CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52: THE ENGAGEMENT BANQUET

Grandma Bai was truly scared now, and didn’t dare say another word. The old man really hit her hard; once he was at his worst, she couldn’t get out of bed for three days. She was afraid he would hit her in public.

"Mom, my niece is getting engaged today, let’s hurry into the house to join the banquet! What are we talking about here for? We’re all family, isn’t what’s in our home the same as what’s in our own? If we need something in the future, wouldn’t Big Brother and Sister-in-law lend it to us? Let’s go in! Come on!" Li Guihua quickly ran out to give Grandma Bai an escape, and didn’t forget to take advantage.

"You guys..." Bai Ruchuan was pulled by her big sister and had been unable to speak, her little face red with anger. Bai Ruxia felt the same; she was grinding her teeth audibly.

"The words are all spoken by them, why are you angry? The stuff is in our hands, giving it or not isn’t up to one word from us?" Bai Rushan said from behind Bai Ruchuan, enlightening her with a phrase, calming her down.

Bai Ruxia also heard what her brother said, her expression softened a bit.

"Alright, let’s go inside! We still have to heat the dishes!" Bai Xue urged a few younger siblings to go inside and busy themselves.

Educated youth along with Second Uncle and Quanzi helped move the sewing machine and a sack of cloth inside; the bicycle remained in the yard, making the already small room even more cramped.

"Everyone go inside now! It’s time to eat!" Bai Daliang finally found his voice and called everyone into the house to eat.

Grandma Bai quickly tossed her head and walked inside, her steps brisk, afraid she would miss out if she walked slowly.

Bai Dahe’s family followed behind, Mr. Bai Sr. walked into the house with his hands behind his back.

"Come on! Let’s go!" Bai Xue beckoned to Wang Xuehua and the Second Aunt Wu Zhaodi, who also brought along the three children just called over and headed into the house.

Once everyone was in the house, Bai Xue arranged the seating.

Two tables were placed on each kang. The adults sat on the kang, three educated youths were also seated there, while the children sat at the table on the ground. The tables, benches, bowls, and chopsticks were borrowed; there weren’t enough benches, so the children stood to eat.

After the four dishes were served on the table, they were plentiful, served in large bowls, and the fragrant aroma of meat was irresistible for both adults and children, who all picked up their chopsticks to eat.

Li Guihua especially wielded her chopsticks with lightning speed, pulling food into her mouth; the meat slices in the dish couldn’t escape her chopsticks, eating to the point that Wu Zhaodi next to her felt embarrassed for her.

The four little ones were already full from the morning, so they didn’t sit at the table; watching Bai Ruying and Bai Rusheng ravenously grab meat made them look grim. The two brothers ate creating a mess all over the table, extremely filthy, while on the kang, Grandma Bai went even further. She thought no one noticed as she sneakily put the cornmeal cakes from the table into her coat pocket, but everything was seen by the four younger ones.

"Alright, if you’re taking it, just take them, they’re only two cornmeal cakes!" Bai Rushan pulled the eager-to-step-up Bai Ruchuan.

"Brother, Grandma is too much, I want to embarrass her in front of all these people!" Bai Ruchuan gritted her teeth and spoke hatefully.

"Little Chuan! Grandma, after all, is our actual grandmother. Her losing face in front of all these people isn’t a big deal, but Brother-in-law is here, and those educated youth too, her losing face equates to us losing face!" Bai Rushan advised.

"Let her lose face, it’s her own old face, what’s it got to do with us?" Bai Ruchuan persisted stubbornly.

"Did you see how generous our brother-in-law was with the gift for our big sister today?" Bai Ruxia chipped in. This time she didn’t act impulsively.

"What’s that got to do with it, anyway she can’t snatch it away!" Bai Ruchuan refused to think deeply.

"Brother-in-law is from the Capital City, his family must be wealthy to afford such expensive gifts. You want Grandma to lose face in front of him, where can big sister put herself for just two cornmeal cakes!" Bai Ruxia analyzed for Bai Ruchuan.

