Chapter 12: Uncle's House

Walking down the path towards the south for over a hundred meters and then heading west for a few dozen meters, they arrived at the entrance of a large courtyard. The courtyard wall was approximately the height of a man and was built with mud bricks. Upon entering the robust wooden door, there were three rooms in the main building with two additional annexes, as well as rooms in the east and west wings, made with green bricks and black tiles, extremely stylish. This courtyard was considered one of the most luxurious residences in the entire village.

The courtyard was quite large; it housed a jujube tree, a willow tree, a stone table with four stone stools, and a large earth dog tethered to a tree that was barking madly at them.

This grand courtyard was financed and built by their uncle Chen Shi, who ran a small business in the capital city, and was completed only last year, thus still brand new.

At the stone table, a girl of twelve or thirteen was playing there with two children. The young girl wore a pea-green vest and white shirt and trousers. Though the colour of her vest had faded and her clothes were somewhat yellowing from washing, they were, at the very least, patch-free. Her features were somewhat attractive, with phoenix eyes, drooping eye corners, and fair skin, though her stubborn and resentful gaze decreased her appeal significantly.

Upon seeing the family, she snorted and remarked, "So dirty! Can't even bother to wash your face before visiting." She then tilted her head back defiantly and entered the east wing.

This must be the notoriously ill-mannered Chen Aju.

A small girl, a little over two years old, looked at Chen Afu and said, "Dirty dirty, let mommy wash you clean."

A boy of about four years old was also as arrogant as Chen Aju. He huffed and followed her into the east wing.

These two youngsters must be her cousins Chen Dahu and Chen Daya, the children of eldest cousin Chen Agui. Although their attitudes weren't friendly, the children weren't to blame. They wouldn't have acted this way if not for adults stirring up trouble.

A girl of about fifteen or sixteen came out of the kitchen, greeted Chen Ming's family with a smile, "Uncle, aunty, Afu, don't be angry. My little sister has just been spoiled by our family. Come in quickly, grandma and my dad are waiting for you." She looked somewhat similar to Chen Aju but had much gentler eyes. This must be their eldest cousin, Chen Alan.

Chen Ming shook his head in disbelief.

Mrs. Wang seemed to have grown accustomed to Chen Aju's rudeness, and gave a forced smile, "I understand. Her rudeness is just her nature."

Entering the main building, they came upon the hall. There was a large square table in the center, with a couple of chairs beside it and a few more on the sides. The room was empty.

They then headed to the west room on the left, where a large platform bed was situated by the window. Sitting next to the platform bed were a woman in her fifties and a man in his thirties, and another young man in his twenties was seated on a chair on the floor. These were most likely their grandmother Mrs. Chen, their eldest uncle Chen Ye, and the eldest cousin Chen Agui.

Mrs. Chen was dressed in a set of grey clothes, looking thin and shrewdly smart. She had a silver hairpin on her head, presenting the typical image of a savvy old lady from the country. Chen Ye and Chen Agui were dressed in typical county folk style, short blue attire and no patches, with rosy faces - a clear sign of their comfortable lives.

Chen Ye welcomed Chen Ming and the others, laughing and calling for them to join him, "Everyone is here now, let's go to the hall to wish mother a happy birthday."

Chen Ye, just like Mrs. Chen, gave a more genuine smile when he saw Chen Ayuan. His gaze only briefly rested on Chen Afu and Chen Dabao.

Chen Afu can understand Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye's attitudes, all people are selfish. From Mrs. Wang's conversations in the past few days, he deduced that ever since Alu became lame, they had shown unkindness towards him and Dabao.

However, Chen Dabao was quite disappointed. His voice was the loudest when calling, "Great grandma," and "Great uncle," but it failed to attract any attention.

Luckily, their eldest cousin Chen Agui made up for it, kindly calling out "Afu, Dabao," and even took Dabao's hand.

In the hall, Chen Ye shouted in a loud voice, "Kids, gather everyone, let's wish mother a happy birthday."

