Chapter 98, Chapter Ninety-Eight: Little Sister
Zhou Xiangling brought the dog home, dressed herself and the dog in tattered, patched clothes, then left the room with a burlap sack on her back and the dog by the hand.
The dog felt very uncomfortable wearing the clothes. The torn edges of the clothes kept rubbing against his skin, making him feel itchy and uncomfortable. He said curiously, "Mom, I don't want to wear this tattered clothes. I want to wear my nice clothes."
Zhou Xiangling shook her head and said seriously, "Gouzi, just bear with it and it will pass. Only in this way will your grandparents soften their hearts when they see us, and only then can you live a good life."
When Gouzi heard Zhou Xiangling say that, he didn't understand what it meant to be soft-hearted. He only knew that he had to wear tattered clothes to live a good life. He said pitifully, "I understand."
Before leaving the Cao family, Zhou Xiangling took Gouzi to see Granny Cao. She said righteously, "You have not only wronged me and Gouzi, but also the deceased Brother Cao. If Brother Cao knew that you had driven his wife and son out after his death, he would definitely not want to be your family. You are all sinners..."
Sister-in-law Cao rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Don't talk so much nonsense to me, hurry up and leave! Don't expect me to keep you for lunch. If my younger brother knew that marrying you would lead to his untimely death, he definitely wouldn't want to marry you. You do nothing all day long, all you do is chatter on and on."
Unable to argue with Cao's eldest sister-in-law, Zhou Xiangling could only slink away with her dog, cursing the Cao family's heartlessness in her heart. She also felt a little worried, wondering if her parents would not take her in.
Her parents are really heartless. They cut off all ties just like that. They haven't come to see her in all these years, treating her like she's dead.
Grandma Cao watched Zhou Xiangling's departing figure and couldn't help but sigh.
Cao's eldest sister-in-law comforted her softly, "Mom, you don't need to blame yourself. It's a better choice for your sister-in-law to leave the Cao family. Her parents are from the city, and they can definitely help her remarry into a good family. It's better than letting her marry someone from the village. Gouzi can live a better life than he does now if he goes to his maternal grandparents' house."
Grandma Cao thought about it and realized that what she said made sense. After all, Zhou Xiangling was her in-laws' daughter, and they couldn't be too cruel. They couldn't just keep Zhou Xiangling from going home after they found out she was homeless.
Zhou Xiangling took Gouzi on a bus to Beijing. It was Gouzi's first time on a bus, and the swaying of the bus made his stomach very uncomfortable. He was in a bad mood the whole way and was weak and listless as Zhou Xiangling carried him.
When Zhou Xiangling arrived at the tenement building, it wasn't yet time for the workers to get off work. The older women were still indoors enjoying the cool air, so none of them bothered Zhou Xiangling with questions.
Sun Yiyi and Aunt Wei returned home from shopping. Sun Yiyi didn't expect to see Zhou Xiangling downstairs. She vaguely remembered that Zhou Xiangling had also returned to the Zhou family at this time in her previous life, and she hadn't been welcomed by anyone.
In that family, only Zhou Xiangling showed her kindness. Unfortunately, Zhou Xiangling did not stay in that family for long. She soon remarried with her son and then lost contact with the Zhou family.
Aunt Wei looked Zhou Xiangling up and down, then walked up to her and said with a surprised expression, "You must be Zhou Xiangling? It's been so long! I haven't seen you since you got married. Are you carrying all those bags and packages, going back to your parents' house for a long stay?"
Zhou Xiangling looked at Aunt Wei, nodded somewhat awkwardly, and said softly, "My husband passed away unexpectedly, and I have nowhere to go now, so I can only go home."
Aunt Wei frowned, her expression complex, and said, "Your parents will be very happy to see you."
They must be ecstatic! When it comes to being ruthless, who can compare to Aunt Zhou and her husband? They raised their daughter all these years, and now she's just abandoning her. Now that she's brought her child home, life won't be so easy for her.
