Chapter 48: Planning to Adopt Jianguo

Zhang Jianguo said, “Grandma, I want Uncle to be my dad and Auntie to be my mom. A person can only have one mother, so that woman outside won’t be my mom anymore.”

Li Yurong was deeply moved. She hugged Zhang Jianguo and kept calling him “my good boy” and “my dear grandson.”

Lin Bingwei, on the other hand, was considering another possibility.

The adoption process wasn’t as strict now as it would be in the future. In poor families, it was common for daughters to be sent to relatives or even abandoned.

To adopt a child, all they needed was a certification from the village proving that the child’s father had died and that his mother had abandoned him and fled after stealing money. They didn’t even need Zhou Shufen’s consent—just take the certification to the town government, and the process would be done.

She and Zhang Tingyuan could actually adopt Zhang Jianguo. That way, even if Zhou Shufen tried to use Jianguo to fight for custody in the future, they wouldn’t have to worry.

More importantly, this would also prevent her from coming back when she was old and trying to force Jianguo to support her.

It was a win-win situation.

Thinking of this, Lin Bingwei said to Li Yurong, “Mom, how about Tingyuan and I adopt Jianguo?”

Li Yurong was taken aback. “Adopt?”

“Yes. Didn’t Jianguo just say he wants me to be his mother and Tingyuan to be his father? Why not make it official?”

“Is that even possible?”

“Why not? You can take two bottles of good liquor to the village chief and ask him to issue a certification stating that Zhou Shufen ran off after stealing money when Jianguo was only three months old and abandoned him.”

Li Yurong hesitated. “If she had never returned, it wouldn’t be a problem. But now that she’s back, won’t this cause trouble?”

Lin Bingwei didn’t know what to say. After a moment, she replied, “Up to you, Mom. I just think she’s already troublesome enough as it is.”

Her mother-in-law was a rule-abiding person who always worried about following the law.

But in reality, how many people actually followed all the rules?

You had to reason with reasonable people.

But trying to reason with scoundrels and troublemakers? That was a different story.

And Zhou Shufen was clearly the unreasonable type.

Even though Li Yurong expressed her concerns, she couldn’t ignore the fact that her grandson had asked for his aunt to be his mother. Her heart softened.

That night, she took two bottles of good liquor and a hen and quietly went to the village chief’s house under the cover of darkness.

She came bearing gifts, and the village chief immediately knew she had a favor to ask—probably not an easy one.

She hesitated for a long time, speaking in circles without getting to the point, making the village chief even more wary of accepting her gifts.

“Sister-in-law, just say what you need. What’s this about?”

Only then did Li Yurong explain, “It’s like this—my little grandson wants to recognize my youngest son and his wife as his parents. So I was wondering if my son and daughter-in-law could adopt Jianguo, so he won’t call them Uncle and Aunt anymore but Dad and Mom instead.”

The village chief was a little surprised. “Wow, your family really treats this child well. But isn’t this unnecessary? Even if he calls them Uncle and Aunt, your son and daughter-in-law won’t mistreat him.”

“I thought the same, but my daughter-in-law is worried that Zhou Shufen might come back and fight for custody. She’s also concerned that Zhou Shufen might shamelessly rely on Jianguo to take care of her when she’s old.”

Most people didn’t think that far ahead, so the village chief laughed and said, “Your Weiwei really thinks long-term! Already planning for things decades down the road. If you put it that way, adoption might be a good idea. But Zhou Shufen might not agree.”

“She doesn’t need to agree. Just issue a certification stating that Jianguo’s father has passed away and his mother abandoned him when he was three months old. That way, he qualifies as an abandoned child and can be adopted.”

“That’s doable, but Zhou Shufen is back now. What if she refuses and reports it?”

“I’ve thought about that too. She’s only been back for three days. You can date the certification a little earlier, before she returned. And right now, it’s the busy farming season, so of course, I’d only find time to handle this later.”

As she spoke, she pushed the liquor bottles forward. “This liquor was a gift from one of Tingyuan’s friends. It’s top-quality from a big city. Try it.”

The village chief liked the liquor and the hen she had brought. After thinking it over, he smiled and agreed. “Alright, I’ll issue the certification.”

He backdated it by half a month.

And half a month ago, Zhou Shufen hadn’t returned yet.

Back when she stole money and abandoned her child, the entire village knew about it, so there was nothing wrong with issuing it this way.

When Li Yurong returned home with the certification, she excitedly showed it to Lin Bingwei. “Weiwei, it’s done! Look, the village chief even backdated it by half a month.”

Lin Bingwei was thrilled. “That’s perfect. With the date pushed back, even if Zhou Shufen makes a fuss, the village chief won’t get involved.”

“Exactly. We can’t drag others into our family matters.”

“By the way, did anyone see you?”

Li Yurong chuckled. “Don’t worry, no one did. Tomorrow is market day in town. Let’s go early and get this settled before anything changes.”

“Alright.”

“What about Jianguo? Is he asleep?”

“Yes, he just fell asleep.”

“Then you should get some rest too. We’ll wake up early tomorrow and the three of us will go to town and have some zhajiangmian.”

“Sounds good.”

Neither of them mentioned Zhang Tingyuan.

It was as if their nephew suddenly becoming his son had nothing to do with him. His mother and wife had already decided, so there was no need for his input.

At around ten, Zhang Yuanxiu came home, and Li Yurong told him about it.

He was so shocked he couldn’t close his mouth for a while.

“Finding Jianguo a proper father and mother is definitely a good thing. But are Weiwei and Tingyuan really okay with this?”

Li Yurong laughed. “Weiwei suggested it herself. As for Tingyuan… well, if you, I, and Weiwei all agree, what can he do about it?”

Zhang Yuanxiu: “…”

“What about Jianguo? Did you ask him?”

“Oh, it was Jianguo who brought it up first! He said he doesn’t want that woman as his mother and wants to recognize his uncle and aunt as his parents. When I heard that, I cried on the spot. Weiwei probably felt bad for the child, which is why she suggested the adoption.”

“Sigh!” Zhang Yuanxiu let out a long sigh, thinking about how tough his grandson’s life had been.

But at least he had a kind and understanding aunt.

Otherwise, what daughter-in-law would be willing to raise her husband’s older brother’s son, especially a son?

Not only was she willing, but she also suggested adoption herself.

“Weiwei is a good person. We made the right decision when we arranged for Tingyuan to marry her.”

…

The first night without Zhang Tingyuan, Lin Bingwei felt a little uncomfortable—her bed seemed colder.

The next morning, she got up at dawn. Her mother-in-law, Li Yurong, was helping Zhang Jianguo get dressed while she packed their things for the trip.

The town wasn’t far, only four or five miles away.

Country folks were used to walking fast, and they took turns carrying Zhang Jianguo.

A three-year-old weighing a little over ten kilos wasn’t much for them. In about twenty minutes, they arrived.

Since the offices hadn’t opened yet, they first stopped by a noodle shop.

Lin Bingwei and Li Yurong both ordered zhajiangmian, while Zhang Jianguo got a small bowl of three-delicacy noodles, which came with free soy milk.