Zhou Xiulan looked at the bowl of white-flour porridge in front of her and her children, then glanced at the cornmeal flatbread in Chen Weiguo’s hand. She said nothing and quietly ate.
After cleaning up, the two of them headed over to the front courtyard.
“Oh my, Weiguo, you’re finally here! Look at you, why didn’t you give a shout when you got back last night? You went and caused a misunderstanding with your mother, what a mess that turned out to be.”
When the eldest sister-in-law saw Chen Weiguo entering the courtyard with his wife, her eyes were filled with amusement; she had heard her mother-in-law’s curses, after all.
Now the second son’s family was really in for a show.
“Second brother, you really aren’t dead!” The eldest brother, Chen Jianguo, excitedly pulled his second younger brother into a hug.
It was a good thing the second brother was alive. No matter what, they were family, and having a successful second uncle meant the children would always have someone to rely on in the future.
“Eldest brother, eldest sister-in-law.”
“Weiguo, come on in.” Hearing his second son’s voice, Old Master Chen was very excited.
With the second son returning safe and sound, and with him around, the Chen family’s grandsons would all have a dependable backing from now on.
“Father, Mother.”
Chen Father sat on the heated brick bed (kang), puffing on his tobacco pouch. Chen Mother turned her body away, unwilling to pay her son any mind.
He bought good things and didn’t even know to show filial respect to his parents.
He was truly raised in vain.
“Second brother, you’re back! That’s wonderful, I want a pair of new shoes, you should buy them for me.”
The younger sister, Chen Qiuping, was thrilled to see her second brother back. He was the wealthiest person in the family, and her dream shoes now had a chance of becoming a reality.
“Second brother, Father and Mother shed no small number of tears over your situation. It’s so good that you’re back.” The third brother, Chen Baoguo, walked in with his wife and children.
“Second brother is back! Dalong, Erlong, your second uncle is back, hurry up and greet him.”
The third sister-in-law pushed her two sons in front of Chen Weiguo.
“Hello, Second Uncle.”
Seeing his two nephews looking plump and robust, Chen Weiguo’s smile faded a bit.
“Hmm.”
Dalong and Erlong looked at their grandmother in confusion.
The third sister-in-law was deeply disappointed. He didn’t even mention giving the children a red envelope—he was way too stingy.
“Second son, it’s not that Mother is nagging you, but you haven’t been back in three years, and the moment you return, you show up empty-handed?”
“Never mind showing respect to your father and me with some fine grain, how could you not even buy some pastries and candies for your nephews? You are these children’s uncle!”
The old lady slammed her hand against the kang table in anger, clearly very dissatisfied that her second son had arrived empty-handed.
Yet that morning, her second son had hauled quite a bit of grain back home.
“Father, Mother, I am Jiabao’s second uncle, and Dalong and Erlong’s second uncle. What about my own children?”
“Do they have nothing to do with the Chen family?”
As soon as Chen Weiguo said this, the entire Chen family froze, and no one spoke up.
“This…”
“How can that be the same? How long has it been since you were gone? They see each other every single day!”
Chen Mother felt a bit guilty.
Because she disliked Zhou Xiulan, she treated the two children with indifference as well.
“So… you all just stood by and watched Xiulan and the two kids live hand-to-mouth without caring at all?”
“If I had come back any later, I probably wouldn’t even have been able to see the three of them anymore.”
Chen Weiguo’s heart turned completely cold.
The emaciated appearance of Zhou Xiulan and the two children formed a stark contrast with the well-fed Chen family.
“You… are you questioning your own mother?!”
“Was it this little slut who whispered things behind your back? My son has just returned, and you’re already driving a wedge between our mother-son relationship. You must be tired of living!”
Seeing Zhou Xiulan standing off to the side watching the show, Chen Mother felt a surge of rage.
She grabbed the small broom used for sweeping the kang and hurled it straight at Zhou Xiulan.
Thwack!
The broom struck Chen Weiguo’s shoulder before dropping to the floor.
Chen Weiguo had stepped in to shield Zhou Xiulan.
If he hadn’t blocked it, it likely would have hit Zhou Xiulan right on the head.
That thing hurt when it hit someone!
Zhou Xiulan stepped out from behind Chen Weiguo and ruthlessly stomped on the broom on the ground a few times.
