The smiles on the faces of the middle-aged man and woman remained unchanged.
Xu Zhenzhu felt sorry for Lu Kai standing there: "Mom, why don't you invite Uncle and Auntie inside? What are you doing standing at the door?"
Miao Cuihua suddenly realized, "Oh, right, right, I was so happy I got confused. Quick, come inside—"
Lu Kai's parents smiled and invited Miao Cuihua inside first, while they followed behind.
Lu Kai turned to the driver and instructed, "Brother Feng, could you please help me unload these things?"
Driver Feng agreed, quickly got out of the car, opened the trunk, revealing a full load of stuff in the back.
Besides rice, noodles, and oil, there was also malted milk powder, milk candy, brown sugar, a smoked lamb leg, two preserved fish, and even a beautifully packaged gift box of Beijing Eight Delicacies.
The team members watching were stunned; many of them had never seen such treasures in their lives.
When Xu Jinlai and the others squeezed in, they saw the trunk full of stuff. They were stunned for a moment, then immediately grinned.
He rubbed his hands together and stepped forward, saying, "We can't trouble you at all, we'll take care of it!"
Before the driver, Brother Feng, could react, Xu Jinlai and his group of seven or eight people surrounded him and quickly emptied the trunk.
Xu Zhenzhu felt embarrassed and glared at them warningly before forcing a smile: "Brother Lu Kai, don't worry, my older brother and the others will help you carry it! You can't stand for long, let's go inside and have some water first—"
Lu Kai didn't care. Hearing Xu Zhenzhu's words, he just smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you!"
Xu Zhenzhu blushed and carefully helped Lu Kai into the house.
Xu Yeshan, who hadn't managed to grab anything to carry, darted forward and bumped into Xu Yejun, who was carrying a bag of rice. Xu Yeshan said solicitously, "Auntie, let me help you with that—"
As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed Lu Kai's other hand, which was holding his crutch, and hurriedly half-lifted Lu Kai into the house.
Caught off guard, Lu Kai was lifted up by Xu Yeshan and almost twisted his ankle as he stepped over the threshold.
Fortunately, Xu Zhenzhu didn't let go and hugged him tightly. Still shaken, her face was pale. "Let go! You're so clumsy and don't know your limits. What if you hurt Lu Kai?"
Xu Yeshan then realized he had acted rashly and quickly withdrew his hand.
The smiles on the faces of Lu Kai's father, Lu Xing, and Lu Kai's mother, Sun Chunmei, who had just sat down in the room, suddenly froze, and they hesitated to speak.
Seeing that things were not going well, Miao Cuihua stepped forward and slapped Xu Yeshan twice: "What are you doing getting involved? Go away."
He turned around and said with a smile, "I'm sorry, my grandson is honest, but he's clumsy."
Lu Xing and Sun Chunmei didn't know what to say, but they smiled and praised Miao Cuihua, saying that she was lucky to have raised such good children.
He charmed Miao Cuihua to the point of being overjoyed.
Xu Jinlai and his men carried their belongings in. Having just returned from paying their grain tax, they were all disheveled and felt ashamed just standing in front of the Lu family, unsure of what to do with their hands and feet.
Xu Zhenzhu spoke up again: "Uncle and Aunt, my brother and sister-in-law just came back after paying their grain tax today. They're all covered in dirt. Let them go to the back and wash their faces before they come back to talk to you."
Lu Xing and his wife nodded quickly: "Thank you for your hard work!"
The Xu Jinlai and Xu Baolai families, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, hurriedly ran to the backyard to fetch water for washing.
After helping Lu Kai sit down, Xu Zhenzhu spoke softly, "Brother Lu Kai, please sit down for a while. I'll go pour tea for you and your aunt and uncle."
She then gave Miao Cuihua a wink, signaling her to talk to the Lu family first, and walked towards the backyard.
In the courtyard, everyone crowded around the water vat and well, busy washing.
Xu Zhenzhu rolled her eyes and walked over. "What's wrong with you all? Brother Lu's family is here today, and you can't even dress decently? You look like beggars, you've made me lose face!"
Zhao Guilan couldn't help but retort, "Little sister, did we not know you were bringing people back today? Besides, it's time to pay the grain tax; we can't just skip it, can we? You can't blame us for this."
Xu Zhenzhu said irritably, "Have some shame! The gifts sent by the Lu family, do you think they'd just run away? Are you so short-sighted? Did you have to carry them yourselves? I'm warning you! You better watch yourselves and stop making a fool of yourselves, you hear me?"
The Xu family had suffered greatly at the hands of Xu Ningyan, and Xu Zhenzhu was their only hope.
I was skeptical before, but seeing the Lu family today, with such a grand presence, arriving in cars, even more impressive than the county leader who came to see Xu Ningyan last time, I was already very excited.
Hearing Xu Zhenzhu's words, he wasn't angry. He knew that the whole family would depend on her and the Lu family in the future, so naturally he wouldn't offend them! He should praise them highly.
He nodded repeatedly.
Xu Zhenzhu was relieved and then instructed Er Ya and San Ya: "Where's the tea? Hurry up and rinse all the cups and bowls again to serve the guests tea. They're like oil lamps, only lighting up when you stir them!"
Er Ya and San Ya had just washed their faces and hands and didn't even have time to change their clothes.
She hurriedly went to the back of the cupboard, found three glass cups and an enamel tea tray, and washed them several times under Xu Zhenzhu's supervision before pouring in the cold tea.
Xu Zhenzhu took the tea tray and instructed, "Kill an old hen, and go to the brigade to ask if anyone has fish or other meat. Make sure lunch is prepared well, do you hear me?"
Er Ya and San Ya had never seen anything like this before, and they simply nodded in agreement.
Xu Zhenzhu then took the tea tray to the front.
In the backyard, everyone hurriedly washed up and changed into clean clothes before pushing and shoving each other back into the main room.
The crowd outside was so large that no one left; they all crowded around the Xu family's doorway to watch the spectacle.
Xu Jinlai and Xu Baolai sat down cautiously, not daring to put their bottoms on the chairs properly.
I've never spoken to such a high-ranking official in my life; I didn't even have the courage to look him in the eye.
Lu Xing was a man of great experience, having seen far too much of the world. He didn't show it on his face, but instead chatted amiably with everyone, asking about this year's harvest and the situation regarding the delivery of grain to the state.
When they started talking about topics they were familiar with, Xu Jinlai and Xu Baolai felt more confident and unconsciously followed Lu Xing's lead, making it seem like a lively scene.
At the brigade headquarters, the brigade leader and the party secretary looked at each other, both feeling somewhat uneasy.
After waiting for a while, a young man ran over and whispered a few words in their ears.
The two men exchanged a glance, and the brigade leader made the final decision: "We have to go! I heard he's the deputy director of the county machinery factory, what a high-ranking official! He came in a car! Let's not think about anything else, since the leader is coming down to inspect, we have to show our faces, right? Maybe we can make a good connection and get a tractor for our brigade!"
Upon hearing about the tractor, the Party Secretary's initial hesitation immediately turned to action.
The two went back to wash up and change their clothes. After thinking for a moment, they picked up a piece of cured meat and a few eggs from their own home and headed towards the Xu family's house.
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