The visitor was none other than Zhao Zhitong’s Younger Uncle, Sun i’s brother, Sun Youcai.
Seeing her three sons arrive, Zhao Guifen deliberately raised her voice, saying, "Look, your brothers are here! Our maiden family has plenty of people. My precious granddaughter has people to love her!"
Her Uncle, Sun Youli, was simple and honest. Hearing Zhao Guifen’s words, he imdiately pounded his chest and yelled, "Damn it! Whoever bullies my sister and nephew, I, Sun Youli, will be the first to deal with them!"
The Younger Uncle and Eldest Uncle naturally knew this was to establish their sister’s standing and imdiately voiced their agreent.
At this mont, perhaps hearing the commotion outside, the daughter-in-law of the eldest Zhao family branch, who was from the Zhu Clan, opened the door and glanced outside.
Sun i, rely intending to ask, spoke up, "Elder Sister-in-law, my maiden family is here. Do you want them to help you move as well?"
Sun i’s intentions were good, but her kindness was t with ingratitude. "Stop your pretense!" the other woman retorted.
BANG. The door slamd shut again.
The scene fell silent for a mont, until Zhao Guifen finally spoke, breaking the quiet.
"Alright, alright, there’s still a lot of work to do. Hurry and help your sister move."
They got straight to work. The courtyard they were moving into was an old residence of the Zhao Family, uninhabited for a long ti, and needed repairs and cleaning first.
Zhao Dong and Sun i’s uncles naturally took on the task of repairing the house, while Sun i was assigned to pack their belongings.
"Mother, you stay ho and pack. I’ll go clean," Sun i said, rushing forward to stop Zhao Guifen, who was looking for a broom and a wooden basin.
"I don’t know where your things are. You do the packing; I’ll go." Zhao Guifen waved her hand dismissively. "Hurry up and pack. When you’re done, go to the Village Chief’s house to borrow a handcart."
Sun i couldn’t win against her mother, so she had to agree.
Zhao Zhitong, unable to contain her restlessness, eagerly wanted to go to the new house with Zhao Dong and her uncles. She grabbed her Younger Uncle’s hand, jumping up and down with excitent. "We’re moving to a new house! I want to go clean the new house too! I’m really good at sweeping!"
Repairing the house would undoubtedly involve a lot of work, and everyone would be too busy to look after Zhao Zhitong. So, Zhao Dong firmly refused her request, "No, sweetie. Look, Mommy will be so lonely packing all by herself. Daddy has an important job for you: help Daddy keep Mommy company, okay?"
Zhao Zhitong looked left and right, torn between her desire to go out and play and the sight of her mother packing alone. She pursed her lips and nodded solemnly, "Okay, I’ll keep Mommy company."
With the arrangents made, the family sprang into action. Truthfully, there wasn’t much to pack. Sun i found a few large bedsheets and wrapped up all the clothes and quilts in them.
The room they lived in had a kang, a heated brick bed, so there was no actual bed to move. The only large item was a black wooden cabinet.
By the ti Sun i returned from the Village Chief’s house with a borrowed handcart, several of her brother’s lively children had also run over. Though not very big, they could still help with cleaning and moving small bundles.
Around noon, Zhao Zhitong’s grandfather returned from his dical rounds and ca over to see how things were progressing.
With the help of her grandfather and his family, the new house was mostly set up and tidy by evening.
The courtyard followed a traditional design, sitting north and facing south. The main building was the largest wooden structure, internally divided by wooden planks into three sections: a wing room on the east, another on the west, and the central hall serving as the living room.
The earthen floors in the rooms had been turned over and re-laid with wooden planks. The entire place had been cleaned thoroughly, but a faint sll of dust lingered. This would dissipate after a few days of being lived in, once the house absorbed so human warmth.
A wooden structure on the east side of the courtyard served as the kitchen, which was connected to a woodshed. Outside the woodshed was a small, empty patch of land that Sun i planned to use for a vegetable garden.
