roccoschili Chapter 1550 - 1026: The Gathering
Chapter 1550 - 1026: The Gathering
Second shift.
------------
"These two little guys are truly endearing..." Looking at the two chubby babies lying in the stroller, Jiang Xinwan said with envy, "Yanqiu, you’re so blessed. I’m even a year older than you, yet you’re already a grandmother, and I still don’t even have a daughter-in-law."
Lin Yanqiu couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her: "Who says you don’t? Wenbin and Yuan Hui are already engaged, aren’t they? Once Wenbin returns, they’ll get married right away, and soon you’ll be a grandmother too."
"Who knows when he’ll be back..." Jiang Xinwan sighed and suddenly slapped her forehead, "I’ve been so preoccupied with all this nonsense lately. When Wenbin left, I promised him I’d help take care of Elder Yuan and his wife.
But the kid’s been gone for so many days, and I haven’t visited once. If he found out, he’d be so disappointed." She quickly stood up, "No, I must head over there now..." She took a couple of steps and then turned back to remind Chuxia, "Xia, since your parents are back, let them know. I’ll come over again this afternoon."
Chuxia quickly nodded in agreement: "Okay, Aunt, don’t worry, I’ll tell them as soon as they return."
"This child’s personality is quite similar to Xinqin’s." After Jiang Xinwan left, Old Madam Zhou couldn’t help but remark.
Lin Yanqiu nodded: "A bit similar, but she’s easier to get along with than Zhu Xinqin. They’re both straightforward, but Jiang Xinwan is gentle, while Zhu Xinqin is fiery. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been at odds with Zhu Xinqin for so many years."
Old Madam Zhou rolled her eyes at her daughter-in-law: "The incompatibility between you two is just a facade. When has Xinqin ever disrespected our family? To be honest, you should thank her.
If she hadn’t always put up a front of being at odds with you, we wouldn’t have gotten so much information about our family. Truly, we owe the Jing Family."
Seeing the conversation drifting towards her, Chuxia quickly excused herself: "Grandma and Mom, you continue chatting, Beibei and Nannan are due for their meal, I’ll take them back to the room."
"Mom, you’ve scared Chuxia..." After the younger daughter-in-law went back to the room, Lin Yanqiu deliberately teased in front of Old Madam Zhou, "According to you, I should have given up on Xinqin and let Chuxia marry Jing Zhe back then?"
"Is that something you could decide?" Old Madam Zhou rolled her eyes at her, "I’m just saying we owe the Jing Family, not that we should give up on such matters. Chuxia and Xiaomi being together is Xiaomi’s own doing. Neither you nor I had any influence on that."
"That’s true..." Lin Yanqiu continued to tease the old lady, "Had it been up to you back then, Chuxia might not have become our daughter-in-law."
"Yanqiu, are you displeased with me, the old lady?" Old Madam Zhou glared at her daughter-in-law, "Why does it seem like you’re always opposing me? If Brother Zhao and Sister-in-law Zhao misunderstand, what will you do?"
"Impossible, impossible..." Zhao Yulan waved her hand repeatedly, "We would never misunderstand, right, old man?"
"That’s right, we wouldn’t misunderstand anyone. Not to mention, seeing how you’ve treated Chuxia and our whole family during our stay, if we misunderstood over just a few words, we’d be ungrateful."
Around noon, Zhao Yulan and Lin Baohe returned with two baskets of vegetables, followed by Sister-in-law Yin, Old Master Wan, and Old Master Yu along with Older Aunt Yu.
"Not only did we bring vegetables, but we’re also here to mooch a meal." As soon as he entered, Old Master Wan said this, while Sister-in-law Yin and Older Aunt Yu greeted and smiled awkwardly. They had no choice but to come along, as women, such things can be a bit socially uncomfortable.
"The more, the merrier. We welcome it," Old Madam Zhou said with a smile, inviting them to sit and then instructing Aunt Qin and Auntie Li in the kitchen, "Leave the ready dishes as they are, those that aren’t done, set those aside. Wash some fresh greens, and take out the lamb and beef rolls from the fridge, we’ll have a hot pot for lunch today."
Aunt Qin and Auntie Li acknowledged and quickly got busy.
Old Madam Zhou then turned to Lin Yanqiu: "You should invite your Uncle Yuan and Aunt Yuan."
"Alright." Lin Yanqiu readily agreed, as Elder Yuan and his wife weren’t as familiar with them as Old Master Wan and Old Master Yu. If they sent a maid over, the couple definitely wouldn’t come.
Chuxia put the two little ones to sleep and came out to find the living room full of people. Greeting each of them, she slipped into the kitchen to find her father and mother.
"Why are you coming in here?" Zhao Yulan looked up at her daughter, "Even if it’s clean here, there’s still oil smoke. Didn’t Xiaomi say that you shouldn’t smell such things now, it’s bad for your health."
