After the lively banquet, the guests left one after another, leaving only tables full of leftovers and a mess on the floor.
Fortunately, the Chen family had enough manpower. Some people cleaned up the leftovers, some wiped the table, and some swept the floor, and they quickly cleaned up the place.
After cleaning up, the women gathered in a circle to wash the dishes.
Several brothers carried over a dozen buckets of water, while Gu Qi and Ma Dali made tea by the banyan tree and were responsible for entertaining some relatives and friends who had not left yet.
Chen Xingling quietly found the official and his old father and whispered a few words to them.
The official smiled bitterly and asked, "You asked someone to buy the cigarettes and alcohol for you - and you can't tell me?"
"But you're the one who pays." Chen Xingling reminded: "You have to say this, and say that I was just responsible for running errands. First, talk to all the brothers and say this."
Chen Jixing felt a little uncomfortable. It was the first time he experienced the difficulty of being short of money. If you have no money, people will think that the money in your pocket is all earned by your parents.
The old father exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded.
"Hello, just do as Lingling says."
Chen Jixing was very embarrassed and whispered: "Dad, actually——"
"Not so much actually." The old father said firmly: "I've already said it, do as Lingling says!"
Chen Jixing didn't dare to say anything more.
The old father has always been kind, but he has always been majestic. As long as he expresses his feelings in a firm tone, all his children must obey him and dare not challenge him.
Chen Xingling winked at his old father and went to clean up the army.
There are so many pots, pans, and utensils, half of which are from home, and most of which are borrowed from neighbors.
While the others washed and stacked them up, the eldest and second sisters-in-law picked out some and immediately delivered them to the neighbors.
"Wait!" Chen Xingling shouted, "Dad told me to put it on a stool to dry first, so it won't be wet before I send it back. He also told him to return it to the neighbors, and he wanted to thank them in person."
The old man has the highest authority in this family, and no one dares to disobey him.
"Hey! Let's dry it in the sun first! The sun is still very strong this afternoon, and the sea breeze is strong too. We'll be able to send it over in a little while."
After a while, Chen Sanshui came slowly.
While smoking, he asked, "Lingling, your fourth brother gave you money to go to the city to find someone to buy cigarettes and alcohol. It took a lot of effort to buy so much at once, right?"
"Yes." Chen Xingling smiled bitterly, "It's just that the quantity I bought was a bit too much. I went to several places and asked people for help. It was not easy to buy it."
The sisters-in-law were busy scrubbing, with their ears pricked up high.
Chen Sanshui hummed softly and said, "Just now I checked and there are still two packs of good cigarettes and a bottle of wine left. There is not much wine, so I will keep it for the New Year. The fourth brother said that the sisters-in-law worked hard for the wedding this time, and he felt bad. He said that the two packs of good cigarettes should be split and distributed to several sisters-in-law during the New Year and sent to the mother's family to give to the in-laws. Also, there is half a bag of wedding candy left at home, so I will take it over to give it to others."
After hearing this, several sisters-in-law laughed in surprise.
"Dad... those are foreign cigarettes, very rare! Too expensive... you should keep them for yourself."
"Yes, yes, yes! You can keep it for yourself."
"Wedding candy is good enough. Bring some candy to share with nephews and nieces during the Chinese New Year."
Chen Sanshui had a gloomy face and forced a low smile.
"It was the fourth brother and his wife who paid for it, not me - I have no say. If he asked you to bring it, then you should bring it to try it out."
Then the old father turned around and left, carrying the dishes.
The sisters-in-law all laughed and worked even harder.
Chen Xingling buried his head in his work, secretly laughing in his heart.
Those cigarettes and alcohol were taken out from the hyperspace and didn't cost her a penny.
But she overlooked one point - when her previous brothers got married, she couldn't afford anything.
The sour words from her fifth sister-in-law just now reminded her to pull back from the brink in time and completely get out of this matter, while also bringing her family members closer together.
The brothers grew up together, ate and drank together, went to sea together, and slept together, never caring about anything.
