Chapter 49

Xu Di and her brother, panting, climbed the stairs and opened the door.

“Little Aunt, you look pretty.”

“Second Sister, Second Sister, you look especially beautiful today!”

Xu Jun and Ping’an, like two door gods, stood at the door, their mouths full of compliments.

“Did you two steal some candy today, your mouths are so sweet?”

“We didn’t, Mom said no.”

Ping’an answered seriously, he kept looking at his uncle, the meaning was clear, did you eat candy?

These days, many children in the kindergarten had caught colds, so Ping’an stayed at home, Xu Mei and Xu Jun watched him.

“I, I…”

Xu Jun was really innocent, he looked at his nephew who didn’t understand anything, he had a lot to say but couldn’t say it.

“Haha…”

Xu Di was amused, it served him right, he taught Ping’an all sorts of nonsense.

“Our Ping’an is so good, he didn’t eat any candy, Little Aunt will give you some delicious food.”

Xu Di took out two oranges and handed one to Xu Jun, “Ping’an, do you want Little Aunt to peel the orange for you?”

“Thank you, Little Aunt!”

“Oh, Little Aunt loves Ping’an so much. Wait for Little Aunt, go wash your hands.”

Xu’s sister-in-law was in the kitchen, she heard Xu Di and Ping’an’s conversation, and she was happy.

That’s how mothers are, they’re happier when their children are happy than when they are happy themselves.

“Little Aunt, it’s delicious, you eat some too.”

“Ok, it is delicious, go give your mother a taste.”

“Mom, orange, delicious.”

Ping’an took a segment of orange and gave it to his mom.

“Second Sister, well, uh, I accidentally ate it all.”

Xu Jun was a little embarrassed, he couldn’t control himself, he ate the whole orange in a few bites.

“Humph, you should learn from Ping’an, you’re an uncle, you can’t let your standards slip.”

Actually, Xu Di hadn’t thought that much about it, if it weren’t for Ping’an giving her the orange, she wouldn’t have suddenly remembered her previous life.

When her son was little, he was very considerate, he would always think about leaving some of his food for her.

At that time, she thought it was enough that the child was filial, she appreciated it, she would let him eat it.

Over time, the child wouldn’t give her any food anymore.

Because, if he did, Mom wouldn’t eat it.

In the kitchen, Xu’s sister-in-law was given a segment of orange by her son, it was sweet, and her heart was even sweeter.

“Little Aunt, Mom ate it.”

Ping’an ran back to his aunt, waiting to be praised.

“Whose child is this, he’s so good, he has delicious food and knows to give it to his mother!”

“Giggle…”

Ping’an was praised, he giggled uncontrollably, his little face flushed.

Xu Jun’s face also flushed.

When Xu’s father and Xu’s mother came back, dinner was already prepared.

Xu Di and Xu Jun set the table, and Xu’s sister-in-law started serving the dishes.

They hadn’t eaten a few bites when Xu Mei asked her mother, “Mom, how much dowry will you prepare for me when I get married? I want a new watch, my old one is too old.”

Xu Di’s heart skipped a beat, could it be that Xu Mei had x-ray vision, she knew that Xu Di had won a watch ticket, she hadn’t told her family yet.

“Xu Ermei, you’re so bold!”

Xu’s mother slammed her chopsticks on the table, she looked at Xu Mei angrily.

“I’ve told you, don’t call me Ermei, it’s so ugly.”

Xu Mei seemed not to see her mother’s anger, she continued to pick up food, eat, and she didn’t forget to emphasize that she didn’t want to be called Ermei.

As soon as this down-to-earth name came out, a memory popped into Xu Di’s mind.

Her family had four children, their names were Xu Li, Xu Mei, Xu Di, and Xu Jun.

When they were little, everyone in the family called them Dali, Ermei, Sandi, and Junjun.

Later, Xu Mei went to middle school, once a classmate came to play at their house, Xu’s mother naturally called out, “Ermei, get some candy for your classmate.”

At that time, there was a handsome boy, he burst out laughing, Xu Mei was embarrassed.

