"Second Uncle, are you there?"
Speak of the devil, suddenly Zhang Qingshan’s voice rang out from outside.
"Hey there, nephew, you’re here, hahaha, come on inside, all the folks are in the house."
"Second Aunt, you haven’t gone out yet. My mom and sisters-in-law are chilling at the corner, quite a few people around, just saw you and asked me to give a shout to come over for a chat."
Zhang Qingshan came in with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, followed by a string of cousins.
Seeing this, Mr. Zhang immediately pointed to the bed and stools, "Sit down quickly, you young folks play around, I’ll go and have a chat with old friends."
"Second Uncle, why don’t you sit with us, why do you leave as soon as we get here?"
"Exactly, Second Uncle, you hadn’t even finished your drink."
"Second Uncle probably wants a smoke, am I right?"
Mr. Zhang smiled nonchalantly, holding his pipe and tobacco pouch, waving his hand, "Don’t drink up all my liquor, there’s not much left, take it easy."
Zhang the Second saw his father going back, called out, "Juhua, bring bowls and chopsticks."
Zhang Guoqing chuckled lightly at this. Why not ask Juhua to bring sauerkraut too?
"Bring the wine!"
"Never mind, let’s save it for the old folks. You don’t know, last year my dad wanted someone to brew some sweet potato wine, and then..." Saying this, Zhang Qingfeng shook his head.
Zhang Qingshan chuckled and looked at Zhang Chunming and his brother-in-law, "Why didn’t you give a heads up? Da Chun and the others wanted us brothers to get together."
He referred to Da Chun, who was his brother-in-law Tian Dachun. Old Zhang’s family typically had few daughters, just two daughters from Mr. Zhang, and one daughter from each of the other two families.
"Big Brother, set a date while Xiao Wu is home. Xiao Wu, how many times have you missed the annual third day gathering?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled apologetically, "It’s been out of my control. That’s a good idea, I haven’t seen the other two brothers-in-law in a long time. How are my two sisters doing lately?"
"Pretty good, with so many brothers in the Old Zhang family, dare they say otherwise..."
Zhang Guoqing quickly cleared his throat, "Brother Qingfeng, are you trying to scare the brothers-in-law? Look, they’re already thinking of slipping away."
"Who’s saying that? In my house, my wife is the real child, I’m just the one my parents picked up. Brother-in-law, don’t you agree?" Chen Xiaobin replied with a cheerful smile.
"Indeed." Zhang Chunming paused, "Last time, Auntie said, with two grandsons now, sons aren’t that special anymore."
This remark brought a burst of laughter from everyone, and they turned teasing glances towards Chen Xiaobin.
After the laughter, with the newly added bowls and chopsticks from Lin Juhua, and two new cold dishes made by Mother Zhang, everyone gathered around without hesitation, drinking and chatting.
They chatted idly for a while.
After a while, Zhang Qingshan, seeing Zhang Guoqing listening with a smile, said, "Xiao Wu, my son Tong Suo is getting married in the second half of the year, will you be able to make it back?"
Zhang Guoqing raised his bowl at the words, "I’ll congratulate you first on becoming a father-in-law."
"You little punk!" Zhang Qingshan laughed and scolded, "I figure it’s gonna be tough, right? Look, come back if you can. It’s still early, the twelfth of the twelfth month."
Zhang Guoqing tugged at his clothes with a wry smile, "Your brother here is practically sold to the country. I took this holiday after saving up for two years and switching shifts with comrades."


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