"It’s the holidays, after all. My teacher happened to give me some pastry coupons, so I went and bought some mooncakes. I’ll give you half, Aunt Xu. Didn’t you say your family is coming back this time? If half isn’t enough, just leave a little bit for me and take the rest," Bai Jiu said, lifting the cloth to reveal the mooncakes in the basket.
"That’s a lot! It seems your teacher really went out of his way to get these for you," Aunt Xu smiled. She had wanted to trade for some coupons herself, but couldn’t bear to spend so much money just for a bite to eat. "You don’t need to give me any. I have some pastry coupons at home too, so I’ll just buy some later." She felt too embarrassed to accept them, especially since Bai Jiu had said herself that she loved eating mooncakes.
"I never said I was giving them away for free. You have to pay for them, Aunt Xu!" Bai Jiu knew she wouldn’t accept a free gift, so asking for money was the perfect solution.
Aunt Xu choked up for a moment, but quickly burst into laughter. "Then I’ll bask in your reflected glory and take advantage of your generosity this Mid-Autumn Festival." She really did want them. Since Bai Jiu had put it that way, she knew Bai Jiu would feel bad if she refused.
After chatting for a while, the three of them started talking about their plans for tomorrow’s festival.
"If we weren’t going back to my parents’ home tomorrow, I would’ve loved to spend the holiday with you all," Deng Meina sighed helplessly. Her parents lived close by, so she had no choice but to visit them, or else her old man would throw a fit.
"What does it matter? You’ll still be coming back in the evening," Bai Jiu said, not feeling too disappointed. "We can just have our three families gather to admire the moon together at night."
Hearing this, Deng Meina grew even more dejected. "BOOHOO, but I won’t be able to make it back!"
She and Lan Jing’s father were childhood sweethearts, and their families had arranged their marriage when they were just babies. From a young age, they both knew they were destined to spend their lives together. Fortunately, they had a great relationship, naturally marrying and having children when they grew up.
This Mid-Autumn Festival, she not only had to visit her own parents but also had to go to the Lan family’s home. Both families would definitely gather to admire the moon in the evening, so how could she dare to slip away? Never mind her in-laws—her own mother would beat her half to death if she tried.
Bai Jiu didn’t know the extent of her suffering. Seeing that she wouldn’t be able to make it back, she didn’t press the matter further.
After giving Aunt Xu half of her stash, Bai Jiu carried the remaining ten pounds of mooncakes home to prepare dinner. Tomorrow was a holiday, so her teacher and Chi were coming over to eat and spend the night. That was right—Mr. Mu was finally willing to stay over for a day. Thankfully, Gao Zhijun’s side of the house had enough rooms, otherwise it really would have been difficult to accommodate her teacher.
However, Bai Jiu never expected that someone would be so tactless as to show up on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival just to cause trouble.
Since it was a rare day off for the old man, Bai Jiu had entrusted the two little ones to him. She wanted Zhengyang and Xiuxiu to keep him company so he wouldn’t spend all day stressing his brain. The old man and the two children were having a wonderful time playing together when Old Lin suddenly arrived with his children and grandchildren.
They were completely uninvited guests, barging straight in without even knocking.
Bai Jiu happened to be washing things by the well when she saw the family march in. In an instant, her opinion of Old Lin plummeted to rock bottom. Hah! What was the difference between his current behavior and Granny Lin’s?
What infuriated her even more was the behavior of Old Lin’s son’s family. His son led his wife and child to kneel directly in front of Mr. Mu.
Mr. Mu was startled. He hurriedly pulled the two children behind him, the smile vanishing from his face.
"Old Lin, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Mu was an old man, so of course he understood the intention behind this display. He just hadn’t expected Old Lin to be so shameless.
"Old Mu, I’m out of options. Seeing everyone else reuniting for the holiday while my family can’t even get a hot meal..." Old Lin trailed off. He had sought out Old Mu yesterday, but when he went to check on the situation today, he was told that absolutely no one from the Gao family had gone over to resolve the issue. How could he not be anxious?
