Chapter 23 Unhappy with the Gift

Ye Xinyan carried the bundle in her hand and said to Lady Wang, "This is a collection of little trinkets that Grandfather bought for the children of the family, I'll take it in for Grandfather."

With the rich content in the previous basket, Lady Wang's daughter-in-law, Lady Han, had a little hope upon seeing the unremarkable old bundle. When she heard Ye Xinyan say that it contained only small trinkets for the children, she couldn't help feeling disappointed. In poor families like ours, money must be spent on necessities. It would be more practical to buy a few more yards of fabric for the family than to spend money on trinkets for the children.

Though Ye Xinyan spoke of small trinkets, the contents of the bundle were indeed in line with Lady Han's expectations.

When Qi Younian's third brother's family heard the news and hastened over, there was another round of greetings with Qi Younian and Ye Xinyan.

Qi Younian's third brother is named Qi Yourong, who is fifty-two this year, married to Madam Song, with three daughters and two sons. All three daughters are grown and already married.

The oldest son of the Third Branch family, Qi Dong, is married to Lady Zhang. Although he is only in his late twenties, he is already the father of three children: a daughter and two sons named Qi Congwen, Qi Congwu, and Huahua. The eldest, Qi Congwen, is eight, and the youngest, Huahua, is only two.

The second son, Qi Liang, is twenty-four and married to Madam Pang.

Ye Xinyan paid special attention to the appearance of Madam Pang.

Madam Pang held a boy over a year old, and Qi Yourong introduced him to his second brother as the Third Branch family's youngest grandchild, Qi Congliang.

Madam Pang greeted Qi Younian with a bow and had the little child call him Great Uncle.

The child, not even two years old, spoke unclearly, but managed to call out "Great Uncle" in a fuzzy but sweet and adorable voice.

Seated on the kang bed, Qi Yougui, however, showed no pleasure but imperceptibly frowned and cast an unhappy glance at Qi Yourong.

Ye Xinyan's gaze inadvertently swept over, seeing that Great Uncle didn't seem to care at all and didn't even look in Qi Yougui's direction. He just smiled and watched as Qi Younian distributed the gifts brought for the children.

Looking at the couple, Qi Liang and his wife, in their twenties, they were affectionate and warm with each other. Madam Pang retreated behind Qi Liang, who thoughtfully took the child from her arms and placed the child on his knee. Their normal, loving display showed nothing amiss.

Ye Xinyan couldn't understand why Qi Yougui, as the eldest uncle, had such an aversion to his Third Branch family's nephew and niece-in-law.

Qi Younian had come to Clear Water Village unaware of the personnel situation between the Qi family's main branch and the Third Branch family. Therefore, after discussing with Nanny Jin, they decided to buy a set of cloth for the eldest brother and sister-in-law, as well as for the third brother and his wife. For the children of the Second Branch family, they bought various bright fabrics, enough for a few outfits regardless of the children's age or size.

They also brought several bags of candies and pastries to distribute to the children.

After distributing the things Lady Han was hoping for, she was still not pleased. The things brought by Second Uncle were already packed beforehand, distributed only to the main branch and the Third Branch family without allocation per head. In other words, both branches got the same amount.

This seemed unfair, as the main branch had more children, and they were all older, so dividing it up this way, a child might not even get enough fabric for a whole outfit. Meanwhile, the Third Branch had fewer, younger children, and dividing those few pieces of fabric between them, the children could probably each make two outfits with fabric to spare—how could that be fair?

But those were gifts from someone else, and it wouldn't be appropriate to quibble openly. Lady Han could only silently endure her dissatisfaction.

Lunch was at the main branch of the Qi family, and naturally the cooking took place there as well.

