First update
When we arrived in the capital, it was snowing. When we got off the train, we stepped into a world of silver.
We braved the wind and snow and walked through the alley to arrive at the gate of the slum. The newly renovated door lintel in front of us was very different from the one seven years ago. It was newly painted with vermilion, dazzling red like fire, and big red lanterns were hung on both sides, adding a bit of festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival.
Qin Yao led the child into the corridor. The road was narrow and the yard was smaller than in previous years. It was occupied by various families and houses were built there. There were mostly elderly people and children along the way, and few young people. They probably all moved out.
"Yaoyao? You're back!"
"Oh my, have the two kids grown so big?"
…
Arriving at the door of the Third Courtyard, Chen Guixiang smiled when she saw her daughter and son-in-law. Qin Yao followed them in, but found that the atmosphere in the house was obviously not right.
At this time, the eldest sister-in-law, the second sister-in-law, and the third sister-in-law were all there, and three pairs of eyes were all on Qin Yao.
The second sister-in-law raised her voice: "Oh, Yaoyao is back too, and she is dressed very elegantly."
Sister-in-law: "Congratulations. I heard that you are no longer the deputy director... You must be making a lot of money, right?"
Third sister-in-law Xie Hongni: "Yaoyao, come and sit down."
Her words were the calmest. Xie Hongni wore a bright red dress. Among her three sisters-in-law, she looked like the queen, making her two sisters-in-law look like concubines.
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, sister-in-law, I wish you all a happy new year. Ruirui and Mingming, come here and call someone."
"Aunt, second aunt, third aunt."
Chen Guixiang came in, and the family sat around the stove, warming themselves by the fire. The eldest sister-in-law said with emotion while holding the charcoal fire: "Your third sister-in-law spent 30,000 to buy two courtyards and three spacious houses. Now our house is twice as big."
Xie Hongni: "That's my home."
Qin Yao's heart was moved. The third sister-in-law had a good eye. She turned to look at Chen Guixiang and said, "Mom, please help me keep an eye out for other families in the nearby compound who want to sell their houses. Please help my daughter buy a few houses for me."
The second sister-in-law found it quite funny: "What do we need these shabby houses for? Who doesn't want to move into a building? Why do we need these shabby houses?"
"It has a yard and is spacious. If the whole compound becomes our home, it will no longer be a compound but a quadrangle courtyard. In the past, it would at least be the residence of a prince." Qin Yao asked Chen Guixiang to help keep an eye out for the house, and Chen Guixiang agreed.
"Oh, our family has two powerful women. Look at this third brother's wife and my little sister. They are so rich and powerful when they come back. I'm afraid they will look down on us poor relatives in the future."
Xie Hongni smiled slightly: "How could that be, second sister-in-law, don't think too much."
"Humph." The second sister-in-law said tartly, "I'm not envious of you. It's nothing for a woman to go out and work hard. It's so comfortable for a woman to play cards at home and watch the children. Although his second brother has lost his job, he still lives a good life by setting up a stall at the entrance of the alley to sell snacks. I am happy and relaxed."
Only then did Qin Yao realize that her eldest sister-in-law and her second brother and his wife had all been laid off.
"His sister-in-law, I'm not saying anything bad about you, you're good in every way, but your belly isn't doing well. If you could give birth to twins like I did, your life would be complete."
Xie Hongni retorted: "It's not easy to raise a pair of babies. Our home is far away, so we can't just leave the child at his grandparents' house. It would be unfortunate for the poor child."
…
Several sisters-in-law were engaged in a verbal battle, and Qin Yao was stabbed on the head from time to time. She suddenly felt very annoyed, upset for her parents, who had the bad luck of giving birth to so many children.
After all the quarrels, won’t this family break up?
"Mom, let me pour the tea." Qin Yao stood up, took the teapot from Chen Guixiang, and prepared to test her sisters-in-law's impression of her one by one. Chen Guixiang glanced at her and warned, "Xiao Gu said you are pregnant again, take a good rest and don't do anything."
"Yaoyao, are you pregnant again?"
"It's not confirmed yet. I have to find time to go to the hospital."
"Good news, good news. See, this sister-in-law is lucky. If she has another daughter, her life will be complete."
"I'm afraid it's another kid."
Qin Yao grabbed the teapot and placed the cups one by one, "Sister-in-law, how about I help you read your fortune?"
"Can you also read faces?"
[She has a 67% favorable impression of you (she thinks you are an outstanding little sister in the family)]
"Second sister-in-law, come and have some tea to cool off. Stop being sour. If you really want to make money, let Third sister-in-law teach you some business skills. Next year, you will be able to afford a large house."
"I don't want it. I am destined to enjoy life, not to toil."
[She has a 70% favorable impression of you (she thinks you are one of her bragging rights)]
Qin Yao was choked by the favorability evaluation of her second sister-in-law. Her second sister-in-law's favorability was actually higher than that of her eldest sister-in-law. Fortunately, they were both above the passing line.
Could it be that the third sister-in-law is also one of her bragging rights?
It seemed that she was worrying too much. This family was not as doomed as she had imagined. The families of the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law were now in poverty, and Qin Yao really thought that they were dissatisfied with herself and the third sister-in-law.
Now it seems that is not the case.
Qin Yao also joined the battle in the evening, speaking quickly and saying whatever she wanted to say. When she checked her favorability again, she found that it had not dropped much. Even if it had dropped, it would return to normal after a good night's sleep the next day.
