◎ First update ◎ 

Liang Baozhen ate the small bowl of canned fruit, and even in her dreams, she felt the sweet taste of it. The family shared a can, and the rest was prepared for the third day of the New Year when the Liang family would come to the city to entertain them. 

The person in the Liang family who was most excited about visiting the city was Liang Baoling. 

Liang Baoling had never been to the city. The farthest she had ever traveled was to the county for school. The city and the county were worlds apart—or so her second brother had told her. 

She woke up before dawn, dressed herself, went out, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. 

It was foggy in the early morning of winter. Damei Village was shrouded in white fog, which made people shiver with cold. 

Song Chunhua and Liang Zhigao also got up early and were making a fire in the kitchen to cook breakfast. Since they were traveling for a long time today, they had to eat a full breakfast. 

“Mother, I want to eat ten tangyuan!” Liang Baolin excitedly said when she saw her mother cooking. 

Liang Baojun had bought a bag of glutinous rice balls with sesame filling a while ago. When they took a bite, the sweet sesame seeds flowed into their mouth, and the fragrance filled the air. 

“You’re the only one who can eat!” Song Chunhua smiled and put a bag of tangyuan into the pot, and then steamed a tray of cornmeal steamed buns. 

Today, the whole family wore their best clothes, without any patches layered on top of other patches. Originally, Song Chunhua and Liang Zhigao had no new clothes, as the good ones were given to the children. It was only before the New Year that Liang Baojun and Liang Baozhen each brought back some cloth tickets, and that’s why they were able to make new clothes for the first time in five years. 

“Oh, Baoling is dressed beautifully today,” Liang Baojun yawned and got up. He was the last one to wake up. Everyone in the family had already washed up and was ready for breakfast before he slowly went to brush his teeth. 

Liang Baoling sat on a stool and watched the plump white tangyuan roll into her bowl and fill up half of it. She quickly reached out to take them and placed her two little hands against the edge of the bowl to keep warm. 

“Eat slowly, be careful it’s hot.” 

“I know.” Holding a spoon, Liang Baoling ate the tangyuan in three bites. Looking at her second brother, who was brushing his teeth in the yard, she yelled, “Second brother, you’re such a lazy pig, you got up too late.” 

Liang Baoying was feeding her daughter Mengmeng with a spoon. When she heard this, she looked up and saw her younger brother coming over to deal with her younger sister. 

Liang Baoling was prepared and quickly reached out to protect her head. She had braided a beautiful four-strand braid this morning. She must not let her second brother ruin it. 

She hid her little braids under her hands and protected her hair tightly, “Don’t touch my head; I spent a long time braiding it.” 

Liang Baojun laughed at his sister’s appearance. He looked at her two braids and saw how precious they were to her. He tugged at the ends of her braids a little and teased her, “Little brat!” 

After breakfast, Liang Baoying went to wash the dishes, while Liang Baoling stood in front of the mirror embedded in the cabinet door in her parents room. She looked left and right, tugged at her clothes a few times, and even turned around. 

The dress she was wearing today was made the year before, a blue plain coat. The interlaced buttons made by Song Chunhua made it look playful. Liang Baoling loved this dress very much and only wore it during the New Year, so it was kept very well and still looked like new. 

“Okay, stop looking in the mirror, you’re already beautiful!” Liang Baojun sat on the bed with his legs crossed and praised lazily, “Liang Baoling is simply the most beautiful and adorable girl in the world~” 

Liang Baoling, who always loved to quarrel with her second brother, pursed her lips when she heard the words. Her eyes rolled around, her face turned red, and she was a little shy. Her second brother was really saying too much! 

She thought she was just reasonably pretty and cute. 

“Second brother, please hold my little bag for me later.” Liang Baoling prepared a gift for Xu Shengya. 

Laborer Liang Baojun: “…” 

*** 

Xu Shengya was excited about meeting her sister-in-law’s younger sister today. She tossed and turned and didn’t sleep well last night. She even got up quietly to check her little tin box in bed late at night. She would definitely show the candy wrapper to her new friend. 

