Yun Xiaoxiao patted Xiao Bao’s head, "Next time, we’ll remember it together."
Xiao Bao wasn’t upset either, "Yeah, next time I’ll definitely memorize it well and recite all of it."
"Grandma, I can still count to eighty."
Without waiting for Mother Yun to agree or refuse, Xiao Bao started counting aloud.
He was quite quick, not pausing intermittently.
"How old is Xiao Bao?"
Younger than my grandson, yet when my grandson counts, he isn’t as quick; he’s in nursery school, while my elder grandson is in elementary school.
"Grandma, I can also recite poems..."
He could recite poems too.
"I can also write my own name."
Xiao Bao hadn’t met Grandma before, but now that Grandma had come, he desperately wanted to show off in front of her.
Yun Xiaoxiao helplessly watched the conspicuous bag, feeling a hint of pleasure in pleasing Mother Yun.
"How are big brother and second brother doing?"
Mother Yun sighed, "Your second brother has gone to become a ’live-in son-in-law.’
To become a ’live-in son-in-law’?
These days, no healthy young man would go and become a ’live-in son-in-law.’
The books describe the female supporting character’s family too briefly.
Who sent that telegram, after all?
Big brother and sister-in-law?
"Really, I never thought of that. You never mentioned it in your letters before."
This was a matter of shame, so how could we speak of it?
Speak of how Laoer, to avoid being sent to the countryside, would rather be a ’live-in son-in-law’?
Because of my youngest son’s actions, we, the parents, feared we might be pointed at and talked about during that period.
"How many nephews and nieces have the two sisters-in-law added for me?"
"Your eldest sister-in-law has two sons, and your second sister-in-law has two daughters and one son, the youngest son being only a few months old."
Were they so keen on having sons?
"Then I have three nephews and two nieces."
"Second brother’s job?"
Mother Yun knew that his father-in-law was a head chef at a state-run restaurant.
The younger son’s prospects depended on his father-in-law.
"Previously he was a state-run waiter, but now he’s learning to cook, assisting in the kitchen under his father-in-law’s tutelage."
Assisting in the kitchen?
That’s like an apprentice led by the head chef, a sort of semi-qualified person; the salary and benefits are not comparable to those of the head chef, but they are somewhat higher than those of a waiter.
"Second brother actually went to study cooking?"
Isn’t it four siblings?
What about big sister?
"Your big sister knew I was coming to find you, and she even asked me to bring you some things."
The book’s description about the female supporting character’s big sister was just a line.
Years in the countryside, yet still acting immature.
It was evident that the female supporting character’s big sister didn’t really like her.
"Does second brother live with you all?"
"No, he lives with your father-in-law’s family."
Could that telegram possibly have been sent by the female supporting character’s second brother?
"Big brother got promoted, right?"
Mother Yun said with a smile at the corner of her mouth, "Your big brother is now a workshop team leader."
Workshop team leader?
Yun Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered a plot point from the book, where soon after the female supporting character returned to the city, her older brother became the head of a small workshop.
Now that she was taking the place of the female supporting character, she had not returned to the city.
"With the reinstatement of the college entrance exam, didn’t anyone in our family take part?"
Mother Yun thought about how all her children had jobs, but none were college-educated.
"I originally thought your big sister would take the college entrance exam since she is an elementary school teacher, but she didn’t take the exam, possibly because she was pregnant at the time. She bore your brother-in-law two sons and a daughter."
As per Mother Yun’s account,
After the female supporting character died, her siblings all managed to live well.