Chapter 70: Each with Their Own Thoughts

  "Can't abandon the etiquette?" Luo Erbao repeated, sneering with a smile: "Wang Yan, please tell me, where is your etiquette? If we really talk about etiquette, shouldn't my dad be living alone in the east of the village now?"

  "Is it right, Father doesn't want to live with us? Can I be blamed for this?" Wang Yan's tears flowed down: "When I married you back then, what did you say? Now you're scolding me in a loud voice, do you have a conscience?"

  "All these years, you should be clear about how I've been to you. Eldest sister is not satisfied with Fourth Brother, it's not good for me to say anything. How about you? You're not aware of what Fourth Brother has done for us? Do you have the face to blame him?"

  "When Old Fourth was first promoted, you all treated him with great respect, like a revered ancestor. But later, when he didn't give your family any special treatment, you turned against him and put on airs. What right do you have to act this way? You can't abandon propriety, but you're quite good at nitpicking words!"

  Wang Yan retorted with a sentence: "Are you his elder brother? No matter what status or position he has reached, he is still your younger brother. Am I wrong?"

  "He's my brother, that's a fact that will never change. Don't try to make an issue out of this, thinking I don't know what you're thinking? You just think the fourth brother became an official by luck and can't accept it, right? If you have the ability, let your family members also become officials by luck!" Luo Erbo said with increasing anger: "Wang Yan, you've always thought yourself to be different from rural women. Please tell me, what makes you different? Is it just because you know how to recite a phrase '礼不可废'?"

  "I'm not unhappy, you're wronging me... Alright, I was wrong, let's go to your father's place now, I'll go with you!" Seeing Luo Erbo really angry, Wang Yan immediately softened down. She knew her husband's temper very well and didn't want to lose out over a small matter.

  "Can't it be done like this?" Luo Erbo stormed out with a flick of his hand, and Wang Yan hastily followed.

  "Second Uncle is well! Second Aunt is well!" Just as Luo Erbo stepped out of the doorway, he happened to meet Luo Ye and Luo Feng, a brother and sister duo who had come to invite him.

  "Maple is good..." Luo Erbo looked at Luo Ye with some uncertainty and asked: "Is... is it Ye?"

  Luoye smiled and nodded: "Second Uncle, I am Ye!"

  Wang Yan hastily went forward and warmly hugged Luo Ye: "A girl at eighteen is really not a bit false. By the way, when did you arrive? You didn't even give advance notice, or I would have gone with your second aunt!"

  "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, you can stop pretending now. Dad asked me and my brother to come over and invite you!" Luo Ye's "please" was intentionally emphasized, with a hint of disdain towards Second Aunt in her heart. Second Uncle's behavior had already clearly shown that they knew they were back, so why bother pretending?

  "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, this is a little something from my parents!" Luo Feng handed over the gift in his hands.

  "Fourth brother and younger sister are always so polite..." Wang Yan pushed back: "Don't give me the gift, leave it for Grandpa instead."

  Luo Ye smiled sweetly: "Okay, let's consider it a gift from Second Aunt to Grandpa. Second Uncle, would you mind taking it back for Grandpa? My brother and I still need to go to Eldest Uncle's house!"

  Wang Yan's eyes and mouth twitched at the same time, she really wanted to slap herself in the face. What's been said can't be taken back, like spilled water. She couldn't say she wouldn't send her father off, could she?

  A hint of a smile flashed across Luo Feng's eyes, and his little sister was getting better at teasing people.

  ……

  "Lu Zhengjian, no matter how high your status is, you are still my younger brother. If you dare to come first, then don't enter this house again!" Lu Ye and his sister arrived at their uncle's house just in time to hear their aunt's sharp shout, followed by the sound of beating and slapping, and then their aunt's wailing: "Kill me! You murderer, you ungrateful...".

  Luohua and Luoning, who were already accustomed to the commotion, were sitting on a stool shelling melon seeds. Seeing their siblings come in, they quickly stood up, smiling awkwardly, and for a moment didn't know what to say.

  "Brother, sister. Dad wants us to invite Uncle to dinner."

  If they hadn't known in advance that Fourth Uncle's family had arrived, Luo Hua and Luo Ning would have absolutely not dared to recognize the two. Even so, Luo Hua still tentatively asked: "Xiao Feng, Xiao Ye?"

  "Yes!" Luo Ye and Luo Qing nodded simultaneously.

  "Little Maple, Little Leaf, I've missed you guys to death!" Luo Ning exaggeratedly hugged Luo Feng, and when he turned to Luo Ye, he pinched her little nose: "Little Leaf has become so beautiful, brother doesn't dare to hug randomly anymore."

  "Thank you for the compliment, brother!" Luo Ye smiled and looked at Luo Hua: "Sister is going to be a bride, congratulations!"

  "Thank you, Little Yezi!" Luo Hua forced a smile and knocked on the door: "Dad, Mom, Xiao Feng and Xiao Yezi are here."

  ……

  Great Aunt got angry, with serious consequences! Not only did she scold Mu Da Li Luo Ye and Luo Feng, but also ordered her children not to go to Grandpa's house.

  Luo Ye gave a strange glance at her gloomy-faced aunt, wondering if this woman was really foolish or just pretending to be. Did she think that by doing so, her father would compromise and arrange a job for her family's child? Speaking of which, what kind of big shot was she that her old man was so eager for her to show up? Forget it, not going is just fine!

  Xiao Pi's temper flared up, and he turned around to drag Luo Ye away. Whether she wanted to go or not, it was enough that she had shown respect. After being delayed for half a day, they finally arrived, just to give her a warning: don't think too highly of yourself!

