latelenovela Chapter 115: In-laws Visit
Chapter 115: In-laws Visit
"The child must be hungry. Please give her a bite of food quickly. She refused to drink the formula at night."
Mother Zhong poured Darong a cup of warm water and motioned her to drink it first.
After drinking some water, Darong quickly took Xiao Ruyi in. The moment she entered her mother's arms, she burst into tears.
This was the first time that little Ruyi spent the night apart from her mother since she was born. Perhaps the little girl must have felt uneasy. Not being able to smell the familiar scent of her mother made her feel aggrieved all night.
"Sister-in-law, do you have to work a night shift today?" Xiaoping looked at Darong with a look of despair.
When Darong and her colleagues work in three shifts, they work two days at a time. After working a night shift on the seventh night of the Lunar New Year, they take two days off on the eighth and ninth days, then work two days of day and mid-day shifts before working the night shift, and so on.
"Well, there's another night shift today."
Darong actually didn't want to work the night shift. It was exhausting in itself, and now that she had little Ruyi at home, Darong was even more reluctant to work. But she had no other choice.
At that time, Darong realized for the first time the importance of studying and going to school. College students like Zhong Yunhong, who received high salaries and sat in offices and attended cadre classes every day, did not have to experience such hardship at all.
"Hey, Ruyi baby, your mother has to work the night shift tonight. Please forgive your aunt and let's talk about it and have a good sleep, okay?"
Xiaoping sighed and looked at Xiao Ruyi who was breastfeeding with a begging look on her face.
In fact, in that era, in cities like Yutian, the idea of favoring boys over girls did exist, but it did not seem to be so strong.
By the 90s, people in Yutian had generally accepted the national policy of having only one child, so both boys and girls were the apple of the family's eye.
"Ping, thank you for your hard work!" Darong smoothed the hair around Xiaoping's ears and felt warmly grateful when she saw how she doted on Xiao Ruyi.
On the morning of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Darong rushed to Erdaohezi right after work. Not long after she entered the door, Wu Meifeng's parents pushed a car into the yard.
Mother Zhong saw the old couple through the glass, but she didn't rush out. Instead, she waited until they reached the door of the house, then she smiled and went to open the door.
Darong saw the change in Zhong's mother's expression clearly in the room. She lowered her head silently, adjusted Xiao Ruyi's diaper, and put the sleeping Xiao Ruyi on the kang.
"The in-laws are here, please come in!" Mother Zhong smiled warmly and naturally, and welcomed Wu Meifeng's parents into the house.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Wu Meifeng's parents stated their purpose, saying they had come specifically to discuss marriage arrangements.
Darong was always beside them, serving tea and water and listening to the conversation of the elders.
Ever since Zhong Yunhong sent Wu Meifeng back home on the first day of the Chinese New Year, the whole family went to Dacheng on the second day of the Chinese New Year. Until he came back on the sixth day, Zhong Yunhong had never been to Wu Meifeng's house again.
If it was someone like Darong, the marriage would have been aborted long ago. However, after Wu Meifeng's family learned the whole story and understood Wu Meifeng's thoughts, they did not give up the marriage outright.
Because when they met the in-laws before, the parents of both sides had already chosen the wedding date, so when the Wu family's parents came this time, they directly started the topic of discussing the wedding.
Mother Zhong was actually a person who was very good at observing people's words and expressions. After several attempts, she happily dispensed with all the clichés except the four gifts.
In fact, if this happened in other families, those details would not be important. After all, it was already the 90s, and few people were still keen on those cumbersome etiquettes based on old customs.
But when it comes to Wu Meifeng, there always seems to be a hint of manipulation and calculation.
At that time, Da Rong had already seen Xiao Ling's temper and personality, so she was not surprised at Wu Meifeng's mentality of rushing to marry into the Zhong family.
After all, compared to the unremarkable fourth generation, Zhong Yunhong is much more outstanding than ordinary people in terms of work, education, appearance and figure.
After seeing off the Wu family's parents, Mother Zhong was obviously in a very happy mood. She happily went to the outer room to make some pancakes for little Ruyi.
Because Darong has returned to work and Xiao Ruyi refuses to eat milk powder properly, the six-month-old kid has already started eating complementary foods.
"Furong, you should take a nap first. Let's go back together when Daxing comes back in the afternoon. You can't ride a bike with the child alone."
When Mother Zhong saw Darong coming out of the inner room to help, she quickly sent her back into the room to look after the child until he went to sleep.
"Yeah, okay." Although Darong said yes, she still cleaned up the things in the outer room before entering the house.
Darong dozed off for a while while watching over little Ruyi. When she opened her eyes, it was almost noon. Mother Zhong was already busy preparing lunch in the outer room.
"Look at this little girl, she's a bully. She's watching over you and she doesn't make a fuss even after waking up. She's just playing here by herself."
Xiaoping saw that Darong had woken up, with a smile on her face, and complained to her about the "bullying" Xiao Ruyi.
Darong laughed, touched Xiao Ruyi's forehead, then got up and went to the outer room to help with cooking.
Zhong Yunxing gets off work at 2 p.m., and by the time he gets to Erdaohezi by bike, it will be at least 2: p.m.
After finishing her lunch at noon, Mother Zhong went to visit her neighbor next door. At that time, when a child got married, it was important to invite a "Quanhe person" to act as the bride's back. The so-called "Quanhe person" refers to someone who has both a son and a daughter and both parents.
Zhong Yunhong's marriage had already been decided, and Zhong's mother thought of asking someone to help make the quilt. After dinner, she went out, leaving Darong, Xiaoping and Xiao Ruyi at home.
"Sister-in-law, what do you think of Wu Meifeng?" Xiaoping was teasing Xiao Ruyi and suddenly asked Darong.
Darong was stunned by her question. She and Zhong Yunxing lived in the town and had only met Wu Meifeng twice in total, once when she met her in-laws and once during the Chinese New Year.
"I think she's good-looking and tall, but I don't quite understand her temperament." Darong answered truthfully about her impression of Wu Meifeng.
"Hmph, I don't think she's that good. She came home in the summer wearing a pair of high-heeled leather sandals. I asked her one more question, and she said in a pretentious tone, 'These are sheepskin, they're not even sold in the southern suburbs.' Tsk, I get sick of hearing that."
After Xiaoping finished speaking, she rolled her eyes in disgust.
"She just wanted to marry my second brother. Our mother said that she would never be able to get married if she left my second brother." Xiaoping added with great pride.
"Why?" Darong was confused by Xiaoping's words.
"Mom doesn't let me ask nonsense questions. I don't know why, but what she says must be true."
The young Xiaoping didn't understand, but Darong seemed to understand the Wu family's compromise.