Chapter 266: Meeting the In-Laws
Because just now on the phone, Gu Zhenqi had already analyzed the pros and cons with his family!
In her previous life, her brothers all owned their own businesses. Although they did not accept her help to expand their businesses, they were able to live a comfortable and affluent life. This proved that their thinking was not rigid and they did have business acumen.
After all, you can't have casual conversations on the phone. After listening to what she said, the family has actually discussed and decided.
On the one hand, her brothers are still young and passionate, and men have ambitions. They don't want to be trapped in the mountain village. It is a man's nature to want to give his wife and children a good life.
On the other hand, they have doted on their sister Gu Zhenqi since she was a child. She is alone in Kyoto, where the mountains are high and the roads are long. They can't help but worry about her all the time?
The parents often wondered if their daughter was doing well. Did Chen Kuo treat her well? Did they adapt to the unfamiliar place where they brought two children alone? Was she tired every day?
In short: A mother worries about her son even when he is far away!
Now that Gu Zhenqi invited me to Kyoto and made plans for them, I subconsciously agreed. Compared with her, the place where I was born and raised, the whole family chose the latter without hesitation!
After hanging up the phone, the Gu family went home. They had some things to discuss and decide. Didn’t they go to the fields to work in the afternoon?
The whole family gathered together to discuss going to Kyoto and quickly reached an agreement. After that, they arranged things at home. The crops in the fields would be ripe next month, and they insisted that they could only go after the autumn harvest!
For fear of delaying Gu Zhenqi's affairs, the whole family discussed and decided that father Gu Jianguo, eldest brother Dazhu, and eldest sister-in-law Wu Xiuxiu would stay at home to help with the autumn harvest.
My second sister-in-law, Lu Jia, is just two months pregnant. According to the tradition in her hometown, it takes three months for a fetus to be stable. She cannot travel around, so she stays at home to take care of the fetus for the time being. They will go to Kyoto together after the autumn harvest.
Mother Qu Ru was worried that Gu Zhenqi would have too much trouble taking care of two children by herself, so she decided to leave for Kyoto with Gu Erzhu, Gu Sanzhu and He Shu in three days.
As soon as the family meeting was over, everyone stayed at home and packed their luggage, preparing things to bring to Gu Zhenqi.
The men went to the town to get money, and went up the mountain to take advantage of the autumn when the mountains were rich in resources to look for some mountain products to bring back to Kyoto.
After a busy afternoon, dinner was a hodgepodge with a pot of white flour buns.
Life was better now. A pot of stewed pork belly was enough to satisfy the family's cravings. Just when they were halfway through the meal, a slightly old voice came from the front door:
"Mother-in-law, are you home?"
Actually, the door of the main room can be reached from outside the yard. The person outside asked this question out of courtesy. When the people in the house heard this strange voice, they were stunned for a moment?
Soon, Qu Ru put down her chopsticks and walked out of the house. No matter who it was, who could call her mother-in-law?
They could be nothing more than the mother-in-law or mother-in-law of her children. No matter who they are, as the host, there is no reason for her not to go out to greet the guests.
When she opened the door, she saw an old lady standing at the door. She was thin, kind-faced, and wearing a half-worn but clean Dacron jacket. The first time she saw her, Qu Ru felt a little unfamiliar.
Wang Guifen saw that she didn't seem to recognize her, and said awkwardly:
"Look at me, I came here rashly. We don't see each other often. I am Zhenqi's mother-in-law!"
Qu Ru felt a little embarrassed when she heard this. Although they were in-laws, her daughter and her husband's family were not close in the past few years. They just lived from day to day and there was not much interaction between the two families!
During the New Year holidays, her daughter always comes back alone and rarely brings her children with her, let alone her mother-in-law. Is this the first time that her brother-in-law visits his father-in-law's house during the New Year this year?
It's common for relatives like them who don't have much real friendship to not visit each other!
She concealed her mixed emotions, enthusiastically took Wang Guifen's hand, and walked into the yard:
"Look at what you're saying. We welcome you. It's too late. I often hear Zhenqi come back and tell me how good her mother-in-law is to her. She helps take care of the children and all the delicious food at home is reserved for her!
