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“Mom, how did you get here?” Lin Yan stepped forward, his tone full of concern.
Mother Lin gently and cautiously patted the two children’s heads with a loving expression and replied, “Your third uncle happened to be coming to town to buy fertilizer, so I rode in his car.”
From the Lin family home to town was still ten kilometers of dirt road. Mother and Father Lin had no vehicle and couldn’t ride a bike. They usually traveled on foot and normally wouldn’t come into town.
Today, there happened to be a convenient ride.
As she spoke, Mother Lin lifted the sack, “I slaughtered a chicken for you. It’s already been cleaned. You just need to cook it. I also picked some string beans and vegetables from home, and brought some eggs and peanuts…”
Eggs are fragile, so she carried them carefully. The bumpy ride made it necessary for her to protect them the entire way.
Early in the morning, she had already picked vegetables and made preparations, even killed and cleaned a chicken. She probably started before dawn.
“Chicken!”
“I want to see too.”
The children, curious and energetic, crowded over, wanting to open the woven plastic bag to take a look.
Fang Yuwei looked at Mother Lin. Though short in stature, her features were pleasant, indicating she had been good-looking in her youth. However, after years of hard labor, she had become very thin, with fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and rough, cracked hands.
They hadn’t seen each other for nearly a year, and it seemed Mother Lin had more white hair than before.
Thinking back, the discord between them began at the time of the wedding. Fang Yuwei had lost her father young. Her mother remarried, and she was raised by her uncle. During the dowry discussions, they followed local customs. Her aunt said it was not enough. Later, Fang Yuwei thought it over and told them she would leave the dowry with her uncle’s family as repayment for raising her and for the wedding expenses.
She said if they built a house in the future, they could include her father’s piece of land and she would not need to contribute money. They would leave her one house so she could have a place to stay if she returned home.
According to the villagers, her father only had one daughter, and their family line would end there anyway, so there was no need to keep the land.
Having often been nagged by her aunt since childhood, Fang Yuwei did not think too much and agreed.
Later, her aunt started to complain that the dowry was too little and said the Lin family had only lowered the price because Fang Yuwei was pregnant before marriage. Fang Yuwei began to feel resentful.
Since she became pregnant, Fang Yuwei had been living at the school. Mother and Father Lin were very ordinary farmers, not good at expressing themselves, and only knew how to work hard.
At home, they planted various fruit trees, raised poultry, and grew vegetables. Every so often, they would send over produce and secretly give her some money. Aside from that, they did not provide much other care.
Pregnancy was hard, and with her emotional imbalance, Fang Yuwei felt she was not living a good life. She believed her husband’s family did not value her, and Lin Yan was not capable. That was the second reason for her resentment.
After giving birth, she returned to the Lin household for her postpartum confinement. But Mother Lin had injured her back while climbing a mountain and was bedridden, unable to take care of her.
Fang Yuwei did not want to breastfeed and disliked the baby disturbing her sleep. Naturally, Lin Yan could not handle everything alone. He still had to occasionally look after the shop. At the very least, he had to go every couple of days to settle accounts and manage things. Otherwise, where would the money for the milk formula come from? Each trip took half a day.
Father Lin had to help. Although they had a village auntie come to assist, Fang Yuwei was firmly convinced that Mother Lin was deliberately making things difficult and unwilling to care for her during confinement. She felt completely wronged and, once her month was up, made a huge scene, demanding that Lin Yan immediately take them back to the school.
Fang Yuwei even declared she would never return to the Lin family and would treat it as if she had no mother-in-law.
From then on, she truly never went back to the Lin household. Even during the New Year, she refused to go. Since she did not look after the children, during holidays she would go to the city to visit classmates or stay in a hotel.
During every New Year and festival, Lin Yan took the children back home by himself. At first, he tried to persuade Fang Yuwei, but she would argue with him in front of the children. For the sake of peace, he tried to keep the two women apart.
In the village’s traditional customs, the mother-in-law must care for the daughter-in-law during confinement. Otherwise, people would gossip and criticize. Mother Lin was an honest and simple woman. Since Fang Yuwei had given birth to two children, she felt guilty.
Whenever her daughter-in-law gave her the cold shoulder, she dared not speak and never told Lin Yan about it. In front of her son, she always spoke positively.
To avoid conflict, Mother Lin would come to see her grandchildren only when Fang Yuwei was not around. Occasionally, they would still run into each other, but their interactions were unpleasant.
Today, Mother Lin had originally not planned to come, but since there was a free ride, she thought she would drop off the things and leave. As she hesitated, she saw them returning.
