Chapter 55 – Reborn Girl’s Aunt

They had been on the train for two days, and on the morning of the third day, with the sound of a whistle, Wen Xin and the others finally set foot on the land of Shanghai.

Wei Xiuran held Wen Xin with one hand and carried the very curious Wei Rongrong, whose eyes were wide open, looking around and occasionally exclaiming “Wow.” with the other, walking out of the station.

Since the Republic of China, Shanghai had been known as a bustling metropolis. Despite having gone through the baptism of war, it still did not lose its prosperity.

After leaving the train station, they boarded a tram. Wei Xiuran was taking his wife and child home.

Wei Xiuran lived in a two-story house, without a garden. They arrived early, and his mother, Lin Sujie, was still at home preparing breakfast for his father-in-law, who was in the hospital.

When Wei Xiuran returned, Lin Sujie was stunned for a while. Then she excitedly embraced him. After the excitement, she wiped her tears and smiled at Wen Xin, then pulled Wei Rongrong into her arms. “This must be Rong Rong, right? She looks so lively.”

Lin Sujie looked at Wei Rongrong with joy on her face. Wei Xiuran wrapped his arm around Wen Xin’s shoulder and said: “Yes, Mom. Let me introduce you. This is my wife, Wen Xin. Wen Xin, this is my mother, Mrs. Lin Sujie.”

Wen Xin called out “Mom.” and Lin Sujie nodded kindly in response. “Are you hungry? I’ve made porridge, it’ll be ready soon. Xiuran, please go to the breakfast shop outside and bring back some shengjian (pan-fried dumplings).”

Lin Sujie hadn’t expected them to return so early, and the house wasn’t prepared for guests. Their sudden return made her flustered.

Wei Xiuran agreed and set down his luggage before leaving. The house was left with two women and a child. Fortunately, Wei Rongrong was quite the competent peacemaker. In less than ten minutes, he had Lin Sujie laughing happily.

Wen Xin smiled as she watched them, occasionally exchanging a few words with Lin Sujie.

Wei Xiuran returned quickly. Shengjian is a distinctive feature of Shanghai, and paired with thick, boiled white porridge and crispy radish pickles, it was delicious. After breakfast, the group decided to visit Grandpa Wei in the hospital.

Before the reform and opening-up, the Wei family had been in the cosmetics business in Shanghai. When the war broke out, Grandpa Wei made a decisive decision and donated all of their family’s money to the anti-Japanese forces at the time.

After the reform and opening-up, Grandpa Wei realized the direction was wrong and sold off the family property. He then obtained a donation certificate from the leader of the anti-Japanese group he had donated to. Thanks to this decision, the Wei family avoided a disaster. However, just to be safe, Wei Xiuran still decided to follow the country’s call and voluntarily apply to go to the countryside.

The Wei family had been passed down for several generations with a single heir, and each generation’s female head of the household was carefully selected. For example, Lin Sujie came from the Lin family of Shanghai. The Lin family had been well-known as a scholarly family since the time of the Lin Family, and in the Xianfeng era, one of them even became a top scholar. However, after the Republic of China, their family’s fortunes gradually declined.

It wasn’t even two years after Wei Xiuran had gone to the countryside when news spread back home that he had found himself a wife. This shocked not only Lin Sujie but even Grandpa Wei. After repeatedly writing letters to inquire, they learned that he genuinely liked the young woman, and despite their reluctance, the Wei family had no choice but to grudgingly accept it.

Later, when Wen Xin became pregnant and gave birth, Lin Sujie wanted to go and help, but her own family was going through another round of scrutiny, so she couldn’t leave. She had no choice but to give up the idea. However, she made sure that Wen Xin and her child lacked nothing in terms of food, clothing, or supplies.

Now, upon meeting Wen Xin, Lin Sujie had already paid special attention to her. Her looks were striking, which was evident from the pictures Wei Xiuran had sent home. What Lin Sujie focused on more was her character.

A person’s character could be judged from something as simple as a meal. Overall, Lin Sujie was basically satisfied with Wen Xin. As for Wei Rongrong, she was utterly fond of him. The child had inherited the best qualities of his parents and, at just over a year old, was already articulate and methodical in his actions. Although he was a bit mischievous, that was just the nature of children, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Lin Sujie couldn’t get enough of looking at Wei Rongrong.