Speaking of this child, she has been spoiled by our family since she was young and has a somewhat arrogant personality. It is only because you, mother-in-law, are tolerant and indulge her, otherwise we really don’t know how much she would have suffered in her husband’s family. ”
There was a element of flattery and courtesy in Qu Ru's words, but of course there was also a small bit of sincerity. Why was it only a small bit? Of course, in her heart, whatever happens to her daughter is fine!
"Alas, after all, our family still owes Zhenqi! She is a good child, and a hero to our Chen family. Apart from anything else, no young wife in the surrounding villages can give birth to a good child at once!
She is a blessing to our family. After getting married, San'er joined the army and failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a husband and father?
As a mother, I have to take good care of her. Alas, I am old and have limited abilities. Zhenqi has to suffer in our home. All I can do is to give her more food! ”
As she spoke, her eyes began to turn slightly red and her face was full of guilt.
"It's all in the past. Things are pretty good now. The hard times have paid off! They are a family of four and are living well now. As parents, we should be happy!"
Qu Ru patted her hands gently and comforted her.
There was a bit more sympathy in his eyes when he looked at her. They were only two years apart in age. But looking at the person in front of him, with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles, just standing there, one could tell at a glance that she was a woman who had experienced many hardships.
Looking at myself, I am full of energy and my face is rosy. I don’t think she is young, but I have to raise six children to adulthood by myself and help them start their own families one by one. Needless to say, you can imagine the hardships involved. It is not easy for a woman like me to be like this.
She has four children and her own husband to rely on. Thinking of this, Qu Ru became even more friendly to her relative-in-law who treated her daughter well!
She pulled her to sit at the dining table and glanced at her eldest daughter-in-law. She quickly got off the kang, ran to the kitchen, brought back a pair of clean bowls and chopsticks, and placed them in front of Wang Guiying.
"Mother-in-law, please don't despise me. I didn't know you were coming over today, so I'll just have to make do with a bite! My eldest brother just happened to buy two kilograms of mutton from town. You mustn't leave today, let's make dumplings stuffed with mutton!"
Qu Ru welcomed him warmly.
You know, in this era, in the north, if you visited someone's home, the host would make dumplings for you, especially those filled with precious mutton, which was considered the highest level of courtesy!
Wang Guiying came to the Gu family for the first time and was touched by the warm hospitality. She really didn’t expect that this family was so easy to get along with.
He was such a friendly person. She had already eaten dinner when she arrived and was not hungry at that time, but she could not refuse his hospitality, so she ate a steamed bun and half a bowl of vegetables.
Qu Ru was too enthusiastic. Most of her half bowl was filled with fragrant and greasy pork belly. Was this the first time in her fifty-plus years of life that she had eaten so much meat in one meal?
In the past few decades, I have always been thinking about my children. I would even cut the cake into eight pieces for those who had stutters to eat.
Life has been better in the past two years, and habits have been formed long ago. I am used to taking care of myself first and making things comfortable for my children. Living frugally has become my instinct.
"Eat, mother-in-law, just treat it as your own home. Don't be polite. Just eat some simple food." Gu Jianguo said with a smile.
"Oh, oh, you're welcome, I'm really full!"
Wang Guiying was not just full, her stomach was bloated.
She didn't know what to say. Her in-laws were too enthusiastic. If she hadn't deliberately slowed down her eating speed, she would have been too full to get off the kang.
At the dinner table, seeing that my parents were welcoming me warmly, the others did not join in and just said politely:
"Aunt Wang, please don't be polite, eat more!"
Even until she put down her chopsticks, Wang Guiying still had a slightly stiff smile on her face. Yes, she enjoyed the meal and the smile was on her face all the time, but before she knew it, her face became stiff.
Seeing that everyone had put down their bowls and chopsticks one after another, she habitually stood up to clean up. Don't blame her, it was a damn instinctive reaction. After working hard all her life, had it become a habit?
Qu Ru quickly held her down and said with a smile:
"Mother-in-law, how can it be your turn to do these tasks? Just leave them to my two wives."
The two daughters-in-law naturally refer to the eldest daughter-in-law Wu Xiuxiu and the third daughter-in-law He Shu.
As for the second daughter-in-law, Lu Jia, although she is pregnant with her second child, it was not easy to get pregnant, so she has to be more delicate!
The treatment she received at home now was like that of a queen in the ancient palace. All the good food and drink were reserved for her, and she was not needed for any work at home or outside.
The only thing she has to do is to take good care of the baby and keep it stable!
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