Song Yu’s eyes widened upon hearing Cai Yang’s words. He tightened his grip on Song Xinran’s hand. "Mommy didn’t poison anyone!"
He tried his hardest to refute Cai Yang’s accusation, but in this household, he was often bullied by Cai Yang. Plus, with his aunt and uncle arguing at that moment, Song Yu was terrified. Even though he mustered the courage to speak up, his voice remained so soft that only Song Xinran could hear him.
She gently squeezed the child’s soft hand, offering silent comfort.
The moment Song Xinwen heard Cai Yang’s words, she swatted the back of his head. It wasn’t hard, just a warning. "What nonsense are you spouting? You’re sick and still causing trouble?"
Cai Yongde frowned at the sight. "He said his stomach hurts, and you’re hitting him? Are you trying to make sure he doesn’t get better?"
Song Xinwen was already irritated, and she fired back without holding back. "When Xiao Yang’s stomach started hurting, you were sleeping like a dead pig. If you care so much about him, why didn’t you wake up earlier?"
Cai Yongde waved his hand dismissively. "There’s no reasoning with you women. Hurry up and get him dressed. I’ll take him to the clinic."
Song Xinwen rushed to find clothes for Cai Yang. Song Xinran followed her and asked, "Sis, what’s wrong with Xiao Yang?"
Song Xinwen wiped her eyes. "I don’t know. His dad and I were sleeping when we suddenly heard him yelling that his stomach hurt. When we checked on him, he was rolling around in bed in pain. We asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t say—just kept crying out in pain."
"Xinran, you should go back to sleep. Your brother-in-law and I will take Xiao Yang to the clinic."
Song Xinran seemed lost in thought. Instead of returning to bed, she walked to the main room. Cai Yongde was sitting on a stool smoking, looking thoroughly annoyed. He turned his head and urged Song Xinwen, "Hurry up! How long does it take to grab a piece of clothing?"
Song Xinran stared at Cai Yang for a few seconds.
Cai Yang, who had been crying and fussing, cracked his eyes open slightly to look at her. Instantly, he started thrashing around again, his legs kicking against the cooling bed with loud thuds. "You’re a bad person! Auntie is a big, bad person! She poisoned me! Big, bad person!"
Hearing this, Cai Yongde’s frown deepened. "Xinran, stop causing trouble here. Take Xiao Yu and go back to bed!"
Song Xinran suddenly said, "Cai Yang, you stole food, didn’t you?"
Cai Yang was startled. He immediately shut his eyes and yelled even louder. "I didn’t steal anything! I didn’t!"
Song Xinran: "You didn’t even wipe the grease off your mouth."
Caught red-handed, Cai Yang wiped his mouth with his hand and wailed, "That’s my family’s food! I didn’t steal it!"
Just then, Song Xinwen came out with the clothes. Hearing this, she immediately asked, "What did you eat?"
Cai Yang refused to answer, crying and fussing so loudly that the main room was filled with an earsplitting racket.
Song Xinwen hurried to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. Sure enough, the leftovers from the meal Song Xinran had cooked that evening were completely gone.
Annoyed, Song Xinwen returned to the main room and swatted Cai Yang’s bottom. "Stop screaming! When did you finish all the leftovers?"
Cai Yang let out a shriek that pierced the ceiling.
Cai Yongde was startled. "He finished all of it?"
Song Xinwen: "Why don’t you go see for yourself?"
Cai Yongde immediately stood up but headed outside instead.
He returned shortly, his face dark with anger, holding a stick. He strode over to Cai Yang. "You’re just asking for trouble, aren’t you?"
With a sharp crack, the stick landed on Cai Yang’s arm.
Cai Yang squealed and scrambled to his feet, darting behind Song Xinwen to hide.
Song Xinwen made no move to shield him. "You had it coming!"
Cai Yongde had already landed one strike, but hearing Cai Yang's sobs softened his heart. He tossed the stick aside, spread his legs wide, and plopped down on the cool daybed. "Since it's just overeating, no need for the clinic. Get up and walk around to help digestion."
