Chapter 10

Ruan Xi didn’t delve into physics with him. She took a deep breath, closed the book, and returned it to him. Then she pulled out a small bunch of grapes from her backpack and placed them on his book, saying, “Today, I’m treating you to grapes.”

This wasn’t something common, so Ling Yao didn’t reach for them, saying, “You eat them.”

Ruan Xi picked a grape, smiled, and said, “Let’s eat together.”

Ling Yao, meeting her sparkling eyes, hesitated for a moment before lowering his head and picking a grape.

The two of them sat on the hillside, sharing the small bunch of grapes, watching the sun slowly set behind the mountains.

Ruan Xi asked, “Are they sweet?”

Ling Yao replied, “Yes, very sweet.”

Since meeting her, he had tasted sweetness twice recently. The first time was milk candy, and this time, it was grapes.

Ruan Xi said, “I’m older than you, so call me sister from now on. I’ll consider you my little brother.”

Ling Yao smiled happily and turned to look at the sky tinged with red but didn’t respond.

Ruan Xi, carrying her backpack, headed home. As she reached the front of her house, she ran into Sun Xiaohui, who had just returned with a basket of pigweed.

Sun Xiaohui held a mud-covered sickle in one hand and supported her waist with the other, walking with a limp.

Ruan Xi had nothing to say to Sun Xiaohui, glanced at her, and went straight inside.

Sun Xiaohui, angered by her attitude, sneered, “Don’t you know how to greet your elders?”

Ruan Xi responded perfunctorily, “Hello, Second Aunt.”

After greeting her, Ruan Xi went to her room, put down her backpack, and sat down to catch her breath.

Sun Xiaohui entered the house, put down the basket she was carrying, and saw Ruan Jie chopping wild vegetables. This made her even angrier, and she glared at Ruan Jie with eyes like daggers.

Ruan Jie greeted Ruan Xi, kept her head down, and quickly finished chopping the chicken feed, mixed it with rice bran, and went to feed the chickens. She had already fed the pig that Liu Xinghua had left after the family split. She hadn’t gathered wild vegetables to feed the pigs and chickens that were given to Ruan Zhigao and Sun Xiaohui, which is why Sun Xiaohui was glaring at her.

Sun Xiaohui had spent the day working in the fields with the community and then gathered wild vegetables from the hillside and fields. Now, she had to cook pig food and mix chicken feed herself. After feeding the pigs and chickens, she still had to cook dinner, leaving her no time to rest. Before the family split, all the chores like washing clothes, sweeping, cooking, washing dishes, and feeding the pigs and chickens were done by Liu Xinghua with the help of Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie. After the split, Sun Xiaohui had to handle these tasks herself.

Ruan Changgui did heavy work in the mines, digging copper and carrying it down the mountain in a basket or carrying manure up and down the mountain to the dry fields. By the end of the day, he was exhausted and needed more rest.

Ruan Yuejin and Ruan Yuehua were old enough to help, but Sun Xiaohui was used to only asking Ruan Jie for help, not her two precious sons, who didn’t know how to do these tasks anyway. So she had to do everything herself.

As she chopped pig food, she gritted her teeth in anger, resenting her ungrateful daughter for not helping her. With no outlet for her anger, she chopped pig food for a while and then suddenly asked, “Xiao Xi, what have you been doing these past two days?”

Resting in her room, Ruan Xi could tell from the sound of Sun Xiaohui chopping pig food that she was angry. Not wanting to engage much, she replied perfunctorily, “Learning a craft.”

Sun Xiaohui laughed, “Really? The old tailor is willing to teach you?”

Ruan Xi: “You can ask the old tailor.”

Sun Xiaohui—ha, if the old tailor is willing to teach you, that would be a miracle.

She said, “You’re probably just avoiding work, leaving all the chores to our Xiao Jie. You go out and relax while she works from morning till night. That child is so naive; she wouldn’t even know if she was sold, and she’d still help count the money.”

Ruan Xi laughed sarcastically, “I didn’t expect you to care so much about Xiao Jie, Second Aunt.”

Sun Xiaohui was momentarily taken aback but quickly retorted, “I gave birth to her. If I don’t care, who will?”

Ruan Xi sneered, “Your skin is thicker than a city wall.”

Being embarrassed by a junior, Sun Xiaohui instantly became furious. She slammed the knife onto the wooden cutting board, trying to maintain her dignity, and said, “Ruan Xi, is this how you talk to your elders?”

Ruan Xi replied, “How did I talk? Didn’t you hear it?”

This disrespectful girl!!!

Sun Xiaohui’s hands trembled with anger, her chest heaving, and she wanted to storm into the room and tear Ruan Xi apart.

But Ruan Xi wasn’t her daughter, and the old man and old lady at home protected her. Plus, Ruan Xi’s father was an officer. She had the desire but not the courage, so she swallowed her anger and continued chopping pig food furiously.

Ruan Jie, feeding the chickens outside the coop, heard the argument between Ruan Xi and Sun Xiaohui inside. She felt scared and worried, holding an old enamel basin, about to enter the house when Liu Xinghua returned.

Seeing Liu Xinghua was like seeing great support, and Ruan Jie immediately felt relieved. She didn’t have time to say anything and entered the house with Liu Xinghua, seeing Sun Xiaohui taking out her anger on the pig food, each chop filled with intense emotion.

