Chapter 142 Having a child isn't something you can just achieve by trying harder.

The next day, Zhao Wenchang got up just as dawn was breaking.

He was afraid of waking Jiang Wanqiu, so he moved very quietly. After putting on his cotton-padded jacket and trousers and tucking the blanket around her, he left the room.

The cold wind howled outside, and Zhao Shan was already waiting in the yard with his old hunting rifle. The father and son exchanged a glance, said nothing, and with only a few cornbread cakes and a pot of hot water, they disappeared one after the other into the morning mist of the deep mountains and forests.

Gradually, there was movement inside the house.

Ping An had gotten up sometime earlier. He was very well-behaved and quietly started a fire in the kitchen, adding water to the large iron pot.

When Zhao Xiaohua got up, the fire in the stove was already burning brightly, and the water in the pot was steaming.

Ping An remained silent, head down, adding firewood to the stove, and then began helping the family fry fried dough sticks and brown rice cakes for the New Year.

The lard melted with a sizzling sound, and soon the kitchen was filled with an enticing aroma.

When Jiang Wanqiu woke up and got dressed, she found that her menstrual pad was clean.

She was a little confused; her period had only lasted one day.

Zhao Xiaohua came in carrying a bowl of steaming millet porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables.

"Late Autumn is awake? Quick, drink this while it's hot to warm yourself up."

Jiang Wanqiu had just sat up and hadn't even taken a couple of sips of her drink when the courtyard gate was pushed open, and a loud, cheerful voice rang out: "Is Sister-in-law Xiaohua home?"

It's Liu Erxing.

She lifted the curtain, bringing in a blast of cold air. She was also carrying a small cloth bag, which was bulging with contents.

"Oh, Wanqiu's here too? Are you feeling better?" Liu Erxing quickly took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), sitting cross-legged opposite Jiang Wanqiu. He put a cloth bag on the kang and said, "I thought you'd suffered a lot, so you need to eat something nourishing. Here are a few eggs that we've been saving at home to fill your stomach."

"I can't accept that, Sister-in-law Erxing, please take it back for the child." Zhao Xiaohua said politely, but she didn't refuse.

"Don't be so polite with me!" Liu Erxing waved his hand, but his eyes darted around the room, finally craning his neck to take a look at the kitchen.

Hearing the noise coming from inside, she pursed her lips: "Sister-in-law Xiaohua, I'm not trying to be mean, but outsiders are just outsiders, ungrateful wretches. Their hearts aren't truly connected. Look at Ping'an, that child, he ran away without a second thought, not remembering any of your kindness at all."

She then changed the subject and brought up her own son: "Look at my Wuqiang, he's so quick-witted. Ping'an's runaway yesterday finally woke him up, and he officially recognized Shitou as his godson that very day! Shitou is such an honest kid, he would never run off to the wild like that all the time."

These words struck a nerve, and Zhao Xiaohua's expression immediately turned sour.

Jiang Wanqiu held her bowl and slowly drank her porridge. Then she spoke calmly, "Sister-in-law Erxing, you can't be so absolute. Wenchang and Wuqiang are still young. They have a long life ahead of them and plenty of opportunities to have children. Why do they have to acknowledge someone else's son so quickly?"

Liu Erxing replied nonchalantly, "Opportunity? What opportunity? If there was an opportunity, the women in my family would have laid eggs long ago!"

“Let me say one more thing, sister-in-law, please don’t take it personally. Look around, it’s almost Chinese New Year, and who in the village even goes to your door? It’s all because they see that your Zhao family has so few men, just one son… They all think your family line is about to end, so there’s no point in trying to get in touch with you! It’s just that our two families depend on each other for survival…”

Zhao Xiaohua was embarrassed and was about to speak when Jiang Wanqiu gently tugged at her sleeve.

Jiang Wanqiu put down her bowl of porridge, looked at Liu Erxing, and said with a forced smile, "Sister-in-law Erxing, you can't be so absolute. Ping'an isn't an ungrateful child; he's just young and stubborn, and needs someone to properly guide him. Spears can produce filial children, but some people just respond better to gentleness than force. If you reason with him properly, he'll listen to you."

Liu Erxing was taken aback, then curled his lip in disdain: "Oh, my dear sister-in-law, you city people are so cunning, always spouting theories. But we country folk don't understand all that nonsense, we just believe in one thing: some people are just inherently bad! You can't straighten them out! How can you be as reliable as family, someone you know inside and out?"

She leaned forward and said, "Sister-in-law Xiaohua, I'm really thinking of you from the bottom of my heart. Your family isn't very large, so you don't have anyone to adopt. But my brother's side of the family has several boys, all as strong as calves, and they're all smart. They'll all amount to something in the future! If you really want to, I'll talk to my brother and we can adopt one of them. I guarantee they'll be a hundred times better than Ping An, who's from out of town!"

Jiang Wanqiu was so angry she laughed.

This person came here with this intention all along.

She retorted directly, "According to what you're saying, sister-in-law, are you implying that we in Wenchang are incompetent, or that our Zhao family has been completely wiped out, so we have to hand over all our possessions and favors to your Liu family, or to put it more politely, that your sons will take care of us in our old age and see us off when we die?"

