Stepping into the courtyard, the wife was still calculating when to make a scene, but then she smelled something amiss. Was there any reason to eat meat behind her back?
But the fragrant smell in the air wasn't the aroma of pork stew. Then, when Qin Xiaoyu came out carrying a basin of water, it all became clear: there must be nothing serious at home, so why wasn't she going to the shop to earn money on a Sunday?
She entered the room with a stern face, and the large cake on the octagonal table caught her eye, almost bringing tears to her eyes.
After bringing the cake home, Qin Xiaoyu gave Hanhan a strict order: stay close to her little sister and don't let her get near the cake.
The two children were watching longingly from the corner of the room. The lady reached out and hugged one in each arm. They were all her blood children, so dear to her.
"Is it your mischievous idea again, you little brat? Your mother-in-law has no such cunning." The lady threw a remark at Qin Xiaoyu as soon as she entered the room.
"Don't be biased, Madam. Everyone gets a share." Qin Xiaoyu chuckled, picked up her little sister, and took Hanhan's hand, saying, "You two go back to your room and stop making a fuss here. Madam is tired, so she should rest for a while. She'll be tired tonight."
"Keep them all here. I'm bored anyway, I'll play with them." The lady pleaded, and Qin Xiaoyu had no choice but to let the brother and sister go.
The menu was written by Qin Xiaoyu, and the person in charge was Grandma Hanhan. A total of sixteen dishes were made, and there wasn't enough room on the table, so the plates had to be stacked.
"There's way too much food." The lady said with displeasure, but her eyes crinkled with laughter. She took out royal jelly from the cupboard and gave a handful to each of Hanhan and her little sister, so much so that their pockets couldn't hold it all.
"Little Fish, is your master in the shop by himself?" His wife suddenly asked, which surprised Little Fish.
"Yes, luckily the weather is bad today, so there probably won't be too many customers in the store, and she shouldn't be busy."
"Go and invite them over. They're all family. Let's have a meal together."
Qin Xiaoyu knew this was a huge favor, so she quickly agreed and ran out. Sure enough, there wasn't a single job in the shop; the craftsman was just sitting there knitting.
"Quick, come to my house for dinner. Close the door quickly, or we'll have trouble if someone comes." Qin Xiaoyu didn't care whether the master agreed or not and quickly closed the door. When Master Wang heard that it was for his wife's birthday, he didn't expect to be invited. He couldn't refuse her hospitality, and no matter how Qin Xiaoyu tried to stop him on the way, he still bought two cans of food and took them with him.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the food was ready, and everyone in the family except for Auntie and Tang Wenwen returned. The young and old sat down at the table, with Madam in the middle. Qin Xiaoyu led Hanhan and her siblings in making a birthday hat, and despite Madam's objections, insisted on putting it on them. The golden crown made them look like an old feudal lord.
"Mom looks good in this," Grandpa Hanhan chimed in.
"Yes, she looks young. Wenzhi's wife always comes up with these new gadgets." The uncle also follows the trend and always knows which way the wind is blowing. Right now, Qin Xiaoyu's group is the most popular.
"Master Wang, please sit next to me. You are a distinguished guest and have always taken good care of our Xiaoyu." The lady pulled Master Wang to sit down next to her.
"Not at all, it's this child who has taken care of me." Master Wang hadn't felt the warmth of home in a long time, and sitting at the dining table, he was overwhelmed with emotion.
After a few rounds of drinks, it was time for the main course, as is usually the case here. Grandma Hanhan and her cousin-in-law got up and went to the kitchen to prepare eight-treasure rice. Qin Xiaoyu got up and suggested dividing the cake, but no one else knew how, so she had to do it herself.
The cake was too small, and there were too many people. Apart from the large piece placed in front of my wife, everyone else only got a small piece as a token gesture.
"Hanhan and Xiaomei have been waiting for ages. The child is small, so cut her a big piece." His wife directed from afar. Tang Hu looked at the small cake in front of him, feeling so wronged that he was about to cry.
Tang Long didn't say anything, but handed his cake to his little sister.
