No matter how Father Ye and Mother Ye urged them to stay, Secretary Chen and his family insisted on going home to eat, so they did not press them. Building the houses had been using up a lot of rice and grain lately anyway; saving a little would be good.
After Secretary Chen's family left, the house erupted with noise. The children knew nothing of adult affairs and could not care less. They all craned their necks to look at the Miancha Cake and canned mandarin oranges in the basket.
They had eaten Miancha Cake before, sweet and melting in the mouth, but they had never had a chance to eat canned mandarin oranges. Their family was poor; how could their parents bear to spend money on canned fruit for them?
Ye Yaodong patted his two oldest nephews on the head. "Stop drooling. Time to eat."
Ye Chenghai tilted his head and asked him, "Uncle, can we have the Miancha Cake and canned oranges after dinner?"
"You'll be stuffed after dinner. Will you still have room?"
The children nodded furiously and answered in unison, "Of course we will."
"Then go ahead!"
He did not think they were anything special. Since the children wanted some, they could share them after dinner. Mother Ye, however, disagreed. She shot him a glare. "Canned fruit is expensive. Don't let the children waste it. Put it away first. In two months, when you need to give gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can add these to make your gifts look better."
If she had not been worried they would expire before the New Year, Mother Ye would have preferred to save them until then. They would make the gifts look even better and give them more face.
Ye Chenghu gazed at them longingly and said