Fortunately, the military region's car arrived to pick them up, interrupting Tang Cuixiang's rampage. After seeing them off, Xiao Jiu couldn't help but sigh.
"Is having two naughty boys really that terrible, Mom? How did you raise my four older brothers?"
Even now, when Zhao Lingli thinks back on it, she still looks annoyed.
"Then we can't mention it, it'll just make us angry."
I can understand your sister's situation completely, I understand it all too well.
Seeing her mother's expression, Xiao Jiu felt even more strongly that she shouldn't have two children in the future; one would be enough.
If you put two children together, especially if you accidentally have two sons, wouldn't that lead to chaotic and disorderly days?
This lingering fear persisted until the early morning of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, which is February 15th in the Gregorian calendar, when she received a call from her eldest, seventh, and eighth sisters and their families.
Now, only the third sister is missing; everyone else has arrived.
As for why the other brothers-in-law either took leave or came.
Eighth Sister didn't mention it at all, and Xiao Jiu saw that she looked exhausted, so she didn't ask.
The fact that her eighth sister gave birth to four daughters in a row truly impressed her with her courage, making them the most prolific family among all her older brothers and sisters.
"You guys go back to the guesthouse and rest for a bit. My third sister's car won't arrive until noon. Once it arrives, we'll go back together."
They arrived at the station in the early morning, and Xiao Jiu couldn't arrange any food for them, so she simply booked them a room and sent them some ready-made fast food.
In addition to rice balls and pickled vegetables, they also prepared sticky rice cakes from Northeast China.
In the evening, it's not advisable to eat too much. Drink some hot water to wash it down and make sure you're full before going to sleep.
I slept straight through until 10 a.m. on the 29th. "You hurry up and pick them up. I'll take them to the state-run restaurant for a meal."
"When you pick up the others, come straight to us. I'll order the stew in a cast iron pot; it's perfect for a group like us, and it'll keep us warm."
Xiao Jiu stuffed two squid buns into her mouth, nodded, and ran to the train station. Less than half an hour later, her third sister, with two daughters and a son, and her brother-in-law carrying large and small bags, the whole family came out of the train station in a grand procession.
When Tang Cuilian saw the small bottle of wine, she was so excited that she jumped up, but the snow was too slippery and she almost tripped.
Fortunately, her brother-in-law reacted quickly and threw her a bag so she could lie down on it.
"Oh my god, that scared me to death."
Tang Cuilian clutched her chest, while Ji Yang and the children looked terrified.
"You scared us! Goodness, we had a safe journey, but you fell flat on your face as soon as we got off the train. That's so embarrassing."
Fearing that her joy might turn into sorrow, Tang Cuilian became obedient, only daring to wave her hand and not daring to get excited anymore.
As soon as we got off the train, I hugged her tightly. "I knew it. Zhou Yue dared to call us here because he wants to marry you."
Xiao Jiu was both amused and exasperated, and then peeked out to look at Ji Yang: "I really didn't expect that you would marry my third sister, Brother Ji."
Ji Yang noticed her slight embarrassment. "I didn't expect this either. What a small world! But you should change how you address me, shouldn't you?"
"Yes, Third Brother-in-law," Xiao Jiu had just finished calling out when the three children stood up and greeted her.
"Hello, Auntie. You look so pretty. I'm Ji Nan, the eldest. I'm nine years old. You can call me Nan Nan."
"Hello Auntie, Auntie is so pretty. I am Ji Bei, the second oldest. I am seven years old. You can call me Bei Bei."
The last little one, who looks about three or four years old, also imitated his two older sisters by introducing himself.
"Hello Auntie, my name is Ji Yan, Yan as in 'keeping one's word,' and my nickname is Yan Yan. I'm four years old this year!"
Traveling north and south, keeping one's word is worth a thousand pieces of gold?
The name is also very good. It just matches the nature of my third sister's previous job, which involved traveling all over the country.
She knelt down and gave gifts to the children, including the previous children, not just Tao Xilin.
It's just that Tao Xilin is better at expressing herself, which is why she chatted with her for a few more minutes.
The third sister's family has three children. The two girls are very pretty, and the youngest son is chubby and looks like his grandmother's dream grandson.
Xiao Jiu went up and hugged him, and he wasn't shy at all. Xiao Jiu gave him a small bag of shrimp chips, which he ate happily.
After they put down their luggage and went to the state-run restaurant, they found that the atmosphere in the private room was rather subdued.
It wasn't until after exchanging pleasantries that I learned that my eighth sister had actually gotten divorced.
The word "divorce" is taboo in this era. Married women are unwilling to mention it, and no matter how hard life is, they never think about getting a divorce.
For the man, if he loses his wife, he can just remarry. Even the poorest family can find a suitable match.
Especially for widows, second marriages are for building a life together. As long as they don't look down on her, they'll marry her off.
So when everyone heard about this, the men at the scene were all a little embarrassed.
Because the women were all feeling indignant on behalf of the Eighth Sister.
The men couldn't get a word in edgewise, so they could only serve food to their children, telling them not to listen to the adults and to eat properly.
"Divorce is divorce, Eighth Sister, it's not a big deal. Eldest Sister is right, since we've broken up, we should cut ties with them cleanly."
Your job is selling at the perfect time, so just stay here and I'll help you find a place to live. You can find a temporary job for now.
When the time is right, you can start your own business, and I'll find a way to get the children into school.
The most pressing issue now is housing. Once that's resolved, the next step is getting the children into school.
Then we'll find a suitable job for my sister and slowly wait until the policy is fully liberalized.
Actually, some people have already started operating in a clandestine manner as vendors these days, but unfortunately, her sister is raising four children on her own.
No mistakes are allowed in this process, so the first priority is to settle them down.
With just one look from her older sister, she understood the purpose of their trip, and agreed without any discussion.
She was able to agree so readily because she now had the power to arrange jobs for her sisters.
It's all about money. If something can be solved with money, is it even a problem?
But Cuihua still gave her the vaccination.
“In recent years, it may not be so easy for educated youth to find jobs after returning to the city. But if it really can't be resolved, it doesn't matter, we're still here for you.”
The idea was that she wanted to rely on the support of her sisters to get through these next few years.
Xiao Jiu thought for a moment, "It's alright. I've been keeping Eighth Sister's matter in mind. I'll settle her in after I'm more familiar with the job."
When educated youth returned to the city, it was said that even the job of collecting scraps was in high demand, not to mention jobs like scrubbing and massaging feet in public bathhouses.
Even temporary jobs like toilet attendants and street sweepers are being snapped up by these returning educated youth, who are demanding increasingly higher prices.
She overlooked this matter, but it didn't matter. At least she had some surplus food, so she would make sure that her eight sisters and their family of five were well-fed and clothed first.
After lunch, we returned to the guesthouse to pack our things, and at 2 p.m., the group finally checked out and boarded the car back to the military region.
Everyone had a lot to ask Xiaojiu, but she didn't know where to begin, so she could only comfort them.
"Don't worry, wait until tomorrow night. Everyone come to my house, and I'll set up a few tables. I'll explain everything to you all at once."
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