"Yangzi, we're already at the doorstep, why aren't you coming in to eat? If it weren't for your Auntie bringing Yuanbao out to play today, I wouldn't have seen you. Have you gotten rich and now you look down on your Auntie?"
Chen Yang looked at Shen Xiaoxia, who was holding a baby. His aunt was now round and stout, and just by her physique, it was clear she was living much better than before.
"Auntie, how could that be? I just returned from Qinghe and was planning to go home."
"You know my father's personality. He's been anxious to acquire the Xuan Distillery. I handled the matter for him, so I'm rushing to report the good news."
Chen Yang felt no reservations with his aunt's family, especially his cousins. His eldest cousin, Zhao Wukang, had even saved his life.
"This is great news. Baoguo, drive the car back and pick up my eldest brother, second brother, eldest sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law. I'll cook some good dishes today, and we'll have a family reunion."
Shen Xiaoxia was as generous as ever, which was why Chen Yang felt no pressure interacting with her family.
When he was poor, his aunt's family never looked down on them and secretly subsidized them with food. Now that he had money, his aunt didn't feel awkward and still treated him as a junior.
As the saying goes, "From a high place, one feels the chill." Chen Yang had few people he could speak his mind to in his previous life. But at his aunt's house, he could say whatever he wanted without any pretense or scheming.
"Baoguo, thank you for going back. I'll sit at Auntie's house for a while. It's been more than half a year since I last came back."
"Yuanbao, come here, let Uncle hug you."
Zhao Xuewen, nicknamed Yuanbao, was Zhao Wukang's youngest son. His elder son was Zhao Xuewu, nicknamed Jinbao. It was quite a task for this fellow to come up with names.
He and his brothers had names like Xuewu and Xuewen. He was too lazy to think of anything else, so he named them Xuewu and Xuewen. His wife was furious, but Zhao Wukang himself was quite pleased.
"Old man, what are you doing lurking by the physics? My niece's husband is back, hurry up and take Jinbao and Niuniu to get some wine."
Zhao Donglai was watching TV with the children. Hearing his wife's shout, he immediately came out with the children.
Among his aunt's children, Zhao Wukang and Zhao Wujing were married. Only Zhao Wufeng was still studying. Zhao Wujing had a daughter, and the elderly couple were taking care of them.
"Yangzi, you haven't been back for a long time. We must have a good drink today. I'll notify Wukang and Wujing and tell these two to come back early today."
Zhao Donglai was about to become a workshop director. Later, both his sons got married and had three grandchildren. His second daughter-in-law was pregnant again this year, so he had no choice but to give up his newly acquired position.
However, Zhao Donglai enjoyed his days of looking after his grandchildren and didn't feel it was a pity to give up the workshop director position.
"Uncle, go ahead and call them. I'm not going back to Shanghai today anyway. I'll drink to my heart's content with you all today. But you two shouldn't target me alone. I'm no match for Wukang."
"If you want to drink, drink with my father-in-law and my second uncle."
Chen Yang said this without any embarrassment. In this family, his alcohol tolerance was the worst, which was a universally acknowledged fact.
His father-in-law, Shen Futang, was naturally a young master of a winery who grew up around wine barrels. His second uncle was the same. The family inheritance meant they could hold their liquor.
Zhao Donglai's family, each and every one of them, could drink a lot. Chen Yang remembered that the first time he visited his aunt's house, he was drunk and carried home. He wasn't afraid of losing face. They were family, and it was fine not to be able to keep up with drinking, no need to pretend.
"You kid, you're the slipperiest one."
"What about your father-in-law? Shall I notify him?"
Zhao Donglai said, putting down the two children in his arms, preparing to ride his bicycle. Before Chen Yang could speak, Shen Xiaoxia quickly shouted.
"Show off! Hurry up and buy wine and groceries. Ren Baoguo is driving back to pick them up, and your two legs can't outrun four wheels."
"Jinbao, Niuniu, come here and help take care of your younger brother. Grandma will make you delicious food later."
Shen Xiaoxia took out a few fried dough twists from her pocket, stuffed them into the little ones, and sent them off to play.
The two little ones held the fried dough twists, which were half the size of their faces, and started to gnaw. Yuanbao, the youngest, had not yet grown all his teeth and couldn't bite through them. He raised his head to bite the dough twist and, without paying attention, sat down on the ground with a thud.
The fried dough twist in his hand also fell to the ground. The little one didn't cry, but got up, picked up the dough twist, and shoved it into his mouth.
"Not clean, not sick. Yangzi, don't mind them, they'll play by themselves."
"The eldest daughter-in-law is already working at the factory. The second daughter-in-law went back to her parents' house today. There's no one at home to attend to you."
Auntie happened to be holding a enamel cup and pouring Chen Yang a glass of cool boiled water. Seeing the children gnawing and shaking their heads, she didn't mind Yuanbao picking up dough twists from the ground to eat.
"Alright, I'll just watch them so they don't run around. Auntie, go ahead and get busy. Don't mind me."
Although Chen Yang believed in hygiene, in this era, everyone drank raw water. If something fell on the ground, they would just pick it up, pat off the dust, and put it in their mouths. He hadn't seen any children get sick, at most they would have a few days of stomach upset. Children these days were tough.
Conversely, in later generations, parents took meticulous care of their children, but the children often had health problems. The reason was the severe pollution and the lack of control over food safety.
Various snacks and even milk powder were filled with various additives. The things nowadays were basically pure natural and additive-free. On the other hand, those seemingly extremely clean things in later generations were filled with various ingredients harmful to the human body.
Auntie went straight to the kitchen to get busy. The three little ones were also shy, so they sat on the ground around Chen Yang, eating dough twists. The TV was on, and the little ones were almost staring intently at the screen.
...
"Brother-in-law!"
Chen Yang hadn't been home for long when he heard the voice of his eldest cousin, Zhao Wukang.
Then he saw the young man carrying a fish and half a pig's head towards his house. Before he even entered the door, his voice was already loud.
"Kid, you need to watch your mouth. Look at this physique, your belly is bulging. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were pregnant."
Chen Yang looked at Zhao Wukang. This kid was now a standard general's physique. It was not easy to have such a build in this era, indicating that he ate well every day.
"Brother-in-law, wherever I go, people say I'm doing well with this physique. Why do you say I'm pregnant?"
Zhao Wukang didn't get angry. Many families were just barely making ends meet, and some even didn't have enough to eat. Getting fat meant that one's family conditions were good.
"Be mindful. Your body is your own. If you get too fat, your body will be unable to cope in the future. You'll get some kind of 'rich man's disease.' Only those with good family conditions can get it. If you get diabetes in the future, you won't be able to eat anything."
Zhao Wukang was now a minor leader in the food factory and had no shortage of food and drink. If it weren't for his good relationship with Zhao Wukang, Chen Yang wouldn't have bothered to remind him.