Wang Yongshan came not for any other reason, but because the New Year was approaching, and his mother was concerned about her sister and had sent him to deliver New Year’s gifts.
In fact, Wang Yongshan didn’t usually send gifts in previous years. Firstly, Yang Dachuan was the son-in-law, so if any gifts were to be sent, they should be from him to Wang Yongshan’s family. Secondly, with that nasty woman around, the gifts wouldn’t reach her sister anyway.
But this year was different. Ever since he went back to his sister’s house last time and found out that they had separated households and their lives had improved, his mother kept talking about it to whoever would listen: how her daughter was living so much better now. So, when his eldest brother brought some stuff back from the prefecture, his mother immediately sent him to deliver some on an ox-cart.
Yang Chuxia saw Wang Yongshan and his party from inside the house and hurried out to greet them, "Uncle Er, you’re here! First cousin and second cousin!"
"Cousin, why are you only calling out to your cousins and not to me?" As soon as Wang Yunxia and Wang Yunlian got off the ox-cart, a loud voice followed.
Yang Chuxia had already noticed this cousin, but she saw that Qian Xiaoqing was sticking to his arm, and the two were talking in a friendly manner with their heads down, so she held off on speaking. Besides, she really didn’t want to deal with Qian Xiaoqing.
And every time she saw Qian Xiaoqing, she thought of how she had called Brother An a "little cripple" last time, which made her hands itch to do something about it.
"Cousin!" But no matter her thoughts, she still had to call out to him.
"Do you know which cousin I am?" The cousin asked with a smile.
Yang Chuxia was stunned and looked at this cousin, thinking he must be slow-witted. With Qian Xiaoqing so close to him, who else could he be? But it turned out she was overthinking it.
"Who else could you be when you’re with her? You’re the eldest cousin from Uncle Er’s family, of course."
Wang Pingtao, the eldest cousin from the second uncle’s family, exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, they say my younger cousin is smart, and that’s indeed true!"
Ms. Wang was delighted to see this nephew she hadn’t seen in years.
"This is Pingtao, right? I haven’t seen you for a few years, and you’ve grown so big. That’s great."
"Yes, Auntie, I’m Pingtao."
"Good, good, let’s go inside."
"Wait a moment, I’ll help my father carry the stuff first." It turned out that Wang Yongshan brought quite a few things this time, and they hadn’t finished unloading them during the conversation.
Wang Pingtao stepped forward to help, and when Yang Dachuan came back from somewhere else, he was happy to see his second uncle and also followed to help carry the things.
"Mother, why did you bring so many things?" Ms. Wang said with a smile on her face.
"It’s nothing much, just some food and some New Year’s goods that my mother made. She made some rice cakes, sesame balls, and fried some small fruits. She said you liked those and asked me to bring some."
Wang Yongshan carried things into the house while explaining. Seeing this, Yang Chuxia sighed, thinking that blood relatives were indeed different.
Look at her father’s second wife; she was just unbelievable. But if it had been her own mother, she would probably be like her grandma.
Since relatives came to visit, they naturally prepared a big meal for lunch. Wang Yongshan learned that his sister’s family had opened a shop, so he blamed them for not informing him to send a congratulatory gift.
Yang Chuxia explained that it was too far away, and they hadn’t had time to notify everyone since they were in a hurry. Moreover, they hadn’t even hosted a housewarming party yet.
However, such reasons were obviously unconvincing to Wang Yongshan, so he caught Ms. Wang and scolded her a bit after lunch.
After having lunch and with nothing big to do before the New Year, the sisters spent time together chatting and playing, and Qian Xiaoqing naturally joined them as well.