132 cousins
Li Wei chatted with her maternal grandparents for more than an hour. As is customary every year, her mother and aunt would call or send her father or aunt's husband to drive over and invite the elderly couple to the banquet after preparing the birthday feast.
But there was still no movement today. Li Wei glanced at the wall clock; it was still early, so she continued chatting with her grandparents.
Over there, Li Lin had also finished making a glass jar full of colorful crafts. Tired from lying down, she got up to stretch and muttered, "Why hasn't Dad come to pick us up for dinner yet..."
As I walked to the TV cabinet, I picked up the phone to call home when I heard a car outside. I turned around and exclaimed, "Oh dear, my uncle is here!" Then I grabbed the jar and ran outside.
The elderly couple had already changed their clothes. Seeing their son-in-law enter the house, the old lady first asked her granddaughter, "Anping, where's Dingding?"
Li Wei took the bags and packages brought by her aunt's husband and put them in the cupboard. They were mostly supplements and personal clothing. Without asking, she knew that her aunt had arranged the clothing, and the supplements were either from Ding Anping or sponsored by his father.
Ding Anping laughed when he heard his mother-in-law's question: "Mom, you always ask the child, you never look at us adults properly."
The old man said with a stern face, "What's so interesting about you adults? You're all the same. Dingding changes every day. Your mother and I miss her so much. Why didn't you come with us?" The old man didn't want to wait any longer.
Seeing that the elderly couple were indeed eager to see his little one, Ding Anping quickly explained, "My older sister asked me to pick you up and take you to the restaurant. We won't be eating at home this year; we'll be eating at a restaurant. Dingding and her mother are waiting for us at the restaurant with my older sister and the others. They're just waiting for you two to arrive so we can start the meal."
The old lady was displeased: "What? Go to a restaurant? Why go to a restaurant? It's chaotic, crowded, and uncomfortable. Besides, it costs so much money. It's so much better for the family to be together at home. This child is just making a fuss!"
The old man had seen far more of the world than the old woman. He comforted his wife, saying, "Just listen to the children's arrangements. Spending a little money is fine, and it saves the children a lot of trouble. Do you know how busy your eldest daughter is every time? You've seen it all. Besides, do you think restaurants are still the small, chaotic eateries of the past? They're packed with people. Nowadays, restaurants are decorated like the homes of old landlords. It's nice to go out and eat. Let's go, stop dawdling, and spoil the children's plans."
Li Wei didn't dare to laugh. Ding Anping dared even less.
The old lady was unanimously rejected. Left with no other choice, she got into the car with her husband and was driven away by Ding Anping.
Because the old man and woman were chauffeured around in a private car and were VIPs, they arrived later than everyone else. By the time they arrived at Jingxiang Garden, almost all of their children and family members were already there.
My maternal uncles and their families had already received the news and came over by taxi together.
Besides her own children, the old lady noticed many unfamiliar and vaguely familiar faces. Who are they all?
Moreover, no matter how the old lady looked at it, in such a large room, with such a huge round table in the center covered with a purplish-red velvet cloth, and even the chairs around it dressed in beautiful clothes, not to mention the sofas and potted plants, this didn't look like a restaurant at all. It was more like a banquet hall from a TV show.
Before the old lady and the old man could remain puzzled for long, their son-in-law, Li Zhaoxing, who had just come in with them, began to introduce the unfamiliar guests who came up to greet the old lady, who was sitting on the sofa.
Li Wei also found a corner to sit down and looked around. There were quite a few people there. She recognized Uncle Luo, Ding Anping's mother, and even Ding Anni, who was chatting enthusiastically with Li Lin.
Li Wei even spotted Luo San's aunt, who was sitting next to her grandmother and talking to her affectionately. She seemed to be a wealthy lady.
The aunt pushed Dingding, who was in the stroller, in front of the old lady to show her, and teased Dingding to do all sorts of funny little things.
These were all people Li Wei recognized. There were a few others who looked somewhat familiar, but she wasn't quite sure. Li Wei looked around and saw Luo Er sitting not far away with his cousin Zhong Xin. Li Wei moved over and patted Luo Er: "Hey, who are those three in sportswear over there? They look familiar."
Li Wei wanted to greet Zhong Xin out of politeness, but Zhong Xin completely ignored her, turning her face away as if she hadn't seen her. Li Wei was too lazy to bother with such a cold shoulder.
Luo Er asked Li Wei, glancing at the person Li Wei was pointing to. He then looked at Li Wei again, somewhat uncertainly, "You went to the martial arts school's opening that day, didn't you?"
Li Wei immediately remembered: "Could it be... your brother's sixth senior brother and two disciples!" She said they looked familiar, but they had all changed their clothes, making them a little hard to recognize.
Luo Er gave him a look that said, "You're hopeless."
But why did the three of them come here? Li Wei thought about it carefully and remembered that her grandfather was a friend of the sixth senior brother's master and had brought him here, so they had some connection. However, this was probably also related to Uncle Luo.