After her classmate left, she told her family not to call her Ermei anymore, and not to call Sandi either, it was too ugly.

Xu’s father and Xu’s mother weren’t used to it at first, they had been calling them that for over ten years, suddenly changing their mouths, they couldn’t remember.

Xu Mei argued with her parents several times because of this, in the end, Xu’s mother was also angry, she just called them by their names. Xu’s eldest brother’s name didn’t change, they still called him Dali, Dali, anyway, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, everyone called him that.

As for Xu Jun, he was quite cute when he was little, they called him Junjun, Junjun.

When he was seven or eight years old, he was a nuisance, he was very mischievous. Xu’s mother was so angry, she stopped calling him Junjun, Junjun, she just called him by his name.

Xu Jun had experience, he could tell by the tone of his mother’s voice when she called him by his name how angry she was.

Xu Di was lost in thought, Xu’s mother looked at Xu Mei, since she received her letter about getting married, the anger she had been holding back burst out.

“Xu Mei, you still dare to talk to us about dowry. Until now, we don’t even know what kind of partner you’ve found.

An intellectual youth from Shanghai, that’s all you told us. Whose daughter gets a partner, and their parents don’t even know the man’s name?

Shanghai, Shanghai is so big, what’s his family like, what do his parents do, how many siblings does he have, what’s he like, shouldn’t you tell us?”

Everyone in the family could see that Xu’s mother’s suppressed emotions had exploded.

Xu Mei slowly put down her chopsticks and looked around.

“Mom, my partner’s name is Li Gengsheng. As for what his parents do, do you need to know? Who knows if we’ll ever meet in this lifetime?

We’re in Yunnan, we don’t know if we’ll ever have the chance to go back to the city.

I’m not even curious about my father-in-law and mother-in-law, why do you want to know that?

What his parents do, how many siblings he has, what their relationship is like, we don’t live together anyway.

As for him, he’s an intellectual youth just like me. He graduated from high school and now teaches at the field school, he earns about the same as me.

Because we have limited vacations, we can only go back home separately, we just told our families that we got our marriage certificate, we’re legally married.”

Xu Mei dropped another bombshell, she said in her letter that they had filed a marriage report, but she didn’t say that they had already gotten their marriage certificate.

“Xu Mei, are you trying to go to heaven? Do you have any parents, any family, any siblings?

You just wrote a letter to tell us that you were dating, and you just mentioned it briefly when you got married, you just notified us. Now, you’re telling us that you’ve already gotten your marriage certificate.

You really have your own mind, you’re a very capable person. You’re so capable, why do you need a dowry, you’ve already gotten the certificate, just live like that, right?”

Xu’s mother was really angry, she didn’t mince her words.

“Why can’t I have a dowry, Big Brother got a bride price when he got married, Xu Di will have a dowry when she gets married, why can’t I have one?”

Xu Mei was also fired up, she felt very sad, she had only come back once in several years, why didn’t her mother care about her?

“Your brother and sister didn’t take care of their marriage themselves, what about you?”

“I wanted to discuss it with you, it’s thousands of miles away, how can we discuss it.

I’ve been gone for almost three years, and I don’t have any hope of coming back. I’m over twenty, I can’t get married quickly, am I supposed to stay home and be an old maid?”

Xu’s mother and Xu Mei both had their reasons, they both felt wronged.

“Alright, shut up, you’re not afraid of the neighbors gossiping?

That’s it for today, Xu Mei, tomorrow, tell us clearly about your partner, whether we have the chance to meet or not, we still need to know.

You spent so much time preparing her dowry, what’s the point of saying these things now.”

Xu’s father spoke, and the argument finally subsided.

Xu’s mother didn’t eat, she went into her room.

Xu’s father only ate a bowl of rice, he didn’t eat anymore.

Xu Mei didn’t say anything either, she went into her room.

“Hurry up and eat, if you don’t eat enough, you’ll be hungry at night.”

Xu Di glanced at Xu Jun, she wasn’t full yet, if she didn’t eat, she would be the one who was hungry.

The remaining few people buried their heads in their food.

For the first time, the Xu family’s dinner table was so quiet.