Chapter 172: 90: A Family by the Spring, Chapter 172: Spending New Year at the Fu Family, a Big Family Full of Joy

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"If I had to guess..."

Uncle found it amusing and chipped in with a smile: "Eighty percent it's about romance. What other secrets could young people have? It's nothing more than liking a woman her parents don't accept, hiding her outside, not daring to bring her home."

Guben: "..."

I didn't expect Uncle to be such an old hand at gossip, guessing the truth in one go.

"So it's true?"

Seeing him not deny it, Lin Xiyu's eyes lit up.

"Cough, cough."

Guben felt guilty for once and looked away.

"Brother Ceng really has a girlfriend?"

Lin Xiyu, surprised and delighted: "Your silence means you agree."

Guben sighed helplessly: "You just need to know this; don't tell anyone else."

"Fine."

Lin Xiyu agreed readily.

Guben raised an eyebrow, looking at her somewhat surprised.

As if saying, you actually managed to hold back and didn't keep asking?

"Brother Ceng doesn't want others to know, so naturally he has his reasons."

Lin Xiyu understood what he meant, and before he could ask, she said it herself: "I can understand his mood. Considering he helped me sell goods, I won't ask and will let him off, though I really do want to know..."

Guben pursed his lips and smiled, just about to praise her for being so sensible, but hearing the last sentence, he almost broke down and laughed out loud on the spot.

—

Uncle saw the two of them to the doorway of the Military District Compound. No matter what, he refused to take money. Taking advantage of the moment the young couple got out of the car, he stepped hard on the accelerator, and the taxi roared onto the avenue, disappearing from sight in no time.

"Forget it, if Uncle doesn't want money, then so be it..."

Guben withdrew his gaze and smiled with relief: "On the second day of the New Year, I'll bring him two bottles of good wine when we go to your grandmother's house."

"Uncle isn't home on the second day of the New Year."

Lin Xiyu smiled and reminded him: "You forgot, he's also someone's son-in-law and has to accompany your aunt back to her maiden home..."

"Cough, cough."

Guben coughed awkwardly twice: "If you hadn't said it, I really would have forgotten this bit."

"I'm also a bit unaccustomed to it."

Lin Xiyu's ears turned red: "When I was young, I never thought about these things. My mom said this morning to tell you that we'll go to Grandma's house together on the second day of the New Year. It really feels a bit strange, very unaccustomed to such phrasing."

"You'll get used to it once you're accustomed."

Guben held her hand, his brows and eyes gentle: "From now on, every second day of the New Year, I'll accompany you back to your maiden home."

"I already live at my maiden home; no need for you to accompany me."

Lin Xiyu didn't know why, but hearing him say those words that sounded like a promise, her heartbeat skipped a beat for no reason.

"Once we get married..."

Guben didn't notice her strangeness and said with a smile: "Once you have children, can you still keep staying at your maiden home?"

"Pfft, what beautiful things are you thinking of again?"

Lin Xiyu suppressed her inner unease, both shy and annoyed, and spat at him: "Who wants to have your children..."

"If not mine, whose do you want to have?"

Guben pretended to be angry, leaning down to get close to her face.

"During the New Year, actually saying such shameless words..."

Lin Xiyu's cheeks turned bright red, wanting to push him away.

"Next semester starts, let's buy a house in Shanghai."

Guben looked at her flushed cheeks, his heart stirred, and said something astonishing.

"Why, why?"

Xiyu was extremely shocked and stuttered magnificently.

"I can't wait."

Guben's eyes were deep, with a hint of seduction: "I want to be with you every day, I don't want to be separated anymore."

"Grandma, Grandma said..."

Lin Xiyu's ears burned: "You can't live together before marriage. You, you also promised Grandma back then."

"Back then we weren't engaged yet."

Guben's brows and eyes were deep: "It's different now. We are already fiancé and fiancée, recognized by relatives and friends. In the countryside, people our age already have children."

"That's the countryside."

Lin Xiyu stammered: "We're both still in school."

"What does school have to do with it?"

Guben didn't care: "As long as you apply to the school, you can live off-campus."

"Living outside will delay studies, right?"

Lin Xiyu's gaze showed conflict, and she still wanted to argue.

"With me tutoring you, twice the result with half the effort."

Guben gave her no chance to refuse, cutting her off with a single sentence.

"Fine."

Lin Xiyu followed her heart and completely gave up struggling.

—

The Fu family had many people; the old couple had five sons and nine grandchildren, and during New Year the whole family gathered together, making it especially lively.

Guben's father ranked third among the brothers; the eldest brother's family had three sons, the second brother two, he had two, the fourth brother two, and the youngest brother was over forty and still unmarried, representing the family's rebellious faction, causing the old couple great worry.

