Outside the operating room, Jiang Jianli was also restless.
When Jiang Shuyin was born, he was still working in the factory. Back then, it was difficult to ask for leave as an apprentice. Even if your parents passed away, it was difficult to ask your master for permission.
Zheng Lanxiang gave birth at home. Her water broke and she went out to knock on the door while holding onto the wall. The Li family across the street had a good relationship with her. When Li Yue's mother saw that she was about to give birth, she quickly told her husband to go downstairs to call her mother-in-law who knew how to deliver babies. Zheng Lanxiang was helped to bed.
The first birth was difficult, and it was only because conditions were so poor back then that there was so little food that the fetus didn't grow big. The little girl, weighing five pounds and six ounces, was born as red as a little monkey.
Li Yue's mother showed it to Zheng Lanxiang: "The redder her skin is at birth, the fairer it will be as she grows up. Look, she's trying to open her eyes yet; you can't see clearly when she's first born..."
Zheng Lanxiang was lying in bed listening to her, her heart filled with complex emotions she couldn't express. Her first child was a girl, and she knew life would be difficult from now on.
Jiang Jianli rushed back after get off work. Everyone living in the residential area worked at the same factory. Li Yue's father came to tell him that it was no wonder Jiang Jianli was excited to become a father for the first time. However, his supervisor did not tell him to go back, so he had to wait until the end of his shift to go home. He was supposed to work overtime that day, but his supervisor unusually called out his name and told him to go home first.
He felt like he could just step up to the top of the stairs in one stride. When he got home, he saw that his neighbor, Sister Li, was still there. She said to him, "She just gave birth, so it's best if she doesn't get out of bed. You know how to cook, right?"
"Yes!" Jiang Jianli readily agreed, as people are in high spirits when they have something to say.
What rural boy doesn't know how to cook? He glanced quickly at the sleeping woman and child, then went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
As Sister Li walked to the door, she suddenly remembered something, turned around and told him, "You can't put salt in the postpartum food right after giving birth. The lighter the better. Do you have any millet at home? Make that and drink it."
Jiang Jianli scratched his head: "Big sister, do you have any? I'll buy some from you."
Southerners rarely drink millet porridge. Sister Li had only heard that millet was good for her, so she bought some to try occasionally. When she ran out of millet, she simply gave it to Jiang Jianli.
When Zheng Lanxiang woke up and heard clanging noises in the kitchen, she thought it had been burgled. She sat up to check and immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought it was someone else. What are you doing?"
"Go to bed and rest. I'll cook you millet porridge today."
Brown sugar was added to the porridge; Jiang Jianli's mother had prepared it for her eldest grandson early that morning.
Zheng Lanxiang stared blankly at the bright red porridge, unable to open her mouth. Jiang Jianli urged her, "Eat it! You've eaten my cooking before. And let me tell you, millet is just different from regular rice."
Yes, they are different, boys and girls are different too. Zheng Lanxiang lowered her head and remained silent for a while, blowing on the porridge to cool it down before putting it in her mouth to taste.
It's sweet, cloyingly sweet, so sweet it tastes bitter.
Sure enough, the days that followed were tough. Jiang Jianli's smile faded after he found out it was a girl. However, he had at least received some education and ideological guidance. After a few months, he came to his senses and was willing to hold her close in his arms. Zheng Lanxiang felt relieved, but there were still a few stones weighing on her mind.
Jiang Jianli's mother, having heard it from someone, rushed over from the countryside carrying a snakeskin bag. Upon seeing that it was a girl, she launched into a tirade against Zheng Lanxiang. The family apartment building wasn't soundproof, and there were no loudspeakers in the countryside, so everything had to be shouted out loud, and the voices were so loud that several nearby buildings could hear it.
Zheng Lanxiang felt as if her face was being trampled on repeatedly on the ground, and she had to avoid people even when she went out to buy groceries.
After a few days of commotion, Jiang Jianli's mother gave her a real warning, telling her to hurry up and try to have a boy, otherwise... She didn't say the rest, but everyone understood what she meant.
Jiang Jianli felt tired from work and couldn't help with household chores. However, his advantage over others was that he knew how to say nice things. Occasionally, he would wash unwashed dishes in the sink. That alone would make him one of the top three good men in the residential area.
Men are tired, women suffer, but women's suffering is imposed on them by other women. Zheng Lanxiang's later days were a jar of bitter water. Just when she finally got used to it, she was put into an even more bitter jar.
The saying "A daughter-in-law who has endured many years of hardship eventually becomes a mother-in-law" has been passed down for thousands of years and there is some truth to it.
After her mother-in-law passed away, Zheng Lanxiang finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Life became easier, her daughter grew up and no longer needed financial support, her husband's work was going well, and she had some minor health issues but nothing serious. Unlike other families who raised their sons and then immediately took care of their grandchildren, she had a very relaxed life.
The only thing weighing on her mind was her daughter's unmarried status. She had nothing else to do, so she was determined to resolve this major life event for her daughter.
In less than two years, the outside world changed drastically. Who would have thought that Jiang Jianli, one of the top three men in the family, would turn around and find a young and beautiful woman, and even live in a big villa?
Everyone in the neighborhood used to see Zheng Lanxiang looking so dashing, but after hearing this news, they secretly laughed at her.
It's really hard to explain. When we got together, we had a banquet in our hometown and that was considered our marriage. We didn't even get a marriage certificate. And then we broke up just like that.
Zheng Lanxiang couldn't accept it for a moment. She thought that she was already so old and had encountered such a thing, so she might as well just die to save herself from being embarrassed in the community.
That day, she was contemplating how to die when a man suddenly spoke to her downstairs: "Isn't this Lanxiang? You can tell at a glance that she's living a good life. She looks at least twenty years younger."
Zheng Lanxiang subconsciously touched her face: "Don't try to fool me, I'm already in my fifties or sixties." She hadn't slept well these past few days because of Jiang Jianli, so she must be lying to her.
The man was also divorced. Seeing that she didn't believe him, he got even more aggressive: "If you don't believe me, go back and look in the mirror yourself. Old Jiang doesn't want you. If you're willing to be with me, I'll pack up my bedding tonight."
Seeing him like that, Zheng Lanxiang spat and turned to go home. She stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself. Perhaps because of the picture her daughter had given her, she looked a size smaller than before.
Upon closer inspection, her sallow face had become much paler, though the dark circles under her eyes were a result of several sleepless nights. In fact, she looked better than when she was forty.
For some reason, a smile crept onto her lips. Zheng Lanxiang reached out and smoothed it out, straightened her back, washed her face, and saw the skincare products her daughter had bought for her before on the washstand. She applied them to her face one by one.
Xiao Yin isn't married yet; she can't die.
Since her wicked mother-in-law died, Zheng Lanxiang's life has gotten better and better, so good that she can hardly believe it herself.
While other families struggle to buy meat, her family has so much meat that the refrigerator can't hold it all. When cooking, she has to quietly close all the doors and windows, afraid of attracting envy.
She cooked pork belly and ate it with the children that day when she received a call from an unknown number. Seeing that it was from the same city, she answered it.
The voice on the other end sounded familiar, so I answered and shouted, "I have a son!"
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