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"Honor your parents-in-law, raise your children with kindness."
Just these simple eight words.
Yet they struck Xu Xiaofen like a heavy blow, leaving her frozen in place, and with a ’thud’, the joyous red notebook in her hand was thrown back onto the desk.
This notebook, an old one from more than a decade ago, was a gift from Old Uncle Xie Jingwei when he got married.
At that ti, a red notebook like this was an extrely precious gift.
Therefore, Xie Jingwei always treasured it, and Xu Xiaofen could tell which one it was as soon as he ntioned it.
Yet just these simple eight words, hurt more than a hard slap across her face.
Ever since Yan Jinsu married into the family, Xu Xiaofen felt trendous imbalance in her heart, especially since her mother-in-law always took Yan Jinsu’s side, showing complete distrust in her.
After the incident with Wang Xiaocui, which caused her mother-in-law to fall ill, Xu Xiaofen felt even more disgruntled; thankfully, the family had been divided beforehand. However, the manner of division only intensified her resentnt.
It was split equally among the siblings, and in the end, Xiaoqi received an extra share!
Xiaoqi’s mother was lowly, so why should she get a share of the Xie Family’s property? What was most infuriating was that none of the brothers spoke out against it!
Xu Xiaofen had been the dutiful daughter-in-law for so many years, she didn’t want to lose the good reputation she had maintained under these circumstances.
At the sa ti, she was very clear inside that once all the Xie brothers had agreed, it really wasn’t the daughters-in-law’s business!
The Xie Family was that authoritarian! When it ca to dividing the family, only the fathers had a say.
And not just the third branch of the Xie Family, the entire Xie clan, including the Zhou family from the sa village, was the sa!
Looking at these eight words, Xu Xiaofen remained silent for a long ti.
Xu Xiaofen sat on the bed with her face in her hands, silent; she sat from the rise of the moon until it rose again...
On the other side, in the front courtyard, as soon as Xie Jinggang arrived and learned Xiao Ba had a fever again, which subsided only after taking the second sister-in-law’s dicine, he was filled with gratitude towards her.
Yan Jinsu gestured with her hand that it wasn’t necessary to be so formal among family. After Xiao Ba took the dicine, he had a good two-hour sleep and woke up to actually swallow half a bowl of at porridge, which thrilled Xie Jinggang and his wife to no end.
The child had been having fevers and making a fuss at alti since four days ago, hardly able to eat much congee.
And Lin Caixia’s milk was not plentiful; starting when the child was just over seven months old, breastfeeding could only satisfy him halfway.
By the ti Xiao Ba was ten months old, nursing would only last half an hour, and then they had to feed him rice paste until it progressed to mushy congee.
Now they saw that after taking one dose of dicine, Xiao Ba’s condition improved greatly, and he even had an appetite for porridge, Lin Caixia was so happy that tears fell straight down.
When Xiao Ba wasn’t well, as a mother, she was the most worried.
Her previous skepticism about her second sister-in-law’s dicine was just her being overly cautious as a mother.
Apart from Xie Jinghong and Zhou Xiuhua, the mother-daughter pair, who were upset about Lin Caixia’s ingratitude, Yan Jinsu didn’t have much of an emotional response.
Not to sound harsh, but the child isn’t hers by birth; she’s fulfilled her duties as an aunt. Whether her younger brother and sister-in-law need her help, that’s not sothing she can decide.
Fortunately, Xiao Ba got better. Xiaojiu and Xiao Shi, upon waking up, saw a little one of their own kind who was almost the sa as them, their expressions rich with variety.
Xiao Shi was the most perplexed, and even let out a big ’ah’. Just as Zhou Xiuhua thought her granddaughter was about to cry from fright, the little one pointed at her grandma, then at Xiao Ba, babbling non-stop.
Out of everyone in the room, only Yan Jinsu and Xiaojiu understood the girl’s intention. However, Xiaojiu couldn’t speak yet, and Yan Jinsu didn’t feel like talking.
This tiny girl, despite being the youngest, was actually saying to bring over her ’little brother’!
It was also because Xiao Ba was thin, especially after the recent fever. Sores had developed in his mouth and throat, and he couldn’t eat anything, looking even less robust than Xiaojiu and Xiao Shi at only five months old.
It was Xie Tiesheng who ’guessed’ Xiao Shi’s intent and signaled Xie Jinggang to put Xiao Ba in the bed shared by Xiao Ba and Xiao Shi.
Now, the three little ones started chattering non-stop, with Xiao Ba and Xiao Shi being the loudest and most cheerful!
This bed was brought back today from the town post office by Xie Tiesheng and his eldest son. Also returning with them were five large parcels, making it six in total which, when pulled back by the tractor, was quite the spectacle.
This caused Mr. Xie to return ho past five o’clock, consequence of which was Xiao Wu getting slapped by her mother for not having cooked dinner.
Xiao Wu was having so much fun with Xiaoqi that she completely forgot about making dinner. By the ti she rembered, it was already dark, leading to her subsequent suffering.
After the parcels arrived, Xie Tiesheng directly moved four of the large ones into the west wing.
They were originally packed by Third Son’s Wife to bring back, full of clothes, goods, and gifts, so it was natural to move them.
Watching this action, Xie Jingwei knew that his older brother’s accomplishnts in Rong District must be considerable.
Just from the two parcels their father kept for himself, it was evident the items were quite valuable.
While traveling by train back ho, with only three adults but four children to mind, aside from a change of clothes, they returned empty-handed.
Their luggage was directly shipped back ho by Jingchen, so they could retrieve it from the post office upon their arrival.
There was no worry about the ti difference; as long as they claid the parcels within half a month, there would be no issues.
The entire Xie family, except for Xu Xiaofen who hadn’t arrived yet, ate with great delight.
Yan Jinsu was a skilled cook, and since the grandma had earned quite a bit in the county town, Xie Tiesheng didn’t skimp when buying at and vegetables. Yan Jinsu used two big hocks to stew peanuts and pig’s trotters till the broth was gelatinous, and both the trotters and peanuts were so tender and flavorful that it was suitable for both the elderly and children.
Only Xiao Ba, Xiaojiu, and the other three could just sll the aroma; the children were too young, and peanuts could cause bloating, so they dared not let them taste it.
However, Yan Jinsu had also made stead egg custard for them, with each small child getting a minced at and egg custard, smooth and tender, and even Xiao Yi got a share.
Yan Jinsu felt that the few nephews at ho were truly malnourished. The stead eggs were highly nourishing, and she had added minced at for even more nutrition.
Xiaoqi and the older children could gnaw at the pig trotters, their small mouths oily and their little faces beaming with joy as their caregivers watched with utmost happiness.
Being parents, isn’t all their hard work for the sake of letting their children eat well?
When Xie Jingwei saw Xiao Wu only manage to nibble a small piece of at due to the pain in her jaw, his heart was filled with guilt and self-bla. At this mont, he felt that he should no longer be soft-hearted!
Xiao Wu is so young, yet she is not as tall as Xiaoqi, and even among the children, her complexion is the worst!
For the sake of the children, he could no longer afford to be soft-hearted or make compromises!
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