Chapter 32: A Troublesome Little Brat

“Here, take this. It’s for An An and Lele, not for you. Why are you pushing so hard? Hurry up and keep it safe for our two grandsons.”

“Sister-in-law, An An and Lele didn’t do anything. How can you just take other people’s things for no reason?”

“Heh, didn’t do anything?”

“Yesterday, An An pointed at Jiajia’s belly and said ‘little brother.’ Didn’t you see it? I took Jiajia to see Doctor Wang. The doctor said she’s pregnant.”

“Jiajia was unsettled because of the trouble from the Wang family recently. If we hadn’t gone to see Doctor Wang in time yesterday, the pregnancy might not have lasted.”

After finishing, Zhou Guifen gave Wang Er a sharp look.

The latter scratched the back of his head, knowing he was at fault. Since they were splitting the family anyway, he just resolved to take good care of his own small family from now on.

“Oh wow, that’s serious. So now everything’s fine, right? Why aren’t you resting at home? Why come all the way here?”

“No problem. She’s been taking the pregnancy-preserving medicine Doctor Wang prescribed. She just needs to be careful recently, no big movements.”

“Mm, that’s right, definitely need to be careful. But I still can’t accept this stuff. An An just called for a little brother.”

“Lele was there too. Maybe he was the one being called? I can’t let An An take all the credit.”

“Hey, why isn’t it An An’s credit?” Then Zhou Guifen thought again.

“Fine, it’s hard to say whose credit it is. We’re not fighting over that. Just think of this as us coming to visit and bringing gifts for our two grandsons. You can’t have guests come empty-handed, right?”

“…”

Grandma Zhao knew there was no refusing the gift today, so she just nodded and decided to find a chance to return the favor another day.

“Alright, then I’ll accept this for An An and Lele.”

Zhou Guifen patted her sister-in-law’s hand: “That’s better.”

After delivering the gift, the group didn’t leave immediately. They played with the two children with Grandma Zhao for a while, only leaving around lunchtime.

—

At Si Yueyue’s place:

Carrying a large basket on her back, she slowly made her way to the Lin family home. Looking at the old-style tube-shaped apartment building she had finally reached, then at the stairwell, Si Yueyue swallowed hard.

At this moment, she really missed having an elevator. Although the Lin family lived on the second floor, after the long walk she had just taken, climbing the stairs was still very exhausting.

When Si Yueyue finally climbed the stairs and leaned against the corner, gasping for breath, Mother Lin and Lin Xuhui happened to be coming up from downstairs.

“Oh, Yueyue, why are you here? Why don’t you just go home?”

“Second Aunt!”

“Uh… Auntie, Xiao Hui, what a coincidence. I was just heading home.”

“Alright, then let’s go together. You’d have to wait a while otherwise.”

“Okay.”

The three of them chatted as they walked toward the room at the far end.

At the door, Mother Lin quickly took out her keys and opened it, letting the other two enter first. Since the weather was hot, the door was left wide open and didn’t need closing.

After Si Yueyue went inside, she began taking the supplies out of her basket piece by piece. Mother Lin and Lin Xuhui both stared with wide eyes.

This… this is way too much, isn’t it?

“Second Aunt, there’s so much meat.”

“All this was sent by Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma will cook meat for Xiao Hui later, okay?”

“Mm, Xiao Hui wants to eat meat, is that okay, Grandma?”

Mother Lin gently stroked her grandson’s head, looking at the table full of supplies, feeling at a loss.

“Yueyue, this is too much. How could your in-laws let you bring so many things? Aren’t you preparing to move in?”

“Auntie, actually it’s not much at all. Most of it didn’t cost anything, so please don’t worry. There’s still more at home.”

“How can that be ‘not much’?” Mother Lin pointed at the table filled with grains and meat, at a loss for words.

Actually, seeing Mother Lin’s reaction, Si Yueyue was quite pleased. She knew the Lin family was kindhearted, or else they wouldn’t send so many things every time.

“This cured rabbit meat was hunted by Eldest Uncle up in the mountains, the eggs are from the family’s chickens, the vegetables are grown in our small private field, and the grain was distributed by the brigade…”

“In short, Auntie, don’t worry. If our family didn’t have these, we wouldn’t be able to send them to you, right?”

Mother Lin looked at Si Yueyue and helplessly nodded: “Alright, then this time Auntie will accept it. You tell your in-laws next time not to bring so many things, got it?”