Lady Han, while chopping ribs, grumbled discontentedly to her sister-in-law, Lady Xu, "I've heard people say that those who return from being away usually come back... in wealth and glory, yes, that's it, in wealth and glory. Looking at Second Uncle like this, I'm afraid he couldn't make it out there and that's why he's come back. Since he has no money, there's no need for him to pretend to be rich, buying what fabric, as if that tiny bit of fabric could be used to make clothes. Is he planning to make a child's garment with just one sleeve?"

In the kitchen, Madam Song from Qi Yourong's family heard her niece-in-law speaking unpleasantly but didn't stop her, simply picking vegetables and silently listening.

Since her branch joined the family late, and there were many people around at that time, it wasn't good to inquire about matters in the rooms. She was only puzzled in her heart, not knowing what this Second Uncle Qi named Qi Younian had returned for. Judging by Second Uncle and his granddaughter's clothing, combined with what Lady Han was saying, it was clear that Second Uncle was not faring well. It might really be that he could no longer get by outside and had thought of coming back to claim a share of the family property and farmland.

When she married into the family, Second Uncle had already left home for several years, and she truly feared that with his return, Second Uncle would divide up the farmland and houses with her family.

The Qi family was originally just an average farming household in Clear Water Village. When the family was divided, it was done so according to the two sons. Even divided in two, each family only got just over four acres of farmland. To maintain the needs of the whole family, they also rented farmland from a major household in the village to cultivate.

If they had to even out land and houses for Second Uncle Qi Younian, their days would become even harder, and that simply wouldn't do.

Besides, the elderly couple of the Qi family had raised three sons, and only Qi Younian had not performed his filial duties in front of his parents. Now with him coming to claim a share of the property, it seemed rather unfair.

Lady Han seemed to be whispering to her sister-in-law, Lady Xu, but in reality, she had no intention of leaving Madam Song from the Third Branch out of it. She was speaking so that Madam Song would hear, to give the Third Branch some heads-up.

Every year, their father-in-law would mention his second brother a few times. If it was for the sake of making Second Uncle's life easier, deciding to redistribute the family property, it would require the joint effort of the mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law from both houses to safeguard the family assets.

Nanny Jin had planned to help in the kitchen, but upon reaching the door and hearing Lady Han's prattling, and seeing everyone in the kitchen busy with their thoughts and listening – yet no one coming out to stop it – she silently stepped back and encountered Ye Xinyan coming out from the main room, shaking her head in resignation.

Ye Xinyan, seeing the gesture from Nanny Jin, could probably imagine the scene in the kitchen, so she didn't go over either.

The Second Branch brought enough ingredients, and Lady Wang did not want the other two branches to think her stingy, so she insisted on cooking everything, allowing all three families to enjoy a meal as lavish as one during the New Year.

The adult men, along with He Quantai, set up a table on the kang bed in the inner room. The other two tables, for the women and children, were in the main room.

After this meal, Lady Han was quite satisfied. Their main branch had many children, apart from Qi Cheng who was married, mostly teenage boys. Even the girls were older children. Their appetite certainly couldn't be compared to the few little ones from the Third Branch.

In addition to a few stir-fries, the three large pots of the Qi family's kitchen produced more food than what was served at the tables, leaving leftovers in the kitchen. Lady Han especially paid attention to her three sons, ensuring that their table had food added to it several times.

Madam Song from the Third Branch and wives from the other two branches rolled their eyes overtly several times, but it wasn't enough to make Lady Han restrain herself even a little.

After lunch, Lady Wang and Madam Song, leading the daughters-in-law and the two granddaughters, cleaned up the dining table and kitchen; He Quantai and Qi Yougui, after a short rest, led the two brothers to inspect an abandoned house in the village.

As they walked, He Quantai explained to Qi Younian, "Second Uncle Younian, go and take a look first. It's two mud-brick rooms, uninhabited for several years and in a terrible state of disrepair. If you can manage to live there, then settle down for now. If it's not suitable, we'll go rent a house from someone else. But that way, you'll be living in someone else's courtyard, which probably won't be as spacious; it's not as convenient as having your own yard."