Watching his son-in-law and father-in-law dancing in the hall with their arms around each other, barefoot, Chen Yang rushed into the outer courtyard and doused his head with cold water from the tap.
He was afraid he might join his dad and brother-in-law's "dance troupe" if he wasn't careful. Chen Yang had a strong premonition that his mother and eldest sister would definitely bring up today's events as a joke repeatedly in the future.
Especially his dad, who had stared with wide eyes before drinking and declared he wouldn't get drunk even if he had another bowl.
Chen Yang didn't know if he had underestimated his father-in-law's brewing skills or overestimated his own father's alcohol tolerance.
In short, both Chen Liming and Li Zhengpeng were drunk now.
Chen Yu lay on the rocking chair, legs crossed, glancing at her father and brother-in-law who were acting foolishly drunk, a toothpick in her mouth.
This was quite a show to watch.
Tomorrow, after these two sobered up, it would be her turn to perform.
The little girl was already plotting in her mind how she would make them unable to show their faces.
"Slap."
Before Chen Yu could even secretly giggle, her little niece, with her chubby little hands, slapped her face.
"Little Aunt, mosquito."
Afterward, the baby doll held up her plump little hand and, as if to show off, placed the dead mosquito on her palm in front of her.
Chen Yu glanced at the giggling little one and thought, she's so young, she probably didn't do it on purpose to prank her, right?
"Yanyan, killing mosquitoes is great, but don't hit mosquitoes on your little aunt's face next time, understand?"
Chen Yu tried to remain calm. How could she, the little queen of Jinling Girls' Middle School, get angry with a baby? That would be too undignified.
"But, Little Aunt, the mosquito was sucking blood, it was itchy."
"Little Aunt, doesn't your skin feel itchy?"
The baby doll stared at Chen Yu's face with her big, watery eyes, leaning in as if very curious whether her little aunt's skin was too thick, so much so that a big mosquito biting her didn't hurt.
Clearly, whenever a mosquito bit Yanyan, Yanyan would feel itchy.
Chen Yu felt her blood pressure surge. She had always been the one to verbally spar with others.
She had finally met her match!
Looking at the baby doll's innocent and pure eyes, Chen Yu felt a chill run down her spine.
This girl would likely have half her demeanor in the future. What should she do? If she couldn't handle this baby today, would she be the one being verbally attacked every day?
"Little Aunt, there's another mosquito on your face, don't move."
As Chen Yu was spacing out, the baby doll raised her index finger and "shushed" her, telling her not to move.
Seeing that the baby doll was about to play the same trick again, Chen Yu slapped her own face. She opened her palm, and indeed, there was a large mosquito on her palm. After slapping it, her palm was covered in blood.
Chen Yu fell silent.
Was her skin really that thick? Why didn't she feel anything when such a big mosquito bit her face?
The baby doll looked at her little aunt's expression of existential doubt with some confusion.
She didn't know why, but she always felt this little aunt was not very smart. She seemed even more foolish than her dull younger brother, who often stared blankly at food without even moving his eyes.
When Chen Yang returned, he was a bit bewildered by Chen Yu's expression of existential doubt.
This girl was usually a little tyrant at home, verbally sparring with anyone. What happened? Who had managed to put this tyrant in her place?
He glanced at his mother, eldest sister, and Shen Xue, who were working together, tidying up the remaining dishes and washing pots and bowls in the kitchen, their children circling the rocking chair.
No one seemed to have provoked this girl.
Chen Yang would never have guessed that his own adorable Chen Mengyan, with her chubby little hands, had slapped her sharp-witted little aunt into an existential crisis.
Not long after, Chen Juan, who had put away the leftovers, was the first to come out of the kitchen. In those days, no family, regardless of their circumstances, would throw away leftover food.
In fact, most families didn't even have leftovers; they barely had enough to eat, so where would leftovers come from?
Today, it was because Chen Yang's family had returned, and they were all happy, so they had cooked a lot of dishes, resulting in some salted duck and Dongpo pork not being finished.
Chen Juan packed them into enamel cups, intending to put the cups in a bucket of water to cool them down, so they wouldn't spoil by tomorrow and waste food.
"Yangyang, look at your brother-in-law and our dad. If no one stops them, they're practically ready to swear brotherhood."
Chen Juan had never seen Li Zhengpeng act this way before. But as the saying goes, you see a man's true nature when he's drunk.
Although Li Zhengpeng was drunk, he wasn't acting wild or shouting loudly, so Chen Juan didn't feel uncomfortable. Instead, she found him rather endearing when he was drunk.
"Sis, Dad and brother-in-law are just happy."
Chen Yang smiled faintly. Fortunately, he hadn't drunk much himself, or it would be a laughing matter for his son to swear brotherhood with his father.
"Sis's husband's unit, about the housing allocation, any news?"
Chen Yang quietly asked Chen Juan. This matter had always been a worry for his eldest sister. In his past life, they had missed out on the housing allocation, and later, a colleague from the same dormitory as his brother-in-law had moved back home and vacated his place.
For this, his brother-in-law and sister had incurred a significant favor, and later, when his brother-in-law was first up for a promotion, he had given it up to that colleague.
Even so, his eldest sister and brother-in-law only lived in a small, dilapidated dormitory room without a window, squeezing in for years until their nephew was born. The family of three still squeezed into that small room for over a year.
His eldest sister and brother-in-law had suffered so much in his past life. This time, Chen Yang didn't want them to live such a miserable life.
"Sigh, your brother-in-law, the school leaders keep saying they're making arrangements. We've been married for three months, and they're still arranging. I think they have no intention of arranging anything."
Chen Juan was full of anger when she mentioned this.
"Sis, don't just focus on brother-in-law. If the leaders at his unit aren't arranging it, doesn't your own bureau have any policies?"
"Didn't your unit build two dormitory buildings last year?"
In his past life, his eldest sister had often complained to him about how foolish he was, just waiting for his brother-in-law to allocate housing and not thinking about the housing allocated by her own unit.
"Those houses were already built and allocated last year when they were just finished. Your brother-in-law and I hadn't gotten our marriage certificate yet, so we didn't meet the conditions for housing allocation. What business of mine was it?"
Mentioning this made Chen Juan feel even worse. If the houses had been built a year later, she would have at least tried to compete for one.
"They were allocated, but not everyone who got a house necessarily likes living in these dormitory buildings. Those with houses in courtyards, the older ones, would be more comfortable living in a courtyard and looking after the children, right?"
Chen Yang subtly pointed out to his eldest sister. Not everyone who received housing was necessarily someone without a house. In those days, housing allocation was never without its undercurrents.
He had heard his eldest sister complain many times in his past life, saying he was too foolish and should have paid to exchange a quota and move in first, then return it to them later when they had their own housing quota.
However, if others weren't living there, they wouldn't spread it around, so Chen Juan had never known. But if she made an effort to inquire now, perhaps his sister and brother-in-law could move into a new house directly.
"You ask about this first. I'll find someone to inquire about small-property right courtyards later. If there are any, finding a courtyard would be much more comfortable than living in a single room in a dormitory building. There isn't even a bathroom, so it's not comfortable to live in." Su Dan Novel Network.
Chen Yang only made a suggestion. Even the newest dormitory buildings were still dormitory buildings. So many people crammed together on one floor, sharing toilets and bathrooms.
Sometimes, while you were washing vegetables, someone would be washing their feet next to you. It was hard to imagine it would smell good.
As long as a courtyard with clear property rights could be found, Chen Yang would rather spend some money to buy a courtyard for his sister and brother-in-law. If not, renting a place would be fine too, anything was better than squeezing into a broken dormitory in his past life.