Chapter 601 Spending the New Year at Home
After dinner, the children, all smiles, each brought a prayer mat, knelt down, and kowtowed to Li Banxia. "Su Jiale/Su Jiaming/Su Jiayue/Xu Haoyang, wishing Grandma a Happy New Year! Grandma, may you be prosperous and lucky in the new year! Congratulations on your fortune! Give me a red envelope..."
Li Banxia smiled, got up, took out red envelopes, and handed out New Year's money to everyone.
Children receive small red envelopes with cartoon images, while adults receive large red envelopes with various auspicious sayings written on them.
Su Hongying also received one, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears the moment she received the red envelope.
She couldn't describe how she felt at that moment.
"Thank you, Mom. I wish you good health and all the best in the new year."
Li Banxia hummed in agreement, gave the remaining two red envelopes to Su Lao Er and Su Lao San, and waved her hand, "Go have fun, there are firecrackers and fireworks prepared later..."
Su Hongying rolled up her sleeves, her eyes red with tears, and said with a smile, "I'll stay and clean up the dishes."
"No need for you. The kids haven't seen you in years. You take them to play. They're all mischievous little monkeys, jumping around all over the place. Your second sister-in-law and I can't control them. You're good at fighting, so help us curb the arrogance of the younger ones and let them know what it means to be outmatched..."
Yao Jianshu pressed her hand down, put her sweater down, and gestured for Boss Su to bring over the loungewear that had been prepared in advance and put it on Su Hongying. "It's cold in the garden. This coat was prepared early this morning. It's soft and lightweight, and comfortable to wear at home."
Su Hongying was taken aback. Looking at Yao Jianshu's kind face, she felt a little uncomfortable. "Sister-in-law, thank you."
Yao Jianshu smiled and said, "Go ahead, it's your own home, don't be shy."
Xu Ying smiled and agreed.
"Yes, listen to your sister-in-law, teach these brats a lesson! They're getting more and more lawless."
Su Jiale rolled her eyes and gave Su Jiaming a meaningful look. Su Jiaming shook his head. Su Jiale put her hands on her hips, and Su Jiaming deflated. The two siblings began to sneak away.
Upon seeing this, Su Jiayue grabbed Xu Haoyang's hand and retreated with him.
Xu Ying and Yao Jianshu exchanged a glance, and then Xu Ying gave Su Hongying a look.
Su Hongying found it amusing and nodded, suppressing a laugh. Seeing them quietly leave the main room and rush towards the back garden with loud cries, she smiled and said to her two sisters-in-law, "Then I'll go keep an eye on things; firecrackers are quite dangerous."
"Go."
Su Laosan glanced at Li Banxia and said with a grin, "Mom, I'm going too. You guys come to watch the fireworks later. I bought a lot, and they're all different. They're so beautiful."
Li Banxia hummed in agreement.
He glanced at the eldest Su couple and the second Su couple, and said, "You two go too. I'll take the plates back to the kitchen and then come over."
Yao Jianshu laughed, "Mom, let's do it together. Many hands make light work, and it'll be faster."
“Yes, we each carry one plate, and we’ll be almost done in two rounds. There’s no reason for Mom to be the only one doing all the work during the New Year, Min’an…”
Xu Ying smiled and echoed Yao Jianshu, handing two plates to Su Lao Er.
Yao Jianshu followed suit, and Su Laoda and Su Laoer exchanged a glance, then smiled and carried the plates to the kitchen.
The group tidied up the table in a few rounds.
Xu Ying and Yao Jianshu escorted Li Banxia to the back garden to watch the fireworks.
The family had already moved into several courtyard houses that Su Laosan had bought. After repairing them, they complained that the activity space reserved for the children was too small, so they bought a second courtyard house in the back and demolished the house to turn it into a back garden.
One-fifth of the enclosure was planted with flowers and vegetables, and three-fifths was converted into a playground-like activity area. A tiny pavilion, no bigger than a palm, was also built in the corner, where the family would drink tea and chat in the summer.
