Chapter 119 Chapter 119 Asking for Help
In fact, according to traditional rules of elderly care, it should be like what Ning Shaoming said, the sons share the family property, and the responsibility of taking care of their parents in their old age and taking care of their medical care mainly depends on the sons, and the daughters mostly only need to visit the elderly.
The better ones will come back when the elderly are sick, and several children will take turns to take care of them, but they definitely don’t have to pay for it. At most, they will give the elderly a little when they visit them.
Ning Meiting saw that Ning Shaoxian's family was in such a state, and was worried that her two younger brothers, one of whom had a fixed salary and the other had just opened a new store, might not have much money on hand and might not be able to support the family, so she thought about contributing some money herself.
Since the third brother said so, it meant that he was not so poor that he could not afford mother's medical expenses, so Ning Meiting did not insist on paying.
She thought that if the old lady had to be hospitalized, she would just stay with her for a few more days.
Ning Meiting thought it over and said, "That's it for now. I'll go back and see if your second brother is back. I'll bring your brother-in-law and the others to your house for dinner later. I have to teach that second brother a lesson!"
Ning Shaoming said, "Sister, you have to talk to my second brother about taking mom to a big hospital for treatment. Otherwise, he might not listen to me."
In fact, he was worried that his second brother was too stingy and would not take his words seriously if he didn't want to spend money.
But my eldest sister is the oldest among them. When she was young, her parents were busy working in the fields to earn a living. Sometimes they also had to work on repairing canals, river embankments, and roads, and they had no time to take care of the children.
Almost all of them are brought up by their eldest sister, so her words carry more weight in front of them, and the second brother can listen to her to some extent.
Of course, it was like this before, but now, they have all grown up, and everyone has his or her own family and his or her own little thoughts.
Ning Shaoming didn't know how much weight his eldest sister's words had in the eyes of his eldest and second brothers.
"I understand. I'll talk to him after dinner." Ning Meiting said, then stood up and left in a hurry again.
On the second day of the Chinese New Year this year, several aunts and uncles who had married far away came back to visit her husband's family. She had to help entertain these guests who rarely came back and couldn't leave. Fortunately, her parents' home was nearby, so she discussed with her parents and came back for dinner today.
Ning Meiting rushed back to the old house, and Ning Shaode and his wife had just arrived.
She had eaten at the eldest son's house in the morning and was supposed to have lunch at the second son's house today.
But when she saw that the second brother's family had just returned from outside and hadn't prepared anything, Ning Meiting asked, "I'm going back to my parents' home today. It's Chinese New Year, and your family has nothing to cook for me. Are you planning to leave me hungry?"
Ning Shaode said hurriedly, "How could that be? We thought that you guys haven't been to the big restaurants in the county to eat very often, so we went back to the county and packed a table of food from the restaurant. But it took some time to bring it back from the county, and now the weather is cold, so we have to heat it up before we can eat it. Wait a minute, sister, I'll go heat up the food and it will be ready soon."
Ning Meiting actually thought that they had packed a table full of delicious food to treat her, and she was very happy. She was also less angry about the fact that her second son did not return to his hometown on New Year's Eve but only returned on the second day of the New Year. She thought that she would not need to be so harsh when she talked to him later.
Unexpectedly, her youngest son, Mo Shaoguang, sneaked into the kitchen and came out to say to her, "Mom, the fish my second uncle brought back only had one side, and the other side was all eaten up and had holes in it."
Ning Meiting still didn't quite believe it: "That's impossible, who would pack up the leftovers for the guests?"
"If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. My second uncle is cutting the fish into pieces! Anyway, I will definitely not touch those dishes later. I will save my stomach for eating at my third uncle's house!" Mo Shaoguang said and ran away.
Ning Meiting also wanted to sneak in and take a look, but she was too conspicuous and was discovered by her second brother and sister-in-law as soon as she approached the kitchen.
