Chapter 148 Belated New Year's Greetings
Chu Yongqiang had dinner at the Chen family's house, and when Chen Fangli and Chu De'an were about to go home, he went back with them.
As soon as everyone left and the door closed, Grandma Xi asked Chen Fanglan about her impression of Chu Yongqiang.
"Alan, what do you think of Yongqiang? He's not only honest but also hardworking. He often came to help when we were building our house. I think he's a good guy..."
Chen Fanglan said irritably, "Mom, didn't I already tell you? I'm not considering marriage. Could you please stop him from coming to our house anymore?"
Grandma Xi lightly tapped her, "You child, how can you talk like that? What woman doesn't get married for her whole life? If word gets out, our relatives will laugh at us."
"Mom can tell that Yongqiang is a sincere person, and he's from the same village as your second sister. When you marry him, you and your second sister will be able to look after each other."
Chen Fanglan simply covered her ears, "Mom, my affairs are none of your business. Stop interfering in the future."
She left with those words, not wanting to listen to Grandma Xi's nagging any longer, and quickly ran upstairs to the second floor.
Grandma Xi watched her disappearing figure in the blink of an eye and sighed, "This child, I was only doing it for her own good..."
Seeing that Chen Fanglan wouldn't listen, she had no choice but to put the matter aside and plan to persuade her again when she had time.
The next morning, she packed the gifts she and Shen Xuewei would use to pay New Year's greetings to Zheng Jianjun's family, and went to pay their respects together.
After having a meal at Zheng Jianjun's house, she went upstairs to talk to Chen Fanglan, only to find that Chen Fanglan had already packed her things and left.
The Chen family's house was built, but they still had many worries.
The maternal grandfather's family, now that they have a daughter-in-law, has no worries and always greets everyone with a smile.
Just a few days after the Lunar New Year, Lu Qingqing announced that she was four months pregnant.
This was told to Grandma Xi by her second maternal grandmother when she came to visit.
Not wanting to be chased upstairs by the two, Shen Xuewei lay down on the sofa and pretended to be asleep.
After her initial joy subsided, the second maternal grandmother glanced at Shen Xuewei, who appeared to be asleep on the sofa, and then lowered her voice slightly, saying:
"This girl is nice, but she's too casual. She got pregnant before marriage. If A-Dong hadn't told me herself that she had only been with him, I would have doubted whether the child in her belly was A-Dong's."
Grandma Xi felt that what she said was not very kind, so she advised, "Qingqing is so young, she is not the kind of person you are describing."
"Don't think badly of her, she's such a young girl. If she didn't like Adong, would she have come back with him? She's even pregnant with his child. Don't let her hear these things, or she'll be heartbroken..."
My second maternal grandmother curled her lip. "I'm just talking behind her back. When we get home, don't we still treat her like royalty?"
She sighed, "My son, Adong, has been working outside for several years, and he's not good at this or that. He's caused his father and me a lot of worry."
"Although I haven't made any money back now, I've brought back a daughter-in-law who doesn't want a dowry, so it's not like I've accomplished nothing."
Grandma Xi then asked, "She's not old enough yet, so she hasn't registered her marriage with A-Dong, has she?"
Second maternal grandmother shook her head, "No. She's eight years younger than A-Dong, so she's still two years away from being able to get a marriage certificate."
“Ah Dong said that for the past few years he has been farming with us two old folks at home. When the children are older, the two of them will go out to work.”
Grandma Xi thought of Chen Fangmin, who had married far away.
Chen Fangmin was eighteen or nineteen years old at the time, not much older than Lu Qingqing. She was easily lured away by Shen Jiaying's sweet talk at such a young age.
When she returned home again, she brought Shen Jiaying with her and made a huge scene, insisting that she wouldn't marry Shen Jiaying.
At that time, she was pregnant with her first child.
Lu Qingqing seemed like a second Chen Fangmin; listening to her second maternal grandmother's disparaging words, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
“The child is still young and doesn’t understand. Now that she’s pregnant, you should treat her well, not like you treat your other daughters.”
"...Hey, don't take offense at my gossip. Look at your daughters, how many of them come back to wish you two a Happy New Year these days?"
"I've told you before, it's the same whether you have a boy or a girl, at least don't be too biased on the surface."
“Now that A-Dong has brought his wife back, you should advise him to rein in his impetuous nature. Otherwise, he might drive Qingqing away and have nowhere to turn to cry.”
Second Grandma was scolded by Grandma Xi, and although she wanted to argue back, she seemed unable to.
Of her daughters, except for the eldest, each one married someone from a faraway place.
I send her some money every year during the Lunar New Year.
But he hasn't come back even once in all these years.
Her voice lowered as she muttered, "I know, I'm not some wicked mother-in-law, I won't mistreat Qingqing."
Grandma Xi smiled with relief, "That's the right way to think. You and Zhenming will have to rely on Adong and his wife for your old age in the future."
"If you treat Qingqing well now, do you think she'll treat you badly when you get old?"
Second maternal grandmother seemed to have taken her words to heart, nodding thoughtfully.
Second Grandma talked with Grandma Xi for a while longer before going home.
Five or six minutes after she left, Shen Xuewei pretended to wake up, said a few words to Grandma Xi, and then got up and went upstairs.
She didn't know Lu Qingqing well, but she knew her second maternal grandmother fairly well.
My second maternal grandmother was a person who favored sons over daughters. If Lu Qingqing had given birth to a boy, my second maternal grandmother might have treated her better.
However, in Shen Xuewei's hazy memories of her past life, Lu Qingqing's first child was a daughter.
After that, her second maternal grandmother's attitude towards her plummeted.
It wasn't until she finally gave birth to a son that her maternal grandparents' attitude towards her improved.
At this time, Lu Qingqing was also assimilated into the same kind of person as her second maternal grandmother.
Shen Xuewei had little contact with Lu Qingqing in both her past and present lives, and didn't know what kind of person she was.
Her impression of her could be described in just two words.
Quiet.
Shen Xuewei treated everyone except the Chen and Chu families as ordinary relatives.
For example, her second maternal grandparents would praise Shen Xuewei for her good grades to her face, but behind her back they would advise her maternal grandfather to let her study less.
They say it's useless for girls to read so many books, that it will make them wild and uncontrollable later on.
Humans have two sides, or even multiple sides.
Shen Xuewei has suffered too many losses, and she always remains wary, even when facing people close to her.
When ordinary people say something, believe only three-tenths of it and keep seven-tenths doubtful.
Of course, for some people, it's best not to believe a single word.
Take her uncle, for example.
Shen Xuewei didn't want to concern herself with other people's affairs. She was still a student and only needed to take care of her own.
Just as Shen Xuewei finally finished her winter break homework, the new school term began.
School starts on the 21st, and students return to school on the afternoon of the 20th.
After returning to school, she sent belated New Year's greetings to several of her editors.
Her classmates remained largely unchanged, except that some of them had noticeably grown taller after the New Year.
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