Seeing Fang Yuwei, Mother Lin felt even more at a loss, afraid of saying the wrong thing. She looked at her two grandsons with affection and was comforted to see that they were well cared for and had grown taller.
Afraid of overstaying and being disliked, she said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go now.”
Lin Yan immediately said, “I’ll take you back.”
He often secretly took the children home to see his parents, just to avoid a direct confrontation between Fang Yuwei and Mother Lin.
“No need. Your third uncle is waiting for me to go back with him. You go ahead with your work.” Mother Lin did not want to trouble her son. She looked at her grandsons again and lifted her foot to leave.
“Grandma is leaving?” Xiao Yangyang held Mother Lin and furrowed his little brows. “Grandma, where are you going?”
“Grandma is going home. The chickens and ducks at home are waiting for me to feed them.” Mother Lin lowered her head and gently replied to her grandson.
Xiao Chaochao immediately followed and said, “We want to feed the chickens and ducks too.” He turned to Lin Yan. “Dad, we want to go back with Grandma to feed the chickens and ducks and pick fruit.”
When Dad took them to Grandma’s house, Grandpa and Grandma always picked fruit for them.
Xiao Yangyang nodded his little head and ran to Fang Yuwei, reaching out to pull her hand. “Mom, the fruit at Grandma’s house is delicious. Let’s go pick fruit for you to eat.”
Hearing this, Mother Lin’s hands clenched nervously. Her expression turned awkward. Lin Yan was also afraid that Fang Yuwei would say something unpleasant in front of the children. He lowered his voice and looked at his son. “Yangyang.”
“Mom—” Xiao Yangyang pulled Fang Yuwei, wanting to go over to Mother Lin.
“Not now.” Fang Yuwei said to her son. Xiao Yangyang stopped, his little face filled with confusion, but he did not argue with his mother.
Afraid of making things awkward or burdening her son, Mother Lin quickly pointed to the gate and said softly and quickly, “I’ll go now. Your third uncle is still waiting. It’s not good to keep him waiting.”
Lin Yan said, “I’ll take you over.”
“No need.” Mother Lin quickly stopped him. “You look after the children. Take good care of them.”
She spoke as she walked two steps forward, afraid of troubling her son.
“Stay for a meal.” Fang Yuwei suddenly said to her.
Mother Lin stopped in her tracks, standing stiffly without knowing how to respond.
Fang Yuwei added, “It’s almost time to eat. Stay and have a meal before you go.”
Lin Yan also looked at Fang Yuwei, carefully watching her expression, trying to understand her intentions, fearing another dispute between the two women.
Her expression was calm, and nothing could be seen from her face.
Mother Lin didn’t know how to respond for a while, and Fang Yuwei didn’t press her. She took out the keys to open the door and said to her sons, “Go bring grandma in to sit.”
“I’ll go.”
“Me too.”
The two rushed off, running barefoot toward Mother Lin. One on each side held her hand and led her into the house.
Mother Lin looked toward Lin Yan, not knowing what to do.
“I’ll send you back after the meal,” Lin Yan said.
“Your third uncle is still waiting for me,” Mother Lin still hesitated.
“I’ll go and tell him.”
Since her son said this, Mother Lin looked again at her adorable grandsons. Holding back her uneasiness, she followed them into the house.
As soon as Mother Lin entered the house, Xiao Chaochao brought over a small stool and placed it in front of her. His chubby little hand patted the seat, and his soft voice said, “Grandma, sit here.”
“So sweet.” Mother Lin’s eyes were filled with deep affection.
The next second, Fang Yuwei poured a glass of water and handed it to Xiao Yangyang, saying, “Give the water to grandma.”
Hearing her words, Mother Lin grew nervous and flustered, quickly saying, “No need, no need. I’m not thirsty, no need to trouble yourself.”
“Be careful,” Fang Yuwei reminded her son.
Xiao Yangyang held the small cup of water and slowly walked toward Mother Lin. Before he reached her, she had already stood up and walked over.
“Grandma, drink water.” Xiao Yangyang held the cup with a toothy smile.
Mother Lin glanced at Fang Yuwei, took the cup from the child, and her eyes instantly turned red. “Thank you, Yangyang.”
“Grandma, drink quickly.” After Mother Lin sat down, Xiao Yangyang began urging.
Mother Lin had gotten up early and worked hard to prepare everything. She had also sat in the car under the hot sun to get here. She had long been thirsty and drank several big gulps.
