The car arrived at night. Returning to the countryside once a year, the novelty of this long-awaited reunion made Wenmo nostalgic for his childhood life with his grandparents.
At that time, my father's company was just starting to do well, and he was extremely busy. Even my mother was brought in as an employee, so he really didn't have time to take care of the children.
After thinking about it for a while, he simply left Wenmo in his hometown in the countryside to be taken care of by his grandparents.
Wenmer was still young then and hardly remembered anything, except that he got tanned dark that summer, looking like he had just come back from mining coal.
"I kind of miss it."
Wen Mo couldn't help but sigh. He stretched in the car, and when he saw the familiar road sign at the village entrance still standing there, childhood memories came to mind.
"What are you missing?" Wen Yiquan asked, looking at his son stretching in the back row through the mirror.
"I miss the days in the countryside."
"If you miss it so much, then I'll leave it here for you."
"Then forget it. The countryside is too quiet. I'll get tired of it after a while."
The roads in the countryside are almost completely dark. The streetlights were only installed in recent years. Villagers say that before, the roads were pitch black and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. It was like groping in the dark.
For some reason, the closer Wen Yiquan got to home, the more he trembled, especially when passing the village entrance, his eyes would peek out from time to time.
"Why are you shaking like that? Are you having another fit?" Su Juan was happily cracking sunflower seeds when she turned around and saw her husband trembling. She thought she had seen a ghost.
Wen Yiquan pulled his head back and pretended nothing was wrong to continue driving.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to see if my father-in-law was home."
"If you want to see it, why don't you go down and look?"
"..."
Wen Yiquan fell silent. He knew this principle all too well, but whenever he saw his father-in-law in person, he trembled as if he had seen a ghost, and could only manage a forced smile.
Su Juan's parents' home is at the village entrance, not far from Wen Yi's family. Every time she went home for the New Year, she had to visit her father-in-law with trepidation. It would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid. She still vividly remembers the time when he chased her all over the village.
Are you afraid my dad will beat you again?
"...Whose fault do you think it is? We shouldn't have listened to your advice back then." Wen Yiquan pushed up his glasses, looking guilty as if his secret had been exposed.
Su Juan was annoyed. She squinted and poked his chest with her finger. "You agreed to do it first and ask questions later, but now you're going back on your word? Why didn't you go back on your word when you got me pregnant with Wen Mo?"
Upon hearing this, Wen Mo, who was sitting in the back seat holding Lian Bao and staring blankly, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
"Wenmo?"
Xia Lian, who was carsick, looked up groggily. Not long after getting in the car, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, so she could only lie in his arms and fall asleep.
The voice in her arms was very soft and gentle, but Wenmo still heard it. He lowered his head and continued to comfort her, gently rubbing her head with his palm.
"It's okay, you go to sleep, we'll be there soon."
After saying that, Wenmo also lowered his head and went to sleep, no longer caring about the old things from his parents' generation.
Seemingly realizing he was in the wrong, Wen Yiquan stopped talking and simply pretended to be mute, focusing all his attention on the steering wheel.
"Are you mute if you don't speak? Do you regret marrying me? If you regret it, just say so, waaaah..." Su Juan threw away the sunflower seed shells in her hand, covered her face and started sobbing after saying this. She looked as pitiful as could be.
"..."
Wen Yiquan was at his wit's end, and his hands on the steering wheel began to tremble.
Although it's unpleasant to be beaten by your father-in-law, if you can get such a good wife after being beaten... maybe you should just tolerate it.
"Okay, I apologize to you, alright? It's worth getting beaten up for marrying you."
Unexpectedly, before she could finish speaking, Su Juan, who had been covering her face and weeping, suddenly looked up again. She was sobbing but not a single tear was in her eyes, and she even had a playful smile on her face.
"Hehe, I knew you would feel sorry for me."
You're laughing your mother away.
"...You didn't cry, did you?!"
"Don't use foul language, our two little ones are still in the car, don't set a bad example for them."
Su Juan held up a finger and pressed it against his lips, lecturing him with an innocent look, like a mischievous little girl who hadn't grown up yet.
She hasn't changed since I met her, and Wen Yiquan can't do anything about her. Perhaps it's because of Su Juan's peculiar personality that she came up with the idea of acting first and informing later to deal with her father-in-law.
"...Try to be normal. I feel like you're the one who's more likely to corrupt the child."
"Okay, but you have to promise me that you'll come back to my parents' house with me on the second day of the Lunar New Year."
"Okay, okay."
Wen Yiquan reluctantly agreed, even though he was unwilling, but he couldn't say it because of the rules.
It's probably because Su Juan got pregnant out of wedlock that her father-in-law got so angry. He hasn't given her a kind look since that day, and even after all these years, and his grandson has grown up, he still hasn't changed.
Having been beaten and left with some trauma, Wen Yiquan really didn't dare to face the old man.
The two in the front seat chatted incessantly, while the two in the back seat slept soundly. Perhaps they were used to their children snuggling close together, so the parents didn't object and slept all the way. Only when the car engine stopped vibrating did Wen Mo slowly open his eyes.
In rural areas, houses are mostly self-built, and their styles vary greatly. The most eye-catching decoration is a large light installed on the top of the front door, which can be clearly seen from a distance on the road.
At the back of the courtyard gate, an elderly man and woman were chatting on a chair. When they saw a familiar car, the two, who had been leisurely, immediately got up and smiled as they leaned over to look at the car.
"Why are you back so late? I've reheated the food twice. Where is my grandson?"
Before his grandmother could say anything, Wenmo opened the car door and hugged her with a smile. Although he was almost two heads taller than the elderly woman, he still nestled in his grandmother's arms like a child, just like when he was a child.
"grandmother."
"Oh my, my grandson has grown taller again!" Grandma smiled from ear to ear, looking around and occasionally touching Wenmo's clothes. Then she turned to her husband and said, "Don't just stand there, come and see our grandson."
Grandpa was a kind old man who had no teeth when he smiled. He quickly went over and hugged his eldest grandson, helped carry the luggage, and chatted with Wen Yiquan.
"Dad, Mom."
Su Juan, who had been acting like a child in the car, now restrained herself and transformed into a virtuous young wife.
"Juanzi is still so beautiful."
"No way, he's almost forty."
After chatting with Grandma for a while, Grandma suddenly straightened up, walked over to Wenmo with a smile, and said, "Let me see that little girl."
Seeing this, Wen Mo immediately understood what it meant. He bent down and got into the car, patted Xia Lian, who had just woken up, on the shoulder, and whispered:
"We've arrived! Let our grandparents see you."
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