Chapter 109

This time, Han Cheng gave Li Yufeng extra money to buy a sleeper berth. She ate all the seafood and pancakes prepared by her daughter on the bus. On the train, Li Yufeng finished all the seafood and pancakes prepared by her daughter. She couldn’t bear to eat the dried vegetable pancakes, planning to save more for the children. There were a few eggs left. The rickety train rocked its way back to the county town. Coincidentally, Li Yufeng happened to catch the tractor from their brigade, bringing young intellectuals to take the train.

The tractor driver from the team joked, “Zhenhua’s mother, after living in the city for a few months, you’ve become so fair and plump that I almost couldn’t recognize you.”

Fair and plump was an exaggeration, but compared to facing the dirt every day while working in the fields, Li Yufeng’s life in Qingfeng Town was indeed considered comfortable. She even quipped about sitting through the postpartum period with her daughter: “My daughter’s home is quite good. I might not have gained weight, but not having to go out in the sun and rain every day might have made me a bit fairer, right?”

Uncle Gen helped Li Yufeng load her things onto the tractor and praised Su Xiaoxiao again, “Your daughter is really worth the care.”

They chatted and laughed on their way home. Li Yufeng unloaded her bags and packages, and just as Xiao Bao returned from school, he saw someone carrying things toward their house from a distance, and to his surprise, it was his Grandma!

“Grandma, Grandma!” Xiao Bao rushed over like a small cannonball!

Li Yufeng put down the things in her hand and took two steps back to catch the naughty little brat.

“Why are you running so fast? You’re going to knock down your grandma.” Li Yufeng, who hadn’t seen her grandson for several months, was also feeling tight. She patted his head and gestured, “Our Xiao Bao has grown taller again.”

Xiao Bao hugged his grandmother and rubbed his face against her. But then, he suddenly remembered how his grandmother had deceived him.

He took a few steps back and grumbled. “Hmph, big liar, hmph!”

Li Yufeng: “…” This troublemaker kid really deserves to be spanked.

“Ah, the dried vegetable pancakes my daughter made were so delicious. I guess no one would want to eat the pancakes made by this big liar’s daughter. I can only eat them myself,” Li Yufeng sighed.
The somewhat proud Xiao Bao, upon hearing this, lit up. “Auntie made pancakes? Dried vegetable pancakes? It must be Auntie asking you to bring them back for me to eat! I want to eat!”

Li Yufeng deliberately teased him and said, “Who just said that this old lady is a big liar?”

Xiao Bao puffed his cheeks and said, “You are not an old lady, I didn’t say that, and you’re not allowed to say that!”

Li Yufeng rubbed his precious grandson’s head: “Alright, alright. Grandma wants to say sorry to you. Sneaking to your Auntie’s house without telling you was my fault. At that time, Grandma was in a hurry to leave, okay? If I had explained it to you at that time, it would have taken a long time before you agreed to not come with me to your aunt’s house. It would have been a waste of time, right? Although you were very obedient and didn’t need anyone to take care of you, if you and your brother go to Auntie’s house, it might disturb her during her postpartum period. If she catches any postpartum illness, it will affect her for a lifetime. If Grandma had explained it to you at that time, would you have listened? I only have one daughter. Don’t be so petty. Can you not argue with this old lady? “

Li Yufeng was about to stop, but after saying this, Xiao Bao got even more upset: “You only have one daughter, and I only have one aunt! I can’t bear to disturb my aunt! As an adult, I won’t argue with you. What about the dried vegetable pancakes made by my aunt? Hurry up and give them to me to eat!”

Li Yufeng, noticing that the naughty boy had settled down, said, “First, help Grandma move these things in. Zhuzi’s mother even asked me to bring you some delicious food.”

Xiao Bao’s eyes lit up again: “Zhuzi’s mom? Is she the pretty Aunt Yali that Fantuan mentioned in the letter?”

Li Yufeng said, “Oh, you’re so young and already know that your Aunt Yali is pretty?”

Xiao Bao pouted and grumbled as he moved things, ignoring his grandma.

Li Yufeng said again, “Next time, don’t do dangerous things like going out without adults’ permission, okay? Do you hear me?”

Xiao Bao remained silent.
Li Yufeng sighed: “Oh, I was going to talk to you about Xiao Roubao and Xiao Tangyuan. Forget it, it seems that you don’t really want to hear your Grandma talk, so let’s forget about it.”

Xiao Bao said angrily, “Grandma is the worst, bad grandma!”
Li Yufeng smiled and brought out Su Xiaoxiao’s dried vegetable pastry. “The bad grandma’s daughter made this dried vegetable pastry.”

Xiao Bao wailed, “Yes, I heard you! I know I was wrong. I won’t go out without permission again. Quickly give me the pastry my aunt made for me!”

Li Yufeng emptied the things she brought back one by one, thinking that Yali had given them some snacks like raisins and almonds. Unexpectedly, along with those, there was a bag of candies, a bag of biscuits, and two red packets with Big Bao and Little Bao’s names on them. When she opened one, it had five whole dollars inside!

