seeing her older sister run past, she followed behind, mumbling, "Grandma."
Sister-in-law Lin exclaimed happily, "Hey!" and immediately hugged Xiaocao into her arms, looking her over and saying, "Oh my, my little Xiaocao, how come you two are so thin? You don't have any meat on your bodies."
She looked up at her eldest daughter, who was covered in dust and dirt, and noticed that Lin Daxi wasn't much better off. She asked, "Daxi, you've lost weight again. What happened? Did that old hag torment you again?"
Upon hearing this, tears streamed down Lin Daxi's face. "Mother..." Lin Daxi tried to speak, but found that her throat was choked and she couldn't utter a single word.
When Sister-in-law Lin saw her daughter like this, she immediately understood what had happened, and tears welled up in her eyes: "It's all my fault, how could I have married you off to such a family? My poor daughter, my poor granddaughter..."
When Big Grass and Little Grass saw that their mother and grandmother were crying, they also started to wail.
When Lin Erxi saw that her mother, eldest sister, and two nieces were all crying, she was furious: "Eldest sister, that old hag bullied you again! I'm going to her house to settle the score with her!"
As she was about to leave, Sister-in-law Lin immediately scolded, "Stop! Erxi, what use is it for a girl like you to go? Houhua Village is so far away, you'll probably run out of energy before you even get there."
Brother Lin arrived at this time; he had just bought some carpentry tools and put them away at home.
When he saw his eldest daughter arrive with her two granddaughters, and they were both crying, he immediately understood what had happened. His face darkened, and he said:
“Erxi’s going is useless, but my going will be useful. Fengshou, you can take out the oxcart again and borrow it from your uncle.”
Lin Fengshou had just finished parking the oxcart and walked out of the backyard when he heard his uncle's words and saw his long-lost sister Daxi and his aunt crying. He immediately understood.
He immediately said, "Uncle, I'll go with you."
Lin Fengnian also said, "Uncle, I'll go too."
When Song Anxin realized that this was the prelude to going out and causing trouble, she roughly understood why Daxi and Dacao had become so thin. It was probably another case of a wicked mother-in-law tormenting her daughter-in-law.
Before she could even speak, Sister-in-law Lin said, "Don't go! Every year it's the same old awful. Let's enjoy the holiday properly today first."
She wiped away Lin Daxi's tears and said, "My dear daughter, don't cry. Your parents will definitely stand up for you. You haven't come to see your parents in a long time. Let's have a good family meal together today and then talk about it."
Lin Daxi nodded, choking back tears: "Okay, Mom, Dad, Erxi has a bumper harvest this year... You don't need to go, I... I'm doing fine."
When Sister-in-law Lin heard Lin Daxi say this, she almost burst into tears again. Her sensible eldest daughter, how could she have found such a family for her?
Grandma Song and Song Mei watched from the sidelines, wiping away tears. As women, they could empathize with Lin Daxi all too well.
Song Anxin chimed in, "Sister-in-law is right. Let's finish the holiday first. Coming to our door to make trouble like this isn't a good idea. Let's discuss it as a family first."
She thought that rushing over and making a scene wouldn't bring any real benefit to Lin Daxi. On the contrary, after Brother Lin and the others left, Lin Daxi's days at her in-laws' house would probably be even more difficult.
Brother Lin walked in with a cold and stern face and said, "Fine, let's talk about it after the holiday today."
Song Anxin called out, "Meizi, go and make two more cups of tea for Uncle and Aunt. Brother and Sister-in-law, you all have a good chat. We'll go prepare the food first."
Sister-in-law Lin and Lin Daxi had calmed down. Dacao and Xiaocao stopped crying when they saw that their mother had stopped. Sister-in-law Lin looked up and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law. We'll talk for a bit and then go to the kitchen to help you."
Song Anxin waved her hand and said, "Sister-in-law, there's no need for us to thank you. No rush, you can talk slowly. We can manage in the kitchen."
Although Song Anxin said so, Sister-in-law Lin and Daxi came to help in the kitchen not long after. Meanwhile, Lin Erxi, Feng Yao, and the others played with Dacao and Xiaocao in the yard. The children's emotions came and went quickly, but in the end, they were happy that the family could be together on this festive day.
Sister-in-law Lin said to the courtyard, "Erxi, don't eat too many candied hawthorns. You might not be able to eat the food your second aunt is making later."
Upon hearing this, Lin Erxi addressed the large and small grasses with a serious expression:
"You've already eaten two each, you can't eat anymore. It's not that your aunt doesn't want you to eat, it's just that there will be even better food later."
Big Grass and Little Grass nodded blankly. They had already eaten a lot of delicious food today and couldn't imagine what could be even more delicious.
Lin Dongzi and Lin Fengyao continued to play with Da Cao and Xiao Cao.
Lin Erxi quietly walked over to Song Anbang, who was building the stove. She took out a whole candied hawthorn and said shyly, "Uncle, would you like some candied hawthorn? It's so sweet."
Song Anbang and Lin Fengnian were focused on building the stove and didn't even look up. They said, "Thank you, Erxi. I don't like candied hawthorns, so you can eat them yourself."
Lin Fengnian raised his face and said, "Erxi, why are you talking like that? It's not something I'm used to."
Lin Erxi looked at Song Anbang, holding the candied hawthorn in her hand, and said, "That's how he usually talks."
Lin Fengnian's abundant harvest gave several people goosebumps.
Lin Fengshou quickly snatched the candied hawthorn from her hand: "Since you're not going to eat it, Erxi, then I'll eat it, hehe."
Lin Erxi immediately lost his composure: "Ah! Brother Fengshou, give me back my candied hawthorn! Feng Yaodongzi, Da Cao, Xiao Cao, you guys grab him! Whoever catches him gets to eat the candied hawthorn."
The yard immediately erupted in laughter and chatter, with Big Grass and Little Grass running behind, calling out, "Uncle, Uncle, don't run away..."
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