Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Time is a balm for wounds; it can heal all scars. As time passes, people gradually forget the pain that once tormented them.
At this moment, holding the young woman's hand, Petrov led her into Andrei's living room, feeling a bit shy about introducing her to the family. "This is Victoria. I plan to take her to get married in a few days."
Beside them stood a boy of about seven or eight, clutching his finger with Xiao Lina, and a little girl of three or four, with braided pigtails, shyly gazing at Xu Li while a large brown bear lay beside him.
"Please, have a seat," Xu Li quickly said, rising to invite them to sit down. Natasha went to the kitchen to bring them milk tea. The boy and girl were polite; after receiving their drinks, they smiled at Natasha and said, "Thank you, Grandma."
"You're welcome!" Natasha chuckled as she patted their heads. Then she picked up Xiao Lina and brought her a cup as well, encouraging her to sip slowly.
Andrei tossed a cigarette to Petrov. "How did you meet them?"
"I went to the next town for drinks. On my way back at night, I ran into them on the roadside."
Petrov tightened his grip on Victoria's slightly rough hand. "Her husband is a jerk who racked up a mountain of gambling debts and left her and the kids here while he disappeared."
"Their house was taken away to settle debts, but fortunately, those people were reasonable and didn’t make things too difficult for them. I felt sorry for them and brought them back. After spending more than two weeks together, I think we get along well enough that I want to get our marriage certificate."
He then ruffled the boy's hair. "Leonid and Natasha, I also want to take them under my name. Their father doesn’t want them; I don’t see them as a burden at all—I'll raise them like my own!"
He turned to Xu Li. "Everything else is fine, but since her husband has run off and can't be found, Victoria and he haven’t finalized their divorce yet. I can’t get the paperwork done here either. Isn’t your brother Ivan working at the police station? I’d like to ask him for some help."
Xu Li nodded. "That’s easy enough; we can just get a missing person’s certificate for him."
Victoria appeared to be around Petrov's age or perhaps a year or two older. She wasn’t particularly beautiful but not unattractive either. He noticed her fidgeting with her right hand due to nervousness.
Her knuckles were slightly thickened—likely from years of hard work—suggesting she was someone capable of managing life well.
"I'll give you money; will it be enough for your wedding and banquet?"
Petrov quickly nodded. "It’s enough; there might even be some left over. I’ll bring it back for you."
"No need!" Xu Li waved his hand dismissively. "If there’s extra, consider it my contribution. It’s better for you to live well together than anything else. Since Victoria is bringing two kids along with her, don’t let her suffer any grievances."
"I wouldn’t do that!" Petrov chuckled sheepishly.
Seeing Petrov smile foolishly made Xu Li laugh as well. He got up and went to the pantry to grab several large bags of chips and snacks, handing them to the boy and girl. "If Petrov ever treats you badly, just come find your uncle."
The boy Leonid accepted the bag and shyly smiled at Xu Li. "Uncle treats my mom, sister, and me well! Once Uncle marries Mom, I’ll call him Dad! When I earn money in the future, I’ll definitely take them to live in the big city!"
"Haha, good lad."
Xu Li and the others laughed, chatting for a while longer before seeing the family off as they left the courtyard hand in hand. Xu Li smiled as he closed the gate behind them and returned to the house to rest.
Petrov and Victoria were the first couple to get married in Hongqi Village since Xu Li's arrival. With the New Year approaching, an idea flashed through his mind. While drinking with his father-in-law that evening, he pondered for a moment before speaking up. "Dad, what do you think about inviting everyone in the village for a meal together?"
"Huh?" Andrei looked puzzled. "We don't have any special occasion. Why would you want to gather the whole village for a meal? What reason do you have?"
"No reason!" He filled his father-in-law's cup and lit a cigarette. "Petrov and Victoria just got their marriage certificate, right? I thought we could take advantage of this good day to have everyone in the village come together for some fun. It would be a nice start."
"Then every year around this time, we can gather the whole village for a meal and drinks. Otherwise, those uncles and aunts will just be cooped up at home all day. They’re getting older, and who knows how many more New Years they’ll get to celebrate?"
Andrei didn’t respond immediately; he just nodded slightly, lost in thought.
Little Ones Zhuo Ya ran barefoot over to Xu Li, who picked her up and placed her on his lap, showering her chubby face with kisses. "What do you want to eat?"
"Mom wants watermelon, Eva's mom wants strawberries and cantaloupe, and I want bananas," little Zhuo Ya said, wrapping her arms around his neck in her sweet voice.
Xu Li handed her over to Andrei to extinguish his cigarette before getting up to head to the kitchen cellar. As he fetched water, he felt that the cellar was somewhat cramped. Perhaps it was because he was getting wider himself. After bringing the water up, he washed it while thinking that next summer he definitely needed to make the cellar deeper and see if there were any high-tech products that could help keep water fresh longer!
"Busy, Brother Three?"
"Uncle! Uncle!"
Xu Li carried Zhuo Ya through the door into Vasily’s office, followed closely by Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, and Xiao Liu. Bringing up the rear were Anna and Eva, both sisters holding bags of chips, munching as they walked into the office.
Eva politely closed the door behind them and smiled sweetly at Brother Three. "Brother!"
"Hey hey hey!"
He greeted his sister, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew cheerfully before getting up with a grin to pick up Xiao Lao Liu Peter, planting a kiss on his cheek before turning to Xu Li.
"What made you think of coming over here?"
After discussing with my father, we decided that every year at the end of the year, we would invite everyone in the village to have a reunion dinner. As my uncles and aunts grow older and their children don’t come back home, it’s just the two of them left in the house. I thought it would be nice to bring everyone together for some liveliness.
He agreed wholeheartedly, nodding his head. "That sounds great. If you need anything, just let me know, and I’ll have someone deliver it."
Last night, I made a list of what we might need. Take a look and see if you have any of these items. If not, you can go to Chinatown and check it out; just get whatever is needed, regardless of the cost.
I pulled out two sheets filled with my list and handed them to Valery. He placed Peter on his lap and carefully reviewed the list. The most numerous items were not food but tables, chairs, and kitchen utensils.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "By your calculations, our place might not be big enough, right? You know how large our yard is; we could fit at least eleven tables for everyone in the village. Even if we cleared out our yard and house, it would still be tight!"
"Well, we definitely can’t do it in the yard; it’s too cold for that," I replied. "I plan to set up tables in the cafeteria at the ranch."
Xu Li picked an orange from the coffee table, peeled it, and handed it to Xiao Si Xiao Wu, who was watching eagerly. Zhuo Ya grabbed a banana for herself, climbed onto her mother’s lap, and started eating it in small bites.
"That should be enough space in your cafeteria," Vasily nodded. "Perfect! I’ll bring Sophia along, and the kids will join us too."
"That sounds wonderful! It would be even better if Yuri and Ivan could come back as well."
Comment 0 Comment Count