261 New Year Greetings
The three Luo brothers got up early, as they were going out to pay New Year's visits today. In addition to the three of them, there were also the three brothers of their mother-in-law, Zhao Chunyan.
These three uncles had all come when Li Wei and Da Luo got engaged. They all seemed to be very honest rural people, nothing special. Li Wei only had a general impression of them.
As for Zhao Chunyan's parents, they passed away a few years ago. Because Zhao Chunyan was always dissatisfied with her three older brothers, feeling that they were not devoted enough to their parents, she had always had some complaints. Since her parents passed away, they have had less contact with each other.
After breakfast, Da Luo, along with Li Wei and Luo Er, drove off. The things had been prepared the day before, mostly cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, and drinks; of course, the things for his aunt were different.
Since it was a formal visit, Li Wei put a lot of thought into her attire. She chose all her clothes to be eye-catching and elegant. Last night, she had Li Lin do her eyebrows and nails, and this morning after breakfast, she put on light makeup.
She lent the cloak to Li Lin, and then took out a long coat of the same color and material that her aunt had bought with the cloak. It had a round neck and wide sleeves, and the hem was slightly wrinkled below the knee. Although it was also made of white mink, it did not look bulky at all. Li Wei specially paired it with beige knee-high stiletto suede boots, which made her appear even taller. As she walked, she exuded an ethereal charm.
With her jet-black, naturally flowing, layered bangs, her long, slightly curled hair cascading over her shoulders, her red lips and white teeth, her beautiful features, and her sparkling eyes, Li Wei stunned Da Luo and Er Luo, who were waiting in the living room, when she came downstairs.
Luo Er, in particular, gasped, "Oh my, Sister Xiaoming, is this really the same Sister Xiaoming? She's simply...!"
Before Luo Er could finish speaking, his brother slapped him on the head: "Sister-in-law, what 'Sister Xiaoming'? If you can't say it, don't bother. Go back and look it up in the dictionary before you come back. Let's go." After saying that, he pulled Li Wei away, secretly feeling very smug.
These three aunts all lived in the city, not too far away. They first arrived at Luo Peiyun's house, where the eldest aunt warmly welcomed the three of them inside, while Luo Er acted as a porter, carrying the gifts.
My aunt's house is a fairly spacious three-bedroom house. It houses two daughters from my aunt's ex-wife's previous marriage, including my cousin Zhong. The other daughter is married and didn't come today. Only my cousin Zhong and Zhong Meng, whom I met yesterday, are at home.
My uncle went out to visit a friend and wasn't home. Zhong Xin greeted him indifferently and went back to her room. Zhong Meng, on the other hand, was much more enthusiastic than yesterday, serving tea, fruit, and melon seeds—even more attentive than her mother.
Li Wei took off her clothes, and Da Luo casually took them and hung them up. Underneath, she wore a well-fitting burgundy cashmere jacquard dress. It was form-fitting and perfectly showcased her beautiful, graceful curves. The high neckline with lace trim made her look as lovely as a flower.
Although Li Wei isn't as slim as she was before her pregnancy, she's recovered quite well. At least her waistline is back, and she can wear fitted clothes now. Li Wei estimates that, judging by this trend, she should be almost fully recovered by springtime when she can wear skirts. Good.
It wasn't until his aunt called him that Da Luo came to his senses. He wiped his face, smiled wryly, and went inside.
Li Wei was already being pulled along by her aunt. While looking Li Wei up and down her clothes and the ruby bracelet on her wrist, she said affectionately, "It's alright, you should come and visit more often when you come back. Your aunt is getting old and doesn't have many relatives. It's alright, but I always think of the old lady."
As she spoke, her eyes even reddened. Seeing this, Li Wei quickly said, "We understand, Auntie. Father-in-law only has you two older sisters. Naturally, we should visit each other often."
They chatted about everyday things, making it seem quite convincing. Zhong Meng occasionally chimed in, but she wasn't scheming; she only talked about things girls care about, like clothes and jewelry. She thought Li Wei's things were very pretty, and being a girl, she didn't have many reservations, so she asked about them when she was interested.
Since her aunt had bought them all, Li Wei usually didn't know where they were made or how much they cost, which disappointed her aunt who had been listening intently. Zhong Meng, on the other hand, clearly liked Li Wei's dress and asked her to find out where she bought it. Li Wei smiled and said, "No need to go to that trouble. I'll ask my aunt. If she still has any, I'll bring you one. But the style might be a little different; usually, items from the same collection won't be the same. What do you think?"
Zhong Meng was delighted: "That's great! You must remember to ask him for me!"
Li Wei nodded. This cousin was easy to get along with and didn't have many ulterior motives. She liked her quite a bit. Then she asked about her job arrangements, since she would officially graduate next year and should start contacting companies now.
These parents clearly had planned this all along. The eldest aunt said, "Your uncle has already asked a friend, and it's highly likely that he'll be placed in a school first, and then transferred to the Education Bureau. It should be basically settled."
Li Wei smiled and said, "That's a good thing. It's great for girls to work in public institutions, especially in education. They get many holidays and the work isn't tiring. It's really good."
After sitting at her aunt's house for a while, Li Wei left. It was mostly Li Wei talking to her aunt and her daughter, while Da Luo and Er Luo sat on the side as listeners.
When leaving, Zhong Meng felt a strong connection with her cousin-in-law and was quite reluctant to part with her. Although she was several years older than Li Wei, she was actually just a student about to graduate from university. In terms of social experience and life experience, she was far behind Li Wei. Li Wei's speech, behavior, clothing, and even her experiences were quite legendary, which made Zhong Meng yearn for her and wanted to get closer to her.
