Chapter 138: Nineties: A Family by the Spring Chapter 138 Alcohol Tolerance, Can Be Called a Heroine Among Women

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

Grandmother liked to have a few drinks during holidays and festivals; ever since the grandchildren could remember, they liked to lean on the table edge, watching her old self drink with longing eyes.

When Grandmother was drinking happily, she would occasionally dip her chopsticks in a little and let them lick it.

The wine was spicy and strong, making the children cough from choking.

Grandmother found it interesting; whenever this happened, she would laugh especially happily.

Lin Xiyu's alcohol tolerance was the best among the grandchildren.

The cousins had all been deliberately made drunk by Uncle, but only she held out until the end.

That year she was only in the third year of junior high, and after drinking nearly a bottle of strong liquor, she made Uncle and Da Yifu drink until they were senselessly drunk.

At that time, Grandmother specifically warned her not to say she could drink when outside.

A girl being able to drink well is not necessarily a good thing; on the contrary, she might be used by people with ulterior motives.

At this moment, she candidly admitted she could drink, which indeed carried a bit of meaning to please Grandfather.

It wasn't for anything else; she just didn't want Guben to be in a difficult position, caught between both sides, which was hard to be a person.

——

Shandong people entertaining guests emphasize that the wine must be full and the tea shallow.

Guben saw Lin Xiyu insisting, and helplessly could only comply with her wishes, pouring her a full cup.

Grandfather was in high spirits, raising his cup to drink heartily, clearly meaning to test her alcohol tolerance.

Lin Xiyu was not affected; when Grandfather raised his cup she drank, the two of them going back and forth, and a cup of wine was soon finished.

Grandfather was a typical person whose face turned red after drinking.

After one cup of wine, his old face full of wrinkles turned red like a tomato; even a monkey would have to admit inferiority.

Lin Xiyu's face did not redden nor did she pant, chatting and laughing freely.

The two people's alcohol tolerance was immediately clear.

"Xiao Lin is capable; this alcohol tolerance can be called a heroine among women..."

Grandfather's face got redder and he drank with more enthusiasm, clearly feeling the sentiment of making friends through wine with Lin Xiyu, meeting as old friends and regretting meeting late: "In the future, having you drink with Grandfather, Grandfather won't drink alone in boredom and loneliness anymore."

"Wanting someone to drink with you, why don't you hurry up and settle the betrothal gifts."

Guben at this moment had a new understanding of Lin Xiyu's alcohol tolerance; taking advantage of Grandfather being dizzy from drinking, he deliberately set a trap for him.

"The custom of old Jinan: when getting engaged, give the Three Golds: gold ring, gold necklace, gold bracelet."

Grandfather indeed had the wine go to his head, slapping the table with domineering aura leaking out: "I make the decision; our family will give double, let Grandmother pay; same style, also give double portions."

"Hey, you're quite good at pretending to be a good person?"

Grandmother laughed in anger: "You make the decision, why let me pay?"

"Haven't I handed over all my money?"

Grandfather drank without being muddled; he shamelessly moved close to his old partner: "The salary cards are all held by you; isn't your money my money?"

"Who said your money is my money?"

Grandmother pushed him away with dislike: "Yours is yours, mine is mine; we each calculate our own; don't think of arguing with me..."

"Uh."

Grandfather was choked and quite speechless: "We've lived together a lifetime; is it necessary to calculate so clearly?"

"It's not okay not to calculate clearly; I've been keeping accounts for you."

Grandmother scolded him with a smile: "Don't you know how much pension you have yourself? You spend money lavishly with no restraint at all; if it weren't for my thriftiness, the family fortune would have been emptied long ago."

"Did I spend that much?"

Grandfather was scolded by his old partner and felt a bit unable to save face: "Isn't it just occasionally eating a meal with a few chess friends; nothing else?"

"You don't smoke?"

Grandmother counted on her fingers to settle accounts with him: "A pack of cigarettes is 10 yuan; you smoke two packs a day, that's 600 a month; plus drinking, eating, daily expenses; is your pension enough or not? Don't you have a number in your heart?"

"Sigh."

Grandfather wiped his face and stubbornly insisted: "Actually, the money isn't enough; it's because the smoking addiction is too big; you can't blame me."

"Someone forcing you to smoke?"

Grandmother was angry and slapped him.

Guben chimed in from the side: "Grandfather does smoke quite a lot; it's bad for health; it's time to quit."

"Hear that; Xiao Bin says so too?"

Grandmother had her grandson backing her, and was even more confident: "Two years ago during the physical exam, the doctor said your heart isn't good, your lungs aren't good either, told you to quit smoking, but you wouldn't listen; you had to ruin your body and bring suffering on yourself..."

"Ai, this meal..."

