"Yes, everything is prepared for you. Your uncle's family doesn't raise pigs, so I cut off a few pounds of meat for him. You can take it with you when you go. Also, don't forget the two pounds of dried longan."
Although her sons took turns visiting her for the New Year, Granny Liu would always prepare the gifts in advance, and her sons only needed to give her a red envelope.
"Okay, I understand. I'll go tomorrow. I'll let Minghan go in alone. I won't go. If I bring both kids, my uncle will have to give me a red envelope, and it'll be troublesome to keep pushing them back and forth."
Zhang Xuemei knew that her uncle's family was not well-off, so she wouldn't even think about accepting his red envelope.
"Okay, let him go alone. Also, the red envelope is the same as in previous years, two hundred is fine. Don't get cocky after making a few bucks. It's easy to go up, but hard to maintain."
Granny Liu was worried that Zhang Xuemei and the others were being unreasonable and would give out too much money in red envelopes after making some money. What would happen to the other brothers then?
"I know, Mom. I'll talk to Minghan." Zhang Xuemei wasn't the type to show off. These red envelopes were definitely arranged by all the brothers. They gave the same amount every year, and if there was to be an increase, it would start with the eldest brother.
Suddenly, Granny Liu remembered something. "Xiao Wan is with you now. You, as her brother and sister-in-law, should pay more attention to her. She'll be twenty-three after the New Year. You should start looking for a suitable match."
Xu Xiaoxi, who used to work at the same factory as her, is getting married after the New Year. She's marrying into the family of her former boss; their family is very well-off.
Granny Liu spoke with great envy, thinking that her own Xiao Wan was beautiful and had a good personality, so her future husband's family couldn't be any less than perfect.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuemei quickly replied, "Mom, don't worry, I'll definitely introduce Xiaowan to someone suitable. Our Xiaowan is pretty and tall, and all the aunties in the neighborhood like her!"
"Of course! Everyone has said that Xiao Wan is the best-looking of all the children in our family since she was little." Granny Liu was very fond of her youngest daughter. While other families preferred sons, she preferred daughters.
Seeing that her youngest daughter looked a little sleepy, Zhang Xuemei greeted her mother-in-law and then carried the child back into the house.
After the child fell asleep, Zhang Xuemei leaned against the headboard, carefully thinking about her sister-in-law's marriage.
Now that my sister-in-law isn't going out to work like she did in her previous life, she won't have met her future husband and won't have married far away.
Where can I find her a suitable partner? This is a real headache!
...
Early the next morning, Zhang Xuemei carried her youngest daughter on her back, while also carrying gifts for New Year's greetings in her hands.
Xu Minghan's hands were also busy; his back was full of things, he was holding Panpan's hand with one hand, and carrying things with the other.
To get to Zhang Xuemei's family home, Shilitou, you first have to walk up a mountain path, which takes about half an hour.
Then you'll reach the main road, where you can wait for a bus by the roadside, but you won't be able to catch one immediately; it depends on luck.
It's the second day of the Lunar New Year, and there are a lot of people around, so even if a car comes, there probably won't be many seats.
The couple, with their child, walked and stopped along the way, starting around 7 a.m. and not reaching the main road until 8:30 a.m.
"Let's take a break! We're out of water. You guys sit here, I'll go to that house over there and ask for some water."
Xu Minghan had his wife and children sit on the stone bench by the roadside, while he ran to the house across the street to ask for some water.
"Hurry back, or you'll miss the bus." There are few buses that travel on these village roads now, and you have to wait at least two hours for one. You can't miss it.
"Okay, just shout for me when you hear me," Xu Minghan replied as he ran.
Fortunately, the car hadn't arrived when he came back. He gave Panpan some water, and the two of them drank a few more sips.
When Zhang Xuemei saw her youngest daughter whimpering, she knew she must be hungry.
So she asked her husband to block the way, and before the car arrived, she turned her back and breastfed the baby.
"We can wean her off breast milk around four or five months and buy formula." Xu Minghan knew that his wife's milk supply was dwindling, so he always carried a bag of formula with him, afraid that it wouldn't be enough for the baby.
Zhang Xuemei finished feeding the baby, straightened her clothes, and tidied up the child's clothes.
"Yeah, I was already eight months pregnant then, and it was fine after weaning." Anyway, she feels that her milk supply isn't very good now, and it definitely won't be enough when the baby gets bigger.
"She's six months old now, so it's time to start introducing solid foods. When we get back, I'll have Mom grind some rice cereal so we can take it to Tianshui City."
The couple didn't feel the time passing by as they talked, but Xu Panpan had sharp eyes and saw the car coming from afar.
She immediately stood up, ran over from the side, shook her father's hand and said, "Dad, Dad, the car is here."
Upon hearing this, Xu Minghan immediately stood up. "That's true! Our Panpan is really amazing; even Dad didn't notice!"
Xu Panpan raised her head proudly after being praised by her father.
Sure enough, when they flagged down the car with their things and got on, they found it was packed with people, not a single seat was empty.
A kind man gave up his seat, and Xu Minghan thanked him profusely, then asked his wife and youngest daughter to sit down.
As for his eldest daughter, a kind aunt helped her sit on her lap, and Xu Minghan stood all the way to the village, holding onto the chair.
As soon as the bus pulled into the open space where the cars were parked in the village, the doors opened and everyone started carrying their things and getting off. Xu Minghan was the first to run off with his things, letting his wife and child sit in the bus first to avoid being jostled by the crowd, since the bus had already arrived at the station anyway.
Xu Minghan glanced at his watch; it was already past ten o'clock. Without further ado, he led his wife and children to the car that was going to Shilitou.
After another forty minutes of knocking, they finally arrived.
Lin Haitao was waiting at the intersection early on, and she immediately spotted her sister-in-law and the others crammed into the car.
So he quickly went over to help carry the things and took Panpan down with him.
"I told you you'd be back around this time, see how right I was!"
"Oh dear, we had a really tough time this morning. We changed buses twice and walked a long way. It was exhausting taking care of these two kids."
Zhang Xuemei complained with a smile.
Lin Haitao, holding Panpan, came closer and looked carefully at the child in her sister-in-law's arms, smiling: "Linlin is so good, she didn't wake up even though we were making so much noise."
Zhang Xuefeng followed behind, helping his brother-in-law carry all the things home.
Liu Taohua was already waiting at home. When she saw her daughter and son-in-law come in, she immediately smiled and said, "You're finally here! The food is ready. Eat quickly, don't let it get cold. Is the baby asleep? Give it to me, I'll put it in the room. You eat first, or she'll wake you up and disturb you again."
Zhang Xuemei handed the child to her elderly mother, then wiped her eldest daughter's face, washed her hands, and carried her to the table for dinner.
"Hey, didn't my second sister and brother-in-law come today?" Zhang Xuemei looked around and, not seeing her second sister and brother-in-law, asked curiously.
My second sister's house is closer to theirs, so they should have arrived long ago!
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