Song Xinran glanced at Cai Yang's pale face. "Sis, we should still take Xiao Yang to the clinic."
Song Xinwen hesitated. Overeating wasn't serious, and going to the clinic for such a minor issue seemed wasteful.
Song Xinran guessed their concerns, but she knew overeating could be dangerous, especially since Cai Yang had consumed cold meat dishes. If anything happened to him, she'd be partly responsible. She pressed, "With all the leftovers tonight, Xiao Yang must be terribly bloated from eating everything. Those were all cold meat dishes—what if he gets a bacterial infection?"
Song Xinwen saw her point and urged Cai Yongde to take Cai Yang to the clinic immediately.
On the way, Cai Yongde grumbled incessantly about wasting family money on trivial clinic visits.
The clinic doctor, roused from sleep, examined Cai Yang and promptly started an IV drip. "Eating so much cold food at once causes the strongest physical reaction. Any later and the child would've suffered greatly."
Once comfortable, Cai Yang whimpered and muttered about his aunt trying to poison him.
Song Xinwen tapped his head reproachfully. "Nonsense! You overate yourself—skipped dinner then sneaked out to gorge at midnight. Serves you right!"
Cai Yang was too embarrassed to explain why he'd skipped dinner, but the meat had been so irresistible he'd woken up craving it. His secret feast had left him writhing in pain.
He vowed never to touch anything his aunt cooked again!
Song Xinwen said, "You should thank your aunt. If she hadn't insisted on the clinic, you'd still be miserable at home."
Cai Yang clenched his jaw stubbornly.
Song Xinwen wouldn't indulge him this time, pinching the chubby boy's arm.
Cai Yang yelped like a stuck pig, tears welling as he mumbled, "Thank you, Aunt."
Song Xinran smiled gently. "No need to be so strict, Sis. He's still young."
Song Xinwen sighed, sharing how difficult child-rearing could be.
After the IV, the couple brought the boy home around 2 a.m. Cai Yongde yawned. "Xinran, we're grateful for your help. Xiao Yang needs another IV tomorrow, but I have work. Since you're unemployed now, please assist your sister more at home."
Song Xinran agreed.
The next day, her plans to house-hunt in town were postponed due to Cai Yang's illness.
Song Xinwen, equally concerned, barely left home. At noon, she specially prepared fresh greens for Cai Yang.
Song Xinran simply made a steamed egg custard—golden yellow, topped with minced pork, steaming fragrantly. The rich aroma of free-range eggs blended with savory meat wafted enticingly.
Cai Yang stared fixedly at the custard, unblinking. It seemed more fragrant than any he'd tasted before, especially when the spoon lifted it, jiggling like jelly—utterly mesmerizing.
Under the little fatty's extremely threatening gaze, Song Yu didn't dare move his chopsticks, but Song Xinran directly scooped a large spoonful into Song Yu's bowl.
Seeing this, Cai Yang immediately shouted: "I want steamed eggs too!"
Song Xinwen said: "Doctor Feng said you can't eat greasy food. Have some stir-fried cabbage."
As she spoke, Song Xinwen picked up a large piece of cabbage and put it in Cai Yang's bowl. Cai Yang stared resentfully at the bowl of steamed eggs, refusing to touch his chopsticks.
Meanwhile, Song Yu couldn't resist picking up his spoon. Even though Cai Yang's glare was fierce, the steamed egg custard was simply too fragrant – the aroma kept wriggling into his nostrils like a little worm.
Song Yu took a big mouthful, his cheeks bulging as he chewed. His eyes narrowed happily with pleasure – it was so delicious, this must be the most delicious steamed egg custard in the world!
Song Xinwen didn't hold back either, scooping a spoonful into her own bowl. After tasting it, she gave a thumbs up: "Xinran, your cooking skills are excellent! How did you steam the eggs so smooth and tender? I can never get the heat right."
Song Xinran said: "Steam it in cold water in the pot. Once the water boils, steam for five to six minutes, then turn off the heat and let it sit for another five to six minutes."
