Oh, would you look at that? There’s still half a jar of white rice! There are also pickled mustard greens in the jar beside it, and there’s even a piece of air-dried cured meat hanging from the ceiling beam.
“And this is what you call being too poor to afford food?” Cheng An’an muttered as she swiftly found a burlap sack.
White rice? Take it.
Cured meat? Take it down.
Pickled mustard greens? Take the entire jar.
She didn’t even spare the half-bottle of soy sauce sitting on the stove.
After ransacking the kitchen, she moved on to Cheng Baozhu’s room.
Cheng Baozhu screamed from the courtyard, “Cheng An’an! That’s my room! You can’t go in!”
“What do you mean, your room? From now on, it’s my storeroom.”
Cheng An’an kicked the door open.
The room was filled with the scent of cold cream.
Cheng An’an rummaged through the cabinet and found a piece of blue floral fabric that hadn’t been cut yet, along with a brand-new pair of Warrior sneakers.
“Not bad. I was just missing a pair of shoes. And this fabric can make Shen Yu a pair of underwear.”
Cheng An’an stuffed everything into the burlap sack. Finally, her gaze landed on an iron box beside the bed.
It was Cheng Baozhu’s little treasure box.
She picked it up and shook it. Something inside rattled noisily.
When she opened it, she found quite a collection of small bills. There had to be twenty or thirty yuan altogether, along with two ten-yuan notes.
“I’ll keep this money for you, Sis. Consider it compensation for the mental pollution you caused me earlier.”
When Cheng An’an walked out carrying the bulging burlap sack, the eyes of the three members of the Cheng family nearly popped out of their sockets.
She had practically emptied out the entire household!
“Cheng An’an, you robber! I’m going to report you to the police! I’m going to report you to the production brigade!” Cheng Fugui trembled with rage, nearly unable to catch his breath.
“Go ahead.”
Cheng An’an swung the sack over her shoulder, looking every bit like a bandit chief returning triumphantly from a raid.
“Perfect. Let the brigade chief come and see how you sold your own daughter for money, and how you tried to swallow your son-in-law’s compensation for a fallen serviceman.”
Cheng Fugui fell silent.
If this matter blew up, would he still have any dignity left in the village?
More importantly, if the Public Security Bureau found out they had tried to take the compensation money of a fallen soldier, they might even end up in prison.
“All right, no need to see me off.”
Cheng An’an stopped at the doorway.
The hearts of the three members of the Cheng family instantly leaped into their throats.
Cheng An’an turned around, revealing a bright smile.
“Oh, right. The Shen family is so poor that even a mouse would have to leave in tears after going inside. Shen Yu is paralyzed, and I don’t have much ability either, so I’ll come back every five days to get some things to help him regain his strength. We have a deal, okay? If there’s no meat in the house next time, I’ll have no choice but to tear down the roof beams.”
With that, Cheng An’an hummed, “We common folk, ah, are truly happy today,” while carrying the broom, holding the chickens, and slinging the burlap sack over her shoulder as she swaggered away.
The three members of the Cheng family were left standing there in complete disarray.
Cheng Baozhu stared at the now-empty courtyard and burst into tears.
“Mom, my shoes… My Dacron fabric…”
Liu Fen started crying too. “What a disaster! What did I do to deserve this? I raised an ungrateful wretch!”
Cheng Fugui collapsed onto the ground, staring at the courtyard gate Cheng An’an had kicked apart. His vision went black.
She was coming back every five days?
This wasn’t visiting her parents’ home.
This was an enemy raid!
On the way home, Cheng An’an walked with vigorous strides.
When she reached the entrance of Cheng Family Village, she ran into the same auntie from earlier.
The auntie was sitting beneath a tree, sewing the sole of a shoe. When she saw Cheng An’an carrying bags of things—and even two hens—she couldn’t help speaking again.
