Going back to one's parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year is a Spring Festival tradition passed down by the Chinese nation, but Lu Yinbing's grandparents have passed away, so there is no one to go back to. Lu's mother's brothers are basically all in Beijing, and they want to get together for the New Year. After discussing it with each other, they decided to take turns to spend the New Year at one of their families' homes every year. This year, it was Liu Xinmin's family's turn.
Lu Yinbing had asked her this question before, but she didn't answer at that time and thought he was joking. Who knew it would come true so soon.
The meaning of meeting your uncle is different from meeting your parents. It is similar to telling your parents when you are in a relationship and telling your relatives when you are in a relationship. Once you tell your relatives, there is basically no room for regret. Although the marriage has been proposed and it is set in stone, but...
Xia Yitong felt like the sighs in her heart were about to fly out of her head, so she pulled the mask up to cover her eyes.
Lu Yinbing pulled her mask and asked jokingly, "What are you doing?"
Xia Yitong covered her eyes to prevent her from moving and said, "Let me digest it."
Lu Yinbing asked: "Do you want to see it?"
Xia Yitong said: "...see you."
Ever since Lu Yinbing told her about this, she has been restless for the entire first day of the new year, chattering like a sparrow and asking Lu Yinbing questions every once in a while.
"How many uncles do you have?"
"Three, and one uncle who is a distant relative, but is a good friend of my family and my uncle's family."
"No aunt?"
"No, my grandmother only gave birth to my mother, a daughter."
"oh oh."
…
"Have you mentioned this to your uncles in advance?"
"Yes."
"Oh, how did they react?"
“I’m looking forward to it.”
"They certainly didn't expect it to be a woman."
"Of course, most people wouldn't think of this."
"What if you don't accept it?"
"You are sexist. I never thought of finding a woman before."
"… "
"They have all studied abroad and are well-informed. I'm not afraid, so why are you afraid?"
…
"Who else besides your uncle?"
"Aunt, cousin, sister, and cousin."
"They want to know too?"
"They all eat together. Do you want to take my uncles to the study alone and then pull them out for you to introduce them to?"
"I was just thinking... I don't mean anything else, but if there are too many people, will it be exposed? Will I let something slip..."
"I will tell them that they are all adults and know what they can and cannot say."
"oh."
…
Xia Yitong lay on the bed. She reached over the pillow and touched the mobile phone on the bedside table. She pressed the home button. The screen lit up, showing 1:30 in the morning. She turned over, facing Lu Yinbing, put her arms around her waist, and put her face against her collarbone, preparing to fall asleep for the third time tonight.
Tomorrow she was going to meet Lu Yinbing's uncle. What if he didn't agree? What if Lu Yinbing got scolded? The scene where parents happily accepted her could only appear in novels, right? Even if there was such an opportunity, it had all been used up with Lu's father and mother. What should she do? Countless questions filled her mind, and she couldn't sleep.
Looking at Lu Yinbing again, he fell asleep at eleven o'clock and was still snoring softly. Xia Yitong couldn't help feeling a little angry. He ground his teeth against the other's collarbone. How could such a person be so cruel
She tossed and turned so much that she had no idea what time she went to bed. She fell asleep naturally when she felt so sleepy that she couldn't even keep her eyes open. When she woke up, Lu Yinbing was no longer lying on the bed, but on her phone was the WeChat message Lu Yinbing sent her.
I got up first, and since you were sleeping soundly, I didn't wake you up.
It's eight o'clock. There's breakfast downstairs, warming in the pot. Come down and eat when you wake up.
I watched you by the bed for half an hour and kissed you ten times, but you didn't react at all. Tsk.
My uncles came with their families, and I was chatting with them in the living room. Be good and remember to get dressed when you go downstairs.
Here it comes.
Coming
Here we come!
Ahhhh!
Xia Yitong crawled into the quilt immediately. If she had the ability to transform, she would definitely turn into a snail and crawl into the heavy shell on its back, and no one could knock her out.
Pretend to sleep, yes, pretend to sleep.
Xia Yitong closed her eyes with a bitter face. Two minutes later, she opened them suddenly again. She couldn't fall asleep at all.