The next day, Xu Shengya wore an apricot-red floral coat, and her sister-in-law braided four pigtails for her. She sat neatly in front of the door. 

“Do you think this looks good?” Liang Baozhen had already braided her hair and handed her a small mirror to let Xu Shengya see for herself. 

The little girl in the mirror had bright eyes and was well-behaved and clever. Her delicate four-strand pigtails looked more refined than her usual two-strand and three-strand pigtails, and they made Xu Shengya look even more beautiful. 

“It looks good.” Xu Shengya swung her legs with bright eyes, touching her braids from time to time with her hands, and the corners of her mouth raised. 

“Well, go have fun outside first. They won’t be here until noon.” 

Liang Baozhen and Zhou Yun, with Xu Shengjie helping, prepared a sumptuous lunch. 

There was still one hairtail fish that had been bought before the New Year. It was originally planned to be eaten on the first day of the new year, but since they invited the Liang family to come to the city, it was kept for two more days and now it was being stewed. 

They also prepared some home-cured bacon, braised pork, and stir-fry some meat slices. The dishes they prepared were comparable to the New Year’s Eve dinner. 

When the ten dishes were placed on the table, the Liang family also arrived at the same time. 

Liang Baojun was the only one from the Liang family who had been to the Xu family. This time he was walking in front, leading the way, with a group of people following behind him. 

“Grandma Zhou.” After not seeing each other for a long time, he still spoke sweetly which made Zhou Yun smile with pleasure. 

“Baojun is here, come in quickly.” Zhou Yun took a closer look at the people behind him and recognized the parents of her granddaughter-in-law. 

“It’s Chunhua and Zhigao, right?” 

“Yes, Grandma Zhou.” 

Song Chunhua and Liang Zhigao were polite and helped Zhou Yun into the house. The younger generation of the Liang family behind them also greet everyone. 

The room was very lively for a while. 

The houses in the courtyard were small and crowded and not as spacious as those in the countryside. With so many people coming suddenly, it was almost impossible to turn around. 

A square table was placed with Xu Shengya’s desk in the middle. Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen asked everyone to sit down. They all squeezed in around the table.  

“Ah, our house is too small. I’m sorry for the trouble.” Zhou Yun looked at everyone sitting so crowded together and felt worried. 

“That’s impossible. The more crowded it is, the livelier it gets, and the better the relationships are!” Song Chunhua prepared gifts for the Xu family and gave them to Zhou Yun. 

A piece of pork belly, a bag of dried vegetables, and twenty eggs. 

The meat came from the team slaughtering pigs at the end of the year and was distributed to each family, while the eggs were saved by the family. 

These were all expensive gifts. Meat and eggs were hard to buy, even if you had money. But this was Song Chunhua’s first visit to her daughter’s in-laws’ house, so she naturally wanted to leave a good impression. It would help ensure a better life for her daughter in the future. 

Similarly, she would visit her eldest daughter Liang Baoying’s in-laws’ home in the afternoon, and she had prepared the same gifts. 

“Oh, don’t be so polite, why did come and bring so many gifts?” Song Chunhua insisted and after much persuasion, Zhou Yun set the gifts on the sideboard and then invited everyone to eat. 

The Xu family was warm and hospitable, and the Liang family gradually relaxed. Even though it was their first meeting, they had heard a lot about each other and knew they were honest people. 

After Song Chunhua met the Xu family members, she felt much more relieved. 

Although Baoying is married, she has always lived in her own home and is under her own supervision, so there shouldn’t be any big problems. 

Only Baozhen married a little far away, and she has always been uneasy. She needed to see for herself how things were, which she now felt more reassured about after meeting the Xu family. 

Zhou Yun is a kind and gentle person, and she always smiles when she speaks. Xu Shengjie’s younger brothers and sisters are also very well-behaved. At least they look much more obedient than her own little daughter. 

