Chapter 74 Zhang's mother's family gathered together
Zhang's father's big hand straightened Zhang Wanwan up and said, "Girl, don't sleep any more. It's almost time. Wake up quickly."
Zhang Wanwan opened her sleepy eyes and looked a little listless. No one would be in a good mood if they were woken up early in the morning to ride a go-kart.
After getting off the bus, Zhang's mother and father each carried two large bags of things, which were all New Year gifts prepared by Zhang's mother. They were only available in Pu City and were considered rare items for the people in the county.
Zhang's mother has two brothers and one sister, who all live nearby. The eldest, Li Yongfu, and his wife set up a stall to sell fish in the vegetable market. The second, Li Yongshou, and his wife are workers. They work outside all year round and only come back during the Chinese New Year. The third, Li Meili, married in a rural area on the outskirts of the county town. Her family contracted a lot of land to grow vegetables. Some people come specifically to buy in large quantities, making small profits but quick turnover. The relatives all make money by working, and their lives are not rich, but they have no foreign debts.
All those years ago, they helped Zhang's father and mother when they borrowed money to buy a house. Zhang's father always remembered this favor and was very respectful to Zhang's mother's brothers and sisters. No matter how expensive the New Year gifts Zhang's mother brought to her parents' home were, he never said a word.
The family of four first went to the eldest son Li Yongfu's house.
Li Yongfu's wife Lu Cui was standing at the door of her house eating melon seeds and chatting with the neighbor women. Her home was also in Qingpu, and she saw her family all year round. It didn't matter whether she went back on the second day of the Chinese New Year or not. In addition, Zhang's mother and others would come to visit on the second day of the Chinese New Year every year, so Lu Cui simply stayed at home. The children went to their grandmother's house for a day on the first day of the Chinese New Year. After receiving the red envelopes, they did not go out today, waiting for their aunt who only came back once a year to give them red envelopes.
When Zhang's mother arrived, Lu Cui saw her from afar with her sharp eyes. She stopped cracking melon seeds and greeted her enthusiastically, "The child's aunt is back! Hurry up and go home!"
Zhang's mother handed a bag to Lu Cui with a smile on her face, "Some cakes and breads for the children."
Lu Cui took a look and said in surprise, "Wow! This is not cheap! I saw someone who came back from working outside a few days ago brought this back. He said it was popular among city dwellers. It's very expensive, so we just looked at it and didn't dare to taste it."
Lu Cui tightened her grip on the bag and looked at Zhang's family with increasingly warm eyes. After inviting them into the house, she immediately went to the kitchen to prepare the banquet.
Li Yongfu came back on his motorcycle and heard the noise at home. Before he even entered the house, he shouted at the top of his voice: "My little sister is back!"
"Brother! Come in quickly and have some snacks." Zhang's mother trotted out and asked Zhang Baiyan and Zhang Wanwan to call for help.
"Uncle." The two men showed up obediently, which made Li Yongfu very curious. He asked, "I heard that Wanwan was the top scorer in the high school entrance examination last year, right? Wow! It was even in the newspaper! I cut it up and kept it. I'll show it to you later!"
Seeing Li Yongfu's impetuous look, Zhang's mother and father felt helpless. They even wanted to ask him to make tea, but he was too busy to do anything.
After a while, Li Yongfu really took out a notebook with a lot of newspapers pasted on it, and pointed to a report to show everyone. Zhang's mother, who was illiterate, just joined in the fun.
Li Yongfu took the opportunity to give Zhang Baiyan and Zhang Wanwan a red envelope each, "Here, this is from your uncle."
Zhang Wanwan glanced at her mother, and only accepted the red envelope after her mother nodded. At this moment, Zhang's mother also gave two red envelopes to each of Li Yongfu's two children, one from her and one from Zhang's father.
The two children's eyes lit up instantly after receiving the red envelopes. They took a sneak peek and were too shocked to speak. The eldest, Li Qingqing, rushed into the kitchen with the red envelopes and said excitedly, "Mom, my aunt and uncle gave us two red envelopes, one for 100 yuan. I have 200 yuan here. This is the biggest red envelope I've ever received in my life!"
Lu Cui was surprised when she heard this. She had to believe the money in the red envelope. She was happy but also a little troubled. When her sister-in-law owed them money, the red envelopes were exchanged. No one owed anyone anything. She would not take advantage of her sister-in-law. She just wanted the things her sister-in-law brought back every year. Now that her sister-in-law was so generous, what should she do? And her husband might not know about it!
Lu Cui was distracted by something in her mind. At this moment, there was a commotion outside. She looked out and quickly pushed Li Qingqing out. "Your aunt is here. Go call for help."
Li Meili and his wife have two daughters and one son. The eldest daughter, Zhao Xiaojun, is one year older than Zhang Baiyan. She went out to work before finishing high school and looks very mature. The youngest daughter, Zhao Xiaoqin, is one year younger than Zhang Wanwan. She is only in the third year of junior high school this year and is preparing for the high school entrance examination. Because Zhang Wanwan was the top scorer in the high school entrance examination last year, the couple, who had never paid much attention to education, suddenly paid attention to her grades. They hope that Zhao Xiaoqin can work harder and be admitted to high school so that the family can have a college student. The youngest son, Zhao Jun, is only in the sixth grade now. The ten-year-old child hates cats and dogs. As soon as he entered the door, he bullied Li Yongfu's dog, making it bark.
Zhang's mother came out and chatted with Li Meili for a long time. The two sisters walked into the house arm in arm warmly. Zhang Wanwan and the others quickly stood up and called for help.
Zhang's father and Li Yongfu asked Li Meili's man Zhao Guoqing to come over and make tea.
The heads of the family gathered together to talk, and a group of sensible children sat beside them, whispering or watching TV series. They were all well-behaved. Only Zhao Jun was restless. Because he was too noisy, Zhang's mother quickly gave the children some cakes and bread, stuffed them with red envelopes, and sent him to the yard to play with the dog.
Without the naughty Zhao Jun, the hall instantly became quiet and everyone could talk to each other properly.
Li Meili has been jealous since she saw Zhang Wanwan. She held Zhang's mother's hand and praised her non-stop, sighing: "I was worried about you when you had such a hard time buying a house in the city. Now it's all worth it. Look how well you taught your two children! Not to mention Wanwan, when the title of the top scorer in the high school entrance examination came out last year, we were all excited here and talked about it for a long time! Bai Yan is tall and handsome. He will also take the college entrance examination this year, right?"
Mother Zhang nodded with a smile.
Li Meili asked, "How are his grades?"
Mother Zhang looked at Zhang Baiyan and laughed, "You have to ask him about this. I don't know either. I will try my best to give them a good environment. As for whether they can study well or not, it depends on him. I don't ask for anything. I just hope that he can go to a good university and get a decent job after graduation. He doesn't have to work so hard like us and be looked down upon by others!"
Li Meili knew who Zhang's mother was talking about. She sighed and advised, "It's all in the past. No matter how good they are, we won't get involved. No matter how miserable our lives are, we can't ask them for help. Why say those bad things? Look, how many people envy you for having such a pair of outstanding children? They are so capable, but they haven't raised a top scholar! I think they should be the ones who are upset, not you!"
(End of this chapter)
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