Chapter 72.2

On the sixth day of the New Year, Li Xiao’s family of three prepared to leave, while Zhou Jian and Jin Dayou’s families planned to stay a few more days.

This time, when they were heading back, they were seen off by several people. Besides Aunt Wang’s family, Zhu Qiang and his wife also came with their children. Zhu Qiang carried two buckets of bean paste and sesame oil made by his wife’s parents. He mentioned that since he added the bean paste to his fried noodles, his noodle shop’s business had improved. The sesame oil, freshly pressed at home, was exceptionally fragrant—something you couldn’t find outside.

Aunt Wang handed Li Xiao a large cloth bag filled with salted duck eggs, homemade pickles, and bacon, nearly filling a snakeskin bag. Finally, Jiang Rou and Li Xin handled the box, while Li Xiao carried the snakeskin bag along with the bean paste and sesame oil.

An An waved to everyone before turning and boarding the bus with a satisfied smile. She cheerfully told Aunt Wang, “Grandma, I’ll come to see you again later.”

“Alright, An An must listen to your mom and dad,” Aunt Wang replied.

An An: “Yes, be a good girl.”

Li Xiao and Jiang Rou chose a seat in the middle row of the bus. Jiang Rou sat on the inside, holding An An, while Li Xiao stowed the bag and settled into his seat. As he looked out the window, his gaze seemed to linger on someone outside.

Jiang Rou noticed his distraction and asked, “What’s wrong?”

As the bus started moving, Li Xiao’s eyes swept over the scene outside once more. He replied calmly, “I think I saw Wang Tao.”

Jiang Rou instinctively glanced outside, but the bus had already driven some distance, and the view behind was no longer visible.

She reassured him, “It’s okay. We’ll come back next year and catch up then. It’s not a big deal when you think about it now.”

Li Xiao nodded in agreement and said, “Okay.”

Perhaps due to seeing so many things and people over time, he no longer paid much attention to such minor details.

After the bus departed, the two families turned to leave.

Zhu Qiang arrived by car, having purchased an old van. He exchanged farewells with Aunt Wang and departed with his wife and children.

The van was too small to accommodate everyone, so Zhu Qiang couldn’t offer them a ride back.

Since Aunt Wang’s house was not far from the bus station, they simply walked back. Wang Minjun and her husband also joined, walking behind.

Liu Jiajin, reflecting on the half-filled bag of gifts Aunt Wang had given to Li Xiao and his wife, couldn’t help but comment: “Why is your mother so generous to outsiders but less so to us? She gave them so much, but we didn’t get as much last time we came back.”

Wang Minjun frowned and replied, “You shouldn’t say that. Jiang Rou and her family brought a lot of expensive gifts for my parents when they visited, including bird’s nests and abalone.”

These items were clearly quite costly.

Liu Jiajin still felt uneasy. “Even so, shouldn’t you avoid showing favoritism to outsiders? No matter how nice outsiders are, they can’t be closer to their daughter.”

Wang Minjun also noticed that her mother was especially kind to Jiang Rou, and she felt somewhat overlooked in comparison. Her mother had made breakfast for them every morning and even knitted two sweaters for An An from high-quality wool.

Liu Jiajin didn’t seem to care about keeping his voice down, likely intending for his mother-in-law to overhear.

Aunt Wang, who was walking in front, indeed heard it. She stopped and turned around to scold her daughter, “I think you’ve read so much that you’ve lost yourself in your studies. It’s one thing if Jiajin doesn’t know, but can you swear that you don’t know? If your dad hadn’t had Li Xiao, he would have passed away long ago. What’s wrong with me being kind to Jiang Rou and her family? All those things combined aren’t as expensive as half of what Jiang Rou gave to us. When you were studying away from home and your dad got in to life-threatening accident, I called you more than ten times, but none of them reached you. It was Li Xiao who helped me. He found your dad overnight and took him to the city hospital. It was because of him that I was able to hold on during those days. The grandma in the same ward, along with the nurses and doctors at the hospital, all thought he was my biological son.”

“Even though Li Xiao and Jiang Rou are not my biological children, they are no worse than you. Don’t say these things to me again, or don’t come back. Although I wasn’t as educated as you, I know that one should never forget their roots.”

After that, she turned around with a sour expression and pulled Uncle Wang along with her.

Uncle Wang did not come to his daughter’s aid this time. He felt that his daughter was poorly educated, too soft-hearted, and easily swayed by others. He thought she had married a son-in-law with a narrow mind.

Wang Minjun’s face reddened from the scolding, she only remembered what happened in the past only because her mother brought it up.

Holding her child in her arms, she hurriedly chased after her mother and shouted anxiously, “Mom——”

Liu Jiajin, who was behind her, looked somewhat embarrassed. He knew that while his mother-in-law appeared to be scolding her daughter, she was actually criticizing him.

He dared to express his frustration with Wang Minjun, but he felt a bit intimidated when facing his formidable mother-in-law.

—o—o—o—

After three days of traveling, the family of three finally returned home.

Perhaps due to the significant temperature difference between their hometown and their current location, An An fell ill the night they arrived. She initially had a runny nose, which then developed into a fever by nightfall. An An kicked off the quilt while she slept, causing Jiang Rou and Li Xiao to check on her throughout the night. When Jiang Rou went to check on her that evening, she found that An An was restless, humming and moaning as if she was in considerable pain.

Jiang Rou touched An An’s forehead and, alarmed, immediately called for Li Xiao from the adjacent room to bring a thermometer.

Li Xiao responded promptly, took the thermometer, and measured An An’s temperature. It registered 39.7 degrees Celsius, indicating a high fever.

