Chapter 27: New Year

“Hey, you…” Zhao Hui angrily said, “You ungrateful wolf! We raised you all these years. If I had known you’d be so heartless, I never would have agreed to let you live here back then.”

“Yeah, exactly! Why didn’t you stop her at the time?” someone else chimed in.

Feng Mian looked at her with a faint, almost mocking smile.

Back then, she was unhappy too, but unfortunately, her grandfather was still spry and energetic, and both grandparents were young. She had no say in the household because her grandfather was the head of the family.

Once she gained some say, the first thing she did was to kick out the original owner.

Who did she think she was?

Zhao Hui was furious. “Is this how you talk to me? Feng Xinliang, Feng Xinliang—where the hell have you gone? Come see how your useless niece is treating me!”

Her uncle Feng Xinliang hurried in from the backyard.

“What’s going on?”

“Feng Mian is here! Come sit down quickly.”

Feng Mian smiled, “Uncle, I won’t sit. I brought a bowl of braised pork belly for Grandpa and Grandma.”

“Well, sit a bit then. Mom is pushing Dad out for a walk and will be back soon.”

Feng Mian glanced at Zhao Hui, “No thanks, I have things to do, so I’ll be going now.”

As soon as Feng Mian left, Zhao Hui started cursing nonstop.

“It’s all your fault, you good-for-nothing! I said back then not to take her in, but you wouldn’t listen. Your dead sister left her plenty of money, but she hid it tightly and didn’t reveal a single bit. We raised her for so many years with nothing in return.”

Feng Xinliang quietly said, “She was still young back then; what else could we do if we didn’t take care of her? Feng Mian works hard and does a lot herself. Besides, my parents worked hard every day. You could say they supported her.”

“So you mean, when they were healthy, they raised their granddaughter, but when they got sick, it’s my job to take care of her?”

“Children are supposed to take care of their parents in old age. Feng Mian is filial—she brought chicken soup yesterday and pork belly today. She’s more filial than us.”

Zhao Hui was so angry she couldn’t help grabbing his ear and scolding him.

Yesterday, her eldest daughter had gone to Gujia Village and found out some things.

Feng Mian had promised Gujia she’d buy a car and watch for herself, plus food ration tickets and cloth coupons—she was flaunting wealth like a kite marrying a man.

So much money, yet she’d been eating and drinking at their expense for years. That sting was hard for her to swallow.

…

On New Year’s Eve, Feng Mian always spent the New Year at her grandparents’ house.

This year was no different. Zhang Shi had told Feng Mian early on to come over early for the reunion dinner so the whole family could celebrate together.

Actually, Feng Mian didn’t mind whether or not she went to their New Year’s, but the elderly liked to have the family reunited on the holiday.

Thinking about how her aunt-in-law probably wouldn’t be pleasant, Feng Mian planned to endure it—for the sake of the elders’ happiness.

After all, it was just one day, just this one year.

Next year, when Gu Yuelin came to her house, she wouldn’t go to theirs anymore.

On the 28th day of the lunar month, Feng Mian got up early to stroll around the county town, then came back and ordered fresh ingredients online.

She stewed a pot of seaweed with pork ribs, prepared a whole fish for roasting—it was her specialty and one she loved to eat herself.

She also made a pot of braised beef and a dry pot of hairy crabs.

Actually, there wasn’t much meat—mostly radishes—and the crabs were about the same as those caught from the river to feed the ducks.

She prepared several main dishes at home, put them in her backpack, and tightly secured them before heading over.

“Grandma, I’m here! What are you busy with?”

Zhang Shi was picking vegetables in the garden by the door. Hearing Feng Mian’s voice, she quickly wiped her hands on her apron and came over.

“What’s in your basket? Oh, that looks heavy.”

Feng Mian said, “I made some dishes and brought them over.”

In the main room, she laid out the dishes one by one. Everyone’s eyes lit up, and they couldn’t help but swallow.

