Chapter 126: Zhao Lan

Zhao Lan’s nose felt sour, and her heart ached. She didn’t dare to say much, afraid she would cry.

She turned around quickly, “Xinyue, thank you. I’ll go back now.”

Li Xinyue nodded, “Okay, take your time.”

Zhao Lan puffed out her cheeks, “Alright! I’ll have Weiguo bring the sewing machine, chopping board, and scissors over tonight.”

“Don’t mention money again.”

“If you mention money again, I won’t come here anymore.”

Alright.

Reciprocity.

This woman is so thin, she must not be eating well.

I’ll get some meat later and give her a few pounds.

It won’t make much difference, but it’s better than nothing.

Li Xinyue readily agreed, “Okay, okay, I accept. Deal?”

“I’m going to pick up my son. I won’t chat with you. Come over to play whenever you have time.”

“Let’s go, let’s go together.”

Zhao Lan felt like she had struck gold.

This was the first time in her twenty-two years of life that she had met a sister like this.

As they walked out the door and reached the small road, Chen Yiheng had already returned with Liu Qiang.

“Mommy!”

Seeing her son running towards her, Li Xinyue opened her arms.

“Why are you back? I was going to pick you up.”

Chen Yiheng’s big eyes sparkled, his face full of excitement, “Uncle Xiao Liu picked me up. Mommy, did you miss me today?”

Hehe.

Li Xinyue smiled, “Of course I did, you’re my precious son!”

“Yiheng, this is Aunt Zhao.”

Chen Yiheng immediately called out obediently, “Hello, Aunt Zhao!”

Zhao Lan, standing aside, was already shocked by the mother-son affection: How did she raise such a well-behaved son?

“Hello! Is your name Yiheng?”

Chen Yiheng nodded generously, “Yes, Aunt Zhao, my name is Chen Yiheng.”

“Yiheng, meaning standing firm and unyielding. Heng, meaning eternal.”

Seeing Chen Yiheng, who was generous and polite, Zhao Lan thought of Wu Weiguo’s two sons who were running wild in the countryside.

Zhao Lan sighed in admiration, “Xinyue, you really raised your child well!”

“Weiguo’s two children are truly ruined!”

Li Xinyue: “…”

She had no experience in raising children, but she had heard a saying: If you don’t know how to teach, just praise them more!

Adults like to be praised, and children definitely like to be praised.

Are Wu Weiguo’s two sons not good?

“I heard that the two children are six and four years old?”

Zhao Lan nodded, “Yeah, the older one just turned six last month, and the younger one is four years old in October.”

“Are they disobedient?”

Speaking of the two children, Zhao Lan chuckled wryly, “They’re more than disobedient! They curse at people, and they’re already stealing at such a young age.”

This is outrageous!

Li Xinyue was shocked!

“Auntie Wu isn’t that clueless, is she?”

Zhao Lan chuckled wryly, “It’s not entirely my mother-in-law’s fault. It’s mainly because the two children’s grandmother’s family never taught them anything good.”

“The children’s grandmother is a notorious shrew in our village.”

“Back then, the two families were arranged for a marriage between Weiguo’s grandmother and his eldest sister’s grandmother. The two old ladies were good friends.”

“Being a military wife sounds good in name, but many times, it’s really not easy to be alone in the old village.”

“Weiguo’s salary wasn’t high either. He only kept ten yuan for himself every month, and the rest was sent back home.”

“But even so, it couldn’t compare to the sweet words other men would say.”

“After his eldest sister eloped with someone, my mother-in-law went to her mother’s house to cause trouble because it was her who instigated it.”

“So, the two families became enemies.”

My goodness!

What kind of monster is Wu Weiguo’s ex-mother-in-law?

She instigated her daughter to elope, and she also corrupted her two grandsons?

No matter what the child’s surname is, it’s her own grandchild, right? Is it necessary to be so harsh?

“You can’t control that anymore. You can’t even manage your own life, let alone a child’s.”

Zhao Lan nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t.”

“Those two kids even cursed their own father.”

“Last year, he went back to get married. The older one was only five, the younger one only three.”

“The two brothers pointed their fingers at his nose and called him a wolf father, a heartless man, saying he didn’t want them!”

“They’re so young, what do they know? It’s the adults who taught them that!”

“Weiguo said I shouldn’t worry about it, but I know he’s heartbroken.”

“No matter what, they’re still his own sons.”

“But I really can’t manage them.”

Yes, there’s another pair in her belly!

How can a stepmother be so good when the children are spoiled?

It’s not that Li Xinyue is heartless, but seeing this woman who’s as thin as a bamboo pole, she simply couldn’t say, “You should take the children and raise them together.”

“Zhao Lan, everyone has their own destiny. We just need to do our best.”

“When our conditions improve, we’ll bring them here to go to school. They’ll be better after they’ve been educated.”

Yes, they’ll be better after they’ve been educated!

Stay away from those bad people, read more, and the children will surely learn well!

Zhao Lan felt that this made a lot of sense. “Sister Xinyue is right. When the baby in my belly grows up a bit, I’ll make some more clothes.”

“The sisters-in-law all like the clothes I make.”

“Once life gets better, I’ll bring them here. I’ll go now, thank you for your things.”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome. Come back and visit again after your baby is born. Take your time.”

Their houses are only a few buildings apart. Zhao Lan nodded. “Okay, I’ll go now.”

After watching Zhao Lan leave, Liu Qiang spoke up. “Sister-in-law, the battalion commander said he wants you and Yiyi to go to the camp for dinner tonight.”

Can we go?

Li Xinyue opened her mouth. “Is that appropriate?”

Liu Qiang smiled. “The battalion commander hunted so many wild boars, we’re having a feast at the camp tonight.”

“The battalion commander said all the family members are going, six o’clock sharp. I’ll come to pick you up then.”

Is that so?

Since everyone is going, then there’s no problem.

Li Xinyue nodded. “Okay, come pick us up then.”

Liu Jun saluted and left. Li Xinyue also took her son and slowly walked home, but just as they reached the front door…

“Sister-in-law, the battalion commander asked us to deliver the meat.”

Wang Linjun, the clerk, and another soldier pushed a small dump cart over.

They were both sweating and smiling.

On the cart, there was a large pile of various vegetables.

Chinese cabbage, heart cabbage, potatoes, eggplant, green beans, water spinach, covering the meat on the cart.

Li Xinyue thought that Chen Mingchuan wouldn’t bring back much meat, after all, there were fifty or sixty people in the battalion headquarters.

But when she opened the vegetables and saw the cart full of meat, it was at least a medium-sized wild boar.

Not only that, there was also a set of pig innards, three heads of pig fat.

A large pig head, a pile of chopped pig feet and ribs.

This is too much!

Li Xinyue was worried that they wouldn’t be able to finish it all, it’s still hot outside.

In the era without refrigerators – a pain!

“Little Wang, didn’t you tell your battalion commander to bring back less?”

“It’s too much, you take some back.”

Wang Linjun laughed. “Sister-in-law, that big one, just the meat alone is over two hundred pounds.”

“That small one is also sixty pounds, only ten or so pounds less than this one.”

“The instructor said, these wild boars were hunted with your help.”

“You just came here, you don’t have anything at home.”