Chapter 34

Chen Qiang’s house was not far away.

Shen Yiyi led the Three Baos out of their home, turned a corner, and went up a small slope before arriving.  

It was a small house with three mud-brick rooms, surrounded by a fence that enclosed a tiny courtyard. Though it looked somewhat impoverished, it was tidy and well-kept.  

The main gate was closed, but the hall door inside was open.  

Just as Shen Yiyi was about to call out, Er Bao shouted loudly: “Wangcai! Wangcai!”  

Da Bao and Xiao Bao joined in, calling out along with him.  

Soon, a small head peeked out from inside the house, and a child ran out quickly, opening the gate. “Da Bao, Er Bao, Xiao Bao, why are you here?”  

“We brought you candy!” Er Bao said excitedly, raising the White Rabbit Creamy Candy in his hand and stuffing it into Wangcai’s arms with a proud expression. “My Mom gave it to you.”  

“Really?” Wangcai’s eyes lit up as he looked expectantly at Shen Yiyi.  

Shen Yiyi smiled slightly. “Yes, take it and eat.”  

“Wangcai, how can you just take things from others?”  

As soon as the words fell, a gentle voice sounded. Shen Yiyi looked over and saw a woman walking toward them. She was extremely thin, but her belly was abnormally large.  

The sight made Shen Yiyi a little uneasy, afraid that her frail limbs might not be able to support her swollen stomach.  

However, it seemed she had worried too much. Though the woman’s body appeared unbalanced, she moved with surprising agility. She walked over, took the White Rabbit Creamy Candy from Wangcai’s hands, and stuffed it back into Er Bao’s.  

“Er Bao, take this back and eat it yourself.” she said.  

Er Bao looked at his Mom.  

The others also followed his gaze toward Shen Yiyi, including the woman.

As soon as the woman saw her, she looked surprised. “Sister-in-law? What brings you here?”  

Shen Yiyi: “…” She hesitated, unsure how to address her.  

This woman was Chen Qiang’s wife, named Lin Daniu.  

Logically, since both Chen Qiang and his wife called her “Big Sister-in-law.” she should address Lin Daniu as “younger sister-in-law.”  

But she was 25 years old, while Lin Daniu was already 32—five years older than Chen Qiang. Calling her “younger sister-in-law” felt too awkward to say out loud.  

As for why Lin Daniu, who was so much older than Chen Qiang, became his wife—there was a bit of a story behind that.  

Chen Qiang was the only son of his Dad’s branch of the Chen family. However, his Dad had passed away when he was very young, leaving his Mom to earn labor points alone to support him. She had struggled to raise him, and just when he had finally grown up, misfortune struck.  

Last year, while working in the fields, his Mom accidentally fell and injured both her leg and spine, leaving her bedridden and unable to care for herself.  

Chen Qiang then thought of marrying a wife to take care of his ailing Mom. But everyone knew the state of his family’s situation, and his intentions for marriage were too obvious. Which family would be willing to send their daughter into a life of hardship?  

Even though Chen Qiang was willing to offer a bride price of 200 yuan, no one dared to marry their daughter to him.  

Lin Daniu, on the other hand, was from the neighboring Linjia Village. Her parents had passed away early, leaving her as the eldest daughter. In order to raise her younger siblings, she remained unmarried until she was 25. When she finally did marry, it was to a widower who had lost his wife and already had two sons from his previous marriage.  

Not long after her marriage, she became pregnant. A few years after giving birth to her son, Wangcai, misfortune struck again—her husband had a fatal accident.  

The two stepson then claimed that she and Wangcai were bad luck, saying they had cursed their Dad to death. They drove both of them out of the house.  

With nowhere else to go, she returned to her maternal home. But to her shock, the younger siblings she had painstakingly raised now also rejected her and Wangcai, refusing to let them stay.

With nowhere to go and not a single coin to her name, Lin Daniu happened to hear that Chen Qiang from the neighboring Qingshui Village was looking for a wife. Without hesitation, she took her son and traveled overnight to find him.  

She told him that she didn’t want a bride price—her only condition was that if he was willing to accept Wangcai as his own, she would marry him and take care of his Mom.  

And so, the two quickly reached an agreement and got married.  

Lin Daniu noticed Shen Yiyi’s hesitation and quickly said: “Sister-in-law, just call me Daniu, or Wangcai’s Mom—everyone else does.”  

“Daniu.” Shen Yiyi smiled: “?You can call me Yiyi.”  

“Alright.” Lin Daniu smiled somewhat awkwardly.  

She hadn’t been married to Chen Qiang for long and had only met Shen Yiyi a few times. They had never interacted much, but from what she had heard from Chen Qiang and the villagers, this Shen Yiyi was known to be a spoiled and arrogant woman.  

Although, looking at her now, she didn’t seem that way at all.  

Shen Yiyi couldn’t help but wonder—did she look too fierce or something?  

To avoid scaring the woman, she tried to smile as kindly as possible.  

Sure enough, seeing her warm smile, Lin Daniu visibly relaxed and extended an invitation. “Come inside and sit for a while. Are you here to see Comrade Qiang? He’s not home—he’s gone to work.”  

“I came to see you.” Shen Yiyi said as she followed her inside. “I heard that your needlework is excellent, so I wanted to learn a thing or two from you.”  

Lin Daniu was well known for her exceptional sewing skills. Since she had asked for no bride price, Chen Qiang had bought her a sewing machine as compensation. Because of that, the Chen family had become one of the few households in Qingshui Village to own a sewing machine.

Lin Daniu understood now. She glanced at the pack of White Rabbit Creamy Candy that Er Bao had once again stuffed into Wangcai’s arms and said: “There’s no need to bring such expensive things. You’re being too polite.”  

“There’s also a pound of brown sugar.” Shen Yiyi said, handing the package in her hands to Lin Daniu. “And it’s not just because of this. Before, I didn’t pay much attention to the Three Baos, and you’ve been helping take care of them. I wanted to thank you.”  

“We haven’t really taken care of them that much.” Lin Daniu said, a little embarrassed. In truth, she hadn’t done much—only occasionally inviting them over for a bowl of porridge when Li Chen was too busy to watch over them.  

She tried to return the gifts. “You should take these back. Brother Chen often helps out my Qiang too. Even the industrial sewing thread for our sewing machine was something Brother Chen got for us. If you ever need to use the machine, just take it.”  

“My Brother Chen is the way he is—who knows who’s really helping who? And you paid for the sewing machine yourselves.” Shen Yiyi replied with a polite smile. “No matter what, you should still accept these things. It’s just a small gesture—unless, of course, you don’t want to teach me.”  

She then glanced at Lin Daniu’s prominently swollen belly. “Besides, you’re due soon, aren’t you? And winter’s coming. You can use this brown sugar to warm yourself up.”  

That last comment seemed to touch Lin Daniu. After a moment of hesitation, she finally accepted the gifts. “Thank you so much.”  

Wangcai immediately brightened with joy.  

Shen Yiyi sent Da Bao, Er Bao, and Wangcai outside to play. Xiao Bao, however, stubbornly insisted on staying. With no other choice, Shen Yiyi allowed him to go but reminded Da Bao and Er Bao: “Make sure to keep an eye on your little brother.”  

Lin Daniu gave her a surprised look but said nothing. Instead, she changed the topic. “Are you planning to make clothes for the Three Baos?”  

“No, I want to make some for my Brother Chen.” Shen Yiyi said as she sorted through fabric and thread. She didn’t even look up as she spoke and completely missed the utterly shocked expression on Lin Daniu’s face.