Chapter 15: Being a Mother Requires Brainpower

After getting on the train, Zhao Yuan and Zhao Junhua had already put away the luggage and found seats.

They helped the two elders settle into the sleeper berths before Zhao Junhua left.

Su Jinyan wasn’t comfortable letting the two children travel alone. In this era, there were many swindlers, and Sun Shi had never left the village before. If they were tricked, none of them could bear the consequences.

Zhao Qi and Zhao Hua were riding a train for the first time and were curious about everything. Zhao Qi pulled her hand, pointing outside and constantly asking this and that, extremely happy. Zhao Hua also clung to the window, cooing and babbling.

Zhao Yuan, although his face was calm, was filled with worries and didn’t have the composure he displayed.

Zhao Hua was too young. After playing for half an hour, she started yawning sleepily, and Zhao Yuan held her and coaxed her to sleep.

The woman across from them, holding a two-year-old child, said with envy, “Young lady, your man is really good to you.” She then glanced sideways at the man beside her.

Look at other people’s men, so considerate of their wives!

The man glared back at her and grunted, “What are you looking at! Look at how fair and tender this young lady is, with her slender arms and legs. Holding a child, her arms can’t take it!”

“You old woman, you’ve already carried five or six kids, still acting delicate!”

Although the man said this, he still took the child from the woman’s arms.

Su Jinyan smiled. “Hehe, elder sister, brother-in-law is also considerate of you.”

Seeing her man take the child, the woman’s face softened into a smile. She shook her sore arm and changed the subject. “Where are you going, young lady?”

“Beijing.”

The woman raised her eyebrows, saying uncertainly, “Are you an educated youth?” Before Su Jinyan could answer, she looked at Zhao Yuan and continued, “Going back to Beijing with your man and child?”
Her voice couldn’t hide her surprise.

Many educated youths married in the countryside, but very few took their husbands/wives back to the city to meet their families.

Su Jinyan smiled. “My husband and I both passed the Beijing University entrance exams. This trip to Beijing is mainly for school.”

The woman looked at Zhao Yuan with surprise, but seeing that Su Jinyan didn’t want to say more, she wisely stopped asking.

The two chatted casually for a while. Zhao Qi suddenly shook Su Jinyan’s hand and whispered, “Mommy, do you think Grandma and Grandpa will like Qi Qi and sister?”

Su Jinyan looked down at Zhao Qi’s slightly nervous face, raised her hand to gently pinch his cheek. “Of course, Qi Qi and sister are so well-behaved and cute. Grandma and Grandpa will definitely like you.”

Hearing this, Zhao Qi grinned and patted his pocket. “Hmm, Qi Qi also likes Grandma and Grandpa. I even brought them fruit candies!”

Su Jinyan smiled and raised her eyebrows playfully. “Wow, Qi Qi even brought candy for Grandma and Grandpa. They will definitely be very happy.”

“However, Qi Qi must remember that Grandma and Grandpa like you regardless of whether you bring them fruit candy or not. Just like you like Mommy and Daddy. If Mommy and Daddy don’t give you fruit candy, would you stop liking us?”

Zhao Qi thought for a moment and nodded. “Mommy, I understand. But I like Grandma and Grandpa, and I want to give them fruit candy.”

“Hmm, Mommy thinks Grandma and Grandpa will definitely receive your little act of love.”
Being a mother for the first time, she was really not used to it, but she tried her best to praise gently, guide carefully, and give them affirmation and confidence so that they wouldn’t feel inferior.

This was also recalling the educational philosophy of her kindergarten teacher mother in her previous life.

The original owner had really treated the two siblings very ordinarily. The two children usually didn’t dare to get close to her unless she was happy and took the initiative to hug them. This had caused Zhao Qi to feel a bit inferior and even a little afraid of her at a young age.

In her previous life, her mother was gentle yet firm, intelligent and rational. Whether in the family or in her career, everyone praised her for being smart and capable, having filial children, a harmonious relationship with her in-laws, and being a rare clear-headed person.

Only now, when she truly used her mother’s educational methods, did she realize the importance of early family education.

Moreover, being a mother really required using one’s brain. Not everyone could do it well.

Zhao Yuan, sitting beside her, looked at the softly spoken Su Jinyan with confusion.

