Jiang Dashan saw that the sun had already begun to set, and no one had yet started to get ready to head home.
He stood up and said, "Okay, it’s getting late; let’s hurry home. Otherwise, it’ll be too dark to see the road soon."
"Right, we’ve been out all day. It’s time for us to go as well," Zhang Guihua said as she grabbed a couple of handfuls of sunflower seeds, followed by a handful of candies.
Sun Lixia and the two boys also followed her lead.
Ah, this new house was really nice; they all felt a bit reluctant to leave.
"Hey, wait for me a moment; I need to go to the bathroom." Just as everyone was getting ready to leave, Zhang Guihua suddenly clutched her stomach and spoke.
"Mom, what’s wrong, are you having stomach problems?" Jiang Changhai asked with concern.
Could it be that his mom’s stomach was upset because she hadn’t had a lot of oily foods for a long time, and today she had eaten too much? Jiang Changhai wondered to himself.
"Changhai, come teach me how to flush the toilet again," Zhang Guihua said, tugging at Jiang Changhai’s arm and heading towards the bathroom.
"Dad, stay seated for a while longer." Before Jiang Changhai could finish, his mom had already pulled him out the door.
Once they got to the bathroom, Zhang Guihua’s stomach pain instantly disappeared.
"Mom, does it not hurt anymore?" Jiang Changhai pointed at Zhang Guihua’s stomach and asked in confusion.
"Shh, keep quiet." Zhang Guihua took out a crumpled hundred yuan note from her inside pocket and stuffed it into his hand.
"This hundred yuan is from your dad and me; spend it carefully. Don’t be reckless with money, buying everything you see. From now on, you’ll be running the household yourselves; don’t keep living carelessly like before. From now on, you’ll be the mainstay of the family, understand?" Zhang Guihua instructed with unease.
"Mom, don’t worry, I’ve got it all worked out. I’ll definitely make our lives prosperous," Jiang Changhai assured her without hesitation as he confidently pocketed the money.
The old lady took his boastful words with a grain of salt, as if she could really be at ease!
If she didn’t have to go back to farming, she would’ve definitely stayed to help manage the house.
"Enough with your bluffing. Just take good care of your wife. I’m going now. When things at home aren’t so busy, I’ll come over to see you all," Zhang Guihua patted Jiang Changhai and walked out.
Jiang Changhai looked at his mom’s slightly stooped figure, turned around, rushed to the kitchen, and took the two pounds of meat his grandmother hadn’t used up when cooking. He handed it to her.
"Mom, it’s not convenient for us to buy meat. You take this meat back with you to eat."
"I don’t want it. You guys keep it. You still owe money to your coworkers. You’ll have to be more frugal in the future," Zhang Guihua declined.
"Oh mom, just take it. We have other stuff at home. Don’t worry, I’m about to get paid, and we’ll have enough money," Jiang Changhai insisted as he forced the meat into her hands.
"Yeah, Mom, please take it. This is all Eldest Brother’s sincerity," Sun Lixia quickly urged.
Now that the Eldest had moved out, most of this meat would still end up in their stomachs once taken back home.
On the way back, the old lady still muttered to herself while carrying the meat, "How could Eldest be so bewitched to buy such an expensive brick house? With the money he had, he could have bought a mud house and still had some left over. Now look, all the money’s gone, and he still owes others. How are we going to live in the future? And all that furniture, we already have enough at home, yet he insisted on buying new ones. He really doesn’t know how to live economically."
The Second Branch and Third Branch following behind did not echo her sentiments.
Having seen how well the Eldest and his family were living, Laosan and his wife felt a profound sense of inadequacy, feeling utterly dejected at that moment.