Song Xinwen said while eating: "The heat control is one thing, but you've also stir-fried the minced meat perfectly. I never thought about topping steamed eggs with a layer of minced meat before – it completely changes the flavor."
The minced meat was stir-fried to savory perfection – glossy, brightly colored, and its mere aroma made people swallow saliva involuntarily. Not to mention the taste – the meat was plump with a slight springiness, each grain distinct, rich with flavorful juices. Eating it practically made one want to swallow their own tongue.
How did her younger sister's cooking become so delicious all of a sudden? Song Xinwen thought that Xinran's future husband would be very fortunate.
Watching all three of them eating the steamed egg custard, Cai Yang couldn't help but swallow his saliva and prepared to scoop a spoonful for himself.
But before his spoon could get close, Song Xinwen knocked it back with her chopsticks and scolded: "You eat your vegetables! No greasy food for you."
Cai Yang burst into tears: "I want to eat it! I want it!"
Song Xinwen, who had been in a good mood, immediately became angry at the crying sound. She slapped Cai Yang's bottom: "If you keep crying, you won't eat anything at all!"
Then she stuffed a chopstickful of cabbage into Cai Yang's mouth.
Cai Yang chewed the cabbage in his mouth while crying, sobbing: "I hate all of you!"
Watching this comedic scene, Song Xinran was so amused that she ate half a bowl more rice.
After all, Cai Yang was a child with good physical resilience. Although he went to the clinic for an IV drip the next day, he was much more energetic.
So on the third day, Song Xinran said to Song Xinwen early in the morning: "Sis, I'm going to town today to take care of some matters. There are still some unfinished things at the factory."
Song Xinwen quickly said: "Then hurry and go. I'll call a motorcycle for you. You should see if you can return to work there. As you've seen these past couple days in the village, there aren't many good places to earn money here. If you can work in the factory, you should."
Song Xinran gave a perfunctory agreement.
Currently, the bus from their village to town only ran on market days. On ordinary days, people either walked or took motorcycles to town.
A motorcycle ride cost five yuan per trip. Villagers kept motorcycle drivers' phone numbers and could call from the village entrance convenience store. The motorcycle would arrive shortly after calling.
When Song Xinran got off and tried to pay, the motorcycle driver said Song Xinwen had already paid in advance.
In these times, renting a place in town was quite difficult. Unlike big cities that had specialized housing rental agencies, information flowed extremely poorly here.
In town, renting a place mostly relied on referrals from acquaintances, though one could also inquire directly or check the bulletin board for listings.
Song Xinran first went to the bulletin board and carefully reviewed the information posted. The content was straightforward—some listed a location with a house for rent and a contact person, while more detailed ones included a price.
After briefly filtering through the options, Song Xinran jotted down the details in her notebook and was about to head to the first location.
"Miss, are you looking to rent?" a slightly shrill woman’s voice came from beside her.
Song Xinran turned to see a woman in her forties or fifties standing next to her, wearing a sapphire-blue blouse and dark gray straight-leg pants. Her hair was permed into tight, noodle-like curls, and she had on a pair of black wedge-heeled shoes.
Closing her notebook, Song Xinran smiled and said, "Yes, sis."
The woman replied, "I happen to have a house for rent and haven’t had the chance to post it here yet. Would you like to take a look?"
Song Xinran asked, "Where is it located?"
"Right across from No. 3 Middle School—it’s super convenient for kids going to school."
Song Xinran said, "Then please take me to see it, sis."
The woman responded with an enthusiastic "Sure!"
On the way, the woman explained, "My place is really well-decorated. It used to be my son and daughter-in-law’s home, but after they made some money, they insisted on buying a place in the county town. I figured the house still needs people to keep it lively, and since my husband and I have another place to live, we decided to rent it out—we’re even willing to lower the price a bit."
Playing along, Song Xinran praised, "Sis, your son and daughter-in-law are really accomplished. Housing prices in the county are so high—only capable people can afford to buy there."
The woman beamed, "They just run a small business and got lucky making some money. Not to brag, but you’re really in luck today. This house just became available—if I’d posted it, it would’ve been gone in two days."
Author's note: