Wealthy Beauty in the 60s
Chapter 103 - 102nd Grandpa and Grandma’s House (Monthly Pass 230+)

Chapter 103: 102nd Grandpa and Grandma’s House (Monthly Pass 230+)

Taking advantage of the family’s slumber, Xia Xiao entered the space and asked Shitou, "Gege, did the Xia Xiao from my last life die?"

Shitou said, "She’s definitely gone. Haven’t I told you? She had just died, and that’s when you were reborn in her body. You don’t need to dwell on this; it’s not your fault. It’s the arrangement of fate."

"Then, could that Xia Xiao become the me from before?" Xia Xiao asked again.

"How would I know that? I’m not fate. Fate is a mysterious thing; it’s not human, nor is it a god, just a miraculous existence that you can’t touch or fully grasp. It’s intangible, yet seems to exist tangibly."

Xia Xiao pursed her lips and said, "Xia Chunrong was Old Dong in my previous life, but I had only heard that he had two sisters, and indeed, both sisters did attend the group’s annual meeting, with no other family members present. Now that I’ve become Old Dong’s sister and part of his family, that means in the last life, Old Dong only had two sisters left, with no parents, brother, or the other two sisters. One is the original Xia Xiao, and I don’t know which sister is the other."

"Why think so much about it?" Shitou said.

"How can I not think about it? I’ve just gotten a new family, and we get along so warmly and affectionately. I couldn’t accept losing any one of them." Xia Xiao thought of the remote production team, worrying if something happened at home, she might only find out afterwards, which made her even more concerned.

"It’s all shadows and no substance. Thinking too much is useless. When the time comes, just remind your family to be careful. Your eldest brother is capable of handling matters; you can remind him."

Xia Xiao nodded, sighing lightly, knowing that was all she could do.

If something really did happen eventually, she could only rush back, but she would need to be promptly informed. Xia Xiao felt she needed to communicate well with her eldest brother.

In the morning, before the Xia Family got up, Xia Xiao got up and started making breakfast.

She made porridge for the family, prepared pancakes with shredded meat and green onions, and also stir-fried a green vegetable.

As you can imagine, the Xia Family’s reaction to the breakfast prepared by Xia Xiao upon waking up.

The sisters were mostly thrilled. Xia Weiguo and Xia Chunrong were okay—the father and son were very similar, usually unflappable. Li Wenjuan, however, looked pained.

"Girl, you’re breaking your mother’s heart with such a breakfast," Li Wenjuan’s heart ached at the thought of such a luxurious meal, especially with meat pancakes.

"Mom, don’t worry, I brought oil for the family this time, as well as sugar and dried meat. We can have a good year," Xia Xiao said.

"Eat what big sister has made; what’s the use of talking so much?" Xia Weiguo said.

Li Wenjuan sat down and eagerly ate, nodding continuously, "Big sister has made it so delicious, better than before."

Xia Xiao smiled. Her cooking skills were honed in her previous life, and she had even added some oil, not sparingly like people did nowadays.

"Big sister’s cooking is so delicious," Xia Jing spoke up, with Xia Hong and Xia Lin nodding in agreement. Xia Lin even said, "It would be great if big sister could always stay at home."

The meal was very satisfying for the family, and since they hadn’t had meat for a long time, the porridge and vegetables Xia Xiao cooked were all devoured.

Since Xia Xiao had shown her cooking skills, even the youngest brother clung to her, like Xia Hua now reaching out to Xia Xiao for a hug.

Xia Xiao scooped up Xia Hua, and Li Wenjuan hurriedly said, "Put down the little brother, can’t spoil him any more; let him walk."

Today is New Year’s Eve, and the Xia Family were all returning to their grandparents’ house for the celebration—a yard of sizable, neither too large nor too small, shared with the eldest uncle.

Mrs. Xia had given birth to three sons and three daughters, so Xia Xiao had two elder aunts, two elder uncles, and a younger aunt.

All of the aunts were married off, so on New Year’s Eve, you wouldn’t see any of the married daughters. But the moment the Xia Family of eight arrived, the grandparents were overjoyed, especially grandma, who held onto her son and wept profusely.

Her youngest son and eldest grandson were the apple of the grandparents’ eyes, and her son, Xia Weiguo, was that youngest son.

"There’s no need to cry during the New Year’s celebration," Old Man Xia said authoritatively.

Mrs. Xia then held back her tears and called Xia Xiao’s family into the house.

"Sister-in-law, what did you bring back with you?" Zhao Xiaolan asked Li Wenjuan.

"Nothing much, just bought some glutinous rice flour for making New Year’s cake and sweet dumplings, and a jar of oil," Li Wenjuan said as she sidestepped Zhao Xiaolan’s reaching hand and handed it to Mrs. Xia.

Zhao Xiaolan pursed her lips, eyeing the large bag Li Wenjuan handed to Mrs. Xia, and said, "During the New Year’s celebration, is this all you bring?"

"What can I do if we’re poor? If it weren’t for Rong taking on the job, our entire family in the third branch would have starved," replied Li Wenjuan, not one to be bullied. While she didn’t want to argue with Wang Hong to avoid jeopardizing her job, she had less patience for Zhao Xiaolan, who always relied on her status as the eldest sister-in-law to throw her weight around.

"It sounds as though I’m taking advantage of you. If Xiang took on your uncle’s position, Rong could just go work at the furniture factory. It’s not like the power plant job belongs exclusively to your third branch," Zhao Xiaolan still held a grudge and even felt that the elders were partial to the younger ones.

"Stop quarreling during the New Year’s celebration. If you don’t want to celebrate, just go back to your mother’s home," Old Man Xia said unhappily.

Xia Jianguo quickly tugged at Zhao Xiaolan, who closed her mouth resentfully. How could she not feel aggrieved when her own son, who met all the requirements for the full-time job at the power plant, had to compete with Xia Chunrong, who had falsified his age? Zhao Xiaolan was, unsurprisingly, furious.

"Grandpa, grandma, hello," Xia Xiao, Xia Chunrong, and a few younger siblings greeted Old Man Xia and Mrs. Xia.

"Oh, is that Xiaoxiao? You’ve changed so much; grandma barely recognizes you," Mrs. Xia exclaimed with wide eyes as she looked at Xia Xiao from left to right, "You’ve grown so lovely."

Old Man Xia nodded at Xia Xiao and asked, "How long will you stay?"

"Five days," Xia Xiao answered, having written to her grandpa when she heard he was ill.

"How is everything over there?" Old Man Xia struck up a conversation with Xia Xiao.

Xia Xiao felt unexpectedly honored and went on to discuss life on the production team with Old Man Xia. However, at this moment, besides her siblings, she hadn’t seen any cousins from her eldest uncle’s side.

Xia Jianguo, Xia Weiguo, Xia Chunrong, and others went off to write spring couplets, all prepared earlier by Old Man Xia, while Zhao Xiaolan and Li Wenjuan were summoned by Mrs. Xia to help out.

"Oh, you’ve already put it up; I’ve arrived just in time," Xia Baoguo announced his presence before entering the courtyard.

"Second Uncle is back," Xia Chunrong called out.

When Xia Baoguo’s family arrived, unlike his siblings, he was a university graduate, now working as a journalist for a newspaper, married to the primary school teacher, Wang Jinying. After giving birth to their eldest daughter, they had twins—a boy and a girl.