“Grandma, it’s snowing again! So pretty!”
Hu Xiu had placed a small stool beneath the window. Miao Miao loved standing on it, tiptoeing to peer through the clear glass at the world outside. Just now, she happened to witness the first snowflake drifting down.
The young child hadn’t yet learned elegant words to describe the beautiful scene before her. After her exclamation, she instinctively used her chubby little hands to repeatedly wipe away the fog her breath had left on the glass, which obstructed her view.
Meanwhile, Guo Guo, being a boy and perhaps inherently lacking romantic sensibilities, immediately dropped his toys upon hearing his sister’s words and clumsily climbed onto the stool alongside her.
When he finally got a clear view of the scene outside, the little fellow immediately furrowed his small brow, his tone tinged with frustration: “Grandma, why does snow come to our house every day?”
He wanted to go out and play, but Grandma never allowed it when it snowed.
Hu Xiu was busy scooping rice porridge into bowls. Since the two little ones had come into her life, she had become much more meticulous about their meals.
Today was no exception. Besides plain rice porridge, she had also made scallion pancakes with eggs. The side dish was braised tofu in soybean paste left over from lunch.
Hearing the Dragon and Phoenix Twins’ contrasting childish remarks, Hu Xiu found it amusing but didn’t engage further on the topic. She had learned to fear their endless stream of “whys.”
With practiced ease, she changed the subject: “Stop staring, you little greedy kittens. Time to eat!”Normally, upon hearing it was mealtime, the two children with their healthy appetites would cheer and run over to sit obediently.”
But today was an exception. Even after Hu Xiu had laid out all the food, the children still hadn’t come.
She was just about to tease them, wondering what they could be seeing that made them forget their hungry tummies, when faint noises of commotion reached her ears.
Had something happened in the village?
While still puzzling over it, she heard Miao Miao call out: “Grandma, someone’s coming to our house!”
Hu Xiu snapped back to attention. She covered the food with a dust cover and hurried to the window.
There, amidst the swirling whiteness, she spotted a familiar figure.
It was Ting Ting!
Even though the person was bundled up tightly, Hu Xiu recognized her daughter-in-law immediately among the group walking in the middle!
Her thin face instantly broke into a wide smile. “Silly children, your mother’s back!” she exclaimed hastily before rushing to the front door, unbolting it, and hurrying outside.
Meanwhile, Lin Ting, striding quickly with her head down as she hurried home, also spotted her mother-in-law coming out to greet her.
She waved, signaling for the older woman to go back inside, while simultaneously quickening her pace.
Hu Xiu didn’t understand why, but she was so genuinely happy that she took several large strides forward to meet her halfway.
As they came together, before Hu Xiu could even speak, her daughter-in-law linked arms with her.
This was an unprecedented display of closeness. A pang of emotion hit Hu Xiu, and her nose tingled with the threat of tears, thinking the young woman must have suffered some grievance away from home.
But before she could ask what was wrong, her daughter-in-law’s concerned voice reached her ears: “Mom, you’re not in good health. Why didn’t you put on a heavy coat before coming out?”
“In my hurry, I forgot.” Hu Xiu’s heart warmed at her daughter-in-law’s thoughtfulness. It further confirmed her belief that Lin Ting was a good person, utterly incapable of something like absconding with the money.
To be perfectly honest, Hu Xiu had never intended to keep her daughter-in-law trapped forever. If Lin Ting ever wanted to remarry, she, as her mother-in-law, would willingly let her go and even provide a generous dowry.
Just like marrying off a daughter of her own. It was the least she could do – her son had wronged this fine young woman.
Earlier, her urgency stemmed from two fears: first, that something might have happened to her daughter-in-law, and second, that her recently deceased son might be tarnished with a bad reputation and become the subject of ridicule.
Now that her daughter-in-law had returned safely and even seemed to show concern for others, the last thorn in Hu Xiu’s heart had finally been removed.
Just as she was about to turn and exchange a few pleasantries with her in-laws’ younger brother, she felt another tug on her arm.
Hu Xiu was baffled: “What’s wrong?”
Lin Ting said, “The whole village knows I’m back.”