Sun Yiyi shoved the second child into Aunt Wei's arms and said warmly to Zhou Xiangling, "I'm Wei Yong's wife. You can just call me Yiyi. You've come at a really bad time. No one's home right now. Your mother has gone out with your sister-in-law and niece, and everyone else is at work. Why don't you come to my house and rest for a while? I'll tell you about what's happened in your family over the years, so you won't be unable to recognize everyone when you go home."
Just because she couldn't help Zhou Xiangling in her past life doesn't mean she can't help Zhou Xiangling in this life either.
Although Zhou Xiangling didn't know why the woman in front of her was being so kind, she had no reason to refuse. She really should find out about her parents' family situation, after all, she had been away for so many years, and even her older brother had a sister-in-law now.
Aunt Wei couldn't understand why Sun Yiyi was being so enthusiastic! The person who should be enthusiastic wasn't, while the person who shouldn't be enthusiastic was sticking to her. She was too lazy to care about Sun Yiyi's behavior, after all, taking care of Comrade Lin Yuanshu's sister-in-law wasn't a bad thing.
The institute's closing bell rang on time. Lin Yuanshu put down his experimental equipment and said to his team members, "That's all for today's work. Everyone can go home now, get some rest, and recharge so you can face tomorrow's work in better condition."
Hong Shuang'er glanced at Feng Aiguo and the others who were still busy working, and whispered, "They're all still at work, why don't we try harder too? So we don't fall too far behind."
Lin Yuanshu shook his head in disagreement and said seriously to his team members, "Our plan is more complex than Comrade Feng Aiguo's plan, and it is inherently more difficult to advance. Even if we force ourselves to catch up by working overtime every day, we will most likely not be able to surpass his progress. Moreover, doing so in the long run will only make our thinking rigid and reduce our efficiency, making it impossible for us to complete the plan better. Therefore, it is more important to relax and get enough rest. A good working state will allow us to maintain a clear mind at work. Blindly comparing ourselves to others is useless."
She's happy to work overtime when the project is nearing completion, but it's only just begun! There's no need to put yourself on edge from the start.
She had no intention of competing with Feng Aiguo to see who could work longer overtime hours; she refused to engage in cutthroat competition and started with herself.
Moreover, there is no overtime pay for working overtime now, but you will be given compensatory time off.
After hearing what Lin Yuanshu said, the group members felt that what he said made some sense, and then they happily went home from get off work.
Feng Aiguo's team members watched helplessly as Lin Yuanshu and others left work, and the contrast made them feel even worse.
They are quite willing to work overtime if it is to complete work tasks within the stipulated time.
The key issue is that Team Leader Zhuang did not specify a timeframe for their plan, or how long it must be completed. Therefore, the current overtime work is meaningless.
Feng Aiguo, however, thought differently. He was as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and said excitedly, "Comrades, now is the perfect time for us to work hard to complete the task. Comrade Lin Yuanshu is like the rabbit in the tortoise and the hare race. Her lazy attitude will affect her team members sooner or later, causing her plan to be delayed. We will complete the task ahead of schedule and make Team Leader Zhuang look at us with new eyes."
Upon hearing this, everyone had no choice but to stay and work an extra hour. Only after most of their colleagues in the lab had left did they go home.
When Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang returned to their doorstep, Zhou's mother and the others were not home.
As she unlocked the door, she said, "It's really unusual. Mom is still out and hasn't come home to cook dinner. My sister-in-law isn't here either. Could something have happened?"
Zhou Xiangyang replied earnestly, "If something happened, someone would definitely notify you. Most likely, Mom took my sister-in-law to visit Aunt Li and forgot the time, or she deliberately didn't come home so that you would cook dinner."
He is no longer the same naive man he once was, and he now has a better understanding of the power struggles between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.
Lin Yuanshu thought for a moment and felt that both were true. She guessed, "I know what happened. Mom must have taken my sister-in-law to visit Aunt Li's house and deliberately came home late so that I would cook dinner. She was very dissatisfied with my performance yesterday, so we can only wait for my brother to come back before we can cook dinner."