Mrs. Chen had just settled down at the square table, when the eldest aunt Mrs. Hu, eldest sister-in-law Mrs. Gao, eldest cousin Alan came from the kitchen, and Chen Aju led Dahu and Daya out from the east wing.

Mrs. Hu, Chen Ye, and Mrs. Wang were all thirty-six years old, but Mrs. Hu looked quite a bit younger. She was efficient and fair-skinned, and she looked much like Chen Aju. She wore a brown embroidered gown, an apron around her waist, a silver hairpin in her hair, and a pair of gold cloves on her ears. This style of clothing was considered fashionable in rural areas; even some landlords' wives did not look this luxurious.

Chen Ye and Chen Ming stood at the front, while Chen Afu, Chen Alu, and Chen Dabao stood at the back. The whole family knelt down to show their respect to the old lady. Chen Afu had difficulty kneeling and showing respect, so Alu and Dabao had to help him.

After paying their respects, Mrs. Wang presented the clothes she made to old Mrs. Chen. Mrs. Chen squinted her eyes with a smile and praised, "Oh, this is made of fine cloth and the embroidery of the character 'fortune' is really beautiful, it's as if it was bought from the embroidery shop in the county town."

Mrs. Hu curled her lips and laughed, "Mother, though my needlework isn't as good as my sister-in-law's, I serve you every day, morning and night. It's easy to do a good deed once, but it's difficult to do good deeds every day."

Old Mrs. Chen did not want to argue with anyone today, so she laughed and acknowledged, "Yes, I know my eldest daughter-in-law is very filial."

Chen Ye scowled, "You, woman, talk too much."

Chen Ming took out fifty cents and gave it to Chen Ye, saying, "Mom is celebrating her birthday, you shouldn't have to pay for it." He said and shyly lowered his eyelid.

Chen Ye declined, "Brother, you don't need to do this, you and the third brother pay for mom's daily expenses every year, how could you give extra money?"

Old Mrs. Chen quickly stepped in, "Eldest, take the money. Your brother is right, you shouldn't have to foot the bill for my birthday celebration."

Mrs. Hu was worried that Chen Ye would not accept the money, "When you were young, you supported your uncle and third uncle through school. When I first stepped into this family, I served them like a servant. Now they have their own families and careers; they should contribute to their mom's birthday celebration. It doesn't seem right that we should pay for everything."

Chen Ye scowled and scolded, "You just make things complicated, you always interfere with everything."

Mrs. Hu was at ease only after her husband accepted the money. She told Mrs. Gao and Chen Alan, "Let's get to work. We don't have the good fortune of having meals served to us while we just sit."

Mrs. Gao and Alan responded and left.

Mrs. Wang also quickly followed, saying, "Whatever work there is, eldest sister-in-law just needs to assign me."

Chen Ye, Chen Ming, and Chen Agui stayed in the West Room to chat with the old lady. Chen Aju took the two little ones outside, leaving only Chen Afu and his family in the room.

After a while, old Mrs. Chen came to the realization, "I have to check on them. Wang's hands are vital for her family's meals. We can't have Hu's mother and son making her do heavy work and hurting her hands." She hurriedly got off the bed and went to the kitchen.

Chen Ye added, "Hu doesn't learn from her mistakes, mom should give her a stern warning. That woman is clueless, she's never learned to be careful."

Mrs. Wang was very careful with her hands. When she was doing heavy work like carrying water or planting, she would pad her hands with a cloth.

The main house's kitchen was next to the ear room in the west wing. As soon as the old lady entered the kitchen, she heard her scolding someone, along with Mrs. Hu's explanatory voice. It seemed Mrs. Hu had asked Mrs. Wang to light the fire.

For most people, lighting a fire is the easiest task in the kitchen, but for Mrs. Wang who was reluctant to strain her hands, it was not a good chore.

Their farmhouses typically used dry branches for firewood, and they had to break the long or extra branches while burning the fire. This could easily hurt their hands and make them rough. At their home, they would never let Wang light the fire.

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