Chapter 17 – The Full Moon Banquet (2)

When Si Yueyue started cooking cabbage stewed with vermicelli, Zhang Guihua returned. She stood outside, sniffing the fragrant aroma of the food and couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

“What’s Yueyue making? Smells amazing.”

Drawn by the delicious scent, Zhang Guihua quickly washed the vegetables she had picked and carried them into the kitchen.

“Yueyue, I’ve brought back all the vegetables. Third Brother also peeled the potatoes and I washed them. What else do you need?”

“Nothing for now, Sister-in-law. You can rest for a while.”

“Alright, I’ll sit and keep the fire going for you.”

“Okay.”

Inside the house, the two sisters-in-law cooked and chatted. Outside, Lei Zhenzhen and her husband hurried home and finally arrived.

“Dad, Mom, I’m back!”

Grandma Zhao wiped her wet hands on her apron and went out to greet them.

“Zhenzhen’s back! Oh, and the son-in-law’s here too. Come on, come inside and rest.”

“Mom.”

“Ay, come in, come in.”

Lei Zhenzhen walked through the courtyard and stood under the eaves, sniffing the air hard with her delicate nose.

“Mom, which top chef did you hire? This food smells heavenly.”

“Heh, listen to this child. Don’t you know what kind of conditions we have at home? How could we afford to hire a chef?”

Lei Zhenzhen looked genuinely surprised. “Whoa~ since when did my sister-in-law learn to cook like this?”

“Hahaha… Go inside and see for yourself.”

“Why are you being all mysterious? I’m going to take a look.” As Lei Zhenzhen spoke, she handed what she was carrying to Lin Muchen behind her, then quickly walked toward the kitchen.

Seeing her daughter heading for the kitchen, Grandma Zhao turned to usher her son-in-law into the house.

Inside, Lin Muchen greeted the elders.

“Dad. Big Brother.”

“The brother-in-law is here. Where’s Zhenzhen?” Lei Jun greeted him and peeked behind him.

“She smelled the food as soon as she entered the yard and went to the kitchen to take a look.”

Lei Jun nodded, then asked: “Why didn’t you bring Xiao Huang and Xiao Hui back with you?”

“We still have to go back to work at the factory this afternoon. Time’s a bit tight, and bringing both of them would’ve been inconvenient. We’ll bring them next time when we have more time.”

“That’s fine.”

Back in the kitchen, Zhang Guihua looked at the curious Lei Zhenzhen poking her head in and called out: “Zhenzhen, you’re back! What are you doing in the kitchen?”

Si Yueyue heard Zhang Guihua’s voice and turned toward the kitchen door.

“Sis, you’re back.”

“Big Sis-in-law? Yueyue… Oh my god, is Yueyue the one cooking?”

Zhang Guihua found Lei Zhenzhen’s expression amusing. “Smells great, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah! I smelled something amazing outside earlier and thought the family had hired some chef. I didn’t expect it to be Yueyue.”

“Try my cooking later, Sis. If you like it, I’ll make it for you again next time you come home.”

“Sounds great. It smells incredible, I’m sure it’ll taste just as good.”

“Hahaha… Yeah, the smell alone is mouthwatering.”

Hearing the laughter coming from the kitchen, Grandma Zhao couldn’t help but feel excited in her heart.

“Auntie… Auntie…” Lei Qingyun ran over, calling out loudly.

“What’s wrong? Why are you in such a rush?” Grandma Zhao’s heart skipped a beat from her grandson’s shouting.

“Grandma, the baby brothers woke up. They’re crying so loud!”

“Oh my, Grandma will go check. Xiaoyun, go to the kitchen and call your second aunt back to the room.”

“Okay~”

Grandmother and grandson split up to take action.

Grandma Zhao went to the second room. Hearing her two grandsons wailing, she quickly rushed to the kang bed to check if they were wet or hungry.

“Grandma, the babies keep crying.”

“Ay, it’s alright, Grandma’s here. Let me see.”

“Oh my, both little boys had a flood. Yaoyao, get two diapers from the end of the bed for Grandma.”

“Okay.” Lei Qingyao turned around and grabbed diapers from the bed’s end.

Grandma Zhao changed both babies’ diapers, but the two little troublemakers kept crying loudly.

“Grandma, why are they still crying?”

“Maybe they’re hungry. Xiaoyun went to call your second aunt. Once they’re full, they’ll stop crying.”

Over on Lei Qingyun’s side—

“Second Aunt, Second Aunt, the babies are awake and crying loudly!”

Upon hearing her youngest son’s words, Zhang Guihua quickly said: “Oh, they’re probably hungry. Yueyue, go check on them.”

