On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Xiangbei came early in the morning to disturb Chen Xianghong's sleep, and slammed the small bed in her room.
Chen Xianghong had dark circles under his eyes and felt his eyes were dry and uncomfortable, but when he heard the sound, he got up and handed the repaired clothes to Chen Xiangbei.
Chen Xiangbei put it on immediately. Seeing the dense stitching on the cuffs, he was still a little dissatisfied. "Sister, can't you help me mend it a little more concealed? Look at this thread, it doesn't match the color of my clothes."
Chen Xianghong yawned. "I'm sorry, Xiangbei, we've run out of that color of thread, and there's nowhere to buy it late at night, so we'll have to use something else instead."
Chen Xiangbei: "Forget it, forget it. You must want to see me get beaten by my mom anyway."
After saying that, he went back to the room. Just as Chen Xiangnan thought yesterday, Chen Xiangbei was not grateful at all. Instead, he got angry about the clothes and blamed Chen Xianghong for kindly helping him mend the clothes.
Yu Qingqing heard Xiangdong open his eyes and said, "Happy New Year, sister-in-law."
Chen Xianghong tried to smile, "Happy New Year, Qingqing."
"I think Xiangbei...is not right." Yu Qingqing saw Chen Xianghong's tired face and said it after hesitating for a moment.
Chen Xianghong smiled indifferently, "He just has a childish mentality. He will be fine when he grows up."
Yu Qingqing suddenly said seriously: "I think you are even more wrong."
Chen Xianghong was puzzled, "What's wrong with me?"
"You're indulging him. Yesterday, your second brother even dragged Sister Tang Jiao to refuse to help him. If he was truly a good brother, he wouldn't have refused so bluntly. Only you agreed to his request without hesitation. You worked hard for him all night, and just now he gave you a cold shoulder. This is not right."
Chen Xianghong still didn't take it to heart. "Qingqing, you just came to our house, so you may not know everyone's temperament. Xiangbei is a good child, but he is sometimes willful. He has been like this since he was a child. It's not that he disrespects me as his sister, but he treats me as a family member, so he speaks casually. In fact, he treats me very well. You don't know, I was almost bullied during an interview before, and it was him who saved me."
Yu Qingqing was persuaded by Chen Xianghong's firm words. She had also experienced an abnormal family and an abnormal life in the countryside. In her previous years, except for her brother who was kind to her, everyone else treated her with ulterior motives and malice. She didn't know what a normal family was like.
According to her previous education, Chen Xiangbei's behavior was wrong. However, her sister-in-law said that this was normal, that Chen Xiangbei was just immature and a little willful towards his family. If this was the way siblings in a normal family get along, Yu Qingqing felt that she had just been meddling.
After thinking about it, she apologized, "I didn't understand the situation clearly. I'm sorry, sister-in-law."
Chen Xianghong shook her head. "It's okay. I know you care about me. Sleep a little longer. My parents won't be getting up very early today. They probably won't be getting up until noon. It's okay to get up late on New Year's Day. If you're hungry, go to the table and find some snacks."
Yu Qingqing nodded, "Then I'll go get some. Sister-in-law, do you want to eat?"
Chen Xianghong: "Please bring me a bowl of hot water. I'm a little thirsty."
Old Mrs. Xia in the house woke up when she heard the noise, but she felt there was no need to get up now because the weather was cold. Only the restless children would get up early to set off firecrackers, while the adults would hide in their quilts.
So, she didn't know what was going on between the children.
As noon approaches, everyone slows down and greets everyone they see outside their rooms with "Happy New Year."
Like last night, several children were busy cooking together in the kitchen. Old Mrs. Xia took out three red envelopes, one for Chen Lingling and one for Chen Xiangbei. One was a child and the other was a student. Red envelopes were required for those who were not married yet. Originally, two would have been enough, but this year Yu Qingqing was added. Yesterday, Old Mrs. Xia hurriedly found someone to give a red envelope and put the money in it.
We will be a family from now on, and since we are at her house, it would be bad to let the child feel like an outsider.
As for the others, there is none at all.
Chen Xiangbei came back from playing all sweaty. When he came back, Chen Xiangnan had just served the last dish. Everyone was there, and the dishes were ready too.
Before eating, the children wished Old Mrs. Xia and Old Mr. Chen a happy new year and said a lot of auspicious words. Chen Lingling and Yu Qingqing successfully got red envelopes.
Yu Qingqing didn't want to accept it. She felt embarrassed living here with her brother, so how could she dare to take the red envelope from Old Lady Xia? But Old Lady Xia was firm in her attitude, so Yu Qingqing had to accept it with tears.
When it was Chen Xiangbei's turn, he had already extended his hand. "Mom, I wish you all the best. May this year be even better than last year."
Old Mrs. Xia looked at the dirty third brother, his forehead covered in sweat, his hair stained with red firecracker debris, and a black stain on his face. He didn't feel anything, his clothes were full of marks of patching, and the sweater inside was not made by her for him.
He didn't look like he was celebrating the New Year. Instead, he looked like he had just returned from a war, like a homeless person.
You can't curse, you absolutely can't curse on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Old Mrs. Xia kept telling herself in her heart that if not for the sake of the children, then for the sake of the luck for the whole year, you can't curse.
But even though she stopped cursing, she didn't want to give the red envelope in her hand. Asking her to give the New Year's money to such a sloppy son made Old Lady Xia feel uncomfortable all over.
Everything is going well for her, but with him around, nothing can go smoothly for her, Old Lady Xia complained in her heart.
Seeing that his mother was slow to give him the New Year's money, Chen Xiangbei became anxious. He clearly saw that Old Lady Xia's hand retracted when she took out the red envelope.
Although he didn't know what his mother was thinking, he absolutely couldn't throw away the New Year's money. He stood up, took the red envelope directly from her hand, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Mom, thank you, Dad."
He stuffed the red envelope into his arms, picked up the chopsticks and wanted to eat, but suddenly remembered that his parents hadn't started eating yet, so he put them down again, "Dad, Mom, come and eat, I have an appointment with Dahe to go out and play later."
Mrs. Xia took a deep breath, and after repeating several times that she must not get angry, she said, "Let's eat."
Today's dishes were also excellent, and everyone even got a bowl of egg fried rice, which was simply luxurious.
Chen Xiangbei ate madly with a slurp, his hands picking up the meat quickly, like a starving ghost reincarnated.
Even Old Chen couldn't stand it any longer. He cleared his throat strategically and suppressed the urge to scold him, "Old Third, eat slowly."
Chen Xiangbei didn't even look at Old Chen's expression. "I can't wait. I'm in a hurry. It's too late for dinner at home. I'm almost too late."
As he took his last bite, the hole in his cotton-padded jacket, which had just been patched, came undone. He put down his chopsticks, frowned, and complained to Chen Xianghong, "Sister, you can't cut corners no matter what. It's already unraveling again before I've even worn it."
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