Ma Xiuzhu couldn't keep quiet and sat on the bed chatting about family matters.

"When your relatives heard that you had given birth to triplets, they all came to see you. But in fact, few of them were sincere. They just saw that you and Shi Shen were getting along well, so they wanted to come and take advantage of you. Your father and I stopped them from coming to avoid causing trouble for you."

Yang Niannian felt that what Ma Xiuzhu said was not credible, but she did not expose it.

Ma Xiuzhu sat on the edge of the bed, talking about a lot of trivial matters about her relatives' families. It was not until she had a stomachache and went to the bathroom that the room became quiet.

As soon as Ma Xiuzhu left, Guan Ailian said.

"Our mother-in-law loves to flatter herself. This time, she insisted on bringing all the uncles and aunts with her so that she could show off the big house you and Shi Shen have in Beijing."

"My father disagreed, and the two of them almost quarreled over this matter. Later, because my uncles and aunts were unwilling to pay for the car fare, my mother-in-law paid for it all. She felt sorry for the money, so she didn't let those people come together."

Yang Niannian felt that she had escaped a disaster. "Luckily, not a lot of relatives came. I would have felt overwhelmed if I had thought of all the aunts and uncles coming over and surrounding the house and making a lot of noise."

Guan Ailian knew that Yang Niannian liked quietness, so she smiled.

"Even if mother-in-law didn't mind the ticket money, father-in-law wouldn't let her bring these people here. Our father-in-law has become more open-minded in the past two years. He's afraid that relatives will come here and talk nonsense, which will cause trouble for Shi Shen and you. Mother-in-law has also been better in the past two years. She has helped a lot with the fish pond and orchard, and there are not so many things to do as before. She is also better to Xingxing than before."

Yang Niannian thought, of course the mother-in-law is better to Xingxing. Xingxing is a grown-up girl now, how could she not be nice to her?

Not to mention grandmothers, even some biological parents who favor sons over daughters will do some superficial work after their daughters become adults.

She knew everything in her mind, but she didn't say it out loud, as it would seem like she was deliberately instigating something, so she changed the subject.

“How are the fruit trees growing?”

When talking about this, the smile on Guan Ailian's face became even brighter.

"The higher-ups have arranged for experts to come and guide the planting, and the fish are growing very well. The fish ponds are full of silver carp, which can be sold next winter."

Fish fry can make a profit earlier than fruit trees. After another year of hard work, when the fish pond starts to make a profit, the orchard can slowly be taken over, and life will be better from then on.

Yang Niannian was also happy for Guan Ailian, "Xingxing and Tiantian will be taking the college entrance exam next year, right?"

Guan Ailian nodded. "Tiantian has no hope of going to college, but he will be able to find a good job after graduating from high school. I just don't know if Xingxing is destined to go to college."

"As a mother, you discourage your child all the time." Ma Xiuzhu walked in from outside and replied with certainty, "If you talk a lot every day, you will definitely be more capable than Xingxing in the future."

Without waiting for Guan Ailian to speak, Ma Xiuzhu looked at Yang Niannian again.

"Your father and your eldest brother asked me to ask you when you plan to hold a full-month banquet for your baby. We will wait until you hold the banquet before returning."

Yang Niannian originally thought that it was not a good idea to talk about this matter when her parents-in-law just arrived, and planned to talk about it in two days. Since her mother-in-law asked, she just said it out loud.

"Shi Shen and I don't plan to hold a full-month banquet for our child. When he's one year old, we can just gather with relatives and friends for a reunion dinner."

Yang Niannian had just given birth and was still in confinement, so she didn't have the energy to take care of those things. Lu Shishen was also busy, and the baby was still young and the weather was cold, so they simply decided not to do it.

Ma Xiuzhu didn't have much of an objection. She felt that holding a full-month banquet in Beijing would not be lively, so she said with a shrewd look on her face.

"Since we're not going to have it now, why not wait until you're one year old and go back to your hometown to have it? There are many relatives at home, and we can get back a lot of money. Our family has spent a lot of money in the past few years. If you and Shi Shen don't have a wedding, we'll lose a lot."

It was still early for the child to be one year old, and Yang Niannian didn't want to argue with Ma Xiuzhu about those things now, so she didn't say anything.

Guan Ailian knew that Yang Niannian didn't care about the money at all, so she changed the subject, "What's the child's name?"

Yang Niannian replied, "The eldest is Mu Yang, the second is Si Yang, and the third is Ai Yang."

Guan Ailian immediately understood the meaning of the name, "This name was given by Shi Shenqi, right?"

Yang Niannian smiled embarrassedly, "He named it."

Ma Xiuzhu was not satisfied with the name, "What's with that Yang? It doesn't distinguish between men and women. It's better to call them Gold String, Silver String and Copper String."

Boys are precious, and they look good with gold and silver. Girls are a waste of money, and their lives are worthless, so they should just be called copper strings.

Knowing that her daughter-in-law didn't like to hear these words, she didn't say them.

Yang Niannian passed the ball to Lu Shishen, "Shishen chose the name. If you have any opinions, wait until he comes back and talk to him."

How could Ma Xiuzhu dare to tell her youngest son? She immediately changed her expression.

"Forget it, it's your baby, you can call her whatever you want."

When Guan Ailian heard this, she covered her mouth and laughed secretly.

At lunch time, Li Fengyi and Lu Ruoling also came with their children. The courtyard was full of laughter and was very lively.

After knowing that Yang Niannian would not hold a full-month banquet, Lu Guozhi felt a little restless. There were fish ponds and orchards at home, which needed to be taken care of. In addition, his eldest son and three children were at home and did not come. He was worried, so after staying in Beijing for three days, he clamored to go back.

Ma Xiuzhu was also tired of living here. There were no neighbors to chat with, and no matter how comfortable her life was, she had no one to show off to.

Not to mention Lu Qingyuan and Guan Ailian, whose orchard, fish pond and three children were all back home, and they couldn't sleep well. After a discussion, the four of them asked Lu Shishen to help buy tickets for them to return home.

Yang Niannian understood that it was not easy for them to come here from so far away, and since she gave them 600 yuan this time, they probably didn't have much money on them, so she asked Lu Shishen to prepare some local specialties and stuffed some money in them for them to take back.

When Lu Guozhi and his three companions came, they bought seat tickets. When they left, Lu Shishen bought sleeper tickets for them. It was their first time to ride on sleeper tickets, and they were all very surprised.

As soon as Ma Xiuzhu got on the bus, she started muttering, "Rich people know how to enjoy themselves. There are beds on the bus. This ticket must be expensive."

Lu Guozhi glanced at her and asked, "Is there any need to say more?"

Lu Qingyuan felt bad, "I've made Shi Shen and his wife spend money again."

Guan Ailian also felt embarrassed and sighed.

"That's right! This sleeper ticket is not cheap, and Shi Shen bought so many local specialties for me."

Ma Xiuzhu curled her lips and said, "Don't worry about it. They have plenty of money and don't need this. Besides, we gave them 600 yuan, right? They won't lose anything."

Guan Ailian continued, "You can't say that. What I gave to my sister-in-law is a share of the money."

Ma Xiuzhu didn't care what the money was. Her daughter-in-law had accepted it anyway. No matter how expensive these things were, they were not worth six hundred yuan.

Thinking of this, she opened the snakeskin bag to see what her youngest son had bought for her. Unexpectedly, she took out a cloth bag. When she opened it, she saw that it was full of money. After counting, she found that there was actually two thousand yuan.

The four were shocked and worried that the money would be taken by the thief, so they dared not sleep a wink the whole night.

…