Knowing her daughter wouldn’t come in without a reason, Lin Baohe quickly followed up, "Xia, listen to your mother and go out first. Whatever it is, we can talk after we eat."
Helplessly, Chuxia had to follow her parents’ instructions. Although they doted on her, when it came to anything related to Zhou Mikang’s advice for her health, they wouldn’t indulge her at all.
Sometimes when she thinks about it, she finds it amusing. When her mother gave birth to her, she went through all kinds of hardships. Now that it’s her turn, she’s terrified of even the slightest thing. Even in later generations, many pregnant women didn’t get this much attention.
Still, she quite enjoyed this feeling. If it weren’t for being deeply valued, why would they care so much?
When the hotpot was served at the table, Elder Yuan and his wife, along with Lin Yanqiu and Jiang Xinwan, arrived.
Jiang Xinwan looked questioningly at Chuxia, and Chuxia smiled wryly, shaking her head.
Noticing the small interaction between her daughter and Jiang Xinwan, Zhao Yulan and Lin Baohe exchanged glances and went over. They first greeted Elder Yuan and his wife and then warmly chatted with Jiang Xinwan, "Sister-in-law, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, let’s sit together so we can chat."
After all, with a large table of people, Jiang Xinwan naturally wouldn’t bring up the bothersome issues at home. So, even though she sat next to Zhao Yulan, their conversation was all about the fun stories of Nannan and Beibei.
The little ones’ faces had developed, white and tender, as cute as could be. Whenever the topic of her two little grandsons came up, Zhao Yulan’s mouth never stopped talking.
Initially, Jiang Xinwan just wanted to find a topic to get closer to Zhao Yulan. But as they spoke, she became genuinely drawn in, ending up eating only halfway before running to the room to play with the babies...
Auntie Li was teasing Nannan and Beibei with a small colorful flag. Seeing Zhao Yulan and Jiang Xinwan enter, she quickly stood up, smiling nervously to greet them.
Zhao Yulan smiled at her, "Go have your meal. The little ones will be fine with me and Sister-in-law watching them."
Auntie Li thanked them and left.
The two little ones were only three months old. Apart from crying and laughing, their facial expressions weren’t diverse. After a short while of coaxing and seeing that they were starting to get bored and fussy, Jiang Xinwan reluctantly stopped.
"Sister-in-law, you came over for something today, right?" Zhao Yulan gently patted the two slightly tired little ones and asked.
"Yes." Jiang Xinwan nodded, "I came over this morning because your elder brother asked me to give you and Baohe a heads up. You weren’t here, so I told Chuxia first. I intended for her to pass on the message, but before she could, I came back."
Hesitating slightly, Zhao Yulan asked, "Is it still about her second uncle?"
"Yes." Jiang Xinwan nodded, "I just wanted to remind the third brother and sister-in-law to be more cautious about them..." She sighed and continued, "The third sister-in-law has really been a bit crazy lately."
The room door opened, and Chuxia and Lin Baohe came in, smiling at Jiang Xinwan, "Aunt, I brought Dad over as well."
Since both husband and wife had come and Chuxia was there, Jiang Xinwan recounted in detail what she had said earlier to Lin Baohe and his wife, with Chuxia chiming in occasionally.
When Jiang Xinwan finished speaking, Lin Baohe immediately expressed his stance, "Sister-in-law, we originally had no demands for anything. We never thought it would be like this. If we get it, it’s luck. If not, we’ll go on as usual.
But now that the second brother and sister-in-law have such plans, my thoughts naturally have to change. You don’t know me well enough. I’m someone who doesn’t care about much.
However..." Lin Baohe’s face turned serious, "if anyone dares to have evil intentions toward my wife and daughter, I’ll fight them with everything I have.
Back when we were still in Dalin Village and had nothing, that was my attitude. Now, even more so, I won’t allow others to bully my wife and children.
This is ours, and if you discuss it with us calmly, everything can be negotiated. But if they choose to take underhanded routes, don’t blame me, Lin Baohe, for not showing mercy. If I take them as the second brother and sister-in-law, I’ll address them respectfully. But if I don’t, they are nothing!
Sister-in-law, I just want to ask, what’s Uncle and Aunt’s stance regarding all this chaos they’re causing?
"Dad got so angry he had a heart attack, and Mom has been busy taking care of him. So I haven’t bothered them. It’s precisely because everything is a mess at home and Zhidong is busy that we’re in such a hurry to find you.
If our predictions are correct, they’ll definitely come over these couple of days. In five days, it will be Beibei and Nannan’s hundredth day. They definitely won’t miss this opportunity.
So, I came over in advance to tell you this, hoping you can prepare and not be caught off guard by her. That woman has never been one to care about reputation and loves to cause trouble when others are occupied.
Of course, we might be wrong, but it’s always good to take precautions. If I have wronged them, I will personally apologize to them when the time comes." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)