MMB Chapter 208: Sending New Year's Gifts
Chapter 208: Sending New Year's Gifts
With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, Zeng Lijuan assigned Huang Xiaochuan a task.
Huang Dahai, the eldest son of the Huang family, has already found a girlfriend, and both sets of parents have met. According to the local customs of Qingjiang, Huang Dahai should send New Year's gifts to his future father-in-law's family.
However, Huang Dahai is currently guarding the reefs on the southern islands and has no time to come back to deliver New Year's gifts. Zeng Lijuan and her husband are not available to come forward, so they handed the task over to Huang Xiaochuan. It is acceptable for Huang Dahai's younger brother to help deliver New Year's gifts in such special circumstances.
Sunday, May 1.
"My dear mother! You've really gone to great lengths to take care of your daughter-in-law!"
After seeing Zeng Lijuan's New Year's gift that Huang Xiaochuan was preparing to deliver to his sister-in-law's house, Huang Xiaochuan joked with his elderly mother.
Perhaps because her eldest son is older, or perhaps because she has a savings account of 500,000 yuan and feels confident, Zeng Lijuan prepared a rather luxurious New Year's gift for her future in-laws, which is quite impressive for a small city like Qingjiang.
Two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, two cases of Wuliangye liquor, a whole pig's hind leg, a large bluefish weighing over thirty kilograms, a basket of apples, a box of frozen ribbonfish, and various pastries that Huang Xiaochuan brought back from Shanghai.
The cigarettes and alcohol were brought back by Huang Xiaochuan as a gift for Lao Huang. In the blink of an eye, Zeng Lijuan prepared to give them to her in-laws. Lao Huang even complained that Zeng Lijuan was not giving enough. Huang Xiaochuan thought to himself, "Are you two in such a hurry to get a daughter-in-law?"
"With your older brother not home, how can I not worry about these things? I also need to arrange the New Year's gifts for your father-in-law's family, and I'll follow the same standard."
Huang Xiaochuan quickly waved his hand: "Mom, I'll arrange it myself! Uncle Yu's family doesn't need these things."
"You don't understand. This has nothing to do with whether we need it or not. It's a matter of attitude. Okay, you have to listen to me on this matter."
Alright! You're the boss at home, so I'll do as you say. Huang Xiaochuan stopped arguing with his mother.
But these things are too heavy, aren't they? Huang Xiaochuan was referring to the weight. Fruit packaging is different now than in later years. When they say a basket, they really mean a basket. The basket is made of woven vines, and a basket weighs fifty pounds!
The ribbonfish came in a box weighing twenty pounds, the pork leg weighed several dozen pounds, and there were also large bluefish. Huang Xiaochuan was the only one delivering them all. He must be exhausted.
We need to find someone to help! Huang Xiaochuan immediately summoned Yu Wei down.
He stuck his head out the door and shouted at the top of his lungs upstairs, "Yu Wei!"
Less than a minute later, a series of clattering footsteps could be heard. Yu Wei had arrived. Ever since he learned that the stamps Huang Xiaochuan had given him were quite valuable, his attitude towards Huang Xiaochuan had returned to what it used to be. He no longer objected to Huang Xiaochuan's affair with his sister behind his back, wanting to become his brother-in-law.
"Help me deliver New Year's gifts to my sister-in-law's house. There are too many things; I can't carry them all by myself!"
"No problem, are you driving?"
"If you're not driving, why don't you ride a tricycle and deliver it for me?"
"Then you should just drive your car!"
While the two were busy loading their things into the car, a neighbor came over and asked, "Xiao Chuan, whose car is this? It's so beautiful!"
Yu Wei was about to answer when Zeng Lijuan, who was supervising the work, interrupted him: "This is my brother's car. He couldn't bear to see my son Xiaochuan squeeze onto a long bus, so he let him drive it back. He'll have to return it after the New Year."
Everyone in the compound knew that Zeng Lijuan had a wealthy younger brother who was a small-town entrepreneur. When they heard her say this, they believed her. It was mainly thanks to her uncle! The first thing she did after buying the Audi 100 was to come to her sister and brother-in-law's place to show off. She would hand out Zhonghua cigarettes and business cards to everyone she met, and she never let go of her cell phone, which had no signal. Her manner clearly told others, "I am a rich person."
In the 1980s and 90s, wealthy people in mainland China didn't know what it meant to be low-key, unlike the wealthy people of later generations who try to hide themselves as much as possible. Now, the main message is "I can make money and I'm proud of it," after all, we are currently in the early stages of a society where everyone is focused on making money.
Having been poor for too long, I wanted to vent, so I always ended up doing some ridiculous things. For example, I couldn't bear to remove the label from the sleeve of my suit, I had to mix red wine with Sprite, and I didn't keep my mobile phone in my bag; I had to hold it in my hand.
Huang Xiaochuan was deeply impressed by his mother Zeng Lijuan's actions; experience truly matters! Zeng Lijuan's words dispelled the neighbors' suspicions. If the neighbors knew that Huang Xiaochuan had bought the car, who knows how many stories would have arisen!
As for when Huang Xiaochuan learned to drive, Zeng Lijuan will explain it to the neighbors slowly after Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei drive away.
The eldest sister-in-law's family lived in the grain bureau's residential compound. Her father was the vice principal of the grain school, and her mother was a saleswoman at a grain and oil store. She also had an older brother who was married and had a five-year-old daughter. The eldest sister-in-law was a Chinese language teacher at the affiliated primary school. The whole family were ordinary wage earners. Zeng Lijuan told Huang Xiaochuan all this information.