Lu Yinbing had already prepared for her uncle to bring her partner to meet them. If she broke the appointment, Lu Yinbing would definitely be disappointed. If she didn't go, it would be Lu Yinbing's loss of face.
She has to get up.
Xia Yitong put on her pajamas with a sad face and went to wash up. When she saw her expression in the mirror, she sighed again.
…
downstairs.
The phone in Lu Yinbing's pocket vibrated. She took it out and took a look at the incoming message, then smiled.
I'm done washing up, can you come up with me
Lu Yinbing stood up from the sofa and said, "I'll go upstairs."
A girl who looked younger and dressed beautifully in youth jumped over upon hearing the voice and said, "Are you going to pick up my sister-in-law? I'll go too."
Lu Yinbing used his fingers as guns and fired at her: "Your sister-in-law is shy, don't make trouble."
Lu Yinbing's cousin immediately covered her chest and pretended to be shot, and said with a smile: "Don't make a fuss, don't make a fuss."
Xia Yitong clasped her hands tightly together. When she heard the knock on the door, she ran forward and opened it. At the same time, anxious words came out of her mouth uncontrollably: "What should I do? What should I do? I'm so nervous. What if—"
She was stunned.
Lu Yinbing has two hands growing on his head, no, it looks like a person.
Lu Yinbing stepped aside, and the two hands that had been waving stopped and stretched out towards her: "Hello sister-in-law, I am Sister Yinbing's sister, my name is Liucheng."
"Hello, Miss Liu." Xia Yitong's face turned red because of the teasing of her "sister-in-law". She was stunned for a moment and held her hand.
Liu Cheng seemed to have no idea how to write the word "respectful". She came up and put her arm around Xia Yitong's shoulders affectionately, looking her up and down, and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law is really pretty, even prettier than on TV."
Xia Yitong laughed dryly twice, not knowing how to answer, and replied dryly: "You too."
She looked at Lu Yinbing for help.
Liu Cheng: "What am I? I've never been on TV."
Lu Yinbing pinched Liu Cheng's wrist with two fingers and threw it aside: "Why are you so talkative? Go downstairs and play."
Liu Cheng turned around and complained to Xia Yitong in a long voice: "Sister-in-law~ look at her~"
Xia Yitong was so shy that she was at a loss. She almost found a hole to crawl into. Lu Yinbing raised his foot and waved at Liu Cheng's butt. Liu Cheng ran away with her tail between her legs, laughing. As she ran, she warned the people downstairs in shock: "My sister-in-law is about to make an appearance, my beautiful lady! Open your eyes!"
Xia Yitong: “…”
Is it too late for her to regret now
Lu Yinbing said: "I shouldn't have let her come up. She was just trying to stir up trouble."
Xia Yitong was stunned for a moment and said, "It's very cute."
Lu Yinbing glanced at her with obvious teasing in his eyes. Xia Yitong cleared her throat and turned away, then went downstairs accompanied by Lu Yinbing. The further down the stairs she went, the more nervous she became. Lu Yinbing put his arm around her waist and kept kneading her fingers to comfort her.
The living room was full of people. There were about ten of them at a glance. After counting carefully, there were eight middle-aged people, uncles and aunts. They were all well-maintained and obviously from the upper class. It was impossible to tell their rank from their appearance. There were three young people who were about the same age as Lu Yinbing, including Liu Cheng. They should be cousins, so the child of one family did not come.
Lu Yinbing introduced them to her one by one.
"This is my uncle and aunt."
Xia Yitong's heart almost jumped out of her throat. Her eloquent words were stuck in a choke. She stiffened her body, adjusted her mood, and smiled. The two elders smiled back at her.
Lu Yinbing repeated the words very slowly: "Uncle, Aunt."
The two of them also looked at her expectantly.
Xia Yitong's trembling fingers were pressed against the seam of his pants: "... Uncle, Aunt."
The woman called the aunt responded with her husband, and produced a big red envelope from behind her. She handed it to Xia Yitong, looked her over calmly, and said kindly, "Happy New Year."
Xia Yitong quickly waved her hand to refuse: "You are too polite, I can't accept it."
Her aunt had already run away and wouldn't let her put the red envelope back.
Lu Yinbing pressed her hand and said, "Take it. It's a meeting gift. It's a custom."