Ye Jing hurriedly persuaded her to come out: "Big sister, you are a guest today, how can we let guests into the kitchen to work, you go out and have a rest, the food will be ready soon."
Ning Meiting had no choice but to wait for the food to be served with doubt.
At the dinner table, she observed carefully.
If you look carefully, you can still tell whether the food has been touched by others and is being cooked again, such as fish, chicken and duck.
Looking closely, it really looked like something someone else had eaten. Ning Meiting felt very disgusted, but she hadn't caught them in the act, so she couldn't accuse the couple without any evidence.
If you accuse them without evidence, they will find other excuses, which is really boring.
Ning Meiting simply refused to eat and talked about how they would return to their hometown on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
Ning Shaode and his wife had already thought of an excuse for this matter.
"We are planning to buy a house. If we don't have enough money, we can only find ways to earn more. During the Chinese New Year, we still work part-time and cover for others. If it weren't for the Chinese New Year, we wouldn't be able to find such a part-time job. Please understand our difficulties, sister."
They all said so, what else could Ning Meiting say? The couple were both teachers and very eloquent, so there was no way she could win an argument.
What's more, it's true that Ning Shaode and his wife wanted to buy a house, and it's also true that they didn't have enough money. If she keeps talking about it, they might ask her to borrow money.
Ning Meiting had no choice but to let go of the topic and talked about Huang Xiuhua's illness: "I've asked the third brother, and he agreed to take mom to a large hospital in the city for a checkup after the New Year. Do you agree, second brother? Express your opinion, mom loves you the most."
She originally thought that given the second son's stinginess, and since he had not seen his mother's illness with his own eyes, he might make excuses, so she agreed reluctantly.
Unexpectedly, the second brother said straightforwardly this time: "I understand. You guys go to the third brother's house for dinner later, and we will go with you. I will discuss it with the third brother then."
Ning Meiting was skeptical, but then she thought, since he had agreed, there was nothing more to say.
We chatted about some other topic for a while. After we finished, we put down our chopsticks, said we were full, and left the table.
Anyway, they would go to the third brother’s house to eat later, and she was too lazy to touch the leftovers that others had eaten!
On the other side, Zhao Ruyue saw Ning Meiting off and was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping.
There were always people setting off firecrackers these nights, and they didn't stop until very late at night, so they couldn't fall asleep until very late.
I rarely go to bed so late, and I have to get up early in the morning. Now I am so sleepy that I fall asleep as soon as I touch the pillow when I return to the room.
Only children are full of energy. They get up so early in the morning and run around outside all day without feeling tired.
During the Chinese New Year, adults usually don’t call their children back for lunch. They just let them use their lucky money to buy food on the street or go home for snacks.
Ning Shiqiu and Ning Shixia played with their friends outside for the whole morning and were hungry, but they didn't want to buy food outside, so they ran back.
When he got home, he found no one was home. Just as he was about to call his parents, Ning Shixia noticed the shoes they wore for going out today, which were placed on the shoe rack at the door.
I ran over, opened the door and took a look. I saw that my parents were taking a nap, so I didn't disturb them.
"Brother, there's no need to call. Mom and Dad are taking a nap."
Ning Shiqiu put down the phone: "Then let's just eat something, what do you want to eat?"
Ning Shixia asked: "Can I eat instant noodles?"
“Eating instant noodles on New Year’s Day?”
"I feel a little tired of eating chicken, duck, fish and meat every day."
Who would have thought that the year before last she was craving for meat so much, as her parents were not at home and she could only eat meat once every few days, but this year she is so sick of eating meat.
In fact, Ning Shiqiu also thought so: "Then let's eat instant noodles. I'll go to the warehouse to see what flavors are available."
"I saw half a box of Huafeng instant noodles in the warehouse a few days ago. I'll eat that!"
"Then I'll eat that too. How many packets do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat one and a half packs. Can you help me eat half a pack? I won't be full with one pack."
"Uh..." Ning Shiqiu was a little hesitant. He wanted to eat two packs. He would feel satisfied only if he could eat two packs of different flavors at once.