  Walking halfway, Luo Dabo opened his mouth in a deep voice: "Feng'er, if Grandpa and your dad ask, just say that Auntie is sick and Brother and Sister need to take care of her at home!"

  Luo Ye directly refused: "Uncle, we won't lie!"

  "Don't interrupt!"

  "Great Uncle, what my sister means is what I mean!" Luo Feng hastily expressed his stance.

  Luo Ye's lips curled up in a cold smile: "Uncle, since you look down on girls so much, why can't you even take care of Auntie?"

  "Nonsense! How can I not be in charge?" Luo Daobo puffed out his chest: "She dares to disobey me, just watch me beat her to death!"

  Luoye stopped talking, for a primary school-educated uncle, there was really no point in saying anything. Her feelings towards the two uncles and one aunt were all very lukewarm, she only came to invite them because of her grandfather's face.

  Luo Da Bo looked at Luo Feng with a frown: "Xiao Feng, I'm begging you, don't you want your dad and grandpa to be happy?"

  "Ask your sister, whatever she says goes!" Luo Feng said calmly. His uncle looked down on his sister and he was unhappy about it.

  Luo Daobo immediately fell silent, he was very feudal, and it would be beneath him to lower himself to beg his niece for mercy, no way!

  ……

  Luo Ye and his siblings arrived at Grandpa's house, where Luo Zheng and Second Uncle were chatting in the hall, while Wen Xin and Wang Yan were busy preparing lunch in the kitchen.

  Several people exchanged greetings, and Old Man Luo glanced at his eldest son: "Where's Hua's mother?"

  "She's feeling unwell, Hua and Xiaoning are taking care of her at home!" Luo Dabo's explanation made Luo Erbo purse his lips, that lively woman is not feeling well?

  "She's as stubborn as a bull, forget it, if she doesn't want to come then don't bother. We don't need her anyway!" Old Master Luo looked at Second Master Luo: "Go and call Hua and Xiaoning over, children can't be as ill-mannered as her."

  "Dad!" Luo Erbao's face was full of difficulty.

  "Are you going?" Old Master Luo's face sank: "Feng and Ye come back only twice a year, the kids won't take the opportunity to get close now, once they start working, they'll have even less time to move around, slowly they won't even be relatives anymore!

  "Shouldn't Pingping be back on holiday these two days? When she comes back, let her come over often to get familiar with Fengye, or else it won't feel like a family, what's the point of that?"

  "Yes, Dad!" Luo Erbo reluctantly got up and went to his older brother's house. His sister-in-law had a bad temper, sigh!

  Luo Zhenggang was very clear about the thoughts of his two sisters-in-law, and in the early years, he thought he could be the backing for their children. Every time he came, he would run over to fawn on them.

  He was demoted in those years, and there were many rumors in the village. The sisters' mood changed, and even now, they resent him for not arranging for their nephews and nieces, and probably suspect that he is just a lucky good-for-nothing with no power or rights.

  "Hey big brother, how have you been lately?" After this formal conversation started, Luo Ye hastily took a small bowl of strawberries to the kitchen.

  "Brother and sister, you are really lucky. Your sons and daughters look good, and they are city kids, so their future will definitely be better than ours. Compared to you, we country bumpkins really have no hope!"

  Luoye pouts, trying to tease her mom. She walks in and pinches a strawberry, bringing it to her mom's lips: "Mom, open your mouth, it's sweet!"

  "Has Xiaoye come back?" Wang Yan asked with a smile: "And your aunt?"

  Luo Ye smiled and said: "Auntie, are you feeling unwell?"

  "What's wrong? What's the matter?" Wen Xin looked at her daughter with concern.

  "Madness!"

  "Good girl!" Warmly smiling and patting her daughter: "Take out the dishes, let your grandfather and them drink first."

  Lu Ye glanced at several dishes and pointed: "Mom, leave some of each dish for me, I don't want to eat the leftover wine dishes!"

  "Good!" Warmly and quickly found a small plate to help her daughter save a little food, Wang Yan's mouth twitched, this is also too unruly, right? Which child is good at being spoiled like this?

  "Fourth brother, I heard you're back, so I rushed over. You rascal, don't you have any regard for Third Sister? We're all from the same village, and Eldest Brother and Second Brother both went to invite her, why didn't you call me?" Aunt's loud voice could be heard three miles away, let alone in the kitchen.

  Luo Ye noticed Wang Yan's lips curled up in a smile, and mischievously reported: "Second Uncle has gone to Eldest Uncle's house, he's gone to invite Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister!"

  The smile at the corner of Wang Yan's mouth quickly disappeared: "That's just how unreasonable Big Sister is!"

  Warmly and quietly staring at her daughter, Luo Ye playfully stuck out her tongue, pleasingly picked a big strawberry and stuffed it into her mother's mouth, the proud and complacent look on her face made Warmly both angry and amused.

  ……

  After dinner, everyone gathered together to chat, and Qian Xiaotian, the daughter of Aunt's family, came over to Luo Ye: "Ye Er, your clothes are really beautiful!"

  Lu Ye nodded: "Really? I think it's okay too!"

  Qian Xiaotian's face showed a hint of surprise, and she pulled at her green dress: "My mom just doesn't know how to buy clothes, look at my clothes, they're so tacky."

  "It's okay!" Luo Ye lazily leaned back in her chair, without even giving Qian Xiaotian a glance, her attention was all on her parents.

  Qian Xiaotian couldn't help but size up her cousin with a hint of jealousy, thinking that she was prettier than her. But this time, when they met, she was shocked and it took her half a day to come back to her senses. Fine, so she's pretty, but why has her personality changed too?

  Before, as long as she opened her mouth, her cousin would take the initiative to exchange clothes with her. Why didn't it work this time?