CHAPTER 407: CHAPTER 308: NEW YEAR’S VISIT TO THE LIN FAMILY

After the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, everyone who should return to work has gone back, except for the children who haven’t started school yet, occasionally throwing firecrackers for fun. The Big Courtyard is starting to regain its peace.

Lin Lishan finally took a breath and stayed home to spend time with the children. For the past few days, she has been leading teams and arranging performances everywhere, hoping to familiarize her deputy with the process so that she can accompany her daughter Jiao Jiao to S City.

Lin Lishan hadn’t seen Ping’an for a few days and felt that the child had grown again. Holding the child and listening to his babbling responses, she suddenly burst into laughter.

As for the talk about Zhou Jiao’s second aunt possibly asking to borrow money, she didn’t take it to heart at all. She didn’t have a penny on her now; if money was needed, they should go find the old lady.

Zhou Jiao just mentioned it casually as a reminder. With the Zhou Family’s evening banquet approaching, she worried her second aunt might seize the opportunity with new tricks.

Close to quitting time, Lin Liyin, along with her two sons, hurried to the Zhou household. Today was the agreed day to visit her family’s home for New Year’s greetings. She was waiting for Li Jianjun to arrive so they could join her sister to go together, catching up on some gossip along the way.

Upon entering the living room and seeing her two sons immediately cling to Zhang Guoqing, she quickly went to sit with Lin Lishan and her daughter, smiling mysteriously. "Do you know Xiao Lin’s boyfriend, Yang Liqun, is coming over later?"

Lin Lishan replied offhandedly, "Oh, if he’s coming, he’s coming. Who’s this? You mean Xiao Lin’s boyfriend? Why is he coming today? Is it confirmed that this is the one?" Mid-sentence, she realized something and was quite surprised.

"At the end of work, Xiao Lin pulled him aside to say she wanted to bring him home. I’m stepping aside first, waiting for you all to go together."

Lin Lishan frowned, looked at her, and asked worriedly if the old man would be angry.

Lin Liyin analyzed it for her, saying that this time Xiao Lin intentionally brought someone home during the family gathering. Absolutely nothing would go wrong. The old man has been annoyed with that girl and just wants her to marry off quickly.

Lin Liyin really didn’t want to bother with this niece anymore. Comparisons shouldn’t be made because the more you compare, the colder your heart gets. Her two sons talk every day in front of her and Li Jianjun about how great their sister and brother-in-law are. They even refuse to call her cousin, just "my sister" and "my brother-in-law." They’re more eager to visit the Zhou Family than she is. She’s been good to Xiao Lin, but Xiao Lin has consistently ignored her two sons. The true and the false are clear even to her two children.

Thinking of her second sister-in-law, Lin Liyin looked anxiously at the mother and daughter, leaned forward, and whispered, "Jiang Jiangyu borrowed money and spent 2,800 on buying a house, even claiming her family lent her a thousand. She’s very fake, unlike the eldest sister-in-law. Be careful. Especially you, sis, don’t get tricked; she’s good at smooth-talking."

"I have no money, sis. Don’t look at me; I’m telling the truth! The money went to your brother-in-law and Jiao Jiao to support the families of deceased comrades. I’ve heard some fallen soldiers’ families with several children can’t even afford food on their subsidies. Some of them have their mothers remarried, and the eldest sibling struggles to feed younger siblings with no proper meals at times. Your brother-in-law and a few comrades even plan to arrange visits to check on children they haven’t gotten in touch with yet."

Lin Liyin glared at Zhou Jiao, scolding fiercely, "You silly girl, you think about helping others as soon as you’ve just had enough to eat. What are you and your dad messing around with? How much money can you afford to squander? Have you calculated the cost of you and Xiao Wu going to university in a few years with no income, or the cost of raising a child? Even if you work, what’s the monthly salary? Remember, don’t give money away. If it’s truly tough, let the family’s children enlist or arrange for a job. It’s not easy managing the household expenses; who wouldn’t want to stretch their money as far as it can go? Don’t listen to your dad."

Zhou Jiao nodded swiftly, grinning foolishly at her.

The more Lin Liyin thought, the more worried she became, lamenting, "Ah... my brother-in-law has ascended to sainthood. Look at what he’s done! Loaned the big house to soldiers below without charging a cent. I hear the small house is also loaned to the women’s federation for free. Now, even the money is gone, and he’s exhausted all of our Jiao Jiao’s family assets."

Zhou Jiao laughed heartily, realizing her dad was taking the blame for a great deal!

Seeing her get excited and stand up, Lin Lishan quickly pulled her sister back to sit down, advising, "Don’t worry. The two of us will soon save up some assets for Jiao Jiao. Tell me more about this Yang Liqun guy? Did they say when they plan to get married after this meeting?"