"Cut the rest into two pieces and take them to your Aunt Zhang and Aunt Yu," the lady instructed. Her sister-in-law liked running errands, so she took over the task. Qin Xiaoyu was being shrewd; just as she was cutting the cake, her cousin-in-law was carrying a bowl to the main room when Xiuqin stopped her and fed her a couple of bites. But Grandma Hanhan didn't get any.
Qin Xiaoyu cut a small piece of cake and took it to the kitchen. Grandma Hanhan was taking eight-treasure rice from a large iron pot. When she saw Qin Xiaoyu bring it over, she shook her head repeatedly: "I don't like that stuff. You eat it."
"Mom! Everyone else has eaten, you're the only one left." Without saying a word, Qin Xiaoyu took a spoon and fed it to Grandma Hanhan's mouth. With both hands occupied, Grandma Hanhan could only open her mouth to receive it.
"It's delicious, it smells so good! I won't eat it, give it to my little sister." The old woman couldn't bear to eat it herself.
“They’re just kids, they’ll be eating these things a lot more often in the future, you should eat them.” Qin Xiaoyu insisted, feeding him the cake spoonful by spoonful.
"Oh, look at this daughter-in-law, she's even closer to me than my own daughter!" My cousin's wife exclaimed as she came in.
"That's right, Wenwen has disappeared somewhere, she didn't even come back for Grandma's birthday, all that love was for nothing."
Qin Xiaoyu understood what was going on, but she couldn't tell Grandma Hanhan, for fear that she would get involved.
Three people carried a bowl of eight-treasure rice into the house, where laughter and chatter filled the air, creating a lively atmosphere.
"Little Fish, why don't you go to the factory tomorrow and take a look?"
"Mom, don't worry, Wenwen went to the hair salon to see me the day before yesterday."
"Look at this, the younger sister-in-law is so close to her sister-in-law that she doesn't even want her own mother anymore." Grandma Hanhan's complaint had barely faded when the lady inside, with her sharp ears, overheard it.
"Who are they talking about?" the wife asked, picking up the thread.
Two elderly women appeared by the kang (a heated brick bed) in the room. It turned out that the cake had just been delivered there, as it was the old lady's 80th birthday. They had quickly come over with the birthday gift and were chatting happily.
"Mom! I'm talking about Wenwen. She only knows how to be close to her sister-in-law. She runs to see her sister-in-law all the time and doesn't want her mom anymore." Grandma Hanhan answered loudly, her words sounding like a complaint, but her tone was full of pride.
"Oh, your sister-in-law and sister-in-law have a good relationship, that means you're a good mother-in-law!"
Aunt Zhang is the director of the committee. Back when they were destroying the Four Olds and cutting off the tails of the old, she targeted the Tang family quite a bit. Now that times have changed, she still acts all high and mighty. Today, Madam sent someone to deliver a cake over, not because she really has a good relationship with her, but just to show off.
Aunt Zhang is good at adapting her approach to people. She doesn't need anything else; the Tang family's table full of dishes and a Western-style cake were enough to win her over, so she started saying nice things as soon as she entered the door.
“As a mother-in-law, I just follow what others do. I have my own mother-in-law here, so I learn from her.”
Grandma Hanhan, who is known for being tactless and capable of offending three people with a single sentence, suddenly had a breakthrough today. Her words were so pleasing to the ear that the lady's smile grew even brighter.
"Look at me, my daughter-in-law is spoiled rotten. She's always making fun of her mother-in-law." The wife deliberately adopted a haughty demeanor, pretending to find fault.
"That's because your family is harmonious. Otherwise, how could she dare to do that? She's treating her daughter-in-law like her own daughter!" Aunt Yu was the lady's best friend and was genuinely happy for her. She was both envious and saddened, and she secretly wiped away tears as soon as she entered the room.
After dinner, the wife told Mr. Wang to sleep at home, but Qin Xiaoyu was worried about letting him go back alone, so she insisted that he stay.
When they returned to Qin Xiaoyu's small house, they were surprised to see a small cake on the table.
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