Chapter 12: “Mama…”

The clever Su Zhiqing had no intention of being such a big fool.

As someone who had read the original story, she naturally knew that every time the original owner caused trouble, Zhou Linglan would clean up after her. If the original owner picked a cucumber from someone’s garden, Zhou would compensate them with two. If she snatched a piece of candy from a child, she would give a whole handful in return. This was why, despite all the mischief the original owner caused, Zhou Linglan’s reputation in the village remained untarnished. In fact, people sympathized with her for having such a troublesome daughter-in-law. So, while they scolded her, deep down, they wished the original owner would pick from their gardens, hoping for some compensation.

Su Taotao took the initiative to compensate Black Charcoal because she didn’t want to leave a childhood trauma for the little boy.

Su Taotao didn’t dare to go too far and stayed near the fields to dig for wild vegetables. Since she didn’t know many types of wild vegetables, she filled a small basket and decided to head to the school to pick up the kids.

This was the first time she’d ever done something like this.

Her actions under the banyan tree had already spread throughout the entire village, and along the way, people pointed and whispered about her.

As the saying goes, just as people fear becoming famous, pigs fear becoming fat. But Su Taotao wasn’t bothered by it.

When she arrived at the school, she saw Fu Yuanhang carrying Chenchen from a distance.

There was no mistaking her two kids; they were easy to spot.

Su Taotao smiled and waved at them, calling out, “Yuanhang, Chenchen, over here, over here…”

When Su Taotao called out, all the little kids turned to look at her.

A curious classmate asked, “Fu Yuanhang, who is she?”

Fu Yuanhang stiffened for a moment and replied in a low voice, “She’s my brother’s wife…”

The classmate widened their eyes. “Oh, it’s… uh, Chenchen’s mom.” They then muttered, “Why does someone so pretty have such a bad rep?”

Suddenly, a tall boy rushed up from behind Fu Yuanhang and grabbed Chenchen’s face, pinching it roughly. He made a “clucking” sound like a chicken, and Chenchen immediately burst into loud cries.

The tall boy laughed heartily and was about to pinch him again.

A mother’s instincts kicked in. Seeing this, Su Taotao’s blood boiled with anger. She quickly rushed over and threw the small basket of wild vegetables she was carrying at the tall boy, shouting, “Are you out of your mind? How dare you bully my son!”

The boy was stunned by the hit. He usually played rough with Chenchen like this, so why was she reacting so strongly?

Su Taotao took Chenchen from Fu Yuanhang’s back and into her arms. Seeing that his face was indeed swollen, she felt a pang of guilt. This was the first time she had seen her usually quiet and well-behaved child cry since she had arrived here.

The tall boy, seeing Chenchen’s swollen face, felt a little guilty. “I… I didn’t mean to, we were just playing around…”

Su Taotao sneered, “Playing around? How about I swell your face up and we play around? How old are you? How old is he? Can’t you be more careful with your actions?”

The tall boy tried to defend himself, “Chenchen never cries, and he doesn’t have parents to care for him…”

Fu Yuanhang, seeing Chenchen’s red face, had already clenched his fists in anger. Upon hearing those words, he couldn’t hold back anymore and threw a punch at the boy. “Chenchen has a father, a mother, a grandmother, and me, his uncle!”

Fu Yuanhang rarely got angry. Usually, if someone lightly pinched Chenchen’s face or rubbed his head without hurting him, Fu Yuanhang wouldn’t mind. But this time, Zhang Tiezhu had clearly crossed the line.

Zhang Tiezhu was stunned by Fu Yuanhang’s punch and, relying on his larger size, immediately lunged back at him. “Fu Yuanhang, you’re bold enough to hit me!”

But before he could touch Fu Yuanhang, Su Taotao grabbed his wrist and shoved him back forcefully.

“Let me make this clear,” Su Taotao said calmly, her voice even softer than usual, yet filled with an intimidating presence. “Who do you think you are? My father-in-law is a martyr, lying in the martyrs’ cemetery. During the Qingming Festival, when people pay respects to their ancestors’ graves, they also pay respects at his. If you even think about touching my son, I’ll make sure your whole family pays respects at my father-in-law’s grave.”

Su Taotao’s composed demeanor and fierce gaze left Zhang Tiezhu too frightened to move another inch.

Some of the older students now vaguely recalled that their elders might have mentioned how Fu Yuanhang was different from other fatherless children. His father had been a highly respected officer back in the day, and he was a martyr’s child. However, Fu Yuanhang had bad luck; his father died while his mother was still pregnant with him, so he never even got to see his father.

Because it had been so long, Zhou Linglan never brought it up, and gradually, everyone had forgotten about it. If not for Su Taotao bringing it up, no one would have remembered.

Su Taotao scanned the circle of children and continued, “Listen up, everyone. If I find out that anyone dares to bully our Yuanhang and Chenchen again, I will not let it slide. Understood?”