After all, for most families in the village, eating dumplings with meat filling during the New Year was a luxury; eating meat and fish was something only the wealthiest few could manage.

But Feng Mian had prepared plenty of fish and meat.

“Cousin, have you made your fortune?” Feng Zheng, her older cousin, swallowed his saliva and said.

Feng Mian smiled and said, “I’m getting married soon, so I won’t be coming here for New Year’s anymore. That’s why I prepared a few extra dishes—one, to show filial respect to Grandpa and Grandma, and two, to thank you all for taking care of me these past few years.”

Zhang Shi felt a pang in her heart, but Feng Mian was starting her own family now and would have her own people to celebrate with in the future, so she was happy for her.

Feng Mian spoke kindly and looked good doing it, leaving Zhao Hui, who had been holding back anger and trying to find fault, speechless.

Staring at the fish and meat Feng Mian brought, her gaze shifted to the crab. Her eyes lit up as she sneered, “Isn’t that crab? The same ones you feed to the ducks, and now you bring them here for us to eat? Do you think we’re ducks?”

Feng Mian gave her a cool glance, “You don’t have to eat it.”

“Hah! It’s all shell. What’s good about that? Even if you treated me, I wouldn’t eat it.”

She wanted ribs, she wanted beef—who would eat this crab?

“Feng Mian, don’t listen to her. Go play with Xiao Jing and the others. Xiao Mei’s been sick all along. You might as well check on her,” Zhang Shi said.

Play? Xiao Jing was still busy knitting a scarf for Feng Xiao Mei.

Feng Xiao Mei said she wasn’t feeling well, but really, she was pregnant.

To make it look believable, Zhao Hui even gave her medicine.

Actually, it was medicine to stabilize the pregnancy.

Zhang Shi saw she looked weak and was indeed taking medicine, so she didn’t think much of it.

“It’s been so long, and you’re still knitting? How long does it have to be?”

Xiao Jing looked at Feng Xiao Mei lying on the bed.

Feng Xiao Mei said, “Brother-in-law’s neck is thick—at least 1.8 meters, better if it’s two meters.”

Feng Mian thought of Old Gu’s round, fat figure—where was the neck? She hadn’t seen it.

She pictured the scarf slipping right over the chin and thought, yeah, it probably does need to be longer.

“Cousin, come play with me when you’re done,” Xiao Jing said.

Xiao Jing rubbed her shoulders and sighed, “When would I have time to play? When I finish helping my sister, I have to open the store again.”

Poor thing, that seemed to be the case.

“I’ll help you massage your shoulders.”

Feng Mian stood behind Feng Xiao Mei and massaged her. Since she often worked with her head down, the massage felt especially good.

“How’s that? Comfortable?”

A faint smile finally appeared on Xiao Jing’s gloomy face.

“Comfortable. This side—harder.”

“Hehe, then bear with it.”

Feng Mian pressed harder, making Xiao Jing yelp in pain.

Xiao Jing thought Feng Mian was doing it on purpose and turned to playfully fight back.

They laughed and joked nonstop.

Feng Xiao Mei on the bed looked pale and angry.

The three of them grew up together, but only the other two were close, always excluding her.

Xiao Jing was her real sister—why was she so close to a cousin?

“Enough! If you want to fight, then fight!” Feng Xiao Mei slammed the table angrily.

Feng Mian was deliberately teasing her and was delighted to see Feng Xiao Mei so upset.

She tugged on Xiao Jing’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go out—don’t disturb our cousin while she’s ‘resting.’”

She emphasized “resting” in a teasing tone.

Feng Xiao Mei angrily threw pillows at them.

Feng Mian and Xiao Jing quickly left the room.

Because the noise was loud, Zhao Hui had already heard the commotion and would soon arrive at the scene.

Based on past experience, if they upset Feng Xiao Mei, Zhao Hui would scold them harshly.

Feng Mian had already left their house, so she wasn’t afraid, but Xiao Jing was scared of getting yelled at.