"But you still shouldn’t do this! We’ve been friends for a long time. Do we really have to resort to this?" Mr. Mu said, equally angered.
Chi and Gao Zhijun had been in the backyard preparing the chicken and fish. They only hurried to the front yard after Bai Jiu ran over to call them. Without a word, Chi stepped directly in front of the Lin family to block their path.
"Step back. Please maintain a safe distance from the professor," Chi said vigilantly, resting both hands on his waist.
Seeing Chi’s defensive posture, Old Lin was deeply displeased. "Is this really necessary? Could we possibly be bad people?"
Others might not know why Old Lin was reacting so strongly, but he knew the truth in his heart. If he hadn’t chosen a comfortable, peaceful life back then, he wouldn’t have fallen so far behind his old friends. But it wasn’t what he had wanted either. The work had been so dangerous, and he had been so young. He hadn’t dared to gamble with his life, ultimately requesting a transfer from his superiors. If he hadn’t left, would he have...
Did he regret it? He did. But regret was useless now.
This recent incident had even subjected him to an investigation, completely trampling his dignity into the dirt. He might be somewhat cowardly and afraid of death, but he would never do anything to disgrace his country. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t bear being suspected that he had brought his family over like this, desperate to bail his wife out as quickly as possible.
"No matter who it is, everyone must maintain a distance from the professor. Please step back, comrade," Chi replied coldly. Did he recognize the man standing across from him? Of course he did. But so what? His absolute duty was to protect Professor Mu.
Old Lin caught sight of the item holstered at Chi’s waist and let out a heavy sigh. "Old Mu, can we just have a proper talk?" he finally conceded, stepping forward to pull his son and grandson up from the ground.
Mr. Mu also sighed. "I know what you’re going to say. I’ll have Zhijun go over later." With that, Mr. Mu led the two children inside the house, leaving Old Lin’s family standing outside.
Regardless, the whole ordeal was incredibly sickening, and Mr. Mu’s mood was visibly soured. Fortunately, with Zhengyang and Xiuxiu around, it wasn’t long before the old man was amused by their endless questions. It was true—the two kids were currently in their "why" phase, asking about everything under the sun.
Gao Zhijun headed to the security department and stated his purpose. Over the past two days, the security department had investigated the matter thoroughly. The old woman was indeed detestable, but her actions weren’t punishable by death. Thus, they had been waiting for the victims to come forward with a letter of forgiveness. They hadn’t expected it to take so long.
Now, things were finally resolved, and their ears would no longer be tortured. That old woman had been throwing such massive tantrums that the guards were on the verge of losing their minds.
During dinner, Aunt Xu personally brought over a dish for Bai Jiu. In return, Bai Jiu gave her a fish. Although Bai Jiu didn’t know the exact reasoning behind the tradition, she had heard Aunt Xu mention it before and had prepared it well in advance.
"Bai Jiu, remember to come over and hang out after dinner!" Aunt Xu had a large crowd at her house, so she felt too embarrassed to bring her whole family over. Instead, she invited Bai Jiu to her place.
This had been agreed upon earlier, so naturally, Bai Jiu had no objections. "Alright, I’ll head over right after we eat."
"Then I’ll be waiting for you at home," Aunt Xu said, thrilled to get a solid confirmation. She happily carried the fish back to her house.
As soon as she walked through the door, she was immediately met with the staring eyes of her children.
Aunt Xu was very fond of Bai Jiu, so she was more than happy to introduce her good friend to her children. Truth be told, the Xu family had quite a lot of members. Aunt Xu had given birth to two sons and two daughters, and there were over a dozen younger relatives in the family.
This time, only her eldest son’s family and her youngest daughter’s family had returned. These two families had more free time and lived closer. The other two families lived far away and couldn’t take time off from work, so they hadn’t made the trip. However, they sent plenty of letters and phone calls throughout the year, not to mention other gifts.
It was only because Aunt Xu was so frugal herself; otherwise, her family’s lifestyle would probably be the wealthiest in the entire compound.