The aunt's expression changed slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. She forced a smile and let the three people into the house.
"Why did you come here so suddenly? And with two children? Did your family also suffer a disaster?"
Huang's mother didn't have time to explain too much, she just wanted to see her parents as soon as possible.
"Sister, let me see our parents first."
Auntie sighed softly and opened a small door, revealing a simple little room. In the dim light of the room, grandma was bent over pasting matchboxes, her figure looking particularly thin and lonely.
When grandma heard the voice and looked up to see Huang's mother, they both burst into tears.
"Mom..." Huang's mother cried out with sobs.
Grandma put down the work in her hands, stood up, and walked towards Huang's mother tremblingly. The mother and daughter hugged each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces.
"Mom, I'm here to see you. Are you okay?" Huang's mother asked while crying.
"Okay, okay, you too, you too." Grandma wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, her voice trembling.
When Huang's mother calmed down a little, she looked around and found that she had not seen her father. She asked in confusion:
"Mom, where's my dad? Why can't I see him?"
Grandma patted her daughter's hand soothingly:
"It's okay. Your dad is out picking up cardboard right now. He should be back soon."
At this moment, a quarrel suddenly came from outside the house:
"I've been putting up with you for so long! Do you think we, the Zhang family, are being taken advantage of? You keep bringing poor relatives home!"
Auntie lowered her voice with urgency:
"Mom, please keep your voice down. This is my sister's first time visiting us."
"I don't care how many times she does this. Anyway, our house is full of people. It's all because of your Liu family. My two eldest grandsons now have no home to return to! This time she came just in time to take your parents away with her."
"Okay, Mom, please stop talking."
At this time, a calm man's voice stopped the quarrel between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
After a while, a man of medium build with slightly sparse hair appeared at the door, holding a little girl about the same age as Wenxia. He smiled innocently and said to them:
"Sisters are here. Haven't you eaten yet? You guys stay and talk to our mother for a while. I'll go downstairs and buy some vegetables. Jingjing, these are your aunt and two cousins. Hurry and call them."
The little girl with pigtails greeted shyly: "Hello, auntie, hello, cousin."
Huang's mother looked at her lovingly: "Jingjing has grown so big, she's taller than Wenxia. Brother-in-law, you don't have to bother me. I'll leave after Dad comes back."
"How can that be? You've come all this way, and it's already dark, where are you going?"
Everyone heard the quarrel outside the door just now. No matter what, we can't eat here and cause trouble for my aunt.
Xu Mengyao spoke at the right time:
"Thank you, uncle. We have booked a room at the hotel, but we were in a hurry to see grandpa and grandma today, so we took the liberty to come visit. When my mother came, she said she would treat your whole family to dinner at the restaurant tonight as a token of her gratitude."
"Yes, let's go out to eat when Dad comes back." Huang's mother agreed.
"Little sister, why are you so polite? Just eat something at home."
The aunt tugged at her sister's clothes, worried that she was being too assertive.
"Tsk, you're inviting the whole family to a restaurant. You sound like it's serious." At this time, my aunt's sharp-nosed and monkey-faced mother-in-law started to act sarcastic again.
Huang's mother frowned slightly, but still tried to remain polite. "Aunt Zhang, we really came here to thank you. I just heard you say Shitou and Liangzi are not at home. Where did they go? Tell them to come back and have dinner together."
"Hmph, you're making room for your parents and wandering around in someone else's house." Zhang's mother said unhappily.
At this moment, a cough suddenly came from outside the house. Huang's mother hurried over and saw her father with a hunched back, one fist against his mouth coughing, and the other hand holding a waste paper box wrapped with a hemp rope.
When Huang's mother saw her father's appearance, tears welled up in her eyes and she trembled as she called out, "Dad..."
When grandpa saw the three of them, he smiled with relief: "Why are you crying? Don't cry."
Xu Mengyao looked at her grandfather's sallow face and the exposed skin covered with scabs of various sizes. Her heart suddenly twitched. The current condition of the two old people had changed so much compared to before.
Huang Wenrong walked forward with red eyes to support his grandfather: "Mom, let's go eat quickly, Grandpa must be hungry."
Huang's mother wiped her face with her sleeve and said quickly, "Yes, yes, let's go and have dinner. After dinner, Mom and Dad will come with me to the hotel."
As he said this, he supported his mother and followed his eldest daughter forward.
Xu Mengyao also turned around and invited the Zhang family: "Aunt, please ask my two cousins to come along."
At this time, Jingjing, who was standing aside, said with sparkling eyes, "I know where the eldest and second brothers are. I'll go call them."
"Okay, then we'll wait for you at the gate of the compound."
The little girl ran away as soon as she got the order, and my aunt had no choice but to follow her. My uncle also followed happily, but his mother muttered reluctantly:
"I want to see what kind of elephants you are pretending to be."
While waiting at the gate of the family compound, my uncle pointed to a small restaurant on the roadside and said:
"Little sister, why don't you eat here? This restaurant is the most affordable nearby and we usually eat here."
Huang's mother didn't say anything. Xu Mengyao looked at a row of brightly lit, Soviet-style buildings not far away. On the roof was a sign that read "Yangtze River Restaurant." She pointed with her little hand and said, "Let's eat there."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone's eyes followed her finger.
My aunt said anxiously, "Let's not go there. This place is good enough."
"Hahaha, you country bumpkin, don't you worry about showing off your teeth when you talk? Do you know how expensive that restaurant is? You can't even afford it with a month's salary." My aunt's mother-in-law started to mock again.
Xu Mengyao looked at her and asked, "How expensive is it? Have you ever eaten it?"
Mother Zhang was suddenly choked and speechless.
Huang Wenrong seemed to be also angry about Zhang's mother. He confidently helped his grandfather walk towards the Yangtze River Hotel: "Let's go there. Our family will treat you."
When she was packing her luggage, she saw that Wenjuan had put a lot of money in her bag. What was a meal like that? This old woman looked down on others.
Xu Mengyao and her eldest sister said to Huang's mother, "Mom, let's take grandpa and grandma to order food first. You guys wait here for cousin."
After the two sisters helped the two elderly people into the restaurant, the lobby waiter hesitantly came forward and asked:
"Hello, would you like to have a meal or stay overnight?"
Xu Mengyao saw the inquiring look in the waiter's eyes and knew that the four of them were indeed not dressed well, so she took out 500 yuan from her bag and put it on the front desk:
"We need a table for 11 people and two standard rooms. This is a prepayment."
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