I'm back in 1990

Chapter 452: Inviting People to Dinner at Home

Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Xiang regularly visit their elderly mother for meals. Before the start of the school year, the couple took Huang Zeji and Huang Ruiying to the old house where they used to live, where Huang Xiaochuan and Zeng Lijuan now live.

As usual, Jiang Rong, the eldest sister-in-law, also came with Huang Zemian. Jiang Rong and her son live in an apartment not far from here. It was a house that Zeng Lijuan bought for her and Huang Dahai a few years ago. Originally, Zeng Lijuan wanted Jiang Rong to live with her so that she could help take care of the child.

But Jiang Rong absolutely refused, and Zeng Lijuan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she had no choice but to go along with her.

As soon as Huang Xiaochuan and his family of four entered the courtyard, Huang Ruiying, who was in Huang Xiaochuan's arms, was taken away by Zeng Lijuan.

"Grandma's little darling! Let Grandma hold you!"

"Let's go, let's go! It's warm inside, let's hurry home!"

After holding her granddaughter in her arms, Zeng Lijuan urged the others to hurry inside.

Upon entering the house, Huang Xiaochuan and his wife greeted their sister-in-law, Jiang Rong.

"Sister-in-law!"

"Sister-in-law!"

"Xiao Chuan Yu Xiang is here!"

Huang Xiaochuan squatted down and teased Huang Zemian, who was lying on the ground building blocks. The little guy was already four years old and had a chubby face.

"Mianmian, what are you doing?"

Huang Zemian said in a childish voice, "Uncle, I'm building a skyscraper."

"Hmm! Not bad, not bad, that building is really tall!"

At this moment, Jiang Rong took Huang Zeji from Yu Xiang's hands and started chatting with Yu Xiang while holding him.

"Yu Xiang, do you have enough breast milk for your two children?"

Yu Xiang sat down next to Jiang Rong: "That's not enough. The two little ones need some milk during the day."

"Does he/she have diarrhea?"

"No, but Xiao Duo (Huang Ruiying's nickname) wasn't very willing to drink at first, but she's much better now."

Seeing Yu Xiang and Jiang Rong chatting about parenting, the elderly mother playing with Huang Ruiying, and the nephew intently building blocks, I looked around but couldn't see Old Huang.

Huang Xiaochuan asked, "Mom! Where's Dad?"

"Your dad was watching people play chess at the alley entrance. Didn't you see him when you came?"

"There was a group of people at the alley entrance, I really didn't notice them. I'll go call him back now, dinner's about to be served!"

Huang Xiaochuan glanced into the kitchen, where the two housekeepers were busy working; it looked like the food would be ready soon.

"Then go ahead! You old fool, don't you even check the time? You're so energetic in this freezing weather!" Zeng Lijuan agreed, but didn't forget to complain.

After saying that, he looked at his beautiful and delicate granddaughter and couldn't help but kiss her again.

"My little Duo is so beautiful, Grandma loves her the most!"

Huang Xiaochuan went out for a stroll and then accompanied Lao Huang home.

At that moment, the housekeeper was setting the table with dishes.

Huang Xiaochuan then called out, "Let's eat! Let's eat!"

Old Huang was overjoyed to see his grandson and granddaughter and wanted to hug them one by one, but Zeng Lijuan wouldn't let him touch them.

With a look of disgust, she said to him, "Go wash your hands. You reek of cigarettes. When are you planning to quit smoking?"

Old Huang could only reluctantly go to the first-floor restroom.

After Lao Huang came out of the restroom, Huang Xiaochuan also advised him, "Dad, it's best if you don't smoke anymore. It's not good for yourself or others."

"I know, I want to quit, but it's not that easy."

Huang Xiaochuan knew that what Lao Huang said was true, and he immediately had an idea: to have Lao Huang switch to smoking cigars. Cigars were much less harmful to the body than cigarettes, and he could also bring his father-in-law, Uncle Yu, along. Apart from these two fathers and one uncle, no one in the family smoked.

During the meal, Huang Xiaochuan casually asked, "Sister-in-law, you've been here for over half a year, are you getting used to your new job?"

Upon hearing his brother-in-law mention this,

Jiang Rong felt a wave of frustration wash over her.