Bai Xue, listening to the conversation behind the younger ones, suddenly realized that although Bai Ruxia was impulsive, she wasn’t brainless. In fact, she was smarter than Bai Ruyun, who was more reserved and scared! Analyzing the situation clearly and logically.

"Alright, Xiao Yun, Xiao Xia, you go add more dishes! Xiao Shan, Little Chuan, you two go and keep the fire going, warm the food, don’t let people eat cold food and cold dishes! And pack some more food to send to Third Granny’s home! Uncle Dazhu and Auntie, and Jin Shan didn’t come over, bring some to them!"

"Big Sister. Grandma, she..." Bai Ruchuan saw big sister approaching, immediately wanting to complain.

"Big Sister saw it all! Don’t worry about her, it’s just this once! After this, she won’t have a chance again!" Bai Xue shook her head and said.

Bai Ruchuan was reckless and hot-tempered, but he most listened to his big sister. Since Big Sister said so, he complied.

"Big Sister, I’ll go send food to Uncle Dazhu’s family!" Bai Ruchuan grumbled and went out.

Staying here is heart-wrenching, it’s better to go and deliver the food.

"Then I’ll keep the fire burning!" Bai Rushan knew his brother wasn’t happy and didn’t compete with him, heading to chop wood.

Bai Ruyun and Bai Xia added more dishes to every table, surprising and pleasing everyone further.

They had never attended such an engagement banquet, where dishes contained meat, rich in oil and ample portions, even adding dishes in between.

The meal lasted for an hour, Bai Xue even brought out five jin of white wine, and BraveSoul Bai along with the men drank themselves slightly intoxicated; white wine being such a prized item, impossible to drink casually.

Even the brigade leader drank a bit too much, laughing heartily, praising Bai Xue and Zhang Yuan as a perfect match.

Bai Daliang drank quite a lot too, caught between his wife, children, and his mom, feeling the most uncomfortable, seizing the moment to drink some wine and dull his sorrow.

"Alright, alright, stop drinking now, save the rest and take it home for your dad to drink during New Year!" Grandma Bai snatched the wine bottle from Bai Daliang’s hand, which still had about one jin left.

"Mom, let me drink! Give it to me! Give me the wine!" Bai Daliang struggled with Grandma Bai, but he was already a bit drunk, swaying and unable to take back the bottle.

Bai Daliang looked at the half cup of wine in his third brother Bai Dahe’s cup, with hazy eyes he asked Grandma Bai a question.

"Mom, for all these years I’ve always wanted to ask, am I really your biological son?"

Once the question was out, everyone present looked grim.

The others sympathized with Bai Daliang’s injustice, especially Grandma Zhao who looked at Bai Daliang with heartache.

But Grandma Bai was furious, her expression dark, lifting her hand and giving Bai Daliang a loud slap on the shoulder, but the drunken Bai Daliang couldn’t withstand the blow and fell down.

The engagement party ended with Bai Daliang knocked down from drunkenness.

After everyone left, Grandma Bai, still accompanied by Li Guihua, was scraping together the leftovers, holding the remaining jin of white wine tightly in her arms, afraid Bai Xue would come and snatch it away.

The younger ones looked displeased, Bai Ruchuan shouted, "Don’t break other people’s bowls and plates, they’re borrowed! We have to return them to the owners! You break it, you pay for it yourself!"

"You little brat, how dare you speak to your grandma like that? Do you believe I’ll hit you?" Grandma Bai lifted her hand.

At this moment, Mr. Bai Sr. had long gone home, she was afraid of no one.

"Hey, Mom, why don’t you go check inside the pot if there’s any left?" Li Guihua whispered to Grandma Bai’s ear.

Grandma Bai’s eyes lit up and she quickly ran out.

Bai Xue sneered, she’d guarded against this move long ago; apart from the table leftovers, anything untouched was already given away, some sent to Second Uncle’s family, some to Third Granny, and some to Grandma Zhao’s family, the pots were cleaned, not a scent left.

As for what remained on the table, she had a cleanliness habit, she wouldn’t eat others’ leftovers! So it was better for them to clear away the scraps!