Chapter 56: Joy and Harmony!

Seeing his grandfather’s fondness for the overcoat, Li Xiangdong said, “Grandpa, why don’t you try it on?”

“Then I’ll try it?”

Old Man Li excitedly unbuttoned the coat, put it on, and nodded repeatedly, “Mmm, good, really good!”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “If you like it, you can keep it to wear in the winter.”

Before Old Man Li could speak, Old Lady Li scolded, “You shameless old thing, hurry up and take off the coat. Wearing this in the dog days of summer, aren’t you afraid of getting a heat rash!”

“What do you know? As a grandfather, how could I take my grandson’s clothes to wear? I’m just admiring it.”

Old Man Li dodged Old Lady Li who came over to pull off his clothes. He was wearing the overcoat on top, its length just covering his big shorts underneath, and a pair of slippers on his feet. He swaggered out of the house just like that.

Seeing her husband go out, Old Lady Li slapped her thigh and said, “Dongzi, look at your grandpa, that old thing. The older he gets, the stranger his temper becomes!”

Before she finished speaking, thinking of her husband’s appearance just now, she couldn’t help but start laughing. Zhou Yuqin and Eldest Sister-in-law laughed along with her.

Li Xiangdong said, “My grandpa likes it from the bottom of his heart. Let him keep this coat to wear in the winter.”

Old Lady Li disagreed, “That won’t do, Dongzi. Your grandpa has a thick cotton-padded jacket for the winter. If you give it to him, what will you wear in the winter?”

“Alright, then let’s not talk about this. It’s not the time to wear it now anyway.”

It was just an overcoat. Li Xiangdong didn’t know his grandfather liked it before. He would just find a way to get another one in the future.

Li Xiangdong took the net bag of creamy candy out of the cloth bag, carried it over, and placed it in his grandmother’s hand. “Look what this is.”

“Oh, this candy of yours looks quite nice.”

Old Lady Li’s eyesight wasn’t good due to her age. She held the candy close to her eyes and carefully looked at the rabbit on the wrapper.

Smelling a milky fragrance wafting into her nose, she said in surprise, “This is creamy candy! Dongzi, where did you get so much creamy candy? This is good stuff, you should put it away quickly.”

As she spoke, Old Lady Li put the candy back into Li Xiangdong’s hand.

“I took it out for you all to eat. This is a benefit from my work unit.”

Li Xiangdong opened the net bag, took out a piece, unwrapped it, and first gave one to Old Lady Li to eat. Then he grabbed a few more and placed them in front of Zhou Yuqin and Eldest Sister-in-law who were sitting at the table.

Eldest Sister-in-law looked at the candy on the table and asked, “Dongzi, are the benefits at your unit this good? They even give out creamy candy for reporting for duty?”

Li Xiangdong smiled and didn’t explain. He would be bringing home good things often in the future. He couldn’t explain it every single time, could he?

He saw that Eldest Sister-in-law only picked up a candy to look at it and then put it down, just like his wife Zhou Yuqin. They just looked at it but were reluctant to eat it.

“Go on, eat. I have plenty more.”

Li Xiangdong walked over, picked up a piece, tore open the wrapper, and was about to put it in his wife’s mouth.

Zhou Yuqin’s face turned red with shyness and she dodged, “Give it to me, I’ll eat it myself.”

Old Lady Li, with the candy in her mouth, smiled, “That’s right, you all try it, don’t be reluctant. Our Dongzi has made it now, we won’t be short of this kind of food in the future.”

Li Xiangdong watched as his wife and Eldest Sister-in-law each ate one. He looked up and saw Li Xiaomei holding his daughter, and Li Xiaolan, two big and one small, three heads peeking through the window.

He smiled and waved at them.

The sisters Xiaomei and Xiaolan smiled back at him through the window, then they quickly walked to the door, came into the room, and walked straight towards Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiaozhu pouted and called out unhappily, “Dad… hold…”

“Aigh, Dad will hold my big girl right now.”

Li Xiangdong took Li Xiaozhu from his niece Li Xiaomei’s arms and gave her a kiss.

He looked down at the two nieces standing in front of him and said, “There’s White Rabbit creamy candy on the kang. You two go get some for yourselves. Take as much as you want to eat, don’t be polite with your third uncle.”

“Thank you, Third Uncle!”

Hearing that there was creamy candy to eat, the two little sisters skipped towards the kang.

“Mom… eat…”

Li Xiaozhu patted Li Xiangdong’s shoulder and pointed at Zhou Yuqin who was eating candy.

“The candy is too hard for you to bite. How about I have your mom dissolve some in water for you to drink?”

“Mmm… Mmm…”

Li Xiaozhu nodded happily.

Li Xiangdong smiled at his wife, “Xiaoqi is getting greedy seeing you all eat. Honey, pour some hot water and dissolve a candy for her, let her drink some sugar water.”

After speaking, he saw his two nieces snuggled up to their great-grandmother, their eyes fixed on the single candy clutched in their hands, reluctant to eat it.

Li Xiangdong had just told them to take as much as they wanted, but the two sisters still only took one each. Sensible children are endearing.

Usually, when Zhou Yuqin was busy and couldn’t take care of her daughter, it was the two nieces who came to help with the child.

Li Xiangdong naturally wouldn’t be stingy with them. He walked over holding his daughter and directly grabbed a handful, putting it in Li Xiaomei’s arms.

“You and Xiaolan share it. If anyone is short one, go get another one yourself.”

Eldest Sister-in-law was happy to see her brother-in-law being so generous, but how could she give the children so much of a good thing like creamy candy at once?

“Third Brother, put it away quickly. One for each of them is enough.”

Hearing her mother’s words, Li Xiaomei was about to put the candy in her arms back.

Old Lady Li reached out to stop her great-granddaughter, “Your third uncle gave it to you, your mother can’t control it. We won’t listen to her, okay? You and your sister hurry up and share it.”

Zhou Yuqin also chimed in to persuade, “It’s okay, Eldest Sister-in-law. This is just something for the children to eat. Whether it’s more or less, it will all be eaten sooner or later.”

Li Xiangdong, holding his daughter and teasing her, said with a smile, “I like these two kids, Xiaomei and Xiaolan. If it were Li Xiaojiang and the others, I wouldn’t be willing to give it to them even if they wanted to eat.”

Eldest Sister-in-law smiled, “Third Brother, look at what you’re saying. If your three nephews heard that, they would surely complain in their hearts about their uncle being biased.”

Li Xiangdong joked, “Raise sons poor and daughters rich. They will understand my good intentions sooner or later. Besides, when I get old, I’ll be counting on these three girls in our family to be filial.”

Li Xiaomei looked at her third uncle and said with an extremely serious expression, “Third Uncle, my sister and I will definitely be filial to you in the future.”

Li Xiaolan followed up, “Third Uncle, when I grow up, I’ll earn money to buy you White Rabbit creamy candy to eat.”

“Then Third Uncle will be counting on you all in the future.”

Li Xiangdong replied, rubbing his daughter’s little cheek, “Xiaoqi, did you hear what your sister said?”

Li Xiaozhu was pricked by his stubble and her chubby little hands tried to push away his approaching head, “Go…”

Li Xiangdong chuckled, “You’re pushing your dad away. If you don’t like your dad, I won’t let you eat the good things I have in the future. I’ll give them all to your two sisters.”

Li Xiaozhu let go of her hands, hugged his neck tightly, and insisted, “Want… want…”