Chapter 153 The Loyal Dog Little Brother
In fact, Ouyang Jie was also reluctant to make Luo Huan meek and subservient. Huanhuan had always been proud and flamboyant, so how could he be willing to do so?
Now that he understood what his father meant, he’d talk it over with Huanhuan. They must respect Aunt Hui and love Dandan. As for other people, they should keep less contact with them moving forward.
It was just that Ouyang Jie hadn’t expected to want less contact, while Zhang Jiale hadn’t planned to have any contact with them.
Zhang Jiale would always be absent for various reasons for their once-a-week dinner. That, coupled with the fact that Dandan was young and there were many emergencies springing up, the weekly gatherings gradually disappeared.
As for Li Hui, who was busy taking care of her frail little daughter, she didn’t realize that she hadn’t seen her son for a long time, and even her last phone call to him had been two weeks ago.
It was the end of the year, and Li Hui’s 40th birthday arrived. Ouyang Nanshan was thinking of having a meal together and celebrating.
Li Hui also thought this was good. She hadn’t had a good talk with her son for a long time, and there was also the “older brother’s family”. It always felt like it’d been a long time since their last meeting.
But as for when she called, she found out that her older brother and his family had gone on a trip.
“Oh, you didn’t say you wanted to celebrate your birthday, so we sent gifts in advance. We’re traveling abroad on a group tour, and we can’t go back,” Papa Li said on the phone.
Then Mama Li spoke up. “Let’s make up for your birthday when we go back.”
Zhang Jiale took the call as well: “Hello, Mom, I wish you a happy birthday. We won’t be going back, so you and Uncle Ouyang have a good time. I’ll bring gifts for you and my younger sister when I come back.”
After hanging up the phone, Li Hui couldn’t describe her feelings. Since when had their relationship become so distant? It didn’t matter to her if they celebrated her birthday, but why didn’t her elder brother tell her when his family went on a trip?
“What’s wrong?” Ouyang Nanshan walked out of the room, holding his daughter.
The daughter saw Li Hui, and she babbled and stretched out her hands for a hug.
Li Hui took her daughter, lowered her head, and kissed her on the cheek. “Do you feel that Jiale and I have become rather estranged? With my elder brother’s family, too.”
“What’s wrong? Did they forget your birthday?” Ouyang Nanshan frowned.
Li Hui shook her head. “They sent birthday presents a week in advance.” After sending them… here, Li Hui discovered the fact that, after such a long time, her elder brother’s family had never been to the Ouyang house. Originally, they’d still meet often, either through having dinners or going to his house by themselves. However, since Dandan was born, her life had revolved around Dandan, and they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
“What’s the matter? They’re not coming?” Ouyang Nanshan sat down beside her.
“They went on a trip and couldn’t come back.” Li Hui sighed and said, “It’s probably because I’ve been focusing on Dandan during this period of time, and I’ve neglected Jiale!” She couldn’t help hugging her cute little daughter in her arms.
“How could it be? Jiale is a high schooler and an adult. How could he still be jealous of such a small thing? Perhaps they thought you were too busy, so they didn’t tell you. Alternatively, we could also go traveling and celebrate the new year abroad,” Ouyang Nanshan said.
Li Hui shook her head. “Forget it, let’s talk about it when Dandan’s older. She’s so young, and I’m afraid she won’t be able to bear it.” Li Hui looked at her daughter lovingly.
Ouyang Nanshan also intended the same thing. “Then shall we wait until they’re back? I can celebrate your birthday again.”
“No, it’s not a big deal, so don’t worry about it.” Li Hui also had no intention of celebrating her birthday again.
“How could I do that? A few years ago, we didn’t celebrate your birthday and just let it pass by. This year is your 40th birthday, so we can’t just let it pass. This way, on your birthday, we can invite relatives and friends to our home to celebrate. When your brother’s family comes back from abroad, we’ll go to Guancanghai. That’s it, alright?” Ouyang Nanshan said with a smile.
Ouyang Nanshan had already thought it all over. What else could Li Hui say? She can only nod her head in agreement.
Li Huairou’s family didn’t come back until the eighth day of the first lunar month.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Ouyang Nanshan reserved a room at Guancanghai to make up for Li Hui’s birthday.
Li Huairou’s family came early and sat at the table, waiting. Half an hour after the appointed time, Li Hui and Ouyang Nanshan’s family arrived late.
“I’m sorry, I’m late. I wanted to bring Dandan along, but when I was leaving, she got sleepy, and I needed to put her to bed,” Li Hui hurriedly explained as soon as she entered the room.
“It’s all right,” Mama Li said, standing up.
Papa Li greeted Ouyang Nanshan with some reservation. After Li Huairou and Zhang Jiale stood up and greeted them, they didn’t speak anymore.
The atmosphere was slightly awkward. Only Li Hui and Mama Li were talking.
It wasn’t that Papa Li didn’t want to chat, but he didn’t know what to say, and Ouyang Nanshan was the same. What could they talk about? The stock market? Investing?
Inspired by Ouyang Nanshan’s glances, Ouyang Jie tried to talk to Zhang Jiale and Li Huairou.
But they had nothing to do and nothing to talk about. Speaking of which, they could only talk about learning and travel. Li Huairou felt embarrassed for Ouyang Jie.