Coincidentally, this young uncle was well-traveled, had seen the world, was knowledgeable and humorous in speech, and was most liked by the younger generation.

Guben also liked his young uncle very much; every New Year and holiday, when his uncle returned from abroad, he would pester him to tell interesting experiences just like the other brothers.

The young uncle did not disappoint their expectations; every time he brought back gifts that were strange and varied, and his stories were even more interesting and wonderful, perfectly suiting their curiosity.

—

Guben brought Lin Xiyu to the Fu family, and a familiar scene came into view.

The young uncle sat in the center of the living room, like stars surrounding the moon, surrounded by a group of brothers, speaking with great feeling and flying spittle.

"Xiyu is here!"

Fu Nainai's high-pitched loud voice made the noisy living room quiet for a moment.

The young uncle paused his speech and looked toward the door.

"Grandpa, Grandma, we're here."

Guben held Lin Xiyu's hand, and the two entered the living room side by side.

"Xiyu, come over quickly; we were just talking about you......"

Fu Nainai saw Lin Xiyu and was truly delighted in her heart; she impatiently waved her hand, gesturing for her to come over and sit beside her.

"Go on."

Guben gave Lin Xiyu a look, gesturing for her to go over, while he himself walked briskly toward the center of the living room, greeted the group of brothers as usual, and stood beside his young uncle.

"You little brat, quite something......"

The young uncle glanced at Lin Xiyu and teased him with a smile: "Six older brothers above haven't found partners yet, and you jumped the gun."

"Women can sometimes be quite troublesome......"

Guben ignored the envious and jealous glances from the other brothers and deliberately showed off: "Not seen for a few days and already thinking wildly, crying and whining, and having to waste energy coaxing her......"

"This brat......"

The eldest cousin laughed in anger, raised his fist, and punched his shoulder: "Deliberately saying the opposite here to anger us."

"If I don't say it like this, how should I say it?"

Guben didn't dodge and took the punch hard: "Or should I say, having a girlfriend who is too beautiful, cherishing her like heat and cold, every day as if fallen into a honey jar......"

"Damn, this sour smell of love is almost spraying on my face."

The third cousin couldn't listen anymore and punched him in the chest again.

"I knew saying it like this wouldn't work......."

His punch was a bit heavy; Guben rubbed his chest and sucked in a breath of cold air from the pain.

"Enough."

The young uncle couldn't watch anymore and smiled to smooth things over: "Xiao Bin having a girlfriend is his ability; you few don't want to be compared as scoundrels, so improve yourselves, otherwise in the future everything will be crushed by the younger brother, and the face of the older brothers will be left there."

"We can't compare with him."

The fifth cousin was about the same age as Guben and took the university entrance exam in the same year: "This brat is too monstrous; he can play and study and still become a provincial top scholar. Fortunately, he is far away, not in Hubei, not in the same province as me; otherwise my dad would still be pulling my ears every day, scolding me, disliking that I don't work hard and my grades aren't good."

"That's right......"

The other two cousins, younger than Guben and still in high school, both had depressed faces and complained: "With him like this, the pressure on us is too great. I originally thought my grades were okay and just going to a local university in Qingdao would do, but now my mom insists I go to Tsinghua or Peking University, saying it's all because of the Fu family's genes, that Old Three's child could become a provincial top scholar, so we can too, and absolutely cannot be worse than him......"

"Genes have a lot to do with hereditary factors......"

Guben smiled teasingly and dealt them another blow: "If you can't get into Tsinghua or Peking University, you can only say you didn't work hard; don't blame others."

"Did you two hear that?"

Fourth Aunt pricked up her ears listening to the juniors speak; hearing this, she indeed exploded: "Xiao Bin has said all this, and you still slack off every day and don't study properly; if your grades aren't good, don't blame others, blame yourselves."

"Brother Bin......"

The two brothers instantly made bitter faces and complained in unison: "Your talent for drawing hatred, we truly fucking admire."

"Hahaha."

The other older brothers were amused by the two brothers' bitter faces and laughed loudly and unrestrainedly.

"Enough, you two stop complaining; see what I brought back from abroad this time......"

The young uncle smiled again to smooth things over and, like a conjurer, took several animal teeth out of his pocket.

"What is this?"

"Wolf teeth?"

"No, wolf teeth aren't that big; it should be the teeth of a fierce beast like a lion."

"Isn't that too cool."

"As expected, the young uncle didn't disappoint us; he even got something so rare."

"In Africa, there's nothing else, just lots of lions."

"Having lions doesn't mean you can encounter a suitable opportunity; a vigorous male lion, who dares to pull a tooth from its mouth?"

