novelaction Chapter 131 New Year’s Gift
Chapter 131 New Year’s Gift
Xixia Village
Every household was preparing for the New Year. As the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month approached, Jiang Shuya remembered that the morning of the 29th was the day when Wang Ziliang and her cousin would return to their hometown. Early in the morning, she received New Year gifts from several families and heard her mother-in-law laughing from ear to ear downstairs.
When Jiang Shuya came downstairs, she saw Li Xiaohua sitting in the living room chatting with her mother-in-law. On the table were gift boxes of osmanthus duck, salted goose, and hundred-flavor chicken, among other braised and cooked foods.
Seeing Jiang Shuya coming, Li Xiaohua stood up and greeted her with a smile. She had become lively and generous, which was quite different from her shy personality when she was farming at home.
Since Li Xiaohua and others were introduced to work in the shopping mall, the working hours are flexible, only half a day, and the income is more stable than farming at home. It's all about personal connections. Li Xiaohua's husband A Jing and Huang Minghao are close friends who have grown up together, and they are as close as one person.
He was naturally grateful in his heart. Jiang Shuya had made several appointments but she never took the time to accept the invitation for dinner. He was also thinking that this couple was really different. In the past, Huang Minghao would have gone to A Jing's house as a guest at a single invitation, and would have gone home drinking until late.
"Sister Xiaohua, what are you doing? You even sent me a gift, but I haven't given you anything in return! What should I do?" Jiang Shuya laughed strangely.
"Look at what you said. Who asked you to return the favor? You helped me, and you don't want me to return something? Looking at the entire Xixia Village, you are the only one who helped me."
Just as Li Xiaohua finished speaking, she saw Zheng Jia walking towards her from the yard with the sound of her leather boots. She pointed at Li Xiaohua with a smirk on her face and said, "Girl, why are you in such a hurry when I told you to wait for me?"
Zheng Jia was dressed in fashionable fur, looking noble, and greeted her mother-in-law with a big smile: "Auntie, I wish you a happy new year in advance."
Seeing that she was very polite, Li Yuxiang smiled so hard that her teeth were showing. She glanced at the gifts in Zheng Jia's hands: two boxes of Huangshan Maofeng tea and two bottles of Ocean Blue.
When the gifts were delivered to my mother-in-law, she pretended to be polite: "Oh! You came here and brought gifts. You are so sensible and grateful. You gave us such an expensive gift. It's really thoughtful."
Jiang Shuya realized it. No wonder Li Xiaohua didn't go with Zheng Jia. There was a huge price gap between the things they gave each other. Two bottles of wine and two boxes of tea would cost about a thousand yuan, while Li Xiaohua's few local specialties, chickens, ducks and geese, were only about three hundred yuan at most. She was obviously at a disadvantage.
As we all know, after the Chinese New Year, every family will have a dinner party or visit relatives and friends to wish them a happy new year. Li Xiaohua and Zheng Jia will have to take shifts at the mall when they go to work this year. Most of the people who have a good relationship with them will send gifts in advance and will not follow the custom of wishing them a happy new year.
Afraid that Li Xiaohua would feel disappointed, Jiang Shuya asked them to take all the gifts back and refused to accept any of them. However, they ran away faster than rabbits. They cooperated very well when they came, and disappeared in a short while.
Seeing this, Li Yuxiang's face turned green. She stamped her feet anxiously and pouted: "Why are you showing off! You don't want it even when it's given to you. You are so arrogant. You really don't know what's good for you."
Seeing how much she liked these gifts, Jiang Shuya couldn't stand being scolded by her, so she forcibly took those things in her hands and said:
"Since it was sent by someone else, I will just send it to Grandpa's house as a visit! I see that he likes to drink a little wine and often brew tea leaves. This cooked food is also to his liking. I will send it to him right away. I, as his granddaughter-in-law, will honor him."
After saying this, she ignored Li Yuxiang's attempt to stop her, picked up her things and walked towards the backyard. With the things in her hands, her mother-in-law said angrily behind her:
"What's the point of giving it to that old man? He only cares about the second brother's family. Besides, this is too much! Two are enough. Leave the tea and wine."
Seeing that Jiang Shuya ignored her, the mother-in-law said:
"What a pair of cuckolds and enemies. They say people from the same family are alike. I see you are always trying to be mean. You are nothing like my daughter-in-law. You go against me all the time and are a real worry to me."
Jiang Shuya looked back at her and said directly:
"You really care about your family! All year round, your family locks the door and reports to the Paizi Pavilion. That's where your real parents are. Why don't you go there to pay your respects?"
"Now, it's almost the New Year, and I feel so sorry for my biological parents. I can't give them anything to honor them, so I want to get money from others. You are trying to do this at the last minute. What were you doing before?"
Li Yuxiang was furious when she heard this. Her eyes widened. She pointed at Jiang Shuya with one hand on her waist and shouted angrily, "Get out of here, get out of my house, and don't come back from now on. You are not welcome at home, get out as far away as you can."
This time Li Yuxiang was really angry. She admitted that she liked to go to the mahjong hall. She believed that everyone had their own hobbies.
She has loved playing cards since she was young, and it’s not just one or two days. Since she had Tangtang, she has really restrained herself a lot. In the past, she wanted to settle down there every day. Now that Jiang Shuya casually brings it up, how can she not feel wronged? Her own parents have never disciplined her like this.
Jiang Shuya, who was driven away, did not give in: "Okay, as long as Huang Minghao agrees to take Tangtang away from me, I will never stay in this family. Living with people like you will only make people look down on me, and I will not have any dignity in life."
Jiang Shuya knew that it was useless to show off her words, and she couldn't just run away from home on impulse. However, Tangtang was her concern, the flesh and blood that fell from her body after ten months of pregnancy. No matter what, she had to keep her by her side and raise and care for her personally.
Li Yuxiang looked disdainful upon hearing this and started to mock: "You wish for it. Tangtang is my granddaughter. Don't even think about it. Even if Haohao agrees, I won't agree, unless he doesn't recognize me as his mother."
Jiang Shuya has never doubted this. Li Yuxiang has done her best to take care of Tangtang. Although she is not very reliable at times, she does not just leave her to strangers to take care of.
Jiang Shuya stopped arguing with her and walked towards her grandfather's house with big strides. On the way, she glanced at the dates on the gifts and took a deep breath: Fortunately, the dates are all good. It seems that Zheng Jia and Xiaohua gave them with all their heart.
As we approached my grandfather's house, I saw from afar an old man sitting in a wheelchair. My grandfather stood behind her, gently combing my grandmother's hair with a comb and whispering something to her in a low voice.
Grandma's face was filled with smiles. The scene was both romantic and beautiful. Time seemed to have stopped at that moment. It turned out that it was very simple to support each other forever. As long as two hearts were on the same string, it would be a beautiful piece of music.
Without disturbing their cozy scene, Jiang Shuya quietly sent the things in through the back door, closed the door, and kept looking back at their figures. Such a scene of old age having someone to rely on was too beautiful, and she really couldn't bear to disturb them.