They would often gather near the pavilion in small groups to have a barbecue or bonfire party.
The family played around for more than an hour. After the fireworks were over, the children wanted to spar with Su Hongying. At first, Su Hongying was worried that she might hurt the children, so she wanted to try out the children's punches and kicks.
Once I started practicing, I realized that although the children were young, they had seriously studied martial arts and had learned basic skills.
Especially the eldest brother and sister-in-law's little niece, if you use skillful force, you can use four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. If you really hit her legs and feet, you can make her hands hurt and her feet weak.
Su Laosan leaned against the pavilion, curling his lip. "Su Hongying, with your skills, you can only fool these little brats. Do you believe that in less than five years, you won't last more than a few rounds against them?"
Su Hongying's lips twitched.
"Third Brother, I've only been learning for a few days. My grandparents and uncles taught me when I was little, so I only know some basic skills. These fancy moves are something I picked up temporarily over the years for filming kung fu movies... Hiss."
While they were talking, she was cornered against the wall by the twins. She watched as Su Jiaming grabbed her arms, and Su Jiale, stepping into the horse stance her brother had set up, rushed forward, using his arms for leverage, and leaped into the air, intending to pull her down!
"Auntie, you're distracted!"
Su Hongying opened her eyes slightly, her back against the wall, trying to move to the side, but Su Jiayue stood on one side and Xu Haoyang on the other, completely blocking her way.
We were really careless.
She smiled and shook her head, reaching out to catch Su Jiale's punch. Using the same effortless deflection technique Su Jiale had used, she neutralized the force and pulled him into her arms.
Su Jiale, “...Ah, that’s not how it is.”
The brothers Su Jiaming and Su Jiayue looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What should it be like?" Su Hongying smiled, lifting her little niece by the armpit and putting her back on the ground. "Using minimal force to achieve maximum effect, you just used that too."
"Your aunt knows how to do this too?" Su Jiale looked up at her.
Su Hongying nodded, "You learned from a master in Hong Kong. Who taught you?"
“Grandma Qiu taught us. She was incredibly skilled. Whenever my dad, second uncle, and third uncle had free time, they would learn martial arts from her. There were monthly tests, and if they couldn't withstand ten moves from her, they would get a beating. She would whip them with that long rattan cane…”
As Su Jiale spoke, he quickly glanced at Su Laosan, then leaned close to Su Hongying and whispered, "Third Uncle is the loudest, howling like crazy, you can hear him from far away."
Su Laosan, "..."
"It's late. You all have to get up early tomorrow morning to visit relatives and friends for the New Year. Hurry back to sleep. Let's go, let's go." Old Su chased the children back to their respective courtyards like ducks.
Su Jiale spread his hands, "Third Uncle is shy and doesn't want people to talk about it. He gets anxious as soon as you do. Look, he's getting anxious again."
Su Laosan's face twitched.
He casually pulled down the whip hanging under the corner of the pavilion and flicked it on the ground.
Su Jiale yelled, "Run! Third Uncle's going to beat someone up!"
The children made bird and animal shapes, yelling and running away in a chaotic mess.
Su Laosan, "..."
Su Hongying couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Su Laosan glared at her irritably.
Xu Ying laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up. Su Lao Er gently patted her back, while Su Lao Da and Yao Jian Shu's eyes were full of smiles. Li Banxia shook her head, "Alright, everyone disperse, go back and rest."
The group turned and walked towards their respective courtyards. Su Laosan hung up his whip and called to Su Hongying, "Go to my courtyard. Make your own bedding."
Su Hongying glanced at Li Banxia, who had walked away, then caught up with Su Laosan and went back to his courtyard with him.
Three or four courtyards are connected together, with corridors along the wall leading to each courtyard.
Su Laosan lived the furthest away.
After leading Su Hongying to the guest room, he turned to leave, but Su Hongying stopped him and asked hesitantly, "Third Brother, what's going on between you and Fang Erniu? Weren't you two very close back then? Why aren't you married yet?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
