I'm back in 1990

Chapter 108: Inquiring about the Return Date

After lunch, Huang Xiaochuan's uncle returned to his office and asked, "Your mother is coming home this afternoon. Should we tell her about the money?"

Huang Xiaochuan quickly stopped his uncle: "Didn't we agree on a year? If you don't want me to have a good New Year, just say so. Don't blame me if your mother beats you again at your age."

Hey! How dare he threaten his own uncle? This unlucky nephew is really going to cause trouble if he doesn't get a good beating.

Huang Xiaochuan is so shrewd! Seeing his uncle's poker face darken, he knew he had to leave or he'd get beaten up.

Before Zeng Jiahua could even make a move, Huang Xiaochuan had already run away.

"You little bastard!" Zeng Jiahua could only curse angrily to vent his anger.

Around 3 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. Huang arrived home, looking travel-worn.

Grandma's house became lively. Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia came out to greet their aunt and uncle. However, Auntie was lukewarm towards her aunt's arrival, giving her a perfunctory greeting.

This brings up an old story. My aunt thought that since my husband's eldest daughter already had three sons, why not adopt Huang Xiaochuan, who grew up with her? This idea was supported by my mother-in-law and my husband Zeng Jiahua. However, my husband's eldest daughter was not happy about it, so the plan fell through.

Seeing Huang Xiaochuan grow up to be not only handsome but also increasingly outstanding, obedient, sensible, and filial, his aunt couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if he were her son. With this in mind, she naturally wouldn't give her older sister-in-law, who had initially refused to agree, a friendly look.

However, my aunt is a kind-hearted person. Every year when she sends gifts to my husband's family, she always picks out the best items and doesn't hesitate to give them away.

Huang Xiaochuan never imagined that his aunt would hold a grudge.

Zeng Lijuan and Lao Huang hadn't seen Huang Xiaochuan since he left for Shanghai. As the saying goes, a mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles, so when they saw Huang Xiaochuan, they would ask him how he was doing.

"Mom, I'm doing great. I eat well and sleep well. I run two laps every morning to exercise, and I haven't even caught a cold. How are you and Dad doing?"

"Your dad and I are doing fine!"

"Great job, son! You've gotten together with Yu Xiang so quietly. If your uncle hadn't told us, how long were you planning to keep it a secret?" Old Huang patted his son's shoulder happily.

"What do you mean I kept it from you! I was planning to tell you during the New Year, but my uncle beat me to it."

After the family of three finished speaking, Zeng Lijuan directed Huang Xiaochuan to open the things she had brought back. She had brought gifts for her maternal grandmother, aunt, Zeng Hong, and Zeng Xia.

After learning from the driver, A Liang, that his eldest sister and brother-in-law had arrived home, Zeng Jiahua made a point of arriving home half an hour earlier than usual. Apart from his second sister's family, who lived far away in Chang'an, almost all of his family members had arrived this year.

Upon returning home, Zeng Jiahua greeted Lao Huang from afar: "Brother-in-law."

Old Huang stood up and greeted him, "Little brother, you're off work?"

"I knew you and my older sister had arrived home, so I made sure to come back early. I'll have some wine with you tonight."

At this moment, Zeng Lijuan interjected, "Your brother-in-law can't hold his liquor, so you should tell him to drink less strong liquor."

"I won't force my brother-in-law to drink, and besides, Xiao Chuan can have a little with me. I rarely see my brother-in-law all year round, and you have to interfere with my drinking too," Zeng Jiahua complained a little.

At dinner time, the family sat down around the eight-immortal table.

Zeng Jiahua was in high spirits. Knowing that his brother-in-law couldn't hold his liquor, he specially opened a bottle of wine for him. However, he himself never drank wine, so he didn't have a wine glass at home and just used a rice bowl to hold the wine.

Huang Xiaochuan accompanied his uncle to open a bottle of Luzhou Laojiao. This liquor sells very well locally, and locals in Suzhou love it. It costs around thirty yuan, which is considered a good price.

Originally, his aunt wanted Huang Xiaochuan to bring a bottle of Moutai, but Huang Xiaochuan wasn't used to the soy sauce flavor, so he chose a Laojiao instead, which was fine too.

However, this also led Huang Xiaochuan to discover that his uncle's wine cellar had a lot more good wine, indicating that his uncle had also received a considerable amount of money this year.

During dinner, the grandmother asked her eldest daughter, "Is Xiao Chuan's boyfriend the person who lives upstairs from you?"

"Yes! The eldest daughter of the Yu family upstairs is very beautiful and has a good temperament." Zeng Lijuan praised Yu Xiang.

When the grandmother heard that her future granddaughter-in-law had a good temper and personality, she was overjoyed.

"That's good, that's good!"

Meanwhile, Auntie glared at her two daughters who were only focused on eating. Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia pretended not to see their mother's murderous glare. Zeng Xia had originally thought that Huang Xiaochuan having a girlfriend would help divert some of the attention, but unexpectedly, it backfired, and all the attention was directed at the two sisters. It seemed that this year would not be peaceful.

In the days that followed, Huang Xiaochuan helped his family with the preparations for the New Year. He was the family's strong laborer, and they needed him for everything, big or small.

I accompanied my aunt to grind glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is needed to make New Year's cakes and dumplings, so we have to go to the mill to grind it.

The glutinous rice needs to be soaked in water overnight. After soaking forty or fifty catties of glutinous rice overnight, it becomes even heavier, so it needs to be pushed to the mill on a flatbed cart. Huang Xiaochuan became the only choice to push the cart.