Zhou Xiangyang thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Big brother definitely doesn't want to cook dinner, so why don't I cook it? That way we can eat dinner earlier and you won't go hungry."
Lin Yuanshu tiptoed and patted Zhou Xiangyang's head, saying seriously, "You're just too understanding, which is why you get bullied by others and are often called over by Mom to cook. There are pastries in the room, so we can just eat some pastries to fill our stomachs. Whoever is in a hurry to eat has to cook? I can afford to wait it out with them."
Zhou Xiangyang nodded seriously, his eyes shining as he looked at Lin Yuanshu. His wife didn't want to waste time with them; she just felt sorry for him working so hard cooking, so she wanted someone else to cook. His wife was really too good to him.
Sun Yiyi, who lives next door, heard voices coming from the Zhou family's door. When she opened the door, she saw Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang chatting intimately in front of their house.
It seemed like she hadn't seen Zhou Xiangyang in a long time. If Zhou Xiangyang could remember his past life, he might regret how he treated her back then, since she had heard quite a bit about Zhou Xiangyang's situation in this life.
For example, he was bossed around by Lin Yuanshu. If Lin Yuanshu told him to go east, he wouldn't dare to go west. He had no manly spirit in front of Lin Yuanshu. Sometimes he had to cook and wash dishes after get off work.
Lin Yuanshu didn't have to do anything; he only needed to give orders.
Sun Yiyi shook off the jumbled thoughts in her mind. The things that happened in this life were completely different from those in the previous life, and she couldn't use the perspective of her past life to judge anyone.
She turned back to look at Zhou Xiangling and instructed her again: "Your second brother and sister-in-law have already gone home. Remember my words, in the Zhou family, you can mess with anyone, but you must not mess with your second sister-in-law. If your second sister-in-law is determined to kick you out of the Zhou family, no one can stop her."
Zhou Xiangling said dismissively, "I know."
She didn't take Sun Yiyi's words to heart. No matter how powerful her second sister-in-law was, she was still an outsider. How could she possibly make decisions for her parents? Her second brother was the easiest to talk to in the family, so he definitely wouldn't think of kicking her out.
Sun Yiyi looked at Zhou Xiangling's indifferent expression and showed a helpless look. Anyway, she had already done her best to help Zhou Xiangling, and whether Zhou Xiangling could stay in the Zhou family was not her business.
Zhou Xiangling held Gouzi's hand and walked towards the Zhou family home, whispering, "Don't be afraid, Gouzi. I'll take you to see your second uncle now. He's a very kind person and will definitely like you a lot."
Gouzi nodded, his body instinctively pressed against Zhou Xiangling, too embarrassed to speak. Everything in the city was new to him, and it also made him feel a little scared. In addition, he was not feeling well, which made him feel listless.
After entering his home, Lin Yuanshu poured himself a glass of hot water, sat on the sofa, and slowly drank it while reading today's People's Daily. It was quite necessary to understand the country's current policies.
Not long after, Zhou Xiangling stood at the living room door and shouted loudly into the room, "Second Brother, I'm back. I really missed you."
Upon hearing the sound, Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang both looked up towards the source of the sound. They saw a woman with a sallow complexion and prominent wrinkles on her forehead. She was wearing tattered clothes and holding the hand of a thin, dark-skinned little boy.
There was no surprise in Zhou Xiangyang's eyes, but rather some astonishment. He asked, "Little sister, why are you back? How have you been these past years?"
Zhou Xiangling did not answer Zhou Xiangyang's question, but instead led the child into the living room.
Seeing this, Lin Yuanshu couldn't pretend nothing had happened, so he quickly went over to help Zhou Xiangling take the luggage off her back, saying politely, "So you're my little sister! You must be tired after coming all this way. Sit down and rest. Mom and Dad haven't come home yet. They'll be so happy to see you when they get home. This must be your son! He looks just like you. I'll get you some hot water so you two can have a good chat."
