That evening, Qiao Guilan returned home looking disheveled after spending the day taking care of her sister-in-law's granddaughter.
As soon as she stepped into her own yard, she saw Song Caixing wiping the table, and she immediately felt pain in her back and legs and realized how hard it was to take care of the child.
Song Caixing dared not speak out against her anger.
"Mom isn't feeling well, and you don't even bother to say a word of concern to her?" Qiao Guilan scolded angrily when she saw the fourth daughter working with her head down and not responding to her.
"Who told you to take care of Erniu's child?" Song Caixing snapped as she ran to the kitchen, calling out desperately, "Big sister!"
Qiao Guilan cursed, "You ungrateful little brat! I've raised her for nothing!"
Song Yinhua was carrying a bowl of porridge that had just been ladled from the pot out of the kitchen when Song Caixing bumped into her and knocked it over.
"Watch out, it's hot! Cai Xing, why are you running around in such a hurry?"
"Not Mom yet!" Song Caixing ran behind Song Yinhua, feeling wronged.
Song Yinhua took a step forward, and she took a step forward as well.
Song Yinhua took a step to the side, and she followed suit.
Qiao Guilan scolded with dissatisfaction, "Little Si'er, are you a tagalong? You follow your older sister every step of the way?"
Song Caixing didn't say anything; she was going to follow behind Song Yinhua anyway.
"Yinhua, Mom's knees hurt so much she can barely stand." Qiao Guilan habitually thinks of her eldest daughter first whenever something happens. "Will Mom end up paralyzed like Han Youcai, the richest man in the next village?"
Song Yinhua ladled out several bowls of piping hot porridge to cool it down, her attention seemingly focused entirely on her work.
“Yinhua, if Mom really can’t move, you have to take care of her. Don’t get angry with her. It wasn’t easy for Mom to raise you and your siblings.” Qiao Guilan said bitterly, then reached out and pounded her lower back. “My back has been hurting for days. Could I become paralyzed on one side…”
"Mom, taking care of the child is so tiring. The fact that you can take care of him all day means you're not in any physical condition, you're just tired." After serving the porridge, Song Yinhua went into the house.
“Yinhua, you’re right. Taking care of children is really tiring, even more tiring than doing farm work. Sigh, why is my life so hard?” Qiao Guilan didn’t hear a response for a long time. When she looked up, she found that there was no one in the yard.
She tried to stand up, supporting herself on the table, and weakly called out, "Oh dear, Yinhua, my knee hurts so much I can't stand up. Should I go to the clinic for a checkup...?"
Song Erzhuang had just returned when he pushed open the courtyard gate and shouted in his rough voice, "I'm back! Look what I brought you!"
He was holding a bag of fried dough sticks, which were still warm.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Song Erzhuang asked, seeing Qiao Guilan leaning on the table, neither standing nor sitting properly.
"My legs hurt and I can't stand up. Please help me."
"Where are the children?" Song Erzhuang quickly put down his carrying pole and basket and came over to help Qiao Guilan. "It's almost dark, and none of them are home?"
Qiao Guilan slowly stood up straight, complaining to her husband with a wronged expression, "Baogen hasn't gotten off work yet, and Yinhua and Xiao Si are ignoring me and have gone inside. When we get old, we'll need someone to take care of us, and we can't rely on them."
Song Erzhuang slammed a bag of fried dough sticks onto the table and barked as he went into the house.
Song Yinhua and Song Caixing were working inside the house.
The two men laboriously lifted the two half-full sacks of sweet potatoes to the side.
"What are you two doing? Your mother's leg is hurting so much, don't you know how to take care of her? You've grown up and become independent, so you don't respect your mother anymore?" Song Erzhuang came in and immediately got angry.
Song Caixing was not strong and almost fell down several times.
"Dad, come help us carry this. The sky is a bit overcast, it might rain. Our house is leaking, we don't want the sweet potatoes to get soaked," Song Yinhua called out as she carried the sweet potatoes.
Song Erzhuang quickly strode over and used his two strong arms to lift up most of the bag of sweet potatoes.
“From now on, you can wait for Dad to come back and let him do this kind of work. You girls are not capable of doing this.” Song Erzhuang, who was well-built, worked quickly and was also very strong.
He carried both bags of sweet potatoes to the side, and also carried a bag of rice and half a bag of wheat seeds to the side.
“Cai Xing and I don’t know when you’ll be back. The sky suddenly turned overcast, and we’re afraid there will be a shower. If the rain soaks all these sweet potatoes and seeds, then our family will have nothing to eat.”
Song Erzhuang looked up at the dilapidated roof above. "It's not good for the house to keep leaking. We'll find time to repair it after Dad finishes his work in a few days."
Song Yinhua moved the other odds and ends on the ground aside and placed a few basins here. "Dad, you came in looking so angry. What's wrong?"
Song Erzhuang was stunned for a moment. He had come in to teach the two girls a lesson, but he had completely forgotten about it in his busy schedule.
But seeing how much the two girls cared about their families, carrying sacks and doing chores, he couldn't bring himself to get angry anymore. Instead, he said earnestly, "Your mother's legs are hurting badly. Why don't you two help her with the housework?"
With her older sister supporting her, Song Caixing boldly complained to her father: "Mom went to my uncle's house to help Erniu take care of the child for a day. I did all the housework, and my older sister cooked dinner."
"Did Erniu go back to her parents' home?"
"My aunt said she left after dropping the child off here," Song Caixing continued to complain to her father. "Mom was so enthusiastic in helping Erniu take care of the child; she didn't seem to be in any pain at all."
Song Erzhuang was very upset that Qiao Guilan pushed her own chores onto her daughter and went to help other people's families with chores, but when he heard that she was helping his elder brother take care of his granddaughter, he wasn't too angry.
"Come out, everyone. Dad bought you some fried dough sticks."
Song Erzhuang took out a flashlight, and Qiao Guilan asked him where he was going.
“I’ve been out working these past few days and haven’t been able to check on the fields. The sky is so overcast now, it looks like it’s going to rain any minute now, so I’m going to check on the fields.”
Qiao Guilan wanted to go with them, but Song Erzhuang told her to stay home and rest instead.
"Yinhua, you go with your father. If anything happens, you'll have someone to look after you." Qiao Guilan urged, "There are fields everywhere there, all dark and gloomy, and a big pond. There aren't any houses around. Let's make sure nothing else goes wrong."
"What could possibly happen if I went to check on the rice in the field? You old hag, what are you worrying about!"
"You're the pillar of our family. If something happens to you, how am I supposed to live?"
Song Erzhuang had no choice but to ask Song Yinhua to go out with him.
Song Caixing was about to follow when Qiao Guilan stopped her.
"Now that your eldest sister isn't home, let's see if you're still so arrogant!" Qiao Guilan glared at her fourth daughter. "All you do is follow your eldest sister around all day long. I'm your real mother!"
Song Caixing lowered her head timidly and apologized in a low voice.
As Qiao Guilan was scolding Song Caixing, she heard an unfamiliar young voice outside the courtyard, "Excuse me, is anyone home?"
The mother and daughter looked towards the gate of the courtyard at the same time.
"Who are you looking for?" Qiao Guilan got up and walked closer, only to see a tall, handsome young man standing at the gate of her yard.
"My name is Huo Jianguo, and I'm here to see Song Yinhua."
Upon hearing that someone was looking for her daughter, Qiao Guilan's eyes lit up instantly.
Is this my daughter's boyfriend?
Why is Yinhua keeping her relationship a secret from her family?
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