"Animal protection organizations have that advantage; they deal with animals all day and can encounter all kinds of rare animals......"

"I don't like lions; I like tigers. Do you have tiger penis? I want to get two pieces for my dad to soak in wine."

"Fucking around with you, how did you learn world geography? Africa has no tigers..."

The younger generation had their attention drawn by the little uncle's tiger teeth, gathering around him to chat and laugh, very happy. The elders were pleased to see it, all showing affectionate smiles.

The family was harmonious and the atmosphere was very agreeable; the only variable was Guben's mother.

—

"Old lady, you are so blessed; your grandson is promising and has found such a fine granddaughter-in-law for you."

On the sofa, the daughters-in-law chatted with Fu Nainai about everyday matters, deliberately praising Lin Xiyu to make her happy.

"I'm envious to death; when will my Fu Lei finally come to his senses..."

The eldest daughter-in-law envied from the bottom of her heart and had much resentment toward her eldest son: "He's almost thirty and doesn't even have a partner; all he knows is doing research in the lab. Ask him what he's researched, and he won't say. Press him too hard, and he says you might as well act as if you never gave birth to this son. Those words are infuriating enough to make anyone angry."

"That's because their unit has regulations requiring secrecy."

Fu Nainai couldn't stand hearing anyone say her grandson wasn't good; she wouldn't allow the daughter-in-law to say it either: "Da Lei knows what's in his own heart; you, as his mother, shouldn't worry about it."

"I'm his mother; can't I say a few words?"

The eldest daughter-in-law muttered discontentedly in a low voice.

"Eldest sister-in-law, stop complaining."

The second daughter-in-law smiled and persuaded her: "The one in my family doesn't do research either, and he hasn't found a partner either. This is about fate. If it weren't for fate arriving, our little Bin wouldn't have been engaged just after starting university. Fate has come; we can envy all we want but can't envy it."

"That's reasonable."

Fu Nainai liked hearing it and gave the second daughter-in-law an appreciative gaze.

"They say sons take after their mothers..."

The fourth daughter-in-law continued to praise: "Xiyu is beautiful and fair-skinned; the children she bears in the future will be handsome too, like Xiao Bin—handsome and promising."

"That's not right..."

The second daughter-in-law argued with her: "If you have two sons, the first takes after the mother and the second after the father. Xiao Bin's looks don't take after Third Sister-in-law; they take after Third Brother. Third Brother looks like our mother, so actually Xiao Bin takes after Grandma, which is why he's so handsome."

"I love hearing that..."

Fu Nainai was happy to hear it, and the corners of her eyes crinkled into folds.

"You've really hit our mother's heart with those words."

The eldest daughter-in-law laughed and teased: "Why else would they say that among the four daughters-in-law, our mother likes you best? Your mouth is so clever it could make a dead man come alive."

"I'm just an uneducated grassroots employee; I dare not compare with Third Sister-in-law..."

The second daughter-in-law was scheming. Seeing the other sisters-in-law casting envious and jealous glances at her, she shifted the arrow with one sentence: "Our mother's favorite daughter-in-law must be Third Sister-in-law. Third Sister-in-law is capable and is already a Deputy Division-Level Cadre, right? I heard she went to another prefecture-level city as Vice Mayor. That's not just ordinary impressive; in our entire Fu Family, she's a unique glory..."

"Third Brother's wife is beyond reproach in ability, just a bit too stubborn."

Fu Nainai's feelings toward the third daughter-in-law were very complex.

Originally, she was the one who had taken a liking to her and asked the Gu Family to form the marriage alliance. When the son and daughter-in-law's relationship was bad, she initially sided with the daughter-in-law in scolding the son.

But over time, the daughter-in-law focused single-mindedly on her career. As her position kept rising, the two's feelings grew increasingly distant. She ached for her son, who lived like an ascetic monk, with no one around to care for his warmth or cold, and she developed an unspeakable resentment toward the daughter-in-law.

When people get old, they don't ask for anything else—just family harmony and happiness.

Having a daughter-in-law with whom relations are not harmonious is like having a sharp thorn stuck in her heart. She wants to vent but can't, and it makes her very uncomfortable.

—

"If I could have such a daughter-in-law, I'd be a person even if she were a bit stubborn."

But the eldest daughter-in-law was tactless and kept poking at her old lady's sore spot.

"Sigh."

Fu Nainai didn't want to lose her temper during the New Year and make everyone unhappy, so she could only sigh deeply and forcibly suppress her resentment and anger.

"Why hasn't Third Sister-in-law come yet?"

The second daughter-in-law was a person of influence. Seeing something was off, she smiled and changed the topic: "By this time she should be back from Y City. If she doesn't come soon, lunch will be delayed."