In the west room, Zhang's mother touched the hand of one grandson, then touched the hand of that grandson, and was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She also grew a lot taller.
Seeing this, Ping'an opened one of the luggage bags and placed the sheets, towels, pillowcases, cloths, etc. on the kang one by one.
Zhang's mother turned her head to look at the closed door and lowered her voice: "Is your mother having a hard time?"
The twins quickly covered their mouths with laughter.
Ping An imitated her and whispered back, "My mom originally prepared two washbasins, but my dad gave up because he was worried that it would be inconvenient for us to take them out."
Zhang's mother shook her head after hearing this. "Your mother is good in every way except that she's too lenient."
"That's right, Brother Xizi and Brother Ziwen are our brothers. Besides these, my mother also brought me some money. She told me to bring it back and let you make arrangements. She said that she and my father didn't understand anyway, so I could just ask you."
While listening to him, Zhang's mother quickly folded the things and put them in the cabinet behind her.
The movement was so fast that Liuyi and Wuyi almost suspected that someone was coming to snatch it.
After hiding the things, Zhang's mother finally felt relieved. She thought for a moment, "You don't need so much. Just follow your second uncle's example. Your father has so many nephews and nieces. It's not possible to be generous with this gift."
Ping An looked at his two younger brothers and continued, "Then I'll ask my second uncle later?"
"Don't worry, he'll come find you. Let me give you a heads up, our gift list is just a few yuan. There are no big gifts. Relatives at home only give three or five yuan at most. Others will add more substantial gifts, such as a washbasin, soap box, towel, pillowcase, bed sheet, or any other piece of cloth."
After Zhang's mother finished speaking, she looked at Ping'an and said, "Grandma, do you understand what I said?"
Ping An looked at her with a smile and nodded heavily.
He was simply worried about his family's attitude towards the gift. He hesitated for a moment, "Will my aunt have a problem if I don't give enough? My mother said we can't make things difficult for you and my grandfather."
Mother Zhang sighed inwardly, "Don't pay attention to her. She won't think anything is too much. Your grandfather said that this time we're setting the rules. If we give too much, with so many children, not only will your uncle be unable to cope, but your father's salary won't be enough to support the family."
Brothers Liuyi and Wuyi looked at each other and then looked at Zhang's mother.
"Okay, before I came here, my parents told me to just listen to you." Ping An changed the subject and asked about other things. For example, did Brother Xizi apply for housing from his company?
Zhang's mother became interested. She not only talked about applying for a room to be shared equally by about twenty people, but also mentioned the betrothal money, the woman's situation, and the fact that she was waiting to be married in a guesthouse in the county town.
“…Originally, they thought that if your grandfather and I returned to the village, your yard, whether in the county town or here, would be empty, so they wanted to move one to be the new bride’s family home and marry her from there.
Bah, that's a nice thought. Fortunately, the Gong family didn't have such thoughts. They even told me personally that it didn't make sense. Otherwise, I would have forced your brother Xizi not to marry this daughter-in-law."
Wuyi blinked, "Grandma, who told you that?"
Mother Zhang angrily complained to her grandson, "Who else? It's your eldest uncle's family. They don't dare to say it to my face, so they just do something shady behind my back. Remember, stay away from them when you see them in the future. They have such vicious minds. Everyone knows that our family has good feng shui."
"I'm telling you, even though people are always talking about breaking superstitions, it's better to believe in these things than not. Look at your grandma and grandpa living there. They haven't had a fever or a cold for a single day, and their health is getting better and better."
Since the old lady said so, Wuyi had no other objections. He smiled and nodded repeatedly, "Grandma, I believe you. My dad said it's right to listen to my grandma."
Zhang's mother was even more delighted by her grandson's flattery. "So you must remember this from now on. There's also a yard in the county town. No matter who wants to buy it, don't sell it no matter how much gold they offer."
The three brothers nodded repeatedly. "Well, I'll listen to you, old man. I won't sell it, even if it just sits there gathering dust."
Hearing her three grandsons agree immediately, Zhang's mother was very satisfied. After sitting with her grandsons for so long, she had to go back and take a look around.
The new bride is going to be married the day after tomorrow, and there are many things to do before the wedding.
No matter how much you want the wedding to be simple, you still have to set up a tent and a stove in the yard in advance, and borrow plates, bowls and chopsticks from all over the village and bring back the table.
There are also red belts and bracelets to be used on the wedding day, replacement shoes prepared for the new bride, and various red envelopes to be used on the day.
It wasn't that Zhang's mother didn't trust her eldest daughter-in-law's abilities. While it was common practice to break with old customs these days, if you missed out on someone's red envelope, you'd be reviled for the rest of your life. There were so many ways to use this, and while no one cared how much was given, it was still a good omen.
"You guys take a nap first. Grandma will bring you food when it's time. Don't go over there if there are too many people, or someone will tell you to do some work. If you get caught, it could be bad."
After hearing what she said, Ping An looked at his brother and said with a smile, "We haven't gone to see Grandpa yet."
"You won't see him even if you go. He's still waiting for you in the city." After saying this, Zhang's mother laughed happily. The old man had quit long ago because he was afraid of trouble.
"Your grandfather originally wanted your brother Xizi to have a simple wedding in his workplace cafeteria, with both families having a meal there."
Ping An thought this was a good idea, just as his second uncle had said in his previous letter. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown, "Then why don't you listen to my grandfather's arrangements?"
Mother Zhang shook her head. "As long as they like it."
This was a long story, and Ping An stopped his brothers with a look. Just as his mother had said, they were already separated, so why bother with so much?
"Shall we go pick up Grandpa?"
"No, wait until he finds out before dark and you can just go back to the village."
Indeed, when Xizi and the others came back from the provincial capital, Zhang's father guessed this naturally.
Taking this into consideration, Ping'an said nothing more. After seeing Zhang's mother off, he followed her instructions and took his brothers to wash up and go to bed to rest.
"Brother, now it looks like we're going to be staying here for a few days?"
"Why do you have another idea?"
"Hey, we have nothing to do. Can we make some money?"
"Tell me."
"Look, apart from going over for drinks the day after tomorrow, you can't go home until the seventh day of the first lunar month next year. Isn't that boring?"
"Young Master, stop rambling on about other things. Let's get to the point."
"Mom, you already have too many gifts. How about we trade them for mushrooms and wood ears?"
Liuyi nudged him and said, "Grandma said everyone around here is slaughtering pigs for the New Year these days."
"Yes, pork would be better. Let's ask Aunt Xiaomi to take some back first."
"I can't bring gifts and take them back. It's troublesome."
"Yeah, that's really stupid. Brother, you wouldn't do such a stupid thing, would you? We barter, not for profiteering. We offer our love and kindness to help our fellow villagers solve their shopping difficulties. This kind of behavior should be encouraged."
"Brother, it's two to one, so it's passed unanimously."
Ping An burst out laughing at being attacked from both sides by his two younger brothers. As expected of his younger brother, he had the same intention. He had to earn back the fare after every trip.
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