After all, it shouldn’t be easy to find a girl as carefree as Baoling. 

However, this time, Liang Baoling, who had always been carefree, became unusually gentle and well-behaved. 

She sat obediently next to her third sister, eating quietly. When Song Chunhua asked her to call someone, she did, and when not assigned anything, she quietly looked around. 

It was different in the city. There was a big yard, but many people lived in it which made it more crowded than her own home. She had seen her brother-in-law before, but it was the first time she had seen her brother-in-law’s grandmother, who seemed very approachable. Her brother-in-law’s younger brother was eating with big mouthfuls and talking loudly, and as for her brother-in-law’s younger sister… 

She glanced over quietly and happened to catch Xu Shengya’s seemingly casual gaze. 

The two little girls smiled at each other, then hurriedly lowered their heads to eat. 

Liang Baoling thought to herself: “…her dimples are so cute.” 

Xu Shengya thought to herself: “…her eyes are so big.” 

Liang Baozhen was sitting next to Baoling. Seeing the interaction between the two little girls, she nudged her sister with her elbow and leaned over to whisper, “Didn’t you want to meet Xiaoya before? She’s about the same age as you. You two can play together after dinner.” 

“Hmm.” Liang Baoling was unusually reserved. She placed her left hand neatly on the table and ate seriously. 

After dinner, Song Chunhua rushed to help wash the dishes, but Zhou Yun refused. The two argued for a long time, and finally, Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie took over the job. 

The others were talking in the room. Liang Zhigao and Song Chunhua naturally talked about their daughter’s marriage to Xu Shengjie, and they expressed many things. Zhou Yun was also a talkative person, and Liang Baoying was there to accompany them. 

The two adults had a very pleasant conversation. 

While the adults were having a lively conversation, Liang Baoling became shy and did not move from her mother’s side. 

Liang Baozhen washed the dishes, wiped her hands on her apron, and called Baoling, “Go over and play with Xiaoya.” 

Liang Baoling looked at the little girl next to Grandma Zhou, feeling a bit shy and at a loss for words. 

Xu Shengjie was putting away the dishes and chopsticks. Seeing the two of them, he called his sister over, “Xiaoya, come here.” 

Xu Shengya ran over with her thin legs, and Xu Shengwei came over uninvited behind her. 

“Didn’t you want to meet Baoling before? Now that she’s here, why don’t you take her out to play? You’re still the host, come on, take the initiative.” 

Xu Shengya looked at Liang Baoling, who was about the same height as her, with clear eyes. She was a little shy and tried to move her mouth, “Do you want to see my candy wrapper?” 

Liang Baoling looked at Xu Shengya and nodded, her voice clear and crisp, “Sure.” 

The two little girls went to Xu Shengya’s room together, quite shyly. 

“Wait for me!” Xu Shengwei felt that he was also the host, so he insisted on going with them. “What are you looking at the candy wrappers for? Why don’t we go play marbles together?” 

“Liang Baoling, do you want to come with us outside? I tell you there are still flying insects in our yard.” 

“The bugs you gave us last time were pretty tasty.” 

*** 

Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the three children enter the room. 

“They wanted to get to know each other so much before, but now that they’ve met, they don’t talk at all. Haha.” Liang Baozhen thought it was funny when she remembered the two little girls secretly looking at each other just now. 

Xu Shengjie also smiled. It was rare for him to do so. The house was lively today. It had been a long time since the house was so lively. “Look at Xiaowei’s thick skin, he’s not shy at all and talks to everyone.” 

“Xiaowei is capable…” 

Before Liang Baozhen could finish her words, she saw Xu Shengwei coming out of the house with a depressed look. 

“Xiaowei, why did you come out?” 

Xu Shengwei immediately became angry and started to complain, “Brother, sister-in-law, they think I’m too noisy! They won’t let me stay in the room!” 

The author has something to say: 

Xu Shengwei: So I’m the extra one, huh? 😭