Chapter 40.2

On the way back, Jiang Rou suddenly craved some cake.

Though it wasn’t her birthday, she decided to treat herself.

She took An An and Li Xin to South Street, where there was a well-known cake shop.

Jiang Rou ordered an eight-inch cake. While waiting for it, she decided to visit the vegetable market again. After shopping for about an hour, she bought meat and vegetables, returned to the cake shop to pick up the cake, and headed straight home.

They took a shortcut. An An, who was in Jiang Rou’s arms, seemed a bit listless and lacked energy, maybe because it was almost noon and a bit hot.

Seeing this, Jiang Rou felt a pang of sympathy and peeled a grape for her.

The grape was slightly sour, and An An wrinkled her face after tasting it.

Jiang Rou smiled and moved the grape slightly away. “Do you want to eat more? ”

An An moved her mouth and reached out for more, clearly still accepting it.

Since the grapes had seeds, Jiang Rou was cautious and only fed her small pieces of the fruit, avoiding the seeds.

An An’s little teeth had not fully grown in yet, so she left three tiny bite marks on the round grapes, which looked very cute.

At that moment, Li Xin, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped, turned her head, and whispered, “Sister, isn’t that He Wenhua’s wife? ”

Jiang Rou instinctively looked up at the mention.

Not far ahead in the alley, a man and a woman were walking towards them, holding hands. She immediately recognized the man as He Wenhua. The woman was somewhat unfamiliar, with yellow skin, a slightly plump figure, and a child in her arms.

The woman’s voice was sharp. “Who are you trying to impress? Why are you pretending? You asked me to force your brother Li Xiao to drop out of school, and now you’re acting like a good son to others? You even pushed all the blame onto me.

Li Xin leaned closer to Jiang Rou and said, “That’s her. I saw her with Wang Auntie at the market last time. Wang Auntie pointed her out to me.”

Jiang Rou nodded and led Li Xin and An An to hide under a nearby tree.

The alley was relatively wide since there was a public restroom ahead on the right.

From a distance, He Wenhua, with a dark expression, suddenly turned around and slapped the woman.

The sound of the slap was sharp and hard.

It was so loud that it even echoed through the alley.

The woman appeared stunned by the slap. She looked up, her face showing disbelief. “You hit me? You actually dared to hit me! ”

She then screamed hysterically, “Do you really think I won’t dare? I’ll go to your school and reveal all the terrible things you’ve done in the past! ”

He Wenhua’s face grew even darker. “Go ahead, tell them. Isn’t Li Xiao the bastard who taught you to threaten me about *** minors?” ^[1]T/N: It was censored, and I won’t go into detail, but whatever you’re thinking, yes, he’s a disgusting man that needs to be jailed.

The woman’s expression froze.

He Wenhua grabbed her by the neck with one hand, his face contorted with rage. “Don’t think that just because I married you, I’m afraid of you. If you have the guts, go ahead and see how I’ll handle you.”

The woman, clearly frightened by He Wenhua’s aggression, tried to pull his hand away, her face showing pain and terror.

He Wenhua’s grip tightened.

The child in the woman’s arms seemed to sense the tension and suddenly began crying loudly.

He Wenhua glanced at the child, then released his grip with a cold expression and turned to leave.

As he turned, he came face-to-face with Jiang Rou.

Hearing the child’s cries, Jiang Rou had come out. Now unafraid, she calmly looked at He Wenhua and then glanced at the woman behind him.

Without acknowledging them further, she walked forward, holding the child in her arms as if nothing had happened.

Li Xin followed behind, carrying the vegetables and cake.

He Wenhua paused, and as Jiang Rou passed by, he turned his head and narrowed his eyes.

Once they had walked away, Li Xin couldn’t help but ask, “Did they just mention brother-in-law? ”

He had caught something in their conversation that seemed off.

Jiang Rou confirmed with a “hmm” and briefly explained what had happened to Li Xiao in the past. “So, if you hear anyone speaking poorly of your brother-in-law in the future, you should defend him. He was wronged.”

Li Xin was infuriated upon hearing this. “How could this happen? Why didn’t my brother-in-law just beat them to death? ”

She kicked the wall beside her in frustration.

Jiang Rou was taken aback. It was clear that although Li Xin appeared well-behaved, she had a fierce temper (hidden).

Jiang Rou quickly added, “Your brother-in-law has already taken action against them, and they didn’t get what they wanted. Don’t match your brother-in-law’s methods. You need to use your brain and avoid resorting to violence like a little gangster.”

Li Xin didn’t respond but still looked dissatisfied.

—o—o—o—

After returning home and having lunch, Jiang Rou began packing up.

An An, now able to walk with support, had Li Xin holding her under her armpits as her short legs wobbled along.

While Jiang Rou moved about the room, An An chased after her. When she caught up, she hugged Jiang Rou’s legs, tilted her head back, and smiled, revealing three tiny teeth.

Jiang Rou bent down and kissed her.

Li Xin joined in the fun by playing hide-and-seek with An An.

They hid by the door and peeked their heads out to look at Jiang Rou in the room.

Jiang Rou pretended not to notice and playfully asked, “Huh? Where’s An An? Where did An An go? ”

An An laughed joyfully, and when Jiang Rou found her, she was so excited that she tried to run away. She truly was a little charmer.

Although it didn’t seem like there was much at home, packing up was quite a task. Jiang Rou had to fit An An’s clothes, shoes, quilt covers, and sheets into more than two large bags.

She decided to leave some of the packing for the next day.

—o—o—o—

In the evening, Jiang Rou and Li Xin enjoyed the remaining cake.

An An seemed to really enjoy it, with her little mouth smeared with the cake’s white crumbs.

Jiang Rou didn’t let her indulge too much, so she fed her grapes instead. She also cut two pieces of cake and took them next door. Aunt Wang, knowing they were leaving the day after tomorrow, had prepared two cans of milk candy for the journey. She asked Jiang Rou to take them along.

Jiang Rou asked Li Xin to visit Zhou Jian’s house to see if they needed anything.

Li Xin returned with half a snakeskin bag full of sausages, pickled fish, and smoked duck. She said, “Sister-in-law was very enthusiastic. She said these should be shared between our two families.”

Jiang Rou wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. She worried she wouldn’t have enough space to carry everything, so she decided to leave some of her own things behind. At worst, she could buy replacements when she arrived.

—o—o—o—