Grandpa Wei had been a businessman in his earlier years, which left him with a number of health problems. He had been fine when he was younger, but as he aged, all his ailments surfaced, especially pain in his legs. When the weather changed, the pain became unbearable. He sought treatment from both traditional Chinese medicine and Western doctors, but both diagnosed him with rheumatism, a condition that was difficult to treat.

This time, Grandpa Wei had a severe illness after he fell in the yard while getting up in the morning. At first, he thought nothing of it, but after a checkup at the hospital, it turned out to be a brain hemorrhage and a stroke. Luckily, he was sent to the hospital in time, or the situation could have been much worse.

However, despite this, he was left with partial paralysis. He had been healthy all his life, but now, in his old age, he was suffering. Grandpa Wei felt a bit disheartened. But all his worries disappeared when he saw Wei Xiuran and his great-grandson.

Especially when Wei Rongrong was lying on the hospital bed, seriously chatting with him. Grandpa Wei, listening to the young boy’s soft voice of concern, felt much younger.

Wei Xiuran’s father, Wei Zizhong, had stayed at the hospital room all night. When he returned from the restroom and saw Wei Xiuran, he paused for a moment in surprise, then eagerly began chatting with him.

Lin Sujie, seeing how much livelier the hospital room had become with the addition of a few more people and how much better Grandpa Wei seemed, was very happy. She opened the lunchbox she brought and invited Grandpa Wei and Wei Zizhong to eat.

Outside, Wei Rongrong always remembered his father’s teachings: not to be naughty, not to cause trouble. But after sitting on the bed for a while, he became a little restless. His big eyes twinkled as he said: “Grandpa, I’ll feed you!”

Grandpa Wei had always been fond of children—he had spoiled Wei Xiuran when he was young, and now he doted on Wei Rongrong. “Hey, hey, okay, okay.”

Wei Rongrong scrambled down the stairs with his short little legs, and Lin Sujie quickly handed him the porridge she had prepared. Wen Xin, watching, exclaimed with wide eyes: “Wei Rongrong, stop causing trouble! What if you spill it all over Grandpa?”

At home, Wei Rongrong always needed Grandpa Wen and Mother Wen to feed him during meals. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried eating on his own before, but every time he was given a bowl of rice, more would end up spilled than eaten. Grandpa Wen and the others, having lived through times of scarcity, couldn’t bear to see such waste. Even Wen Xin, after arriving in the 1960s, deeply understood the struggles of food shortages and thus continued to feed him herself.

Grandpa Wei waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine, it’s fine, no big deal.”

Lin Sujie and Wei Zizhong echoed that it wasn’t a problem. Wei Xiuran stood by, smiling as he watched, while Wen Xin was visibly anxious. Wei Xiuran leaned closer to Wen Xin’s ear and reassured her: “It’s okay. Just wait and see.”

Wen Xin nodded in response. Meanwhile, Wei Rongrong had already carefully carried the small bowl and was steadily walking step by step toward the bedside. The little boy, not even a meter tall, tiptoed to place the bowl on the bedside table. Then, with much effort, he climbed onto the small stool by the bed. Once he sat down and caught his breath, he reached for the bowl on the table. His short arms couldn’t quite reach it, so Grandpa Wei chuckled and handed it over to him.

Mimicking how Grandma and Grandpa usually fed him, Wei Rongrong began to feed Grandpa Wei the porridge. Grandpa Wei cooperatively drank each spoonful, and after every bite, Wei Rongrong would use the spoon to wipe Grandpa Wei’s mouth, though he ended up smearing porridge all over Grandpa Wei’s face.

What should have been a quick task—just a half bowl of porridge that could be finished in two mouthfuls—took Wei Rongrong half an hour to complete. Wen Xin, initially worried, eventually felt a subtle sense of pride.

She wasn’t new to raising children, and all her kids were excellent. Wei Rongrong wasn’t the most outstanding, but perhaps because he was usually so mischievous, seeing him suddenly act so earnest and dependable was a delightful surprise.

Wei Xiuran felt the same way. Without realizing it, he reached out and held Wen Xin’s hand. Smiling warmly, he whispered softly in her ear: “See? Rong Rong is amazing.”