"Please, please, brother, you are the best!"
Ning Shiqiu: "Okay..." Since my sister is asking me for help, I can just eat some fruit to fill my stomach.
Zhao Ruyue was awakened by the overbearing aroma of instant noodles. She sat up, and Ning Shaoming also woke up after noticing the movement.
He sniffed hard: "It smells good."
It had been a while since he had smelled this scent, and it was so tempting that he felt hungry just by smelling it.
"I guess Xiaoqiu and Xiaoxia are back. I'll go out and take a look." Zhao Ruyue walked out and took a look, and sure enough, there were two children.
Each of them sat on a small stool, slurping instant noodles beside the coffee table, like two little pigs.
Ning Shaoming also came out: "Why are you eating instant noodles? Do you want daddy to make you something else delicious?"
Both children shook their heads.
Ning Shixia said: "My aunt will come to our house tonight and cook delicious food. We can just eat instant noodles now, and I'm full already."
"Okay," Ning Shaoming thought about it and sat down next to the child, "Give it to daddy?"
Ning Shixia, unaware of the evil nature of human nature, gave him the chopsticks, thinking her father would just take a bite.
Then his father ate up all the remaining noodles in one bite and drank up all the soup.
Ning Shixia: “???”
Ning Shiqiu standing next to him also stared at his father in amazement, but he was stunned for too long and his father thought he was full too, so the rest of his noodles were eaten as well.
While eating, Dad asked Mom, "Do you want to eat?"
Zhao Ruyue's mind was still sleepy and she was working slowly. She didn't notice the expressions of the two children. She yawned and said, "Leave me a mouthful of noodles and soup so I can taste them. Otherwise, I won't be able to eat dinner later."
Ning Shiqiu opened his mouth and wanted to explain that he was not full, but when he heard his mother's words, he touched his stomach.
Forget it. Although he was not full, he was no longer hungry. He also satisfied his cravings and felt relieved. He could eat chicken, duck, fish and meat in the evening, so he didn't say anything else.
He turned to his confused sister and asked, "Shall we go out and play?"
Ning Shixia nodded subconsciously, and only realized it after she went out: "Dad ate all my noodles! I just wanted to give him a bite."
"Are you still hungry?" Ning Shiqiu asked.
Ning Shixia also touched her stomach: "I'm not hungry anymore, but I'm not as full as I usually am after a meal."
"Just enough to save some space for a delicious meal tonight."
"Yes, there are still many delicious foods tonight."
Thinking of this, Ning Shixia no longer worried about his father eating all his noodles.
After Ning Shaoming finished eating, he washed two bowls, then brushed his teeth and washed his face. The stimulation of the cold water made him feel refreshed, but when he thought about what had just happened, he felt that something was wrong.
"Did we just bully our two children?"
Zhao Ruyue had also come to her senses by now and jokingly shirked responsibility: "It's not us, it's you. I'm at most an accomplice. As the mastermind, you have to make something delicious to appease them."
Ning Shaoming was happy: "It's time to make something delicious for them. We have been too busy since we opened the new store. It seems that I haven't made snacks for them for a long time. Let me see what else I have at home."
He went to the warehouse and rummaged around, and found some nuts. He took them all out and asked Zhao Ruyue, "I wonder if I can still buy frozen rice at the market. Children like to eat frozen rice candy. If I add some nuts when making frozen rice candy, it should taste better than the traditional ones."
Zhao Ruyue didn't know if she could still buy it at the market. There used to be a lot of people selling frozen rice, but in recent years, everyone has made less, and there are fewer people selling it in town. "How about I go to the market now?"
"Okay, go ahead. It's time to cook. I'll cook at home."
Zhao Ruyue walked around the market but failed to buy any frozen rice. Just as she was about to leave, she happened to meet Huang Wenfa and Wu Li, a couple who were returning from visiting relatives.
