She now treats her eldest son and eldest grandson the best.

As for her great-grandchildren, she’s less concerned because she relies on her eldest son and grandson for support.

The great-grandchildren can’t contribute much.

As Xie Jinkui ate the pastries, Old Lady Xie looked at him with affection, even reaching out to pat his head, just like when he was a child.

She praised him, “My dear grandson has really grown up. He’s handsome and fair, a person destined for good fortune. Don’t worry, even when I’m in heaven, I’ll keep blessing you.”

Xie Jinkui replied, “Grandma, don’t worry. I’ll always be filial to you. When you’re old, I’ll definitely take care of you.”

Although he said this, Old Lady Xie was already quite old. Whenever she fell ill, it was usually her second daughter-in-law and fourth daughter who took care of her, attending to her needs.

Her eldest son and eldest grandson only did things like making milk supplement drinks and didn’t do much else.

They still enjoyed eating and drinking.

In her eyes, her eldest son was very filial.

He would follow her orders, even if it meant hitting his wife or younger brother, or even fighting with quarrelsome outsiders.

For Old Lady Xie, children who followed her every command and obeyed her were considered truly filial.

As for the messy work of caring for her needs, she wouldn’t make her eldest son or eldest grandson do that.

With a daughter-in-law and daughters available to help, why should the men do it?

She thought raising daughters was for the purpose of helping out when parents were sick.

When she sent her grandson to deliver millet for stomach health to the second aunt and reminded her to visit the sick fourth aunt, people thought she was caring for the children.

The aunt would surely be moved to tears.

Of course, a mother would care for her own children.

She loved her children as much as she loved her own flesh and blood.

How could she not care?

When the old woman Lin stirred up trouble, and the fourth daughter cried to her face, she cried even harder and louder, more sorrowful than the daughter.

Was that her wish?

It was because they were poor back then and couldn’t support many children.

She had no choice but to resort to such measures.

Consider her feelings.

When Second Aunt Xie heard from her eldest nephew that Old Lady Xie had sent millet, she clutched the one pound of bug-infested millet with her fair, delicate hands and was moved to tears.

Although she was only in her early fifties, she had grown up malnourished and was now a short, thin old woman.

At first glance, she seemed the same age as Old Lady Xie, or even older.

Xie Jinkui said, “Second Aunt, my grandmother is concerned about you and Fourth Aunt. She can’t come to see you because her legs aren’t good. I just came back from Fourth Aunt’s house, and even though I haven’t eaten, she insisted I bring this millet to you.”

Second Aunt Xie wiped her tears and quickly said, “Wait a moment, I’ll make you some noodles.”

On New Year’s Eve, she couldn’t bear to use fine noodles for dumplings and had instead made coarse corn porridge with her husband.

She didn’t grind the corn too fine, so it turned into corn fragments rather than the fine powder used in Lin Shu’s house.

She used it directly to make the coarse corn porridge.

She only ate the porridge when it was dry and would drink the thin porridge sparingly.

She often cooked sweet potatoes and dried sweet potatoes, and when she got heartburn, she would have a bowl of corn porridge every couple of days.

Xie Jinkui said, “You’re still so kind to me, Second Aunt. Don’t worry, even if you don’t have a son, I’m like your son. I’ll be here for you and your husband in the end.”

People without children are most afraid of being told they have no descendants and that no one will care for them in their old age.

Second Aunt Xie was indeed moved to tears.

She had worked hard in her family when she was young, and having married late, she only had a daughter in her early thirties and never had more children.

Now that her daughter was married and rarely came back, she only saw her eldest nephew occasionally.

Upon hearing that Old Lady Xie wanted her to visit Lin Mother, Second Aunt Xie hesitated.

It was the third day of the new year, and her daughter would probably bring the children back.

Xie Jinkui said, “Don’t worry, Second Aunt. My sister is unlikely to come back this year. Didn’t she skip last year too? Wasn’t it the year before as well? No wonder my grandmother says daughters are less useful than sons. Sons marry and still serve their parents, but daughters marry and serve their in-laws. You’re still thinking of her, but she doesn’t think of you.”

Second Aunt Xie wanted to explain that she had hurried back to take care of Old Lady Xie on the second day of the new year when she fell ill, and thus hadn’t had time to attend to her daughter.

Her daughter had then changed her return visit timing.

Second Aunt Xie thought about it.

Since Fourth Sister was ill and in the hospital, she didn’t know but would definitely visit when she learned about it.

This was Old Lady Xie’s instruction.

….

The next morning, Panpan was already excited to go to Great-Grandma’s house to play.

He was genuinely curious: “Mom, Grandma, and Uncle, what about them?”

Tiantian replied, “Dad also has a Grandma and an Uncle.”

Panpan said, “Then we…”

“Should we go visit each one individually?”

Suddenly, the spirit of visiting relatives was sparked, and it was a must-do.

Actually, Lin Mother wanted to go, but Lin Xia and Lin Shu didn’t allow her.

If she went, Old Lady Xie would surely make her reminisce and shed tears, and Lin Mother would definitely have to spend money.

