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After being someone else’s exemplary child once again, the large group finally warmed up and was ready to go have the New Year’s Eve dinner.
"What gift should I bring? I don’t lack for anything."
"You may not lack, but you can’t skimp on the sentiment!"
"..."
It was past five o’clock by the time the two cars returned to Chuxi Village. They could smell the delicious aromas of the meal before they even walked through the door, and upon arriving home, they unexpectedly discovered that guests had arrived.
"Aunt, Uncle, how come you’re here?" Yao Jianjun asked.
"What do you mean by that? Can’t your aunt come over for the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve?"
The visitors were Grandpa’s sister, her husband, and their two sons. To be honest, Xu Qingfan’s blood relation with them was already beyond three generations; he wasn’t even sure what to call them.
"Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone." Xu Qingfan muttered perfunctorily before heading into the kitchen to watch his mom cook.
"You’re back!" Upon seeing her son, Yao Jiping got up, intending to greet the guests. "You cook; I’ll go out and entertain them!" 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
Xu Qingfan:...
"Sure." He glanced at the squid and Chinese cabbage sizzling in the wok, waited for the greens to soften, then added the half-cooked squid back in, seasoned with salt, and stir-fried everything until it was well mixed before taking it off the heat.
"Grandma, I have a question for you." While Grandma was busy frying meatballs at the next stove, Xu Qingfan spoke up.
"What’s up?" Lai Man Yao looked up at her grandson.
"What should I call my aunt’s brother?"
"Umm...." Evidently, this profound generational puzzle stumped Grandma too. After thinking it over, she said, "Just call him ’Uncle’ or ’Elder Uncle.’"
"And another one, Grandma, what do you call my uncle’s aunt?" Xu Qingfan asked again.
"What uncle’s aunt? That’s your ’Table Aunt Grandma’!" Grandma glared at Xu Qingfan with irritation.
"Oh, I see. So the husband of the ’Table Aunt Grandma’ is called ’Table Uncle Grandpa,’ and the son of a ’Table Aunt Grandma’ is called ’Table Aunt Kid’!" he deduced.
With a shake of her hand preparing the meatballs, Lai Man Yao couldn’t help but laugh and said, "You should save those kinds of comments for when you’re alone, what ’Table Aunt Kid?’ That’s your ’Table Uncle!’"
Xu Qingfan:...
[Seems like it’s best to give up on this conundrum. A simple ’hello everyone’ will do.]
Before long, a large group of chattering women from the living room entered the kitchen and took over the cooking from Xu Qingfan.
The New Year’s Eve dinner began promptly at seven o’clock. Due to the unexpected arrival of the aunt’s family, there were two dining tables: one for the men who enjoyed a drink and another for Xu Qingfan, Song Bingxiong, and a group of women.
Perhaps because of the discussions the women had outside while Xu Qingfan was cooking, the atmosphere at their table seemed a bit peculiar during the meal. Everyone ate in silence, even the normally lively kids dared not fidget.
"This villa is built so imposingly. You get to enjoy the good life, sister-in-law, unlike me who still has to worry about my second boy’s marriage." The ’Table Aunt Grandma’ suddenly said during the meal.
"Each generation has its own blessings." Grandma replied with a smile, conforming to the adage of not striking someone who’s smiling at you.
"That may be true, but it’s all up to Jianjun to be capable, now that he has become a factory manager, specially built this beautiful villa to take a wife. From now on, you must take good care of your in-laws, otherwise it would be a waste of such a fine house."
Xu Qingfan was somewhat speechless and noticed the uncomfortable expressions on the Song family’s faces. He immediately tried to smooth things over: "Aunt, don’t listen to her nonsense. The house needed to be built anyway, and it just so happened that Uncle and Aunt met and fell in love at the perfect time. What do you call that, that’s a double blessing!"
"Hahaha!"
"Xiao Fan is right!"
"Yes, yes, yes, double blessings, hahaha!"
Yao Jiping felt particularly proud and secretly delighted, yet she kept her composure. Without a word, she added a big chicken leg to Xu Qingfan’s bowl, indicating she appreciated his talkativeness.
"As the saying goes, ’We raise our cups and laugh to bid farewell to the old year; the greatest joy in life is reunion.’ Allow me to start by tossing out this pebble to attract jade: wishing everyone a healthy and ’Peace and Joy’-filled New Year!"
"Great!"
"I also want to add..."
Thanks to Xu Qingfan’s diversion, the mood in the room finally livelied up, with some drinking and others chatting away.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, the ’Table Aunt Grandma’s’ family stuck around for a brief chat before quickly leaving on their motorcycles.
Xu Qingfan had a hunch there was gossip to be heard and, holding back his eagerness to set off fireworks and build mud stoves, he sat next to his mother to watch her play mahjong.
"Keep the three of bamboo, you’ve got a 2345 – you could pair two eyes and call mahjong!" He exclaimed, stopping his mother from discarding the three of bamboo she just drew.
No wonder his mom always lost more than she won at mahjong; just after watching for a short while, Xu Qingfan realized she was both unskilled and eager to play.
"Don’t be disrespectful!" Yao Jiping scolded, tapping her son’s head, but upon consideration, she kept the three of bamboo and discarded the east wind tile she was hanging onto.
"Kong!" To everyone’s surprise, Song Zhujun had three east winds across the table.
"Get out of here, stop annoying me!"
"Hahaha!"
Xu Qingfan made a face: "Just wait; you might win on the next turn. If you kept that east wind, you’d never win with it in a million years!"
When it was Yao Jiping’s turn to draw again, Xu Qingfan reached over to draw. Upon feeling two circles, he knew he had won the hand.
"I win!" He flipped over the two of circles, smugly went to choose six bonus tiles.
"Two, six, south... ’fa cai’ counts, too, four bonus tiles, pay up!" Xu Qingfan held out his hand for money. They were playing a ten-yuan game, with each bonus tile earning an extra ten yuan, meaning four bonus tiles equated to fifty yuan from each player.
"Hahaha, Xiao Fan is impressive, you won it all back in one go!"
"Ah Ping, I think you should let Xiao Fan play for you. You should stay next to him and pick up some skills!"
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