"Mother, this is Sigui, my eldest son!"
"Sigui, this is Grandma, call her Grandma."
Si Gui stepped forward and shyly called out, "Grandma."
Looking at his face, which bore a striking resemblance to Su Jindong's, Li Yueniang lovingly pulled his hand and examined him from head to toe. "His name is Sigui? Let Grandma see how old you are. How many books are you reading now?"
Si Gui smiled sheepishly, "Grandma, I'm sixteen now, and I'm not in school anymore."
Compared to Su Jindong's chubby and fair-skinned appearance at fifteen or sixteen, Si Gui was dark-skinned and thin, with a hint of mature fortitude between his brows.
They clearly entered the workforce at a young age...
Seeing Li Yueniang turn her head away to wipe her tears, Su Changzhi quickly pulled his second and third sons over, "Mother, these are the second son, Sixiang, and the third son, Sijia."
"Call her Grandma."
"Grandma~"
"Grandma~"
Li Yueniang nodded with tears in her eyes, "Oh, they are all good children, good children."
"Come sit down and talk while sitting down."
"Oh, right, Grandma got you some yummy food."
Li Yueniang tiptoed to the kitchen cabinet, opened it, and took out all the pork jerky, crispy dried fish, spicy fish, and various dried fruits and nuts that Su Qingci had sent back but couldn't bear to eat, and laid them out on the table.
"Eat, children, eat."
The group of people who wanted to return home felt a little awkward in front of the enthusiastic old lady, and at the same time looked up at their father.
Su Changzhi nodded, "Grandma told you to eat, so eat."
Seeing the somber atmosphere, Song Jingzhou and Su Jindong quickly changed the subject, inquiring about Su Qingci's experience in searching for her relatives.
Li Yueniang listened to Su Qing's witty remarks, her eyes never leaving Su Changzhi, occasionally laughing along with everyone else; she was unusually calm.
Liao Fengmei and her three children were initially very anxious, but seeing the warm and harmonious atmosphere, their hearts gradually relaxed.
Sixiang and Sijia, the two siblings, were overjoyed and ate snacks freely. Liao Fengmei was also able to chime in with a few words. Seeing his wife and children quickly integrate into this new family, Su Changzhi's heart, which had been on edge, slowly settled down.
For a moment, the sound of laughter coming from inside the house could be heard throughout the courtyard.
Seeing that it was almost time, Li Yueniang then instructed Song Jingzhou and Su Jindong to cook dumplings.
Liao Fengmei quickly stood up. "Mother, let me do it, let me do it."
Li Yueniang pulled Liao Fengmei back, "You sit down, let them go, you just need to stay with the children."
"Qingci, you stay with your aunt. I'll go with your Grandma Guo to get some of her pickled dried eggplant and green beans. I remember you love them the most."
Su Qingci glanced at her grandmother's hurried steps and nodded worriedly, "Sigh, make more, I've been thinking about it for a long time."
"Changzhi, you all sit down first. You can look around if you have nothing to do. I've cleaned those two rooms inside. See how you and the children can divide them. I'll be right back."
Su Changzhi nodded honestly, "Okay."
Once outside her own courtyard, Li Yueniang could no longer hold back her tears. She covered her mouth, and tears streamed down her face.
Guo Xiaomao quickly pulled her into his room, wrung out a handkerchief for her, and said irritably, "If you want to cry, just cry. Why do you have to hide and cry? You're so stubborn."
"I'll just let you suffocate."
Seeing her best friend's grief, she couldn't bear it. "Everyone else is crying, but you're not. Everyone else is laughing, but you just won't stop."
"This is a good thing, why are you crying?"
While wiping away her tears, Li Yueniang lowered her voice and said, "Before, I begged God that as long as Changzhi could come back, no matter if he was sick or disabled, I would be willing to do anything."
"But now that this day has come, it feels like there's been a hole punched in my heart. It hurts so much that I can't breathe."
“The children just got back and they’re already flustered. It wouldn’t be good for me to cry in front of them; it would scare them.”
Guo Xiaomao comforted him, "Isn't this great? You have two more grandsons and a granddaughter. I'm so envious."
"Besides, Changzhi is doing well too. The whole family is clean and efficient. That's a good thing. You should be happy."
Li Yueniang sniffed, "Yes, I should be happy, I am happy."
Even so, tears still streamed down her face like a tap had been turned on. She was only around forty years old, but her head of white hair made her look much older than her older brother.
Although the whole family was dressed neatly, Liao Fengmei and Sixiang Sijia's shoes were noticeably too big.
There's also Scarlett's sleeve that accidentally slipped off, and Si Gui dropping out of school at such a young age to support her family, and even Su Changzhi's physique being even weaker than hers...
They had tried their best to present their best selves to Li Yueniang, but their embarrassment was still impossible for Li Yueniang to hide.
Looking at those weathered faces, Li Yueniang knew without a doubt how hard this family had worked before. She guessed that their attire was just something they had put together temporarily to put her at ease.
Liao Fengmei's hands, cracked and rough, and the entire family's dark and thin figures, clearly contrasted with their outfits...
Guo Xiaomao's heart softened. If he were in Li Yueniang's situation, he probably wouldn't be as calm and able to control his emotions as she was.
"Alright, alright, if you want to cry, just cry. Holding it in will make you sick," Guo Xiaomao said, tossing the handkerchief in front of Li Yueniang.
"You're crying in silence, but the neighbors are having a good time. If the noise gets out, all your suffering will be for nothing."
Li Yueniang actually picked up the handkerchief, covered her mouth, and began to sob.
After a while, once Li Yueniang had vented her emotions, Guo Xiaomao brought her water to wash her face, and then took a large bowl and started scooping pickled vegetables into the jar.
After washing her face, Li Yueniang kept patting it with her hands, trying to make the redness and swelling on her nose and eyelids subside quickly.
When the two old ladies reappeared in the yard, they were all smiling again.
When Su Changzhi saw Li Yueniang bring in the pickled vegetables, her face remained expressionless, and the tension in his heart slowly subsided.
He thought he had upset his mother again, but thankfully...
Song Jingzhou and Su Jindong set up a large pot and kept pouring dumplings into it, saying, "That's enough, we'll cook more if we need more later."
Su Jindong acted as if he hadn't heard, and continued to pour in the meat. "It's pork filling. I heard from Grandma Guo that my grandma is very generous. She spent a lot of money to get a lot of meat from the black market. No, cook it all."
"We can't even eat our fill of white flour and pork dumplings during the Lunar New Year, so we won't waste them!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