This year Huang Wenfa and Wu Li returned to their hometown relatively late. They arrived in town on the morning of New Year's Eve. After arriving home, they had no time to rest. They had to buy New Year's goods, clean the house, and prepare New Year's Eve dinner. They were very busy.
Huang Wenfa has many relatives. After New Year’s Eve, he has to entertain relatives who come to pay New Year’s greetings and visit relatives as well.
The four of them never met.
The two sides were quite excited when they met.
Wu Li took Zhao Ruyue and looked around and said, "It's been a year since we last met. You look much younger now than before!"
Zhao Ruyue laughed and said, "That's too exaggerated. If you don't know, you might think I have some secret recipe for rejuvenation. Are you free tomorrow? If you are, why don't you come to my house for dinner? How about we get together?"
"Tomorrow is not possible, we have guests coming tomorrow. How about the day after tomorrow? They can come to our house the day after tomorrow." Wu Li was afraid that Zhao Ruyue would rush to treat them, so she said, "Before, those people that your Shaoming introduced to Pengcheng said before they came back that they must treat you to a meal. Our Wenfa thought that if they each treated a meal, they would not be able to finish the meal until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so he asked him to do it. Then they can each prepare a dish and come to our house for dinner together, and it will be considered as a treat for everyone."
Zhao Ruyue also thought this was a good idea: "This is a good idea. Otherwise, I will really be scared of the feast. I will go back and tell Shaoming. He will definitely be happy."
After chatting with them for a few minutes, they had to go back to cook, and Zhao Ruyue also went home empty-handed.
After returning, he told Ning Shaoming: "I didn't buy any frozen rice. There are too few people making frozen rice candy now, and no one wants to buy any."
Ning Shaoming poked his head out from the kitchen: "Forget it if you can't buy it. I'll make some sesame, red dates, walnut cakes, peanut sesame candies, etc. Our children used to like them very much."
Zhao Ruyue walked to the door and chatted with him while picking vegetables: "But I met Wenfa and Xiaoli. I told them that I will go to their place for dinner the day after tomorrow."
Ning Shaoming asked: "Why not hold it at our house? Our house is more spacious."
"The person who worked at the hotel in Pengcheng that you introduced wanted to treat you to a meal. Wenfa was afraid that you wouldn't be able to attend the banquet, so he said that he would treat everyone at his house."
Ning Shaoming laughed when he heard this: "As expected of my best friend, he really understands me. With so many people treating me to a meal, I might get so tired of eating that I would have to hide in the county town."
When the meal was almost ready, Ning Meiting and her husband arrived with their two children. Ning Shaoming went out to greet them and was surprised to see his second brother's family coming as well.
After pouring them some tea and turning on the TV, he returned to the kitchen and muttered to Zhao Ruyue, "My second brother is here too. It's strange. He doesn't even want to go back to his hometown for the New Year, but he actually came to our house."
The customs of celebrating the New Year here are somewhat different from those in other places. After the family splits up, if the elderly are still alive, the New Year gifts of the other sons will be sent to the home of the son where the elderly celebrate the New Year, and then they will no longer send gifts to each other.
But when the daughter returns to her parents' home, she has to have a meal with each of her brothers' families. They can discuss in advance when to go and whose house to go, and bring New Year gifts when they eat. Of course, the brothers' families will also return the gifts.
When entertaining sisters who have returned to their mother's home, other brothers can go or not. If the brothers have a good relationship, they can discuss it and invite the sisters who have returned to their mother's home to dinner together.
But the relationship between Ning Shaoming and his two brothers is obviously not very good now.
Ning Shaoming did not go to his eldest brother and second brother's house today. He thought his second brother would not come to his house either.
Zhao Ruyue said: "I haven't seen my second brother and his wife for a long time. Do you think they have lost a lot of weight?"
Ning Shaoming nodded: "I just noticed it too. They were both quite fat when they came back for the New Year last year, but they have lost so much weight this year. It seems that my mother didn't give them much subsidy this year."
