Chapter 53.1

Li Xiao had been away for more than half a month, and by the time he returned, it was already late November. He brought back two large boxes, and aside from ten roasted ducks, most of the contents were gifts for Jiang Rou and An An—clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Anyone who didn’t know might have thought he went to the capital to buy in bulk.

Fortunately, it was cold now, or the roasted ducks packed in the boxes might have gone bad.

Li Xiao explained, “There are quite a few shops selling roasted ducks in the capital, and I didn’t know which one was good, so I just bought one from every restaurant.”

Jiang Rou didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.

An An was the happiest. She had not seen her father for many days—she clutched a bowl of pomegranate and circled around him.

This was something Jiang Rou had bought for her. Each time, she would put the pomegranate seeds into the bowl, eat them herself, and then spit out the seeds after tasting them.

She handed the small bowl to her father, wanting him to eat some pomegranate.

Li Xiao was not polite and deliberately took the whole bowl.

The little one was not angry; she sat on her father’s lap, picking a pomegranate seed from the bowl and feeding it to him, “Daddy, eat.”

Li Xiao’s expression softened. He lifted her onto his lap, placed the bowl back in her hands, and said, “You eat it yourself, Daddy isn’t hungry.”

Li Xiao had a meal and a nap at noon before going to the factory. It was the weekend, and Jiang Rou stayed home with the children to read.

By evening, when the meal was ready and Li Xiao had not yet returned, Jiang Rou took the children next door, carrying two roasted ducks.

She knocked on the door next door, and Zhou Hong answered. “Auntie?”

Zhou Hong had recently started school, and Jiang Rou had not seen him often. Noticing two marks on his chin, she couldn’t help but ask, “What happened? Did you fall?”

Zhou Hong instinctively lowered his head, raising a hand to cover the marks, and mumbled an answer.

Jiang Rou was about to ask further when Mother Zhou’s voice came from inside, “Is that Xiao Rou?”

A person walked out of the house.

Jiang Rou had no choice but to mention Li Xiao’s return. “I heard the roasted ducks in the capital are quite good, so I had him bring some back. I brought two over for you to try.”

Mother Zhou exclaimed in surprise and quickly waved her hand. “You keep this good stuff for yourselves; we have meat at home.”

Jiang Rou smiled and pushed the two roasted ducks into her hands. “We still have plenty at home. Li Xiao bought a lot of time, so you should try some too. I need to go now; the dishes are still on the stove.”

Mother Zhou felt she couldn’t insist further. “Then you’d better go quickly, don’t let the food burn.”

Jiang Rou agreed with a smile, and as she was leaving, she couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Hong. Seeing him standing against the wall with his back to it, she paused and waved at him. “Zhou Hong, come here. We haven’t seen you for several days. Your little sister has missed you. Come next door and play with her for a while.”

Zhou Hong looked at Mother Zhou.

Mother Zhou smiled kindly at him. “Go and play with your little sister for a while. Grandma’s meal isn’t ready yet.”

Zhou Hong followed Jiang Rou next door.

Back at home, Jiang Rou asked the two children to watch TV in the living room while she went to the kitchen to steam an egg custard.

Afterward, she went to the room to get a small medicine box.

In the living room, the two children were sitting side by side on the sofa, watching TV. An An kept asking her brother about what was on the screen, and Zhou Hong answered her patiently each time.

When Jiang Rou approached the medicine box, she grabbed a handful of candy from the coffee table and stuffed it into his pocket.

Zhou Hong looked a bit awkward. “Auntie…”

Jiang Rou patted him on the head. “You eat the candy and continue watching. Auntie will take care of your wounds.”

Zhou Hong sat still, afraid to move.

Jiang Rou gently explained, “Even though you fell, you should always tell your parents. Open wounds can easily get infected, so they need to be treated.”

She sat next to Zhou Hong, opened the small medicine box, and began to tend to his wounds. The injuries weren’t severe, but they were bleeding. Jiang Rou cleaned them with a cotton swab, disinfected them with iodine, and then applied antibiotic ointment and medical gauze.

In addition to his chin, Zhou Hong also had abrasions on his left hand, which Jiang Rou treated as well. After finishing, she told him, “Try to avoid getting these wounds wet for the next few days.”

Zhou Hong nodded and looked at Jiang Rou with gratitude. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Jiang Rou patted his head and told him to continue watching cartoons while she went to her room to read.

After Jiang Rou left, An An, mimicking her mother, also patted Zhou Hong’s head.

Zhou Hong smiled and playfully poked her cheek, making An An laugh.

In the evening, Li Xiao came back and mentioned he was planning to celebrate the New Year at the factory with the employees. “This is the result of discussions with others. We’ll buy a TV for the cafeteria, so we can watch the Spring Festival Gala while we eat.”

Jiang Rou knew the night of the Spring Festival would likely be busy, possibly requiring overnight work.

“That’s fine,” Jiang Rou responded. “It’ll save us from cooking. I’ll go to the cafeteria to help Wang Yan that day.”

Li Xiao lay on the bed, thinking for a moment before turning over to coax An An to sleep. However, the little one refused to sleep and wanted to play with her father.

Li Xiao was at a loss.

Jiang Rou, watching from the side, smiled.

After finally getting An An to sleep, Li Xiao picked up Jiang Rou and took her to the bathroom. As soon as he closed the door, An An’s sleepy voice called out from outside, “Mommy—”

She had climbed out of bed and was knocking on the bathroom door.