Zhang Tiezhu, who was a bully in school and loved to torment others because he was taller than the other kids, was taken aback. The kids he had bullied, along with those close to Fu Yuanhang, felt a surge of justice and shouted together, “Understood!”

The little ones who had previously bullied Fu Yuanhang or Chenchen all lowered their heads, not daring to meet Su Taotao’s gaze.

Satisfied, Su Taotao nodded and said, “You can all go now.” Without another glance at Zhang Tiezhu, she turned to Fu Yuanhang and said, “Yuanhang, take the wild vegetables with you. Let’s go home.”

With red eyes, Fu Yuanhang picked up the wild vegetables that had scattered on the ground and put them back into the basket.

On the way home, Su Taotao softly said to Fu Yuanhang, “Yuanhang, you didn’t do anything wrong just now. We don’t go looking for trouble, but we can’t be afraid of it either. If anyone ever dares to bully us like that again, we can’t just stay silent and endure it. But remember, Yuanhang, using force is the least favorable way to solve problems. Most of the time, it results in both sides getting hurt. Unless absolutely necessary or if we are sure of winning, we should never resort to force.

If it comes to the point where we have to fight, we must neutralize the opponent without endangering our own safety or taking lives. We need to make the other party fear and submit so they will be afraid to face you in the future, solving the problem once and for all. But Yuanhang, your physical strength is still lacking, so for now, we might end up at a disadvantage if we fight. If anything happens, come home and talk to me first. With your brother not around, our family doesn’t have a man to stand up for us. We can’t do anything reckless like biting off more than we can chew. Understood?”

Fu Yuanhang stared at her blankly and nodded slowly. In his entire life, this was the first time anyone had stood up for him and taught him how to conduct himself.

Fu Yuanhang was profoundly moved. Growing up, no one had ever told him these things, not even his brother. He had never met his father, and his brother wasn’t home much, so they didn’t spend much time together.

When he was younger, villagers would mention how unlucky he was to have never met his father, or even worse, that he had been cursed to have caused his father’s death. Despite being a proud martyr’s child, he never dared to bring it up himself.

This was the first time he had ever mentioned his father and felt a sense of pride.

It’s not that Zhou Linglan didn’t try to teach or protect him, but her personality and Su Taotao’s were entirely different, as were their ways of handling things. Zhou Linglan was too gentle, always apologizing first regardless of right or wrong. It could be called maintaining peace, but it was also sweeping issues under the rug, which contributed to his own timidity and weakness.

For example, when people used their toilet at home, even though both his mother and he disliked it, they endured it for years.

If it weren’t for his sister-in-law stepping in, they would have continued to endure it.

His sister-in-law was truly different. She was generous, confident, brave, and decisive, shining like the sun. Fu Yuanhang was certain that his sister-in-law was not the same as before.

For the first time, he felt lucky to have such a sister-in-law.

The child’s skin was too tender, and by the time they got home, Chenchen’s face had already swollen up.

The little one was still young, and the injury was near his mouth, so Su Taotao didn’t dare to apply medicinal wine, worried he might accidentally ingest it. Instead, she boiled an egg, waited for it to reach a comfortable temperature, and gently rolled it on his face, blowing on it as she did so.

“Chenchen, you’re so brave. Don’t be scared anymore. It won’t hurt for long,” she said softly.

After this, the little one completely let his guard down around her. His round, bright eyes occasionally stared at her, free from the previous confusion and helplessness, as if confirming again and again, ‘This is my mother.’

Su Taotao adored this obedient child and couldn’t help but kiss his uninjured cheek. “Chenchen, you’re so brave. Don’t be afraid anymore. Mom will always protect you from now on.”

Chenchen didn’t know what other children his age were like, but he could understand every word the adults said. He remembered many things and could tell from people’s eyes, tone, or attitude whether they were being kind or malicious.

He knew his mother used to prioritize herself over him. She took care of herself but didn’t take care of him. She kept good things for herself and didn’t share them with him. She ate his food without sharing hers and never took him to play or had the patience to talk to him. She only thought of herself and even forgot about him.

Chenchen knew that his grandmother and little uncle liked him, so whether his mother liked him or took care of him didn’t seem to matter. He just felt that his mother was different from other mothers.

It was only in the last two days that he felt his mother had become very nice and seemed to like him a lot. Although he didn’t know why, he could sense her goodness and affection.

Especially earlier, when Brother Zhang bullied him, his mother was very angry and forcefully defended him. Chenchen knew all of this.

“Mama…” Before Chenchen could stop himself, the word slipped out.

“Plop!” The egg in Su Taotao’s hand fell to the ground.

She stared at him with wide, excited eyes. “Chenchen, did you just call me ‘Mama’? Did you really call me ‘Mama’?”