Chapter 66 Returning to My Mother's Home

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Ruoqing got up late because she stayed up late the night before. Shen Xue and Shen Yun held Shen Rongrong's hand to wake Shen Ruoqing up.

"Auntie, Happy New Year and may you be prosperous!"

Shen Ruoqing yawned. In the past, Shen Yun and Shen Xue would never dare to disturb Shen Ruoqing. Perhaps it was because of the time they had spent together that made Shen Yun and Shen Xue a little bolder.

"Okay, okay, wait until I get up and then call them all over. I'll give you red envelopes." The red envelopes were prepared last night, and everyone got the same one.

After everyone received the red envelope, Shen Hanwu couldn't help but open it on the spot: "Fifty cents! So much! More than what grandma gave me! Thank you, aunt!"

Shen Yue and others couldn't help but tear it down, "I'm also a 50-cent guy."

Shen Hansong resisted the urge to open the red envelopes. He knew that the red envelopes his aunt gave them should be the same.

"You are so generous, why do you give them so much?" Old Mrs. Ji felt distressed. Nowadays, every household gives a few cents for good luck, but no one is as generous as Shen Ruoqing to give fifty cents.

Wang was very proud, she had given birth to three sons and even had one more red envelope than others. She tricked Shen Hanwen and Shen Hanwu into giving the red envelope to her for safekeeping.

Of course Shen Hanwen and Shen Hanwu refused: "Mom, you always said that we could buy candy for ourselves with the New Year's money."

But the red envelopes in previous years were not this big, and the total amount was only a little over one cent.

Breakfast was naturally the dumplings stuffed with sauerkraut and meat that I made yesterday. The dumplings made with refined white bread were so fragrant, and the taste of the sauerkraut was just right, making Shen Ruoqing unable to resist eating a few more.

The children went to pick up firecrackers from last night. Shen Hanwen and Shen Hanwu took Shen Xue, Shen Yun and Shen Rongrong to pick them up, and they picked up quite a few.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, villagers usually go to pay respects to the elders in the village. Except for Shen Xiangdong, who has difficulty walking, the three brothers Shen Xiangnan went to pay respects first. The family also prepared enough peanuts, melon seeds and candies, waiting for the guests to come.

However, the New Year's greetings were almost over by noon.

After lunch, Shen Xiangbei and his wife carried 100 kilograms of rice and took Shen Rongrong away first.

Shen Rongrong was very reluctant to leave, and she pulled Shen Xue and Shen Yun's sleeves and whispered to them.

The second day of the Chinese New Year is the day to go back to my parents’ home.

Han didn't want to go back because Shen Xiangdong was still lying in bed and needed care. Shen Hansong patted his chest and promised his mother that he would go back to take good care of his father. Only after the persuasion of his son and husband did Han reluctantly pack up and prepare to take her daughter back to her parents' home.

Wang had been looking forward to going back to her parents' home for a long time. She had packed her things long ago. She went to see Old Lady Ji with a shameless face and said, "Mom, you said it would not look good if I only brought a pound of meat with me when I go back to my parents' home. Can you give me some more flour?"

"Why is there only one pound of meat? Didn't we ask each of you to bring a pack of glutinous rice cakes and a can of canned fruit? What? You don't want the glutinous rice cakes and canned fruit? Then leave them for me, an old lady." Old Lady Ji snorted coldly. She was pleased with the white flour she wanted. In Old Lady Ji's opinion, one pound of meat, one pound of cakes and a can of fruit were already a presentable gift. Not enough? Then you can add more!

Since Wang couldn't get any good response from Old Lady Ji, she could only find a solution on her own.

Mrs. Du didn't say much, but she felt that these gifts were not enough to show off in her parents' home. Touching the one dollar handed over by Shen Yun and Shen Xue, Mrs. Du decided to go to the village to get some grain and wine to bring back to her father.

Old Mrs. Ji is not eating at home today, as she is also going to take Shen Ruoqing back to her parents' home.

Old Lady Ji's parents' home is in a nearby village, which takes more than three hours to walk to. Old Lady Ji's parents are still alive, but they are almost 80 years old. They have long stopped working in the village and live with Old Lady Ji's younger brother. Old Lady Ji's younger brother Ji Hongxun used to learn the craft of carpentry from Shen Ruoqing's grandfather. In addition to working, he also occasionally takes on odd carpentry jobs, and his life is pretty good.

Since they were going back to her parents' home with Old Lady Ji, Shen Ruoqing took the malted milk, canned fruit, and sugar that were left over from the previous trip. Old Lady Ji felt sorry for them and took the canned fruit and brown sugar down with her.

"You don't need to bring so many things to your grandmother's house. A can of malted milk is enough to make you look presentable. We also brought cakes and meat." Malted milk costs more than three dollars a can, and the malted milk alone is enough to make you look presentable.

Shen Ruoqing and Old Lady Ji set off like this. Although Old Lady Ji was almost sixty years old, she was still walking fast while carrying things. If Shen Ruoqing hadn't run every morning to exercise, he really couldn't keep up with Old Lady Ji.

"We'll be at Willow Village soon, my dear. Do you want to take a rest for a while?" Old Mrs. Ji looked at her old daughter.

"No, Mom, let's go quickly." Since they were almost there, there was no need to rest. Oh my, it was really tiring to walk so far in these leather shoes. If her mother hadn't insisted on her wearing them, she would never have walked in these leather shoes.

Liushu Village is the village where Mrs. Ji’s parents came from. It was named after the big willow tree at the entrance of the village. Mrs. Ji’s parents’ home is the fifth house from the entrance of the village.

Old Lady Ji's father, Ji Liangzhu, was sitting at the door of his house chatting with his neighbors. Someone patted him and said, "Old Ji, your eldest daughter is back."

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Ji Liangzhu looked in the direction that person was pointing, and it was indeed his eldest daughter.

Ji Liangzhu tapped his pipe, his eyelids drooped, and he shouted to the inner room: "Old lady, Hongying is back."

"What? Hongying is back? She didn't come to my house for the past two years, so I thought she was dead. Why is she here now?!"

Old Lady Ji hadn't been back to her parents' home for three years. The reason was simple. A few years ago, Ji Hongxun's youngest son wanted to marry a girl from the village. The other party wanted a dowry of 200 yuan and a sewing machine. Everyone had a hard time in the past few years and didn't save much money. Even if the Ji family had extra income from woodworking, they couldn't afford so much dowry. The most they could afford was a sewing machine.

Mrs. Ji's mother, Wang, went to Mrs. Ji to borrow money. She thought it was a sure thing, but Mrs. Ji refused it outright. Not only did she refuse, she also said that the girl Ji Hongxun's son was not a good girl, and her words might be a bit unpleasant to the ear. She said that the girl looked weird and restless, and asked for a huge betrothal gift. The girl heard this, and the matter fell through.

Mrs. Wang had a quarrel with Old Mrs. Ji, and Old Mrs. Ji was so angry that she didn't come to visit for three years.

"Grandpa, look what I brought you." Shen Ruoqing took out two packs of Big Rooster cigarettes. In Shen Ruoqing's memory, this grandpa was quite nice to her. Maybe it was because there were few girls in the family, so every time she came, she could get candy from this cheap grandpa.

"Oh, this is a cigarette." Grandpa Ji took out a cigarette, put it to his nose and smelled it, with a look of intoxication on his face, then put the cigarette away with a smile.

"Old lady, it's rare for Hongying to come back, don't be so sullen, come in, come in!"

(End of this chapter)