Chapter 526 Meeting Gift
"Second, Second Sister-in-law."
Xu Ying, dressed in a burgundy velvet dress, looked exceptionally delicate with her light makeup. With a smile in her eyes, she handed her a box, saying, "This is a special gift I prepared for you. See if you like it."
Su Hongmei was somewhat flattered.
The person seemed flustered, clutching the hem of their shirt, their gaze fixed on the box, circling it a few times. "I...I...you don't need to give me a gift, I...I didn't give much..."
"You even gave a gift?"
Xu Ying frowned slightly in surprise, "You're a young person who's not married yet, why would you need to give a gift? It's not necessary."
Su Hongmei shook her head.
"Yes, this is a big celebration for my second brother and sister-in-law. It's just a small token of my appreciation. Please don't think it's too little."
Xu Ying glanced at her and smiled, "Alright, then your second sister-in-law won't stand on ceremony with you, and you shouldn't stand on ceremony with your second sister-in-law either. Just accept the gift."
As he spoke, he stuffed the gift box into her arms.
Su Hongmei caught it in a big, heavy embrace.
Xu Ying opened the box and showed her what was inside. "I know you use fountain pens the most for studying. This one has a lot of ink and flows smoothly. I even asked the craftsman to make a few extra nibs so you can replace them yourself if they break. The thermos keeps hot water in winter and cold water in summer. There are also scarves, face cream, and other things you can use. And this..."
She pointed to the golden bouquet and raised an eyebrow at Su Hongmei.
"These were taken from my bouquet. You and your older sister each get one. Keep them safe and don't give them away easily, okay?"
Su Hongmei was stunned for a moment.
She remembered that when the two of them were on stage, someone whispered about her sister-in-law's bouquet, saying that the flowers were made of gold. Such a big bouquet, even if it was made of thin rolled-up pieces, would weigh at least fifty or sixty grams. If it was made of thicker, solid flowers, then it was hard to say, it could be doubled.
"...I heard that this bouquet was a gift from Xu Ying's mother. Her mother's ancestors were quite wealthy, but after participating in the revolution, they handed over ninety percent of their ancestral property..."
A collective sigh rippled through the crowd.
If what they say is true, then my second sister-in-law gave her this bouquet...
Su Hongmei glanced at it and saw that the petals and leaves were thick, not thin slices rolled up.
Wouldn't that mean...?
"I can't accept this!"
Su Hongmei quickly refused, pushing the bouquet toward Xu Ying, "Second sister-in-law, this bouquet is too expensive, I can't accept it. I just want the pen and the thermos."
She reached out to grab the pen and the thermos, but Xu Ying smiled and pressed her hand down.
"You call me Second Sister-in-law, this is my gift to you as a token of our meeting. You should accept it, or not... does that mean you don't want to acknowledge me as your Second Sister-in-law?"
Su Hongmei was startled and quickly shook her head.
"Second sister-in-law, I didn't mean that. I just... they all say this bouquet is made of gold and is too precious. I can't accept it."
Xu Ying laughed, "What could be more precious than the bond between siblings born of the same mother? When your second brother was in surgery, didn't you sneak off to donate blood? And wasn't it you who slipped the note to Cui Yuxia about that?"
Xu Ying leaned closer to her, "Speaking of which, I should thank you for this. If it weren't for Cui Yuxia, I wouldn't be sure if my relationship with your second brother was just a business transaction or if I genuinely liked him. After what happened with Cui Yuxia, I realized that I really do like your second brother. You're kind of my little matchmaker. Keep these flowers. If you need money, go and exchange them for more flowers. If you don't need money, just keep them for fun. Your sister-in-law doesn't need this little bit of money, okay?"
Su Hongmei's face flushed, and she opened her mouth to explain that she had gone there because she was hoping to get a thousand yuan for every hundred milliliters of blood donated, and besides, she didn't end up donating any blood.
And then there's that woman Cui Yuxia. My second brother just escaped death, and she wants to take advantage of his illness to frame him for a bastard child. How could I possibly agree to that?!
Cui Yuxia previously looked down on her second brother, so why should he help her raise her child?!
She simply couldn't stand it!
Xu Ying patted her head lightly and said with a smile, "My parents only had me. After I met your mom, I really liked the atmosphere in your family. Now you have two more younger sisters. That's great. Come home and visit your sister-in-law whenever you have time."
Su Hongmei looked at her smiling face, and her eyes inexplicably reddened.
"Second sister-in-law..."
Xu Ying responded with a soft "Ah."
Su Hongmei wanted to say something, but when she looked up and saw Li Banxia glancing at her, her heart tightened. She hurriedly forced a smile and wanted to call her "Mom," but Li Banxia only glanced at her indifferently before looking down to talk to Su Laosan.
Su Hongmei felt somewhat disappointed, yet also felt that this was the proper way to do things.
Given what she had done before, it was already quite good that her mother didn't get angry on the spot and kick her out.
but……
It could also be to give face to the second brother and sister-in-law.
Just as she thought of this, she saw Su Laosan come running over and calling her.
"Su Hongmei, why aren't you leaving yet? Classes are starting soon, aren't you afraid of being late? Hurry up and go!"
As he spoke, he frowned and gently pulled her arm outwards.
Su Hongmei's eyes immediately reddened, and she didn't even have the courage to look up at Li Banxia.
He lowered his head and said to Xu Ying, "Thank you, Second Sister-in-law. I... I have class this afternoon, so I'll head back now."
Without waiting for Xu Ying's response, he quickly walked outside, following the force of Su Laosan's pull.
Xu Ying sighed, instinctively sensing that the girl's mood was off.
"Second sister-in-law, I'll go see her off," Su Laosan called out as he turned around.
Xu Ying's question caught in her throat. She frowned slightly and watched helplessly as the two left the banquet hall and went downstairs.
When they got downstairs, Su Laosan hailed a taxi on the roadside, gave the driver ten yuan, and asked him to take Su Hongmei to a certain high school. He reminded the driver, "She has less than twenty minutes before class starts, so please try to get her to school as early as possible. Safety should be the priority."
Su Hongmei exclaimed, "So fast?"
She didn't even realize she was going to be late.
Su Laosan raised his hand and tapped her on the head. "Why aren't you getting in the car? What are you standing there for? If Mom hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that you have class this afternoon. Hurry up and get in the car. Oh, right... driver, you can give her the extra money."
After urging Su Hongmei to get into the car, he hurriedly pulled a handful of wedding candies from his pocket and tossed them to her, saying, "Take these candies back for your teachers and close classmates, and let them share in the joy."
After saying that, he was about to ask the driver to start the car when he looked down and saw the large box that Su Hongmei was holding, and his brows furrowed.
"Take the things out of the box and put them in your pocket. Don't take the box to school, lest some people see it and get jealous, and then you steal it."
He had just seen it all. His second sister-in-law gave Su Hongmei half of the bouquet, which was a full eighty grams of gold. The whole bouquet used one hundred and sixty-six grams of gold, symbolizing a smooth marriage. It was a gift from his second sister-in-law's mother.
Second Sister-in-law gave half of Su Hongmei's share!
Su Hongmei was still stunned by Su Laosan's words, "If Mom hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that you have to go to class this afternoon," when she opened the car window and called out, "Third Brother."
"What's wrong? Did you forget something?"
Su Hongmei shook her head and said, "No."
She smiled, but tears fell. Then she opened the box, took out a pen and a thermos, closed it again, and shoved the box into Su Laosan's hands. "Third Brother, please keep this safe for me."
"Huh?...Oh."
Old Su was completely baffled. Why was he crying for no reason?
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