Li Yufeng shook her head. “This Yali, really…”

Li Yufeng was just flipping through what Yali had given her, and Xiao Bao also dug out the money Su Xiaoxiao had stuffed into the mooncake box: “Wow, grandma has a lot of money!”

Li Yufeng was taken aback and went over to pick it up. Here was a stack of at least ten or eight bills, some meat coupons, and other vouchers, along with a letter from Su Xiaoxiao: “Mom, my salary is quite high. This is my own salary. I have some tickets here that I don’t need. See if you can use them or exchange them for something useful in the black market. Take care of yourself, don’t always try to save money. Buy more meat to eat, Xiao Bao is still growing, and Second Sister-in-law is in her postpartum period; don’t skimp on it. Buy more chicken for my second-in-law to eat during her postpartum period. Don’t take everything on yourself; let Second Brother do what he should. Mom, I miss you so much.”

After reading it, Li Yufeng’s tears streamed down her face. She must have saved some great gods in her previous life to have raised such a good daughter.

Li Yufeng cried and scared Xiao Bao a lot. “Grandma, what’s wrong with you? I’m not angry with you anymore. I was just teasing you. I promise I won’t run around again. Please don’t cry, okay?”

Li Yufeng picked up her precious grandson and said, “Grandma is fine, Grandma is just happy. Xiao Bao is so well-behaved that Grandma becomes even happier. Come, let’s pack some things. Tomorrow at noon, we’ll go to the county to see your big brother, Da Bao.”

………….

After Li Yufeng left, Su Xiaoxiao always felt that the house had become cold and desolate. Whenever she walked to that corner, she could always recall her mother’s busy figure.

Six-year-old Xiao Yu and Dun Dun went to school, and three-year-old Xiao Doubao was supposed to be sent to a nursery. However, Xiao Doubao refused to go, saying that Grandma said he should stay at home to help his mom take care of his younger siblings. He even refused to go to school with his two older brothers.

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t force him either. Xiao Doubao is already an obedient kid, and having an extra person at home to help entertain Xiao Tangyuan and Xiao Roubao was quite nice.
Xiao Doubao is a responsible older brother. He was patiently sitting on the bed to retell bedtime stories Su Xiaoxiao had told him to his younger siblings. Sometimes the little ones refused to sleep, and when Su Xiaoxiao lost patience, it was still Xiao Doubao who told stories to lull them to sleep.

After Xiao Doubao finished telling the story to his younger brother and sister, Su Xiaoxiao reached out to him, saying, “Good boy, come here and let mommy hug you.”

Before Su Xiaoxiao got pregnant, in Han Cheng’s words, Xiao Doubao looked like he was glued to her body. Wherever she went, she would hold him. After becoming pregnant, she couldn’t carry him anymore. After giving birth, she was focused on recovery, and her attention was on the twins. It had been a long time since she had hugged Xiao Doubao.

Xiao Doubao shyly walked over to his mother and opened his hands.

Su Xiaoxiao bent down to pick up the little cub and gave him a heavy kiss on the face. “Xiao Doubao, did you blame your mother for being too busy taking care of your younger siblings and doesn’t chat with Xiao Doubao much?”

Xiao Doubao hugged Su Xiaoxiao’s neck and shook his head. “No, the younger siblings are small. They need mommy more than Xiao Doubao.”

Xiao Doubao is already three years old, and as he grows older, he becomes more refined. His way of speaking was still reminiscent of his babyish tone, liking to elongate the ends of his words.

“You’re so good.” Su Xiaoxiao kissed him again. “If mommy ever forgets to talk to Xiao Doubao because she’s busy, remember it’s not intentional. Will you remind Mommy, okay? Mommy loves you, your brothers, and your sister equally, alright?”

Xiao Doubao nodded with his big eyes. “Mommy, Xiao Doubao knows. Xiao Doubao loves mommy, loves his brothers and sister too.”

Su Xiaoxiao had worried that she might unintentionally neglect her children’s feelings when she was not paying attention. Sometimes, she might not even realize it herself. Luckily, Fantuan and Xiao Doubao were understanding and didn’t feel neglected. In fact, despite having Xiao Tangyuan and Xiao Roubao, Su Xiaoxiao’s love for Fantuan and Xiao Doubao remained the same. She treated the two as her own children, and there was truly no distinction.

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed the child’s head and said, “That’s good. Mommy wants to thank you for understanding, Xiao Doubao.”

Xiao Doubao loved being held by his mother. He was not willing to let go of Su Xiaoxiao’s neck.

At that moment, someone outside the door called out, “Is Han Jing’s parent at home?”

Who was Han Jing? Su Xiaoxiao didn’t immediately react.

The chatterbox Xiao Doubao answered for her, “My parent is here, I’m Han Jing’s younger brother, Han Kang. Why are you looking for my brother’s parents? We share the same parent~~~”

Su Xiaoxiao: “…”