On the west side, there was also a small hut filled with miscellaneous items. To the southwest, behind the house, stood a pigsty connected to an outhouse.
The courtyard wall, made of adobe bricks, was originally about a ter high, allowing an adult outside to easily see into the yard.
However, Zhao Dong and several of Sun i’s uncles had rebuilt it, making it taller and sturdier.
Fortunately, the new ho ca with so furniture like beds, tables, and chairs. Although worn out, they were still usable, sparing them the need to hastily build a bed overnight.
Once the new ho was settled, Zhao Zhitong’s grandmother, uncles, and young male cousins prepared to leave.
Zhao Zhitong, having had a wonderful ti playing with her young male cousins, was very reluctant to see them go and clung to them, refusing to let them leave.
Sun i also wanted to keep them for a al, but they refused adamantly and hurried out the door, almost as if fearing Sun i would insist they stay for dinner.
"Your mother and brothers are truly wonderful," Zhao Dong remarked, standing at the door and watching his mother-in-law and brothers-in-law depart. He couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.
"Yes," Sun i replied, her voice thick with emotion as she choked up several tis. "In my previous life, my own mother was just like Mother in this life—worried about her entire life, yet in the end, she never got to enjoy any comfort from ..."
In her previous life, Sun i’s mother had died in a car accident shortly after Sun i’s wedding. This beca an enduring pain for her—the sorrow of "the child wishes to provide care, but the parents are no longer there."
"Dearest, don’t be sad," Zhao Dong comforted her. "Your mother in this life looks just like your mother from your previous life. Perhaps this is fate, Heaven giving us a chance to make ands. In the future, we will be truly filial to our mother."
"Mm, perhaps it truly is fate," Sun i murmured.
While the couple was reflecting on the workings of fate, Zhao Zhitong, still not quite over the sadness of her cousins’ departure, suddenly had an idea. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Sun i and said earnestly, "Mommy, can you give an older brother?"
Sun i, still caught in her lancholy, was speechless. "..."
Zhao Dong paused, then bent down, picked up his precious daughter, and laughed heartily. "Your mommy doesn’t have that ability."
"Why not? Eldest Aunt and Aunt can have older brothers, so why can’t Mommy?" Zhao Zhitong pressed.
Zhao Dong was montarily stumped. "Well, your mommy... at best, she can give you a younger brother or sister, but she can’t give you an older brother."
Zhao Zhitong still didn’t understand, blinking her eyes as she pondered her daddy’s words.
Only when the figures of her grandfather’s family disappeared at the end of the road did Sun i finally close the door.
Zhao Zhitong was, after all, only a four-and-a-half-year-old child. With a child’s fleeting attention, after a few coaxing words from Zhao Dong, she soon forgot about wanting an older brother and was happily playing in the courtyard.
anwhile, Sun i and Zhao Dong stood in the kitchen, troubled by the sight of their single bag of flour.
"We’re out of vegetables. What are we going to eat tonight?" Sun i lanted, rubbing her growling stomach, her face etched with worry.
Previously, they had lived with the main branch of the family, and there was only one vegetable garden. Now that they had separated from them, they no longer had a share of it.
The leftover bok choy had been eaten at noon. Now, all they had in the house was flour and absolutely nothing else.
Zhao Dong was worried too, but he didn’t let it show on his face. After a mont’s thought, he said, "Dearest, don’t worry. I’ll go to the neighbors and try to borrow so vegetables. Let’s have dinner first, and then we’ll figure sothing out."
Sun i sighed. "I suppose that’s all we can do for now."
Zhao Dong offered a few more words of comfort to his wife, then turned and headed outside.
Watching her husband’s sowhat unsteady gait, Sun i began to worry about their future.
Just then, Zhao Dong, who had just stepped out to borrow vegetables, suddenly returned. In his hands, he carried a bag of rice and a crate of eggs!
Before Sun i could even ask, Zhao Dong burst out excitedly, "i! Our Tongtong’s space—it transmigrated with us! And all the supplies we stockpiled before, they’re still there!"
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