“Thump, thump, thump!”
“Who is it?”
Wang Xuejun sprang to his feet, wiping the corners of his eyes as if afraid the visitor might see he had been crying.
“It’s your grandmother, you little brat. Open the door quickly!”
Wang Xuejun hurriedly opened the door. Wu Caiping retreated two steps toward the kang in fright—this was the first time the old lady had ever come to their room, and it was quite unsettling.
After closing the door, Wang Xuejun and Wu Caiping watched as Su Qing mysteriously placed something from her bosom onto the kang, still holding a baby bottle in her hand.
“What are you standing around for? Give Taotao to me. I’ll feed her.”
“Grandma, wh-what did you say?”
The couple was still in a daze, completely unprepared for the old lady to show up late at night carrying two cans of milk powder. That was milk powder—a luxury item that couldn’t be bought even with money, more expensive than malt extract!
“You bear cubs are worse than actual bears. The child is nearly starved to death, and you don’t even know to speak up. Do you think your grandmother is Huang Shiren? I’m not going to eat you two. Give Taotao to me. Good heavens, this little one looks like she’s about to breathe her last. If she really dies, she’ll come knocking on your door every midnight from the underworld.”
Wu Caiping and Wang Xuejun were scolded until their faces turned red and white in turns, like a rainbow.
Su Qing had studied carefully in the Space earlier, but when she actually held the real baby in her arms, her heart trembled uncontrollably. Mainly because Taotao was just too frightening—she looked like a ghost doll from a horror movie.
Especially when she stared with wide eyes, gulping down the milk, Su Qing was afraid she might suddenly float up and bite her.
The 120 milliliters of milk were finished in no time. The little girl smacked her lips, still wanting more, which made Wang Xuejun and Wu Caiping’s hearts ache unbearably.
“Cry, cry, cry—that’s all you know how to do. All the Wang family’s blessings are being cried away by you. Did you remember what I just said? Don’t mix up the water and milk. I went to the black market to buy this, spent nearly a hundred yuan, all from your Seventh Uncle’s money. From now on, taking better care of Tiezhu is what matters most.”
After Su Qing left, Wu Caiping looked at the two cans of milk powder and Taotao sleeping on the kang, tears falling “plop, plop” down her cheeks. Suddenly remembering the old lady’s scolding, she quickly wiped her tears away.
“Stop crying. Grandma just said she’ll give you an egg every day from now on, and let you have an extra bowl of meat broth when it’s stewed. You’ll surely produce milk soon. And this milk powder—we must hide it well. No one else can know about it.”
“I know, Xue Jun. Just for what Grandma did today, I’ll be grateful to her for life.”
“Who wouldn’t be?”
Su Qing woke up early the next morning, gathered about ten eggs, and had Zhou Chunxia boil them. Each of the younger generation’s children got one, and the pregnant Sun Guiying and the milkless Wu Caiping each got one as well.
She would have liked the whole family to eat eggs, but unfortunately, there were only five old hens. Even if they rubbed their chicken butts raw, it wouldn’t be enough to feed the whole family.
So she came up with a plan: take turns. Today, the eldest son’s family would eat; tomorrow, the second son’s family would eat… and so on. That way, they could still manage.
Upon hearing the old lady’s decision, the whole family was thrilled. Except for the third branch, who looked uneasy, everyone else was overjoyed.
After a satisfying breakfast, Su Qing strolled around the village with a fan in hand. Under the old locust tree at the village entrance stood a large stone mill, where many lazy old-timers like her gathered to gossip—it was practically an intelligence hub.
“Old Wang’s wife cooks meat every day. What’s she scheming, I wonder?”
“I heard her widowed daughter-in-law’s first husband was a soldier. Probably after his money—martyrs get pensions.”
Qu Laidi, who hadn’t gone to work, snorted softly and muttered, “Let me tell you, that woman clung to Wang Haiyang to marry into this family, thinking she’d landed in a nest of blessings. She’s never seen how my sister-in-law torments people. When that little black egg of a stepchild first arrived—tsk tsk—and now? The kid doesn’t even have pants that cover his backside. Good heavens, what a sin!”
“True enough! And I heard Wang Laoqi messed up in the army, so his superiors set him up with a widow. Think about it—if he were really something special, wouldn’t they have matched him with some official’s untouched daughter?”
Someone noticed Su Qing squinting as she ambled over. “Shh! Keep your voices down!”
“Scared of what? Everyone knows about the Wang family’s dirty laundry. Hah! That old Wang woman’s been so furious she nearly died twice—you think she’d dare hit me? I even heard Teacher Wang suggested splitting the household with her! I—ah!”
Whack! Su Qing smacked Qu Laidi and her cousin Qu Xiang on their heads with her fan. These two, married into the same village, never missed a chance to badmouth her.
“Su Qing, you old crone! How dare you hit me? I’m your elder sister-in-law!”
“Oh? My sister-in-law? My ears aren’t what they used to be—I thought it was rats under Laoqi’s bed chirping. How else would they know so much about that couple?”
“Who’re you calling rats, you old—”
“Old? Everyone dies when they’re old. If you’re not dead, you’re a hag! And I hit you because you’re a gossipy old biddy. When’s the last time you brushed your teeth? Your mouth reeks of manure! So poor you can’t put food on the table, yet you lick pigs’ backsides and have the nerve to spread rumors? Qu Laidi, Qu Xiang, listen well: My Laoqi just left the army. His documents haven’t been transferred yet. Your slander counts as insulting a soldier and spreading lies. I’ll report you to the commune—see if you don’t end up behind lizi! Pah!”
Su Qing punctuated each word with whacks of her fan before turning to leave. Alone as she was, venting was one thing—a real fight was another. She sized them up, decided she was outmatched, and fled.
She hurried home and slammed the courtyard gate shut.
Qu Laidi and Qu Xiang wouldn’t take this humiliation lying down. Being struck in front of all the village elders was like having their faces ripped off and trampled.
“Heavens! At my age, beaten like this! I can’t go on! Villagers, you must stand up for me!”
“My son! Where are you? If you don’t come soon, your mother will be beaten to death! My son!~”
Qu Xiang was different from Qu Laidi—having given birth to five sons, she dared to confront Su Qing head-on. It was just a pity that the old wretch Su Qing had unexpectedly quick legs today, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
“This matter definitely can’t end like this. Sister, you wait—I’m going home to gather people. Today, since we’ve been beaten, if we don’t tear a strip off Su Qing’s hide, I won’t go on living.”
Qu Laidi’s eyes turned fierce, and she gritted her teeth as she said, “Good. Not only will we tear off a layer of her skin, but we’ll also make her kneel and kowtow to apologize. If she doesn’t kowtow until I’m satisfied, I swear I won’t let her get up.”