In Li Jianguo's East Room, Du Chunfang leaned against the heated wall and grumbled:
"Every one of them came empty-handed and left loaded with bags. They really had the nerve..."
Li Qingxia said unconcernedly:
"Didn't our second son bring you sesame cakes? And there were the peanuts and vermicelli Xia brought... you saw those yourself."
"Which of those can I eat?" Mentioning it only made Du Chunfang angrier. "Don't they know my teeth are bad? Can I bite through those things? Couldn't they buy me some egg cakes, like Xiao Long did?"
"Well... maybe they forgot." Li Qingxia could hardly explain it away. How should he put it? When Li Anguo's and Chen Xingbang's families came for the New Year, they had practically brought nothing but smiling faces. They hadn't brought much, and they really had left loaded with bags.
"What? Now they're city folk eating state-supplied grain, they're too high and mighty?" Du Chunfang was full of resentment. It wouldn't have been right to lose her temper during the New Year celebrations, so she could only complain to her husband in their room. "Xiao Long bought all those things for the children, and Juan's mother in our eldest's family made clothes for them.
"And them? Is that how elders should behave? Even if Juan and Qiangqiang are older and don't need anything, what about Mingming and Haohao? Such little children, and they didn't even think to bring them anything... have they forgotten how they became city folk?"
This was the first time Li Qingxia had seen his wife so angry.
The whole extended family had actually enjoyed themselves over the New Year. Why was his wife unhappy now that everyone had left?
"Could I lose my temper to their faces?" Du Chunfang had her reasons. "Those two ungrateful wretches.