Chapter 10: A Mean-Spirited A-mu

Until the sun went down, the people who had been out for the day returned one after another. Cao A’shan, the a-die of the Cao family, and his eldest son, Cao Fugui, returned from working in the fields. Putting the hoe in his hand behind the door to store it, Cao’s a-die sat in the yard smoking his pipe. This was the moment of the day when he felt most relaxed.

The children who had been playing outside all day also returned, and the yard was filled with laughter and noise.

The aroma of cooked rice came from the kitchen. Qi Wanfeng stood in front of the stove, stir-frying vegetables. His a-mu, Chen Zhu, sat on a small, low stool, watching Qi Wanfeng work, doing nothing himself, just sitting there. Qi Wanfeng understood why his a-mu was sitting here: to watch him and make sure he didn’t secretly dish out vegetables for his husband and child to eat.

He had never thought of doing such a thing, let alone would he do it, but others didn’t trust him, and he wouldn’t say anything about it. No matter how unfair the treatment was in this family, from the moment he stepped into this household, Qi Wanfeng could only endure it.

The fire on the stove was simmering medicine. Because the smell of this simmering medicine was unpleasant, his a-mu had scolded him for a long time just now because of this matter. Qi Wanfeng didn’t say a word. When asked where the medicine came from, he only said that it was the leftover medicine dregs from the day before yesterday that he continued to simmer, not daring to say that it was newly purchased medicine.

This was two doses of medicine he had secretly gone to Doctor Sun’s to get today, taking a little time out. He would take it today, and there would be one more day to take it, and then he would have to spend money to buy it again. He had never thought of getting pregnancy-stabilizing medicine for himself. Doctor Sun had already prepared the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine and insisted on stuffing it into his hand, not even charging him for the medicine.

He had to be careful not to let a-mu know even if he spent his own money to get medicine. If it was discovered that he had a little money on him, his a-mu would definitely make him hand it over. Qi Wanfeng wouldn’t have thought of giving away his little money in the past, and now he couldn’t do it even more. This was his husband’s life.

But when he thought of the few copper coins he had left in his hand, a trace of sadness flashed in Qi Wanfeng’s eyes. When this little money was all spent, what would he do then?

Putting down the little worry in his heart, Qi Wanfeng believed that heaven never seals off all exits.

Today, he had a little more expectation than usual, because his husband said that he would treat him and the children well, and their days would get better. No matter how difficult things were at the moment, for the sake of his An’an and the unborn child in his belly, and his husband, he had to pull himself together.

Chen Zhu was picking on Qi Wanfeng, finding fault with everything he did, and muttering while sitting there. After scolding him for his husband’s need to see a doctor and take medicine, he began to scold him, saying that he couldn’t even cook a meal well, and he hadn’t finished cooking for so long, and everyone outside was waiting to eat.

Qi Wanfeng could only speed up his hands. He was also thinking about her husband and children in the room, wondering how they were doing inside. Today, a-die came back with a piece of meat, and he sliced it into thin slices and cooked it with Chinese cabbage. He wanted to scoop some soup for her husband later.

“Si Lang is awake?” When Cao A’shan heard that the fourth son was awake, he put down the pipe in his hand and got up to walk towards Si Lang’s small house. Cao Fugui followed behind him and said, “Yes, a-die. I also just heard A’li say that the fourth brother woke up today.”

The two entered the room. When An’an, who was in front of the bed, saw someone entering, he thought it was his a-mu coming. He looked up and found that it wasn’t his a-mu. When he saw that it was a-ye [grandfather] and eldest uncle who had come in, the movement of shrinking back paused, and he called out in a small voice, “A-ye, eldest uncle.”

“Good grandson.” When Cao A’shan saw the child guarding here, he walked closer and took a look. Seeing that the person was already asleep, he sighed and left the room without staying long.