xixiacun
Every household was busy preparing for the New Year. As the 28th of the twelfth lunar month approached, Jiang Shuya remembered that the morning of the 29th was the day Wang Ziliang and her cousin were to return to their hometown. Early that morning, she received New Year's gifts from several families and heard her mother-in-law smiling from ear to ear downstairs.
When Jiang Shuya came downstairs, she immediately saw Li Xiaohua sitting in the living room chatting with her mother-in-law. On the table were gift boxes of braised dishes such as Osmanthus Duck, Salted Goose, and Hundred Flavor Chicken.
Upon seeing Jiang Shuya arrive, Li Xiaohua stood up and greeted her with a smile. Her personality had changed considerably from her shy self when she was farming at home; she had become lively and outgoing.
Since introducing Li Xiaohua and the others to work at the mall, the hours are flexible, with only half-days off, and the income is more stable than farming at home. It's all about social interactions. Li Xiaohua's husband, A Jing, and Huang Minghao are childhood best friends, and they're as close as brothers.
He was naturally quite grateful. He had invited Jiang Shuya several times, but she hadn't been able to make time to have a meal with him. He thought to himself that this couple was really different. If it were before, Huang Minghao would have gone to A Jing's house to visit long ago with just a word, and they would have drunk themselves into a stupor before going home.
"Sister Xiaohua, what are you doing? You even brought a gift, but I didn't give you anything in return! What should I do?" Jiang Shuya laughed strangely.
"Look at what you're saying, who asked you to return the favor! You helped me, shouldn't I at least repay you in some way? Looking across the entire Xixia Village, you're the only one who helped me."
Just as Li Xiaohua finished speaking, she saw Zheng Jia walking out of the yard in her leather boots, pointing at Li Xiaohua with a mischievous grin: "You little rascal, I told you to wait for me, why are you in such a hurry?"
Zheng Jia, dressed in a fashionable fur coat and exuding an air of luxury, greeted her mother-in-law with a beaming smile: "Auntie, I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year in advance."
Seeing that she was very polite, Li Yuxiang smiled broadly, glancing at the gifts in Zheng Jia's hands: two boxes of Huangshan Maofeng tea and two bottles of Hai Zhi Lan.
When the gifts were handed to her mother-in-law, she feigned politeness: "Oh my! You've already come all this way, and you even brought gifts. You're so thoughtful and grateful, giving us such valuable presents. You've really considered everything."
Jiang Shuya realized why Li Xiaohua hadn't gone with Zheng Jia; the gifts they gave were vastly different in price. Two bottles of wine and two boxes of tea cost over a thousand yuan, while Li Xiaohua's local specialties—chicken, duck, and goose—cost at most three hundred yuan, clearly putting her at a disadvantage.
As everyone knows, after the Lunar New Year, every family hosts a banquet or visits each other to exchange New Year's greetings. Li Xiaohua and Zheng Jia are working this year, and they will definitely be working shifts at the mall. Most of their close friends will send gifts in advance, and they don't follow the custom of exchanging New Year's greetings.
Fearing that Li Xiaohua would feel disappointed, Jiang Shuya told them to take all the gifts back, refusing to accept any of them. But they ran faster than rabbits, cooperating much better than when they came, and disappeared in no time.
Seeing this, Li Yuxiang's face turned green. She stomped her feet in frustration and pouted, "What are you trying to prove? You didn't even want it when it was given to you. You're so high and mighty, you really don't know what's good for you."
Seeing how much she valued the gifts, Jiang Shuya couldn't bear being scolded, so she forcibly took the things and said:
“Since it was a gift from someone else, I’ll just deliver it to Grandpa’s house as a visit! I see that he likes to drink a little wine and often brews tea, and this cooked food is also to his liking. I’ll take it to him now as a way for me, his granddaughter-in-law, to show my respect to him.”
After saying that, she ignored Li Yuxiang's attempts to stop her, picked up her things, and headed towards the backyard. Her mother-in-law, carrying the groceries, followed behind her, furiously saying:
"What's the use of giving this to that old geezer? He only cares about his second son's family. Besides, this is too much! Two things are enough. Keep the tea and the wine."
Seeing that Jiang Shuya ignored her, the mother-in-law made a veiled attack:
"What a pair of sworn enemies! They say that people who aren't from the same family won't end up in the same household, but all I see is you always siding with outsiders. You're nothing like my wife. You're always going against me and you're never easy to deal with."
Jiang Shuya turned around and glanced at her, then directly retorted:
"You're quite the family man! All year round, you keep the house locked up and go to the memorial hall to pay respects to your parents. Why don't you go there to pray?"
"Now look what's happened. The New Year is almost here, and you've realized you've let your parents down. You can't afford anything to give them as a gift, so you're trying to squeeze money out of them. You're just trying to do this at the last minute. Where were you before?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yuxiang flew into a rage. Her eyes widened, and she pointed at Jiang Shuya with one hand on her hip, angrily shouting, "Get out of my house! Don't ever come back. You're not welcome here. Get as far away as you can!"
This time, Li Yuxiang was really angry. She admitted that she liked to hang out in mahjong parlors, and she believed that everyone has their own hobbies.
She's loved playing cards since she was young, and it's not a new thing. But since Tangtang came along, she's really restrained herself a lot. Before, she would have wanted to stay there all the time. Now that Jiang Shuya is bringing it up so casually, how can she not feel wronged? Even her own parents have never disciplined her like this.
Jiang Shuya, who was being driven away, refused to back down: "Fine, as long as Huang Minghao agrees to let me take Tangtang away, I will never stay in this home. Living with people like you will only make people look down on me, and I will live without any dignity."
Jiang Shuya knew that it was pointless to argue and she couldn't bring herself to run away from home. However, Tangtang was her concern, the flesh and blood of her child, whom she had carried for ten months. No matter what, she had to keep her by her side and raise and care for her personally.
Upon hearing this, Li Yuxiang looked disdainful and sneered, "You wish! Tangtang is my granddaughter. Don't even think about it. Even if Haohao agrees, I won't, unless he doesn't acknowledge me as his mother."
Jiang Shuya never doubted this. Li Yuxiang had done her best in taking care of Tangtang. Although she was sometimes unreliable, she didn't just leave her to be looked after by strangers.
Jiang Shuya stopped arguing with her and strode towards her grandfather's house. Halfway there, she glanced at the dates on the gifts and took a deep breath: Thank goodness, the dates are all good. It seems that Zheng Jia and Xiao Hua put their hearts into sending them.
As we approached Grandpa's house, we could see an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair in the distance. Grandpa stood behind her, gently combing Grandma's hair with a hair comb and whispering secrets to her.
Grandma's face was full of smiles. This scene was both romantic and beautiful. Time seemed to stand still at that moment. It turns out that it is very simple to support each other and stay together until the end of time. As long as two hearts are on the same string, it is a beautiful melody.
Without disturbing their heartwarming scene, Jiang Shuya quietly brought the things in through the back door, closed the door, and kept looking back at their figures. The scene of the elderly having someone to rely on was too beautiful, and she really couldn't bear to disturb them.
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