Chapter 24: The Gift

◎Returning to the Parental Home◎

The next day, after delivering the sauce they made to Wu Yun and exchanging it for a few dozen yuan, Jiang Che and Wei Xuan were completely free, except for their work during the day.

At this time, Wei Xuan learned that they didn’t have any time off during the Spring Festival. Wei Xuan had already arranged with her colleagues at the supply and marketing cooperative to cover her shifts for the first two days of the New Year, as Jiang Che’s factory just happened to be closed for these two days.

On New Year’s Eve, they had the family reunion dinner at Jiang’s home, and on the morning of the first day, the two of them took a bus back to Wei Xuan’s parental home with large and small bags.

The bus only went as far as the county town, but luckily, the day before, they had already called the village’s brigade office to notify Wei Xuan’s family to come pick them up. Wei Xuan’s older brother was already waiting for them with the village’s ox cart early in the morning.

As soon as Jiang Che and Wei Xuan got off the bus, Wei Xuan’s older brother spotted them from a distance.

“Little sister, brother-in-law, I’m over here!”

Hearing the voice, Wei Xuan looked up and waved with a smile, “Big brother.”

Jiang Che held onto Wei Xuan, afraid she might fall. It had snowed all night, and the ground was covered with snow. After people walked on it, some places had become especially slippery.

The two of them walked with one foot sinking deeper and the other shallow, heading toward Wei Xuan’s older brother.

When they reached him, Wei Xuan’s older brother reached out to take the things from their hands and placed them on the ox cart.

Jiang Che helped Wei Xuan onto the cart first, then turned around and called out “Big brother” before climbing up onto the cart and sitting down.

Wei Xuan’s older brother was a rather quiet person and didn’t really know what to say to his city-bred brother-in-law. So, he could only give a silly grin and then jumped onto the cart, facing away from them, and drove the ox cart toward home.

Along the way, because of the strong wind, although the ox cart wasn’t moving fast, they were all frozen and had no mood to chat or catch up.

It wasn’t until they reached the gate of the house that Wei Xuan’s older brother stopped the ox cart, turned around, and said to them, “You two go inside first. I’ll return the ox cart to the village.”

Many people wanted to borrow the ox cart during the New Year, and returning it early wouldn’t delay anyone else.

“Alright, big brother,” Jiang Che said, jumping down from the cart and helping Wei Xuan.

Once he saw that the two had taken everything off the cart, Wei Xuan’s older brother turned the cart around and said, “You two go on in. Everyone’s waiting inside.”

Just as the two were about to knock on the courtyard door, it was opened from the inside.

“I knew I heard some noise. You must have been freezing on the way here, right? Hurry inside and warm up. Where’s your older brother?” Wei’s mother welcomed her daughter and son-in-law into the yard, only to realize that her eldest son was not around.

“Big brother dropped us off at the gate and said he was going to return the ox cart,” Wei Xuan replied, walking over and linking her arm with her mother’s.

Wei’s mother was happy to see her youngest daughter so close to her, but when she saw her son-in-law standing by with a pile of things in his hands, she quickly called into the house, “Second, third, come out! Your little sister is back!”

As soon as Wei’s mother called out, a group of people rushed out of the house.

Even Wei Xuan’s younger brother, Wei Xiaolong, was there.

The original Wei Xuan didn’t have a very good relationship with this younger brother. She had always been the youngest in the family, so everyone was supposed to indulge her. But once this brother came along, things changed. While her parents still treated her well, they were also good to the younger brother, and whatever she had, he had a share of.

Over time, the sibling bond weakened.

Wei Xuan didn’t know her younger brother very well. Since she moved away, she had only seen him twice—once on her wedding day. Wei Xiaolong mostly attended high school in the county town and only came home once a month.

He was a good student, unlike Wei Xuan, who just went to school to pass the time.

Wei Xiaolong also didn’t think much of his older sister. In his eyes, she was selfish, immature, and not very smart, so he didn’t hold her in high regard.

But now, seeing Wei Xuan smiling and chatting with the family, Wei Xiaolong observed her suspiciously for a while. He felt that, after not seeing her for some time, this silly sister of his didn’t seem quite as silly anymore.

Wei Xuan noticed his gaze and looked up, giving him a smile.

Seeing him freeze, she teasingly said, “Xiaolong, why didn’t you call anyone when you saw your sister come back? I even brought you lots of delicious food.”

Who cares about your food? He’s grown up now—does she still treat him like a child?

In an instant, Wei Xiaolong felt that Wei Xuan was still the same as before, nothing had changed; it was all just his imagination.

However, in front of everyone in the Wei family, he still reluctantly called out, “Sister, brother-in-law.”

Having satisfied her playful side, Wei Xuan felt quite pleased and even grew fonder of her proud little brother.

After stretching her hands and feet and feeling a bit less stiff, she grabbed the bag she brought back and began distributing the gifts.

Most of it was food—three pounds each of sausages and cured meat. She had brought the same amount when they visited Jiang’s family before, and there were still around seven or eight pounds left at home to eat.

She also brought a preserved duck.

Although rural areas also cure meat in the winter, the way they did it was still different from how Wei Xuan prepared it. In the countryside, they usually just rub salt on the meat to keep it from spoiling for a long time, and it only tasted salty—nothing else stood out.

In addition to these, Wei Xuan also brought various meatballs she made for the children. She also bought three bags of milk candy from the supply and marketing cooperative, which would be enough for the kids to enjoy for a long time.

Wei Xuan had heard that nowadays, seven pieces of milk candy could replace a glass of milk, which was perfect for supplementing the nutrition of her nephews and nieces. Compared to Jiang’s two children, Wei Xuan’s nephews and nieces looked much thinner.

The remaining items were gifts she bought specifically for Wei’s father and mother.

Jiang Che picked up a bottle of liquor and said to Wei’s father, “Father-in-law, let’s have a drink later, and I also brought some snacks to go with it.”

Wei’s father took the bottle of liquor, gave it a glance, and said with a smile, “Alright, this liquor isn’t cheap. I’ll enjoy your good fortune and have a drink.”

Wei Xuan’s three older brothers looked on with envious eyes; this bottle of liquor must have cost several dollars.

Seeing this, Jiang Che, ever perceptive, kindly offered, “As for the three older brothers, why don’t you join us for a drink at lunch? We only have one bottle of Moutai, but I also brought some other liquor—just don’t know if you’ll mind.”

“We won’t mind, we won’t mind! This liquor is much better than what we usually drink.” Wei’s third brother said, his eyes a little red from envy. They usually just drank loose liquor; they couldn’t afford to buy bottled liquor.

Jiang Che was just being polite, but in truth, the liquor he brought was all of good quality, with Moutai being the best. However, Moutai was hard to come by, and he only had one bottle. He couldn’t just bring one bottle of liquor to his father-in-law’s house—if everyone had a glass, there wouldn’t be much left.

So, he picked a slightly lower-priced liquor, bought two bottles, and each one cost over a dollar.

Wei’s mother couldn’t stand seeing them act so shamelessly when it came to alcohol, but since it was her son-in-law’s offering, she couldn’t say too much. She could only keep glaring at her sons, trying to warn them with her eyes.

But these few people were now completely focused on the liquor, so they didn’t notice the subtle hints from Wei’s mother.

Wei Xuan, afraid her mother might get upset, quickly shifted her attention. She pulled out two hats from her bag and said, “Mom, look, these are the hats I specially knitted for you and Dad. Try them on to see if they fit.”