Lin Liyin frowned, recalling Yang Liqun, shaking her head as she thought, "It’s hard to say about this person. After several encounters, why do I feel he’s no different from passersby on the street? If dad agrees this time, it should be soon. Sis, if we become in-laws with that family, how do we handle seeing Yang’s concubine?"

After speaking, she noticed Zhou Jiao’s curious expression and explained, "Jiao Jiao, Yang’s concubine is actually Yang Liqun’s biological grandmother."

"What can we do? Just greet her. You shouldn’t call her a concubine anymore; many in the Big Courtyard are re-married spouses, it’s not nice to say."

Recently, when someone mentioned the word ’original spouse,’ the person nearby immediately got upset and found an excuse to send someone away." Lin Lishan, wearing a worried expression, softly pulled her aside and spoke.

Lin Lishan nodded earnestly at her sister’s astonished look.

Zhou Jiao felt particularly elated as she glanced at her mom, then looked at Zhang Guoqing watching from aside and smiled. She knew her dad must have seen something special in her mom.

"Mom, my dad’s back." Zhou Jiao said, quickly standing up and heading outside.

Lin Liyin waited for a long time without seeing anyone enter, curiously peeking outside, "Why haven’t Jiao Jiao and her dad returned yet? Xiao Wu, do you want to go check on them?"

Zhang Guoqing laughed and pointed outside, "Jiao Jiao must be waiting at the corner. Look, they’re coming in." As soon as he said this, the sound of father and daughter chatting could be heard outside.

Lin Lishan didn’t explain about the telepathy stuff. Ever since Old Mrs. Cheng took Zhou Jiao fortune-telling, she believed in certain mystical things, especially after Zhou Xiaozheng advised her to deny to the outside that Zhou Jiao had any extraordinary abilities. She’s remained silent about her daughter’s atypical traits.

When Zhou Xiaozheng entered, he nodded at Lin Liyin, signaling everyone to head over to the Lin Family. Just now, his brother-in-law mentioned the whole family’s waiting, waiting just on them, so they might as well go early.

Lin Lishan, carrying Ping’an, and Zhang Guoqing, holding the bag of milk powder and diapers, along with gifts for New Year, walked side by side up front, engaging in conversation. Behind them, Zhou Xiaozheng spoke softly to Zhou Jiao.

The whole way, Lin Liyin covered her mouth, holding in laughter as she witnessed the scene. Her sister’s family was genuinely entertaining. No wonder her sister always said Zhang Guoqing was like her son. No wonder her own sons said their uncle-in-law wasn’t strict at all, just didn’t like to smile.

Arriving at the Lin Family, they saw that guests had already gathered in the living room. Lin Xuelin, with a shy face, watched the man next to her as he answered questions from the old lady.

Mr. Lin and his wife, with smiles on their faces, sat in the top seats, engaging in conversation with the guests. Except for the young ones, only Li Jianjun smoked out front, neither of the brothers-in-law appearing in the living room.

Mrs. Lin, upon seeing Zhou Xiaozheng’s family enter, cheerfully waved them over, saying, "Come, bring our great-grandchild over here. Xiao Lin quickly introduce Yang Liqun to your grandaunt’s family."

Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at Zhang Guoqing, who nodded knowingly. He himself stopped and stood chatting with his brother-in-law in the corner.

Mrs. Lin took Ping’an from Lin Lishan’s arms, cooing over the child with delight. She took out a peace charm from a temple and a gold bracelet with a peanut pendant, intending to put them on the child.

Zhang Guoqing stepped forward, accepting the items, and returned the gold bracelet to the old lady’s pocket, holding the peace charm in his hand, he beamed, "Grandma, why are you gifting the child again? The peace charm is great, but don’t give the gold bracelet; it’s unsafe to wear outside. Since all the brothers and sisters are here today, why don’t you tell us how much savings you and Grandpa still have, so we can take it all."

As soon as he spoke, there was an outburst of laughter and everyone started calling out to share the goods.

Mrs. Lin was delighted, chuckling, "Don’t be fooled, kids. Granny doesn’t have anything left but a few old cheongsams. Do you want those?"

Grinning, Zhang Guoqing asked while carrying the child, "Grandma, do bring out a cheongsam for them to see. This is a family treasure you know; the future daughters-in-law must be able to fit into it."

Once he finished, several of the Lin family’s young laughed heartily, talking about splitting the items.

Mrs. Lin was delighted, chuckling benevolently. Meanwhile, Lin Dingsheng and the rest chimed in about dividing the goods.

After a while, Mr. Lin also joined in with the chuckles, basking in the jovial atmosphere filling the room.

The family reunion carried on in high spirits, with everyone there appreciating the warmth and humor filling every word and gesture exchanged. Despite the financial concerns and social dynamics, the laughter symbolized their close bond as a family.

The bond and expectations for the clan may outweigh any financial worries or social differences, uniting the Zhou and Lin families together once again.