Chapter 18: Eating Dumplings on the Winter Solstice

As soon as this was said, others quickly chimed in: “Right? You smelled it too? I kept wondering why there was this faint smell in the air today. I thought the cafeteria was making something extra good, and the smell drifted over here!”

“Yeah, yeah, I smelled it too. Who brought the delicious food? Stop hiding it, bring it out so we can all try some!”

Reluctantly, Jiang Che had no choice but to step forward and admit, “Sorry, everyone, it’s probably my fault. I brought some meat sauce, but the lid wasn’t sealed properly, and the smell leaked out.”

“Comrade Xiao Che, don’t be in such a hurry to apologize! Let us see what this sauce is that’s been tempting us all morning.”

“Yeah, yeah, let us take a look too!”

Jiang Che ignored the teasing and said, “Well, this isn’t very fortunate. Since today is a holiday, the sauce was specially made by my wife as a gift for my parents. It can’t be opened early, so… how about I bring another jar from home tomorrow to make up for it?”

Most of the people in the office were reasonable, and after hearing Jiang Che explain, they let him off the hook and started talking about what delicious food everyone was preparing for the holiday.

After work in the afternoon, Wei Xuan intentionally stayed a little later than usual. By the time she arrived at the Jiang household, the living room was already filled with people. Jiang Che’s three older sisters and their husbands had all returned, and Jiang Che was already there.

When Wei Xuan came in, Jiang Che’s eldest sister was the first to greet her: “Xiao Xuan, you’re back! We were just saying how delicious the sauce you made was.”

The third sister immediately added, “Yeah, Xiao Xuan, how did you make the sauce? If you have time, teach us how to do it!”

Before she could finish, there was a “pfft” sound, and Jiang Che laughed without mercy: “Third sister, maybe you should spare us from your cooking. Why don’t you ask my brother-in-law if he dares to eat the things you make?” This is a skill for making money, and now she wants to learn just because her mouth said so—she’s really spoiled her.

Jiang Che’s third sister was irritated by his words, but since she was used to her little brother’s domineering personality, she quickly adjusted and weakly replied, “If I don’t know how, I can always learn. What if I actually get good at it?”

Before Jiang Che could speak, her husband stopped her from entertaining this dangerous idea: “Alright, you don’t even go into the kitchen normally. Better not waste your sister-in-law’s time.”

Didn’t he clearly not want to deal with her? Yet she still insisted on provoking him. Besides, didn’t she know how her cooking skills were?

The arguments between the kids were something that Jiang’s father and mother didn’t bother with. Today, their youngest son had come back for the holiday, and they were happy about that. Not to mention, Jiang Che had even broken the norm and brought something home to honor them—it seemed like he had truly grown up.

The fact that they were thinking about the food meant that this young couple was doing well outside, which made the older couple even happier.

The whole family was chatting enthusiastically, each person contributing to the conversation, until the sound of Jiang’s sister-in-law calling for dinner came from the kitchen. Only then did everyone move to the dining table and sit down.

Today, the main dish was dumplings. The dumplings had been made by Jiang Che’s three older sisters and his sister-in-law after they finished work, and there were a lot of them.

A large bowl of dumplings was served to each person. Wei Xuan looked at her bowl full of dumplings and secretly tugged on Jiang Che’s sleeve.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Che looked at her in confusion.

Wei Xuan whispered in his ear, “You take a few over for me. There’s too much, and I can’t finish it.”

Jiang Che didn’t think much of it—why was she acting so mysteriously?

Across from them, Jiang’s sister-in-law couldn’t stand their clingy behavior. With a flick of her eyes, she came up with an idea and pretended to be concerned, saying, “Sister-in-law, if you give all your dumplings to Xiao Che, will you be full? Look at you, you’re so thin. I’ll tell you, you’re too young to understand, but listen to your sister-in-law and eat more. Being too thin is bad for women, not good for having children.”

Wei Xuan knew it was coming—the sarcastic remarks from Jiang’s sister-in-law, though delayed, had finally arrived.

As for being thin, Wei Xuan wasn’t actually that thin. She had some flesh on her, and she really didn’t understand what Jiang’s sister-in-law was seeing.

But seeing her mother-in-law’s approving gaze, Wei Xuan could only say, “Sister-in-law, I usually eat quite a lot, it’s just that this afternoon some colleagues from the supply and marketing cooperative gave me some homemade glutinous rice cakes, so I’m not very hungry right now.”

Jiang’s mother thought back to how much her younger daughter-in-law used to eat when she was at home, and she felt reassured. However, she also took her oldest daughter-in-law’s comments about having children to heart: “Xiao Xuan, your sister-in-law wasn’t wrong about one thing. You and Xiao Che are still too young. If you get pregnant, you won’t have much experience. I think once you’re pregnant, you two should move back in with us. I’d feel better if I could keep an eye on things.”

Jiang’s sister-in-law was so angry at her mother-in-law’s words that she nearly had a heart attack. They had already moved out, and now they were being told to move back? What a dream!

Jiang Che wasn’t happy about it either. He had gotten used to living on his own, with all the freedom. Plus, he had become addicted to making money. If they moved back in, that would be over. So, he directly cut off his mother’s idea: “Mom, I’m not planning on having kids for now.”

Jiang’s mother couldn’t accept this and immediately got anxious: “Why not? If you think it’s too much trouble and don’t want to take care of the child, I can help! I’ll stop working and stay home to help you take care of the baby.”

“Alright!” Jiang’s father interrupted as he heard his wife going on too much, “We’re here to eat, not talk about this. The kids will figure things out themselves. Don’t cause confusion.”

Jiang’s mother, about to get angry at being told she was causing confusion, paused when she thought about how hard it was for her youngest son to come home after so long. She held back and stayed silent.

She had planned to talk to her son privately after the meal, but could Jiang Che, who was so slippery, really give her that opportunity? He quickly took advantage of the moment when no one was looking, asked his father for a bicycle, and sneaked off with his wife.

On the way, Wei Xuan sat on the back of the bicycle, holding back a laugh as she asked him, “Is it really okay for us to leave like this?”

“Don’t worry, my dad will handle it. He’ll convince my mom.”

At the Jiang family’s house, when Jiang’s mother realized Jiang Che had already left, she was indeed very angry. Not wanting to take out her frustration on her three daughters, she could only impatiently shoo them away, “Alright, it’s getting late. You all should head home!” They were just causing a nuisance by staying, and she couldn’t keep an eye on anyone.

So, Jiang Che’s three sisters had no choice but to obediently leave with their husbands.

Jiang’s eldest brother-in-law was an honest man, and he didn’t think much about his mother-in-law’s temperament.

He was also the eldest at home, just like Jiang’s eldest sister, and both of them were tolerant and self-sacrificing by nature. Moreover, the Jiang family had indeed helped them out a lot. Without that support, it would be very hard for him and Jiang’s eldest sister to support their three children and two elderly parents on just their own wages.

But the situation was different with Jiang’s second sister. As soon as they left the Jiang family’s house, Jiang Che’s second brother-in-law’s expression darkened.

“I’ve figured it out. Your parents are completely focused on your useless little brother. No matter how filial your daughters are, it doesn’t matter—it’s all in vain.”