Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Partiality, who are you partial to?
Ning Shixia saw her brother coming back and rushed over excitedly: "Brother, Mom and Dad just called and said you're not at home. Mom and Dad said they'll buy us lots of delicious food and new clothes when they come back for the New Year, and also buy me a skateboard and you a bicycle!"
Ning Shiqiu was a little disappointed when he heard that his parents called but he didn't answer the phone.
But when he heard his sister say that his parents promised to buy him a bicycle, he became happy again: "When I have a bicycle, I can take you to school when I go to school."
"You can even take me to the street to play!"
"Yes!" Ning Shiqiu nodded heavily.
Wang Haiyan stared at the brother and sister talking, and felt a little relieved when she saw that Ning Shixia didn't mention the question she asked her to ask Zhao Ruyue about her salary, nor the words she had guided her to say.
She didn't know why, but every time she looked into Ning Shiqiu's eyes, she always felt awkward, as if a little kid of only eight years old could understand everything, but she couldn't get any answers out of him no matter what she asked him.
Fortunately, Ning Shixia, the three-year-old child, was easy to fool. When she saw Ning Shixia repeatedly telling Ning Shiqiu that their parents were coming back during the Spring Festival, she knew that this little girl could only keep happy things in her heart.
Once this girl talks about happy things, she will forget everything else and will probably not mention what you have guided her to say.
"Give me the roast duck, I'll go cook," Wang Haiyan stretched out her hand to Ning Shiqiu, and then asked, "Xiaoqiu, have you finished your homework? If not, hurry up and finish it before dinner, otherwise you are not allowed to watch TV tonight."
Ning Shiqiu then remembered that he was still carrying the roast duck, and hurriedly handed the roast duck and the change to Wang Haiyan: "There is only a little homework left, I will finish it quickly."
With her interruption, Ning Shixia could no longer remember what happened before.
Wang Haiyan took the change from Ning Shiqiu, counted it carefully, and then took the roast duck to the kitchen to cook.
Going to the kitchen, she took out the separate package of roast duck sauce, reweighed the roast duck, and calculated the price.
Make sure the change is correct before starting to cook.
When the meal was almost ready, Ning Shiqiu had finished his homework.
He packed up his books and homework and ran to the kitchen to see if the meal was ready. If it was almost ready, he would go to the vegetable garden in advance to call his grandparents to come back for dinner.
When Ning Shiqiu walked into the kitchen, he saw that his aunt-in-law had a greasy mouth.
Wang Haiyan was a little embarrassed: "Oh, why is there dust on my face?" She quickly threw the duck bones into the ash pile under the stove, and wiped her mouth with her sleeve in an attempt to cover up her guilt.
Ning Shiqiu didn't say much, just blinked and asked, "Aunt, is the meal ready?"
"There's only one more dish left. Go call them back for dinner."
Ten minutes later, Old Man and Old Lady Ning came back and saw the roast duck on the table. They knew that the third son and his wife had probably called today and said they had sent money back, otherwise the eldest son's wife would not be willing to spend money to buy this.
Sure enough, just after washing my hands and feet and sitting down at the dinner table, I heard my eldest daughter-in-law say loudly, "Dad, Mom, the third son and his wife called today and said that they sent money back today, and asked you to go to the post office to get the money when you are free. I thought they would send you more money to honor you at the end of the year, but they only sent 400 yuan. You two are taking care of their children, which is not a credit but also a hard work..."
"Okay, which child of ours hasn't been taken care of by a father?" Mrs. Ning Huang Xiuhua swallowed the food in her mouth without even looking at her. "The third son and his wife are still in debt. It's not easy for them to make a living outside. We are still able to move, so there is no need for any filial piety. If we really want to give, we will give to all three sons!"
This one sentence made Wang Haiyan completely speechless. All three sons? What can I give? Are you going to give it to them at the cost of their lives?
She glanced at her father-in-law Ningda. The old man would probably live with their family in the future, so he had to at least say something fair, right?
However, the old man seemed to have heard nothing and just took care of his grandson and granddaughter's meals.
He picked up a big duck leg and placed it steadily in Ning Shixia's small bowl without any stuttering. Then he picked up another duck leg that had been chopped into the shape of a thigh and placed it in Ning Shiqiu's bowl.
Wang Haiyan looked at her husband, son and daughter again. The three of them were also busy eating. None of the two big duck legs fell into their mouths, and they didn't react at all!
Who are you scheming for? It's not for them!
Wang Haiyan felt deflated and could only secretly blame her mother-in-law for favoring her younger son.
