Chen Yang had just parked the car when his maternal uncle, Qin Lide, and his aunt, Wu Xiaohua, were waiting at the entrance.
His mother's family originally had five siblings, all from the "Li" generation, so their names all contained the character "Li." Chen Yang's eldest maternal uncle was named Qin Lide, the second eldest aunt was Qin Liyun, his mother was the fourth, Qin Lifen, and the youngest maternal uncle was Qin Ligong.
There was originally a second maternal uncle. The third sibling, named Qin Liyan, was sent to the Northeast to reclaim land in his youth.
In the 1950s and 60s, the first group of people to go to the Great Northern Wilderness were unaware of the dangers there. Chen Yang's second maternal uncle, a young man full of enthusiasm for cultivating the land for the country, naturally took the lead in everything.
However, during one land reclamation activity, he accidentally fell into a swamp, and ultimately, along with the two young men who went to save him, they remained forever on the land they were meant to cultivate.
This event had always been a pain for the Qin family. For so many years, except for burning an extra stick of incense at the empty grave when visiting during the tomb-sweeping festival, no one mentioned it.
"Uncle, Aunt, this is Shen Xue, my wife. Yanyan, Haohao, quickly call out to your grand-uncle and grand-aunt."
Chen Yang quickly greeted his maternal uncle and aunt and then led the two little ones to greet them.
"Grand-uncle."
"Grand-aunt."
The two little ones were very well-behaved and called out clearly, prompting the maternal uncle and aunt to quickly go inside to find snacks.
The pumpkin seeds, scooped out from the pumpkins grown by the fence in the summer, were stir-fried and served as snacks for guests. There were also dried sweet potatoes made from the sweet potatoes dug from the fields.
The countryside was different from the city. There wasn't much spare money to buy snacks from supply and marketing cooperatives and state-run stores, so people could only secretly prepare some things to entertain guests during the New Year.
"Yangzi, your two children are so good-looking, so fair and clean, like porcelain dolls."
Aunt Wu Xiaohua held the two little ones. She hadn't attended her elder sister's wedding last time and was seeing these two little ones for the first time. She adored them.
People of their age were particularly fond of cute children.
"Come in quickly and sit down, your youngest uncle is inside."
"Now we're just waiting for your eldest aunt's family. They don't have a bicycle, but they can take the small path, so they should be here soon. I'll go to the village entrance to meet them."
Uncle Qin Lide ushered Chen Yang's family inside while preparing to go out to meet his eldest aunt's family. Su Dan Novel Network.
Aunt Wu Xiaohua put down the two children and started chatting with Chen Yang's parents, occasionally coming over to Chen Juan and Shen Xue.
Elderly people were naturally interested in children and childbirth.
Daughters who were married were not obligated to visit for New Year's greetings, but since this was Chen Juan's first year married, she had to return to her parents' home.
For the two maternal uncles, not only were cigarettes and alcohol prepared, but the brother-in-law, Li Zhengpeng, was also woken up early by his parents to buy meat and fish.
Youngest Uncle Qin Ligong and his wife Zhao Yue'e were already at Uncle Qin Lide's place. Chen Yang's father led Li Zhengpeng and Chen Juan, carrying gifts, to greet them.
Youngest Aunt Zhao Yue'e had to take the couple back for a cup of tea and to put down their gifts.
This year, Uncle Qin Lide's family was hosting guests, so she had come over early to help. Fortunately, the two uncles' homes were only a few dozen meters apart, so visiting was quick.
While her brother-in-law and sister went to visit the youngest uncle, Chen Yang took his wife and children and introduced them to the relatives one by one.
Uncle Qin Lide and Aunt Wu Xiaohua had two sons and two daughters. His mother was already over fifty, and his maternal uncle and aunt were over sixty.
Uncle Qin Lide's eldest cousins were all over thirty and had long been married. Knowing that guests were coming today, even though they had separate households, the two elder cousins brought their wives and children to help early in the morning.
The two married eldest cousins did not return. Once married, their primary focus was their husband's family. Apart from returning to their maiden home for Lunar New Year greetings on the second day, they didn't often visit their parents' home otherwise.
"Brother Yousheng, Brother Youshui, how is it this year? Has the harvest in the team been good?"
Chen Yang walked over to greet his two elder cousins, who were carrying water and chopping firewood, respectively.
"Yangzi, it's been five or six years since we brothers have seen each other."
Seeing Chen Yang with his two little ones, the two elder cousins quickly put down their work and offered him cigarettes.
Even though they were just loose cigarettes without a brand, they wouldn't have smoked them if it weren't for the New Year.
"Brother, I don't smoke. Hello, Uncle and Second Uncle."
Chen Yang didn't take the cigarette and led the two little ones to greet them.
"Hello, Uncle and Second Uncle."
Looking at the two little ones Chen Yang brought, Qin Yousheng and Qin Youshui quickly reached into their pockets for red envelopes. It was customary to give a small red envelope to children visiting for the first time, for good luck.
Aunt Wu Xiaohua and Aunt Zhao Yue'e had already given them. Chen Yang didn't refuse, whether it was one dime or five cents, it was a gesture of goodwill.
Before coming, he had also asked his parents about how many children his two maternal uncles' cousins had and had prepared red envelopes for them too. Among relatives, exchanges of gifts and favors were unavoidable.
"Go on, accept the red envelopes from your two uncles. Later, ask your mother to buy you candy."
"Go on, go find your mother to play."
Chen Yang patted the two little ones on the head and sent them to their mother. Men's conversations often involved smoking, and Chen Yang couldn't avoid it, but he didn't want the two little ones to inhale secondhand smoke.
"Where is cousin Youtian? I don't see him."
Seeing that the two children had gone to Shen Xue, Chen Yang glanced around and didn't see his youngest uncle's son, Qin Youtian.
Uncle Qin Lide's two sons and two daughters were all married. The youngest uncle only had one son, and the other two were daughters.
Qin Youtian was born in the same year as Chen Yang, with only a few months difference, so they usually called each other by their names.
"Youtian went to Liujiazhuang. I heard that Kaiyun came back to her parents' home with her child yesterday. Her in-laws are difficult to deal with, and they hit her again."
"Youtian couldn't stand it. His second sister was beaten, so he took Kaiyun and the child back this morning to settle the score with that bastard."
"That kid is also a coward. Every time Youtian beats him up, he cries and screams, but after a while, he forgets about the beating."
Qin Yousheng exhaled a puff of smoke, sounding somewhat helpless. He was the eldest son and grandson of the Qin family. Qin Kaiyun was the second daughter of his uncle's family, and also his cousin.
When Qin Kaiyun was first beaten and returned to her parents' home, he had joined Qin Youtian in beating people.
Later, with these back-and-forth incidents, he couldn't go every time. If they went too often, people would say their Qin family was bullying others. So, it had to be Qin Youtian, the younger brother, who went.
"Hitting women, what kind of ability is that? If you have the guts, live a decent life. What kind of person are you?"
Qin Youshui also disdained his cousin Qin Kaiyun's husband. He was a good-for-nothing, who did nothing but drink and hit people when drunk. He was a grown man, yet instead of working to support his family, he resorted to hitting his wife.