The banquet's toasting segment.
Ouyang Meihua, along with her eldest son and daughter-in-law, first toasted the Li family.
Ouyang Feng's expression soured. Shouldn't they have toasted their maternal uncles first?
The Li family presented the "change of address" money, which Ouyang Meihua had forbidden them from giving out early, and handed it to Li Wanzhen one by one.
Li Wanzhen accepted the red silk brocade envelopes and expressed her thanks.
Ouyang Feng's face grew darker. Was his elder sister waiting for him here?
He looked at his younger sister and youngest brother.
Qian Jinjun dangled the red envelope in his hand.
Ouyang Lei jingled a stack of money.
Ouyang Feng considered feigning a need to use the restroom, but his elder sister had already arrived with her eldest nephew and his wife.
Ouyang Rende and Ouyang Renxin quickly took out the two-hundred-yuan red envelopes from their pockets, pulled out some real money, and stuffed it into their father's hand.
Ouyang Feng breathed a sigh of relief. After drinking some wine and calling his eldest uncle "uncle" a couple of times, he placed the two-hundred-yuan bills onto the tray in his eldest nephew's hand.
A rough hand picked up the two hundred yuan, examined it, and placed it back on the tray.
Ouyang Feng glared at his elder sister who was scrutinizing the money. He vowed never to attend any of his elder sister's banquets again, no matter what.
As the banquet concluded, Ouyang Meihua saw off her guests and returned to the courtyard. She hugged her mother-in-law, crying and laughing.
Mother Li gently patted her elder daughter-in-law's shoulder. "You have us, you have Yanyan and Xiaoyu, and also Damai and Xiaomai. Those who don't care about you don't need you to care about them."
Ouyang's second brother and younger sister had shown no familial affection when Meihua was down on her luck or when she was wealthy, so there was no need to care about them anymore.
Ouyang Meihua nodded. "Thank you, Mother. Thank you, Tiantian, and thank you, Minmin. Our home is still the best."
"Alright, alright."
Li Min said unhappily from the side, "Sister-in-law Niu and Sister-in-law Guilan have snatched away the outside work. Hurry and arrange the leftovers."
Ouyang Meihua raised her hands to wipe her face. "I'll give Mother back to you. I know you're jealous."
Mother Li immediately got up. "I'll go see if Xuanyuan has woken up yet?"
Li Min...
The Li family youths prepared to return to their posts. Li Weiyan handed a QQ number to Li Weixin. "This is the QQ number of your eldest sister-in-law's bridesmaid. She's the niece of her third aunt. Add her or not, it's up to you."
Li Weixin crumpled the slip of paper with the QQ number and threw it away. He wasn't a backup option.
Li Aiguo was released from prison.
The villagers of Kushan wondered, seeing the aged Li Aiguo, who looked like an old man.
If it weren't for the familiar features and unchanged voice, no one would have believed that the haggard, aged old man walking into the village was Li Aiguo.
Looking at his white-haired mother, who stood at the village entrance to greet him, Li Aiguo's vision blurred with tears. He fell to his knees before his mother with a 'plop'. "Mother!"
Hu Hongju bent down to help her younger son up, tears streaming from her eyes. "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."
Li Aiguo stood up and looked around the village. "Where is my father?"
Hu Hongju wiped her tears. "Your father had a stroke years ago and is now disabled. He has some difficulty walking and is waiting for you at home."
Li Aiguo held Hu Hongju's arm. "Let's go home."
Hu Hongju smiled through her tears. "Good, good, let's go home."
They hadn't walked a few steps when they were intercepted by a couple with a child.
The woman spoke. "Dad's back. Dad, this is your son-in-law, Wei Xiaoyong, and this is your grandson, Li Sixi."
"Dad."
"Grandpa."
The man and the child called out to Li Aiguo respectively.
Li Aiguo's gaze fell upon the man's empty left sleeve.
Hu Hongju couldn't articulate her feelings towards Wei Xiaoyong. She used to dislike him, then ignored him, and now... alas!
"Aiguo, Xiaoyong is Daniu's live-in son-in-law. He used to work with Tianjing at the nursery. Now they've opened their own plantation with forty people. We'll talk more when we get home."
Li Daniu looked at Hu Hongju. "Grandma, Xiaoyong and I have already tidied up the house. We've also changed all the bedding. Dad can live with you or come back to live here, it's fine either way."
"If you and Dad have any ideas, you can bring them up. It's okay, Sixi can change his surname to Wei."
Li Aiguo looked sharply at his daughter.
After more than ten years apart, his daughter's personality had changed too much.
Hu Hongju was also taken aback. "Daniu, you... you don't want to support your father anymore?"