This meal was embarrassing.
Regardless of what the Li family thought, Li Hui also thought so.
On the way home, Li Hui thought about it carefully. Jiale didn’t seem to have said more than a few words to her on this night. He’d given her the present and asked about her and Dandan’s situation. Then, there was no more after that.
“What’s the matter? Are you tired?” Ouyang Nanshan asked, seeing that she didn’t look very well.
Li Hui hummed and leaned on Ouyang Nanshan’s shoulder. She didn’t know what to say. She should have thought of a situation like today a long time ago, right? The man beside her loved her, but his love was only limited to her. For her own romance, she’d given up her son. Now, how could she have the face to blame her son for not being close to herself?
But there was nothing she could do.
She couldn’t change anything.
She’d already felt sorry for one child, and she could not feel sorry for another child.
Li Hui said all this, silently, in her heart.
Looking at the text message notifying him of the amount of a transfer to his bank account, Zhang Jiale was speechless. The way to express maternal love now was to give money.
Li Huairou leaned over and said, “Wow, so much money!”
“Let’s go!” Zhang Jiale picked up his wallet.
“Where?”
“We’re buying a cellphone. Didn’t an Apple phone come out recently? Let’s go buy it,” Zhang Jiale said.
“That’s so expensive! I don’t want it!” Li Huairou felt that her Nokia was well-used and could fight for a few more years.
“I’ll buy it for you. It’s your birthday present this year! You’re going to college soon—if you don’t buy a better cellphone, what if your classmates make fun of you? You can change to a better one. What about the camera?—That’s it? It’s decided, then. Let’s go!” Zhang Jiale pinched the back of Li Huairou’s neck and led her away.
“No! Mom, help!” Li Huairou waved her hands, making threatening gestures.
After Mama Li heard the voices coming out of the room, the two of them had gone. “Those two kids, what are they doing going out at night? It must be Li Huairou! What is that girl doing?”
If Li Huairou knew what Mama Li said, she’d definitely yell for injustice! She was not the one who wanted to spend money. It clearly was Zhang Jiale!
Li Huairou watched Zhang Jiale pick out two cellphones and swipe his card to settle the bill. With his spending 10,000 yuan just like that, Li Huairou was very distressed. “Say? Say? You, how come you’re so fussy? That’s nearly 9,000 yuan, an entire month’s mortgage payment!”
Zhang Jiale turned a deaf ear to her nagging. His sister was becoming more and more like a housekeeper.
“Bring it out!” Zhang Jiale held out his hand.
“What?” Li Huairou asked inexplicably.
“Your phone. We’re changing the card.” Zhang Jiale was happy to see that Li Huairou didn’t respond. He was ready to take it.
Li Huairou hurriedly took it out of her pocket and gave it to him. This little squirt! The older he gets, the more unruly he is. He simply doesn’t take his sister seriously anymore.
Zhang Jiale took out her cellphone and handed it to the employee.
Twenty minutes later, the two of them were holding their new phones, while the old ones got put into bags.
After returning home, Mama Li learned that the two had bought new cellphones worth four to five thousand each, and she immediately turned into a fire-breathing dragon, pulling Li Huairou by the ear and wanting to scold her.
Zhang Jiale quickly rescued his cousin’s ear from Mama Li’s hand and stepped in front of his cousin. “Auntie, it has nothing to do with my cousin. I wanted to buy it. I was thinking that my cousin was about to go to university soon, so it’d be more convenient to contact her this way.”
Mama Li said angrily, “Don’t protect her. I don’t know her. When you were young, each of you had an allowance of one yuan. When she finished spending it, she’d spend yours. From childhood until now, it’s always been the same.”
Li Huairou was about to be thrown under the bus, but no matter what she and Zhang Jiale explained, Mama Li didn’t believe it. After scolding her for a while, Mama Li forced Li Huairou to return the money for the phone to Zhang Jiale.
Li Huairou didn’t care.
But Zhang Jiale looked very hurt. “Auntie, do you despise me? You don’t treat me like a family member, which is why you’re so polite, and you’re so clearly drawing a line between us.”
Perhaps it was because of the sad expression on Zhang Jiale’s face, but Mama Li took what he said seriously. “No, your auntie doesn’t mean that. Auntie thinks that you’re a boy and will need a lot of money to spend in the future. Your father is gone, and your mother—forget it, we don’t count on her either. Auntie loves you.”
“Auntie thinks I won’t be able to make money in the future? Wait a minute, Auntie.” Zhang Jiale hurried into the room and pulled out a pile of things, including real estate certificates, securities, funds, insurance papers, and the like.
Mama Li blinked her eyes. “Don’t show me this. I won’t understand.”
“To put it simply, I’m already making money, and the money I generate every month is enough to feed our family. You and uncle don’t have to worry about me. I can support myself and you,” Zhang Jiale said seriously.
Mama Li got a little excited. “We don’t need you to support us. Save the money you earn, or buy a house! Don’t give it to your sister.”
Li Huairou was speechless when she saw that the topic had turned to herself again. She’d only gotten caught a couple of times when she was a child, so why did her mother so firmly believe that she was squandering Zhang Jiale’s money?
