23
The Tragic Braised Pork Incident
Li Xiuran cleared his throat lightly and glanced at Gu Wenshu. “Hurry up and eat. We need to catch the last bus back after dinner.”
This woman kept staring at him instead of eating her meal properly. Could it be that he was more appealing than the food?
Gu Wenshu smiled faintly, picking up a fragrant piece of Hong Shao Rou and placing it in Sanbao’s bowl, then another for Xiao Ni’er. She said to them with a smile, “Eat quickly.”
Sanbao nodded, putting the Hong Shao Rou his mother had given him into his mouth. Instantly, his eyes lit up. “Mom, you should eat too. The Hong Shao Rou is really delicious.”
Xiao Ni’er, while eating, nodded in agreement with her brother. “It’s very tasty. Dad and Mom, eat too. The meat is really delicious.”
Sanbao said, “Every time Uncle buys Hong Shao Rou, Dabao and Erbao, and even Cuizhu get to eat it, but Sister and I can only watch them eat.”
“Dabao said Hong Shao Rou is the most delicious thing in the world. Sister cried because she wanted some too, but A’nai hit her. Both of us cried, and A’nai called us ‘little bastards born of a big bastard’ and said we didn’t deserve to eat Hong Shao Rou.”
He cautiously glanced at his mother but didn’t tell his father that after Sister was hit by A’nai that time, when Mom came back and found out, she dragged them into the room and beat them again.
Sister was beaten so badly she couldn’t even get up from the floor.
Xiao Ni’er also remembered the incident when Dabao and the others ate Hong Shao Rou. Her little mouth instantly drooped, and she looked at her father and said, “Hong Shao Rou is so delicious, but A’ye and A’nai wouldn’t let me have any.”
Gu Wenshu recalled the incident of beating the children over Hong Shao Rou and couldn’t help cursing the original host inwardly. Only incompetent parents would seek validation by taking it out on their children. She quickly picked up two more pieces of Hong Shao Rou and put them in Xiao Ni’er’s bowl. “Eat up, my little darling. From now on, Mom will make Hong Shao Rou for both of you.”
Xiao Ni’er tilted her head and looked at her mother, asking in a childish voice, “Really? Can we really have Hong Shao Rou again in the future?”
Gu Wenshu nodded. “Of course, it’s true. Mom won’t lie to Sanbao and Xiao Ni’er. Dad is here listening—Mom promises not to lie to children.”
After hearing the children’s words, Li Xiuran’s anger surged within him, but he felt powerless. Suppressing his rage, he smiled and ruffled both children’s heads. “That’s right. Dad will buy meat, and Mom will make Hong Shao Rou for Sanbao and Xiao Ni’er.”
From now on, whatever you want, as long as it’s reasonable, Dad will find a way to bring it to you.
The hardships and injustices you’ve suffered—as long as Dad is alive, you will never have to endure them again.
Gu Wenshu and Li Xiuran locked eyes, suddenly feeling a sense of unspoken understanding.
In each other’s hearts, they both felt they hadn’t been good parents before. As parents, failing to protect their children was their greatest incompetence.
Because of the Hong Shao Rou incident, Gu Wenshu found everything else she ate afterward tasteless, her heart aching with sorrow.
These two children had suffered even more than she had in the orphanage. She may have had no parents to protect her, but these children had parents who still failed to shield them, leaving them to endure so much injustice at such a young age.
Children couldn’t fully grasp the helplessness between adults. Today, they had eaten the Hong Shao Rou they had longed for, along with fish, and then watched their father pack a portion of Hong Shao Rou and a portion of Potato Stewed Chicken to take home for dinner. They were even happier.
Even after getting in the car, her little mouth kept chattering nonstop.
Especially Xiao Ni’er—no one knew who she inherited this talkative trait from.
The car broke down halfway, and after struggling for over twenty minutes without success, it was finally Li Xiuran who helped repair it, allowing them to continue back to Luo County.
Due to the delay, it was already 6 p.m. when they returned to the commune.
Outside the commune cafeteria, they saw their eldest cousin Li Mingjie waiting there. He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the family appear at last.
Gu Wenshu greeted Li Mingjie with the children.