However, Li Wei still felt it was a bit strange that Uncle Luo San came, so she asked Luo Er, "Why did Uncle San come? How did he know it was Grandma's birthday?"
Luo Er actually knew about this: "I heard it from my brother. Didn't he go to your house to play? My dad made him take all the gifts with him. What, you didn't see them?"
"Oh, is that so? But weren't we originally planning to eat at home? Why did we end up at a restaurant?"
Luo Er actually knew: "This morning, my dad and I were planning to buy some seafood, but we ran into your dad and mom who were also buying groceries. My dad thought it would be more convenient to eat at a restaurant, so after discussing it with Uncle Li and Aunt Li, we decided not to buy groceries or book a restaurant. So our whole family came over for a free meal, haha..."
Li Wei —
It turns out that it was all Uncle Luo's idea. He said that Mom suddenly had a breakthrough. Actually, eating at a restaurant is quite nice. It's a good opportunity for Grandma to go out for a walk and relax.
The children of the eldest and second uncles were running around and playing in the house, while the adults chatted and laughed. Dingding was also amused and giggled. Li Wei suddenly realized that Li Lianhui was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to ask Luo Er beside her, but Zhong Xin dragged Luo Er to the side, which surprised Li Wei.
How on earth did I offend Cousin Zhong? On a whim, Li Wei had a mischievous idea. She took a few steps forward and grabbed Luo Er's other hand, saying, "Xiao Er, I have something to ask you. Come over here." Her gentle tone gave even herself goosebumps.
Luo Er, being as shrewd as a monkey, immediately realized he was surrounded and quickly broke free from their encirclement. With a forced smile, he said, "I'm going to the toilet, I'm going to the toilet, hehe..." He knew he couldn't afford to offend either of them; they were both powerful figures with strong backers.
Li Wei and Luo Er had grown up together. Just by looking at his mischievous, darting eyes, she knew he was trying to slip away. She wasn't about to let him get away so easily, so she quickly grabbed him again: "Let's go together, let's go together. The men's and women's restrooms should be next to each other, right? Men's on the left, women's on the right, right? We're going the same way, haha."
Luo Er—
Cousin: "Shameless!"
How dare you speak to someone like that? Do you know I'm practically a master? What have I done to you? How dare you talk to me like that?
Li Wei was furious. What kind of girl was this? She grabbed Luo Er and dragged him away, pulling him so hard he was grimacing.
Reaching the corner of the outer corridor, Li Wei stopped and turned to Luo Er, asking, "Hey, explain yourself! What's going on? Why does your damn cousin act like I'm her enemy the moment she sees me?"
Luo Er's expression was somewhat strange: "You... really want to know? Let me tell you, this has something to do with my mom."
"So what? What does it have to do with me? I've only met your cousin once, at the movies, and I've never seen her before. How could I have offended her, and she still said such nasty things about me!" Li Wei became more and more angry as she spoke. This whole thing was just too inexplicable, even stranger than Qin Ling's.
Seeing that Li Wei was genuinely angry, Luo Er quickly raised his hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, don't be angry. I'll tell you, alright? Hehe... I'm telling you, you'll regret it after you hear it... But actually, it's nothing. It seems like everyone on Earth knows about your relationship with my brother..."
Li Wei held up two fingers as if pinching someone's chubby cheeks: "Are you going to talk or not? If you don't, I'll pinch you to death. Why are you nagging like an old man?"
Luo Er hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, alright? Cough cough, actually, this is how it happened. My cousin goes to No. 17 Middle School near my house, and sometimes she stays at my house at night..."
Li Wei quickly interrupted him: "Wait a minute... I think No. 17 Middle School isn't a high school, it's more like a junior high. Your cousin looks about my age or maybe a little older. How come she's only in junior high?" Could she have repeated a grade? Hehe.
Luo Er said irritably, "Do you think everyone is like us? Studying is like rushing to a market, all hurried and jumping around. Count for yourself how many grades we skipped!"
Li Wei suddenly realized: "That's right, um... how old is your cousin? Is she engaged or not?"
Luo Er suddenly started playing a prank, saying mysteriously, "My cousin is sixteen, currently in her third year of junior high. As for the Xu family... depending on my mom's opinion, they've already decided on my sister-in-law, hehe..."
Li Wei was taken aback: "Huh? Is that so? Your mom's in a real hurry! When are you planning to get them married? Is she eager to have a grandson? By the way, can close relatives marry?"
Luo Er—
Li Wei suddenly realized something was wrong: "What does that have to do with me? You shouldn't be giving me attitude. Could it be... that your mother told your future sister-in-law about how I bullied you when we were kids? Actually, thinking about it carefully, I didn't bully your brother much. Back then, your brother wasn't as weak as you. He could easily bully you if he didn't like you."
Luo Er—
Luo Er was speechless, tears welling up in his eyes, but he had to swallow them back. Thinking back to the days when he was a child, struggling to survive under Li Xiaoming's tyranny, did he also have to rely on his future wife to avenge him?
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