Shi Tou and Liu Xu carried the prepared gifts to Liu Maolin's house.
"Uncle, I'm getting married on the sixteenth of the twelfth lunar month. Everyone will be over for dinner on the fifteenth. This is my wife, Liu Xu," Shi Tou said with a smile, putting down the gift in his hand.
Liu Xu smiled and called out, "Uncle."
"Okay, now that you're both married, your parents can finally relax. Have your parents come back? Are they all ready?"
"Uncle, everything is ready. We're just waiting for the pig to be slaughtered on the morning of the 14th. Uncle, I still need to go to the outer village to tell my maternal uncle and aunt the good news. I'll be leaving now."
"Okay, go ahead, don't rush," Liu Maolin instructed his promising nephew, sighing inwardly at his wife's shortsightedness. His nephew had come to share the good news, yet he hadn't even come out. He'd even called for the children, but they wouldn't come out either. How could he possibly have any face left in the future?
After Shi Tou and his wife left, Liu Maolin's family came out from the inner room.
"Didn't you say you weren't going to come out?"
"I'm willing. If I become successful, will I be able to fob off beggars with this little bit of food?"
"Then let me see what you're going to use to fob off a beggar? That's ridiculous. Even if you're just jealous, you should at least make it look presentable."
"Now that Shi Tou has made something of himself and built up good relationships, how could he not care about his cousins? Go ahead and do it; how will the children get help in the future?"
Liu Maolin was at his wit's end. His wife was just jealous of how well her third son's family was doing. Although he was also resentful, he managed to put on a good show.
"I don't need to ask anyone for help," Liu Maolin's family member said stubbornly.
"Fine, you don't need to ask for help, you're quite capable." With that, she turned and left. It's really hard to explain. Having a wife like this in this life has been a lifetime of hardship.
When Shi Tou and his companion arrived at Liu Maosen's house, the second uncle and his wife were exceptionally hospitable and welcomed them in.
"Liu Xu, this is my second uncle and second aunt."
The willow catkins still obediently called out to people. They sat smiling beside the stone.
"This niece-in-law is really pretty," Liu Maosen's wife said with a smile, sitting next to Liu Xu.
"Second Uncle, Second Aunt, I'm getting married on the 16th, and there will be a banquet on the 15th. You should go early so I can tell my eldest sister, second sister, and third sister the good news. My cousins will also go early."
As they were talking, Liu Maosen's two sons and their families came downstairs. Everyone gathered together, along with four children—three girls and one boy.
Liu Xu took out four tin pencil boxes from her bag, each with a pretty design, and handed them to the four children.
The children stopped being shy. The oldest girl, who was already in the second year of junior high, said, "Thank you, Auntie."
The other children also quickly expressed their gratitude. Liu Maosen knew that the three children of his third son's family were all in school and had achieved great success. He knew that his son and daughter could not change that, so he attached great importance to his grandchildren's studies and wanted them to succeed as well.
After sitting for a while, the two of them left. They still had more than ten families to visit to share good news, and they hoped to finish visiting them all in one day.
The two of them filled the trunk with the gifts Li Cuihua had prepared, and the three of them set off.
After Shi Tou and his wife left, Liu Maolin's family came to Lao Er's house. Their two houses are right next to each other, just a short walk from the door.
Seeing the children playing with their pencil cases in the living room, I was so angry that I said a few words and went home.
"They're clearly looking down on us. They gave pencil cases to the second son's kids, why not to Hei Zi and his friends?"
"I don't even need to think about it, the second son's children must have already come out to meet people. If you don't even let the children out, who will they give them to?"
"Do whatever you want, but don't say it in front of me." Liu Maolin was really tired of staying at home, so he decided to go visit his third brother.
“They look down on me, why should I bother to fawn over them?” someone shouted from behind Liu Maolin.
But Liu Maolin didn't even look back at me. Let it be. We're both in our forties, how many more years do we have left? I'm not going to hold a grudge against her anymore.
He wandered over to Liu Maocai's house, which was the biggest house in the village, as big as two other houses combined. Sigh! There was no comparison.
"Big brother, you've arrived?"
"Mao Cai, do you have any other medicine prepared?"
Liu Maocai shook his head. "It's nothing. I came back last night. Jianguo and Shitou are both ready. There's nothing else. We're just waiting for the Fourteenth to slaughter the pig."
"Then what are you going to do with the cart?"
"I asked Wang Kai's sister-in-law to make two plates of tofu. I'll go and bring them back right now and freeze them quickly."
"I'll push the cart home with you; it's hard to push two plates of tofu together."
Liu Maocai swallowed the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue. He knew his elder brother's family's character; they were trying to improve their relationship. He knew without a doubt that his son and daughter-in-law hadn't fared well after going to their eldest brother's house.
I was already disheartened, but I couldn't show it too obviously, so I smiled and nodded, "Okay, big brother, you don't need to go home to get the cart, there's another one at home."
Li Cuihua was inside the house and didn't want to come out, but they had been talking in the yard for so long that it would be unreasonable not to go out.
"Brother's here, please come in and sit for a while?"
"No need, I just came to see if there's anything I can help with."
"Hehe, big brother, no need, everything is ready."
Liu Maocai pushed another cart out of the warehouse. "Let's go push the tofu cart first."
When the two pushed the cart back, Liu Maolin saw the three children in the yard.
Li Cuihua had already prepared the covering and the tofu blocks.
Liu Maocai waved to the three children, "Pengfei, this is your grandfather, do you remember him?"
Pengfei greeted him with a smile.
“Ping An, Zhi Yuan, this is your great-grandfather.”
The two greeted each other.
Zhiyuan, ever impatient, spoke again, "Grandpa, I need to go to the kitchen to get a bowl. I want to eat hot tofu. My grandma said that tofu is sweet when it's hot." After saying that, the three children ran to the kitchen.
Liu Maosen and his wife came over at this time. "Cuihua, let me help you make tofu blocks."
"Second sister-in-law, you don't need to get involved. These three kids insist on doing it, so I'm not going to do it anymore. You three come here. This is your second wife and second husband."
Liu Maocai beckoned his two older brothers into the living room.
"Mao Cai, how have you been these past few years?"
"It's alright. I've been working the whole time. Sanya was having a baby and the couple were still out of town, so I took leave. Who knew that Shitou would tell us he was getting married? That's why Cuihua and I rushed back."
The two brothers each had their own thoughts as they listened. But they were definitely envious of the youngest brother; his child was the most successful. The only one who wasn't doing well was Jianguo, but even he was a permanent employee.
Liu Maolin thought for a moment and then spoke up, "Third brother, could you take your eldest granddaughter to the capital? She's sixteen now, and she doesn't have a good job after graduating from junior high school. Could you find her a job in the capital?"
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