Aunt Guan tapped her forehead and said, "How can you say that to someone? He's the son-in-law you married into the family!"
"That's what I said to him, to train his nerves. Only when he's thick-skinned can he eat as much as he wants!"
"You!" Aunt Guan no longer wanted to get off the kang. "Are you going to have lunch at home with Ling Ran?"
"No, I have to go home to help. My mom has started making dumplings again. She has to eat the dumplings she makes every year until the fifteenth day of the lunar month."
"That's the local custom. New rice and new steamed buns can only be made after the fifteenth day."
"Have you and your godfather packed some? Or should I bring some to you?"
"No, no, we won't pack until the 28th. It's a bit early now, and you have a big family."
The topic of being crowded was not suitable to be brought up again. Zhou wanted to change the subject and patted the kang under his butt. "When did you build this kang, godfather? It's a bit high."
Aunt Guan laughed and said, "He built it himself. He ran after Ma Gua a few times and learned how to do it. He built it with adobe bricks he made himself, and he built it high on purpose to prevent children from climbing up with shoes on."
"My godfather is really good. He learns these skills very quickly."
Guan Bo just grinned.
Zhou Xiang looked around the house quietly. There were two outer rooms and a separate room on the west side, which should be a bedroom. It seemed that the children had not been at home in recent years, so they demolished the east room and built a kang to make it a main room.
Although such a house is low and dim, after living in it for a long time, one becomes attached to it and would not easily want to demolish it unless it is no longer habitable.
After sitting for a while, Zhou Xiang got off the kang and said he wanted to go home. "Let's go back. We'll come to your house for dinner during the first month of the lunar year."
After hearing this, Aunt Guan didn't want to keep the meal and asked quickly, "When are you coming?"
"The third day of the new year! I'll go to Ling Ran's house on the second day."
"You, child, are going back to your husband's house."
"Yes, yes! On the second day of the New Year, we will go back to my in-laws' house, and on the third day, we will come to my godparents' house for lunch."
"Yeah! Godmother made delicious food for you."
"Okay!"
Guan Bo was about to send the two of them back to the village entrance. Ling Ran was about to refuse when he glared at him. Then he raised his elbow in front of his goddaughter, and his goddaughter immediately put her arm around his arm.
Guan Bo raised his chin proudly and said, "Come on, godfather will take you there. Follow godfather, we'll walk faster and won't get mud on your shoes."
"That's it."
Zhou Xiang immediately agreed, and Guan Bo walked in front with a smile on his face.
Ling Ran could only drink lemon juice and follow the two of them.
Hearing Guan Bo's laughter, someone peeked out of the house. Guan Bo showed off as soon as he saw the person, "This is my daughter. She's here to give me a New Year's gift."
Someone replied, "No wonder I heard you calling my daughter earlier! Turns out you came to the village entrance to pick up Zhou Xiang."
"That's right. It was my daughter's first time here and she didn't know where to go. It was Lao Liu who came to tell me. When I have time, I will treat him to a drink. He is very discerning."
That person followed suit and said, "Count me in!"
"Okay! Count you in. Think about it, this is Uncle Eleven."
Zhou Xiang smiled, "Hello, Uncle Eleven!"
The man's smile grew even wider. "Hey hey hey! Okay, come play often!"
"Yes."
The man smiled as he looked at the three people's backs, but in his heart he envied the good luck of the eighth brother. Although the four children were kicked out of the house by him, he got a daughter that everyone wants to have, a daughter who is a thousand times better than a son.
Not only do I have to raise a son, but I also have to build a house for him, marry him off, and take care of his grandchildren. I don’t know if he will be able to take care of me in my old age.
And this one daughter earned back the family fortune, and Old Zhou started enjoying life early. He didn't have to work all day and still had money to spend. Who could be as lucky as him? Now Old Eighth has finally reaped the rewards of his hard work. This one adopted daughter is better than his four children.
On the way to the village entrance, Guan Bo saw a car and looked back at the village road. He had nothing to do now, so should he pave the village road?
Zhou Xiang turned his head to follow his godfather's gaze, "Godfather? You want to repair the road?"
Guan Bo raised his hand and touched his goddaughter's head. She was so smart. "Yes! If it's repaired, the car can be driven in."
"Let's talk about it in the spring. In the spring, my store will be demolished and a new building will be built. The warehouse behind it will also be demolished. The remaining waste bricks and wall plaster can be used to pave the road."
Guan Bo nodded. "That's perfect. You still need to find a place to dump the waste bricks and plaster. It's just right for us to pave the road. I'll tell the village chief. Oh, and since you're demolishing the store, do we have to use the space for our stall as well?"
"Yes! You guys should find a place to set up your stall first. When the mall is built, there will be a food court on the first floor. I will reserve a stall for my godmother and ask her to set up her stall in the mall."
"Can you do it?"
"That's doable! We can create a food court on half of the first floor, selling snacks like these. Customers can just go to that area and buy what they want. How convenient!"
Seeing Zhou Xiang speaking so easily, Guan Bo felt relieved. "Okay! I'll listen to you."
After getting in the car, Zhou wanted to wave his godfather back, but Guan Bo told them to go first.
The car drove a long way away. Zhou wanted to look back and could still see the figure at the village entrance.
Ling Ran freed one hand and grasped his wife's small hand. "All parents are like this. They won't leave until they can no longer see their child. If you can't bear to let him go, then you can pave this road all the way to my godfather's house. It will only take a few minutes to drive there."
Zhou Xiang nodded. "It sounds like a good idea, but it feels more like ripping off the rich."
Ling Ran quickly shook his head, "I didn't, absolutely not. Since the scraps from the demolition are going to be used to pave the road, what's wrong with just paving it?
It makes my godfather hold his head high in the village and gives him confidence. After raising four children, he feels even more confident.
You should know that this road ends at our yard on East-West Street. Once this road is repaired, a complete crossroad will be created. You will have a good reputation in the town and Guanjia Village."
"Okay! Your reason impressed me."
Ling Ran chuckled. His wife was just taking advantage of the situation. Since she had just mentioned using waste materials to pave the way, there must be a follow-up. She just didn't want her godfather to think too much, and she still said it through his mouth.
When he returned to Zhou's house, he found that there was an extra car in the parking lot. Ling Ran sighed, it seemed that his uncle had come to celebrate the New Year again.
Zhou Xiang saw the license plate and said with a smile, "Your enemy is here again!"
Ling Ran flicked her forehead and said, "He's gloating over my misfortune. He no longer has the right to separate you and me. Humph! I've officially taken office."
"Alright! Regular worker, lock the car."
Zhou Xiang got out of the car and went back to the yard.
The person waiting at the dining room door ran over as soon as he saw Zhou Xiang, "Sister Xiangxiang, where have you been?"
Zhou Xiang wanted to catch the human-shaped ball and said, "I'm going to give New Year gifts to my godparents."
A-Lian asked again, "What kind of parents are godfathers and godmothers? I wanted to ask this just now, but I was afraid of being laughed at by everyone."
"Well, it means they are not biologically related, but they have a strong attachment to their parents and want to become relatives, so they acknowledge their parents as godparents, and they can also acknowledge their sisters, brothers, grandfathers, etc."
A-Lian grabbed Zhou Xiang, not allowing her to go any further. "Then, can I acknowledge Senior Jiang as my uncle?"
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