Lin Yan took everything out of the woven sack and put them in order. Then he put the chicken in the pot to boil. After that, he stepped outside and softly said to Fang Yuwei, “I’ll go tell Third Uncle not to wait. Mom’s not going back.”
While speaking, his gaze stayed fixed on her.
Fang Yuwei nodded slightly, her emotions unchanged.
Even so, Lin Yan wanted to hurry up and return quickly, so he left in a rush.
As soon as her son left, Mother Lin held the water cup and sat stiffly without looking around.
Due to the small space, Fang Yuwei was sitting at her desk. The two little ones snuggled close to her, their little hands hugging her tightly.
“Go see if the mangoes Dad bought are still there. We’ll eat mangoes,” Fang Yuwei said to her sons.
“Eat mangoes!”
“I’ll go look.”
Their eyes lit up as soon as they heard. They ran to the kitchen, and soon their soft voices called out, “Mom, there are mangoes!”
“A lot of them!”
Each holding one mango in hand, they ran over to give it to Fang Yuwei.
Fang Yuwei looked toward Mother Lin and said, “Give one to grandma.”
Xiao Yangyang turned and handed the mango to Mother Lin. “Grandma, eat mango!”
Mother Lin instinctively refused, “You eat. Grandma doesn’t want it.”
Xiao Yangyang took his hand back and looked at Fang Yuwei. “Grandma doesn’t want to eat.”
Fang Yuwei said, “Tell grandma the mango is sweet. She should eat one.”
Xiao Yangyang walked over to Mother Lin and stretched out his little hand, insisting on giving her the mango. “Mom says it’s sweet. You should eat it.”
Only then did Mother Lin accept it, but she didn’t eat it right away.
Fang Yuwei was peeling a mango. After peeling, she brought it to the children’s mouths. They took turns biting, very clingy.
When Mother Lin spent time with her grandsons, she would always try asking if their mom treated them well. The children couldn’t express clearly, but she sensed that Fang Yuwei didn’t usually care much for them.
This had always been a source of guilt for Mother Lin. Although Lin Yan always told her she was overthinking, she still felt that she had ruined things and made her grandsons suffer.
Now seeing with her own eyes how close Fang Yuwei was to the children and how attached they were to her, her heart was completely at ease.
“Is it busy at home?” Fang Yuwei suddenly asked.
At first, Mother Lin thought she was speaking to the children. Once she understood, she quickly replied, “It’s not busy right now.”
“When it gets too much, don’t push yourself. Work will never be finished. Health is more important.” Fang Yuwei threw the mango peel into the trash and told the two little ones, “Alright, just one mango. We’re eating soon.”
“Want more.” Xiao Yangyang acted spoiled in her lap, wriggling around.
Mother Lin was still lost in the sudden care from her daughter-in-law and hadn’t recovered. Hearing her grandson’s voice, she immediately handed over her mango. “Grandma still has some.”
Xiao Yangyang was about to take it, but Fang Yuwei gently called, “Yangyang.”
He immediately pulled his hand back and continued snuggling into her lap, pouting and resting his head on her leg. “Mom—”
Why can’t I eat it?
Grandma is giving it to me.
“It’s time to eat. Be good,” Fang Yuwei stroked his back. Then she looked at Mother Lin and said, “If they eat more now, they won’t eat their meal.”
“Yes, they can’t eat too much,” Mother Lin said as she took the mango back and quietly ate it herself.
“Mom—” the two little heads lay on Fang Yuwei’s legs, rubbing and squirming, trying to get another one.
Fang Yuwei’s expression remained calm and unmoved.
If Lin Yan were the one watching them, they would’ve already taken it and run off, making him chase them. But in front of Fang Yuwei, once they saw she didn’t budge, they very sensibly stopped.
Can’t make Mom upset.
Lin Yan hurriedly went to inform his third uncle and rushed back. The whole way, he was tense, afraid there would be a quarrel when he returned.
On one side were his parents, and he didn’t want them to feel wronged. On the other side were his wife and children. Fang Yuwei always said how much she had suffered, and he couldn’t argue with that.
Blaming anyone felt meaningless. He believed it was all because of his own incompetence and had always wanted to do his best.
Lin Yan drove into the school and stared toward the teacher’s dormitory from afar, fearing he might hear yelling or fighting.
Fortunately, everything was calm. He parked the car and walked quickly toward the door. He saw Mother Lin eating a mango and secretly looked at Fang Yuwei. She was holding the children, speaking softly to them, with a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
Lin Yan’s tightly strung nerves quietly loosened a bit. He walked toward the kitchen. “I’ll go make lunch.”