He could tell that, and before getting into the car, he said to Zhong Meng, "Cousin, you must come and visit if you have time. Anyway, everyone is free during the New Year."
Zhong Meng nodded happily: "After you finish paying your New Year's visits, I'll come over to play with you. Don't ignore me, okay?"
Li Wei laughed: "How could that be? We'd be more than happy to welcome you. We still have one more day tomorrow, so we should be done with our tour by then. Come over anytime after the day after tomorrow if you're free."
After saying goodbye to her eldest aunt, Liu Yanni spent less time at her second aunt's house. She went out to play with her friends, and only the elderly couple and a relative of her second aunt's husband came to pay their respects for the New Year. Seeing that their house was cramped and that everyone felt uncomfortable with their presence, Da Luo and Li Wei said their goodbyes and left early.
Then it was their cousin's house. Because of time constraints, Da Luo and Li Wei hesitated for a while, worried that their cousin would invite them to stay for dinner, which they felt awkward about. But they figured they had to go sooner or later, so they decided to just go ahead and be comfortable with it.
Actually, they were overthinking it. Although their aunt's house was grand and elegant, it felt somewhat empty and lacked human warmth. Their eldest aunt's son and daughter-in-law had also gone out to pay New Year's visits. Besides their eldest aunt and her husband, the only other people at home were their eldest aunt's husband's elderly mother and an aunt who took care of her.
Auntie was clearly not in good spirits. When Li Wei and the others arrived, they had just seen off a group of relatives who seemed to be from Auntie's husband's side, who had come to pay their respects for the New Year.
Seeing that his cousin and his wife were not in a good mood, Da Luo only sat for a short while, put down the gifts, and left with Li Wei and Luo Er, saving them a lot of trouble.
The three of them got in the car and discussed it. They originally thought that was the end of the day and that they would head home in the afternoon to continue visiting relatives and friends for the New Year. But now they suddenly had most of the day free. It was the New Year, and there was nowhere else to go. Going home was not very interesting; it was just a bunch of relatives and friends coming to visit for the New Year.
In the end, the three of them decided not to go back for lunch. They bought some biscuits and drinks from a street vendor, just enough to stave off hunger. Da Luo then drove straight to Yangliu Town to pay New Year's visits to Li Wei's two uncles and Da Luo's three uncles.
Anyway, everything is in the trunk. Each household has roughly the same items, so there's no need to bother categorizing them. Each household has four items, so I guess Li Wei's two uncles won't get any. I thought we'd just buy them in Yangliu Town when we went tomorrow.
The three of them rushed around like a revolving lantern, not returning home until dark. Li Wei was exhausted and hungry, but at least she had visited all the relatives she needed to see, without missing a single one. She could finally rest tomorrow.
Seeing that the three of them looked tired, the third aunt hurriedly asked the aunt to heat up some food. She thought they had already eaten at a relative's house, but who knew they had been hungry all day. Zhao Chunyan felt sorry for them, so she simply held her eldest grandson and stood at the kitchen door to supervise the aunt and make sure to serve the food as soon as possible.
The food was all ready-made. During the Chinese New Year, countless people would come every day, so everything was prepared well in advance, and the food was on the table in less than ten minutes.
The three of them, Da Luo, Li Wei, and Wei, didn't stand on ceremony. They sat down and started eating as if they hadn't eaten for three days. It didn't seem like they were going out to pay New Year's visits; it was more like they had gone to Somalia.
Auntie Luo and Grandma Luo were speechless. Grandma Luo felt sorry for them and said, "What are you saying? You can't do this again. There's no rush. Why are you walking so fast? These children, really."
None of the three of them had time to respond to Grandma Luo; they were all busy eating and then collapsed on the sofa, completely stuffed.
While Luo San was playing games with Zhong Yongjia, Liu Yandan disappeared. Li Wei lazily asked her mother-in-law, "Mom, where is Liu Yandan? Did she go home?"
Zhao Chunyan adjusted the small water bottle in her grandson's mouth before saying, "Zhong Xin called him away. It's good he left early. I've never seen anything like this. Even his mother isn't like this. This child is picky about food; she won't eat scallions or garlic. And she's picky about her bed, as you saw yesterday. I arranged a room for her and changed the bedding several times, but she always complains it's too thick or the fabric is wrong. It's so annoying! Anyone who didn't know better would think she was my daughter. Besides, even my family has daughters like that. She doesn't act like a guest at all. I don't know how your second aunt raised her child; she's so inconsiderate."
Li Wei felt a little sorry for her mother-in-law. How could she have so many awful relatives? Even a little girl like her was so difficult to deal with. Luckily, she was also a tough woman, otherwise she really wouldn't be able to control these old ladies.
It seems that sometimes being too gentle can make people take advantage of you. Being a bit tough like her mother-in-law isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least you'll suffer less.
Zhao Chunyan had obviously thought of this as well, and said to Li Wei, "Xiaoming, you don't need to be so gentle and polite to them in the future. Let's talk things over and get along well. Otherwise, if you should kick them out, don't be polite. Mom won't blame you. I've had enough of them. The more polite you are, the more they will think you are easy to bully and take advantage of you."
Zhao Chunyan was sharing her mother-in-law wisdom here. Li Wei secretly glanced over, but luckily, Grandma Luo had already gone back to her room, so she listened attentively.
She decided that at crucial moments, she needed to be as assertive as her mother-in-law and not be polite, otherwise they would all take over her place.
Her little actions were noticed by Da Luo, and he almost burst out laughing. He quickly covered up and ran upstairs to his room.
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