Wang Cuilian had suffered a huge loss and refused to let it go. Sitting in the courtyard, she cursed loudly at the top of her lungs.
Wang Yun pretended not to hear her. If getting cursed at a few times could earn her money, she wished Wang Cuilian would scold her even more.
She looked gently at the two sisters, Meng Sang and Meng Liu, her gaze falling on their clothes covered in patches.
Xu Chunhua’s mother often brought things over for her daughter, so Meng Wei and Meng Qing got new clothes every year.
The Xu family was well-off, and Wang Yun had long grown used to envying Xu Chunhua for having such a good natal family.
Whenever Meng Wei and Meng Qing outgrew their clothes, Wang Yun would shamelessly ask for a few old pieces to alter for Meng Sang and Meng Liu to wear.
She never dared ask for too many. After all, clothes that had become too small could still be altered into larger garments or turned into other useful things.
Wang Yun’s eyes reddened. Without cloth coupons, it was difficult even to buy fabric to make clothes for her daughters.
All the family’s cloth coupons were tightly controlled by Wang Cuilian, and most of them were eagerly given to Chen Rou instead.
Wang Yun opened her mouth, wanting to say, “Mom will make you new clothes,” but the words circled in her throat and never came out.
Instead, she rubbed the tops of her daughters’ heads and said softly, “How about Mom buys you some stationery?”
Meng Sang’s eyes lit up. “Okay!”
Meng Liu looked uninterested. She didn’t like studying; she wanted pretty clothes.
Leaning against the window, Chen Rou clenched her fists tightly. Twenty yuan! That money should have been spent on her. What right did Wang Yun and Xu Chunhua have to compete with her for it?
She shut the window hard, calming her emotions. Just as she turned to check whether the baby on the bed had woken up, she suddenly saw a green, hairy caterpillar wriggling across her daughter’s face and body.
“Ah! Help!”
In the courtyard, Wang Cuilian instantly stopped cursing and rushed in like a rocket.
“What happened?” Wang Cuilian nervously looked Chen Rou up and down.
Chen Rou trembled all over, forcing herself to stand on weak legs as she pointed at her daughter lying on the bed. A tear slid down her cheek. “Zhuzhu…”
Her mind had gone blank. She wanted to protect her daughter, but she simply couldn’t force herself to step forward.
She had never done farm work in her life and was terrified of disgusting bugs like this.
“My heavens!” Wang Cuilian’s pupils shrank sharply. She hurried forward, flicked the caterpillar onto the floor, and crushed it under her foot.
Meng Zhu burst into loud sobs. The places stung by the caterpillar quickly swelled red and blistered.
A child’s skin was delicate, making it look especially horrifying.
Wang Cuilian held Meng Zhu and gently rocked her. A cool breeze blew in, and she looked up to see the window wide open.
The window faced the backyard. The bug had probably crawled in through there.
“Don’t leave this window open anymore. Bugs will crawl inside.”
Chen Rou cried softly in guilt and self-reproach. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t take good care of Zhuzhu.”
Seeing the frightening red swelling on her daughter’s fair skin made Chen Rou’s heart twist painfully, her chest tightening with distress.
Meng Zhu cried miserably from the pain.
The crying attracted Meng Wen and Meng Hong. Hiding behind the window by the doorway, they peeked through the crack at the sobbing Meng Zhu, secretly feeling pleased.
At first, Xu Chunhua was startled by Meng Zhu’s heart-wrenching cries. “Isn’t Chen Rou too much? We only just squeezed a little money out of that old witch, and now Chen Rou makes Meng Zhu cry to warn us? Good grief, maybe the whole family should just stop living!”
Meng Yu: Mom is so funny.
Knowing Xu Chunhua was joking, Meng Qiushi let out a low chuckle.
But Meng Zhu kept crying. After such a long time without being soothed, Meng Qiushi finally couldn’t suppress his curiosity and went outside.
Seeing Wang Yun carrying a bowl toward Chen Rou’s room, he quickly stepped forward and stopped her. “Second Sister-in-law, what happened in there?”
Wang Yun shook the bowl of garlic cloves in her hand and said with poorly concealed delight, “Meng Zhu got stung by a caterpillar. Chen Rou’s crying her eyes out, so Mom told me to slice some garlic to rub on the sting.”
Around here, rubbing sliced garlic on the wound was the folk remedy for caterpillar stings.
Meng Qiushi released Wang Yun’s hand, and she hurried into Chen Rou’s room.
From inside came Wang Cuilian’s scolding voice: “Why are you so slow? Do you want Zhuzhu to keep crying?!”
Silently apologizing to Wang Yun in his heart, Meng Qiushi turned and went back to his room.
After who knew how long, the crying finally stopped.