Xia Yitong wanted to cry but had no tears. How could she not know that it was a custom, but... but... Before she could say the but in her heart, she had been taken to the other side. Lu Yinbing introduced them as "Second Uncle and Second Aunt."
The first time is strange, the second time is familiar, Xia Yitong did not hesitate and followed, "Second uncle, second aunt."
"Hello." The second aunt gave her a big red envelope like the first aunt, which was so heavy that it weighed down her hand. She also smiled and praised: "This child is really pretty, isn't she?"
The others responded in harmony.
"Third uncle and third aunt."
"Third uncle, third aunt."
Xia Yitong could hardly hold the three stacked red envelopes with one hand. Lu Yinbing reached out to take them and brought her to the last family. Xia Yitong thought that this should be the family of distant relatives.
Lu Yinbing said: "This is Uncle Liang and Aunt Liang, who are very close to our family."
Liang
Xia Yitong suddenly had an idea, as if she had grasped something, but she couldn't confirm it with Lu Yinbing at the moment. She just carefully observed the facial features of the two middle-aged people in front of her, and could vaguely see that Aunt Liang, in particular, was four or five points similar to Liang Shuyao. If this was the case, then the remaining three young people should be the children of Lu Yinbing's uncle, and Liang Shuyao was the only one who was absent.
Is it because of her
"Uncle Liang, Aunt Liang."
"Happy New Year." Liang Shuyao's mother also gave Xia Yitong a big red envelope.
I don't know if Lu Yinbing had reminded them, but the parents didn't ask Xia Yitong any questions. After showing their goodwill, they just chatted about their own things. Lu Yinbing took Xia Yitong to play with her peers.
Xia Yitong asked in a low voice: "Liang Shuyao's parents?"
"Yeah." Lu Yinbing didn't seem to want to talk about this topic, so Xia Yitong didn't ask any further questions.
My cousin wore a neatly ironed white shirt and black trousers, and looked business-like even at home. My cousin dressed low-key, but judging by the quality of her clothes, not everyone could afford them. The most down-to-earth one was Liucheng. As the youngest, she chattered non-stop.
After a while, she started laughing: "Speaking of which, cousin Liang is really not nice. She didn't come home last year, and she won't come home this year either. She won't forget about us, will she? On such a good day, no, I want to call her and ask what she's been busy with every day. She didn't even take a break during the New Year."
Xia Yitong looked at Lu Yinbing and saw that her expression had changed.
Liu Cheng's hands were quick, but Xia Yitong was a step slower than her, and she had no right to stop her. Her cousins also looked expectant. Liu Cheng dialed the number on her cell phone, listened to the receiver for a while, and said excitedly, "It's connected."
Then I turned on the hands-free.
"Hello?" Liang Shuyao's voice was as gentle as ever. "Liu Chengzi, why are you bothering me when you're not at home for the New Year?"
"It's Chinese New Year, I miss you." Liu Cheng said, "Wait, I'll let everyone say hello to you."
Cousin: "Shu Yao."
Liang Shuyao replied: "Oh, your voice sounds hoarse, are you working overtime again?"
My cousin took the phone and said, "When it comes to working overtime, who can compare to you? We only get together a few times a year, and you never go home. When will you stop being so busy?"
Liang Shuyao: "It will be fine after these few years. When you get married, I will give you a gift money, hahaha."
"Wait a minute, there's no way around it." My cousin said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to freeze my phone, you're talking too much to her."
There was a heavy breathing sound coming from inside, which was clearly heard by everyone present under the hands-free mode. My cousin looked at Lu Yinbing who was indifferent and said, "Hold your phone, what are you doing?"
Lu Yinbing came back to her senses from her daze, took it, was silent for a while, and said, "Cousin Liang."
Liang Shuyao said: "Yes, cousin."
Lu Yinbing's throat was a little dry, so he asked, "You're not coming back this year?"
Liang Shuyao said in a very light voice: "Yes, I'm busy."
Liu Cheng: "Cousin Liang, please don't hang up yet. Guess who we met today. You definitely can't guess it."
Liang Shuyao asked: "Who is it?"
Xia Yitong reached out and covered Liu Cheng's mouth, and almost no one at the scene reacted.
"… "