To be honest, he still couldn’t believe all of this was real. It felt like a dream.

Su Jinyan seemed to have become a different person overnight, but he had carefully confirmed that the person in front of him was undoubtedly Su Jinyan.

Breakfast had been late. By one-thirty in the afternoon, the train stopped at a station, and Su Jinyan went to the dining car to get food.

She took two aluminum lunch boxes and two white porcelain bowls to the dining car and bought two servings of rice, braised eggplant, and shredded potatoes with vinegar. On the way back, she found an empty doorway and took out six braised chicken legs and six marbled eggs wrapped in tin foil from her space.

The dining car didn’t have these. She could say she bought them on the platform outside.

Sure enough, when she reached her seat and unwrapped the large tin foil package, it instantly attracted the attention of the people around them.

First, the woman across from her couldn’t hold back. “Young lady, these chicken legs and eggs look good. How much are they? I’ll go buy some too.”

Su Jinyan was about to say she bought them on the platform when suddenly a thought flashed through her mind, and she felt a jolt of fear.

She had almost made a big mistake.

“Elder sister, you’re a step late. I saw there were only this left, so I bought them all.”

Now, small businesses hadn’t started yet. How could vendors be allowed to sell things on the platform?

Su Jinyan’s face remained calm, but in her heart, she warned herself again and again to be more careful.

She used chopsticks to put two chicken legs and two eggs into Zhao Zhenjun’s and Sun Shi’s bowls, gave them rice and braised eggplant, and asked Zhao Yuan to deliver the food.

The eggplant was made from dried eggplant, with a little bit of meat slices and potatoes mixed in. It looked good.

“Come back and get some hot water later to make milk powder for Xiao Hua.”

She put the kettle on the table, rewrapped the chicken legs and eggs in tin foil, and then took the sleeping Zhao Hua from Zhao Yuan’s arms and held her.

After Zhao Yuan left with the food boxes, the woman across from her sighed. “Young lady, your man is really cold. Doesn’t talk much usually, does he?”

Su Jinyan smiled. “It’s alright.”

The woman across from her smiled knowingly. He looked good and was considerate of his wife, but being with a silent person day after day must be so boring.

Then she looked at the things in the tin foil and whispered, “Young lady, can I exchange some money for a chicken leg and an egg? I see your daughter is still young and can’t eat these things yet.”

Su Jinyan looked at the child in the man’s arms, whose eyes were filled with longing but hadn’t made a fuss at all from the beginning. She smiled slightly, blinked her dark eyes, and whispered, “Meeting is fate, elder sister. Please take out your lunch box, and I’ll share a chicken leg and an egg with your baby.”

For her, well-behaved and sensible children were still very attractive.

Moreover, in this era, an egg cost five cents, and a chicken was only two or three yuan. How much could a chicken leg cost? She couldn’t possibly accept money.

“Oh, no, that won’t do!”

“It’s alright. I feel a connection with this child. Hurry up, or it won’t taste good when it’s cold.”

The woman paused, quickly took out a package from under her seat, opened it, took out a lunch bowl, and handed it to Su Jinyan.

Holding Zhao Hua in one arm, Su Jinyan opened the tin foil with the other, picked out a chicken leg and a marbled egg, and also scooped out two chopsticks full of rice and a chopstick full of shredded potatoes.

“Elder sister, brother-in-law, hurry up and let the child eat. Look, those little eyes are glued to the chicken leg.”

The man handed the child to the woman and secretly pressed a one-yuan bill under the lunch bowl. “Young lady, take this. These are rare things; we can’t eat them for free.”

The woman also nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes.”

Looking at the insistence in the man’s eyes, as if he wouldn’t let the child eat if she didn’t accept the money, Su Jinyan nodded. “Alright.”

Only then did the man smile and nod.

She waited a few more minutes before Zhao Yuan returned. She woke Zhao Qi up. Seeing the big chicken leg, Zhao Qi was about to shout excitedly but was silenced by Su Jinyan covering his mouth.

“Baby, in public places, you can’t speak loudly. It’s easy to disturb others.”

Zhao Qi nodded, blinking his eyes, and asked, “Mommy, what is a public place?”

“It’s a place with many people, a place where everyone can be, like restaurants, streets, and the train we’re on now. These are all called public places.”