After the fifth day of the New Year, everyone went to work, except for the occasional firecrackers thrown by children who had not yet started school. The compound began to return to peace.
Lin Lishan finally took a break to spend some time at home with her children. She had been leading the team around to arrange performances these past few days, just to get her assistant familiar with the process so she could accompany her daughter, Jiaojiao, to S City.
Lin Lishan hadn't seen Ping An for a few days, and she felt like the child had grown up. Holding the child in her arms, she listened to his humming and babbling, and burst into laughter.
As for Zhou Jiao's suggestion that her second aunt might ask her to borrow money, she didn't take it to heart. She didn't have a penny now, so if she needed to borrow money, she should go to the old lady.
Zhou Jiao mentioned it casually to remind her. She was worried that her second aunt-in-law would be full of tricks and wouldn't miss the opportunity to have a family dinner at the Lin family that evening.
It was almost time to get off work, so Lin Liying took her two sons to Zhou's house. Today was the day she had agreed to visit her parents for the New Year, so she waited for Li Jianjun to arrive before going with her eldest sister to chat about gossip.
As soon as she arrived in the living room, she saw her two sons immediately clinging to Zhang Guoqing. She immediately ran over to sit next to Lin Lishan and her daughter, smiling mysteriously, "Xiaolin's boyfriend, Yang Liqun, is coming over soon. Didn't you know yet?"
Lin Lishan said casually: "Oh, just come over. Who? Xiaolin's boyfriend, you mean? Why is he here today? Is it sure that it must be this guy?" She woke up halfway through her words and was very surprised.
"Before getting off work, Xiaolin pulled him over and told me she wanted to take him home. I'll hide for a while and wait for you to go together."
Lin Lishan frowned and looked at her, and asked her worriedly if the old man would get angry.
Lin Liying explained it to her. This time, Xiaolin deliberately took advantage of the family gathering to bring someone home. There would be absolutely no problem. Now the old man is annoyed with that girl and wants her to get married quickly.
Lin Liying really doesn't want to care about her niece anymore. You can't compare people; the more you compare, the colder your heart becomes. Her two sons constantly talk about how great their sister and brother-in-law are in front of her and Li Jianjun. They don't even want to call her cousin, calling her "sister" and "brother-in-law." It sounds like the Zhou family is even more anxious than she is. She's been nice to Xiaolin, but Xiaolin has always been indifferent to her two sons. Whether she's sincere or not is obvious to her, even her two children can see through it.
Lin Liying thought of her second sister-in-law and looked at them worriedly. She leaned forward and whispered, "Jiang Jiangyu borrowed 2,800 yuan to buy the yard and said her family lent her 1,000 yuan. She's a fake, unlike my eldest sister-in-law. You guys better be careful. Especially you, sister, don't be fooled. She's good at deceiving people."
"I don't have any money. Don't glare at me, I'm telling you the truth! I gave the money to your brother-in-law and Jiaojiao to support the families of those old comrades who passed away. I heard that in some families of martyrs, several children can't even afford to eat with that little subsidy. In other families, the mother remarried, and the eldest child and several younger siblings are struggling to make ends meet. Your brother-in-law and some of his comrades are planning to make time to visit the other children they haven't been able to contact."
Lin Liying glared at Zhou Jiao and scolded her harshly, "You're such a fool! You've just had a full meal and you're already thinking about someone else. What are you and your dad doing? How much money do you have to spend? Calculate how much it will cost for you and Xiaowu to go to college in a few years without a salary, and to raise a child? Even if you work for a month, how much do you get? Remember not to give them money. If it's really difficult, let those children enlist in the army or find jobs. It's not easy to run a household, who doesn't want to split the money into two? Don't listen to your dad."
Zhou Jiao nodded quickly and smiled at her foolishly.
The more Lin Liying thought about it, the more worried she became. She complained, "Alas... my brother-in-law has become an immortal. Look at what he's done. He didn't ask for a penny from the soldiers who lent money to the big courtyard. I heard he didn't ask for money from the small courtyard either. Now, he doesn't even keep any money for us, and has squandered all of Jiaojiao's wealth."
Zhou Jiao laughed out loud. Her father took a lot of blame!
Seeing her get excited and stand up, Lin Lishan quickly pulled her sister to sit down. She advised, "Don't worry. The two of us will soon be able to save money for Jiaojiao. Tell me about Yang Liqun. Did you discuss when you'll get married during this meeting?"