Liu Xinghua didn’t bother with Sun Xiaohui and turned to Ruan Xi’s room.

Seeing her enter, Ruan Xi mouthed with a smile, “I made her angry.”

Liu Xinghua also smiled and mouthed, “Serves her right!”

Then they both laughed out loud together.

Ruan Xi didn’t let Sun Xiaohui affect her mood. While making dinner, she chatted and laughed with Liu Xinghua and Ruan Jie. When Ruan Zhigao and Ruan Changsheng returned from work, they served the food on the table in the main room and continued their cheerful conversation during the meal.

Talking about Ruan Xi not coming home for lunch, Ruan Jie said, “Sister, I know what you had for lunch—stir-fried loofah with eggs and tiger skin green peppers. It smelled so good. You could smell it from outside the courtyard gate, right?”

Ruan Xi quickly responded, “You came to find me?”

Ruan Jie nodded, “Grandma noticed you didn’t come back, so she sent me to check at the old tailor’s house. I saw you were already eating there, so I didn’t disturb you. Everyone says the old tailor is hard to get along with, but I think he’s quite nice.”

Ruan Xi lowered her voice slightly, “He is nice. When I left in the evening, he even gave me a bunch of grapes.”

Hearing this, Ruan Changsheng perked up, somewhat skeptical, “Grapes?”

Ruan Xi nodded, “Yes, from his garden.”

Ruan Changsheng slurped his porridge, “I’ve never had grapes in my life. Are they sour?”

Ruan Xi shook her head, “They’re sweet. We’ll share them after dinner.”

After Ruan Xi’s family of five finished dinner, Sun Xiaohui had just finished cooking her own meal.

Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie cleared the dishes and returned to the side room.

Once Ruan Zhigao, Ruan Changsheng, and Liu Xinghua came in, Ruan Xi took out the bunch of grapes from her backpack, washed them in a basin, and brought them to the table.

Seeing the grapes, the four of them were convinced—the old tailor was indeed very kind to Ruan Xi.

Seeing enough grapes to share, Ruan Changsheng didn’t hesitate to take one and put it in his mouth. Tasting the sweetness, his face lit up, and he nodded, “Yes, very sweet and delicious.” He then picked two more, giving one to Ruan Zhigao and one to Liu Xinghua.

Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua tasted a grape and nodded, saying it was delicious.

Meanwhile, Sun Xiaohui and Ruan Changgui were having dinner with Ruan Yuejin and Ruan Yuehua in the main room. Eating the small greens with added oil, salt, and garlic, Sun Xiaohui’s anger from the day dissipated. She spoke more calmly, without emotion, to Ruan Changgui, “This won’t do. You need to bring Xiao Jie back to live with us. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a daughter if she spends all day working for others?”

Ruan Changgui, being a soft and timid person, replied casually while eating, “We’ll see.”

Sun Xiaohui asked him, “Are you really that afraid of your parents?”

Ruan Changgui, a bit impatient, said, “Why talk about this during dinner? Let’s discuss it later.”

Seeing his attitude, Sun Xiaohui took a deep breath and decided to drop the subject for now. After all, her daughter was her flesh and blood, and no matter what, she couldn’t escape. They could discuss it later.

The brothers, Ruan Yuejin and Ruan Yuehua, didn’t care about these family matters. No matter what happened, they would always have food to eat. Now, after the family split, they were eating even better and had no worries. They ate quickly and then ran outside to play.

After playing for a while, the two boys suddenly ran back. Ruan Yuejin, being more mature, stayed calm, while Ruan Yuehua, with exaggerated expressions, blocked Sun Xiaohui and said, “Mom, Grandpa and Grandma are eating grapes with Fifth Uncle, Ruan Xi, and Ruan Jie! The five of them are eating grapes together!”

Hearing this, Sun Xiaohui instinctively didn’t believe it: “Nonsense. Where would they get grapes?”

Ruan Yuehua’s eyes widened like saucers, “Big brother and I saw it with our own eyes at the door. They really are grapes.”

Sun Xiaohui and Ruan Changgui looked at Ruan Yuejin, who nodded, “I heard it was the old tailor who gave them to Ruan Xi.”

The old tailor gave them to Ruan Xi?

Sun Xiaohui was momentarily stunned and blurted out, “Impossible! How could that be?”

Everyone on Fengming Mountain knew the old tailor’s character. If he gave grapes to Ruan Xi, then the sun could rise in the west, and ten suns could rise at once!

Ruan Yuehua, anxious, said, “Why don’t you go and see for yourself?”

That made sense—seeing is believing. Sun Xiaohui put down her chopsticks, followed Ruan Yuehua outside, and quietly stopped at the side room door, peeking inside.

Seeing Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie indeed eating grapes, her eyebrows furrowed deeply. She didn’t make a scene, quietly retreating back to the main room.

Seeing her return, Ruan Changgui asked, “Is it true?”

Sun Xiaohui, eyes filled with envy, sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and nodded, “They’re eating grapes.”

Ruan Yuehua chimed in, “Mom, I want to eat grapes, too.”

Ruan Changgui ignored him and continued asking Sun Xiaohui, “The old tailor gave them to Ruan Xi?”

Sun Xiaohui, holding her chopsticks, thought for a moment, her eyes filled with doubt, “Do you think the old tailor would give them to her? Maybe she…”

Lowering her voice, she said, “Maybe she stole them…”