Chapter 8

“No, they haven’t,” Lin Haiwen, the eldest grandson of the Lin family, replied. He was ten years old this year and the eldest son of Lin Guofeng, the eldest brother of the Lin family.

He was currently in elementary school. Since it was already September and school had started, Lin Haiwen also didn’t know where the three brothers had gone.

Lin Guofeng, as the eldest of the Lin family, had three sons and two daughters with Qian Aifen. It must be said that even in this era, Zhang Qinfang was also considered a fertile woman.

Apart from Lin Haiwen, who was ten years old this year, Lin Guofeng also had a daughter and two sons.

His daughter, Lin Qingmei, was thirteen years old, followed by his eight-year-old son, Lin Haiwu, and his five-year-old son, Lin Haicai.

Compared to the fertile Qian Aifen, Lin’s second son, Lin Guoliang, and Zhang Qinfang were equally impressive.

However, they had three daughters and one son. The daughters were Lin Qinglan, twelve years old, Lin Qingzhu, eleven years old, and Lin Qingju, nine years old. Finally, there was Zhang Qinfang’s beloved son, Lin Haiquan, who was seven years old this year.

The Lin family’s sons were named after literary and martial talents, while the daughters were named after plants and flowers.

“They must have lost track of time while playing somewhere,” Lin’s mother said. “Haiwen, gather everyone and go look for them.”

“My feet hurt today; I’ve got blisters on the soles of my feet, so I won’t go look,” Zhang Qinfang said impatiently.

She didn’t want to go look; she was exhausted from work. Why should she go look for people? They owed her!

“I’ll go look with you,” Qian Aifen said, wiping her hands. She was tired from work too, but the three boys were still young.

If something happened to them, she would worry. Although her sister-in-law was unreasonable, there wasn’t much conflict between them.

Even if she didn’t give her sister-in-law face, the children were still her nephews and nieces, also part of the Lin family.

“They’ve come back home,” five-year-old Lin Haicai spoke up as he sat on the doorstep, nibbling on steamed sweet potatoes.

He spoke slowly. “Aunt Third came back and gave them fruit to eat, so they went home.”

At that time, Lin Haiquan was also present at the place where they played “hawk catching chicks,” and he also saw Aunt Three come back.

However, he was afraid of Aunt Three, so he didn’t approach her. Ning Shu didn’t even recognize her own son properly, let alone a nephew she rarely saw throughout the year, so naturally, she didn’t notice him either.

“Fruit? What fruit?” Zhang Qinfang hurriedly asked. “These Third Sister-in-law brought good things from her family and didn’t even think to share them with our parents.”

Everyone knew that Ning Shu had gone back to her mother’s house. If she had just returned from there and brought fruit for the three boys to eat, it must be fruits. Fruits were definitely a good thing.

The original owner cared about her reputation and never mentioned her falling out with her family after going to the countryside.

At the same time, this was also a form of self-protection. This time, the original owner went back to her mother’s house because she received news that her mother was ill.

That’s why Zhang Qinfang said those words.

“Third Daughter-in-law is back?” Lin’s mother was also surprised. “You all go ahead and eat. I’ll go see.”

Zhang Qinfang’s eyes lit up. “I wonder how Third Sister-in-law’s mother is doing. As her sister-in-law, I should also go and show some concern.” With that, Zhang Qinfang followed suit.

Qian Aifen rolled her eyes. Could Zhang Qinfang really care about Third Sister-in-law’s mother? Perhaps she saw that Third Sister-in-law had returned from the big city and wanted to see what she had brought and if she could take advantage of it.

But didn’t she ever think that even if Third Sister-in-law brought something, could she really benefit from it? They had been sisters-in-law for five years, and Third Sister-in-law never shared anything.

Didn’t Zhang Qinfang understand that?

However, it was indeed necessary to go and see. After all, they were sisters-in-law, and they didn’t know how Third Sister-in-law’s mother was doing.

They had to go and offer some consolation. At least they couldn’t lose face. Thinking this, Qian Aifen also followed.

Lin’s mother was running ahead. She knew what kind of person Third Sister-in-law was.

She was always anxious about everything, unwilling to suffer any losses, even her son had to take a back seat.

Speaking harshly, she was selfish; speaking nicely, she was broad-minded. Her only advantage was that she didn’t cause trouble and didn’t gossip about others.

It was also because of this that Lin’s mother could tolerate her. Being selfish was fine; it was better if she didn’t cause trouble for her son.

lin Mother ran for two minutes and reached the youngest son’s house.

When the foundations were being laid, she wanted it closer so she could take care of her grandchildren, but the Third Daughter-in-law didn’t agree.

They were guarding against them like autumn wind guards against cold, insisting on a location further away for the foundation.

Later, when they couldn’t reach a compromise, she said that if it was closer, she could take care of her grandchildren. Finally, they compromised, choosing a location behind their old house, with several households in between.

Also, because it was behind their old house, they couldn’t see the Third Daughter-in-law’s house if they didn’t go further back.

Seeing smoke coming from the chimney of the Third Daughter-in-law’s house, Lin’s mother thought that she might be cooking. As she walked into the yard, she shouted, “Third Daughter-in-law, are you there?” While shouting, Lin’s mother glanced around the yard.

If there was one good thing about the Third Daughter-in-law’s family, it was that even if she was lazy, their house was always neat and clean. Probably because city folks tended to keep things clean.

