Chapter Eighteen: The Gluttonous and Lazy Aunt

  Even many of his own relatives have a flattering face, Er Niu is an honest man, who is sincere and who is hypocritical can still be distinguished, but after all, when others come to congratulate him, it's not good to put all his thoughts on his face, he just says "Sorry for the poor hospitality, everyone please enjoy your food and drink."

  The lively banquet finally came to an end, and it was already afternoon. After the villagers had all come to offer their congratulations and returned home, only some relatives of the family were left behind. Lin He was busy helping Huang Shi clean up the table when she saw her aunt He Shi and younger sister Lin Hongxia walking over, seemingly discussing something with Lin Erniu. Lin Erniu's face didn't look too good, but he couldn't lose his temper in front of his elder sister-in-law and younger sister.

  Lin He's younger aunt, Hong Xia, was married to a man in the neighboring village. Her husband was a lazy glutton, and their family was originally quite well-off. They had several acres of good land, and he was the only son at home, with his sisters all married off early. Hong Xia also gave birth to two small children, a boy and a girl.

  The days at home were originally spent in harmony, but after Hongxia's father-in-law and mother-in-law passed away, Hongxia's husband had no one to restrain him and was not as diligent and hardworking as before. He spent his days drinking at home, and when he had money, the whole family would eat and drink lavishly, and their own fields were abandoned.

  Hong Xia is also a glutton and lazy, her husband doesn't do anything, she won't do it either. Every day, this family that family, the family often has no rice to cook. Usually knowing Er Niu's family is poor, they don't come and go much. Today, knowing Er Niu's family is building a house and drinking wine, they brought their whole family to take advantage of it.

  All the relatives at home were helping with things, and just their family of four sat in front of the table cracking melon seeds from early morning until dinner time. At dinner time, they sat down at the table earlier than anyone else. After finishing eating, it was certain that there was something to ask Er Niu about. Hongxia's husband took the child and left first, and Hongxia stayed behind without even saying she would help with cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks. It seemed like nothing good was going on.

  Lin He walked over to a nearby table, just in time to hear Hong Xia say "Second Brother, can you lend me two of them? My family doesn't even have rice to cook at home. If you don't lend them to me, my two kids will go hungry tomorrow."

  "What's wrong with you, Er Niu? Your family can afford to raise outsiders, but you're so heartless towards your own family members. Look at how pitifully your sister is speaking, and you still have the nerve."

  Lin He understood the general meaning, Hong Xia was here to borrow money from Er Niu, and Er Niu didn't seem too willing to lend it. This He Shi is just trying to muddy the waters, and by outsiders, I mean Qin Lao Da Ye and his grandson.

  He's not a good person, Lin He thought to himself. Since his sister-in-law is so short of money, she must have borrowed from He before, and He must have refused to lend her, that's why he incited Hongxia to come to their house to borrow money.

  Lin He walked over there and sweetly called out "Auntie, little aunt", then said "Dad, the younger brother and sister of Aunt's family have no food to eat, it's really pitiful. If not, our kitchen still has a few mantou (steamed buns), we can take them to give to the younger siblings to eat, and we won't eat dinner tonight. We just built a house and there's no money at home."

  After a while, she turned to Hong Xia and said, "Little aunt, why don't you borrow money from your sister-in-law? Your sister-in-law's family has money now, and they can even open a store in the town."

  He's family listened and immediately looked embarrassed, his face turned ugly, didn't know what to say, but Lin He was a seven-year-old child, can't be petty with a child, people say children always tell the truth, indeed it is, Er Niu's family just built a house, at night they don't even eat dinner, leaving mantou for their aunt's younger brother and sister to eat, this big madam didn't show any expression, which was indeed a bit embarrassing.

  However, Hongxia knew what kind of person her sister-in-law was. She would only come to Erge for help if she couldn't borrow from others. Erniu wasn't unwilling to help his sister either. If his sister's family was really so poor that they couldn't even afford food for the children, as an uncle, he should definitely lend a hand.

  But now Hong Xia is herself two lazy gluttons, not competitive, and may even borrow this time, there will be next time, next next time, which is not helping them but also harming themselves.

  "Red Cloud, you know my family just built a house and we're short on money. This leftover food is for us to get through the winter, it's barely enough. We have some food at home, take some back for the two kids to eat. I'm telling you, you two should work harder, don't idle around all day. Your family has several acres of land, plant them well and you'll have a year's worth of food. You spend all day gossiping with the Zhangs and the Lis, not doing any real work, and borrowing money everywhere is not a solution either. This borrowed money will eventually need to be repaid. If you two can't manage during busy farming seasons, I'll come help out. That's all I can do."

  Hong Xia's face also turned bright red after hearing these words, and a hint of shame flashed in her eyes, but only for an instant. Knowing that there was no hope of borrowing money from Er Ge, she headed towards Zhao Shi's place instead.

  Zhao saw her like this and also knew what had just happened, sighed, these children are really worrying, but they are their own daughters, their own grandchildren, how can they not help them a little? Called Hongxia into the house, talked for a while, and still gave her 500 yuan. After Hongxia got the money, she ran to the kitchen again, Huang's family packed some food for her to take back, and then happily left.

  These two men naturally saw it and just shook their heads helplessly. This sister is beyond salvation.

  The He family's face didn't look good, the old lady usually eats and lives at their house, sighing that she has no money every day. This daughter-in-law actually has money now, it's really uncomfortable in her heart. However, after all, the money is the old lady's own, so even if she feels uncomfortable in her heart, she can't say anything.

  There were still some food and snacks left in the kitchen, the snacks were bought to take back to the bricklayers, to help them rush to work for so many days, people need to know gratitude.

  Lin He let Huang Shi give one hundred more big coins and one package of snacks to each person, saying it was for the children to eat. The one hundred big coins were said to be rush job fees. Those workers listened and thanked him profusely before leaving. The foreman also said that if there's anything to do at home in the future, remember to look for him, he will definitely give them priority. Lin Er Niu agreed.

  Lin He felt that the things in this world are strange, some people who are very close to you can do things that make you hate them, while strangers can make you feel warm.

  The house was finished, but it couldn't be moved in immediately. It had to be left empty for a few days to get rid of the unpleasant smell of lime and other residues from construction. Additionally, the floor wasn't dry yet, so there was dampness in the air. The dampness could be taken care of by buying some charcoal from the street and placing it in a basin in the middle of each room. However, the smell would take several days to dissipate before they could move in.