“Let me do it.” Mother Lin got up and followed him.
“Mom, don’t come over. I’ll do it myself.” Lin Yan said.
“Okay.” Although she said so, Mother Lin still bustled around beside Lin Yan.
The mother and son busied themselves in the kitchen. Suddenly, laughter came from the living room. The two children giggled endlessly as Fang Yuwei tickled them, both trying to snuggle into her arms.
“Mom, I want to see the big dinosaur.”
“No, I want to see the big bear.”
“Giggle giggle giggle—”
“Mom—”
The two of them argued endlessly over which picture book to read. Fang Yuwei couldn’t convince either one. Each shook their small heads stubbornly. Seeing these two little stubborn kids, she simply tickled them both.
The laughter from the living room caught the attention of the mother and son in the kitchen. Mother Lin, who was picking vegetables, looked over with a trace of comfort in her eyes and smiled lightly at Lin Yan.
As long as Fang Yuwei treated the children well and lived peacefully with Lin Yan, nothing else mattered.
Lin Yan silently continued cooking. When the sound of laughter came from the living room again, a faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Close to noon, the chicken was cooked. He also stir-fried two dishes and steamed a bowl of egg custard for the children.
Lin Yan went out to set the table, only to find it had already been set. The two little ones were fighting to move the chairs.
“All right, go wash your little hands.” Fang Yuwei reminded them.
Lin Yan stood at the bathroom door and waved to them. “Come to Dad. Dad will wash your hands.”
The two saw their father and immediately frowned. In unison, they turned their heads and reached for Fang Yuwei. “Mom will do it.”
Dad was always so clueless. So annoying.
“Okay, Mom will take you.”
As soon as Fang Yuwei said this, the two children instantly beamed, holding her hands and obediently walking with her.
Lin Yan: “……”
The kitchen and bathroom were cramped. He had no choice but to step out and start wiping the table with a cloth.
After the children washed their hands, Mother Lin had already brought out the food. She did not serve herself any rice and planned to feed the children.
“Mom, you eat first. I’ll feed them.” Lin Yan said.
“Let me do it. You two eat first.” Mother Lin always centered everything around the children, wishing to give her last bit of energy.
Besides, the space was so small that only a little table could be placed at the doorway. If she didn’t eat first, the couple would have a more comfortable time eating.
Fang Yuwei took out two small stools from under the bed and placed them beside the big table. She said to the two little ones, “Come on, sit here.”
The two walked over and sat obediently.
“Today, no more being fed by Dad or Grandma. You have to eat by yourselves. Understand?” Fang Yuwei, though raised similarly, believed such habits weren’t good.
Mother and Father Lin doted on the kids even more than Lin Yan did, spoiling them into becoming picky.
“Mm-hmm!”
“Okay—”
The two listened to their mother very well.
Fang Yuwei brought the food prepared for the children and divided it into two small bowls. She added egg custard, vegetables, and shredded chicken.
One bowl for each child.
The two held their bowls and looked at their mother again.
“Eat slowly. Mom will serve more after you finish.” Fang Yuwei told Mother Lin and Lin Yan to sit and eat. “Don’t worry about them. They need to learn to eat by themselves.”
Lin Yan and Mother Lin were actually uneasy but didn’t argue with her. As they ate, their thoughts were entirely on the children, constantly stealing glances at them.
The two kids weren’t very good with spoons. They scooped several times without knowing whether they actually got any food. A lot ended up on their clothes.
Lin Yan couldn’t focus on eating at all.
“Mom—” Xiao Chaochao called out to Fang Yuwei.
Fang Yuwei responded, “Yes?”
Xiao Chaochao said, “I want to eat meat. I finished mine.”
Xiao Yangyang also quickly shoveled food into his mouth and raised his bowl, mumbling, “I finished too, Mom!”
Lin Yan looked over. The rice in their little bowls had been half eaten. The meat and egg were all gone. Although quite a bit fell to the ground, it was still faster than when he chased them around to feed them.
Fang Yuwei took a piece of meat, tore it into strips, and put it into their bowls. Then she scooped another spoonful of egg custard. “Eat some eggs so you can grow tall.”
“Taller than Dad!” Xiao Yangyang immediately chimed in.
Fang Yuwei said, “Yes, taller than Dad.”
“I want to be taller than Dad too. So tall.” Xiao Chaochao stood up and stretched his arms upward.
Fang Yuwei laughed. “You can only be taller than Dad if you sit down and eat.”