Wen Xin nodded slightly in agreement.

After finishing the half bowl of porridge, Wei Rongrong lost interest. He set the bowl down, jumped off the stool, and ran to Wei Xiuran’s side, tugging at him because he needed to use the restroom. Wei Xiuran took him to the toilet, while Wei Zizhong wiped Grandpa Wei’s mouth with a damp towel. Grandpa Wei’s face was filled with joy.

Being fed by his great-grandson was something he could brag about for a whole year.

After the meal, Lin Sujie stayed at the hospital to take care of things, while Wei Zizhong took Wei Xiuran and the others home to rest.

Wei Xiuran didn’t decline. After all, he hadn’t rested much during the train ride.

The group returned home, and Wei Xiuran led Wen Xin upstairs to his room.

His room was on the second floor and was quite spacious. One wall had been turned into a bookshelf, but due to the special circumstances of the era, most of the books had been packed away, leaving only a few empty shelves. His bed was a large, 1.8-meter wooden bed, though it wasn’t covered with any sheets at the moment. However, there was a freshly washed and sun-dried bedding set inside the wardrobe.

The bedding set was bright red, with silk quilt covers and pillowcases. The quilt cover was embroidered with a design of mandarin ducks frolicking in water. A similar set had also been prepared for Wen Xin at her previous home, courtesy of Lin Sujie.

The couple worked together to spread the bedsheet and put on the quilt cover. By the time they finished, Wei Rongrong had already climbed into the bed and was lying quietly, waiting for the quilt to cover him.

Wen Xin pulled the quilt over him, and within two minutes, he was fast asleep.

The house had a bathroom with hot water. Wen Xin went to take a bath, and after she finished, Wei Xiuran went in for his turn. When he came out, Wen Xin was already asleep, holding Wei Rongrong in her arms. On the bedside table was a glass of water, and a faint spiritual energy emanated from the cup, moistening the air throughout the room.

Wei Xiuran drank the water in one gulp, lay down next to Wen Xin, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

His body wasn’t in the best condition. Even though the spiritual water had been repairing him day by day, it still couldn’t completely eliminate all his issues. Prolonged fatigue often left him feeling quite unwell.

When Wen Xin woke up, it was already afternoon. Wei Xiuran and Wei Rongrong were no longer in bed. As she reached the staircase, she could hear Wei Rongrong chatting with Lin Sujie downstairs.

Wei Rongrong had transformed into a little “Why Master.” asking questions about everything he saw. Lin Sujie answered each of his queries with great patience.

This visit gave Wen Xin a very positive impression of the Wei family. When she went downstairs, Lin Sujie was busy cooking in the kitchen. Wen Xin offered to help but was promptly shooed away by Lin Sujie. 

“This is your first time at our house, and for the first three days, you’re not supposed to do any work. If you do, it means you’ll be working hard for the rest of your life. If you really want to help, you can start after three days.” Lin Sujie explained, referring to a custom from her own Lin family. The Wei family, on the other hand, didn’t have such strict traditions.

Wen Xin had never heard of such a practice before, but Lin Sujie’s words left her feeling at ease. After all, not every mother-in-law was this considerate. Some couldn’t care less about such customs and would have the daughter-in-law start working the moment she stepped into the house.

Just like in her previous life, where the original owner’s mother-in-law, Madam Hu, had been entirely different.

No one was naturally inclined to enjoy doing housework, and Wen Xin was no exception. However, instead of leaving, she stayed in the kitchen, chatting with Lin Sujie about household matters and making casual conversation.

While Wen Xin and Lin Sujie were bonding harmoniously, elsewhere, Wen Yaya had just undergone interrogation and was about to be sent to a farm for re-education. It was at this moment that Madam Hu appeared at the Revolutionary Committee.

She had come to sever ties with Wen Yaya and to arrange for her son to divorce her. Madam Hu moved quickly, handling the paperwork efficiently and leaving before Wen Yaya even had a chance to react. 

As Madam Hu walked out of the Revolutionary Committee’s doors, a hysterical scream erupted from behind her. Startled, Madam Hu shuddered and felt a cold chill down her spine. 

“That woman is a complete lunatic.” she muttered under her breath. “If my son hadn’t been blind enough to get involved with her and slept with her before they married, how could I have ever let her into our family?”