Sun Jianjun carried back the brown sugar eggs his wife had prepared and returned to the hospital ward, where Sun Xiumei was already resting inside.
“Second sister, your sister-in-law made you brown sugar eggs and brought two pieces of peach crisp. Eat something first. Your sister-in-law said she’ll cook chicken soup for you tomorrow.”
“Brother, please thank sister-in-law for me.”
Sun Xiumei, her head wrapped in a scarf, said gratefully to her older brother.
“Yes, yes. Thank you so much, sister-in-law.”
Zhang Xin took the lunchbox, and the couple spoke almost in unison.
“Alright, enough thanking back and forth. All this gratitude is going to wear out your sibling bond. If you’re grateful, just repay it later. Hurry and eat before it gets cold.”
Liu Guiying held her newly born grandson and smiled as she looked at the siblings.
After finishing the meal, Sun Xiumei had just been chatting with her mother one moment—and the next, she was already snoring asleep.
“Let Xiumei sleep. She’s exhausted today. Xiaoxin, you and your brother should go back. Hospitals aren’t good for resting. Xiumei should be discharged tomorrow anyway.”
“I’m fine, Mom. I’ll just sleep in the corridor. My brother should go back first—he still has work tomorrow.”
Liu Guiying didn’t insist.
“Alright then. Jianjun, tomorrow tell Lijuan not to go to work. Clean out Sun Jianguo’s room. Xiumei and the child will stay there when they return.”
Turning to her son-in-law, she added:
“Xiaoxin, renting a place isn’t that simple. Xiumei can just spend her confinement period at home. After the postpartum month, if you still want to move out, then move.”
“Okay, Mom. I mainly just worried Xiumei might feel uncomfortable.”
Zhang Xin hurriedly explained, afraid his mother-in-law might misunderstand that he didn’t want his wife staying at her maternal home.
“I know. Xiumei is just too sensible—always thinking of others. Your eldest brother and sister-in-law won’t mind you staying here.”
“I’m more worried about gossip spreading outside after a long time, and Xiumei overthinking it.”
Liu Guiying patted her son-in-law’s arm gently.
At that moment—
“Waaah—!”
“Oh, the little one is crying. Let grandma see… diaper’s not wet, probably hungry.”
“The nurse said you can feed a little water after an hour. Xiaoxin, mix some water.”
“Okay.”
Zhang Xin quickly prepared it, testing the temperature carefully before handing it over.
“What name have you chosen?”
“We’ve picked a nickname—Tie Dan. For the formal name, Mom, please choose one.”
Liu Guiying did not refuse.
She didn’t want them picking names like “Gang,” “Guo,” or “Jun” again.
After living a second life, she found those names too common.
“How about Zhang Nian’en.”
Thinking of her unborn grandchild from her previous life, the name “Nian’en” (remembering kindness) suddenly came to her.
“And for Xiaofang, let that be her nickname. Her formal name will be Zhang Nianyi.”
The “Yi” came from a clothing store name she once saw in her past life called “Yiren.” She had even asked what the character meant back then.
Zhang Xin silently repeated the two names.
“Nian’en… Nianyi…”
The more he said them, the more beautiful they sounded. He hadn’t expected his mother-in-law to have such talent.
He happily lifted his son and kept repeating:
“Nian’en, Nian’en—Grandma chose such a nice name.”
Because of the name, Zhang Xin even felt his son looked more handsome.
..
The next morning, Sun Xiumei was woken up by the baby-like babbling of Xiaobao and Xiaofang.
Xiaofang kept calling the baby “sister,” while Xiaobao kept calling the baby “brother.”
Ma Lijuan quickly came over when she saw she was awake.
“You’re awake, Xiumei? Are you still feeling unwell? I made chicken soup—get up and drink some.”
“Okay, thank you, sister-in-law.”
Ma Lijuan scolded her gently:
“Stop saying thank you all the time. I treat you like my own sister.”
“Alright, then I’ll call you ‘sister’ from now on.”
Sun Xiumei smiled playfully.
“There’s too much food—you and the kids should eat too. I can’t finish all this chicken soup.”
Looking at the full pot, Xiumei felt her sister-in-law had practically brought the whole pot over.
“The kids already ate at home. You and Mom eat. Zhang Xin went to the state-run restaurant to buy buns.”
“I already said no need—your brother even said he’d bring meat tonight. Why waste money on buns?”
“Eat it all. It’s just one chicken—if we finish it, we’ll just slaughter another. Xiumei needs nourishment—don’t you need it too?”
“You’re busy every day inside and out. Mom isn’t blind.”
Liu Guiying handed each of them a bowl of freshly served chicken soup, full of meat.
“Mom…”
Ma Lijuan’s eyes welled up.
“Stop that nonsense. Eat. You didn’t even have breakfast.”
She stared at her eldest daughter-in-law like she could see through her lies.
“I’m not hungry, Mom—you eat first.”
Ma Lijuan thought to herself how lucky she was. If her cousin hadn’t confessed before the arranged marriage, she wouldn’t have gotten such a good mother-in-law.
Originally, Sun Jianjun’s intended fiancée was not her, but her cousin Ma Dongmei.
Ma Dongmei was a rural teacher, a perfect match for Sun Jianjun, who worked at the supply and marketing cooperative.
But the day before the matchmaking, Ma Dongmei confessed she still hadn’t broken up with her boyfriend, so she couldn’t go.
The family was furious.
Everything had been arranged, and the man from town was already about to arrive.
He had a good job, stable income, and was said to be handsome—rarely seen.
So the Ma family took the match seriously.
When the eldest granddaughter failed, the grandmother immediately decided to replace her with the second granddaughter, Ma Lijuan—same age, no job, but otherwise excellent.
Unexpectedly, the substitution worked, and the two young people hit it off.
They ended up marrying smoothly.
That same year, Ma Dongmei also married her village boyfriend as she wished.
Thinking about her cousin’s haggard face during her last visit home, Ma Lijuan couldn’t help but feel lucky.
Everyone ate the big meat buns Zhang Xin brought back, drinking chicken soup—the meal felt like the New Year had arrived.
Liu Guiying laughed as she recalled an old story:
“When you were little, boys ate the family poor. I and your father were afraid you wouldn’t have enough to eat. Forget meat and eggs—we even had corn buns and still only ate seven-tenths full.”
“One New Year, we finally cooked meat. Your father gave me two slices of fatty meat. It was delicious—but before the meal was even over, I was vomiting at the door.”
“Later we learned that after long-term lack of oil, the stomach can’t handle sudden fatty food.”
“At the time I didn’t know—I even blamed myself for wasting such good meat!”
She laughed loudly.
But the others couldn’t laugh.
Sun Xiumei thought of how her younger brother treated her mother yesterday and felt her heart ache.
“Mom, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you eat fatty meat every meal from now on.”
She said it solemnly.
Liu Guiying’s laughter stopped instantly.