Brothers get along
"Brother, I'll call home and ask my second uncle to pick you up at the intersection..."
"Okay, then I'll be leaving. Brother Wenjun, Nian Nian, I'm leaving..." Qin Wenzhen smiled and waved to a few people, then got on the bus.
Qin Wenli and the other two stepped aside, watched the bus slowly start to move, and waved to the people in the glass window.
Seeing the bus going away, Qin Wenli looked around and saw a public telephone not far away, so he walked over quickly.
After a few words, Qin Wenli hung up the phone, paid the bill, and then the three of them went home in two cars.
*
"Dad, are you really buying a TV?" Qin Yu excitedly threw himself on his father when he heard that.
"This can be fake..." Qin Wenli picked her up and said with a smile.
"Wow, that's great. Now we can watch "Little Bee Looking for Mom" at home..."
When he came here a few years ago, Qin Yu watched two episodes of "Little Bee Looking for Mother" at his uncle's house and he has been thinking about it ever since.
"Well, when we get home, Dad will have installed it and we can watch it..."
Qin Yu and Qin Shu jumped up happily, but then remembered that they were in someone else's house, so they quickly lowered their voices.
*
In the evening, the five brothers of the Qin family gathered again.
Qin Wenli paid special attention to his third brother Qin Wenxiu. Seeing that he did not look as tired as he did before the New Year, he felt a little relieved.
Mother Qin looked at her children and grandchildren having fun together, turned her head and secretly wiped her eyes.
Old Man Qin glanced at his wife in confusion: Why are you crying? There are many children and grandchildren in the house, and the population is thriving, which proves that our family is continuing to prosper. What is there to cry about!
Qin Wenjun was also very happy. He took out a bottle of white wine and said, "I'm happy today. Let's have a few drinks..."
"I wanted to drink this last time, but you wouldn't let me. It turns out it was prepared for today, so I must drink it as much as I want..." Wang Qin Wenping, who was supporting the crowd, said in a teasing tone.
The listless second child and the silly-smiling third child didn't say a word, just smiled foolishly.
Qin Wenli smiled and said, "From what Fourth Brother said, it must be a good wine. I have to try it too..."
Qin Wenjun smiled and said, "Come on, let's have a chat first. Have you all eaten? If you haven't eaten yet, have some food to fill your stomach..." He looked at the third brother.
Qin Wenxiu smiled innocently: "I ate my elder brother..."
"Then let's go one by one. Come on, I hope everything goes well for us brothers in the future..."
"Brothers united, their strength is invincible!"
Five small wine glasses clinked lightly together, and then several people picked up their glasses and drank them all.
*
In the side room, five sisters-in-law were crowded on the kang, eating melon seeds and chatting about trivial matters.
"I heard from your third brother that you two are selling fried dough twists. How is the business?" Third sister-in-law Xu Jinfang asked curiously.
"Yes, business is okay. I think we can make ends meet..." Yang Xiu said with a smile.
These sisters-in-law all have legitimate businesses. Aren’t their small stalls just for show in front of others?
"It's okay. Everyone starts with a small business. We also set up a stall at the beginning, and then rented a shop after a long time..." Fourth sister-in-law Liu Qingfang said with a smile.
"Your shop is still rented, but I heard people say you bought it?" Xu Jinfang asked.
"No, we don't have the money to buy it..." Liu Qingfang said vaguely.
Second sister-in-law Yao Yun smiled and pointed at Xu Jinfang: "If we talk about wealth, you two are probably the richest. Who can save money like you..."
"Second sister-in-law, are you kidding me? How can I be as rich as you? You have bought a house. Everyone says that you make money like sweeping it up..." Xu Jinfang said in a shrill voice, which sounded sarcastic.
Yang Xiu moved his butt uneasily. Sister-in-law Li Aihua reached out and took the cards and said, "You want to make some money? It's just right. The men are drinking in the room. Let's play for money too!"
The topic changed and a few people started playing poker with laughter.
*
In the main room, several older children were sitting and playing poker. Qin Yao from the second child's family, Qin Yan from the third child's family, and Qin Zhen, Qin Fen and Qin Yu, a brother and sister from the fourth child's family, were sitting on the kang and playing tumbling rope.
"Crossing the cat's ties is too boring, how about we play catching bones?" Qin Yan said.
"Okay, Yu Yu, can you do it?" Qin Yao is two years older than Qin Yu and has the demeanor of an older sister.
Qin Yu shook his head.
"She definitely won't. She came from the mountains and they are very poor..." Qin Yan said in a low voice.
Qin Yu's face flushed instantly. Qin Yao pushed Qin Yan and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Yu Yu just hasn't played it before. Don't tell me you know how to do it right after you were born..."
Qin Yan remained silent, and Qin Yao whispered, "Yu Yu, let me teach you how to play?"
Qin Yu glanced at Qin Yan. She was one year younger than him, right? Forget it, Dad said that we shouldn’t argue with children.
She put away her embarrassment, nodded and smiled sweetly: "Okay, Sister Yaoyao."
Qin Yao liked this obedient sister, so she pulled her over and taught her carefully.
Qin Zhen was a person who couldn't sit still. After playing for a while, he found it boring and ran back to his brother's circle.
The two little kids were left sitting on the kang playing cards, and everything was going peacefully.
*
At the brothers' table, Qin Wenping asked about buying a tricycle.
Qin Wenlin and Qin Wenxiu then realized that something had happened at home, and they blamed them, "The eldest brother and the fourth brother knew about it, why didn't you tell us?"