"I heard they want to buy a house in the county town, so they came here specially for dinner today. Are they trying to borrow money?" Zhao Ruyue was not afraid that Ning Shaoming would think she was biased towards her family, so she said directly, "If they want to borrow money, I won't be happy to lend it to them. If my sister and brother-in-law don't pay me back, and my parents know about it, they will definitely find a way to secretly give me the money, saying that my sister and brother-in-law asked them to pay. Your parents may not necessarily agree."
Moreover, the probability that her sister and brother-in-law would not repay the money was very small, and they even wrote an IOU. If she asked Ning Shaode and his wife to write an IOU, they would definitely not be in a good mood, let alone she took the initiative to ask for writing an IOU.
Ning Shaoming also knew the character of his second brother and his biological mother. His mother must be partial to his second brother, although sometimes she is also partial to his son, but it is not right to let children interfere in the affairs of adults, right?
As for his father, he is also a bachelor. The most he can do is to talk to his second brother and let them solve the problem themselves. Whoever owes the debt should go to him. It is impossible for him to help pay it back.
Moreover, this old man has his own set of reasons, such as: both of them are sons, it is not good to help one or not, it is better to do nothing, not be deaf or blind, not be a father-in-law, and not be blamed.
"Don't worry, if my second brother really came to borrow money today, I would definitely not give in."
After the couple finished mumbling, Zhao Ruyue went to move out the large dining table and placed it in the living room, ready to serve the meal.
When I saw Ning Danjie, I remembered that her family didn’t come back on the first day of the new year and I hadn’t given her a red envelope yet.
He went into the room and got one for Ning Danjie.
She didn't like the second brother and his wife very much, but children are children, and the grudges of the previous generation should not involve the next generation.
I’ve given gifts to Ning Meiting’s two children when they came to pay New Year’s greetings on the first day of the New Year, so there’s no need to give them again.
Ning Danjie didn't expect that her third aunt still remembered to give her a red envelope. She said a few auspicious words and happily accepted the red envelope.
Zhao Ruyue gave the red envelope and went out to serve the dishes.
While she was away and everyone else was staring at the TV, Ye Jing waved to her daughter and asked her to show her the red envelope.
Ning Danjie took it out hesitantly and whispered, "We agreed at home that you would keep the red envelopes from my grandparents, and I can keep the red envelopes from my grandparents."
Ye Jing glared at her, then turned and quietly looked at her elder sister-in-law and her family.
After making sure they didn't hear him, he lowered his voice and said, "I promised, so how can I go back on my word? I just want to see how much your Third Aunt gave me. When the two children from his family come back, I will give them to them as well. There are two children in her family, and we only have one, so if we give more, we will lose out."
Ning Danjie opened the red envelope and showed it to her.
Ye Jing was a little surprised when she saw that there was a fifty-dollar bill inside.
Nowadays, a red envelope of ten or twenty yuan for children is considered quite a lot. In previous years, most of my husband's relatives were poor, and many of them only gave one or two yuan, or two or three yuan.
Only those who are closer to me will be given five, ten or twenty yuan.
Her parents and her brothers and sisters-in-law would give a little more, but the most they would give was fifty yuan from her parents.
Otherwise, she would not have just collected the red envelopes they gave to her daughter and let her daughter accept the red envelopes from her husband's relatives herself.
She didn't expect this accident to happen. It would be a bad idea to change her mind now, otherwise the child would make a fuss and say that she didn't keep her word. It would be too embarrassing to let the child make a fuss in front of relatives. Ye Jing had no choice but to give the red envelope to her daughter and told her not to spend it carelessly.
Then, he prepared two red envelopes of twenty-five yuan each with a heavy heart, ready to give to Ning Shiqiu and Ning Shixia later.
Ning Danjie was even happier when she saw the amount of money inside.
She went back to her grandparents' house today, and the total amount of red envelopes she received in the day was less than 100 yuan. The one from her third aunt was 50 yuan, which was a huge surprise to her.