After grinding the glutinous rice into flour, Huang Xiaochuan was also responsible for kneading the dough, which was also a physically demanding task. The glutinous rice flour became very sticky after being mixed with water, making it particularly difficult to stir.

After the rice cake balls are made, they need to be steamed in a steamer, but someone else will take care of the work of tending the stove.

Next comes the delivery of the stove.

On New Year's Eve, the women were busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner in the kitchen, while Zeng Jiahua and Huang Xiaochuan were busy putting up Spring Festival couplets everywhere. Because Lao Huang had excellent handwriting, they didn't buy any couplets this year, but instead bought red paper and writing materials, which Lao Huang wrote himself.

Once the Spring Festival couplets were all pasted up and the New Year's Eve dinner was served, the sounds of firecrackers and children playing could be heard from outside from time to time.

The living room was brightly lit, and the food on the table was steaming hot. There was also a ritual at this time: first, we had to offer New Year's Eve dinner to our ancestors.

After paying respects to the ancestors, it was everyone's turn to start the feast.

After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, the annual Spring Festival Gala is about to begin.

Huang Xiaochuan made a special call to the Yu family, but to his surprise, Yu Wei answered the phone.

Who are you?

"I am your brother-in-law."

"Pah! I don't know him, I'm hanging up!" Yu Wei pretended to hang up the phone.

"I'll buy you a whole set of Adidas when school starts." Huang Xiaochuan directly used money to win over his brother-in-law.

And it turns out this trick works on most people, including Yu Wei. As soon as he heard there was a benefit, he immediately shouted into the room.

"Big sister, someone surnamed Huang is looking for you!"

Huang Xiaochuan was instantly filled with rage. Huang? Is it so hard to call someone "brother-in-law"?

Upon hearing Yu Xiang's voice, Huang Xiaochuan's mood improved.

Yu Xiang asked him, "Have you had your New Year's Eve dinner yet?"

"We've already eaten. My mom and grandma are clearing the table right now. I just missed you, so I called you."

"You're just all talk; I don't believe you!"

Why would I lie to you? Really!

At that moment, Yu Xiang glanced at her family and saw that they had all gone to watch the Spring Festival Gala, so she quietly said on the phone, "I miss you too."

These words thrilled Huang Xiaochuan, who couldn't wait to see Yu Xiang: "When are you going back to school after the New Year?"

"My school starts on the 26th, and I plan to go back on the 25th."

"Could you come back sooner?"

"I'll try my best, but mainly I want to bring Yu Wei with me."

Huang Xiaochuan thought about it and realized it was true; this brother-in-law who was dragging his feet was really annoying.

"Alright then, I'll pick you up at the station. When you get back, I'll show you some things." Huang Xiaochuan planned to tell Yu Xiang everything about his family, so he wouldn't have to keep things secret all the time.

For Huang Xiaochuan, who has lived two lives, the meaning of the Spring Festival lies in being able to be with his family, eating peanuts and melon seeds with his grandmother, and chatting about the gossip of the Zhang and Li families—that is a kind of happiness.

Huang Xiaochuan's elderly grandmother couldn't stay up late and had to go to bed around 9 p.m. After helping her to sleep, he went back to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

Unexpectedly, the two older sisters insisted on setting off fireworks, but they were too afraid to light them, so they urged Huang Xiaochuan to go with them.

This also stirred up Huang Xiaochuan's childlike heart. It had been a long time since he had set off fireworks and firecrackers. In his previous life, the city had lost all the festive atmosphere during the Spring Festival after fireworks and firecrackers were banned.

The Spring Festival Gala is getting less and less interesting; it makes the New Year celebrations meaningless.

Now that there are no bans, fireworks and firecrackers can be set off freely. Huang Xiaochuan and his two older sisters had a great time setting them off outside, while also enjoying the fireworks set off by other people.

The town was filled with people who had finished their New Year's Eve dinner and were setting off fireworks, mostly children.

Most adults stay home watching the Spring Festival Gala or playing mahjong; the Spring Festival is all about eating, drinking, and having fun.

Huang Xiaochuan got up early on the first day of the Lunar New Year and changed into new clothes inside and out according to custom. His aunt had already cooked rice cakes and dumplings in the kitchen.

Huang Xiaochuan went to wish his grandmother a Happy New Year first. His grandmother had already gotten up and prepared red envelopes.

"Happy New Year, Grandma! I wish you good health, boundless happiness, and longevity." Huang Xiaochuan kowtowed to his grandmother, then stood up and grinned, reaching out for a red envelope.

Grandma was so happy she couldn't stop smiling, and quickly handed the red envelope to Huang Xiaochuan.

Just as Huang Xiaochuan received the red envelope, Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia arrived and kowtowed to their grandmother to wish her a Happy New Year.

Next, we paid New Year's greetings to my uncle and aunt, Lao Huang, and Zeng Lijuan. Only after completing this routine did we start eating breakfast.

After breakfast, Huang Xiaochuan's red envelope was snatched away by Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia before it could even warm up. If it weren't for the taboo against men and women touching each other, and the fact that the two older sisters were already grown up, Huang Xiaochuan wouldn't have wanted to fight with them. Otherwise, with Huang Xiaochuan's physique, how could the two older sisters possibly have managed to snatch anything from him?

Besides, it's the Lunar New Year, as long as they're happy, that's all that matters. Isn't the point of a family being together to have fun and be lively?

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