Xiao Chaochao hugged his bowl and sat back down, burying his head into it and eating big mouthfuls.
Seeing his brother like that, Xiao Yangyang followed suit.
Mother Lin looked at her two grandsons. Her eyes wrinkled with a smile.
Since the children were born, this was the first time Fang Yuwei and Mother Lin sat at the same table to eat. At first, Mother Lin was a little uncomfortable, afraid she might do something wrong and drag down her son and grandsons. But seeing that Fang Yuwei’s expression remained normal, she slowly relaxed.
At the school gate, Principal Wang rode back with Fu Xia on his motorcycle.
Speaking of Fang Yuwei not attending morning reading and being negligent with the students, Principal Wang said seriously, “Don’t believe everything you hear. I went to morning reading that day and saw it myself. Teacher Fang was teaching very seriously.”
In his opinion, the younger teachers were better. Most of the older generation had inherited their positions and were just going through the motions. Many could barely speak proper Mandarin.
“She just happened to be there that day and you saw her.” Fu Xia clearly didn’t believe it.
Principal Wang lightly scolded, “Don’t spread rumors and ruin Teacher Fang’s reputation.”
Fu Xia said, “Think about it. Ever since she married Lin Yan, she’s had a falling out with his family. I’ve seen her mother-in-law. She’s a very honest and simple person. Every time she comes by, she drops things off and leaves without even daring to meet her. A few times she even walked here in secret, without letting Lin Yan know. I heard that one time, she came after school and ran into her daughter-in-law, who showed a sour face in front of the students.”
“How inappropriate is that? At the very least, let her stay for a meal. She’ll be a mother-in-law herself one day. How can any daughter-in-law be pleased with everything?”
Principal Wang said, “Don’t spread baseless rumors.”
“How did I speak nonsense?”
“Alright, alright, enough talking.” Principal Wang drove the vehicle into the school, quickly stopping her from continuing, afraid others might overhear and think badly.
“I wasn’t speaking nonsense to begin with,” Fu Xia said, unconvinced.
While the two were arguing, the vehicle reached the bottom of the classroom dormitory building. Fu Xia was about to continue speaking, but Principal Wang saw Lin Yan and Fang Yuwei eating with the door open and immediately interrupted.
Fu Xia also saw them and swallowed the rest of her words, planning to talk more once they got back.
Fang Yuwei was already irresponsible. So what if it was a township school? Having a lower salary was her own choice. Since she chose it, she should teach properly.
If she was lazy, then rules had to be set. Otherwise, how could that be responsible?
After parking, Lin Yan saw them first and greeted them, “Principal Wang, Teacher Fu, have you eaten yet?”
“We’ll eat when we get back,” Fu Xia replied as she walked over. “Where are Chaochao and Yangyang?”
“They’re inside eating,” Fang Yuwei answered.
Fu Xia walked in and saw Mother Lin sitting inside eating. Her expression showed surprise, and she immediately toned down. She glanced again at Principal Wang and saw him looking at her helplessly.
“You guys can eat on your own now?” Fu Xia spoke to praise them while glancing frequently at Mother Lin.
The other party showed no trace of grievance on her face. Instead, when she heard Fu Xia praise the two little ones, a smile bloomed in her eyes, full of joy and relief.
As they walked upstairs, Principal Wang said to Fu Xia, “See, you misunderstood her, didn’t you? Aren’t they all eating together? Isn’t it just fine? Don’t go around spreading rumors in the future.”
Fu Xia was just about to argue but realized she was in the wrong, and her expression turned awkward.
After the two children finished eating, Mother Lin cleaned up after them and then wanted to wash their clothes. She kept busy and refused to rest.
She also insisted on walking back home by herself. Fang Yuwei asked Lin Yan to escort her home.
On the way back, Mother Lin was rarely this happy and repeatedly urged Lin Yan, saying, “You and Xiao Wei should live well together. No matter what happens, try to give in to her more.”
“She’s had a hard time too.”
Lin Yan kept nodding. On the way home, his mood was much better, and he couldn’t wait to return and see her and the children.
Who knew, as soon as Lin Yan got home, the two kids who were playing with race cars ran over and stretched out their little hands toward him, saying, “Dad, Mom pinched here.”
“Bit here—”
“And bit hands.”
“Hit the face, hit so many times.”
…
Lin Yan was shocked and hurriedly checked his son’s hands. His heart sank heavily, as if falling into a freezing pit.
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Ayalee[Translator]
**•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚***•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