However, today she saw a bucket under the eaves, and there was even a large wooden tub nearby, with a bedsheet spread next to it. What was going on?

In the kitchen, the family of four was eating wontons. Yi Bao and Er Bao were eating very carefully, because it was hot and delicious, so they took small bites, treasuring each one.

When they heard the call from outside, Yi Bao and Er Bao spoke first.

“It’s Grandma… Grandma… My mother is here.” Yi Bao responded loudly.

“Grandma, we’re eating meat, it’s so delicious, my tongue is almost melting.” Er Bao also exclaimed loudly, making it sound like he was bragging to someone who didn’t know.

“Mother, I’m here,” Ning Shu didn’t expect to encounter Lin’s mother so soon, feeling a little nervous in her heart.

It wasn’t because she was afraid of being found out. In her situation, unless the other party had bizarre thoughts, they wouldn’t be able to see any clues. But people always had a few points of humility.

Eating meat?

Lin’s mother walked quickly into the kitchen. Then she almost suspected that she had walked into the wrong house.

She saw Yi Bao and Er Bao eating, and there were still several wontons in their bowls, probably five or six. The Third Daughter-in-law usually only gave her children a small piece of meat, but today she was so generous?

What made people even more surprised was that she was still holding the third son and feeding them? What’s going on here?

Since Ning Shu entered from Mrs. Lin, she had been observing her.

Seeing the undisguised surprise in her eyes, she organized her thoughts and said, “Mother, what brings you here?” She spoke in the tone and attitude of the original owner.

In the Lin family, the original owner was still relatively polite to Mrs. Lin and Mr. Lin. After all, they were Lin Guodong’s parents, and she knew how to behave.

Mrs. Lin put away her surprise and said, “Since it’s lunchtime and I haven’t seen the three grandson, I heard from Hai that you came back today, so I came over to see how you’re doing. Is your mother alright? Is she in good health?”

Ning Shu’s head injury had recovered quite well. The bandage had been removed when she went to the hospital here for a follow-up after getting off the train, so Mrs. Lin didn’t know about her head injury.

“I just came back and made some food. I haven’t had time to go over to the old house to say hello. My mother is fine, just resting at home.” Ning Shu thought for a moment, then got up again. She put the third son on the ground and let him hold onto the stool. She said to the eldest son, “, Yibao can you help support your little brother?”

The Yi bao quickly put down his spoon and chopsticks, got off the stool, and then supported his younger brother.

“Mother?” he asked in confusion, but he only dared to say one word, not daring to ask more.

Mrs. Lin also didn’t understand, but seeing the whole San family of four having lunch together and hearing the daughter-in-law say that everything was fine, she said, “Then I’ll leave you to your meal.” With that, she turned around to leave.

“Mother, wait a moment.” Ning Shu had already opened the hemp bag she brought with her.

“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Lin turned back, only to see her take out two bright red apples from the hemp bag on the ground. The apples were not big, but very red, making people’s mouths water.

Then she took out two zongzi from another hemp bag. They looked like zongzi, but they were only as big as her fist. How could zongzi be wrapped so small?

Ning Shu handed two apples and two meat zongzi to Mrs. Lin, saying, “Mother, these are from my family. Please try them with father.”

“This… this…” Mrs. Lin wasn’t surprised, but rather felt flustered and dared not accept them.

Was this daughter-in-law suddenly being so generous a prelude to something else waiting for her? Like her mother being sick and needing money? The more Mrs. Lin thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

If her mother-in-law was sick, it would be understandable to borrow money, but could she get it back after lending it out?

Mrs. Lin had some money hidden away. Since the family split up, all the money her third son used to send had been used to build three small tile-roofed houses. Later, she also gave his wife 30 yuan each month, but whenever her son came back home, he would secretly slip her 100 yuan. As a mother, how could she not understand her son’s intentions? She knew she couldn’t rely on her daughter-in-law, so her son hoped she would take better care of her grandchildren.

Even if her son didn’t give her money, she would still take care of them. But she still took the money, a total of 200 yuan twice, thinking she would use it when her son needed it.

So now, her son’s mother-in-law was sick and needed to borrow money. Wasn’t this a time of need?

While Mrs. Lin was lost in her thoughts, Ning Shu had already stuffed two apples and two small meat zongzi into her hands. Then, in a somewhat impatient tone, she said, “Mother, I’m not disrespecting you and father. These apples and meat zongzi are precious items, and I’m willing to share them with you. Also, I haven’t deprived the children of meat. The three children ate 25 dumplings today, which adds up to about two liang of meat. So please don’t tell the children to complain to Guodong when he comes back, asking him to divorce me. In this world, there’s only advice to reconcile, not advice to divorce parents because of children.”

“What?” Mrs. Lin hadn’t snapped out of her own imagination yet. She went through Ning Shu’s words in her mind and then realized.

So, the reason her daughter-in-law gave meat to the children today and gave her apples and zongzi wasn’t because her mother-in-law was sick and needed money, but because she was afraid Guodong would divorce her when he came back.

Mrs. Lin breathed a sigh of relief… Wait a minute, what did she mean by telling the children to complain to Guodong and make him divorce her? This was a false accusation.

Mrs. Lin hurriedly said, “Daughter-in-law, who told you this? I never said such things to the children. Even if you’re lazy and neglect the children, I still know that a stepmother can never compare to a biological mother. In these years, Guodong has only come back twice. If I had wanted the children to say such things, why would I wait until today? You must speak with honesty.”