As Xu Shun carried the things into the large house where his parents lived, Xu Da and Xu Er's wives, who were sitting in the west wing, exchanged a glance, stood up at the same time, dusted themselves off, and went into the old couple's room.
Xu Shun guessed that his two sisters-in-law would definitely find an excuse to come in, so after he entered the room, he put his things on the table without saying a word. He first went to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up his son Dongdong, and gave him a big kiss. Then he reached out and touched Nannan's head, smiled, and then looked at his parents.
The old lady glanced at the things on the table with suspicion, then looked at Xu Shun with confusion and asked, "Why is Third Brother so late today? Have you eaten? Your wife left some food for you in the kitchen."
Xu San smiled and said, "I've already eaten!"
Just as he finished speaking, his eldest sister-in-law, Bai, and his second sister-in-law, Yuan, pushed open the door and came in.
Xu Shun nodded to them, "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law!"
"Oh, hehe, third brother, your sister-in-law was just worried that you came back late today, just wanted to check on you!" Bai Shi said with a fake smile, but her eyes were fixed on the pastries, dried fruit and peaches on the table.
Zhou Xing only left four peaches in their room; Xu Shun brought the rest over.
There was one box of snacks and one box of dried fruit. The other box was meant for the two children by their aunt, but Zhou Xing kept it for her own two children to eat when they got home. She wouldn't pretend to be generous and give it away.
Xu Shun smiled faintly and nodded, "Yes, something came up, so I thought I'd tell my parents and sisters-in-law. Now that you're here, I don't need to tell each of you individually."
After speaking, Xu Shun lifted his robe, sat down on the stool, and solemnly recounted his experience that day and how the Zhou family happened to be delivering food to the two children and the two elders, and how they helped him.
Upon hearing this, the old lady's expression turned serious. "It's just bad luck that you got involved with those thugs. But luckily, Xing'er's sister-in-law knows kung fu. So you're lucky, actually."
After the old lady finished speaking, she quickly put her hands together and silently recited a prayer.
Xu Shun waited quietly for his mother to finish her rambling.
The eldest sister-in-law, however, couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked, "I didn't hear that my third sister-in-law's paralyzed brother got married. How come there's suddenly another wife?"
"Yes, such a capable girl, willing to marry a paralyzed man? Could the Zhou family in-laws have been deceived by someone?" Second sister-in-law Yuan added.
They're not inherently bad, they just have a sharp tongue and always want to contradict others to highlight their unique thinking and intelligence.
But clearly, their actions were not well-received by Xu Shun and the old lady.
Just as the old lady finished her rant, she overheard her two daughters-in-law gossiping about the Zhou family's daughters-in-law. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter-in-law, isn't your focus a bit off? Shouldn't you be asking your third brother if he was injured or if he suffered any loss?"
Bai and Yuan families: ...
I want to beat this old lady up. The third daughter-in-law is Xing'er, and the two of them are the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law.
Is it really necessary to be so obviously biased?
"Oh, right, haha, look at us, seeing that our third brother is intact, we felt that he should be fine, and subconsciously we were worried about our third brother's wife." Madam Bai quickly smiled and smoothed things over.
Upon hearing her sister-in-law's words, Yuan felt something was amiss and quickly shut her mouth, remaining silent while giving the old lady a chuckle.
The old lady turned to the side and simply looked at her granddaughter and grandson, not wanting to pay attention to the two simpletons.
"Third son, since your father-in-law's family has helped us so much, we can't forget this favor. Don't go to the stall tomorrow. Take Xing'er back home. I'll prepare a gift for you to thank your in-laws," the old lady said after thinking for a moment.
"Okay, Mother!" Xu Shun agreed, as his mother thought the same way.
Upon hearing this, Yuan was a little anxious. In half a month, it would be her father's birthday, and she was going to take her husband and two children back home. The old lady had also promised to prepare a generous gift for her. But now the Zhou family had suddenly appeared. Would her mother-in-law give the generous gift she had prepared to the Zhou family instead?
"Mother, what generous gift are you planning to bring for my third brother?" Madam Yuan suppressed her anxiety and showed a curious smile on her face.
After she finished speaking, she realized that she wished she could cut off her own tongue. Why did she mention such a generous gift? Her mother-in-law hadn't mentioned anything about a generous gift; she had just reminded her.
The old lady glanced at her and said, "I don't know yet. You two sisters-in-law will come with me to the store and see what else is left."
The old lady never made mistakes in these important matters and always treated everyone equally. However, her two daughters-in-law were ultimately a bit petty and not as magnanimous as Xing'er. They always judged others with their own narrow-mindedness.
Upon hearing her mother-in-law's words, both Bai and Yuan were pleased, and smiles appeared on their faces.
Having achieved his goal, Xu Shun smiled and bowed to his parents before calling his two children to return to their east wing room.
The Xu family now lives in a large courtyard, or rather, a large front courtyard with a small back courtyard inside.
In the south room of the courtyard was their bamboo weaving workshop. The brothers and their wives would often go there to weave things when they had nothing to do, and then have the third brother sell them. At this moment, the eldest and second eldest brothers were still weaving in the south room.
The two main rooms in the front yard were used by the two elderly people to live in one large room and the other room to be used as a hall for receiving guests.
The Xu family is quite famous in the area because bamboo weaving is a craft passed down from their ancestors. People come to buy things for their homes, and the Xu family elders inevitably have to entertain their acquaintances.
The three rooms in the west wing were given to the second son's family.
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