Chapter 284: Re-dividing the Family 2: When you give birth, I will take care of the child and cook...

Tang Fengyuan was not at all willing to get involved in the Chu family's affairs, but after all, she was a police officer.

I had no choice but to put down my chopsticks and go out to talk, so as not to spoil other people's appetite.

Mr. Chu's request was simple. He wanted to live with his son, not his daughter. As for his wife, he couldn't persuade her, so he just let her be.

He felt that this request was reasonable. He was about to become a grandfather, and he would rather give the money to his own grandchildren than let the Zhang child take advantage of him.

Tang Fengyuan was speechless. What had he done before? If he had shown a firm attitude and said a few fair words when the family was divided, Chu Lingze would not have been completely disheartened.

I could only advise, "Old Chu, your two children separated last year and signed an agreement. It's only been so long, and you're regretting it? I doubt Ling Ze would agree. Besides, you still have a formal job and can support yourself. Unlike those elderly people who can't take care of themselves or have lost their source of income, they can't force their children to take them in. How can I talk to them?"

Tang Fengyuan's implication was that Old Chu had to go over and initiate the matter himself, so that others could help persuade him.

Old Chu thought for a moment and replied, "Then I'll go talk to him after get off work tonight. Can you come with me then?"

Tang Fengyuan had a headache. What did he have to do with her? Was she free? She thought about it and simply pushed the matter aside: "You go to the street office. I'm very busy recently and may not be able to leave work on time."

"Okay then." Old Chu didn't want to force the issue, so he turned around and went to find Old Mao again.

Aunt Mao did not refuse and accompanied Father Chu to the woolen mill dormitory in the evening.

Unexpectedly, when Chu Lingze saw his father coming, he closed the door directly without giving him any room for maneuver. Aunt Mao could only persuade him through the door.

But it was no use. Chu Lingze was determined not to associate with such parents. Poor Aunt Mao wasted a lot of time talking, but there was no movement at all. In the end, she could only shake her head and said, "Let's go. I'm not saying anything bad about you. You asked for it."

Mr. Chu's hard days came. Every morning, he was woken up by Director Zhang's son. The child ate a lot and got hungry quickly. The first thing he did when he woke up was to take a spoon and a bowl and knock on the bowl at the door.

Chu's mother had no choice but to get up quickly and cook. It was okay because it was summer now, but when it came to winter, who knows how torturous it would be.

Every day after get off work, as soon as Mr. Chu put down his bowl of rice, he saw that the only bit of meat in the dish had been snatched away by the child, so he could only eat the green vegetables and cucumbers that had little oil or water.

He put down his chopsticks and questioned Chu's mother: "Look at you, what have you been doing all day? Either don't cook meat, or cook more. With just these two bites, you might as well eat porridge."

"What can I do? Our daughter finally got married, so I have to help her take care of this child. Otherwise, if there are problems in the relationship between the couple, they will divorce and remarry. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?" Mother Chu had her own reasons. She also disliked this child, but what could she do? She wanted to be the mother-in-law of the factory director.

In the past, people looked down on her, but now when she walks in the alley, many people fawn over her, and she feels much more confident.

Therefore, she would rather give her child some shredded meat or minced meat to fill his teeth with every meal, so that the child would not complain when he saw his father.

Mr. Chu really couldn't stand it anymore, so he had to take half a day off to do ideological work on Li Xiaorui.

When Li Xiaorui is not at work and Chu Lingze is not at home, she is usually in the bamboo products store or in the dormitory.

She is not sociable and always does things quietly. Occasionally, when her sister goes crazy, she will put down what she is doing and go over to comfort her.

Even though she already knew that her sister was pretending to be mentally ill, she could do nothing about it.

What could her sister do? Her only request now was that her sister would be more obedient and lend a hand during her confinement after giving birth.

She didn't expect her mother-in-law to come and take care of her during the confinement period. She would just give her some money every day and ask the neighbors to help her buy some vegetables from the market.

Just cook some pickled vegetable porridge every day, and wait for Chu Lingze to come back to wash the clothes and diapers. Why can't you do this for a month?

So when Mr. Chu came and was turned away that day, she did not try to persuade Chu Lingze.

It was a hot day, and her sister was sleeping soundly in the inner room. She had just bought some groceries and was leaving the door and windows open for ventilation. She was sitting in the outer room preparing her baby's diapers. The draft was strong, so she didn't need to turn on the electric fan, which saved some electricity.

Her mother and her younger sister didn't throw away their clothes. One reason was that they couldn't bear to do so, and the other was that they wanted to keep them as a memory. Now that she is about to give birth, the memory can only exist in a different form. Otherwise, where can she find so much fabric?

She was holding a pair of scissors and was tearing the sleeve of a shirt along the stitches. While she was busy, Chu's father came over.

Li Xiaorui didn't want to talk to him any more, so she didn't even raise her eyelids. After taking off the shirt, she took off the autumn clothes and trousers that her younger sister used to wear. This kind of material absorbs water and can be kept for use at night, while the material of the shirt does not absorb water and can be kept during the day.

Seeing that his daughter-in-law didn't say anything, Mr. Chu had no choice but to bite the bullet and grab a small stool to sit down.

He pulled out ten Great Unity notes from his canvas bag. "I submitted a few articles to the newspaper some time ago. These are my royalties, legally earned. Take them and buy something for the child. I've already told the sugar factory that after you give birth, I'll take care of the child and cook. Aside from washing your pants, I can do everything else. Just focus on taking care of the baby and don't worry about being left without care."

Li Xiaorui found this quite strange. After such a long stalemate, he was suddenly willing to give in to them? Did he really think she didn't know the reason?

She said sarcastically, "You'd better take it and spend it on your grandson. I can't afford to offend your precious daughter."