After dinner, Wang Haiyan saw her mother-in-law was about to go out for a walk. She quickly cheered up, took out a few bills and walked up to her mother-in-law: "Mom, the price of meat has risen a lot recently. The money you gave me last time to buy meat is only this much left. Look..."
Huang Xiuhua glanced at the money in her hand and knew exactly what her eldest daughter-in-law was thinking.
But the eldest son and his wife are both farmers at home, and their income is the lowest among all her children. The eldest son likes to hang out with bad friends, and his parents can't say anything to him.
Huang Xiuhua had no choice but to make some allowance for this. Otherwise, she couldn't bear to watch her other children eating and drinking well while her eldest daughter-in-law and grandchildren had to eat coarse food.
"I know. The third brother just sent money home today. It's not available so soon. Don't buy meat these days. Let's use the leftover lard from frying lard last time to cook."
"Okay, then don't forget to withdraw the money in a few days," Wang Haiyan reminded worriedly, and even used Ning Shixia as an excuse, "Xiaoxia is a very picky girl, she always eats lard cooking, she will definitely not be happy."
Huang Xiuhua's face turned unhappy when she heard this: "It's all because of the third brother!"
When the third son was at home, he would buy whatever his daughter wanted. If he didn't have enough money, he would even borrow money from others. Huang Xiuhua wanted to say against her will that it was the third son's wife who spoiled the child, but she couldn't say it out loud.
"It's not okay for a little girl to be so greedy!" Huang Xiuhua looked at her eldest daughter-in-law. "The third brother and his wife are not here, and we are usually busy with work in the fields. When you are free at home, take some time to teach that girl and let her learn more from Danping. Otherwise, people will laugh at us for not being able to teach our daughter!"
Wang Haiyan happily agreed to the proposal, changing her bitter and resentful expression during the meal when her daughter was recognized by her mother-in-law.
He turned around and went to find Ning Shixia who was watching cartoons, and prepared to ask her to go with him to clear the weeds in the vegetable garden.
Her daughter Danping would follow her to work in the fields and collect firewood when she was three or four years old. She would also sweep the floor and wash her own clothes at home. She could cook when she was five years old. Who wouldn't praise her for being able to teach children at that time?
Wang Haiyan sincerely feels that this is for the good of her child. Since her mother-in-law asks her to teach, it is an affirmation of herself, and she will never keep anything to herself.
Who knew that when they walked into the main room, they saw Zhao Ruyue's mother sitting next to Ning Shiqiu and his sister. She was smilingly taking out a handful of fruit candies from her pocket and sharing them with them.
"Has Xiaoqiu's grandmother eaten?" Wang Haiyan walked over to greet her. When facing outsiders, she was always straightforward and outspoken. "Why did you come at this time? We are having roast duck at home today. You should have come earlier so that you can eat with us!"
"I just came to visit after having a full meal," Deng Ximei, as the elder of her daughter's family, seldom came even though the two families lived close to each other. "I'll also talk to Xiaoqiu and Xiaoxia's grandparents about bringing them to the full moon banquet in a few days."
When Wang Haiyan heard about the banquet, her eyes lit up. According to their local custom, people can pack up the meat after the banquet. "Full moon banquet? Whose house?"
Deng Ximei said: "My youngest daughter, Xiaoqiu and Xiaoxia's third aunt's family."
"Marrying the one in the provincial capital? Oh, there won't be hundreds of tables for the full moon banquet, right?"
Deng Ximei waved her hand and said, "I'm not marrying into the city. I'm just marrying into an ordinary family in a village near the provincial capital."
As the two were talking, Huang Xiuhua also came out.
Deng Ximei was just discussing with her: "Ruyue had the best relationship with her younger sister before she got married. She and Shaoming are in Pengcheng and can't come back, so I thought of asking Xiaoqiu and Xiaoxia to go there on behalf of their parents."
The two children are still young, Huang Xiuhua is a little hesitant: "It will be troublesome to take them by car, right?"
"It's not a problem. Several people from our Zhao family will go together. We have agreed to charter a van and leave directly from home without having to change buses," Deng Ximei paused and added, "Ruyue sent me the money for the gift today." This meant that Huang Xiuhua didn't need to pay for it from the living expenses they sent back.
After she said this, Huang Xiuhua no longer objected.
*
In Pengcheng, Zhao Ruyue and Ning Shaoming ate out for a rare occasion, but both of them had trouble eating.
They originally planned to send money and call home, and then go shopping while it was still early.
But no one was in the mood to go shopping now, so we went back home after dinner.
A few days later, Ning Shaoming returned to work and Zhao Ruyue continued to stay at home to recuperate.
Ning Shiqiu and Ning Shixia also put on their best clothes and happily followed their grandparents into the big car to go to the banquet!
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