Chapter 1113: Chapter 986: Is Your Mother Done Living?
In the west room, Mother Zhang touched one grandson’s hand, then the other’s, her mouth couldn’t help but smile, "They’ve grown a lot taller."
Seeing this, Ping’an opened one of the luggage bags and placed the sheets, towel blankets, pillowcases, and fabrics on the bed one by one.
Mother Zhang turned her head to look at the closed door and lowered her voice: "Your mom can’t quite manage life, can she?"
The twins chuckled and quickly covered their mouths.
Ping’an imitated her in a whisper: "My mom actually prepared two wash basins, but later on, my dad worried it would be too inconvenient to carry out, so we didn’t bring them."
Mother Zhang shook her head, "Your mom is great except her hands are too generous."
"Well, Brother Xi Zi and Brother Wen are both our brothers. Besides these, my mom also gave me money, and she instructed me to bring it back for you to arrange. She said neither she nor my dad understands much, so it’s fine to ask you to decide."
Mother Zhang listened as she quickly folded everything and put them in the cabinet behind her.
Her movements were so fast that it almost made Liu Yi and Wu Yi suspect someone was coming to grab them.
After hiding the items, Mother Zhang was finally relieved. She thought for a moment, "You don’t need that much, just follow the level of your second uncle’s contribution. Your dad has so many nephews, you shouldn’t be too generous with the gifts."
Ping’an looked at his two younger brothers and continued to ask, "Then should I ask my second uncle later?"
"No rush, he’ll find you. Grandma will give you a heads-up; our gift list here usually includes only a couple of coins. There’s no extravagant gifts involved. For family relatives, it’s mostly three or five bucks, and sometimes it’s a more substantial gift, like choosing one from a washbasin, soapbox, towel, pillowcase, sheets, or fabric."
After Mother Zhang finished speaking, she looked at Ping’an, "Grandma’s told you this, do you understand?"
Ping’an smiled at her, nodding heavily.
It’s just a concern about the attitude towards gift-giving from their family. He hesitated for a moment, "Will giving less make Aunt upset? My mom said we shouldn’t make things difficult for you and grandpa."
Mother Zhang secretly sighed, "Don’t bother with her, she never thinks there’s enough. Grandpa said this time is to set a rule, if we give too much, with so many kids, it’s not only your second uncle who can’t handle it, even your dad’s salary can’t support the family."
Liu Yi and Wu Yi exchanged a look, each glancing toward Mother Zhang.
"Alright, before I came, my parents said: just listen to you." Ping’an steered the conversation to other topics. For instance, had Brother Xi Zi already applied to the unit for housing?
Mother Zhang became interested; she’d already mentioned securing a twenty-square-meter room, and also talked about the bride price, the bride’s situation, and that she was waiting at the county guesthouse.
"...At first, they thought when your grandpa and I returned to the village, your family’s house in either the county or here would be empty, and they wanted to move one for the new bride’s house to welcome her from there.
Hmph, they think too much, luckily the Gong family wasn’t interested in this idea, they even told me themselves there’s no such logic, otherwise, I’d have pressured Brother Xi Zi not to take this wife."
Wu Yi blinked, "Grandma, who told you this?"
Mother Zhang angrily told her little grandson, "Who else? Wasn’t it your big uncle’s side of the family? They didn’t dare say it in front of me, only scheming behind my back. Remember this, in the future, stay away when you see their family. Their hearts are too malicious, and everyone knows our home’s feng shui is good."
"Let me tell you, don’t be fooled by the outside world saying they’re breaking superstitions; these things are better believed than not. You all see whether grandma and grandpa aren’t healthier and never catch colds living there?"
The elderly having said so, Wu Yi had no more objections, smiling and nodding repeatedly, "Grandma, I believe you. My dad said listening to grandma can’t be wrong."
Flattered by her little grandson, Mother Zhang was even more pleased, "So remember this, always. Here, and the yard in the county, no matter who wants to buy, no matter how much gold they’re offering, don’t sell."
The three brothers nodded repeatedly. Yes, listen to you, even if they gather dust, we won’t sell.
Seeing the three grandsons agree unanimously, Mother Zhang felt satisfied. After sitting with them for so long, she also needed to go back and check around.
The day after tomorrow the new bride’s coming in, and there are lots of things to prepare before the celebration.
No matter how simple the wedding is thought to be, you’ve got to set up a shed in the yard, build a stove, borrow plates, bowls, and chopsticks from the village and bring in tables.
Plus, the red belts, hand-tied lace for the wedding day, the bride’s replacement shoes, and the necessary red envelopes for the day.
It’s not that Mother Zhang doesn’t trust her eldest daughter-in-law’s capability. Although they say to break old customs nowadays, if you really forget someone’s red envelope, people will talk about it for a lifetime. There are lots of fusses over these things, though people don’t really care about how much is in them, they’re a good omen nonetheless.
"You should rest first, when it’s meal time, I’ll bring it to you. There are a lot of people there, and it’s best not to go over, to avoid someone telling you to work, so you won’t get hurt unintentionally."
Ping’an heard her say this, glanced at his brothers, and chuckled: "We haven’t gone to see grandpa yet."
"You won’t see him there. He’s still in town waiting for you to return." Finished, Mother Zhang laughed heartily. The old fellow already dodged the trouble early on.
"Your grandpa originally wanted Brother Xi Zi to hold a small wedding directly at his unit’s canteen, having close family from both sides have a meal there."
Ping’an thought this was quite good, just as his second uncle had mentioned in the letter earlier. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but frown, "So why isn’t it according to grandpa’s arrangements?"
Mother Zhang shook her head, "Whatever makes them happy."
This content got too much, Ping’an signaled his brothers to keep quiet. As his mom said, with the family separated, why bother?
"Then will we go pick up grandpa?"
"No need, before it gets dark, he would know you guys went directly to the village."
Indeed, with Xi Zi and them coming back from the provincial city, Mr. Zhang naturally figured this out.
Considering this, Ping’an didn’t press further, saw Mother Zhang off, and indeed as she advised, gathered his brothers, washed up, and rested on the bed.
"Brother, how many days do you think we’ll stay here?"
"Why, got ideas again?"
"Hehe, it’s just that there’s nothing to do. Can we make a little money?"
"Tell me."
"Besides going to the feast the day after tomorrow, we have to stay until the 7th of next year to go home, isn’t it quite boring?"
"Stop rambling, get to the point."
"Didn’t mom prepare too many gifts? How about we trade them for mushrooms and wood ear?"
Liu Yi pushed him, "Grandma said recently everyone’s butchering pigs for the New Year around here."
"Yes, trading for pork is better. We can have Aunt Xiao Mi take some back first."
"You can’t bring gifts all the way here just to take them back, it’s troublesome."
"Yeah, that’d be silly. Brother, you wouldn’t do such a foolish thing. Exchanging items isn’t speculative trading, we’re showing love and goodwill to help villagers with purchasing difficulties, this kind of behavior should be encouraged."
"Brother, it’s two to one now, full vote of approval, right?"
Surrounded by his two brothers, Ping’an couldn’t help but laugh. His brothers were surely his kin; he had been thinking along those lines too. Coming out for a trip, one ought to earn enough for the fare back.
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