Shen Weimin felt both exasperated and amused at the mention of Second Grandpa Xu Ergen. He and Changqing had taken the time to pay him a New Year's visit that morning, but the man hadn't been home.
No matter who went to the team courtyard to call for him that day, he wouldn't budge. It wasn't until his eldest son-in-law went to the courtyard to get his father-in-law personally that the old man finally deigned to head home for a drink.
The reason, supposedly, was that some son-in-law or grandson-in-law had gotten drunk one year, slammed the table at his father-in-law's house, and said some nasty things.
He hadn't asked for the details. Around here, the term for son-in-law was also used for a grandson-in-law, so it was hard to tell which generation the culprit belonged to.
It was just as hard to tell if his wife was drunk right now. Say she was drunk, and she'd usually just bury her head and sleep, not saying a word unless spoken to.
