Chapter 177

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Uh."

Lin Xiyu felt awkward: "Grandma, you're overthinking it. I'm not even married yet, it's too early to talk about having children now......"

"You're already nineteen."

Grandma counted on her fingers: "Graduate university at twenty-two, work for a year and you can get your certificate. At the latest, you have five years left, then you can have children."

"Let's talk about it after five years......"

Lin Xiyu felt more and more awkward, her face turning bright red.

"You and little Bin both look good, the children you have will definitely be pretty......"

Grandma rarely saw her flustered, found it amusing, and was in a good mood to joke with her: "It would be great if you could have several children, children are the heart and soul, bringing joy at your knees."

Lin Xiyu's ears felt hot: "Now there's family planning, you can only have one child. Children being the heart and soul, that's not possible anymore."

"That's not necessarily true......"

Grandma looked at her teasingly and smiled leisurely: "Your old Chen family has the gene for twins. Who knows, the children you have in the future might also be twins."

"Ah?"

Lin Xiyu was a bit confused: "The Chen family has the gene for twins? How come I don't know about this?"

"That's because you haven't been to the old home in Shanxi."

Grandma revealed the truth in one sentence: "If you have time to go back and take a look, you'll know. Your grandfather's younger sister, that is, your second grandaunt, gave birth to twins, a pair of twins, and your Fourth Uncle, his son also gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, a pair of dragon-phoenix twins."

——

"Dragon-phoenix twins? That's so good!"

Hearing about dragon-phoenix twins, Lin Xiyu's eyes lit up.

"Indeed."

Grandma sighed faintly: "That's why they say your old Chen family has the gene for twins. Dragon-phoenix twins aren't something you can just have if you want to. I was weak when I was young, and the children I gave birth to were affected by me, their bodies weren't very strong either, so I couldn't have twins. Your Uncle doesn't have children, it's also for this reason."

"Uncle will slowly recuperate. Once his body is better, he'll have children......"

Lin Xiyu sighed silently in her heart. Going around in circles, it came back to this. Uncle not being able to have children was a topic they couldn't avoid.

——

"Hah, dumplings again. Grandma entertaining her son-in-law, it's really the same old dumplings that never change......"

The door to the living room was pushed open from outside. The female cousin came in wrapped in a chill. Seeing Grandma was indeed making dumplings again, she shook the plastic bag in her hand and said with a smile, teasing: "Fortunately I had the foresight to stew two pig trotters from home to bring over, as a drinking snack for Guben's brother-in-law."

"What's wrong with dumplings?"

Grandma's full heart of melancholy was interrupted by the female cousin, all turning into nothingness: "We northerners eat dumplings. If you don't eat dumplings, can it even be called the New Year?"

"Did you put any coins in the dumplings?"

Aunt Da came in through the door afterward, looking much happier than yesterday: "I happen to have a few 50-cent coins here, shining gold, looking especially festive."

"I'll wrap them."

Lin Xiyu reached out to take them, washed them clean with water, and wrapped them into the dumplings.

"Whoever eats the dumpling with the coin tonight gets a reward of one hundred yuan."

The female cousin had received her year-end bonus, had money in her hand, and was especially confident.

"Yay......"

Xu Yi sat on the sofa watching the rebroadcast of the Spring Festival Gala. Hearing there was one hundred yuan, he instantly became spirited.

"Do we have it too?"

Chen Xiulan smiled and egged them on.

"Yes!"

The female cousin took out one hundred yuan from her wallet and very generously slapped it on the table: "I'll just leave the money here. Whoever it is, the first person to eat a dumpling with a coin, this one hundred yuan is theirs."

"I'll eat first, I'll eat first......"

Xu Yi shouted in his small voice: "I want to eat the first pot of dumplings."

"Keep your voice down. The whole family put together doesn't have a voice as big as yours."

Chen Xiulan couldn't stand to see her son looking useless, and slapped him on the head.

"Ouch, Grandma, Mom hit me again......"

Xu Yi jumped off the sofa and threw himself into Grandma's arms.

"Children can't be hit on the head. If you really hit him stupid, you'll be the one crying......"

Grandma indeed felt sorry for him, rubbing his head and scolding him in a not-so-pleasant tone.

"This child is too naughty."

Chen Xiulan helplessly rubbed her forehead: "Leilei's dog is more obedient than him."

"How about cola?"

The female cousin took the opportunity to interject: "Has he been causing trouble at your house?"

"More obedient than him."

Chen Xiulan pointed at her own son and glared at him discontentedly.

"Mom, you're really something......"

Xu Yi unconvincedly talked back: "Comparing me to a dog."

"Raising you isn't as good as raising a dog......"

Chen Xiulan wore a look of dislike: "Even cola is more sensible than you, it won't make people angry."

"What nonsense are you spouting during the New Year......"