Father Chu's face was burning with anger. It seemed that his daughter-in-law also knew that the old couple had been taken advantage of.

His own grandson is in northern Shaanxi, and now his daughter has to force him to raise the Zhang family's child. I wonder how the neighbors will laugh at them behind their backs.

He was embarrassed, but helpless, so he made his position clear: "I only have one grandson, and his surname is Shan, not Zhang. Xiao Rui, I really want to come here to help. You two are both parents for the first time, and you have to take care of a mentally ill sister. You will be too busy. Not only will the adults suffer, but the child will suffer too. I am the child's biological grandfather, how can I feel at ease with you?"

Li Xiaorui did not respond. Even though she knew that what Mr. Chu said made sense, such a thing could not be easily forgiven.

Otherwise, those parents who have been partial to their children for decades, when they are old, can just squeeze out some cat urine and stay in the homes of their children who were once neglected?

No one is a fool. The grievances suffered in the past will always be a thorn. Even if it is pulled out, it will leave a hole in the original place, which will hurt your heart.

No matter what Mr. Chu said next, she ignored him. The old man looked ashamed and left.

She packed up the cut diapers and prepared to go to the shared kitchen to cook. When she went out, she saw that Father Chu had already washed the vegetables and had even gotten a piece of meat from somewhere, which he was stewing on the gas stove.

She actually smelled the smell just now and originally thought that the neighbors were cooking, after all, Cao Guangyuan's wife was in confinement after giving birth. She didn't expect that it was Chu's father who was busy.

She was pregnant and didn't want to squeeze in front of the stove. It would be bad if she bumped into something. So she could only retreat to the room with a cold face and take off her sweater.

When Chu Lingze came home from get off work, his father had already left. Seeing the food on the table, he thought it was cooked by Li Xiaorui and asked curiously, "Don't you have any meat coupons at home? Did you go to the black market?"

"No, your dad bought it. I ignored him and he ran to the kitchen to cook." Li Xiaorui was indeed a little greedy. She didn't have much oil and water when she was pregnant, and could only have one egg a day.

Chu Lingze was also a little embarrassed. If he didn't eat it, it would be a waste, but if he ate it, he would get angry.

Forget it, Xiao Rui has suffered a lot with him, let’s eat first.

After dinner, he came to the alley to find his father, converted the meat ticket into cash, and gave it to Chu's father together with the money for the meat.

When Mr. Chu refused to take it, he turned around and stuffed the money directly into the hands of the child digging in the mud.

When he left, he warned, "Don't disturb Xiao Rui and me. Just hold your precious grandson and live your life well!"

Father Chu's face was burning with anger and he felt extremely ashamed, but he was determined to restore the father-son relationship, so he went again the next day.

The first and second times, Chu Lingze didn't get angry, but after a few times, he refused to eat anymore and directly ran to the alley with the hot food to give it to his father.

His father refused to take it, so he put it on the ground at the door and said, "Forget it if you don't want it. Just feed it to the dogs."

Anyway, there are dogs in the alley, and they can bark a few times after eating, so it’s not a waste.

Father Chu was completely at his wit's end and had to wait until Li Xiaorui was too busy with her confinement. Then she would probably not chase him away.

At the end of the month, Li Xiaorui gave birth to a boy weighing only 4.2 jin. It was obvious that she was malnourished during pregnancy, so much so that the mother herself did not gain a few jins.

When Mr. Chu received the news, he quickly took a leave of absence, bought a crucian carp, stewed it into soup, and then went to his neighbors' homes and the vegetable market to scrape together a dozen eggs. Finally, he brought two bunches of brown sugar and a can of malted milk and came to the hospital to visit his eldest grandson.

When they got there, Chu Lingze had just gone back to make soup. No one was there. Only Li Xiaorui was lying tiredly on the hospital bed, holding the hungry baby in her arms, looking pale and weak.

Father Chu felt very upset, so he quickly opened the lunch box, let it cool down a little, and let Li Xiaorui drink the fish soup while it was hot.

Li Xiaorui turned her head away, refusing to drink. Just then, a nurse came in to help her with her milk production and advised, "It's no use not producing milk. Do you want to starve the baby? Drink some quickly!"

Li Xiaorui had no choice but to bite the bullet and drink the milky white crucian carp soup.

The human body is amazing. When it lacks oil and water, no matter how hard you squeeze it, it will be useless. But if you eat a little bit, the effect will come soon.

Mr. Chu was waiting outside. He was relieved when he heard the nurse come out and tell him that the baby had milk to drink.

The nurse reminded her, "She's clearly malnourished. Go back and prepare the fish soup for dinner. Otherwise, the milk will be too thin and the baby will suffer. Besides, it won't be long before she runs out of milk."

That wouldn't do. Father Chu quickly agreed. When he went to the ward to pack up the lunch boxes, Chu Lingze came with chicken soup. When the father and son met, they stared at each other.

Father Chu smiled awkwardly, "Xiao Rui has milk now. The nurse praised the fish soup I made. I'll go back and get another crucian carp. I'll also take the dirty diapers with me. I'll hang them in the yard downstairs after I wash them. You can go back and collect them tonight."

Just like that, Chu's father came over to show his courtesy. Two days later, when Li Xiaorui was discharged from the hospital with her child, he went to the woolen mill dormitory to help with the arrangements.

Chu Lingze still had to go to work, so after hesitating for a few days, he finally acquiesced to his father coming.

By the time Li Xiaorui was out of confinement, the baby had grown to seven kilograms, and his father played an indispensable role in this.

The long-standing stalemate between father and son finally broke the ice.

When Chu Lingyi went back to her parents' home for dinner, she saw the new separation agreement on the table and was so angry that she grabbed it and tore it up.