The next day, when Zi Qing woke up, she saw that Zi Fu had already changed into new clothes. Shen Shi had made the same cotton robes for all four of them, and added a purple-red cloak on top. Since it was New Year's Day, they wore more festive attire. Even Shen Shi wore a purple-red dress, while Zi Qing's was bright red.

  Although they parted on bad terms yesterday, after breakfast, the family still had to go to the old house to pay their respects. After paying their respects, Zeng Rui-xiang and his group were going to the ancestral hall as usual to offer sacrifices. Originally, Shen was not planning to go, fearing that guests would come to the house, plus she hadn't gotten over last night's anger yet.

  Zeng Ruixiang said in a low voice to Shen, "I promised you I'd go and come back quickly. For my sake, at least go pay your respects on New Year's Day."

  Shen glared at him. The family went to the old house, knelt and bowed according to the rules, Zeng Ruiqing and Zhou had no smile on their faces, but still gave a copper coin, just didn't speak.

  The Shens brought their son back early, opened the door to their new home, and put out hot water for tea. As people arrived, some even set off firecrackers. Mrs. Shen greeted each guest, offering familiar faces a seat and a cup of tea, while children were given candies. Most people just offered congratulations before leaving.

  Xiao Xiushui didn't come over to play with Zi Qing either, so at home it was just Shen Shi alone. Because of what happened yesterday, Shen Shi's mood had been bad all day, and Zi Qing couldn't go out, staying behind to accompany Shen Shi in receiving the guests from the village.

  In the second year of junior high school, I went to Baitang Village. In the third year of junior high school, Shen's nephews came for a day. This was the first time that relatives from my mother's side came to pay their respects during the New Year. Shen had to muster up her energy to entertain them well. Previously, they hadn't separated households, and even if they had come, it wouldn't have been convenient, and there would have been no need to invite others to avoid trouble. This time, if someone hadn't stayed home to receive guests, the Shens would have said they wanted to come over and take a look. Shen could only make an appointment for her relatives from her mother's side to all come and play for a day on the 16th of the first month. On the fourth day of junior high school, she entertained Chunyu and his family. Originally, they had wanted to come over the day before, but Shen refused, saying that her relatives from her mother's side were already scheduled to come, and there would be too many people and it would be too chaotic.

  On the fourth day of the beginning, Zeng Rui Xiang discussed with Shen Shi, "It's not good to call his sister and her family for dinner, leaving his parents behind. If outsiders find out, it will be a joke. In my opinion, if we invite guests, we should also invite his parents over. Anyway, there are no outsiders at home."

  After Shen nodded, Zeng Rui-xiang personally went to the old house to invite people. The old masters were easy to talk to and couldn't wait to get things done quickly. Zeng Rui-qing was stubborn for half a day, but eventually brought his family over after who-knows-what conversation with Zeng Rui-xiang. Zhou didn't help out in the kitchen again, instead joining everyone in the hall to drink tea. Fortunately, Shen had prepared early and Zi-qing, Zi-fu, and Zi-lu helped with choosing vegetables, washing them, and cooking, so they were able to get everything done quickly.

  The dishes were sumptuous, but just as they had eaten halfway through, Yan Renda became drunk and started talking nonsense. It was unclear who told him about the events of New Year's Eve, but he pointed at Zeng Ruqing and said: "Brother, it wasn't your brother-in-law who said this, but your father-in-law is thinking of you, you can't be so stubborn, even a rough person like me knows that being unfilial is one of the three worst things, and having no descendants is the greatest. You don't want to marry a wife, why not take a concubine? After she gives birth to a son, you can sell her off. What a great thing! Which man wouldn't wish for this, with women on both sides? How come you're so obstinate?"

  The old man saw that he was talking nonsense, the eldest son and daughter-in-law's faces were getting darker and darker, if they didn't stop him, who knows what would happen, so he called out to Chunyu.

