“It’s all because of your second daughter-in-law. She went around telling everyone that your little niece couldn’t make it in the city, so she had to come back here to rely on you,” Aunt Zhao said, clearly annoyed with her old friend’s second daughter-in-law. Chen Lin was such an excellent young man—how could he have such poor taste, falling for such a troublemaker?
“What is she trying to do? Xiaolin hasn’t even met her, and she’s already fabricating stories about her little sister-in-law? Is she out of her mind?” Aunt Chen thought to herself. She was determined to give Liu Xiaojun a piece of her mind that evening. Xiaolin was such a well-behaved girl—how could anyone treat her like this?
“I heard she set her eyes on your younger brother-in-law’s new house. Maybe your niece coming back ruined her little dream,” Aunt Zhao added. She had heard before that Liu Xiaojun had her sights on Chen Dazhu’s new house. At first, she didn’t believe it—but now, she was beginning to think it might be true.
“What does my younger brother-in-law’s house have to do with her? Our Xiaolin will need to find a husband in the future,” Aunt Chen said, unwilling to let Chen Xiaolin marry off. Her niece was delicate—what if someone bullied her after she married?
“Some people are just greedy—they covet what doesn’t belong to them. You better watch your second daughter-in-law,” Aunt Zhao warned. She knew Liu Xiaojun well; she might not be very capable, but she had plenty of cunning.
“Just wait and see how I deal with her tonight. If it weren’t for Chen Lin insisting on marrying her, how could I have let him choose such a wife?” Aunt Chen thought grimly. She knew Zhao’s warning was meant for her, and she would make sure to teach her second daughter-in-law a lesson. She just wasn’t sure whether her son felt the same way.
Chen Xiaolin didn’t care what others said about her. She had just finished soothing Grandpa and Grandma Chen and seeing them safely home. Now she needed to go to the carpenter Liu’s house to buy some furniture—there was no place at home to put anything.
Daqingshan Village only had one carpenter, everyone called him Old Liu. He used to work in a furniture factory in the city, but when it closed down, he returned to Daqingshan Village and continued as a carpenter.
Chen Xiaolin had been to Old Liu’s house before. She remembered that his eldest son, Liu Jianguo, had grown up with Chen Dazhu.
“Grandpa Liu, are you home?” Chen Xiaolin asked when she arrived. The main door was open, but she wasn’t used to entering someone’s house without permission.
“Who’s there? I’m in the yard. Come in if you need something,” Old Liu called out, busy planing wood and too lazy to go see who it was.
Hearing his voice, Chen Xiaolin walked in.
“Grandpa Liu, I’m Dazhu’s daughter, Chen Xiaolin. I came to buy some furniture.”
“Oh! It’s Lin, the little girl! The furniture is in that storeroom—you can go pick whatever you want.” Old Liu had heard about the tragic death of Chen Dazhu and his wife in an attack, and he felt sorry for their only daughter.
Chen Xiaolin opened the storeroom and found all kinds of furniture inside.
She picked out a wardrobe, two bedside cabinets, a dining table, four chairs, a large desk, a shelving unit, a dish cabinet, a bathtub, two water buckets, and two wooden basins.
Seeing the dustpans and baskets, she also took five of each.
“You should go home first. When Jianguo comes back, I’ll have him help you move everything,” Old Liu said. Seeing how small Chen Xiaolin was, he didn’t expect her to carry the furniture herself.
“Thank you, Grandpa Liu and Uncle Liu. I’ll go back and organize things first.” Since she didn’t need to carry the furniture herself, Chen Xiaolin decided to go up the mountain to gather some firewood—she didn’t even have any for boiling water that evening.
She left Old Liu’s house and headed straight for the mountains.
The afternoon was cool up in the mountains, and Chen Xiaolin loved these endless ranges—surely there would be wild game and mountain goods.
It was getting late, so she didn’t plan to go deep into the forest. She just collected two bundles of dry branches at the foot of the mountain and went back.
She hadn’t brought a hatchet, so she couldn’t chop the wood properly. These branches didn’t burn long and were only good for boiling water and cooking. For heating the kang in winter, logs were better.
As soon as Chen Mu finished work, he came looking for Chen Xiaolin. But when he arrived at his cousin’s house, he found it locked—and she was nowhere to be seen.
Just as night was falling, Chen Mu was about to go search for her when he saw his cousin dragging two bundles of firewood back home.
“Xiaolin, if you needed firewood, you could’ve just taken some from our place. Why go through all this trouble?”
“Big brother, why are you here? I had the time myself! I couldn’t very well take the wood you worked so hard to gather,” Chen Xiaolin replied. She felt such small tasks didn’t need to trouble anyone. Since she planned to return to the countryside, she could take care of herself.
“Xiaolin, why are you so formal with us?” Chen Mu was a little frustrated. He felt his cousin was being overly polite.
“Big brother, I can’t rely on you for everything. That would make me useless. Don’t worry, if I really need help, I’ll ask,” Chen Xiaolin said. She believed in using favors only when necessary. If she troubled others for everything, they would soon get annoyed with her.
“Xiaolin, sometimes you don’t have to be so strong-willed. Your uncle and brothers have you covered!” Chen Mu realized for the first time how independent his cousin had become. His gentle, weak little sister had changed. The deaths of her uncle and aunt must have been a huge blow.
“I’ve grown up. I can support myself.” Chen Xiaolin wasn’t being stubborn—she just felt capable and didn’t want to cling to her uncle’s family like a burden.
“All right, open the door. I’ll help you put the firewood in the kitchen. Then we’ll go eat together.” Chen Mu held a bundle of firewood in each hand, waiting for Chen Xiaolin to open the door.
When Chen Mu and Chen Xiaolin returned, Grandma Chen and Aunt Chen had already prepared the meal.
“Daddy, is this my aunt?” Gou Dan asked happily, playing with Shi Tou in the yard, then saw their father come in with a beautiful young girl.
“Daddy,” two-year-old Shi Tou wobbled over and clung to Chen Mu’s leg.
“Gou Dan, go play with your brother. I need to go see your grandparents with your aunt,” Chen Mu said, finally getting his little cousin off his leg.
“Are you my aunt?” Gou Dan asked Chen Xiaolin when their father didn’t answer.
“Yes! Here, these are candies your aunt brought from Beijing,” Chen Xiaolin said, putting a handful of White Rabbit milk candies into Gou Dan’s hand.
“Auntie, candy! I want some too!” Shi Tou saw his brother had so many candies and reached out his chubby little hands.