“Okay, I’ll tell my parents when I go back.” As for how much she’d bring next time, of course, that was up to her.

“Then rest here for a bit, watch Xiao Hui for Auntie. I’m going to cook now. Zhenzhen and the others will be back soon. We can’t let everyone go hungry.”

“All right, Auntie, go ahead. I’m here.”

After Mother Lin left to cook, Si Yueyue tidied up the books she had just brought, planning to give them to Eldest Sister-in-law when she returned.

Outside, the aroma of the cooking attracted the neighborhood children, who started crying loudly.

“Waa… I want to eat meat! Are these vegetables even food? I won’t eat them!”

“Grandma, I want meat! You have to buy meat for me…”

Some kids fussed and made a scene, while An An stayed quietly, neither crying nor making trouble.

On the third floor, one family was so troubled by the noise that they opened their window and shouted angrily down below.

“Whose family is this? How shameless! If you can’t share with others, then don’t cook such fragrant food, acting like you want everyone to know you’re making meat!”

“Look at how you’re making the kids drool. Next time I smell this, I’ll come up to your house and pour water on you—see how you’ll eat then…”

Si Yueyue stood up, ready to go outside and argue, but Mother Lin stopped her.

“No need to bother with this. Let her drool. It’s because her husband’s no good, we just ignore her. Kids are hard to deal with.”

Si Yueyue paused. Yeah, she really disliked women like that — so hard to deal with.

“Auntie’s right. They envy us. We have to live better so they’ll be jealous.”

“That’s right.”

“Auntie, why doesn’t the family rent a courtyard to live in? It would be more convenient. This tube-shaped building is bright, but everything requires lining up. It’s really inconvenient.”

“Oh, the factory-provided housing is free. How could we choose? Renting would cost a few bucks a month, not worth it.”

“But Xiao Huang and Xiao Hui are growing up. Won’t the house be too small eventually? If you have another daughter, there’ll be even less space.”

“Renting means more rooms, so when Xiao Huang and Xiao Hui grow up, they can have private space.”

“It’s not that simple. Xiao Huang and Xiao Hui are still small. Since the factory gives free housing, better to live here for now.”

“Auntie…”

While Si Yueyue and Mother Lin talked, several members of the Lin family returned.

Lei Zhenzhen looked at her sister-in-law outside with a smile: “Yueyue, why are you here today?”

“Well, An An and Lele’s first birthday is coming up soon, so I was thinking of going to town to buy some nice things, to properly celebrate the children’s birthdays.”

Lei Zhenzhen clapped her hands: “Yeah, the factory’s been busy lately, I almost forgot. I’ll go home to celebrate the boys’ birthday too.”

Si Yueyue smiled: “No need. It’s not a big deal, and you still have to work.”

“No problem. I can adjust my schedule. What, aren’t you welcoming me back?”

“Hah, of course! You’re the boys’ real aunt. If you don’t come back, An An and Lele would be upset for a while.”

“Hahaha… that’s right. My nephews are really close to me.”

“Alright, stop standing outside. Let’s go inside and eat first, we can talk more later.”

Lei Zhenzhen nodded and went inside with the rest of the family standing outside.

…

After dinner, Si Yueyue took out a set of high school textbooks from her basket and handed them to Lei Zhenzhen.

“Sis, today when I went to the Waste Recycling Station, I saw quite a few high school books. If you have time, review them every day.”

Lei Zhenzhen flipped through the books casually: “Oh, it’s been so long since I looked at these. Sis, I probably don’t remember much. Why did you think of getting high school books to read?”

“Ah, we worked so hard in high school for several years. After failing the university entrance exam, I don’t even know where the books went.”

“Today I happened to come across them, looked through a bit, and realized I forgot a lot. So I thought I’d pick up studying again. I can’t just let the knowledge I struggled to learn go to waste.”

“That’s true. I remember those days we worked from dawn to dusk just to learn more knowledge. Now it’s crazy that we forget everything we worked so hard for.”

“Exactly, sis. When we have time, we have to seriously review and start studying again. You should get brother-in-law to study with you too. Studying together is more motivating.”

“Okay, sis, I’ll take them. I’ll find time to look through them properly.”

“Mm, sis, you have to remember to study. I’ll come quiz you.”

“All right, sis, I definitely will. You can quiz me anytime.”