When Ning Shiqiu and Ning Shixia came back, Ning Danjie asked them how much red envelopes they had received.
Ning Shixia looked at her brother. She never cared much about her money. After leaving the amount she wanted to spend, she gave the rest of the red envelope to her brother without even opening it.
Ning Shiqiu calculated: "Adding the red envelope given by Second Auntie just now, Xiaoxia and I should get enough red envelopes to make a thousand yuan."
"Are the red envelopes from both of you adding up to one thousand?" Ning Danjie thought, five hundred from each of them seems to be about the same as mine.
Ning Shiqiu shook his head: "No, Xiaoxia and I each have one thousand."
Ning Danjie was shocked: "Why are there so many! Are all your relatives so rich?"
"That's not the case. Our parents gave us a lot. Dad gave us 200 each, and mom also gave us 200 each, which added up to 400. And my grandparents have a lot of relatives, almost every street is filled with relatives.
It also seems that everyone has earned more money this year than in previous years. For example, my grandmother's family opened a convenience store this year, so they have a lot more money on hand.
My mother's elders all gave thirty or fifty dollars this year, and then my mother's uncles and aunts of the same generation as well as my mother's good friends, some gave more than ten, some gave twenty, and when added up, it's that much. Last year, there wasn't that much. ”
Ning Danjie asked again: "What about the relatives on grandpa and grandma's side?"
"The red envelopes we received from our grandparents' relatives are probably similar to yours, but my father also has many close friends, and those uncles also give us red envelopes."
Ning Danjie was envious: "My parents didn't give me any New Year's money, and they don't seem to have any friends either."
Ning Shixia said, "No way, my second uncle and his wife must be like my parents, they have friends they have grown up with, like Uncle Wenfa and Aunt Xiaoli."
Ning Danjie looked confused: "Who are they? I don't think I know them."
Ning Shiqiu added: "They are Sister Miaomiao's parents."
Speaking of Huang Wenfa's daughter Huang Miaomiao, Ning Danjie finally knew who she was.
She thought about it carefully and realized that her parents really didn't have such friends.
I remember that when I went back to my hometown to play during the holidays, the parents of my friends were either my uncle’s friends or my third uncle and aunt’s friends.
Ning Danping said somewhat frustratedly: "Why is this happening? My parents are also from Rongxi Town..."
The three children couldn't figure it out, but the adults called them to eat, so they had to put the question aside and go eat together.
At the dinner table, Ye Jing felt that she could eat meat every day during the Chinese New Year, so chicken, duck, fish and meat were no longer a big deal to her. She wanted to be reserved, but the food Ning Shaoming cooked was so delicious that the three of them ate without even raising their heads.
Ning Meiting's family didn't eat anything at the second brother's house at noon and were already hungry. They were finally able to eat to their heart's content at the third brother's house.
Ning Shaoming thought that they had been feasting all day and probably wouldn't be able to eat too much at night, so he controlled the amount a little. Fortunately, even though the amount was controlled, there were quite a few varieties of dishes on the table and not everyone at the table could finish them all.
After the meal, Ning Meiting and her family went home with the return gifts given by Ning Shaoming.
After the host and guests had left, Ning Shaode and his wife were still hesitating, looking as if they wanted to say something but were hesitant, waiting for others to ask them what they wanted.
But Ning Shaoming and Zhao Ruyue pretended not to see it.
Seeing that Ning Danjie was so sleepy that she was about to fall asleep after dinner, Ye Jing quickly pulled Ning Shaode, motioning him to go find his brother and said, "You are brothers, we can discuss anything, go now!"
No matter what Ning Shaode did outside, he never asked others for help at home.
Generally, if he wants something, as long as it is available at home, he doesn't need to ask for it actively. His mother will grab it and give it to him, or help him to ask for it and get it done.
Suddenly he was asked to ask his younger brother for help, and he felt a little embarrassed.
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