Hu Xiu grew even more puzzled, letting herself be pulled back by her daughter-in-law: “So what if they know?”
Lin Ting pursed her lips: “I’m sure a lot of people will come to gawk soon. I don’t want the trouble.”
As for all those messy rumors, it was better not to explain them in detail to her mother-in-law, lest she get upset.
Anyway, she had already returned with Huo Xiao’s belongings—the rumors would eventually collapse on their own.
Hu Xiu was both amused and exasperated, assuming it was the scholar’s thin skin at play, and quickly reassured her: “That’s just how villages are. If you don’t like it, we can ask your second aunt to handle it.”
From memory, the petite second aunt, Chen Guilan, did indeed have a sharp tongue: “Should we invite her over then?”
As they spoke, the group had already entered the house.
A kerosene lamp was lit inside.
The light was dim and murky.
But her mother-in-law kept the house tidy, and under the faint yellow glow, it still felt somewhat warm and cozy.
Hu Xiu was insistently brewing tea for her daughter-in-law’s two older brothers, waving off their refusals. Hearing the question, she waved a hand: “No need. Just wait and see—she’ll be here any moment.”
Indeed, Hu Xiu knew her sister-in-law well.
No sooner had she spoken than the front door, which had just been closed, was shoved open with a “bang!”
Earlier, when Chen Guilan heard that her nephew’s wife had returned and had been seen slipping into the woods with two men, she immediately scratched the gossipmonger and rushed over, panting heavily.
In her mind, she thought that if that girl from the Lin family was really up to no good, her eyes were like a ruler—one glance, one measure, and any trickery would be exposed.
But… when her gaze fell upon the two men sitting on the bench, the anger in her heart deflated like a punctured balloon, vanishing in an instant.
Hu Xiu handed over the freshly brewed tea and smiled at her sister-in-law: “Guilan, you’re here? Haven’t eaten yet, have you? Stay and have some dumplings at my place.”
The dumplings had been made a few days ago with the pork they’d gotten—cabbage and pork filling. She’d made about a hundred in one go. Aside from boiling a few for the Dragon and Phoenix Twins, Hu Xiu hadn’t touched the rest, freezing them all to save for her daughter-in-law’s return, hoping to sweeten her homecoming.
At the mention of dumplings, Chen Guilan instinctively swallowed.
Her family had many children—growing boys eat their parents out of house and home, and she had four such boys at home.
So, only during festivals could Chen Guilan enjoy a decent meal.
On any other day, she might have stayed to take advantage of the offer.
But right now, there were plenty of heartless folks in the village spreading nonsense.
Her husband and the couple from the third brother’s family were also waiting for news—how could she spare the time to wait for dumplings?
With that in mind, Chen Guilan glanced again at her trouble-prone nephew’s wife.
Only then did she notice that after twenty days apart, the girl from the Lin family had changed quite a bit.
How to put it? It was as if the awkward, grating tension that used to cling to her had vanished—as if she was now genuinely settling into life.
And so, for the first time ever—aside from her sister-in-law—the usually sharp-tongued Chen Guilan declined the offer to stay for dinner and even managed a faint smile at her nephew’s wife: “Xiao Lin, you must be exhausted from the journey, huh?”
Lin Ting was surprised by the other’s friendly attitude and replied with a smile, “It was quite exhausting. I’ve basically been cooped up in the vehicle all these days.”
Oh my! Has she really descended from the clouds? She used to put on such airs as an intellectual.
Chen Guilan, curious, intended to sit down and have a proper chat.
But as soon as she touched the stool, she remembered the pile of worries awaiting her. After hesitating several times, she ultimately moved her steps toward the door.
At the doorway, she noticed her niece-in-law had followed her.
Realizing the other meant to see her off, Chen Guilan’s smile gained a touch of genuine warmth: “No need to see me out. If you’re tired, get a good night’s sleep. Auntie will come find you tomorrow for a proper chat.”
Though Chen Guilan was a generation older than Lin Ting, she wasn’t actually old—just 38—and had delicate features. When she smiled like this, she appeared quite approachable.
Though Lin Ting didn’t understand why the other seemed different from her memories, who would want to face constant prickliness? So she smiled back: “I’m afraid tonight won’t be peaceful. Surely people will come knocking soon.”