When her motives were bluntly exposed, Liu Erxing's face flushed red. She was both angry and annoyed, and her voice rose: "How dare you talk like that, child! I was just trying to give you advice because I saw your family was all alone! Wenchang is a government employee now, what if something happens to him one day... You're left all alone as a woman, with that ungrateful Ping'an by your side, what are you after? Have you forgotten that old lady from Wangjiatun next door who was on welfare? She had no children, and last winter, she froze to death on her kang (heated brick bed), and it wasn't until three days later that she was discovered!"

Jiang Wanqiu retorted, "What if I could give birth to it?"

Liu Erxing was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then laughed and said, "Give birth? What are you going to use to give birth? Sister-in-law, it's not that I'm being rude, but everyone in this village knows that if Wenchang hadn't been incapable, would he have taken the initiative to adopt Ping'an? What decent man would abandon his own offspring to raise someone else's child? It's all because he had no other choice that he had to back down!"

But no matter how well she pleaded and explained, even if she talked herself hoarse, Jiang Wanqiu still said the same thing:

Until the very end, no one knows the outcome.

Seeing that Jiang Wanqiu was unmoved by his pleas, Liu Erxing lost interest and stood up to pat the wrinkles on his trousers.

"Alright, alright, I was just saying something. You guys figure things out your own business. My husband's waiting for me to come back and cook." She made up an excuse, lifted the curtain, and left without looking back.

Zhao Xiaohua sighed deeply, moved to Jiang Wanqiu's side, patted her back, and awkwardly comforted her, "Wanqiu, don't listen to her nonsense, and don't overthink it. Our family doesn't care about that. Even... even if we really don't have children in the future, what Wenchang has saved over the years, plus what your father and I have, is enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life. The money will all be left to you. As for Ping'an... you can decide how to give him. If he's going to raise you, give him some; if he's not, don't give him a single penny."

Jiang Wanqiu understood the meaning behind the words.

The trouble Ping An caused this time left a grudge in the Zhao family's hearts, and it also served as a wake-up call for the family.

Lunch was prepared by Ping An.

I had cabbage stew with glass noodles, two fried eggs, and leftover brown rice cakes from this morning.

The dishes were simple, but the glass noodles were smooth, the cabbage was tender, and the soup had a meaty aroma, making it exceptionally comforting to eat.

"Ping An, your cooking skills are getting better and better," Jiang Wanqiu praised as she ate.

The boy sitting opposite her, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly looked up, a glint of light flashing in his eyes before dimming again. He mumbled a reply: "...Thank you."

After dinner, someone in the village started setting off a few firecrackers, which crackled and popped, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Jiang Wanqiu looked out the window and said to Ping An, who was still clearing the dishes, "Ping An, why don't you go out and play with your friends for a while? Don't stay cooped up inside all the time."

Ping An shook her head and said in a low voice, "No, I still have to help Grandma prepare for the New Year."

Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve.

In the afternoon, Zhao Xiaohua packed a small basket of fried bean curd buns and pancakes from her home, intending to go to the village chief's house to pick up a few handwritten couplets.

"Mom, I'll go with you." Jiang Wanqiu had been lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) for two days, and her bones were practically melting from lying there.

My stomach isn't hurting as much today, I feel more energetic, and my appetite has improved.

"You've just recovered, and it's cold outside, so you should stay put," Zhao Xiaohua disagreed.

Jiang Wanqiu got off the kang (a heated brick bed), put on her thick cotton-padded coat, went over and took Zhao Xiaohua's arm, rested her head on her shoulder, and said in a soft voice, "Oh dear, I'm almost moldy, please take me out for some fresh air, I promise I'll wrap myself up tightly."

She was already beautiful, and when she showed weakness like this, no one could harden their heart. Zhao Xiaohua was most susceptible to this, and helplessly tapped her forehead: "You, I really can't do anything with you. Okay, put on the dog-skin hat and wrap the scarf properly, you can't complain about being cold."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law covered themselves up, leaving only their eyes showing, and walked towards the village chief's house with uneven steps.

Before I even reached the door, I could hear a great deal of noise coming from inside.

The village chief's house was indeed bustling with activity. The courtyard and house were crowded with people, all there to pick up the couplets and gossip.

A large octagonal table was placed in the center of the main room. A young man wearing glasses was wielding a brush and ink, while a group of people surrounded him, pointing and offering their opinions.

"Wow, this handwriting is so elegant and beautiful!"

"Yeah, it's even more exciting than my dragon and phoenix painting!"

"Isn't that a picture of a hen catching a worm?"

"screw you!"

Most people in the countryside are illiterate; they just enjoy the spectacle. They don't understand concepts like "strokes" or "style," but they believe that the more curves the black ink makes on red paper, the more learned the person is.

"Qingfeng, draw me a big gold ingot, the kind that makes you rich just by looking at it!" a dark-faced man shouted.

The young man writing was Li Qingfeng. Hearing this, he just smiled bitterly, but his pen did not stop.

At this moment, a man with a pointed face and monkey-like features squeezed to the front of the table, picked up a newly written couplet with an air of importance, squinted at it for a long time, and clicked his tongue in admiration: "Hmm, good, good lines! Profound meaning and extraordinary implications!"

Someone immediately nudged him and shouted with laughter, "Old Zhao, what are you pretending to be, a cultured person? You're holding the couplet upside down!"