Today, Lu Jiaping prepared braised pork ribs, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, winter melon and pork rib soup, and Shanghai greens. Grandma Jiang’s face fell the moment she saw the dishes.
“What nutrition is there in braised pork ribs? You should make soup with potatoes or carrots—that’s nutritious and helps children grow taller. Look at you, raising the two kids so thin and starving your husband like this.”
Jiang Cheng awkwardly called out, “Mom…”
Lu Jiaping had long been immune to such remarks and showed no reaction at all. She picked up a piece of rib and placed it in Jiang Yuxin’s bowl. “Eat more. You have painting class later. I’ll go with your grandmother to drop you off so she can learn the way. Mom, Yuxin’s classes are on Wednesday for composition and Thursday for dance, both nearby. I’ll take you to see the locations.”
Grandma Jiang gave a vague acknowledgment, then swiftly piled ribs into Jiang Yuchen’s bowl. “My dear grandson, you’re at the age where you need to grow. Eat more, be good.”
Jiang Yuchen protested unhappily, “Grandma, I don’t want this much. I can’t even eat the rice underneath. Stop adding more.”
Grandma Jiang patted Jiang Yuchen’s back. “Silly boy, these are all good pieces.”
But Jiang Yuchen firmly refused to eat them.
“Alright, if you don’t want them, fine. Here, give them to your sister.” Lu Jiaping stood up, took Jiang Yuxin’s bowl, and began transferring ribs from Jiang Yuchen’s bowl.
Grandma Jiang panicked and stood up as well. “Leave some for Chengcheng. He hasn’t eaten yet.”
“There’s still more in the dish, more,” Jiang Cheng quickly waved his hands.
Grandma Jiang slammed the table. “Lu Jiaping, what do you mean by this? What does a little girl need so much meat for? My grandson and my son haven’t even had theirs yet. Does she deserve it?”
Lu Jiaping didn’t even look up, as if completely unaffected. She picked up a few pieces and glared at Jiang Yuchen. “Finish the rest, or I’ll spank you. Here, Yuxin, these are yours.”
Grandma Jiang angrily threw her chopsticks down and left the table. Jiang Cheng had no choice but to stand up and comfort his mother.
Lu Jiaping continued eating as she spoke. “I’ll be leaving the day after tomorrow. Yuxin, be good on your own, study hard, and don’t slack off while I’m away. I’ll make it up to you when I’m back. Yuchen, you too. Grandma is old, so don’t be picky with food, and definitely don’t bully your sister, understand?”
Grandma Jiang reluctantly returned to the table, her eyes never leaving Lu Jiaping and Jiang Yuxin. Jiang Yuxin felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles and couldn’t eat, but her mother kept adding food to her bowl.
After finishing the meal, Lu Jiaping stood up and told Jiang Yuxin to get her backpack. She then reminded Jiang Cheng, “You’re not working overtime tonight, right? Wash the dishes later and take Yuchen downstairs to play.”
Grandma Jiang’s eyes nearly popped out. “What? What did you say? Washing dishes isn’t something a man should do! How can you make my son wash dishes? No, if you won’t wash them, I will!”
“Fine, if you want to wash them, go ahead. But first, take Yuxin to her class. Hurry up, you can wash them when you get back. We’re running out of time.”
Grandma Jiang was so flustered she spun in circles. Jiang Cheng quickly pushed her out. “Go, go, and remember the way.”
“Alright… alright, but don’t you wash them, understand? Mom will wash them when she gets back. You’re a man—your hands are for earning money, not washing dishes, understand?”
Jiang Yuxin couldn’t help but whisper, “Mom, aren’t you angry?”
Lu Jiaping glanced at Jiang Yuxin. “I’ve already gotten angry enough when I was pregnant with you. What, are women inferior to men? Even though I don’t earn money, who handles all the big and small matters at home? Yuxin, you have to strive hard. Let your grandmother know that women never lose to men, understand?”
Jiang Yuxin lowered her head without saying a word. She did want to prove herself, but she wanted to use basketball to do it.
Grandma Jiang chattered nonstop along the way. Lu Jiaping turned a deaf ear, only pointing out important landmarks to Grandma Jiang as they walked and saying, “If anything happens, just call Jiang Cheng. He’s in Shanghai, and his workplace isn’t far. He can come back to help.”
Grandma Jiang slept in Jiang Yuchen’s room at night, while Jiang Yuchen squeezed into bed with her parents. She usually went to bed early, but tonight she couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. Getting up and seeing Jiang Cheng still playing with his phone in the living room, she tiptoed over and whispered, “Don’t worry, Mom will definitely feed you well these few days. It’s just as well Lu Jiaping left. She doesn’t know how to raise children or take care of people. Honestly.”
Jiang Cheng was extremely irritated. Rolling his eyes, he said, “Mom, enough. Go to sleep.”
Lu Jiaping wasn’t asleep either. She was still on her computer, checking the latest policies regarding this year’s transition from elementary to middle school. As she read, she complained in a parents’ group chat.
[If it really is a lottery system, why aren’t the teaching resources evenly distributed among those middle schools? This is completely unfair. Nowadays, elementary schools in towns and villages all go to the same middle schools, starting from the same line. Why should our children, who work so hard, be divided into different tiers once they enter middle school?]
[Exactly. It’s one thing for private middle schools to have higher advancement rates than public ones, but we’re all under the same nine-year compulsory education system. How did we end up being stratified?]
…
After venting, Lu Jiaping felt even more anxious. When Jiang Cheng came in, she pulled him over and said, “When we bought the house back then, we shouldn’t have chosen this district. If we had bought in Pudong New Area, the school districts there are mostly similar and not too bad.”
“We bought this house ten years ago. What’s the use of saying this now? Even if we wanted to change houses, how could we afford Shanghai’s current housing prices?”
Lu Jiaping choked up. “I was just saying. I didn’t really mean to do anything about it. The only thing we can think of now is to get Yuxin noticed for internal recruitment. Oh, that Mao Hengliang—have you contacted him? It would definitely be better if you reached out. I’ve never even met him.”
Jiang Cheng turned over, not wanting to deal with her.
Lu Jiaping didn’t give up. “Husband, I know you don’t like this kind of stiff socializing, but we’ve put in so much effort. If we lose to others because of this small difference, wouldn’t all our hard work go to waste?”
Jiang Cheng’s snoring started. Lu Jiaping lay helplessly in bed.
After a while, she opened her eyes again, thought for a moment, and sent a message to Jiang Cheng’s subordinate, Xiao Zhang.
[Didn’t you guys have a gathering with the Writers’ Association recently? Do you have any contact information?]
Xiao Zhang replied quickly: [Yes, sister-in-law. Whose contact do you need? Doesn’t the section chief have it?]
Lu Jiaping: [He’s asleep. Do you have contact information for any publishing houses?]
After a while, Xiao Zhang sent over a WeChat contact card, along with the other party’s contact information: “This is the contact for an editor at Shanghai Publishing House. Sister-in-law, do you have a writer friend who wants to publish a book? But I’ve heard it’s not easy to get a book published through a publishing house these days—publishing companies are the ones accepting manuscripts now.”
Lu Jiaping replied vaguely: “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just helping a friend ask around. Thank you, Xiao Zhang. Get some sleep soon—it’s very late, and you have work tomorrow.”