Grandfather's face grew darker the more he listened: "It was rare to be happy, with Xiao Lin accompanying me to drink some wine; you say this and I have no mood at all."

"Xiao Lin, you say..."

Grandmother was speaking with enthusiasm; how could she easily give up: "Should he smoke or not; isn't it bad for health?"

Lin Xiyu: "......."

Sitting at the table, the pot falls from the sky.

You two old folks are arguing; why must you drag her in ah ah ah......

——

"Grandfather's pension isn't enough, but to be honest, it has little to do with his smoking habit; it's simply that he's a good man with no ulterior motives."

Guben reacted quickly and spoke up for her: "Given his status and position, if he really wanted to take some bribes, it would be easy enough; plenty of people would flatter him and deliver gifts right to his doorstep."

"Hahaha, did you hear that? Little Bin understands me best..."

These words hit Grandfather right in the heart; the old man was so happy his beard quivered, and he laughed with great abandon.

"My old wife has been honest and clean her whole life, that's true..."

Grandmother was also infected by Grandfather's laughter and gave up her plan to get to the bottom of it: "After being an official for so many years, whoever sees him would say Old Gu is a good man, with not a single fault to find."

"I believe it."

Lin Xiyu quickly followed the rhythm: "Grandfather is clearly an upright official who does practical things for the common people; otherwise, he wouldn't have such a good reputation, and the neighbors all trust him."

"You've said something right this time."

Grandfather was pleased to hear this and laughed even more heartily: "I, Gu Zhangming, have never done anything against my conscience in my life; my two children were also taught strictly from a young age, ordered not to break laws or disrupt discipline."

"Especially Little Bin's mother; she was strong-willed from a young age and eager to advance. I told her over and over that she absolutely could not make mistakes regarding money—one wrong step leads to another; as soon as she crosses this red line, her life is over."

——

"Your daughter is very ambitious..."

Lin Xiyu's expression became a bit unnatural when he mentioned Guben's mother.

So far, apart from Guben's father being away in another place recently and unable to meet, the rest of her family have all been kind and amiable to her.

The only exception is his mother.

His mother looks down on her in her heart as the daughter of a minor family, feeling she is not worthy of his son.

Even though Guben never stated it clearly, she could still sense the clues from his subtle changes in expression.

The elders of both families are about to meet; I hope no unexpected trouble arises, and no one jumps in midway to stir things up and make everyone part on bad terms.

——

"Sigh, this child, being ambitious is a good thing, but she's just a bit too strong-willed."

Grandfather didn't know what she was thinking inside; mentioning his daughter, he rubbed his brow with a headache: "She just passed the age of being easily broken, and I'm afraid she can't handle setbacks. If that day really comes..."

"Alright, don't say it."

Grandmother felt a pang in her heart as she listened, and a sudden panic surged up: "Can't you think of something good for your daughter? Must you only be satisfied if something happens to her?"

"How could I want something to happen to her? I'm worried about her."

Grandfather had been drinking, and his courage was bolstered; taking advantage of the alcohol, he quarreled with his wife: "You don't know her temper? She's been strong-willed since childhood, refuses to admit defeat, and can't accept anyone being better than her."

"She's so eager to advance; isn't it because you pushed her?"

Grandmother couldn't stand his complaints; she glared at him, displeased: "If it weren't for you favoring boys over girls and disliking that she's a girl, could she be so strong-willed? Holding back this anger, she also wants to be more promising than her brother..."

"How can you say that? Now it's me pushing her again."

A hint of guilt flashed in the old man's eyes; taking advantage of the alcohol, he quibbled: "How did I push her? From childhood to adulthood, whatever she wanted, she got; I never shortchanged her, and I treated her better than her brother."

"You didn't say it with your mouth, but it's written all over your face."

Grandmother was unhappy and struck right at his heart: "Especially after Little Bin was born, you insisted on snatching her from the Fu Family; do you think your daughter felt good about that? It's obvious—you're telling everyone you favor boys over girls!"

"Girls are too delicate."

The old man's face turned red, and his momentum clearly weakened.

"What's wrong with girls being a bit delicate?"

Grandmother still wouldn't let her go: "Little girls should be delicate and pampered, raised in the palm of one's hand; I just like my daughter and like spoiling her like a little princess."

"She's spoiled by you."

Grandfather still refused to concede, muttering: "She's so stubborn, has a bad temper, and keeps a cold face all day, as if everyone owes her something."

"What's wrong with a cold face?"

Grandmother couldn't stand his quibbling and was furious: "That's just her nature; a girl with a big temper won't suffer losses, while those who are delicate and affected are the ones who get bullied."

"With her temper, she'll suffer losses sooner or later."

Grandfather knew the situation well; if it weren't for him protecting her, just based on his daughter's sharp-tongued, offensive personality, how could she be sailing smoothly in her official career?

