At four in the afternoon, Qin Tian arrived at the Xia family's home with the Xia Nuan Nuan sisters.
Upon entering, they found the living room bustling with a large family, creating quite a lively atmosphere.
Besides Xia Xue's parents, who had returned from a neighboring city, Xia Nuan Nuan's second granduncle was also present, along with his son, grandchildren, but not his wife or daughter-in-law, who were at home preparing their own New Year's Eve dinner.
This was a custom in Yucheng.
Generally, for New Year's Eve dinner, families with many members would dine at one house after another.
After finishing here, Old Master Xia and Xia Zhengping would also go to Xia Nuan Nuan's second granduncle's house to eat, or at least have a few drinks even if they couldn't eat more.
Qin Tian followed Xia Nuan Nuan, greeting each elder one by one.
The elders smiled, appraising him with curious gazes.
They had mostly seen him at Xia Nuan Nuan's college entrance ceremony a few months prior, but they hadn't formally greeted him then.
On another sofa, a boy and a girl were staring at Qin Tian like curious babies.
"This is my second granduncle's nephew, Xia Junjie, and his sister Xia Yaxin. They are twins, born just a few minutes apart," Xia Nuan Nuan introduced to Qin Tian.
"You weren't at your college entrance ceremony last time."
Qin Tian realized with a nod.
He still remembered that after Xia Xue greeted him, Zhang Peng had joked, asking if Xia Nuan Nuan had another younger brother named Xia Yu.
Xia Nuan Nuan had replied that she did have a cousin, but his name wasn't Xia Yu.
Of course, nor was it Xia Bingbao.
"Yes, they were attending summer tutoring classes last time, and the school's rules were strict, so they couldn't get leave and didn't come," Xia Nuan Nuan said with a smile.
"Hi, hello!"
Qin Tian smiled and waved at the two of them.
The twin siblings looked a little younger than Xia Xue, appearing to be around twelve or thirteen years old.
Their personalities were clearly quite different.
Xia Yaxin seemed to be more shy and quiet. Upon seeing Qin Tian wave, she responded softly with a hint of shyness.
The boy, Xia Junjie, was more robust and straightforward.
"Nuan Nuan, is this your boyfriend? I heard he got a perfect score on the college entrance exam. You can't really tell he's a top student!" Xia Junjie scrutinized Qin Tian, sounding half-believing.
"Junjie, don't be rude!" Xia Yaxin next to him chided her brother, then looked apologetically at Qin Tian. "Brother Qin Tian, I'm sorry, he's just like this."
"It's okay, it's okay." Qin Tian smiled and waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind.
"What 'Brother Qin Tian'? It sounds so awkward. Yaxin, just call him brother-in-law like me," Xia Xue interjected, taking a piece of chocolate from the coffee table.
"Bro... brother-in-law?" Xia Yaxin's eyes widened in surprise.
Xia Nuan Nuan's face flushed, and she quickly said, "Yaxin, don't listen to her!"
"Yes, yes, whatever you call him is fine," Qin Tian chuckled and agreed.
"You're just boyfriend and girlfriend, not married yet. What brother-in-law? I don't acknowledge it," Xia Junjie muttered stubbornly.
Qin Tian looked at him with some confusion. They hadn't met before, so why did this young fellow seem to harbor such obvious hostility towards him?
"Junjie, what are you talking about? Apologize to him immediately!" The middle-aged man sitting next to Xia Zhengping berated him sternly.
Xia Junjie shrank his head and quietly said, "Sorry."
"Little Qin, I apologize. This kid isn't like you; he doesn't learn anything good and lacks manners," the middle-aged man also said apologetically to Qin Tian.
"You're being too harsh; it's nothing," Qin Tian smiled magnanimously.
"Brother-in-law, you don't need to bother with him. He clearly doesn't study properly and his uncle often uses you, the top scorer in the college entrance exam, as an example to lecture him, so he dislikes you!" Xia Xue said with a smile.
Qin Tian was taken aback, glancing at Xia Junjie and his father; their expressions already said it all.
"Sister Xue, how do you know?" Xia Yaxin asked, her expression surprised.
"Because I'm a victim too!" Xia Xue shrugged with a wry smile, popping another candy into her mouth. "But, I really like brother-in-law. It's not brother-in-law's fault; it's just the fault of some parents who like to nag about other people's children?"
At these words, Xia Wenhua's face darkened slightly.
Aside from Qin Tian's slightly awkward expression, everyone else couldn't help but chuckle, trying hard to suppress their laughter.
"Nuan Nuan, Little Qin, how has Little Xue been studying these past few days?" Xia Wenhua asked them.
"Third Uncle, Xue has been studying diligently these past few days, and her progress has been significant," Xia Xue replied with a smile.
"Really?" Xia Wenhua glanced at his daughter with disbelief.
He knew that before coming here, his daughter had been home on holiday for half a month, let alone studying diligently; she hadn't even opened a textbook.
"Hmph!" Xia Xue tilted her chin up and snorted haughtily.
"Third Uncle, Xue is actually quite smart, and her grades have improved a lot these past few days," Qin Tian chimed in with a smile.
"That's good, thank you both so much," Xia Wenhua said gratefully.
"Sister Nuan Nuan, is Xue studying with you?" Xia Yaxin asked curiously.
"Yes!" Xia Nuan Nuan nodded with a smile.
Xia Yaxin looked at Qin Tian with admiration and asked enviously, "Then... can I join you too?"
"Of course, you can!" Xia Nuan Nuan readily agreed, then looked at Qin Tian beside her. "Yaxin is actually a very good student; she's always ranked among the top few in her class."
"No, no, it's still far behind Nuan Nuan and... brother-in-law," Xia Yaxin said shyly.
"Yaxin, then study with us. I'll do my best to help you improve a bit more," Qin Tian said, looking at Xia Yaxin with a gentle smile.
"Mm-hmm, thank you, brother-in-law!" Xia Yaxin thanked him joyfully.
The elders watching this scene smiled with relief.
"This girl is so well-behaved; she'll definitely get into a good university in the future," Xia Zhengping praised with a chuckle.
"Let's hope so. I'll have Yaxin come over more often in the future so that Little Qin and Nuan Nuan can tutor her and build a good foundation," the middle-aged man beside him suggested.
"No problem at all. What about Junjie? Do you want him to join too?" Xia Zhengping asked his cousin.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man frowned and looked at his son, who was biting into an apple.
"I'm not coming. I'll study by myself at home," Xia Junjie immediately refused loudly when he saw his father look at him.
"Forget it, let him be." The middle-aged man wore an expression of "this one is beyond hope," shaking his head and sighing, "Fortunately, we had two at once."
Xia Zhengping paused, then looked at his precious daughter, a smile curving his lips.
He and his wife had discussed many times whether to have another son.
His wife was willing to have another child for him, but he had always objected, feeling that having such a beloved daughter was enough and not wanting his wife to go through the ordeal of childbirth again.