  Chunyu was at the children's table, holding her family's Four Hairs and serving him Osmanthus fragrant dishes. Seeing this, she hurried over to hand the child to Tian Shi. Zi Qing and several others got up as soon as they heard the commotion, but only the three Miao were still eating with their heads down. Da Mao said while stuffing meat into his mouth and rolling his eyes: "What's going on? My dad is always like this when he gets drunk."

  Zi Qing saw Lao Ye Zi and Chun Yu trying to help Yan Ren Da down from the table, Lao Ye Zi scolded: "After drinking a few cups of Huangtang, you're talking nonsense, after eating your fill, be honest and go to the hall to drink a cup of strong tea, don't cause trouble for me."

  Yan Renda pushed away Old Master's hand and said, "Father-in-law, don't stop me, your son-in-law is right. Eldest brother doesn't want to marry a concubine, nor does he want a child with good fortune, saying that Zi Fu is too big, what about Zi Xi then? If all else fails, my family's Si Mao can also work, although not the direct grandson of the Zeng family, but still the legitimate grandson isn't it? Besides, eldest brother can raise him first, who knows, maybe he'll even bring a son to their family. When the time comes, I'll take back my family's Si Mao and let him have a few good years too."

  With a loud crash, Zeng Ruiqing smashed the bowl on Yan Renda's body. She glared at him, while Yan Renda, still drunk and unaware of what was happening, searched around for the bowl, muttering: "Who, who got drunk, took the bowl, couldn't hold it."

  Old Master, Tian and Chunyu didn't dare to make a sound. Zeng Rui Xiang stepped forward, but before he could speak, Rui Qing opened his mouth: "Second brother, I'm not targeting you, I know what kind of person you are. As your older brother, I only have one sentence to remind you: be careful of those greedy and vicious people who are full of evil intentions. Don't let them take advantage of you. I still say the same thing: if you can't afford it, don't give birth to it. All day long, you're just trying to curry favor with your father-in-law, only knowing how to scheme against him. What kind of nonsense is that?"

  "Who are you talking about? Are you a good brother like this? Don't you despise your poor sister? No matter how poor I am, I'm still your own sister. Do you think I want to be poor? Waaah... In the past when we didn't separate households, I lived with our parents and you were disgusted with me. Now that we've separated households, I eat my parents' food and you're still disgusted with me. Other people's brothers are all helping their sisters out and supporting them, but not you. You never say a word of comfort to me. Waaah... What kind of fate is this? Can't rely on husband's family, can't rely on mother's family, wherever I go, I'm despised. Waaah..."

  "You've done something like this, don't you think it over carefully?" Zeng Ruiqing said and then took Zhou Shi and Zi Ping away.

  Ziying thought it was good that her mother had foresight today, saying that the children in her older sister's family were not stable, so she changed all the new bowls to old ones, and the tea cups too. If they used new ones, they would probably be broken.

  The rest of the meal was left uneaten, and everyone hastily concluded. The old man and Chunyu supported the drunken Yan Renda, Tian held Si Mao, and returned to the old house.

  Zi Qing was puzzled, every time he invited guests, there couldn't be a better atmosphere. The New Year's Eve dinner was barely harmonious, but who knew it would stir up trouble afterwards. This time, it was even more direct and intense.

  Shen's family saw that everyone had left, patted his chest and said: "Fortunately, we made a big fuss, otherwise, who knows if they would have left tonight. The old house on the other side is also very crowded, our house has many empty rooms, if they really wanted to stay, I wouldn't know how to refuse."

  "Besides, our family's food is not comparable to others, and they still made a fuss about it. Damao and the others didn't forget to eat meat with gusto." Ziqing added, "Yan Renda's face is really thick, he can live off us without any shame."

  The next few days were uneventful, and Shen Shi advised everyone not to go near the old house unless necessary, fearing that Chunyu's children would get attached and become a nuisance. In reality, no one wanted to go anyway. To be honest, over the years, only Zifu was still noticed by them, while others were ignored. This time, after being hurt, Zifu wouldn't want to look for trouble again.