“With the sun set and snow falling outside, who’d be so tactless to visit? Don’t worry, the earliest would be tomorrow.” Besides, she planned to deal with those with crooked intentions first tonight. A bit of spectacle-watching tomorrow wouldn’t matter—she was curious herself.
With this thought, Chen Guilan called out a greeting to her in-law’s younger brother who was drinking tea on the sofa, then pushed open the door and vanished into the snowy landscape in the blink of an eye.
Lin Ting, who belatedly realized something, turned to glare at her second brother.
Catching the amusement in his eyes, what was there left not to understand? He clearly knew all along that no one would visit today, yet deliberately watched her fret.
Lin Ting took a deep breath… Brothers were truly annoying!
Dinner concluded.
It was past six o’clock.
The Lin brothers thanked their aunt for the hospitality and took the opportunity to bid farewell.
Knowing her in-laws were waiting for news, Hu Xiu didn’t press them to stay. After exchanging a few pleasantries at the door, she led the Dragon and Phoenix Twins into the west room to give them privacy.
Lin Ting looked up at her two brothers: “Come pick me up tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure many people will visit in the morning, so I won’t be able to get away.”
Now that she’d calmed down, she’d figured things out.
Having overcome such a terrible start, she could handle this final hurdle.
So what if people stared at her like a monkey?
She’d endure it!!!
Lin Ming ruffled his younger sister’s hair: “Understood. Go inside now. Get a good night’s sleep and don’t overthink things.”
However nice the sleeper train was, it was only the size of a birdcage—nowhere near as comfortable as the kang at home. Look how exhausted his little sister was, her chin had grown pointed.
Lin Wei flicked his sister’s forehead, then asked vaguely before she could get angry: “That letter…”
Lin Ting’s mental alarms instantly blared: “Burned it!”
Lin Wei was skeptical—she’d treasured it so dearly before, giving him the cold shoulder for days if he so much as glanced at it: “Really burned?”
“Really burned!” This wasn’t a lie. On her second day in this world, when she went out to make a call at the Commune, Lin Ting had burned all the original owner’s precious letters.
It wasn’t that she disrespected others, but keeping those uncertain factors around was equivalent to leaving evidence against herself.
Only by burning them could she eliminate all potential risks.
Seeing his sister’s attitude, Lin Wei grew even more suspicious, but the timing was truly inappropriate now.
Besides, he needed to give the stubborn girl a night to recover—she’d need her energy restored to withstand his interrogation.
If she doesn’t learn her lesson this time, who knows what even more frightening things she might do next…
Thinking this, he stopped pressing further. He affectionately tapped his younger sister’s head and then pulled their eldest brother away.
As for his sister’s request to come pick her up tomorrow at noon—he hadn’t agreed to that.
Knowing their parents as he did, the old couple would surely rush over to see their precious daughter before daybreak tomorrow.
Lin Ming: “What were you saying earlier about a letter?”
Lin Wei: “Huh? Did I say anything?”
“You did. Tingting also mentioned something about burning it. What are you two hiding?”
“Brother, you’re overthinking it. Why don’t you ask her about it later? By the way, our in-laws treated us to dumplings. When we come to pick up our little sister tomorrow, we should bring some nice gifts.”
“You’re right. Didn’t we hunt a roe deer recently? How about bringing a hind leg?”
“Let’s also slaughter a chicken. Tingting has suffered quite a bit this time.”
“Alright. I’ll wake up early tomorrow and save the chicken blood for our little sister. She likes it…”
Lin Ting…
Watching her brothers’ figures and voices disappear together into the wind and snow, Lin Ting slowly closed the door.
Her understanding of her eldest brother’s straightforward and honest nature deepened even further.
He was so easily distracted.
“Tingting…”
Lin Ting turned around and met her mother-in-law’s gaze.
Now, all traces of laughter had vanished from the older woman’s eyes. Staring intently at the two packages on the side table, she asked with slight unease, “Mom… Mom would like to see Xiao’s things… Is that alright?”
How could it not be?
Having arrived in this world and, in a way, lost her own family as well, Lin Ting couldn’t hold back. Her eyes instantly reddened: “Of course!”