It seems that the stories about the house fights in the novels deceived her. The women in the inner house would get angry and upset just because their sisters-in-law said something wrong. In fact, this is not the case. Of course, it may also be that the Qin family is just stupid.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. If my brother loses his job, it just so happens that your family can open a restaurant. With my brother's cooking skills, the business will be good. It's a stable job - if that job is gone, it's gone. My ability is more stable than that stable job."
"Second sister-in-law, please encourage my second brother and tell him to stop being lazy..."
…
In the cold winter at home, apart from eating melon seeds, drinking wine and watching TV, the family just sat around and chatted. With several sisters-in-law around, Qin Yao couldn't help but say a lot of "nonsense".
After soaking her feet in the evening and getting into the warm bed, Qin Yao leaned close to Gu Cheng's ear and whispered, "It's a lively family, even if everyone has their own little thoughts, and there's nothing nutritious about talking... But it's quite interesting to get together once a year."
She scratched his palm and thought that this was probably the fun of having relatives.
"Are you reluctant to go back with me? Stay two more days?"
Qin Yao quickly said, "No, no, no, I can only tolerate Second Sister-in-law's voice for two days at most."
"I'll listen to her 'kind' voice again next year."
Gu Cheng smiled and said, "There are not many people at my place, it's not as lively as yours."
"Second sister-in-law is worth three, but isn't my home your home, Comrade Xiao Gu?"
"Um."
Gu Cheng closed his eyes and said, "Our little family is now also a football team."
"I am the captain and I will take four players back with me."
He entered the military academy at the age of sixteen, which means he has been in the army for nearly twenty years. Sometimes he only went home to visit his family once every few years, and he was always alone. So since when did he bring a team of players with him? Gu Cheng stared at the woman beside him with smiling eyes. Under the dim light, her skin seemed to be covered with a layer of beeswax amber, so sweet that one would want to take a sip.
He thought so and did so.
Qin Yao slapped his face away hazily: "Now I have too many family members to count. Ruirui has four uncles alone, eight with his aunt, and so many cousins..."
In the previous life, family affection was weak, and in this life, there are too many family members to worry about.
After staying at the Qin's house for two days, it was also lively at the Gu's house. Gu's second sister and brother-in-law came with their children. Gu Miaomiao held her younger brother and watched cartoons aside. She is now a responsible and good sister, but looking at her younger brother who is around her, she is also worried and a little bit heart-attacked.
Especially Xu Mingming's six-year-old brother, he looks so much like her uncle, it's scary!
"Aunt, you must give me a sweet and soft little sister this time. It would be best if she is like you."
"If there is another person like my uncle, that would be terrible. Our uncle didn't come from a printing factory either."
Gu Miaomiao's words made Qin Yao overjoyed.
Mr. Gu is still in good health, but he was hospitalized for a few months last year. A friend invited him to stay in Lushan Sanatorium for a few days. He couldn't bear to leave his grandchildren, and wanted his daughter-in-law to further refine his autobiography.
"Write a second part."
"Grandpa, please forgive me. Oh, your great-granddaughter doesn't seem to agree."
"Tsk tsk, my granddaughter-in-law, take good care of your pregnancy and give me a fair and tender great-granddaughter."
Grandpa Gu and Grandpa Qin still have a good relationship. A few days later, Qin Yao met Chen Baozhen at Grandpa Qin's house. The two good friends hadn't seen each other for half a year. They always chatted on the phone. When they met again, they felt a little unfamiliar after the excitement.
"Yaoyao!"
"Zhenzhen!"
"I knew I would run into you!!! I wanted to give you a surprise."
Ever since Qin Yao traveled into the book, she has been living on the island with Chen Baozhen. They lived in the staff quarters, and the men sometimes didn't go home for several nights, so they slept together. Thinking about it now, those were all memories from the distant past.
The friendship in Gu Long's martial arts novels is about settling scores, sharing life and death, and being able to risk one's life for each other. However, their friendship is as plain as water. There is no bloody story of two sisters falling in love with the same man, nor is there any secret competition or comparison between them. There is only companionship over the long years.
This kind of companionship is regardless of distance. It seems that just knowing that there is such a person in the world, seeing him/her once a year and getting together with him/her, makes my heart feel warm.
In the past, Qin Yao wanted to learn how to maintain a friendship, but now, she understands that such friendships do not need to be maintained.
——Her existence itself is the meaning.
Coincidentally, Chen Baozhen was also pregnant at this time, and the couple also discovered it on the road.
"It's said that girls living in the same dormitory will gradually synchronize their periods. How come our pregnancies are synchronized?"
Chen Baozhen and Qin Yao got together to carefully calculate and compare the dates, and this time it was Qin Yao who got pregnant first.
Gao Jianguo was very excited, "Daddy's little monkey, you must run early this time, but don't run too fast, just one day faster than your uncle Gu's family."
Qin Yao was speechless. Are we still going to fight over this?
She secretly suggested, "Why don't you go to Mount Emei to pay your respects on your way back? I heard the monkeys there are very powerful."
Gu Cheng: "Then do we have to go to the Guanyin of the South China Sea to ask for a tight hoop spell?"
Gao Jianguo: “…”
Chen Baozhen: “…”
They looked at each other: You two are from the same family.
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