The next day, Aunt Guo quickly got up and packed things, including 1 jin of brown sugar, 10 jin of cornmeal, and 10 eggs.
The other bag contained 10 eggs, a chicken, and 10 jin (5 catties) of sweet potatoes. One bag was for Sun Daguo's parents to see, and the other was for his daughter to secretly have as a snack in case she wasn't getting enough to eat.
Not knowing if her daughter was doing well, Grandma Sun anxiously asked her son to go check on her. Jianjun got up, put all the things in the basket on his back, and covered them with something.
He walked towards Fuyu Commune. It was cold outside, with heavy snow blowing. Luckily, he was wearing thick clothes underneath. Winters in Northeast China are really cold.
Upon arriving at the destination, Guo Jianjun knocked on the door. "Who is it? I'm here."
Grandma Sun opened the door. "Oh my, it's my beautiful brother! It's so cold today, why are you here?"
"Auntie, I've come to see Meili. My mother and father asked me to bring you some things."
Looking at all these things, Aunt Sun beamed and exclaimed, "Meili, look, your brother from your maternal family has arrived!"
Meili was tending the fire when she saw her brother and ran out, saying, "Brother, what brings you here? Did something happen at home?"
Jianjun looked down and saw that his younger sister was pale and thin, and her malnourished body made him feel bad. He said, "Mom and Dad asked me to come and see how you are doing and bring you some things."
"Brother, you guys keep the food. Parents and nephews aren't getting enough to eat. I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"Little sister, now that you're married, the family is most worried about you," she said, putting down the chicken, corn, and brown sugar.
“Auntie, my parents asked me to bring you some things, and also to thank you for being so kind to Meili,” Jianjun said specially.
“Oh dear, now that Meili has married into our family, we treat her the same as our own daughter.”
“Jianjun, stay and have something to eat. You’ve come all this way.”
"No need, Auntie, I'm going home now. My parents sent me to check on you. As long as Meili is doing well, that's enough." She turned around and prepared to leave.
Grandma Sun said to Meili, "Go see your brother off. You haven't seen him in so long."
Meili nodded and saw her brother off for a long time. As they walked, Jianjun asked Meili, "Has anyone bullied you? If anyone treats you badly, come home. I'll take care of you for the rest of your life."
The kind and capable younger sister in my body's memory has grown up. The two were close in age since childhood, played together best, and I missed this married younger sister the most.
"Brother, don't worry, no one in the family has treated me badly."
Jianjun nodded and said to Meili, "There's some extra food prepared for you in this basket. Hide it."
“Keep it for yourself. Your husband, Sun Daguo, has too many people in his family, five brothers and so many children. You won’t be able to eat much of the food he brought. If you’re too hungry, go and cook something to eat.”
"Brother, take it back. Things are even more difficult for the family now."
"Don't worry, Meili. A while ago, my brother saved a big shot in the city. These things are all thanks to me. We can do whatever we want at home, but we can't stop worrying about you."
Jianjun helped Meili hide the things. Meili watched her brother walk away and wiped away her tears.
Back home, Sun's eldest daughter-in-law said jealously, "Meili, how did your family become so rich? They brought so many things to see you."
Meili knew she had ulterior motives, so she said, "No, my brother went to the city a while ago and rescued a very important person. He carried him to the hospital."
"That family gave us food to thank my brother, knowing that the village was having a hard time. My brother and mother brought most of the food to see us."
"Alright, eldest daughter-in-law," because it was Grandma Sun's niece who married into the family, she always wanted to be the boss.
Seeing all the things my beautiful brother brought me today, I felt completely overshadowed by her, and that made me feel uneasy.
Grandma Sun looked at them and said, "I don't care how you usually behave, you better keep this to yourselves. If anyone dares to talk nonsense, I'll tear their mouths off."
Everyone nodded and said nothing more. Meili was quite poor when she married into the family, and her eldest and second sons' wives often gossiped about her. Today, her family brought her gifts, which was a great honor for her.
Meili was also someone who listened to advice and didn't tell anyone about the stolen grain. She didn't know how long this difficult situation would last.
There are too many people in the family, and I can't even get enough to eat. Even if the family is short of food, we can't afford to lose our sons and grandsons.
The eldest son's wife is his mother's niece, the second son is sweet-talking, and when it comes to her husband, who is the third son's wife, she is even less fortunate and can only think of herself first.
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