Grandma didn't like hearing it and lectured again: "No matter how naughty the son is, he's your own flesh and blood; now you dislike him, but back then you were desperate to marry Xu Weiguo......"

"Xiao Yi is spending the New Year at our place, why hasn't the Xu family made a move?"

Aunt Da didn't want the mother and daughter to argue, and decisively changed the topic: "Would his grandparents be willing? Didn't they come to our house to kick up a fuss? During the lawsuit they argued until their faces were red, almost coming to blows......"

"New Year's Eve is here."

Chen Xiulan snorted: "Xiao Yi himself doesn't want to go to their house for the New Year, what can they do? Are they going to kidnap him?"

"Fortunately, the lawyer Little Bin found......"

Aunt Da said with emotion: "Otherwise, with that domineering attitude of the Xu family, you alone definitely couldn't fight them."

"Why hasn't Guben come yet?"

Only now did the female cousin realize someone was missing: "That's not his style; he's always clingy with his wife, I heard he didn't even come home on New Year's Eve and slept on the sofa upstairs."

"Not the sofa......"

Xu Yi didn't think much and almost let it slip.

"Cough cough."

Lin Xiyu hurriedly interrupted him.

"What do you mean?"

The female cousin's gossipy eyes lit up, sharply catching the key point.

"Don't listen to him......"

Lin Xiyu's heart pounded like a drum: "He's talking nonsense."

"Xiao Yi, tell your female cousin....."

The female cousin ignored her: "Your future brother-in-law didn't sleep on the sofa, where did he sleep?"

"Cough cough."

Lin Xiyu coughed twice, using her gaze to warn her younger brother.

"Xiao Yi, tell your female cousin......"

The female cousin pulled out a hundred yuan from her wallet to coax the child: "Female cousin will give you another hundred yuan."

"Hehe."

Xu Yi touched his nose and chuckled.

"If you talk nonsense, watch me beat you!"

Lin Xiyu clenched her fist, a bare-faced threat.

"On the ground."

Xu Yi glanced at his female cousin, then at his sister, hesitated for a few seconds, and chose to save his own skin.

"Hehe."

The female cousin found it amusing and gave his female cousin an ambiguous little glance: "With my years of experience watching drama, this sentence is probably not true; sleeping on the ground is impossible, unless someone pushed him off the sofa......"

"Don't guess wildly."

Lin Xiyu guiltily averted her gaze: "Who would be flustered in the middle of the night to go provoke him?"

"If no one pushed him, he wouldn't fall to the ground, I don't believe it......"

The female cousin laughed like a fox stealing chickens, her face full of gossip.

"If you don't believe it, forget it."

Lin Xiyu dragged out her mother's threat of beating as a shield: "Mom is also home at night, who dares to make trouble in front of Mom."

"Huh?"

Chen Xiulan suddenly interjected: "On the night of the thirtieth, in the middle of the night, it seemed like I heard a thud, I thought Xiao Yi had fallen off the bed, could it not be him, but Little Bin?"

"Did he really roll off the sofa?"

The female cousin was even more excited, laughing loudly: "I thought Xiao Yi made it up, turns out it's true."

"It wasn't me originally......"

Little Xu Yi wanted to save face and felt it necessary to explain a few words: "Since I started elementary school, I haven't fallen off the bed."

"Little Bin is so grown up, he's still not honest when sleeping."

Grandma believed it, covering her mouth and laughing: "He can even fall off the sofa......"

"Your family's sofa is too narrow."

Aunt Da also laughed and teased: "In my opinion, it should be changed to a foldable sofa bed; this kind of thing will happen often in the future, you can't always wrong your son-in-law to sleep on the sofa, always falling off, it doesn't look good on his face......"

"I think so too......"

The female cousin laughed so hard she couldn't close her mouth: "Guben falling off the sofa, that scene is too funny, just thinking about it is laughable."

"Dong dong."

Just at this moment, a light knocking sound came from outside the door.

"Shandong people are jinxes, say someone comes....."

The female cousin wanted to see the fun and rushed to the door first: "Eighty percent it's Little Bin who came, I'll open the door."

"The house is very lively, you can hear laughter from outside."

The door opened, and indeed Guben was standing outside holding a gift box.

"Just talking about you, and you came."

The female cousin sized him up from head to toe, laughing very ambiguously.

"What are you saying about me?"

Guben didn't know the truth, making her feel nervous as she watched him.

"Saying you're handsome."

Female Cousin deliberately didn't tell him: "Look at this black woolen coat, how eye-catching it is when worn, just like a Hong Kong or Taiwan star......"

"Why do I feel your gaze is a bit wandering?"

Was Guben so easy to fool? He turned the tables on her instead: "Must be you did something guilty and want to deceive me?"

"How dare I deceive you, you're my sister's husband after all......"

Female Cousin quickly denied: "My good younger sister is watching like a wolf eyeing a tiger over there; if I lie to you even half a sentence, she'll pounce and bite me."

