Grandma Yan felt a warmth spread through her heart. "If you don't want milk, Nan Nan will eat it, my dear."
Yan Xiaonan refused to eat, insisting that Grandma Yan take a bite before she would stop.
As Yan Erqiang watched this scene, he gradually understood what was happening. His stupid son had snatched someone else's egg custard and was tricked by a one-year-old girl.
The foolish wife, thinking herself wise, spoke carelessly and offended her third brother. The third brother was unhappy, but pretended to be simple-minded and didn't know how to speak, though his words were full of hidden meanings.
The nephews spoke as if they were talking to their own sons in childish terms, yet every word they uttered hit the mark and went straight to the point.
His own mother ignored him, forcing him to kneel down again and beg for her forgiveness. The foolish wife couldn't see the crux of the problem, was self-righteous, and ended up making a fool of herself.
His eyes suddenly fell on his cotton-padded coat in the corner, and his heart clenched. They had received his letter, but no one had come to pick him up.
He turned to look at his mother's patched padded jacket, then at his wife's Lenin suit and woolen overcoat, and sighed, "How could I have married such a stupid woman?"
Cuihua and Xuemei came out carrying pots and pans. Yan Erqiang looked at Cai Min, who was sitting and waiting for her meal, and kicked her. She had no sense of propriety and wouldn't help.
Grandma Yan invited Cai Min to eat. It was Cai Min's first time eating at her home, and she was a guest, so how could she let a guest do the work?
Cai Min glanced at Yan Erqiang smugly, her meaning clear: Your mother told me to sit down.
Bei Nan spoke up: "Grandma, don't guests always bring gifts? What gifts did they bring?"
Yan Erqiang's forehead was sweating. He glanced at the ten-year-old child, then at his third brother, and didn't know how to respond.
Yan Xiaoqiang's face darkened: "You brat, even eating can't shut you up. Why would you ask for a gift when your own family comes to visit? Are you obsessed with money?"
Yan Beinan muttered, "Doesn't Uncle give milk money and coupons every month, and also buy milk powder and hats for Nannan?"
Dinner was plentiful, with stewed potatoes and meat, stir-fried cabbage with pork cracklings, tofu and fish soup, as well as steamed buns and white rice, but Yan Erqiang couldn't eat a single bite.
Yan Ge and Yan Zhengcai didn't care what they were saying. Seeing the meat, their mouths watered. They picked up their chopsticks and started stuffing the meat into their mouths.
Seeing her two sons enjoying their meal, Cai Min temporarily forgot about what had just happened and joined in the scramble for meat, making for a rather unsightly scene.
Yan Xiaoqiang was very unhappy. His mother hadn't even eaten yet, and they were already taking it from him. He picked up his chopsticks, put a piece of meat into Grandma Yan's bowl, and then gave another piece to Yan Xiaonan.
He called out, "Don't be shy, eat more meat. You haven't had meat in years, have you? Look how greedy you are."
Cai Min paused in her action of picking up the meat, glanced at Yan Xiaoqiang, unsure of what he meant. In that instant, Grandma Yan forgave Cai Min; she couldn't argue with a fool.
Yan Erqiang felt utterly ashamed. He put down his chopsticks and said, "Mom, there's a lot of work at the factory, so we'll go back tomorrow. We'll come see you when we have time."
Cai Min was furious when she heard this. There was meat, eggs, and fish here. What would she eat when she got home? She didn't have meat coupons, and even with coupons, she couldn't buy fish. Eggs were nowhere to be found.
The two children shook their heads, refusing to go back, even if it meant death.
Grandma Yan was puzzled and asked Yan Zheng, "Your family lives in the city. The city is so nice, why don't you go back?"
Yan Zheng ate with gusto, but without thinking, he said, "Why go back? We can't even get enough to eat."
Cai Min was very embarrassed and wanted to stop her youngest son, but she dared not speak because Grandma Yan was staring at her intently.
"Why is there not enough food at home?" Grandma Yan asked again when Cai Min remained silent.
"It's all because of my mom. She always sends good things to my grandma's house, even though she's almost starving herself." Yan Zheng chimed in.
Cai Min's chopsticks could no longer reach out. Xue Mei picked up the meat basin, put a piece of meat into the bowls of her parents and three brothers, and then put the last piece into her own mouth, and that was it.
Yan Zheng and Yan Ge were annoyed that the meat had been divided up in the time it took them to speak: "You're just a little girl, you're not worth much, why are you eating meat?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Erqiang stood up abruptly. Before he could even move his hand, Xuemei spoke up: "Your mother was a girl, and your grandmother was a girl too. Do they eat meat?"
The two brothers were stumped. Yes, their mother and grandmother both ate meat, even more than they did. They were girls too.
With a bewildered look in her eyes, Cai Min was speechless.
"And your mother and your grandmother aren't worth much either?" Xuemei asked again.
The two brothers were completely stunned. Who would say that their mother and grandmother were worthless?
Seeing Cai Min's increasingly embarrassed expression, Xue Mei snorted: "In our family, girls are the most valuable. Our Nan Nan is the most valuable. The two of you combined are not even worth a finger of Nan Nan."
Grandma Yan wholeheartedly agreed, thinking her little girl was a fairy. She shoveled some meat broth, mixed it with white rice, and fed it to Nan Nan spoonful by spoonful.
Yan Zheng looked at Nan Nan's fair and delicate face and nodded, saying, "Nan Nan is so beautiful."
Yan Ge nodded: "Grandma, Nan Nan is so pretty. Can we play with Nan Nan after dinner?"
Grandma Yan looked at Nan Nan, and seeing her nod, she nodded as well: "Okay, you can play together."
The atmosphere gradually became harmonious again, but Cai Min felt extremely uncomfortable with a lump in her throat, but who cared?
Yan Erqiang suddenly began to doubt himself, wondering if his choices over the past ten years had been correct. Compared to his younger brother's children, his two children seemed like fools.
Seeing that her second son wasn't eating, Grandma Yan picked up a steamed bun made from two kinds of dough and put it in his bowl: "Eating is the most important thing in the world."
Yan Erqiang picked up a steamed bun and put it in his mouth. It was delicious! His sister-in-law's cooking skills were really good. No wonder the two children were wolfing it down.
The two children are pitiful too. They're lucky if they get a shred of meat to eat. It's all that woman's fault. She brings everything to her parents' house while she herself is like a dead person, not caring about anything.
He cleared his throat and said, "Mom, I was wrong before. I was so unfilial. After I go back this time, I will give you five yuan a month for your old age, as well as New Year's gifts and such. I will definitely not let you miss anything."
"What? What did you say? Where would I get the money?" Cai Minteng stood up abruptly.
“Your parents have five yuan here, and my mother has five yuan here too. If you don’t want to give it to me, we can get a divorce, and I’ll get custody of the child,” Yan Erqiang said calmly.
"How could you do this? How can we possibly have enough money? We have two children to support!" Cai Min yelled.
"Not enough, huh? Well, your mother's side has been stopped. She's been given it for over ten years. It's her turn now."
"From now on, you'll hand over all your salary to me. If I see you moving your things to your parents' house again, you're fired." Yan Erqiang's tone became increasingly aggressive.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