Now that he's older and has heart disease, who knows when he might pass away.

If he really dies, no one will protect her, and her bitter days will come.

——

"You're just someone who can't stand to see your daughter do well."

Grandmother had a grudge, and the more she said, the unhappier she got: "To put it bluntly, it's still favoring boys over girls, thinking women are inferior to men; just from how you wholeheartedly cultivate Little Bin, I can tell you've never thought about your daughter going far in her official career and inheriting your unfulfilled wishes..."

"Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo, old woman, I'm not dead yet..."

Grandfather couldn't listen anymore and, taking advantage of the alcohol, muttered again: "Why are you bringing up unfulfilled wishes now? Do you want to anger me to death?"

"Listen to what this dead old man is saying!"

Grandmother had a knot of resentment in her heart and also flew into a rage.

"Stop, don't say any more."

Guben saw the two elders arguing more and more heatedly and had to jump in to act as a peacemaker: "You two, each say one less sentence; there's no need to take it too seriously."

"Am I the one taking it seriously with him?"

Grandmother's eyes turned red with grievance: "He favors boys over girls, dislikes that your Eldest Aunt gave birth to three granddaughters, doesn't give her a good face; your Eldest Uncle moved to Guangdong in a fit of anger and hasn't returned for many years."

"Eldest Uncle went to Guangdong to do business."

Guben persuaded him in a kind tone: "The economy in the North isn't developing as fast as in the South; he saw business opportunities, so he moved his whole family there."

"He's from Shandong; going to the South, he's unfamiliar with the place..."

Grandmother grew sadder the more she thought about it, her voice tinged with sobbing: "If not forced by necessity, who would want to leave their hometown and run so far away to do business?"

"Uncle has succeeded in his career, hasn't he?"

Guben pulled out a tissue and handed it to Grandmother: "Making it on my own, doing import-export business in foreign trade clothing, bought a villa, and before New Year he even called to ask you and Grandfather to go to Guangdong and live with them for a while."

"I'm not going to Guangdong."

Grandmother wiped the corner of her eye with the tissue, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Grandfather in annoyance: "I can't understand Southern talk, and once there I wouldn't have a single person to talk to; I'd rather be comfortable in my own home."

"I'm not going to Guangdong either."

Seeing Grandmother cry and Grandfather sober up, Grandfather caught the tissue and rubbed his nose, using it to cover his vexation: "Fallen leaves return to their roots; these old bones of ours, when we die we'll be buried here, and that's the end of it."

"Drinking in broad daylight and talking nothing but nonsense."

Grandmother couldn't stand hearing the word "die," and she argued with him again: "Why talk about dying and living when everything's fine? Don't you know that once people get old, the thing they can't stand hearing most is exactly this sort of talk?"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, is that enough?"

Grandfather had sobered up and was cowed, no longer having the momentum he'd had before when bickering with his old partner.

Grandmother wouldn't let up: "Only now you know you were wrong, it's too late."

"Ai, it's all because of this mouth of mine."

Grandfather, able to bend and stretch, slapped himself across the mouth: "No sense of propriety at all; drink some wine and you talk nonsense."

"Hit harder."

Grandmother couldn't stand his putting on airs, and snorted a disdainful breath from her nostrils: "That little bit of force, doesn't hurt or itch at all, like swatting a mosquito, not a shred of sincerity."

"Cough cough."

Grandfather coughed twice in embarrassment, and indeed slapped himself hard twice more.

"All right, all right."

Guben stood up from the chair, came to Grandmother's side, gently rubbed her shoulder, and soothed her emotions: "Whatever there is to say, just say it openly; for the sake of your future granddaughter-in-law, Grandmother, forgive Grandfather this once, and give him a little face."

"Xiao Lin, you've seen a joke."

Grandmother's anger eased a little, and her gaze toward Lin Xiyu carried a hint of apology: "I'm just this tempered; I can't keep words in my heart, whatever I have to say I say..."

Lin Xiyu had been enjoying the show thoroughly; seeing Grandmother look over, she hurriedly collected her smile and forcibly pressed down the slightly upturned corner of her mouth.

"Can you tell?"

Guben blinked, pretended not to see, and smoothed things over for her: "In our family, who exactly has the higher status?"

"I can tell."

Lin Xiyu nodded in agreement.

"Grandmother's word is final."

Guben deliberately coaxed Grandmother to be happy: "Even if the Heavenly King and Old Father himself came, he'd have to listen to Grandmother."

"This monkey."

Grandmother was amused by him, and poked his forehead: "The Heavenly King and Old Father you're talking about is yourself, right? In this family, you're the most lawless one."

"Nothing of the sort..."

Guben fawned and acted cute: "I listen to Grandmother too; even if I really were Sun Wukong, I couldn't flip out of Grandmother's palm."