CHAPTER 197: CHAPTER 197: THE FIRST BIRTHDAY GRABBING TEST BANQUET

Lu Xiaomei looked down at her clothes in confusion, but nothing seemed amiss.

Susu was smiling pleasantly, just staring at Lu Xiaomei in silence.

"Gulp." Lu Xiaomei, feeling nervous and continuously swallowing her saliva, rubbed her palms anxiously under the gaze of her sister-in-law, whose smile seemed to hide more than it revealed.

"Second sister-in-law?"

"Spill it, are you dating someone?" Susu raised an eyebrow.

Lu Xiaomei’s eyes widened, "Second sister-in-law, how did you know?"

"Hehe... come on, spill the beans." Susu’s round apricot eyes blazed with the fire of gossip.

Lu Xiaomei shrugged, her ear tips gradually becoming hot and red, not hiding it from her second sister-in-law.

"It was a sister from our unit who introduced him, his aunt. He’s a high school teacher and works at the city’s First Middle School. His parents are also teachers there, and he has a brother and two sisters who, I heard, are all married with children."

Susu was curious, "What’s that comrade’s name? What does he look like?"

Lu Xiaomei blinked, "His name is Jiang Feng; he’s not bad-looking, quite decent. But definitely not as handsome as my second brother."

Susu laughed, proud as a little peacock, "Of course, your second brother is our county’s gem. If not for the Old Blind Man, other women would have... cough, would have snatched him away."

"Ha ha ha..." Lu Xiaomei couldn’t stop laughing behind her hand, though it was true... her second brother really was handsome, and her sister-in-law wasn’t exaggerating.

Thinking back to her childhood, following her brothers around, she always ended up with lots of candy pieces. Many were from female comrades at school who liked her brothers, and she, their little sister, basked in their reflected glory.

Cough, her thoughts had wandered too far—she was currently discussing serious matters with her second sister-in-law.

Susu had previously relied on the plot of a book to shatter the potential relationship of the Phoenix Man, who had left the Little Aunt in the original story scarred and injured, while the feelings between him and the Little Aunt were still in their infancy.

Now, hearing that the man’s family background wasn’t bad, as for his character, Lu Xiaomei would have to see for herself, and of course, they would need the Old Blind Man’s help.

Lu Xiaomei knew what her second sister-in-law was worried about; without waiting for Susu to speak, she assured her that she would be careful when dating and wouldn’t let herself fall into danger.

"Xiaomei, you’ve grown up." Seeing the growth of the once naïve and kind-hearted little girl, Susu was very relieved.

"Mom mom mom mom, third brother is gonna bully me."

"No, mom’s not. Lele is the little brat who farted on me."

The siblings rushed in, one after the other, chattering away and tattling to the adults.

Lele’s tender face crumpled in grievance, "I didn’t mean to, and the fart wasn’t even smelly."

An’an huffed angrily, "That’s what you get for being greedy and eating so many beans. Besides, how are farts not smelly?"

The two adults were torn between laughter and tears—it was a sibling fight sparked by a "fart".

Xiao Lele initially hid in her mother’s arms, but soon her own mother, Susu, also found the girl’s "thud thud thud" succession of farts too overwhelming and decisively left.

Only her Little Aunt didn’t mind the niece’s barrage of noisy farts.

...

Yangcheng

"Who’s there?"

Carrying a bag of rice, Brother Lu heard a "thud", as if a heavy object had hit the ground.

Brother Lu, on high alert, thought it best to mind his own business to avoid unnecessary trouble that might involve his wife and kids.

But he couldn’t resist the prompting of his conscience and saw a man with a bloody head lying motionless on the ground.

"Comrade?"

Brother Lu carefully looked around, ensuring no one was nearby, before squatting down and tremblingly checking the man’s nose for breath.

"Phew~ There’s still breath."

Brother Lu quickly carried the unconscious man on his back and called for a tricycle to take him to the nearest hospital.

"Little sister-in-law, you don’t know, that day when I saw your brother Lu coming back covered in blood and even asking me for money, my legs turned to jello from fear."

Jiang Nan complained while holding the phone, "It’s not like I don’t want to help the dying, but we’re just ordinary folks. I’m just scared of offending the wrong people, what if they take revenge on us?

Thankfully, that man was just robbed by someone on a motorcycle and during the struggle, he accidentally hit his head and fell. If it wasn’t for your brother, that man probably wouldn’t have made it through the day."

Susu was scared just listening to it, not to mention the elder sister-in-law who was in Yangcheng; she totally understood Jiang Nan’s feelings.

After the sisters-in-law finished discussing serious matters, the siblings chatted for a good while before hanging up.

Susu paid the bill and let each child pick out a snack before leading the clumsily skipping children back home.

"Brother, we’ll split it and eat together later."

"Hee hee, one each means we can taste four different yummy flavors."

Approaching their home, they could hear the voices of the old couple.

"We’re back."

"Mhm."

Susu didn’t mention to her in-laws what the elder sister-in-law had said on the phone; since it had already happened, there was no need to worry the elderly couple.

In the yard, Mrs. Lu sat in her wheelchair, picking vegetables while directing Father Lu as he tidied up the small vegetable patch.

"I got it, I got it; just hurry up and pick your vegetables."

Mrs. Lu glared in frustration, "Old man, it’s because you’re not doing it quickly enough."

...

Hearing the old couple bicker, the triplets immediately scurried over, telling their grandparents not to fight.

Mrs. Lu, with a smile, gently stroked Xiao Sun’s little cheek, "Grandma and your grandpa aren’t fighting; we just spoke a bit loudly."

Father Lu agreed, "That’s right, nothing’s the matter."

Pingping, "Then grandpa, please speak a little softer."

An’an, "Grandma, your voice too."

Lele, "Grandpa and grandma be good, or Lele will get mad."

The old couple locked eyes, not sure whether to laugh or cry at the sight of the triplets with their stern little faces.

Lu Xiaoting returned from work and after hearing about this, he laughed and praised his children.

The triplets puffed out their little chests, beaming with pride.

...

"Mama, I want to buy pink leather shoes to wear."

"Papa, do my hair for me; I want it to stand up like big brother’s."

An’an was referring to the small-time thugs on the street, with their leather jackets, bell bottoms, and slicked-back hair thanks to hair gel.

Xiao Yu patiently soothed his brother, "An’an, be good. Those are for adults, it’s not suitable for us children. You can bring your ’sniper rifle’ instead."

"Oh right, grandma, where’s my sniper rifle?"

...

Susu held her forehead in exasperation; the parents had only planned to take Tianyu to the event originally. Today was Director Wang’s great-grandson’s first birthday grab party.

They had intended to take Tianyu so he could be seen by all the police uncles, never expecting that the three younger ones would get ready as soon as they woke up. Helplessly, they decided to bring them along with some toys for the children.

The whole family, with the men dashing and the women beautiful, and the children adorably cute, turned heads as they walked down the street.

Family Court

"Wow, isn’t that Xiao Yu’s kid? He’s grown so much and is looking so good."

"Oh my gosh, Xiao Su how do you manage to look younger and younger? You don’t look like someone with several kids at all."