Shen Meng's hands clenched slightly, resting on her nose and head, her voice trembling as she looked at the two women.
"Thank you so much, Sister-in-law Guihua, Aunt Chen. Before, I was young and ignorant. With Zhenping not home, I had no idea what to do. It was like living at my parents' house; I listened to my in-laws in everything. I raised my child the way others did, and if I saw something wrong, I'd beat them with a stick, not knowing any reason. Sigh, this time I've truly understood. Everyone has their own destiny. From now on, I will definitely learn well, live a good life, and take good care of my health. That would be a way of repaying Zhenping. Sister-in-law, Aunt Chen, I'll be troubling you again in the future."
"It's nothing. I'm already so old. If you don't understand anything, just ask. We've all been young once, Auntie understands you. It's getting late, we'll head back now and come see you again tomorrow. Take good care of yourself, Xiao Meng."
"I won't stay any longer. There are a lot of things to do at home. Xiaomeng, listen to Aunt Jinling, take good care of yourself. Once you're in good health, raise the children well, and things will be fine from now on."
Seeing them all stand up to leave, Shen Meng struggled to get off the kang (heated brick bed) to see them off, but Tian Guixiang and Chen Jinling quickly stopped her.
"What are you doing? I just told you to take good care of yourself. We're all neighbors, no need to see us off. Take good care of yourself, Sister Wang. We're going back now, you guys are busy."
"Alright, Aunt Chen, Sister Guixiang, I won't see you off. Mom, take these things with you. It's not easy for anyone, you don't need so many nice things. Take them home for yourselves and the children."
Shen Meng waved her hand, and Wang Guizhi quickly took the brown sugar, eggs, and dried vegetables they had brought.
"Auntie, you can't do this! We're so happy you came to see Xiaomeng. We can't possibly accept your things. Take them back!"
"Oh, Sister Wang, what are you doing? We're giving these to Xiaomeng to eat. She's badly injured and needs to recover. Don't worry about it, please accept them."
"That's right, Auntie, these aren't worth it for Shen Meng. We have more at home. Keep them for Xiaomeng. Don't be so polite. If you keep this up, I'll get angry and won't come again." "
No, I can't. I talked with you for a while today and I know you're straightforward people. I'm relying on you to help my Xiaomeng and her granddaughter. We're always troubling you. We can't accept any more things. Take them, take them."
The group pushed and shoved their way out the door, their voices growing louder as they reached the front gate, startling the children eating in the kitchen who craned their necks to look outside.
Shen Fugui placed a piece of food on Lu Mingkai's plate and said, "Don't look, it's all just polite formalities. Your grandma will bring those things back in a bit, don't worry."
He didn't really want to tell the children directly, but the little ones were watching so intently, as if they were afraid they would really take the things.
Sure enough, a little while later Wang Guizhi returned with the things. Lu Mingyang glanced at them; everything was intact, nothing was missing.
Wang Guizhi then carried the things into the room, opened Shen Meng's wardrobe, and put them inside. Looking at the mess in the room, she felt a pang of sadness.
"The fourth son and daughter-in-law of the Lu family moved out without even tidying up. Look at this mess! The mats in the west room have all been torn off, and there's not even a single piece of firewood in the kitchen. If your father hadn't swallowed his pride and gone out to borrow some, we wouldn't even have dinner tonight. Sigh, daughter, how did your life become like this? You were so clever before you got married. You've really been fooled by your mother-in-law. You've lost your brain."
Shen Meng lowered her eyes and didn't speak. Listening to Wang Guizhi's nagging, she felt a strange sense of warmth. When she was little, her mother, the headmistress, would visit her and nag like this, and she felt the same warmth.
"Look at me, I've been so busy talking. Are you hungry, Xiaomeng? I'll go get you something to eat. Take your medicine after you eat, and sleep well tonight. I'll watch over you."
"Okay!" Shen Meng waited until she left before shaking her neck and scanning the room. Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan had tidied up her things very well. Except for the furniture her family had made for her wedding, which was hard to take, the newspapers covering the walls had been removed by the couple. Good
thing they removed it, saving her the trouble of taking them down again.
There were quite a few things that needed to be replaced. She could wait a few days. In a few days, she could go to the commune's supply and marketing cooperative by oxcart, and then she could arrange the house however she wanted.
After Wang Guizhi brought the food, Shen Meng ate a little. Her head still ached, so she lay down to sleep. A while later, Wang Guizhi brought over a basin of hot water. She soaked a towel and gently wiped Shen Meng's face and hands, then used a rag to wipe her feet.
Shen Meng had already woken up while Wang Guizhi was wiping her face, deeply moved, but she didn't open her eyes to speak. Right now, she needed to rest well and recover so she could better repay the original owner's parents.
That night, Wang Guizhi stayed by Shen Meng's side, waking up many times, which Shen Meng knew, until she finally managed to doze off for a short while in the morning.
When Shen Meng woke up, Wang Guizhi and Shen Fugui had already swept the yard, washed the clothes, and tidied the house inside and out. The children had also gone to the foot of the mountain with her to collect some firewood to dry in the yard. They
were still busy when she left. Wang Guizhi was very happy to see her come out.
"How are you, Xiaomeng? Feeling better? Dr. Lu said yesterday that as long as you don't have a fever, it's not a big problem. Are you hungry, my dear? I made you some stewed eggs, I'll serve them to you."
"Thank you, Mother. Thank you and Father for your hard work."
"You're our daughter, it's only right that we take care of you. Go wash your face."
"Okay!"
Shen Meng smiled at Wang Guizhi, but when she turned her head, she met the eyes of the four children. Then she saw the four children all turn their faces away. Shen
Meng: "..."
The disgust couldn't be more obvious!
After breakfast, Wang Guizhi and Shen Fugui had to go back. There were a lot of things to do at home. If they hadn't been worried about their daughter, they would have gone back last night. Staying
at their daughter's house meant eating their daughter's food; if they ate one more bite, their daughter and the children would eat one less bite.
"Mother, wait a minute. Take this money and meat coupons. Zhenping sends money and food coupons home every month. I don't need so much. The grain the production team gives us is quite good, but it would be conspicuous to show it off. When I get better, I'll come home to see you and Dad."
Shen Meng was willing to risk her life for her child; this love alone was enough to make her treat
him this way. "Silly child, your parents don't care about this. As long as you live a good life in the future, that's more important than anything else. Your father told me to tell you to take good care of the children. They are all good children; you can't treat them like before." Wang Guizhi said, pushing the money and coupons back, tightening the chapped white towel on her head, and heading out.
"Mom, take this. You and Dad have been so good to me, I won't feel right if I don't take it. I know perfectly well how we're doing at home. I'll be obedient and live a good life from now on, but don't turn away anything good for yourself. Keep it for yourselves. Take this money and spend it when you get home. Even if I'm married, I'll still be your daughter, and it's only right that I show you filial piety. Take it, or I won't come home again."
She shoved the money into Wang Guizhi's arms, pretending to be angry as she turned her head away, but her eyes were secretly observing Wang Guizhi's movements.