"Exactly, in my opinion, we should go directly to my sister-in-law’s house and have a good talk with them." Li Caixia said with a face full of excitement, stirring up trouble was simply her favorite thing to do.

But now she is a small officer in the women’s federation, she must restrain herself a little.

"Mom and Dad, we should get ready soon, we’re heading back to the provincial city later, and we have work tomorrow." Seeing how upset Grandma was becoming, Xu Minghui immediately stepped in and pulled his reckless parents back.

"I’ll have Yun Hong and them drive you back later, no need to rush." Yin Yang said with a smile, looking at his brother-in-law.

"That’s great, the sedan is so comfortable to sit in." Li Caixia’s eyes instantly lit up. Oh my, this son-in-law is so capable, he even has a sedan, and she had sat in it a few times, it was really comfortable, much more so than sitting on a tractor.

"Yes, yes, this can also save money." Xu Hai agreed, he also wanted to ride in the sedan and boast to others on their way back that it was his son-in-law’s car.

"Hmm, Dad is right." Yin Yang chuckled lightly.

"Dad, if you really like cars that much, you should earn some money and buy one yourself." Xu Mumu said calmly, luckily it’s the family’s car, she could use it as she pleased, but if it were someone else’s, they’d definitely be unhappy.

"Cars aren’t that easy to buy, even if I earned money my whole life, I couldn’t afford one." Xu Hai said with a bitter face, although his salary had increased a bit recently, it was still too little, and it was simply impossible to afford a car.

"Look at you, so unambitious." Madam Chen looked at her son disdainfully, well, she knew what kind of person her son was, and this was all he could achieve in his life; relying on him was not as promising as relying on the grandsons and granddaughters.

Being scolded by his mother, Xu Hai didn’t mind. Anyway, although he was not ambitious, his sons and daughters were impressive. If it weren’t for his youngest son being so young, he’d already be thinking about retiring.

Madam Chen didn’t bother to talk about the eldest daughter anymore, and Old Xu didn’t care either. They were well aware of the eldest son’s family’s situation; among all the children, the eldest one had the most promising family.

When it came to the children in the family, Lin Juan again started thinking about asking Xu Mumu to teach Dongbao Primary School’s curriculum.

But before she could start, Li Caixia shot her down: "Sister-in-law, you’re always messing around; Dongbao doesn’t even like studying, and I bet he can’t recognize more characters than I can. If you really care, just supervise him to study every day, after all, primary school knowledge is that much, not too difficult." Li Caixia raised her head high in pride, she was a scholar too after all.

With her sons tutoring her at home, she had pretty much completed middle school education, of course, they thought they did, though in reality, they merely acquired basic knowledge.

But for them, it was completely sufficient; now even Xu Minglei didn’t care much about what they had learned.

Since they could recognize words, whatever books they wanted to read, they could read by themselves.

Looking at Lin Juan, who considered herself a literate: "..." The entire eldest family was developing in strange directions.

"That’s right, both Caixia and I have finished middle school textbooks, and Dongbao can’t even match me." Xu Hai looked at his nephew huddled next to Lin Juan with disdain.

Xu He: "Big brother still studying?" He was shocked, was this the same lazy and gluttonous big brother he knew?

"Of course, my Mumu and Minghui are both college students, my wife and I can’t embarrass our daughter, can we? Besides, if I don’t know characters and don’t understand these things, I can’t read the blueprints in the furniture factory. Old three, you learn as long as you live. Follow your big brother and learn a bit, look, I’ve even become a team leader now." Xu Hai said with great eloquence.

Xu He felt a bit stiff, he barely recognized his big brother in this state, the big brother even became a team leader now? Xu He felt a bit heartbroken; promotion meant a raise, this was obviously supposed to be his most promising time in the family, yet his big brother had already become a team leader while he was still muddling through at the shoe factory.

"The big brother is right, follow your brother and learn a bit, stop thinking about irrelevant things all day long, learn more yourself. Mumu said, opportunities are for those who are prepared." After all, it’s her son whom she has doted on for years, Madam Chen couldn’t help but nag.

"Got it, Mom." Xu He felt a bit bitter inside, after the brothers went through training, it seemed he was increasingly not as good as his brothers.

Several kids didn’t study today either but stayed together playing. With so many people around, it was the best time for some commotion.

The whole Old Xu Family gathered and talked for quite a while, and when it was time to head back, Zhou Yunhong and the others drove their car and took everyone back in one trip.

After everyone left, only then did Xu Mumu start to go through the things that others had brought, some brought vegetables from home, some brought a bit of meat, and some brought eggs, and Xu Mumu also registered the cash gifts.

There were quite a lot of vegetables, so she put them directly in the kitchen, as they couldn’t finish them right away; Madam Chen and Qian Ying went about making pickles and sauerkraut, stored the rest under the counter, saving them to eat slowly.

The eggs were put into a vat, these could be consumed slowly, not much difference in money, so they decided not to sell them.

Altogether, the cash gifts were over a hundred yuan. In the countryside here, usually, one or two yuan was about right for a gift, if the relation was closer, they might give a bit more.

Xu Mumu took a look, those who gave more were the little aunt’s family and the granduncle’s family; the little aunt gave twenty yuan, the granduncle’s family gave thirty yuan, and the maternal grandparent’s family also gave a bit over ten yuan.

"Tut, we’ve recouped the cost of the banquet." Yin Yang chuckled. The food and drinks at the banquet didn’t cost much; with Xu Mumu handling the meat, apart from a barrel of fish and a few chickens, hardly any money was spent.

"These should be recorded first, they’re all gifts to be reciprocated in the future." Xu Mumu put away her little notebook, her ledger book as she called it.

"Alright, if you need to send a return gift to someone later, just check what you’ve recorded." Yin Yang said with a nod and a smile.

"That’s true, but the granduncle’s family gave too much, it’s like holding a hot potato." Xu Mumu looked at the thirty yuan in her hand, the granduncle’s family was not very well off either.

"No problem, the cousin works part-time at Huo Qingze’s tutoring class, next time I’ll get Huo Qingze to give him a raise." Yin Yang said coolly, it’s just thirty yuan anyway, they could make up for it in other ways.

"That’ll work." Xu Mumu nodded, this method was quite good, and if the cousin taught well, a promotion was also possible.

Having resolved one issue, as for the little aunt’s family, after Xu Minglei returned, Xu Mumu planned to have him dig out his notes and send them to the little aunt; her cousin was in primary school too, and these things would surely come in handy.

As for the maternal grandparent’s family, Xu Mumu didn’t plan to think too much about returning gifts to them; things sent back from Imperial City often included a share for the maternal grandparents anyway.