She had always known that Zhou Ma had a daughter, but she didn't expect to meet her so suddenly. It seemed that Zhou Ma and her daughter didn't get along, so she didn't want to get involved in such family matters and end up pleasing neither side.
Looking at her enthusiastic second sister-in-law, Zhou Xiangling's anxious heart suddenly calmed down a bit. She sat down on the sofa with the dog and watched her second sister-in-law go to pour water.
Her gaze fell on Zhou Xiangyang, and tears streamed down her face. She sobbed, "These past years have been like being soaked in bitter herbs. I shouldn't have disobeyed my parents. I was too willful back then, and now I'm reaping the consequences. My child's father passed away unexpectedly, and then his family kicked us out. We're homeless now, and I have no choice but to swallow my pride and go home. I can endure hardship, but my child can't. He's my parents' grandson..."
Zhou Xiangling gently pinched the dog's arm, and the dog burst into tears.
Hearing this, Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow. She only believed half of what her sister-in-law said. Although her sister-in-law's clothes were quite tattered, her and her child's shoes, though old, did not seem to be made of cheap materials.
She placed two glasses of warm water in front of Zhou Xiangling, then sat down next to Zhou Xiangyang and continued reading the newspaper, unable to join in the conversation between the siblings.
While crying, Zhou Xiangling secretly observed Zhou Xiangyang's expression.
Zhou Xiangyang looked distressed and helpless. He didn't know how to comfort Zhou Xiangling, since he had advised her against doing so, only to be scolded by her.
He could only say softly, "Crying won't do any good. Why don't you think about how to get your parents to forgive you? They were very angry when you ran away from home on your own, and they still don't allow us to mention you at home."
Zhou Xiangling nodded, sobbing, "Then I'll wait here for Mom and Dad to come back. How long will it take for my older brother to get home?"
Zhou Xiangyang answered truthfully, "Half an hour. Dad is on the night shift tonight, so he might be back a little late."
"I understand, thank you, Second Brother," she said, bowing her head.
She's now counting on her eldest brother to come home so he can put in a good word for her with their parents. She hasn't even considered asking her second brother to speak up for her, since he's not good at saying nice things and might even make things worse!
In her eyes, her second brother was not as reliable as her eldest brother. As long as her second brother didn't kick her out of the house, he was already doing her a great favor.
"You're welcome," Zhou Xiangyang said seriously.
Then, the two fell silent. After so many years apart, they still had nothing to talk about.
Zhou Xiangling was used to this. When she was at home, her second brother was the same way. He would never speak unless necessary, so she didn't like to play with this taciturn second brother.
She sighed inwardly. Even if she didn't like it now, she had to maintain a good relationship with her second brother. After all, if she wanted to stay in her parents' home, she needed her brothers' support.
Zhou Xiangling took the initiative to ask, "How are Mom and Dad's health?"
Zhou Xiangyang replied, "It's great; they have a lot of energy when they curse."
Zhou Xiangling continued to inquire, "How is your older brother?"
Zhou Xiangyang replied, "It's great, I can eat and sleep well."
While reading the newspaper, Lin Yuanshu listened to the two's awkward conversation. If she hadn't confirmed that the woman in front of her was Zhou Xiangyang's younger sister, she would have suspected that Zhou Xiangyang was chatting with a stranger. The two were simply too unfamiliar with each other.
After some time, the eldest brother returned home with a canvas bag. When Zhou Xiangyang saw his brother, he felt a sense of relief and quickly said, "Brother, your little sister is home."
The older brother paused for a moment, then looked at the woman on the sofa, saying incredulously, "You're my younger sister? What happened to you? I remember you were about the same age as my second brother's wife, how come you've aged so much? Did that man not take good care of you? I told you to listen to Mom and Dad, but you wouldn't listen..."
My sister, who is only in her early twenties, looks like she's in her thirties. Life is so unpredictable!
Zhou Xiangling was stunned for a moment when she heard this. She didn't expect her second sister-in-law to be about the same age as her. She thought her second sister-in-law was younger than her! After all, she looked so young.