Qin Wenli quickly apologized: "It was just a small matter. I didn't mean to alarm you. Besides, the man has been caught now, and the matter has been resolved..."
"Okay, you guys are busy, Wenping and I were just here, so I didn't tell you..." Qin Wenjun said, and after saying this, he turned to look at Qin Wenli: "What's going on with the tricycle you four were talking about?"
Oh, so these two little ones can talk about anything?
"After Xiu'er's incident, we thought about saving money to buy a tricycle so that it would be convenient to travel back and forth. As a result, we didn't have enough money this year, so I discussed with my aunt to buy a TV first, and then save money for the tricycle slowly..." Qin Wenli explained.
"It's convenient to have a tricycle, especially when you have to carry pots and stoves back and forth. It's not a big deal to ask others for help every time..." Qin Wenjun also said.
"Yeah...but it's only a shortfall of fifteen hundred, which will be enough in half a year."
"Actually, it would be appropriate for you to rent a shop in your situation..." Qin Wenlin said slowly.
"I've thought about it, but if I rent a shop, I'll have to run back and forth. There's a lot of people only on market days, and no one is open on weekdays. It doesn't make sense to just leave it idle..." Qin Wenli had considered renting a shop a long time ago, but Shangguan Town is not a county or city after all. The market is held every three days, and there are only people on these nine days a month. It's not appropriate to close the shop for the other twenty days.
“Let’s set up a stall first. Once things are stable, we can consider opening a shop to do wholesale…” Qin Wenping said.
This coincided with his own idea, Qin Wenli nodded: "Yes, that's what I planned too."
"Well, don't wait until you have saved enough to buy it. I'll lend you the money first. You can buy it this time and take it back. It will be just right for you to use it when you open the market!" Qin Wenping said with a wave of his hand.
Qin Wenlin was anxious: "You have money, so why do you leave the other brothers aside? If we need to pool the money, we brothers should pool it together..."
Qin Wenping said nothing, just picked up the glass of wine and drank it in one gulp.
Qin Wenli said quickly, "No, no, we already have a TV that's eye-catching enough, and if we buy a tricycle, who knows what the villagers will say about it."
Qin Wenjun looked at his three younger brothers: the second oldest was rich, but he relied on his father-in-law to make his fortune, so he couldn't stand up straight. The third son is rich, but his wife is the head of the family and he can't even touch her.
He interrupted Qin Wenli and said, "Your fourth brother is right. Buying one day earlier will bring you benefits. Since he has taken the initiative to ask for it, just let him pay. What are you afraid of? You will pay it back in half a year at the latest."
"As for the team members, they can say whatever they want. How can your family survive if you listen to them?"
Qin Wenli smiled and thought that his brothers were just drunk, so he said nothing more.
*
At around ten o'clock, the second son's wife came over and urged them to go home, so they all stood up and said goodbye.
Before leaving, Qin Wenping said, "Come to my shop tomorrow and we'll go together..."
"Okay, okay..." Qin Wenli responded quickly and decided to send the person out first.
Qin Wenjun and Qin Wenli sent the three families to the door. When they turned around, they saw the old couple lying down because they could not bear it anymore.
"Can we live in one room with Niannian and your sister-in-law and her women live in another room?" Qin Wenjun asked her brother for his opinion.
"Sure, there's nothing wrong with that."
So men and women each had their own room, washed up and went to bed.
Snoring soon began to be heard in the men's room. In the women's room, Qin Yue, Qin Yu and Qin Shu had already fallen asleep, while Li Aihua and Yang Xiu were still chatting.
"You've noticed, right? Your second sister-in-law and your third sister-in-law don't get along?" Li Aihua whispered.
"Well, I feel the tone is not right." Yang Xiu said cautiously.
"Your third sister-in-law has always been a pushover. Your second sister-in-law's family is rich but they don't spoil her. As a result, the two of them don't like each other. Especially this year during the Spring Festival, your third brother saved some private money and gave it to our mother as a New Year's gift. Your third sister-in-law found out about it and came to our house early the next morning to ask for it back..."
In the darkness, Yang Xiu widened his eyes in disbelief. Is this something a human could do?
Li Aihua also looked down on her: "Otherwise, why did your second sister-in-law say tonight that she would save money..."
Yang Xiu suddenly realized and said that it sounded weird.
"It's like this when there are too many sisters-in-law. They can do whatever they want. You don't interact with them often anyway, but it doesn't hurt to know."
Yang Xiu nodded, but thinking that his sister-in-law couldn't see it either, he said softly, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
"Why are we talking about this as a family? Last time you left, your eldest brother was happy, saying that Wenli didn't seem so distant anymore." Li Aihua said with emotion, "Your eldest brother always regrets that he didn't stop the old lady and keep Wenli at home. I said that these things were decided by the old man, and what can a child like him do? He just won't listen, and I think it's almost become a knot in his heart."
Yang Xiu understood what his eldest sister-in-law meant and said with a smile, "Brother, you worry too much. Wenli never blamed you. He didn't want to come back in the past few years because he was hurt by our father's advice to him to live a good life. Later, he thought about my eldest brother's painstaking efforts and was caught in the middle, so he tried to let go of the burden. In the past two years, the family has been much more peaceful, and Wenli has become more cheerful."
Li Aihua breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile:
"That's right. You know what, he looks younger when he becomes cheerful."
"That's right. I always tell him to smile more because life is full of hope. I'm sick of seeing him look so sad all the time!" Yang Xiu pretended to complain.
"Don't be upset. Let your elder brother know that as soon as the old worries are gone, new worries will come..."
The two sisters-in-law giggled together.
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