"Is that so?"

Guben wouldn't believe her; he lifted his eyes to glance at Lin Xiyu, his pupils suddenly shrank, and a bad premonition surged up.

Lin Xiyu's complexion was white with red, red with black, black with purple, red, white, and black alternating, as colorful as a palette.

He silently cursed under his breath, subconsciously looking toward Xu Yi. Sure enough, he saw Little Fairy's gaze darting about, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Xiao Yi, is the temple fair fun?"

At this moment, even if he were slow, he could figure out what was going on.

Eighty percent it was Little Fairy who let something slip and revealed what happened on the thirtieth.

As for what exactly was said, a little trick would make him spill it himself.

"I didn't say anything......"

Xu Yi trembled at the mention of the temple fair, and sure enough he let the cat out of the bag: "It was Female Cousin guessing wildly, insisting you fell off the sofa."

"Sofa?"

Guben silently counted himself lucky and figured it out.

Fortunately, they arrived in time, and Female Cousin hadn't dug out the truth yet.

"Xiao Bin, is sleeping on the sofa uncomfortable?"

Chen Xiulan mistakenly thought he was embarrassed to admit it, and took the blame herself: "That sofa is indeed a bit narrow; I didn't consider it well, I shouldn't have let you sleep on the sofa."

"If not the sofa, where can I sleep?"

Female Cousin took up the conversation smoothly: "Upstairs there are only two rooms; Maternal Aunt and Xiao Yi sleep in one, Xiyu sleeps in one; if he doesn't sleep on the sofa, is he supposed to sleep on the floor?"

"Sleeping on the floor definitely won't do......"

Chen Xiulan looked at her son-in-law with new respect; how could she let anyone suffer injustice: "How about this: from now on you and Xiyu switch, let her sleep on the sofa, and you sleep on the bed."

"Why should I?"

Lin Xiyu muttered softly: "That's my bed; why should I give it to him."

Chen Xiulan pretended to be displeased: "Xiao Bin rarely stays home for a night; can't you make do?"

"I remember that bed is one point two meters......"

Female Cousin's sly little eyes swept over Guben and Lin Xiyu, smiling with such ambiguity: "Sleeping two people isn't impossible, just a bit crowded, easy to fall off......"

"Eh?!"

Chen Xiulan shuddered back to her senses, staring wide-eyed at her daughter.

There was a moment of silence in the living room; now not only was Lin Xiyu red-faced and red-eared, but Guben was also embarrassed, covering half his face with his hand awkwardly.

"The dumplings are wrapped, Xiyu, hurry and cook them."

Maternal Grandmother was old and crafty; how could she fail to see something was off? Using it as an excuse, she waved her hand and drove them toward the kitchen.

"Oh oh, okay."

Lin Xiyu, as if granted a great pardon, picked up the tray of dumplings and ran off like a wisp of smoke.

"I'll go help......"

Guben put down the gift box and, with his long legs, followed after in a few strides.

"Ai ai......"

Chen Xiulan wanted to ask more, but the two had already hidden in the kitchen, their figures gone.

"Don't ask anymore."

Maternal Grandmother glanced at her with dislike: "As an elder, you have no sense at all; we've all been through this, can't you see such a thing clearly? No need to get to the root of it."

"So it's true?"

Chen Xiulan felt very uncomfortable in her heart: "These children, too outrageous, ganging up to keep it from me alone."

"If not hiding it from you, hiding it from whom?"

Xu Yi, unafraid of death, muttered.

"And you, you little rascal......"

Chen Xiulan was furious, raising her arm to hit him: "You've learned to lie too; just now when I asked you, you still dared say you didn't know."

"Maternal Grandmother, save me......"

Xu Yi slipped in and hid again in Maternal Grandmother's arms.

"Enough, settle down."

Maternal Grandmother's expression was grim: "Making a ruckus during the New Year? Still not chaotic enough?"

"It's not me making a ruckus, it's them......"

Chen Xiulan wanted to argue further, but Maternal Grandmother shut her up with one sentence.

"Something happened in your own home, you don't know about it, and you still have the nerve to scold the children?"

"Cough cough."

Chen Xiulan's old face turned red, and she had nothing more to say.

"Second sister, don't overthink it."

Aunt Da smiled and smoothed things over: "Xiao Bin and Xiyu have such a good relationship, you can just be secretly happy. It's still your Xiyu who's sensible and saves people worry—not like ours, who finally broke up with that high school classmate of hers, then got into it with the store manager. Who knows what evil she's possessed by, running around all day making a mess of things."

"Ay ay ay, Mom..."

The female cousin stopped smiling: "What's the point of dragging me into this for no reason? Besides, Li Xiao and I just don't get along—it's purely about work, and has nothing to do with feelings."

"Leilei is twenty now; it's time she seriously found a partner."

For the whole family, Grandma had endless worries.