Li Mingjie smiled and pulled two pieces of candy from his pocket for the children. Both siblings politely accepted the candy from their uncle and thanked him with smiles.
Seeing how well-behaved and sensible the siblings were, he couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch their cheeks and pat their heads, reminding them to listen to their father at home.
Throughout the entire interaction, he completely ignored Gu Wenshu, this lazy sister-in-law, and she had no objections to that.
He turned to Li Xiuran: “I thought you wouldn’t make it back in time.”
Li Xiuran said, “The car broke down halfway, and repairing it took a long time.”
“The bicycle you asked me to buy is ready.” After saying this, Li Mingjie headed toward the cafeteria entrance: “Wait here, I’ll bring it out for you.”
Gu Wenshu looked at Li Xiuran: “You asked our eldest cousin to help buy a bicycle?”
Li Xiuran nodded: “Having a bicycle at home will make things more convenient.”
Gu Wenshu fell silent, and after a long while, she asked, “Actually, it’s not necessary. That 1,500 yuan at home can’t withstand reckless spending.”
In this era, an ordinary bicycle cost nearly two hundred yuan.
Their Production Team only had three bicycles, including the one belonging to the Li Family. Only the Li Brothers and Li Mingyue were allowed to ride that bicycle; if anyone else even touched it, the old lady would scold them.
Li Xiuran noticed her concern and smiled: “Don’t worry.”
Gu Wenshu was about to say something more when she saw Li Mingjiang and his colleague pushing out two bicycles.
One was the Er Ba Da Gang they had ridden here, and the other was a black Flying Pigeon Brand Erba Bicycle—the new bicycle Li Mingjie had helped purchase.
Li Xiuran’s expression changed slightly when he saw the Flying Pigeon Erba Bicycle. He had asked his eldest cousin to help buy a women’s bicycle, so how did it end up being an Erba Bicycle?
With Gu Wenshu’s frail appearance, could she even ride it?
Li Mingjie acted as if he didn’t notice his cousin’s slightly altered expression, placed the bicycle in front of him, and said calmly, “There were no women’s bicycles left. I had to fight for this one. The child’s seat is already tied to the front crossbar. You should hurry back, or it’ll be dark before you get home.”
After saying this, he and his colleague turned and went back into the cafeteria.
Leaving the family standing there bewildered in the wind.
Once inside the cafeteria, his colleague asked with a smile, “There were women’s bicycles available. Why did you buy an Erba Bicycle?”
Li Mingjie smiled: “What would it look like for a grown man to ride a women’s bicycle?”
When he heard Xiuran say he wanted to buy a women’s bicycle, he guessed it was for Gu Wenshu. Just thinking about this sister-in-law’s behavior over the years made him furious.
Why should she, who had mistreated the children, end up with a bicycle? It would only spoil her rotten.
So, he took it upon himself to buy an Erba Bicycle—he wanted Gu Wenshu to only be able to look at it but not ride it.
Suddenly, his colleague exclaimed in surprise.
“That sister-in-law of yours is quite impressive, she actually knows how to ride a bike.”
Li Mingjie looked back and discovered Gu Wenshu had already ridden off with Xiao Ni’er on the bicycle.
His younger male cousin was following closely behind.
Seeing this, he was dumbfounded.
How… how could Gu Wenshu ride a bicycle?
While he stood there with a tangled expression, Gu Wenshu had already ridden quite a distance. Li Xiuran was walking not far from her side when she said slowly, “When I was in junior high at the Commune, my deskmate Yuan Yuzhu had a bicycle. She was the one who taught me how to ride.”
In this regard, she wasn’t lying. When the original host was in junior high, she was still that little girl living with her grandmother—though she never had enough to eat or wear, she was quite happy. Back then, she had a good personality and was good-looking, so she was very well-liked. She got along very well with her deskmate Yuan Yuzhu, who was determined to attend high school together with her. So whenever she had time, Yuan Yuzhu would teach the original host how to ride a bicycle.
Unfortunately, before they could even take the junior high exams, the little girl’s father was transferred away from the Commune for work, and she had no choice but to leave with him.
Hearing this, Li Xiuran couldn’t help but laugh.
His older male cousin’s little schemes ultimately couldn’t outmatch her.
He’d probably be quite frustrated when he saw this.