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墨書 Inktalez
Old Lady Tang was particularly annoyed by this trait of hers. She shot her a glare and snapped, "What are you making such a fuss about? Why are you always around?"
Wang Zhaodi had grown accustomed to the scolding and didn’t take it to heart. Instead, she moved closer. "Let me see what Third Brother sent back!" she said, already reaching for the package.
Old Lady Tang swatted her hand away. "Get lost! Why are you always here?"
Then she turned to Tang Zhiwen and said, "Eldest, you open it."
Wang Zhaodi wasn’t bothered; she still wore a cheerful smile. As long as she wasn’t being taken advantage of in the house, she didn’t care about a few harsh words.
At that moment, Tang Zhiwen had already opened the packaging, revealing its contents. Inside were only a few items. Old Lady Tang rummaged through them, incredulous. "Is this all there is? It shouldn’t be like this!"
"Right? What’s going on with Third Brother? Didn’t he bring back so much last year?" she continued. "He even bought clothes for our parents and brought fabric for me and my sisters."
"Why has he only sent such a small amount this year?" Wang Zhaodi murmured as she looked at the items before her.
To be fair, the gifts over the years hadn’t been meager. In this day and age, everything required ration tickets to purchase. In the city, there were still some available; every month they would distribute tickets, and if you needed something, you could slowly save up to buy it.
But rural life was different. Families with more laborers could at least divide some money at the end of the year. However, they couldn’t even think about tickets.
For families with fewer laborers, just having enough food to fill their stomachs was a blessing. They didn’t get any money at all.
The items sent by Ye Fangfei—whether it was brown sugar, pastries, shrimp chips, or roast duck—were all ticketed goods. Not to mention there were two bottles of wine; wine tickets were especially hard to come by.
This gift package would have been impressive even in Beijing.
Any single item Ye Fangfei sent would be considered quite prestigious in the rural Northeast.
The reason Old Lady Tang and the others found it lacking was simply that Ye Fangfei had previously sent too much.
Wasn’t Third Brother’s mother’s family from a textile factory? How come there wasn’t even a piece of fabric? It was one thing for them not to receive new clothes this year; their parents hadn’t gotten anything new either.
Since Third Brother’s family had that capability, why didn’t they make two new garments for their parents? Wang Zhaodi’s provocative words came easily to her lips.
"What's the matter with that long-mouthed one?" Old Lady Tang scolded.
"Am I wrong?" Wang Zhaodi murmured softly. "She has plenty; what's wrong with her sending us a little something?"
Old Lady Tang shot her a glare but chose not to respond further.
Deep down, Old Lady Tang felt a bit dissatisfied. Last year, Ye Fangfei had sent them quite a lot of things, especially the fabric for her and her husband, which had made quite a splash when they made trousers from it.
She had been looking forward to showing off when the third family's gifts arrived this year. However, she was disappointed to find that there were no big cotton coats or cotton shoes as she had imagined.
This left her feeling disheartened, as it was expected that the third family would send gifts without fail. Perhaps last year's generous gifts had set her expectations too high, leading her to believe that even if the third family didn't return, they would surely send something back.
As the old saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. This was exactly how Old Lady Tang felt now.
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