Lin Yuan suddenly remembered something and glanced covertly at Dawang and Xiaowang. She lowered her voice and asked, "Seventh Sister, there’s something I want to ask you, and don’t be annoyed at me for being nosy."
"What’s up? Just say it."
"Well, it’s been quite a few years since your husband passed, haven’t you thought about, you know, moving on?"
Although Lin Yuan didn’t say it explicitly, Loudmouth understood that she was suggesting she find another man to spend her life with. Indeed, she wasn’t even forty yet, and if she wanted to take another step forward, it was entirely possible.
Moreover, people here weren’t too harsh on women; it was quite common for widows to remarry. Since Loudmouth was already divorced from Da Qiangzi and had no in-laws or parents to answer to, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to remarry if she wished.
However, she wasn’t sure what her two sons thought about it.
Upon hearing Lin Yuan’s words, Loudmouth was initially stunned but then shook her head firmly, "That matter, my boys have already asked me about it before."
They had already asked? Lin Yuan was surprised. It seemed that the sons were in agreement with their mother remarrying—it was indeed rare to see sons encouraging their mother to remarry. It seemed they also harbored deep resentment towards their father who had abandoned his family.
"When that bastard first left, some people advised me to move on, but back then the kids were still young, and I was heartbroken, so I didn’t consider it. Now that the children are grown up and it’s time for them to marry and have kids, I, as their future mother-in-law, have even less interest in doing so."
Loudmouth wore a calm and serene expression, obviously speaking from the heart, "In a few years, I’ll be waiting to hold my grandchildren! I have no plans to find another man to serve his every need!"
Lin Yuan was amused by her words. That’s right, women here didn’t have much status; once married, they really weren’t much different from maids. Now that Loudmouth could earn her own money and had filial sons, why would she want to bother herself with unnecessary trouble?
The dinner was quite crowded, with two large tables almost fully seated. At first, everyone was somewhat reserved, but with Xiao Linshuang and Aunt Chen’s grandson frolicking around, the atmosphere at the table became much more relaxed.
Lin Yuan didn’t say much in the way of platitudes, simply expressing gratitude for the hard work everyone had done over the past few months and hopes for continued effort in the coming year.
Liuzi was absent, so the most lively person at the table had to be Liuzi. He wasn’t married yet and had brought his parents. It was unexpected that someone as slick-talking as Liuzi had parents who were really simple and honest.
And Fifth Sister Bai’s husband turned out to be big and burly, clearly someone accustomed to physical labor. But he was surprisingly gentle in nature and seemed very similar to Fifth Sister Bai.
The most surprising thing to Lin Yuan was Sister-in-law Luo. Despite being so strong and capable during work at Rice Flower Fragrance, she turned into a mere servant in front of her son. Attentive to every need, she pampered her son to the point that she nearly fed him by hand.
Lin Yuan watched silently, feeling as if she were seeing what Xie Zhiyuan and Lady Xie were like as children.
Fortunately, Sister-in-law Luo’s son was very sensible and always took care of things before his mother could, always serving her first whenever he picked up food, which was certainly much better than Xie Zhiyuan in that regard.
When she saw Meng Liangdong and Mo Sanniang, Lin Yuan quickly averted her gaze. So it turned out, behind Mr. Meng’s usual reserved appearance, there was also a considerate side. Their loving affection was even sweeter than what she’d seen in the fabric store that afternoon.
The one who stood out in stark contrast at the table was probably Uncle Wang. He didn’t live in the town and initially didn’t plan to attend the dinner. If it weren’t for Lin Yuan’s surprise attack, which had Lin Yi drive to Wang Village and find Uncle Wang’s home, he probably wouldn’t have come at all.
Unfortunately, Uncle Wang’s spouse was in poor health, which was especially concerning in such cold weather and not suitable for travel. Uncle Wang hadn’t meant to come, but his spouse persuaded him repeatedly until he agreed. After preparing food for his spouse, Uncle Wang came alone.
When Lin Yi told her about this, Lin Yuan immediately regretted it. Had she known this would happen, she wouldn’t have asked Lin Yi to drive to Wang Village; instead, she should have simply brought some food to their home. Now, with good intentions, she felt she had done more harm than good.
Therefore, seeing that Uncle Wang had nearly finished eating, Lin Yuan asked Shopkeeper Liu to prepare several of Fuman Building’s signature dishes in advance, and then had Lin Yi drive him home earlier in the carriage.