She shook off the jumbled thoughts in her mind and cried, "Big brother, please help me! My husband is gone, and I have no home anymore..."
She repeated what she had said to Zhou Xiangyang to her older brother.
After hearing Zhou Xiangling's words, the older brother's expression turned serious. He frowned and comforted her, "Don't be sad, everything will be alright."
Zhou Xiangling looked at her older brother pitifully and pleaded, "Brother, only you can help me now. Please say a good word for me in front of Mom and Dad, so they won't be so angry with me."
The older brother hesitated and said, "We'll talk about this when Mom and Dad come back, but I won't object to you staying in this house."
Whether or not to speak up for the younger sister depends mainly on the parents' attitude. If the parents feel sorry for the younger sister's situation, then speaking up for her is a natural thing to do. However, if the parents are very angry, scold the younger sister for being disobedient, and want to kick her out of the house, then there is no need to speak up for her, lest you get yourself into trouble.
Zhou Xiangyang thought for a moment, then made up his mind and said, "Little sister, I will put in a good word for you with Mom and Dad."
Zhou Xiangling said helplessly, "Second brother, it's already this late, don't make things worse."
She was already annoyed that her eldest brother was unwilling to help, but then her second brother said something like that.
Zhou Xiangyang: "..."
In the end, all my good intentions were misplaced.
Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow and silently took Zhou Xiangyang's hand as a gesture of comfort.
Looking at his lover beside him, Zhou Xiangyang felt a little better.
The eldest brother went back to his room, put away his canvas bag, and returned to the living room. He looked at Lin Yuanshu and asked in confusion, "By the way, why isn't Mom home?"
Lin Yuanshu said with a smile, "Who knows! I dare not interfere in Mom's affairs. However, it's just in time for you to come back, brother. Why don't you go and make dinner now? So that Dad won't have nothing to eat when he gets home from get off work."
The elder brother politely declined, saying, "My cooking skills are not as good as Xiangyang's, so why don't you let Xiangyang do it?"
Lin Yuanshu looked at his elder brother with a smile and said softly, "Xiangyang cooks every few days, and I'm tired of his cooking. I'd like to try your cooking, elder brother. If you don't go, Dad won't have any food when he comes home tonight, and I don't know who he'll take his anger out on."
The older brother took a deep breath, jumped up, and said fiercely, "I'll cook it, what do you want to eat?"
He was really annoyed. Lin Yuanshu had already left Hongguang Pharmaceutical Factory, but he was still in contact with Deputy Director Mao. Deputy Director Mao even invited Lin Yuanshu to her house for dinner. What could he do but do as she said?
Zhou Xiangling watched this scene with a complicated expression. She originally did not believe Sun Yiyi's words, thinking that her parents would not listen to their daughter-in-law. But after seeing her older brother's current behavior, she felt that it was not impossible.
She took a deep breath and said slowly, "My brother just got home from get off work and needs to rest. Why don't I cook? It'll be a good opportunity for you to try my cooking. Please don't be shy with me; I'm home, not here as a guest."
Without hesitation, the older brother said, "I think this is a great idea. It'll be a good opportunity for you to show off in front of Mom and Dad. I'll go move the coal stove for you right now."
He was afraid that if he was a step too slow, Lin Yuanshu would say something like, "Keep making me cook." He didn't want to cook not because he was tired from work, but because it was embarrassing, especially since he was cooking in a busy corridor.
In the past, the men in the tenement building would call him "Dishwasher Bro," but now that most of the men in the tenement building can wash dishes, they call him "Cook Bro."
Lin Yuanshu didn't say anything. It was a willing exchange, and as an outsider, what could she say? Now that the cooking issue was resolved, she pulled Zhou Xiangyang to go back to their room.
Zhou Xiangling quickly stopped Lin Yuanshu and asked earnestly, "Second sister-in-law, you haven't said what dishes you want to eat yet?"
Lin Yuanshu thought for a moment and replied, "I'll cook your specialty dish!"
Zhou Xiangling smiled and said, "No problem."
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