After reaching the inside of the house, without taking a careful look to see if there was anyone around, she asked, "Younger Sister, what did your in-laws, aunties and sisters-in-law, prepare for you? I’ve heard that the Yang Family relatives are all quite wealthy; don’t know what they’ve prepared. Show us, so we can have our eyes opened."
Upon hearing this, Ms. Liu Junior felt quite embarrassed and pretended not to hear the question, but her sister asked again.
"Speak up, why aren’t you saying anything? It couldn’t be that they didn’t prepare any decent gifts, right? I’ve heard that the richer the people, the stingier they are."
Inside the room, Yang Chuxia and Ruoqiu exchanged glances.
Ms. Luo, always sharp in these matters and accustod to comparisons, interjected while holding her child, "Oh, this must be the maternal family of our cousin sis. I’m her fourth sister-in-law. Our eldest sister-in-law and third sister-in-law have both gone out to help. Today is Brother Qingkang’s full-moon celebration, and we, as his paternal aunties, are relatively distant relations compared to you maternal aunts and the like."
As she spoke, she glanced at the basket carried by Ms. Liu Junior’s sister and laughed, "We didn’t prepare much, I just brought fifty eggs, and brought two pairs of shoes and socks. My eldest sister-in-law brought two pounds of brown sugar and a piece of cloth. My third sister-in-law’s family is wealthy, sothing I can’t match; she brought a silver lock and two sets of clothes and shoes. As for my two nieces here, well, as their aunt, I’m not ashad to say, I can’t match them either; they are from wealthy families. The elder niece gave one hundred copper coins and a set of clothes. The younger niece, she is from an official’s family, generous in giving; she presented a silver necklace and a bolt of fabric, and I heard the fabric was even brought back from the Capital City."
Ms. Luo rattled off the gifts people brought, and imdiately, the faces of Ms. Liu Junior’s maternal family mbers turned sour.
She had made it clear, they were considered distant relatives, while these were from the Yang side of the family.
Land Officer Yang and Old Yang were not biological brothers to start with; thus, by the ti it got to Yang Chuxia’s generation, the connection was even more distant, with only a few families maintaining close relations.
So, you can’t compare with those who are directly blood-related.
Therefore, even if the gifts from our side were modest, you wouldn’t be in a position to compare.
But the question is, were their gifts truly modest?
Not to ntion the rest, just the silver lock alone, even the lightest would weigh two to three taels of silver, right? Plus a necklace, the lightest one would be worth five or six taels, wouldn’t it?
But the gifts your maternal grandmother prepared – those eggs, clothes, and flour, altogether don’t even add up to five hundred copper coins.
The gifts brought by Ms. Liu Junior’s maternal family mbers were now an embarrassnt as to where to place them.
At this mont, Ms. Liu Junior also felt a bit annoyed with Ms. Luo for embarrassing her maternal family. But on second thought, it was her older sister who had started this comparison, making it difficult for others not to respond.
Ms. Liu Junior’s sister was even more discomfited, rebuking herself for her loose tongue. Why did she even start this futile comparison, if not to invite trouble?
She hadn’t expected the Yang family mbers to be so generous. What she had prepared was already significant, and yet, their gifts were even more substantial.
Consequently, the atmosphere turned sowhat tense.
Yang Chuxia saw that the mbers of Ms. Liu Junior’s maternal family were standing there, and noticing the embarrassnt on Ms. Liu Junior’s face, decided to smooth things over.
"Dear Auntie, so of the Aunties and Grandaunts haven’t seen Brother Qingkang yet."
Ms. Liu Junior slapped her forehead, "Look at , I was so happy I got foolish. Maternal aunts, please have a seat, I’ll go carry Qingkang out for you to see."
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