A daughter-in-law's visit to her parental home concerns her personal freedom, but she must still inform her family members, even if she had mentioned it the night before, she must repeat it in the morning; this is a sign of respect for the head of the household and is also a matter of courtesy.
Chen Guizhi had requested that she bring some gifts, and Yang PeiMin reassured her that she had already prepared them.
She let Yang PeiGuo ride her bicycle and rode on the back herself. When they had just left the house, she noticed that her brand-new bicycle looked much older—not just from accumulated dust, but also from the scrapes it had gotten from falling over.
Before she left, the bicycle had been in good condition. The elderly Shen couple probably wouldn't ride it since they seldom went out—if they did go to town, they mostly chose to walk or use a cart. The Shen Yiyue sisters shared a bicycle, so it was unlikely that either of them would have ridden hers.