This is not the sister-in-law from the previous life. The sister-in-law from the previous life was a local of the island. Because of her, Huang Dahai later transferred to another job and stayed on the island. However, the two divorced for some reason. It was only three days after their daughter finished her college entrance examination that the two went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to complete the procedures.
Huang Dahai left with nothing, giving both houses to his daughter. So in this life, Huang Dahai gave Huang Xiaochuan a new sister-in-law, which Huang Xiaochuan was happy to see.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the Grain Bureau's residential compound, Huang Xiaochuan got out of the car and went to the gatehouse to inquire about where his sister-in-law lived.
"Hello, sir, could you tell me where Principal Jiang lives?" Huang Xiaochuan asked while politely offering the old man a Hongtashan cigarette.
The gatekeeper took the cigarettes, sized Huang Xiaochuan up and down, and asked, "What do you want with Principal Jiang's house?"
Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "Principal Jiang's daughter is my sister-in-law before we get married. My older brother is serving in the army and can't come back, so I'm here to deliver New Year's gifts to my sister-in-law's house on his behalf."
The gatekeeper's eyes lit up immediately: "Oh! That dark-skinned, muscular young man is your older brother? I've seen him many times. No wonder you two look so alike. Every time your older brother comes, he's so polite to me. So you two are brothers! Not bad! Principal Jiang's house is the first one on the left in the second row of courtyards. Young man, hurry up and go!"
"Thank you so much, sir. I don't smoke either. I just opened this pack of cigarettes, so I'm giving it all to you. Please don't mind." Seeing that the old man was a nice person, Huang Xiaochuan simply gave the gatekeeper all the Hongtashan cigarettes he had just opened.
"Oh dear, oh dear, how could I possibly accept this!"
Huang Xiaochuan smiled, waved, and left.
The eldest sister-in-law's house is located next to the main road of the residential compound, so parking is very convenient. Huang Xiaochuan parked the car directly next to the courtyard of the eldest sister-in-law's house, and then he and Yu Wei moved the pile of things in the trunk to the gate of the courtyard.
After all the things were moved down, Huang Xiaochuan rang the doorbell.
Soon a voice came from inside the courtyard: "Who is it?"
Then the door was opened, and a woman in her fifties opened it. Huang Xiaochuan guessed that this was his sister-in-law's mother, so he quickly called for help.
"Hello, Auntie! I'm Huang Dahai's younger brother, Huang Xiaochuan. I'm here to deliver New Year's gifts on behalf of my older brother."
Upon hearing that it was her son-in-law Huang Dahai's younger brother, Ji Lan quickly and warmly greeted him, "Dahai's younger brother! Come in, come in!"
Huang Xiaochuan called to Yu Wei, "Yu Wei, help me move these things!"
The two of them struggled to carry a pile of things into the small courtyard.
The houses in the courtyard are shaped like the Chinese character "冂" (wǔ), all single-story buildings. There are five rooms facing south. The kitchen and dining room are on the east side, and the toilet, bathroom, and storage room are on the west side. There is also a small vegetable garden in the middle of the courtyard, but it is currently winter, so the ground is bare.
The middle room of the five south-facing rooms is the living room of the eldest sister-in-law's family.
Because it was Sunday, my sister-in-law and her whole family were at home.
Upon learning that Huang Dahai's younger brother had come to deliver New Year's gifts, everyone came out of the house to welcome him.
The sister-in-law's brother even helped carry the things to the living room; the pork leg, the large bluefish, and the frozen ribbonfish were taken to the kitchen.
The Jiang family warmly invited Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei to sit down. Jiang Rong, the eldest sister-in-law, made them tea, and Principal Jiang even offered them cigarettes.
Huang Xiaochuan quickly stood up and politely declined, saying, "Thank you, Uncle, but neither of us smokes."
"Then you can have some tea, peanuts, melon seeds, and candy."
The family looked at Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei with curiosity, making the two of them somewhat uneasy.
To ease the awkwardness, Principal Jiang and his family chatted with Huang Xiaochuan, asking how he and his wife were doing and asking Huang Xiaochuan to tell them to come to their home for dinner during the Chinese New Year.
Huang Xiaochuan answered all the questions and promised to pass on the message.
After everyone had gotten to know each other, Jiang Rong's sister-in-law abruptly asked, "Xiao Chuan, do you have a girlfriend?"
Jiang Rong's words immediately put Yu Wei on edge. "Damn it! Isn't that going too far? Trying to steal my girlfriend right in front of me?"
Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, I already have a girlfriend."
Sister-in-law Jiang Rong said regretfully, "That's pretty much what I guessed. How could a young man as energetic as you not have a girlfriend?"
Huang Xiaochuan laughed and pointed at Yu Wei: "Sister-in-law, are you making my life miserable when I get home? This is my brother-in-law. I dragged him along to help. If he goes back and tells on me, I'm in big trouble!"
Jiang's eldest sister-in-law panicked a little: "Ah? I'm so sorry, I really didn't know, Xiao Yu! Ignorance is no excuse, please don't be angry with me."
Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere became even more harmonious.
After sitting for a while, Huang Xiaochuan politely declined the Jiang family's invitation to stay for dinner and left with Yu Wei.