Su Yuanyuan had no impression of her eldest brother, but regarding Zhao Yanli’s complaints, she also felt that it was ti to pay attention to won’s rights.
She had already sent out their reply, and this ti she wouldn’t write back to her. It was probably just to talk to herself.
Actually, Su Yuanyuan guessed right; Zhao Yanli truly didn’t know who to say so things to.
Talking to her eldest sister, the eldest sister’s view was that being a sister-in-law wasn’t easy.
Yes, it really wasn’t easy, but her attitude towards the children was indeed problematic.
After arranging the house in the countryside, the couple left again with two trucks of fertilizer. One and a half trucks were theirs among several families. If it was more, it would be snatched by the factory departnt.
Zhao Yanli would go and help with the fire, and the house was indeed good.
Zhao Qingxiang and Sun Yun returned ho, seeing that the corn had been almost shelled, they knew the two girls hadn’t been idle at all.
The two sisters were happy about their parents’ return.
Zhao Qingxiang looked at his two daughters eagerly staring at him. "Everything is arranged; the house is already bought. The school starts on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, so you two can’t stay ho for the New Year. Go over there."
Hearing everything was arranged made the two sisters very happy. But hearing they would leave with their uncle right away made them reluctant.
Although their mom wasn’t nice to them and truly didn’t like them, they hadn’t been apart all these years.
Zhao Qingxiang patted his daughters’ heads. "It’s okay; if you want to spend the New Year at ho, I’ll take you to catch the train on the fifth day."
"But that would cost a lot of money, wouldn’t it?" Sun Yun muttered on the side.
Zhao Xiaoling nodded, "Dad, Mom, we’ll go with Uncle. That way, we can save a lot of money, but the corn at ho hasn’t been fully shelled."
"You don’t need to worry about it. You’ve already done very well."
Zhao Xiaole tightly held her younger sister’s hand. "Dad, can Little Hong co with us? She’s very well-behaved. She’ll be fine at ho during the day, and we’ll be back ho at noon.
With us taking our little sister, you and Mom won’t have to look after her."
Zhao Qingxiang nodded, "Alright, Little Hong can stay with your great-aunt’s family."
The two sisters nodded. "We know, Dad, Mom. Actually, our little sister can stay ho by herself, it’s just a hassle for us to drop her off every day."
That evening, everyone went to the old folks’ place for dinner. Zhao Tian was genuinely happy; although his two daughters and niece and nephew weren’t there, both sons-in-law were.
During dinner, Zhao Qingxiang ntioned that the house arrangents over there were settled, and said that the kids were leaving with their uncle tomorrow.
Xu Hongbing replied after the elder brother-in-law finished, "Dad, Mom, Eldest Brother, Hai Jun won’t be going. I have so money in hand now and plan to buy a house in the city, so when I go to the city, I’ll have a place to stay.
And it’s closer for him to attend school in the city, I can drop by occasionally."
"Hong Bing, is it okay for him to be alone in the city? Even going once a month wouldn’t suffice, would it?" Zhao Tian questioned the second son-in-law.
"Dad, Hai Jun said he can manage by himself. Really, it’s not a big deal. He can cook, and I go to the city once or twice a month, so it’s fine."
With that assurance, Zhao Tian didn’t say anything more.
Now, only Zhixue from Zhao Qingjie’s household was left.
"Hong Bing, can Zhixue go with Hai Jun?" Zhao Qingjie was reluctant for his son to be too far away.
"Second Brother, why not? The two brothers can keep each other company." Honestly, with two seven-year-olds out there without adults regularly supervising them, it’s really concerning.
"Qingjie, Hongbing, I still think it’s better to let these two brothers go with Xiao Ling’s group. If they live together, they’ll help each other. Also, Xiao Ping and Xiao Li will watch over them, which is more reassuring." Zhang Fusheng shared his thoughts.
In fact, it was only because he felt close enough to say so.
Zhou Yongbing also chid in, "Brother-in-law is right. Two boys together without guidance might get unruly, and it’ll be even harder to manage." Boys can be too mischievous.
"Consider this, actually, taking care of the kids is also our responsibility, but we are their family."
These words were spoken clearly. It was precisely because they were family and wanted the best for the kids that they were willing to bear the responsibility.
Zhao Qingjie was moved but still reluctant to let his son go.
Xu Hongbing also understood. At this point, Zhao Xiaojing thought quickly, "Hong Bing, we can buy a house for Hai Jun in the city. In the future, he’ll have a place to stay too. If you’re too busy to look after Hai Jun, and he goes astray, it’ll be too late for regrets.
All the kids will be together. Xiao Ling can also supervise Hai Jun. Isn’t that better?"
Zhao Xiaojing didn’t want her son in the city alone from the start; he was too young. If he was bullied, he wouldn’t even realize it.
Even if they were far at their eldest and younger sister’s places, if any trouble happened, they’d at least find out that day.
Xu Hongbing thought, "I just didn’t want to trouble the eldest and younger sisters. But you’re right, for the kids’ sake, we’ll have to trouble both families."
With that settled, all four kids would go to school together, but with them leaving tomorrow, the reluctance was palpable.
"Fusheng, Xiao Bing, you two go back. We’ll take them by train after the New Year. This way, they’ll stay ho longer, and we’ll feel better leaving after the festivities."
The two had no objections. They were truly pleased with their wives, and the in-laws’ household had been good all these years. All relationships have this in common—they operate best in mutual goodwill and trust.
Zhao Xiaoling felt a bit sad, reluctant about leaving ho and her parents, but Zhao Xiaole didn’t want to stay. She feared the schooling plan would fall apart.
What if it didn’t work out? So she really wanted to go tomorrow with them.
But she knew it was just wishful thinking; it wasn’t possible. They still had to stay ho for more than a month. She kept praying nothing untoward would happen.
Though the five kids weren’t going together, they had to take the food; otherwise, taking the train would an carrying the food, and it might be hard to take it all.
Zhao Qingxiang wasn’t stingy, taking along two bags of wheat, three bags of corn, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and dried vegetables.
The other two families each took two bags of wheat and corn and various vegetables. Zhao Qingjie also took a bag of sorghum rice.
The rest was firewood, all packed in burlap bags, corn stalks which burned well and were clean.
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