After finishing a bowl of rice porridge, Sun said, "Old man, you should sleep for a while longer, cover yourself tightly, and sweat a little. It will be fine." After covering herself with the quilt, Sun left the room and went to the kitchen.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law washing pots and dishes. Sun quickly stepped forward and said, "I'll do it. I can do all of this. You go and rest for a while. I can't just eat and not work."
Wang wiped her hands and took Sun's hand, saying, "Let your mother-in-law do this little work. You can live here peacefully without any burden. Just take good care of your father-in-law. The New Year will be the day after tomorrow. When you recover, we can sit together and have the New Year's Eve dinner. It will definitely be very lively."
Sun's eyes were red as she said, "Thank you so much, my dear relatives. I don't know how to express my gratitude to you."
Wang comforted her, "If you don't know what to say, then don't say it. We're all family, and it's too distant to say those things. I'm a few years older than you, so just call me elder sister from now on!"
Sun nodded with tears in her eyes. At this time, Lin said, "Mom, I'll take you to try on the new clothes I made for you. If they don't fit, I'll alter them. We'll wear new clothes for the New Year!"
Wang smiled and said, "Yeah, go and try it. Honglian has been doing it for several days!"
Sun smiled and nodded, and Lin took her hand and walked out of the kitchen.
The kitchen had been cleaned up. Wang asked, "Eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter-in-law, I'm bringing your third brother's wife's parents here. What do you think? Will it make you uncomfortable?"
Zhang said, "No, if I were my third sister-in-law, I would probably do the same. My mother and her family have more than one child, and my brothers are all around, so I usually miss them but I'm not worried about no one taking care of them. But it's different for my third sister-in-law."
Mrs. Li also said, "Don't worry, mother. I have no objection. It's a blessing that the three of us have such a good mother-in-law. Otherwise, anyone would have an objection."
Wang smiled and said, "I'm glad you two have no complaints. After all, it's Honglian who will take care of you from now on, and we can't help you."
Zhang said, "Wenxiu and I will do more of the housework from now on. It's not hard work."
Mrs. Li also said, "Yes, mother, don't worry about us. Our family conditions have improved now, all thanks to Qibao. We can't object to her being filial to her own grandparents. That would be really inhumane!"
Wang smiled and said, "Okay, I knew you two were good sisters-in-law. If you have no objections, I will be relieved. Okay, let's fry some meatballs now and save them for the New Year!"
…
Soon, Chinese New Year arrived. The Xu family worked for two days, preparing a plethora of dishes. The aroma of meat filled every household in the village. Perhaps also inspired by the new year's atmosphere, the children could be heard playing and frolicking throughout the village, their silvery laughter echoing far and wide.
Old man Lin's illness has improved a lot and he can get out of bed now. The old man took Old man Lin to teach him how to play Gomoku. The two of them are about the same age and can chat with each other very well.
Sun was preparing the New Year's Eve dinner in the kitchen with the Xu family. Although everyone was busy, they all had happy smiles on their faces.
Qibao was gathered with his brothers, taking out all the snacks in the space. His brothers were surprised to see these colorful packaging bags. They had never seen such beautiful patterns before!
Xu Wenwu asked, "Sister, what is this? It feels bulgy, and it's not oil paper, is it?"
Qibao said, "This is a crispy corn. This bag isn't made of oil paper. It's made of a material we don't have here. Bring a few plates and we'll put the food on them. I'm going to take the packaging back; no one else can see it!"
Xu Wenwu immediately stood up and ran to the kitchen to ask Zhang for a few clean plates, and together they helped put the snacks into the plates.
Qibao took the empty packaging bag back, but Xiaoliu was reluctant to part with it because he liked the pattern on it.
Xiao Wu said, "Isn't this a chicken foot? It has no color at all. How can it be delicious?"
Qibao said, "This is chicken feet for soaking. It tastes fragrant and spicy. Fifth brother, you will know if you can taste it after trying it!"
Xiao Wu reached out and picked up a chicken claw, took a bite, and chewed it. The spicy taste gradually spread in his mouth. Xiao Wu slurped his lips and said, "It's spicy, but it's delicious. The more I eat, the more delicious it is!"
Qibao said, "This is made with pickled peppers. It's much spicier than regular peppers. Don't eat too much, or your stomach will feel uncomfortable!"
The children enjoyed the meal happily, as they had never tasted such delicious food before. Qibao was in a playful mood and put the Cheetos on his fingers, following the advertisement he had seen in his previous life. Xiaowu and Xiaoliu followed suit and even stretched out their hands to show some tricks, which made everyone laugh happily.
After Wang and the others had placed the New Year's Eve dinner on the table and everyone was seated, the old man took out the wine and said cheerfully, "It's a new year again, but this year is different from previous years. Everyone knows why. I hope our family can always be so united and loving in the future. I believe this is just the beginning, and things will get better and better in the future!"
The Xu family applauded out of respect.
The old man pressed his hand, coughed lightly and said, "Also, Brother Lin and Sister Sun will live in our house from now on. Everyone should treat them like you treat me and me, okay?"
"I know!" the whole family replied in unison.
Old Man Lin said, "My dear relatives, Honglian's mother and I have discussed this and we plan to return to Houniu Village after the New Year. The two of us can't help the children, so we won't hold them back!"
The old man was unwilling to hear this and said, "Who says old age means being a hindrance? The children have worked hard, so we should do more to help reduce their burden. My wife and I are only starting to learn to read at our age because we don't want them to develop well in the future and be laughed at by others for being uneducated! Besides, Qibao is also your granddaughter. Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. This family business was earned by Qibao. You should give Qibao a good opportunity to show your filial piety and live here with peace of mind!"
Sun sighed and said, "Then I'll just say it directly without beating around the bush. This is because it's hard to say. If you say it in a positive way, people will say that the Xu family is kind and generous. If you say it in a negative way, people will say that the Xu family is being taken advantage of and that they have to feed two mouths for nothing. This will eventually have an impact on the Xu family."
The old man knew they were thinking about the Xu family, so to avoid burdening them, he took a step back and said, "Qibao has already told me that she plans to build a winery and would like you to take care of it. How about this, we build a small courtyard next to the winery and you can live there. Since we're all in the same village, it'll be easier to take care of it. If we have a family member look after our winery, no one else can find fault with it. Isn't that right?"
Old Man Lin hesitated after hearing this. He also wanted to see his daughter and grandchildren every day, so he said, "Aren't you afraid that the Xu family will spend a lot of money? They even need to build a small courtyard specifically for us to live in."
The old man said, "What's the big deal? It won't cost much anyway. From now on, we two brothers can just drink tea and play chess. How nice!"
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