Zhang Laoer subconsciously shifted his position. "Dad, have you thought about this? If Xizi holds a banquet, not to mention my eldest brother's friends and colleagues, how many guests will come to you and Xiaowu? And then there are Xizi's colleagues, classmates, and buddies, and my friends, and..."
Father Zhang waved his hand in interruption, his head in a ache. "Alright, I understand what you mean. Sigh... I've been thinking about this problem these past few days, and besides all this, I'm also worried that your Uncle Zhou will come over."
"Didn't Xiaowu persuade you?"
Father Zhang glanced at his wife and said, "You don't understand. Otherwise, I would have promised you to look after the old family. She's just a superficial person. Have you forgotten that she asked you a while ago how many weddings your brother Dashan had held and how you accepted favors? I guess she's already calculating how much she can get."
Zhang Laoer was delighted when he heard what his father said.
In the end, the father has the final say in this family, but his father has been reluctant to express his opinion, which makes him feel uneasy. He really thinks that his father will just stop caring if he says so.
Zhang's mother looked at her husband hesitantly, then opened and closed her mouth in hesitation. This was her first grandchild. Was she really going to just do what everyone else did, get a marriage certificate, give out some candy, and be done with it?
Zhang Dad knew that his wife's death was due to her three sons, especially the eldest. Originally, there were some things he didn't want to say. He was already a grandfather, and his grandchildren had parents, so it would be bad to interfere too much.
They wouldn't bear a grudge against their son for getting beaten up by them, but no matter how filial their grandson was, he was still a grandson. Seeing Xizi always talking about his girlfriend, he seemed extremely satisfied.
He doubted that if he asked for a simple meal between the two families, his eldest grandson would probably blame him for being too controlling and feel that he was wronging his wife.
As the saying goes, "If you are not stupid or deaf, you cannot be a father-in-law." But now even the son himself has his own ideas, so the situation is different. He is definitely going to be the bad guy.
"Mother, if we really want to hold a banquet, even if we don't accept favors, I'm worried that our three sons will be framed in the future. Especially our little fifth son, he's out of town, and if word gets around, what good will it do if the news gets to the capital and changes the situation? Even if we investigate and clear him of all charges, the reputation will have spread so far."
Zhang Daddy saw his wife's expression change as he spoke, and he sighed inwardly, "Let's not talk about the fact that the second son didn't dare to hold a banquet for the first month of his two children. Let's talk about the twins of the fifth son. Will Brother Zhou have no money? Back then, things weren't so tense. Wouldn't he have held a banquet?"
Zhang Laoer quickly intervened, "Mom, what my dad said makes a lot of sense. My eldest brother thinks the same way. No one knows if someone will take advantage of the opportunity to deal with him."
"What? Why didn't he say anything?"
Zhang Laoer secretly gritted his teeth and replied with a wry smile, "You always talk so happily to your sister-in-law, would he dare? My brother is afraid that you will be angry."
Mother Zhang slapped her thigh and asked, "Am I such an unreasonable person?"
"How could that be?" Zhang Laoer shook his head repeatedly.
"Okay, you guys decide among yourselves and tell me later. If you don't want to do it, then don't do it. I just want to see how festive it will be with the silver lock."
After saying that, Zhang's mother thought for a moment and added, "Let's make it clear first. It's okay not to have a wedding banquet, but we can't make it look shameful."
"No, no, in the end it's my dad who makes the final decision, and you guys have to discuss it and decide."
Zhang's mother shook her head dejectedly. "Tell me, what's going on? My three sons' weddings were all buffets, but why is it like this for my grandson?"
Zhang Laoer touched his nose guiltily and looked at his father.
Father Zhang took out his pipe, stuffed it with tobacco, lit it, and pondered for a while. After a long while, he exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Come over with your eldest brother tonight. I want to hear his specific plans first. There's still time, no rush."
"good."
"Fortunately, we told Xiaowu about this, otherwise it would be so embarrassing. Dad, please write to Xiaowu and tell him to wait for news from us."
Father Zhang glanced at his wife, smiled and shook his head, "You old woman, I told you it's not too late to talk later. Did you really not tell outsiders about marrying your grandson's wife and treating him to drinks?"
"Am I the woman who's confused?" Zhang's mother glared at her husband. "If the woman hadn't urged us to choose a date, I wouldn't have even told Xiaowu yet."
Zhang Laoer had long known that his parents had a good relationship, and seeing them getting warmer as they talked, he quickly found an excuse to slip away. He decided to go tell his eldest brother the good news first, and ask him to treat him to a drink. He'd wait a few days to confirm it before writing a letter to Xiaowu. This time, that silly boy would definitely give him a few bottles of good wine, right?
As soon as her son left, Zhang's mother went to her husband and said, "Dad, if we really want to hold the wedding according to your idea, can you give Xizi a big red envelope in private?"
"How many?"
"How much do you think is appropriate? How much money do you have at home?"
Father Zhang leaned in and looked at her warily, "Don't think you can just do whatever you want. There are more than a dozen juniors here, and we can't break the rules."
"I feel like I'm wronging the child."
Father Zhang glanced at her unhappily. "Have you forgotten that when we divided the family property, we gave Xizi a share. How could I let my eldest grandson down? He's been working for so long, hasn't he saved any money? The young couple will both be regular employees in the future. Will you still need to worry about them? I'm telling you, we have a lot of grandchildren coming down the line. Don't break the rules."
"Alright, alright, why are you getting so excited? I just saw that you have a lot of money."
Father Zhang was so angry at his wife's words that he chuckled and snorted, "Don't you know where the money comes from? If you don't favor your son, will you change him?"
"What are you talking about? The boss has been giving us money all the time, and he has saved quite a bit of money. We should just give it back to his family."
"That's more like it." Father Zhang looked out the window and pointed at his wife. "I'm telling you, don't be so foolish as to speculate. Can a grandson be closer to you than a son? Don't take it seriously just because a little girl calls you 'Grandma, Grandma'. If we old couple were still in the village, you'd see how sincere we are."
Anyway, I plan to return the money my sons handed over to me in the future. As for the others, well, this is just a good time to test their morale by offering a little kickback."
Zhang's mother thought about it and thought it made sense. It was a good opportunity to test her grandson's wife's character. Even if the little girl had some complaints, she would have to keep them to herself.
I have three sons, so why do I have to look at the younger ones' faces?
"Okay, then I don't care. Just do whatever you want."
"Have you figured it out?"
"Alas...what else can I do? You've explained it so clearly, and I still don't understand?"
"There's no way. I'm not trying to discourage you, but once Xizi gets married, the next grandchild will be born soon. By then, with so many grandchildren's wives, their minds will be mixed. We should all stay away from each other. If Xizi thinks the marriage is shabby and has a problem with me, then this eldest grandchild will be useless."
"No, the child doesn't know yet."
Father Zhang was too lazy to argue with his wife and shook his head secretly. He also hoped that his eldest grandson would still have the same original intention. He was afraid that as he grew up and understood more, he would forget what he said before about being the eldest son.
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