To be honest, Shanghai is indeed much better than Qingjiang. If my mother-in-law hadn't persuaded me repeatedly, I wouldn't have planned to come. But thinking about it, what my mother-in-law said makes sense. The educational and medical resources in big cities are much better than in small cities. For Mianmian's sake, we should move to a big city.

Furthermore, since such a difficult thing as a job transfer has already been arranged, it would be inappropriate to refuse now.

My mother-in-law had already bought a house for her family in Shanghai, so they had a place to live and no worries. My family also thought it was a good thing to go to Shanghai, so they came to Shanghai on their own.

At first, my mother-in-law wanted me to live with her, but I didn't agree. Now, the house where my parents-in-law live belongs to my brother-in-law, so what right do I have to move in? Besides, it's not like I don't have a house in Shanghai. Although it's not a villa with a garden, it's a three-story house with a separate entrance, and it's very spacious!

Now I'm just waiting for Dahai to return from his military service. Once he comes back, the three of us can be together every day.

However, there were also things that made me uncomfortable. The people from Shanghai were too xenophobic. When I arrived at my new workplace, I could get along well with a few colleagues who were also from out of town, but my local Shanghai colleagues hardly paid any attention to me.

Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't understand Shanghainese, he would sometimes talk about himself to his face, calling him a "bastard" and saying things like "xiangwu ning" and "gangbo ning." Later, he learned the meaning of these Shanghainese words and was furious, but considering that he was new to the area, he could only swallow his anger.

When her brother-in-law asked about it, Jiang Rong gave a perfunctory reply: "It's alright!"

Huang Xiaochuan sensed a hint of unhappiness in his sister-in-law's voice and roughly guessed the reason.

He then asked, "Do you have trouble getting along with some of your colleagues?"

Upon hearing her brother-in-law voice her thoughts, Jiang Rong complained while feeding Huang Zemian, "I just don't understand why people from Shanghai dislike outsiders so much."

Huang Xiaochuan touched his nose. How should I put it?

Huang Xiaochuan knew that what his sister-in-law said was true. Indeed, a small number of Shanghainese had xenophobic feelings towards outsiders. They felt that the arrival of outsiders would make the city crowded and noisy, losing its former tranquility. In addition, some Shanghainese who were not very happy with their lives used xenophobia to gain a sense of superiority.

The unique culture and regional characteristics of Shanghai are also one of the reasons for xenophobic sentiments. Shanghai has its own unique culture and historical background, which makes some native residents feel a strong sense of superiority, leading them to have a condescending view of outsiders.

However, these are not difficult to solve, because people respect those who are stronger than themselves, which is also called the psychology of admiring the strong. Based on this, Huang Xiaochuan gave Jiang Rong an idea.

"Sister-in-law, you've been here for so long, haven't you invited your colleagues over for dinner yet? Why don't you invite them over for a meal!"

Upon hearing that she was to treat these people to a meal, Jiang Rong immediately slammed her bowl on the table, refusing to feed Huang Zemian, and angrily said, "They treated me like that, and I'm supposed to treat them to a meal? Am I some kind of scumbag?"

Huang Xiaochuan smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, you can trust me. Next Saturday or Sunday, invite them here. I'll arrange for two chefs to come and host a family banquet to properly treat them. I guarantee they'll treat you very politely from now on."

At this moment, the elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan, also advised, "Jiang Rong, listen to Xiao Chuan on this matter. He has been in Shanghai for a long time and knows how to deal with people in Shanghai."

Yu Xiang chimed in, "Yes! Sister-in-law, just invite them over. Would Xiao Chuan harm you?"

Old Huang agreed with Huang Xiaochuan's suggestion, and Jiang Rong, seeing that her family all shared this opinion, had no choice but to agree.

"Since you all say so, I'll invite them after I get to work. But don't blame me if they don't come."

Zeng Lijuan quickly replied, "No, no, you can just invite them. If they really don't want to come, we won't force them."

On their way home with their child, Yu Xiang asked Huang Xiaochuan, "Will the idea you gave your sister-in-law work?"

Huang Xiaochuan said with a confident expression, "Don't worry! It'll definitely work. Just wait and see!"