“You’ve got quite a haul there. What good stuff did your parents give you? When you left earlier, you were only carrying a broom. What happened? Did you trade that broom for gold bars?”
Cheng An’an stopped, putting on a shy expression.
“Auntie, listen to you. My parents just felt sorry for their son-in-law and insisted that I bring some local specialties home. It’s nothing much—just some malted milk powder, white flour, lard, and two hens. Honestly, I told them I didn’t want any, but they insisted on stuffing them into my hands, saying they were worried Shen Yu wouldn’t have enough to eat. As their daughter, I’m really so touched.”
The needle in the auntie’s hand nearly pricked her finger.
She had seen the two hens.
But she hadn’t expected there to be malted milk powder, white flour, and lard too.
Had the Cheng couple lost their minds, or been possessed by ghosts?
They were famously stingy. They wouldn’t even pluck a single feather from themselves.
Yet today, they were suddenly this generous?
“Really?” The auntie looked skeptical. “You didn’t rob your parents’ house, did you?”
Cheng An’an’s expression turned serious. She said solemnly, “Auntie, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want. If I had robbed them, the police would have come to arrest me by now. This is simply the greatness of a father’s love and the vastness of a mother’s love. If you don’t believe me, go ask the Cheng family yourself. Although, they were crying pretty sadly when I left just now. I’m guessing they were simply reluctant to see me go. It might not be very convenient for you to visit right now.”
Without waiting for a response, she ignored the auntie’s face cycling through every possible color and swaggered home.
The moment she entered the house, Wang Xiulan saw Cheng An’an’s appearance and rubbed her eyes, thinking she must be seeing things.
“An… An’an?”
When she left, she had only been carrying a broken broom and a firewood stick. How had she returned looking as though she had just stocked up at the supply store?
“Mom, come help me carry some of this. I’m exhausted.”
Cheng An’an dropped everything onto the ground and collapsed onto a little stool without a shred of grace.
“Where did all this come from?”
Wang Xiulan circled the pile of goods twice, stammering as she spoke.
“You… You robbed your parents’ house?”
“What do you mean, robbed?”
Cheng An’an rolled her eyes.
“I’ve finally figured things out. I used to be foolish and was always taking things from our house to give to my parents. But now I understand. Once a daughter is married, she’s like water that’s been poured out. I need to take care of our own family. All of this was voluntarily given by my parents to help Shen Yu recover.”
Voluntarily, my foot.
Wang Xiulan looked at the obvious fingerprints around the chickens’ necks and roughly figured out what had happened.
But why did this feel so satisfying?
In the past, Wang Xiulan would feel heartbroken even if Cheng An’an took a single needle back to her parents’ home.
Now, watching her daughter-in-law haul things back home, Wang Xiulan suddenly felt that this daughter-in-law was more pleasing to the eye than ever.
“Good! Well done!”
Wang Xiulan’s hands trembled with excitement.
“I’ll go boil some water and slaughter these chickens. We’ll make chicken soup tonight.”
“Don’t.”
Cheng An’an waved her hand.
“Mom, you rest. Let me handle this kind of hard work!”
Her words were firm and resolute, and Wang Xiulan was so moved that tears nearly filled her eyes.
What a wonderful daughter-in-law!
She had just ransacked her parents’ home, yet she had come back and was still willing to cook for them herself. She was practically giving her entire heart to the Shen family.
Cheng An’an grabbed one of the hens and strode into the inner room.
The door closed.
The saintly expression she had worn moments earlier instantly disappeared, replaced by a mischievous grin.
She walked over to the bed and looked at Shen Yu, who was lying there.
He was staring at her with an expression that clearly said, What kind of trouble are you planning to cause this time?
“Honey~”
Cheng An’an put on an exaggeratedly sweet voice, so sugary it practically dripped with honey.
“Look at this chicken. It’s so fat, so plump, and so perfect for… you to slaughter.”
Shen Yu’s eyelids twitched violently.