Lin Liying frowned, thinking about Yang Liqun, and shook her head. "It's hard to say about this guy. I've met him several times, but why do I always feel that he is no different from a passerby on the street? If Dad agrees this time, it will probably be soon. Sister, what do you think we will do if we become relatives with that family and see Yang Xiaoqiong?"
After she finished speaking, she saw Zhou Jiao's curious face and explained, "Jiaojiao, Concubine Yang is Yang Liqun's grandmother."
"What can I do? Just say hello. Don't call me concubine anymore. Many people in the compound are married later. It's not nice to hear that.
A while ago, when that person heard someone mention the word "original wife," he immediately changed his face and found a reason to kick her out. "Lin Lishan said nervously, pulling her aside.
Lin Lishan nodded heavily at her sister's surprised expression.
Zhou Jiao looked at her mother with great joy, and smiled at Zhang Guoqing who looked up at her. She knew that her father must have had some good qualities in her mother to be so attracted to her.
"Mom, my dad is back." Zhou Jiao said, then quickly stood up and walked out.
Lin Liying waited for a long time but no one came in. She looked outside curiously, "Why hasn't Jiaojiao come back yet since she didn't see her dad? Do you want to go check on her, Xiaowu?"
Zhang Guoqing pointed outside with a smile and said, "Jiaojiao must be waiting at the corner. Look, they are coming in." Halfway through his words, he heard the voices of a father and daughter talking outside.
Lin Lishan didn't explain the telepathic connection. Ever since Old Lady Cheng took Zhou Jiao to a fortune-teller, she'd grown to believe in the mystical. Especially after Zhou Xiaozheng told her to deny Zhou Jiao's photographic memory, she remained silent about her daughter's unusual behavior.
Zhou Xiaozheng came in and nodded to Lin Liying, asking everyone to start going to the Lin family. Just now, his brother-in-law said that the whole family would be waiting for them when they arrived, so if they wanted to go, they should go early.
Lin Lishan held Ping An, while Zhang Guoqing walked side by side in front, carrying a cloth bag of milk powder, diapers, and New Year gifts, talking to her. Behind them, Zhou Xiaozheng lowered his head and whispered softly to Zhou Jiao.
Lin Liying, watching this scene from behind, covered her mouth and chuckled. Her sister's family was truly hilarious. No wonder her sister kept saying Zhang Guoqing was her son. No wonder her son said his uncle wasn't serious at all; he just didn't like to laugh.
When they arrived at the Lin family's house, they saw the distinguished guest already in the living room. Lin Xuelin looked shyly at the man beside her as he answered the old lady's questions.
Mr. and Mrs. Lin sat at the head of the table, smiling, chatting with the guests. Aside from the younger generation, only Li Jianjun was smoking in the living room; even his two brothers-in-law were not there.
When Mrs. Lin saw Zhou Xiaozheng and his family coming in, she waved at them with a smile and said, "Hurry and bring our great-grandson over here. Xiaolin, quickly introduce your eldest aunt and her family to Liqun."
Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at Zhang Guoqing and saw him nod slightly in understanding. He stopped and stood in a corner with his brother-in-law to chat.
Old Mrs. Lin took the Ping An from Lin Lishan. She smiled and praised the child, and took out a temple amulet and a gold bracelet with a peanut pendant from her pocket and put them on the child.
Zhang Guoqing stepped forward and took it. After putting the gold chain into the old lady's pocket, he held the amulet in his hand and said with a smile: "Grandma, why are you giving the child a gift again? This amulet is good, but don't give the gold chain. It's not safe to take it out. While the brothers and sisters are here today, tell us how much wealth you have left. We'll take it all away."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Dingsheng and others burst into laughter and shouted to divide the things.
Old Mrs. Lin laughed happily and took out a gold chain from her pocket and put it into Ping'an's pocket.
She looked at the grandchildren gathered in front of her and scolded with a smile: "Don't be fooled by Xiaowu. Grandma still has a few old cheongsams, do you want them?"
Zhang Guoqing took the child with a smile and said, "Grandma, please take out a cheongsam for them to see. It must be suitable for you when you find a wife in the future. This is a family heirloom."
After saying that, she saw Old Lady Lin really walking towards the bedroom. She casually put the amulet in her hand into her trouser pocket, and when no one was paying attention, she stuffed the gold chain into Zhou Jiao.
He held the child and sat down next to Mr. Lin, then smiled and nodded at Yang Liqun.
He understood his father-in-law's concerns. Thinking of those shady tactics, he decided to be careful with the things the old lady gave him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