Xu Chunhua felt like the whole world had become peaceful again. She sighed in relief and curled her lips in disdain. “Look how anxious your mom is. Anyone who didn’t know better would think the sky had fallen. It’s just a bug sting—is it really worth panicking this much?”
Meng Qiushi peered outside through the crack in the window. “For my mom, apparently it is. Whew, the sting looks pretty serious. Half her face is covered in blisters.”
“Let me see.” Xu Chunhua put down the small clothes she had been sewing and hurried to the window to peek outside.
Wang Cuilian was carrying Meng Zhu out into the sunlight. Sitting in the courtyard, she gently stroked Meng Zhu’s chest, her brows tightly furrowed with heartache.
Meng Yu toddled over anxiously, stumbling as she walked. Hugging Meng Qiushi’s leg, she tried climbing up. Failing, she looked up at him eagerly. “Daddy, carry.”
The moment Meng Qiushi lowered his head and saw his daughter’s grape-like eyes, his heart melted. He bent down, picked her up, and continued watching outside through the window.
Meng Yu immediately quieted down and focused intently on the scene outside. Children had sharp eyesight; she could clearly see the blisters on Meng Zhu’s face and the unconcealed tenderness and distress on Wang Cuilian’s face.
Over the past year, she had spent quite a bit of time around the female lead. So far, the girl seemed like nothing more than an ordinary baby.
What made her special in the Meng family was simply the unique love Wang Cuilian gave her.
The sky gradually darkened as golden dusk spread across the horizon, bathing the courtyard in warm yellow light.
Meng Zhu slept soundly in Wang Cuilian’s arms.
A pair of old cloth shoes patched several times stepped over the threshold as Meng Qiufeng returned carrying a basket on his back.
Wang Cuilian lowered her voice and asked, “Did you buy the meat?”
Meng Qiufeng grinned. His dark face made his teeth appear especially white. “I bought twenty-five jin of pork, all rich fatty meat.”
In those days, people lacked oil and fat in their diets, so fatty pork was highly prized.
Wang Cuilian stretched her neck to glance into the basket. Satisfied, she smiled and patted Meng Qiufeng on the back. “Qiufeng, you’re a good boy. With Xiao Rou entrusted to you, Mom can rest easy.”
A hint of simple honesty appeared in Meng Qiufeng’s shrewd eyes. “Don’t worry, Mom. If Xiao Rou’s willing to live with me, I’ll treat Zhuzhu like my own daughter.”
Standing behind him, Chen Rou blushed shyly at his words.
As a widow with a child, life had been hard for her. Over the past year, plenty of matchmakers had come introducing potential husbands, but they were all crooked-looking peasant men.
After thinking it over, marrying Meng Qiufeng seemed like the better choice.
Wang Cuilian glanced backward and nudged Meng Qiufeng with her chin. Turning around, Meng Qiufeng met Chen Rou’s gaze and instantly flushed red.
“Little Sister Xiao Rou…” Meng Qiufeng nervously fidgeted with the corner of his shirt, speaking as softly as a mosquito.
Inside the eldest branch’s room, Meng Wen stood behind the door watching through the crack. His mother had died from illness when he was five. In all his memories, his father had never treated his mother this gently.
Meng Wen tugged at the corner of his mouth. He couldn’t change anything. He only hoped that after the stepmother entered the family, his father would still treat the siblings the same as before.
“Brother…” Meng Hong pouted pitifully. “I don’t want a stepmother. After Xiao Hong got a stepmother, her dad stopped caring about her.”
“Dad really likes that woman. We can’t stop him. Be good—your brother’s here with you.” Meng Wen rubbed the top of his sister’s dry yellow hair.
Watching secretly from behind another window, Wang Yun’s eyes flashed with sympathy. She muttered softly, “If Big Brother really marries Chen Rou, the two kids in the eldest branch are going to have a miserable time.”
Meng Qiushou disagreed, shrinking his neck slightly. “Xiao Rou has a good personality. She won’t mistreat the children.”
Wang Yun instantly turned around and glared at him. Walking over, she grabbed his ear. “Are you secretly wishing the one marrying Chen Rou was you after your wife died?!”
Meng Qiushou had always been weak-tempered. Faced with Wang Yun’s domineering personality, he could only suffer quietly.
Wang Yun could control his actions, but she couldn’t control his thoughts.
Though Meng Qiushou was honest and taciturn, his inner thoughts were plentiful.
“Don’t talk nonsense. It’ll be bad if Big Brother hears you.” Grimacing in pain, Meng Qiushou repeatedly begged Wang Yun to let go.
Wang Yun snorted and glanced out the window. “Why aren’t Xiao Sang and Xiao Liu home yet?”
Inside, Meng Qiushou grumbled silently: They’re just two useless girls. So what if they disappear?