The bathroom door was made of glass, and with the light on inside, shadows could be seen.

The little one thought they were playing hide and seek and giggled, “Found you.”

Li Xiao opened the door with a blank expression. The little one happily rushed over, hugging his leg and looking up with a smile, “Daddy.”

Jiang Rou, who was standing behind, found it hard not to laugh.

On Thursday afternoon, Jiang Rou got home late from school. By the time she returned with An An after buying groceries, it was nearly six in the evening, and it was already getting dark.

Upon entering the community, they ran into Zhou Hong at the elevator. Zhou Hong seemed to have had a rough day—his clothes were torn in places, his face had several bruises, and his backpack was dirty with a lot of dust.

Jiang Rou was taken aback and asked him once they were in the elevator, “What happened?”

Zhou Hong looked up at Jiang Rou and said, “Auntie,” before explaining, “I fell.”

An An, holding her mother’s hand, saw her brother and her eyes crinkled with a smile. “Gege.”

Zhou Hong smiled back at her, though the smile only stretched his lips slightly before he winced in pain.

Jiang Rou remained silent. The previous injuries looked like they were from falling, but this time, they appeared more like someone had hit him.

She was aware of Zhou’s family situation. Zhou Jian and Wang Yan were both deeply involved in the factory. Zhou Jian was always busy, and Wang Yan had a lot on her plate, from managing the cafeteria to taking care of their younger son. Mother Zhou had always been in poor health, and Zhou Hong was a good child. At first, he was picked up and dropped off by his grandmother, but once he learned the route, he went to and from school by himself every day.

Since there were other people in the elevator and Zhou Hong seemed reluctant to talk, Jiang Rou didn’t press him.

However, later that evening, she couldn’t help but bring it up with Li Xiao. “Has Zhou Hong been bullied by his classmates? I’ve seen him with injuries twice now.”

Li Xiao responded nonchalantly, “It’s normal for boys to fight. Who didn’t fight when they were young? I was in fights almost every day when I was a kid.”

Jiang Rou thought this comparison was unfair.

She glared at him, “What if it were An An?”

Li Xiao’s expression immediately turned cold. “Then I’d see who dared.”

“…” She had never seen such a double standard.

Jiang Rou said with irritation, “Zhou Hong is not much older than An An; he’s still a child. I see Zhou Jian and his wife are busy and might not have noticed this. You should tell Zhou Jian about it tomorrow. It’s not good for him to keep being bullied.”

She had watched Zhou Hong grow up over the years. When Wang Yan raised him alone, he was thoughtful and quiet. It was only after Zhou Jian became his father that he became a bit more lively, though he was still more well-behaved than other children his age.

This kind of obedience was different from An An’s. An An was naturally well-behaved, while Zhou Hong’s obedience seemed to be a result of his family environment, making him a bit sensitive.

Zhou Jian and Wang Yan were somewhat careless. Their child’s clothing and accessories still resembled those from a county town—his backpack was an old cross-body bag made from used clothes—while children here typically had better attire and double-shoulder backpacks.

Li Xiao thought Jiang Rou was overthinking it. “What’s the big deal about kids fighting? You’re just making a fuss.”

Jiang Rou looked at him expressionlessly. “Are you going or not?”

Li Xiao quickly changed his tone. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll talk to Zhou Jian about it tomorrow, is that okay?”

Jiang Rou huffed; he was infuriating.

However, Li Xiao’s intervention didn’t seem to have much effect. A few days later, when Jiang Rou saw Zhou Hong again, she noticed not only had his previous injuries not healed, but he had also acquired more bruises—one on his forehead and another below his ear as if someone had pinched him.

Jiang Rou couldn’t ignore it. That evening, she took some strawberries and An An next door. Wang Yan was at home, busy feeding their younger son. Zhou Jian, knowing An An still had milk powder, had bought some for his son, hoping he would grow up well like An An.

Wang Yan welcomed them with a smile. After entering, Jiang Rou looked around and saw Zhou Hong in the small room, facing away from the door, doing his homework.

Jiang Rou and Wang Yan sat on the sofa. Knowing Wang Yan’s personality, Jiang Rou didn’t beat around the bush and directly asked her if Zhou Hong was being bullied at school, as she often saw him with injuries.

To her surprise, Wang Yan seemed unconcerned and smiled as she replied, “It’s nothing. Kids getting hurt while playing is normal. Who didn’t go through this when they were young?”

“He’s already been asked by his dad, and he said he just accidentally bumped into someone while playing with classmates.”

Jiang Rou was at a loss for words.

Jiang Rou realized that Zhou Jian and Wang Yan’s approach to parenting was similar to Li Xiao’s—both were hands-off, viewing bullying and fighting as normal parts of growing up since they had experienced the same in their own childhoods.

This was somewhat reminiscent of her own childhood. Although she had never fought as a girl, her brother often came home with injuries from playing outside all day.

When her nephew was born, she and her sister-in-law would worry excessively over any little bump or bruise, while her parents considered their concerns overblown, thinking it was nothing serious.

However, being involved in fights and being bullied were different matters. Zhou Hong, who had previously been very tanned from working in the countryside, was now in the city where he was unfamiliar with the local language and customs. It was understandable that he might be bullied.

Sometimes, children’s cruelty was beyond imagination.

Jiang Rou didn’t want to say much to Wang Yan. Wang Yan and Zhou Jian were already good parents in their own way; their thoughts on parenting just differed. Even Jiang Rou couldn’t claim to be perfect, and there were areas where she needed to be understanding with An An.