"I didn't say that."
Li Daniu's expression was calm, but her fists were clenched. "It's better to clarify things face-to-face to avoid any misunderstandings."
"After all, Uncle Niu still wants to get married and have children. Please don't interfere with Dad's thoughts anymore."
"Also, Dad went in before I turned eighteen. Grandpa and Grandma never took care of me either, so some things should be said in advance."
"I believe Dad learned about the law inside. You should know about the crime of abuse, right?"
"Daniu!"
Hu Hongju reprimanded her. "Your father just got out, and you're already impatient?"
"Grandma."
Li Daniu took a deep breath. "Righteousness isn't about volume. How my father treated me, you went to my house often, you know better than anyone."
"I was young back then and had no one to turn to for protection. Now that I'm an adult, no one can control my destiny!"
"Don't get agitated."
Wei Xiaoyong held his wife's hand. "You have me and Sixi."
Eight-year-old Li Sixi grabbed his mother's hand. "Mom, Dad and I will protect you."
"Good boy!"
Li Daniu lowered her head to comfort her son, then looked up and smiled at her husband. "Let's go home."
Wei Xiaoyong nodded. "Let's go home."
Watching the backs of the family of three, Li Aiguo fell silent. "Mother, this son-in-law of mine, who introduced him?"
"Alas!"
Hu Hongju sighed. "Zhengguo introduced him. He's the county magistrate of Ling County now."
Li Aiguo was shocked. "County... magistrate? Aren't positions above deputy county level not for locals?"
Hu Hongju shook her head. "I don't know how it happened. Zhengguo was supposed to retire, but he just couldn't."
"We'll talk about it when we get home. So many things have happened in the past decade, it's impossible to explain everything at once."
Li Aiguo followed Hu Hongju into the village. The onlookers dispersed in twos and threes, and soon, the news of Li Aiguo's return spread to every household.
Sister-in-law Niu took a moment from her chores to run to the courtyard. "Tianjing, Aiguo's back."
Tianjing wasn't surprised; Li Daniu had already told her.
Sister-in-law Niu recounted a snippet of village gossip to Tianjing.
"...You know, will Aiguo marry a new wife and have a son? By the way, Aunt Hu's influence is no less than my mother-in-law's."
"Fortunately, Daniu found Xiaoyong, who is capable. He moved out just before Aiguo returned, otherwise, it would have been less advantageous."
Tianjing chuckled. Despite all that had happened, Sister-in-law Niu's kindhearted nature remained unchanged.
"It's not about whether Li Aiguo accepts Xiaoyong, but if Li Aiguo doesn't change his ways, it will be about whether Xiaoyong and Daniu accept him."
"I know that."
Sister-in-law Niu seemed a bit anxious. "It's just that Aiguo has such a troublesome mother. For so many years, Jianguo and Sulan have barely acknowledged her, and Accountant Li can't get rid of her."
"Now that Aiguo is back, her confidence should return, after all, Accountant Li is old and paralyzed."
"What are you rushing for?"
Tianjing smiled faintly. "Didn't you say everything is destiny? Perhaps she's destined to be endlessly troublesome?"
"Alas!"
Sister-in-law Niu sighed. "I'm worried that the peace in Kushan will be gone."
"Don't worry about things that haven't happened."
Tianjing felt Sister-in-law Niu was overthinking. "Li Aiguo has been studying inside for over a decade. He should know what he should and shouldn't do."
"Alright."
Sister-in-law Niu secretly scooped Xuanyuan into her arms. "Say Grandma."
Xuanyuan recognized this grandma who often visited. "Niu, ma."
"Hahaha."
Tianjing burst into laughter. Li Min must have told Xuanyuan to call her with her surname, because if she didn't use her surname, any woman in the village could respond to "Grandma."
But with Sister-in-law Niu's surname, "Niu," it was particularly comical.
Sister-in-law Niu repeatedly emphasized that her surname wasn't Niu, but no one was willing to accept her original surname, insisting on calling her by her husband's surname.
"Grandma Niu," was not just what Xuanyuan called her; many children in the village called her that.
Coupled with Sister-in-law Niu's cheerful personality, many children were happy to call her that.
Sister-in-law Niu poked Xuanyuan's little nose. "Say Grandma Wang."
Xuanyuan opened her mouth. "Wang, Wang Wang."
"Hahaha."
Not only Tianjing but also Mother Li couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Sister-in-law Niu helplessly yet affectionately kissed Xuanyuan's cheek. "Little girl, Grandma really wants to take you home."
"No, no."
Xuanyuan waved her little hand. "Down."
Sister-in-law Niu put Xuanyuan down, chatted for a while, and then hurried home.