Lin Father was busy preparing gifts for the relatives: frozen meat, dried persimmons, brown sugar, and milk powder.

PanPan said, “Grandpa, don’t bother. We won’t bring anything.”

Lin Mother replied, “You can’t visit without bringing anything. Look, you brought so many treats for Grandma and Grandpa.”

Pan Pan responded, “But didn’t Uncle and Auntie come without bringing anything? Grandpa said…”

Tian Tian chimed in, “It’s about reciprocity.”

“Right! Reciprocity. If they give us something, we give them something. If they don’t give us anything, we don’t give them anything. They didn’t bring anything yesterday.”

Lin Mother and Lin Father laughed but knew they couldn’t really go empty-handed.

Not only did they have to bring something, but they also had to bring a lot to avoid displeasing their in-laws and relatives.

Lin Yue didn’t take Bao Er since he was too young and didn’t like crowded places.

Lin Yue was responsible for pushing the cart and carrying the gifts and children.

After traveling a bit and being out of the elders’ sight, Lin Shu had them stop to start sorting the gifts.

She wrapped a few pancakes and a jar of pickles in cloth and said to Lu Shaotang, “We’re taking Pang Pan and Tian Tian. You go to Fang’s Market.”

Fang’s Market was the home of Fang Dihua’s family, and Old Lady Fang was still alive.

Actually, it wasn’t necessary for everyone to go, but Lu Shaotang was special.

Old Lady Fang and Grandpa Lu really liked Lu Shaotang.

When he was young, she often brought him food and even made him a tiger hat and little cotton shoes.

Seeing his wife and siblings heading off to confront someone, Lu Shaotang felt a bit uneasy.

He wanted to go to Fang’s Market the next day.

Lin Shu said, “It’s fine. You go ahead. We’re just going to visit.”

Lu Shaotang, unable to argue, took them to the entrance of Xie Family’s Guan Village and watched them enter before heading to Fang’s Market.

The two children led the way, singing, “Bold and proud, crossing the Yalu River…”

When Lin Shu and the others arrived at Xie’s house, they saw Xie Jinkui and Xie Jinlan helping an elderly woman with many patches on her clothes slowly walk out.

Old Lady Xie, with her white hair and small stature, had drooping eyelids due to her age.

With her triangular eyes and a neck that slightly extended forward, she lifted her eyelids as if to slice through with a sharp, cutting gaze.

In an instant, her expression softened into that of a kind old lady. “Oh, my great-grandchildren, you’ve come! These two are my great-grandchildren. So good to see you, you’ve grown so well. Oh, I’m so old, my legs don’t work well, so I can’t visit you. I’ve been thinking about seeing you, and today, I finally get to see you. Come in, come in, have some candy. Grandma has prepared some for you.”

Upon entering Old Lady Xie’s room, they saw that the bedding on the kang had been replaced with old, worn-out quilts, and the cotton inside was all clumped together.

It looked just like what was in Second Uncle’s house.

Old Lady Xie was really putting on a full performance.

She warmly invited them to sit on the kang, offered them melon seeds and peanuts, and gave them some candy.

If her daughter had come back, Old Lady Xie wouldn’t have been so generous.

This was to win over Lin Shu and Lin Xia.

Seeing the sticky and seemingly licked candies, the two kids were disgusted and refused them.

Uncle’s wife came out from the west room, smiling and greeting them, while ignoring Lin Xia’s special warmth towards Lin Shu.

“Lin Shu, why didn’t your son-in-law come? It must be that your mother-in-law didn’t allow him, right? Not to speak ill, but your mother-in-law is really harsh. She’s always trying to make things difficult for you. Every time I go there, she’s never pleasant. Last time you weren’t home, she wouldn’t even let me in. Isn’t that just slapping you in the face in front of your relatives?”

Uncle’s wife was very clever.

There are few harmonious mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships.

Complaining about the mother-in-law to the daughter-in-law and vice versa was a sure way to become close.

She hadn’t received anything good from Lin Shu in a while, so she harbored some resentment.

Lin Shu smirked inwardly.

You want to talk bad about my mother-in-law? I’ll show you the might of her grandchildren!

The two kids couldn’t tolerate anyone speaking badly about their parents and grandparents.

Sure enough, Panpan rejected the tainted candies and turned to glare at the provocative Uncle’s wife, loudly saying, “Auntie, my grandmother wants to ask when you will return the thirty yuan you borrowed from us, as well as the five pounds of cotton and five lengths of cloth?”

Tiantian added, “And the two pairs of shoes and a pair of scissors…”

Uncle’s wife’s face turned pale with anger. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

She pulled Lin Shu aside, “Are you here to visit relatives or to quarrel?”

Old Lady Xie’s eyelids twitched; this was beyond her control.

Xie Jinlan quickly intervened, “Why hasn’t Third Brother-in-law come?”

Tiantian continued, “Auntie, why do you keep focusing on my father? It’s been like this since yesterday, and today too. Grandma says that those sly foxes like to fixate on other men. Are you a fox?”