“Alright. The cold cabbage dish just needs the seasonings mixed in, Sister-in-law. They’re on the side over there. As for the radish meatballs, I’ll have to trouble you to make those. I’ll tell you how to make the pickled vegetables in a bit.”

Si Yueyue spoke as she untied her apron.

“Okay, I got it.”

Seeing her sister-in-law nod, Si Yueyue hurried off to the second room, with a little tail—Lei Qingyun—following behind.

“Mom.”

“Yueyue’s here. Quick, feed them.” Grandma Zhao said.

“Okay.”

Si Yueyue began feeding the older son while soothing the younger. After An An finished one side, she put him down and switched to feeding the younger one.

An An was a good boy. Although he hadn’t had his fill, he seemed to understand that his little brother was even hungrier and waited quietly to the side without fuss.

Si Yueyue nursed one baby, then the other… ah, she felt completely drained.

After finally feeding the two little troublemakers full, Si Yueyue asked her mother-in-law to watch the babies for a bit while she went to tell Zhang Guihua how to make the pickled vegetables.

“Sister-in-law, just fry the potatoes, string beans, and chili peppers in oil, then add the seasonings I put beside them and let everything stew together. I’ll go back to check on the kids now, I’m leaving it to you…”

“Okay, go ahead. Zhenzhen will come along to see An An and Lele too.”

“Sister-in-law, are you okay handling this on your own?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Everything’s prepped. I’m just putting things into the pot. No big deal.”

“Alright, but if it gets too much, just call out.”

“I know, I know. Go already.”

When Si Yueyue and Lei Zhenzhen returned to the room to check on the babies, relatives began arriving one after another. Grandma Zhao instructed the two of them to watch over the four children, then went out to greet the guests.

“My, An An and Lele are getting fairer and fairer! So chubby and cute!”

“Auntie, was Xiao Yun this cute when he was little too?”

“Hahaha… You’re still little now. You’ve always been cute.” Lei Zhenzhen pinched her second nephew’s cheek.

“Hehe~”

“Right, Yueyue, I brought a gift for the twins’ full-month celebration. It’s with Ah Chen. I’ll go grab it now.”

After speaking, Lei Zhenzhen ran out of the room and happened to bump into the family from the production team leader’s house.

“Hey! Zhenzhen’s back too? What’s the hurry?”

“Uncle, Aunt, Uncle and Auntie… I’m going to get the tiger-head shoes I prepared for my nephews. I got caught up with other things earlier and nearly forgot.”

“Oh, then you’d better go get them quickly.”

“Mm.”

“We’ll go into the house and see the babies too. We haven’t seen them yet.”

“Sure! I’ll take everyone to the second room. The kids are all awake. Earlier they had a ‘flood,’ and then cried from hunger.”

“Hahaha… Is that so? Loud crying means they’ve got energy.”

“Exactly.”

Si Yueyue was coaxing the babies when she saw a group of people come in, with Lei Zhenzhen returning right behind them.

After greeting everyone, she moved aside to give everyone a better view of the twins—the stars of the day.

“Oh~ the boys are so plump and look so lively.”

“Yes, they seem to have grown quite a bit. Last time I saw them, they were still tiny little bundles.”

“Which one is the older, and which is the younger? What are their names?”

“The one in the gray clothes is the older one, his name is An An. The one in blue is the younger one, his name is Lele.”

“Ah…”

“An An’s listening to the grannies talking.”

“Probably thinks everyone is chatting with him.”

“Hahaha… Look at those clear eyes. He’s going to be a clever boy in the future.”

“The two of them are so fair-skinned. Good thing they didn’t take after their dad’s darker tone…”

Before Lei Dahe’s wife, Wang Cuihua, could react, Zhou Guifen quickly interrupted her, realizing she had said something inappropriate. She hurriedly followed the thread of conversation.

“I made two little jackets for the boys. I even made them a bit big so they can wear them as they grow.”

Si Yueyue took the jackets and said with a smile,

“Thank you, Third Aunt. I was just thinking a few days ago that it’s getting cooler and I’d need to make them thicker clothes. Now with these jackets, I won’t need to make extra.”

“Third Aunt really did a great job—look at those tight stitches.”

“Of course. Your Third Aunt is the best at needlework among us sisters-in-law. She’s practically as good as a sewing machine.”

“Wow, really? Then I definitely want to learn from Third Aunt one of these days. Would you be willing to teach me?”

“Oh come on, why wouldn’t I? If you want to learn, come over to the house—I’ll teach you.”

“Great! Thank you, Third Aunt.”

And just like that, the earlier awkward words were smoothly brushed aside.

At that moment, Zhou Guifen also took out the tiger-head shoes she had made.

“Mine are just like Zhenzhen’s—also tiger-head shoes. I forgot to ask earlier. Otherwise, I would’ve made tiger-head hats too.”