Lu Xinyi couldn’t see the children and asked anxiously, "Where are the kids?"
Gu Qianru looked towards the small living room, "Yanyan and Yueyue were taken out by Stone and Taifeng to play, and after Ran Ran and Hao Hao came back, they also chased after them to play. The remaining four little rascals are playing with building blocks in the small living room."
Lu Xinyi could not bother to keep talking with them, and hurried to find his grandsons and nephews.
When he saw the four children, Lu Xinyi was overwhelmed with emotions. When he was young, he was so busy that he had absolutely no time to accompany his children. Seeing his grandsons and nephews now, he could barely remember what his own children looked like at that age; he was an incompetent father.
As he approached, Xiao Ye asked, "Who are you?"
Lu Xinyi reached out to touch Xiao Ye’s head, "I am your grandfather, your daddy’s dad."
Xiao Ye looked at Lu Xinyi and pushed Big Brother, who was building with blocks, "Big Brother, it’s Grandpa."
Lu Yichen followed in, "Xiao Rui, Xiao Ye, Xiao Yu, this is Grandpa. You’ve met him before, but you were too young to remember back then. Call him Grandpa."
The three kids were quite obedient and politely called out together, "Hello, Grandpa."
Lu Yichen then looked at his little nephew, "Mingyang, call him Grandpa."
Mingyang didn’t rush to call Grandpa, but said, "I’m called Xiao Yang."
Lu Yiting who followed in laughed, "Alright, alright, from now on, we will call you Xiao Yang. That way, it’s the same as your cousins’ nicknames, right?"
Mingyang then nodded, "We were born on the same day."
Lu Yiting, having no other option, said, "Yes, yes, yes, call him Grandpa quickly."
Mingyang felt that he had secured his rightful place, so he cheerfully called, "Hello, Grandpa!"
Lu Xinyi watched his grandsons and nephews with a beaming face, "Good, good, good, all good kids."
Hugging this one, kissing that one, he was truly overjoyed.
Luo Qiao saw them having fun and turned to walk out, planning to help in the kitchen.
Seeing her son and nephews playing well, Lu Yiting also followed Luo Qiao out, "Sister-in-law, I’ll go ahead then, will come back later to pick up Xiao Yang."
Luo Qiao smiled, "Go ahead."
Wang Xiaoxin, hearing their conversation, came out from the kitchen and asked her sister-in-law to carry some items back, before heading back to the kitchen with Luo Qiao.
Everyone in the kitchen was talking and laughing; time passed especially quickly. Tonight’s New Year’s Eve dinner consisted of: braised five-spice beef, smoked hairtail fish, red wine poached pears, mixed cold vegetables, salt-baked shrimp, Beijing-style sea cucumber, Maoxuewang, sautéed King oyster mushrooms with beef, steamed mixed fish, crispy-skinned roast chicken, braised pork, stewed pork ribs, Four Happiness meatballs, Di Sanxian, oil-soaked mushrooms with Chinese broccoli, steamed egg custard, Lucky cabbage rolls, pearl glutinous rice balls, pumpkin glutinous rice cakes, and winter melon meatball soup.
With the dishes ready, Stone also came back with everyone, each holding a few balloons, clearly having had lots of fun, all faces beaming with joy.
Gu Qianru saw the children returning, "Stone, take them to wash hands, it’s time to eat."
At this moment, Kong Xiangrui and Lu Yiting came over to pick up Kong Mingyang, but the little fellow did not want to leave. He planned to sit and eat with his cousins. Initially, Wang Xiaoxin thought of letting it go, but Old Master Gu said it’s the New Year and shouldn’t spoil him too much.
Luo Qiao, worried he would make a fuss and upset Old Master Gu, quietly negotiated with Xiao Yang for a while, promising many good things, before he agreed to follow his parents back to Grandma’s next door for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
When leaving, he also didn’t forget to ask his aunt to pack his favorite dishes in an insulated box, which left him content to bid everyone goodbye.
On the New Year’s Eve dinner table, the Gu family was full of joy, with hearty laughter occasionally echoing through the house.
As the bell rang, it ushered in the year 1991.
Before dawn, the sound of firecrackers went off; the children, having slept late, woke up early, eagerly went to the front yard to greet their great-grandfather, grandfather, and grandaunt, really aiming for the elders’ red packets.
By the time Luo Qiao got ready, the little ones had already gotten their red packets and returned, each one smiling radiantly at their mother, "Mommy, happy New Year, stay beautiful forever."
On the second day of the New Year, Lu Yixuan’s family returned to the Yue Family. Luo Qiao had previously agreed with her grandparents that they would visit on the third day, as it’s not right to delay her aunt, big aunt, and sister-in-law from returning to their maternal homes because of her and her sisters, so the Luo family planned to gather on the third day.
Today, Luo Qiao was at her grandfather’s place, hosting her sister-in-law’s family.
Wang Xiaoxin left feeling a bit embarrassed, but Luo Qiao reassured her as she would only return to Luo’s family on the third day, advising her to go back to her maternal home with peace of mind.
Xiao Mingyang arrived early, "Auntie, can I stay to eat today?"
Luo Qiao pinched her little nephew’s face, "Other than on New Year’s Eve dinner, Xiao Yang, you can come over for meals anytime you want."
Xiao Mingyang flashed a bright smile, "Thank you, Auntie."