It was the end of September, the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon was bright and families were reunited. However, Meng Tao and Shen Yu were not able to enjoy the moon at home. The couple had three shows in one night:
After having dinner at Xu's house and then handing the child over to his parents, the couple drove to a manor on the outskirts of the city, where Shen Yu's friends had a party with eating, drinking and various entertainment activities, which was no less than those young people in later generations who claimed to be good at having fun. Meng Tao was really enlightened. After staying there for two hours, the couple said goodbye and went directly to Hongshun Hutong.
The house that Liu Yongsheng chose for the Liu and Xu families was in Hongshun Hutong.
The two courtyards are side by side, separated by an alley. It is said that this area used to belong to a wealthy family, and was later divided into several courtyards of different sizes.
When they bought the house, the walls and the houses in the yard had almost collapsed, so they had to hire craftsmen to rebuild it. Liu Yongsheng and his wife had to go to Pingjiang City again, so Meng Tao advised them to hand over the business to Xu Yuting and Liu Jicheng. Liu Yongsheng was a little worried, as he felt that these two guys were good at talking but not doing things. But their daughter-in-law was about to give birth, so the two old people had to go there quickly. They had no choice, and also wanted to train Xu Yuting and Liu Jicheng to see if they could become successful. So they just handed the business over to them and walked away.
Xu Yuting and Liu Jicheng were also at a loss at the beginning, but they were not panicking. They felt that with Xiao Huahua as their military advisor, they could overcome any problem.
Meng Tao did give them a reference plan, of course using existing models as examples, and took them to carefully visit the renovation projects of Xu's Mansion and Shen's Mansion. Then the three of them pieced together a blueprint, consulted the craftsmen, and finally did it.
The Xu and Liu families, including the four courtyards that Meng Tao, Xu Yuting and Liu Jianli later bought, were all rebuilt according to this model. They dug basements, buried their own drainage pipes to build independent bathrooms, and also had home heating... The whole thing cost a lot. Meng Tao asked Xu Yuting and Liu Jianli not to tell the elders. She would pay the money first, and the debt would be put on the two guys.
Now that the six houses had been completed, Xu Yulin and Liu Jianye had just got a half-month vacation, and Xu Yulin seemed to be in good luck with love, so good things were about to happen. So after some discussion, they decided to bring Xu's mother, Wang Cuixi, to the capital first, and take advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion to officially move into the new house.
The Xu and Meng families learned that housewarming gifts had been sent during the day. Shen Heping sent a set of furniture on behalf of the whole family, and they moved in a few days ago. Meng Tao also provided some other miscellaneous items. She and Shen Yu could not come to dinner today, but would come over to visit in the evening.
Just outside the door, one could hear the hustle and bustle in the yard. Meng Tao heard Xu Yuting say that he had invited some classmates and neighbors on this street, so there were quite a lot of people.
When I went in, I saw children running around. People were sitting around three or four tables in the yard. On each table was a pot of moon cakes, a pot of tea, as well as candies, melon seeds, peanuts and red dates. Wang Cuixi and several middle-aged women sat together, watching the moon and chatting. They were laughing and seemed to be in a very harmonious relationship. They didn't look like they had just moved in, but rather like they had been neighbors for many years.
Seeing Meng Tao and Shen Yu coming in, Wang Cuixi hurriedly stood up and walked forward to greet them, and then introduced them to the neighbors with a smile: "This is me... our relative's daughter and son-in-law!"
Meng Tao also nodded and greeted everyone, calling out the aunties and grandmas in order. She secretly laughed in her heart that Grandma Wang was stuck at this moment, and couldn't be sure whether she was a granddaughter or a niece. Anyway, this relationship can only be sorted out by family members, and outsiders don't need to worry about it.
Xu Yuting and Liu Jianli sat with their classmates. There were all boys at the table. There were some food and wine on their table. They were drinking. They saw Meng Tao and Shen Yu and ran over to ask if they wanted to have a drink. Meng Tao shook her head. Shen Yu knew that Meng Tao would talk to Wang Cuixi. He didn't say anything and it was redundant to be there, so he followed them.
Xu Yuting turned around and made a look at Meng Tao, meaning, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him and won't let him get drunk.
Meng Tao was speechless: With your level, it's a relief that you weren't knocked down by him.
Meng Tao: "Don't cry. He has started to eat rice porridge and drink some milk. He still has to sleep with me."
"That's right. Little kids always look for their mother at night. You two just come and take a look. But you must go back quickly."
"Okay. Hey, why aren't Brother Yulin and Brother Jianye here?"
"They were here just now, but these aunties and grandmas persuaded them to run away and went to Jianye's yard over there."
Wang Cuixi was delighted when she mentioned this: "Some aunties want to introduce girls to Yulin and Jianye. They are not just talking, they are serious. They are going to go back and get girls over and scare your two stupid brothers away. Hahaha!"
Meng Tao also laughed: "Brother Yulin has a girlfriend, so there's no need to introduce them. Now that we've moved into our new home, we can invite the girl and her family to visit us in a couple of days so we can meet and get to know each other."
"That's what I was planning. Today I urged your brother Yulin to call the girl and ask when he's free to come to our house. I heard that our house is in Yinzi Hutong, not too far from us, and it only takes 20 to 30 minutes to walk... Your brother Yulin has a total of 15 days off, and now five days have passed. I just want to hurry up and get the job done for them!"
"Don't be so hasty. The families of both sides should meet and talk first. If it's appropriate, you can get engaged first. Wait until the Chinese New Year when the conditions are more mature and it will be better to hold the wedding then."
"Alas! But I am anxious. When your Grandpa Xu passed away, he held my hand. He couldn't describe the look in his eyes, but I know what he was thinking. He hoped so much to see his son get married and start a family..."
Wang Cuixi wiped her tears and said, "For so many years, I have been looking forward to this day."
Meng Tao stroked Wang Cuixi's back and calmed her down: "You have to do it step by step. You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. You have to seal the red envelope first. You will meet the girl in a few days. If you don't have a red envelope, she won't be willing to let you be her daughter-in-law."
Wang Cuixi burst into laughter after hearing this. She hurriedly rummaged through the cupboard and took out a bunch of good things. Not only were the red envelopes already sealed, but she also had two sets of store-bought women's clothing, two pieces of scarce cloth, two kilograms of wool yarn, and several brightly colored scarves and shawls. All of these were secretly bought by Wang Cuixi herself and prepared to be gifts for the girl. She was so anxious to be a mother-in-law. No one else could be more anxious than her.
Meng Tao was looking through the fabrics of the clothes while listening to Wang Cuixi chattering about how Xu Yulin and the girl met. Of course, this was also told to her by Xu Yulin. More than forty minutes passed before she knew it. When Shen Yu came into the room, Wang Cuixi suddenly realized that she was worried that the baby would cry and look for his parents, so she hurriedly urged them to go home quickly.
(End of this chapter)