“Hmph, as if she needs to instigate anything? Do you take your son for a blind man? Can’t he see for himself?!”
“For the past three years, the three of us were practically worked to death by you Chen family members. If he comes back and doesn’t stand up for us three, is he even a man?!”
Why should she suffer this grievance? If they wanted to play hardball, she’d play harder.
The soft-hearted fear the tough, and the tough fear the reckless.
This was a lesson her ten-year career had taught her: when you’re wronged, you have to speak up; what’s the point of holding it in?
The more you endure, the more people will walk all over you.
The original body endured for three years, and what did it get her? She lost her life.
Hearing Zhou Xiulan’s words, Chen Mother grew even angrier.
Clutching her chest, she pointed at Zhou Xiulan and cursed, “You… you vixen, you seduced my son the moment he came back straight into your bed, and now you’re still daring to stir up trouble—have you completely flipped out?!”
If it were any other young wife, hearing her mother-in-law say such things would have made her die of shame and hide away, but Zhou Xiulan was not afraid.
What kind of scenes hadn’t she seen? She was, after all, someone well-read in all sorts of books.
“Your son and I are legally married husband and wife—does sleeping require reporting to you, a mother-in-law?!”
“As for you, mother-in-law, sneaking around in the middle of the night listening to… mmph!”
A large pair of hands tightly covered Zhou Xiulan’s mouth.
He was genuinely terrified that this little mouth would spit out something even more shocking.
Chen Weiguo’s ears were as red as if they were about to bleed.
“Father, I came over this time to ask why Xiulan and the two kids weren’t living in my room, but were instead driven out to the thatched hut in the back?”
This house had been built using the allowances he had remitted back, yet in the end, it was his own wife and children who were kicked out.
Chen Father hadn’t spoken up until now, but sure enough, hearing his second son bring up the matter of the house, his expression turned an unnatural shade of pale.
“Ahem…” He tapped his tobacco pipe.
“Second son, it’s just that when you left back then and there was no news, we… all assumed you had…”
“Sigh!”
“Blame your old man. I figured since you were gone, there was no reason to keep your wife here suffering and grieving.”
“She’s still young and has a future ahead of her; she shouldn’t have to stay in mourning for you forever, or the Chen family would look far too heartless. So we had her move out.”
“Who would have known… that she was already pregnant, and so she just never moved back in.”
“Now that you’re back, it’s perfect timing. The family of four can all move back in.”
The old man spoke as if granting a charitable favor, allowing the second son’s family to move back.
“Father!”
Two voices chimed in unison, halting Chen Father in his tracks.
The third brother and the younger sister were unhappy.
The room Chen Weiguo used to live in was currently occupied by his younger sister, Chen Qiuping.
Originally, Chen Qiuping lived in the same room as Chen Father and Chen Mother. The Chen family’s main house consisted of three large bays; the space between two of the rooms had been partitioned with a wall, turning it into five rooms, with an extra wing room (ertang) built on each side.
The eastern side housed Chen Father, Chen Mother, and their daughter. The western side housed the eldest brother’s family of five—the adults lived on one side, and the partitioned room housed the eldest brother’s three children.
The eastern wing room was occupied by the third brother’s family.
The western wing room belonged to Chen Weiguo.
Now, Chen Qiuping was living in second brother Chen Weiguo’s room, and her former room was occupied by the third brother’s twin sons, Dalong and Erlong.
The old couple doted heavily on these two eldest grandsons, bringing them into their own inner room for easy care, and also to make it convenient for the third brother’s couple to keep having more grandchildren.
Where on earth was there any space left for this family of four to move back into?
Besides, Zhou Xiulan had no desire to live under the same roof as the Chen family.
She reached out and tugged at the corner of Chen Weiguo’s shirt, shaking her head to signal that she had no intention of moving back in.
“Father, since the rooms have already been occupied, just cash them out and give me the money instead.”
“What?!”
“In your dreams!” The old lady immediately threw a fit.
Wasn’t this taking her life?
“You won’t give it? Fine, then I’ll just go report it to the police.”
“A thief broke into my room and stole my bride price of two hundred yuan, the wristwatch, and the fifty yuan I brought from my maiden home. I’ll just have the police come sort it all out.”
Zhou Xiulan’s gaze swept across the members of the Chen family.
“You little bitch, whose name are you trying to frame with your empty teeth?!”