But after all, the sisters-in-law come from different families, and it is inevitable that each of them has her own thoughts. It is still necessary to carefully balance them so that they can live in harmony and peace.
In the afternoon, everyone finally finished their work and sat under the banyan tree to drink tea and chat.
Li Ying and Gu Xuan had never been to Huiqiao Village, so they asked Gu Yi to take them out for a walk.
Zhao Xiaoxing has always been afraid of her mother-in-law Li Ying, so she didn't dare to go with them. She found an excuse to take Xiaohuzi out to play.
Li Ying looked at the self-built houses in the village and the flat cement road, feeling somewhat unbelievable.
"Is this a 'countryside area'? It doesn't even look like one!"
Gu Yi explained: "My sister-in-law said that they were also very poor in the past. In recent years, many overseas Chinese have returned to help build roads and help build houses for their relatives, so the situation is much better than before."
"No wonder!" Li Ying muttered, "It only looks spacious, but it can't compare to the city! Let's go... let's go."
After a pause, she glanced at her son with disdain.
"That place where you live in the mountains is definitely not comparable to this place! We are both from the countryside, but here the transportation is well developed, the sea is just outside the door, and it only takes ten or twenty minutes to get to the city by car. In that corner of the mountain, you have to walk for a whole day to get home!"
Gu Yi rolled his eyes secretly: "Mom, saying these words will only make Xiao Xing sad - what are you going to do? I am marrying her from the mountains, not marrying into the family, so why should I care what happens in the mountains!"
Li Ying glared at him in frustration and whispered, "If you hadn't been disobedient, I would have had a city wife. What's so good about a country girl?"
Gu Xuan at the side couldn't stand it anymore and said, "It's not you who's getting married, don't be too nosy."
"That's right!" Gu Yi turned his face away.
Li Ying had no way to deal with them, so he had to shut up.
Suddenly, she remembered something.
"Ayi, now you only pay five yuan a month, and that mountain girl doesn't pay a penny - you must save all your money and not spend it lavishly, understand?"
"I know." Gu Yi didn't dare to meet his mother's eyes, and said carelessly: "We have to rent a house, eat and drink three meals a day, which is not easy. I gave you so much money before, and we don't have a penny left——"
"How is that possible!" Li Ying interrupted him excitedly and asked, "You eat in the cafeteria with meal ticket subsidies, she eats at the construction site at noon, and goes to your brother's house for dinner at night. You only have something to eat in the morning - how can there be nothing left? Where did the money go?"
Gu Yi avoided his gaze and hesitated: "Didn't I tell you? Renting a house costs a lot of money, and the landlord raises the rent from time to time... It's still quite expensive."
"Bigger than you!" Li Ying got angry. "How much money have you saved? Ah? Have you saved anything? You guys only have a few dollars a month for rent, don't think I don't know! Breakfast a day - two people can spend dozens of dollars?!"
Gu Yi was secretly anxious, and quickly made up a story: "Saving money - of course I saved money. But we bought a lot of new clothes this winter, and at the end of the year we sent ten yuan to Xiao Xing's parents for the New Year, so the money we saved is not that much."
"How many can there be?" Li Ying asked.
Gu Yi shook his head: "I-how would I know! It was Xiao Xing who helped save it, so she knows the exact amount. Don't worry about it! Anyway, we are saving it together!"
Li Ying got even angrier when she heard this and asked, "Why is she the one who collected it? Why not you? Does she know how to count? She can't read a single word, and you asked her to save money? What kind of man are you? Can't you save a little money yourself? What if she secretly sends the money to her parents' home one day, and you'll still be kept in the dark!"
"We have to have some personal connections." Gu Yi said, "Xiao Xing just married far away, but she didn't break off relations with her family. Her parents, brothers and sisters-in-law, sometimes there's something sad at home, so there has to be some personal connections, right?"
"What's the point of having relations in the mountains?" Li Ying angrily scolded, "They are all so poor that they will surely come to you for money whenever they get the chance! You only sent ten yuan for the Chinese New Year?! You only give your mother five yuan a month! And she sent ten yuan in one go! Does she think you are a nouveau riche? Huh?"
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