CHAPTER 304: CHAPTER 304: TIDYING UP THE HOUSE

Very soon, two people had already walked in. As soon as Gangzi entered, he began inspecting everywhere. Bai Dahe, on the other hand, was honest; he saw Lin Xue and Zhang Yuan sitting on the sofa as soon as he entered. Smiling, he walked over.

"Xiao Xue, I heard from your third uncle that you came here early today, so I came to see. This house hasn’t been lived in for a long time; it’s not really fit for living, is it?"

Lin Xue glanced at Bai Dahe, who seemed incredibly sincere, and stood up to greet him.

"Third Uncle, have a seat!"

Bai Dahe sat down, feeling flattered, and then nervously rubbed his hands together.

Lin Xue then called out to Gangzi, who was looking around, "Uncle Gangzi! Come over and sit!"

"Ah, ah! Coming right away!" It seemed Gangzi was still reluctant to take his eyes off the place.

This house almost became his, if it weren’t for that stubborn girl refusing to give in, he would have moved in a long time ago.

The house they’re living in now—a low mud house—can’t compare to this.

"Xiao Xue, are you guys planning to move back here? Not staying in town anymore?" Gangzi withdrew his gaze reluctantly and sat next to Bai Dahe, asking somewhat persistently.

"No, we’re just tidying up to host a banquet here." Lin Xue responded simply.

Bai Dahe listened without asking further, nor was he letting his eyes wander. Lin Xue found this particularly gratifying.

"Banquet? What kind of banquet?" Gangzi’s eyes widened, a light flashed within them.

"I’m getting married!" Lin Xue said this without any embarrassment.

At this time, Bai Dahe also looked at Lin Xue and Zhang Yuan, "Xiao Xue is getting married? That’s great! You two have been engaged for several years now, it’s time to get married!"

Zhang Yuan unconsciously nodded, indeed it was time to get married after being engaged for so long.

"Yes!" Lin Xue didn’t hold back from answering his question.

"You’re tidying up the house, right? Leave it to me! Just as it happens, your third uncle is free now, I’ll bring your third aunt over, and it’ll be done in half a day! I’ll also heat the brick bed for you, keep it warm!" Bai Dahe then added somewhat awkwardly, "I don’t have much money to give as a wedding gift, so I’ll help with whatever I can, and at least not eat the banquet for free!"

Lin Xue nodded, knowing that her third uncle had changed since Uncle Gangzi left, becoming more sensible. She wasn’t entirely unsympathetic, and since Bai Dahe was changing, she decided to give him a chance.

Though she held grudges and could not promote him in any way, she could at least not foster enmity.

Despite Bai Dahe not being much of a person before, he did have a virtue—at home, he could make the decisions, Li Guihua couldn’t stir up trouble.

"Then we’ll count on you, Third Uncle. It’s really troublesome for us to come back and forth every day. I’ll leave the keys here with you; just keep the place warm for us! Make sure you eat and drink your fill at the banquet!"

With Lin Xue saying this, Zhang Yuan had no objections and followed suit with a nod.

"Alright, alright, no problem! Leave it all to your third uncle, don’t worry! I’ll go bring your third aunt over to tidy up! You don’t have to move, we’ll handle it!" Bai Dahe was happy to hear Lin Xue say this; it was truly wonderful for his niece to give him such face.

As he spoke, he ran outside, cheerful all the way.

Leaving Gangzi with a look of displeasure on his face, this younger brother was truly ignorant, always competing with him for any good things.

"Xiao Xue! Uncle Gangzi can help too..." So he tried to convince Lin Xue to let him handle this.

"Uncle Gangzi, let Third Uncle do this tiring work! At your place, my aunt’s child is still small and can’t manage it!" Lin Xue waved her hand, "There’s nothing much to do here anyway! We need to head back, Xiao Shan and Little Chuan, let’s go!"

She stood up, calling for her two younger brothers, who were already listening in on the commotion. So when Lin Xue called, the two came running out.

All four of them got up, but Gangzi was still sitting on the sofa without moving, so Lin Xue had to speak again, "Uncle Gangzi, we need to lock the door!"

"Don’t lock the door; you go ahead! I’ll wait here for Dahe to come back! And help them!" Gangzi still didn’t move.

"No need! Third Uncle has the key, I’m just worried that if we leave the door unlocked, when we come next time, the house will be empty! After all, there are quite a few good things." Lin Xue hinted pointedly.

In each of their rooms, they all had soft quilts made of new cotton, at a time when the siblings each got one quilt, they had a whole set for each person with extras, enough to stir jealousy.

Even Wang Xiaoping, knowing her man was here watching the door, had come to steal.

Then there was the kitchen: big and small iron pots, kettles, thermos, tea mugs, various bowls and plates were plentiful.

They hadn’t moved these things when they moved; Lin Xue bought new ones for the new home.

In the warehouse, Wang Cuihua had brought over dried vegetables and cured meats that weren’t finished and stored them here, planning to come back and tidy up in a few days, so there wasn’t much to clean in the house, mainly just heating the brick bed.

Though she didn’t entirely trust Bai Dahe, Li Guihua listened to Bai Dahe. As long as it wasn’t food, she didn’t have much possessiveness; she would lock up the warehouse.

But Gangzi couldn’t control his wife Wang Xiaoping, and Wang Xiaoping’s character was truly bad.

"How... how could it be, I’ll keep watch..." Gangzi was a bit stammering, but looking at Lin Xue’s gaze, he dared not continue sitting, and got up to leave.

Lin Xue didn’t accommodate him either; once he went out, she locked the door with a click, and the four of them each got on their bikes and left.

Over there, preparations for the wedding were very busy, and here, Gangzi hadn’t gone far. As soon as Bai Dahe called his wife and daughter over to tidy up the house, he returned.

He walked around everywhere, flipping and looking around, which made Bai Dahe frown; the first to be displeased was Li Guihua. She didn’t care if Gangzi was her big brother-in-law and directly confronted him.

"I say, big brother, what are you looking for? Lost something?"

Gangzi felt a bit embarrassed, but his expression darkened instantly, "Sister-in-law, big brother is just looking around, not searching for anything! And besides, Xiao Xue didn’t say I couldn’t come, right? If it weren’t for Dahe thick-skinnedly taking on the task of tidying the house, that would have been mine! After all, I’m closer to Daliang!"

"What do you mean by that? How is big brother closer to my big brother?" Bai Dahe immediately disagreed. Speaking of feelings, he wasn’t close to this big brother; ever since he came back, life had been hard for him everywhere.

He was closer to his own big brother; although later his big brother’s family didn’t care about his parents or him, previously, whatever he needed the big brother would give, nothing like the current situation.

"You all think about it! Aunt raised me for so many years, and Daliang is Aunt’s son, aren’t we blood brothers?" Gangzi analyzed for them "And how did your mother raise Daliang? Like livestock, in the end, they became enemies, the whole Daliang family holds a grudge against you all! Saying this and that, isn’t it still me being closer to Daliang?"

Listening to Gangzi’s analysis, both agreed he wasn’t wrong, sharing a glance with a bit of shame on their faces.

"Mom and Dad, don’t be fooled by Big Uncle! If Big Sis were closer to Big Uncle, she would’ve given him the job of tidying the house, isn’t it only because Big Sis doesn’t trust Big Uncle that she didn’t?’ Bai Ruyu couldn’t keep quiet anymore and reminded them.