He retrieved the alcohol from the home first aid kit, soaked a towel in it, and began wiping An An’s forehead, neck, hands, and feet. Jiang Rou had studied medicine for several years and had picked up some skills herself.

As Jiang Rou took An An’s pulse, she noted that it was slow and deep. This was likely due to the cold air entering her body after their return and her excitement from playing during the past few days. Now that she had relaxed, her body was reacting.

Worried that her medical skills might not be sufficient, Jiang Rou asked Li Xiao to drive them to the hospital.

Li Xiao went outside without a word.

Jiang Rou wrapped An An in a quilt, held her close, and followed Li Xiao. Li Xin, who had heard the commotion, came downstairs to see them preparing to leave. Concerned, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Rou replied, “An An has a fever. Your brother-in-law and I are taking her to the hospital. It’s not a major issue. You go back to sleep.”

Li Xin nodded but did not leave. He accompanied them to the door.

Jiang Rou and Li Xiao drove An An to the hospital. After a checkup, An An received an IV drip that lasted for two hours.

By the time they left the hospital, it was already past three in the morning. An An, who was afraid of injections, had cried during the IV drip. Her eyes were red as she huddled in Jiang Rou’s arms. Now that they were out of the hospital, she was no longer scared and even asked, “Mom, I’m sick. Do I have to go to school in a few days?”

“…”

Li Xiao, walking ahead, overheard her and responded unhappily, “By the time you go to school, you’ll have recovered. You still need to go.”

An An pouted, clearly displeased. “If you had gotten sick a few days later, it would have been better.”

Jiang Rou, both exasperated and amused, pinched her little nose. “You should have had more injections.”

In the following days, An An stayed home to recuperate. The illness was severe and recurred, requiring several days of IV drips before she began to improve. By the time the fever completely subsided, An An appeared to have lost several pounds.

To Li Xiao, An An’s condition seemed quite serious, and he felt that her face had become more gaunt.

While he said she deserved it, he privately felt a deep sympathy for her. Every day, he rose early to prepare nourishing foods like chicken soup and lamb for her. He indulged her so much that she even became a bit spoiled, asking her father to buy her a TV and put it in her room.

But that was out of the question.

If she had a TV in her room, she would surely stay up all night watching it. Last year, she had secretly gotten up in the middle of the night to watch TV downstairs. Li Xiao had only discovered this when he heard the noise and went downstairs to find her. He was surprised to find she had this secret habit, which explained why she struggled to get out of bed every morning. How long had she been doing this?

Since then, Li Xiao had taken to unplugging the TV every night before going to bed.

The day before the Lantern Festival, Jin Dayou and his family arrived. Jin Dayou sent his mother ahead, as Aunt Shi and Mother Zhou had a close relationship. They had raised many chickens and shared meals together, and now they were reluctant to part ways.

Mother Zhou had not arrived yet. For the past few days, Aunt Shi had been staying at Jiang Rou’s house. Jin Dayou had gone to see Shen He and Shen He’s adoptive parents home, spending the night at Shen He’s house. Dong Mingming’s mother, who was very fond of Jin Dayou, had suggested a match with her niece. Jin Dayou, frightened by this prospect, had fled to Li Xiao’s house for refuge.

Upon arriving at Li Xiao’s house, he felt a sense of relief.

Although Shen He was his biological brother, the twenty-year age gap created a distance between them, unlike Li Xiao and Jiang Rou, who felt as close as his own brother and sister-in-law.

When Jin Dayou arrived, Li Xiao, unbothered by formality, asked him to cover the cost of all three meals each day, as An An particularly enjoyed his cooking.

While An An sat at the dining table enjoying the delicious food, she suddenly declared, “Uncle Dayou, I want to marry you when I grow up.”

“…”

The table fell into stunned silence.

Li Xiao, after recovering from his shock, turned to Jin Dayou with a dark expression, glaring at him menacingly.

Jin Dayou, terrified, coughed nervously and quickly clarified, “It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything.”

Li Xiao then turned his attention to An An, trying to control his irritation. “You’re already thinking about marriage at such a young age? By the time you grow up, Uncle Dayou will be an old man. Do you even know what old men are like? Just like Grandpa Wang you saw during the Chinese New Year.”

An An tilted her head as she tried to recall what Grandpa Wang looked like. He had a bald spot in the center of his head, dark skin, and a large belly. Then she glanced at the handsome Uncle Jin Dayou, a hint of hesitation on her face, and said, “But Uncle Dayou’s cooking is delicious.”

“…”

She had never seen a child more greedy than her.

Li Xiao rubbed his temples, “Your Uncle Dayou isn’t the only one who can cook.”

Jiang Rou smiled and added, “Yes, what if you meet a boy who can cook even better in the future?”

An An bit her lip, glanced at her parents, then at Jin Dayou, looking as if she were torn. Suddenly, her eyes brightened with an idea, “Then let my aunt marry Uncle Dayou, so I can enjoy his cooking all the time.”

“…”

Jiang Rou was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. This child was truly greedy. She was even willing to push her aunt aside just for the sake of good food. When Li Xin heard this, she said with a hint of annoyance, “You are really my good niece.”

An An laughed, thinking her aunt was praising her.

Jin Dayou, glancing at Li Xin across from him, lowered his eyes to his meal and stayed silent, his ears faintly reddening.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, the family had their meal early. Around seven o’clock in the evening, Jiang Rou and Li Xiao took Jin Dayou and Li Xin to the airport, as they were returning to school.

Shen He and Dong Mingming also arrived, bringing a lot of things for Jin Dayou to take with them.

After seeing Jin Dayou and Li Xin off, An An prepared to start school. At the same time, Jiang Rou’s written test results were announced, placing her second and passing.

Before school began, Li Xiao’s benefactor, Boss You, had an accident.