"He doesn't care about his own nephew, yet he's all over other people's wives, can't he tell who's on his side!" Grandma Hanhan started scolding again, but Qin Xiaoyu pretended not to hear and hummed a song as she went out the door. Today she was going to buy some meat and make dumplings; she'd been too busy during the holiday and hadn't fed the children well, so she wanted to make up for it.
Hearing her chopping meat, the mother-in-law was so angry she wanted to flip her cutting board over, but since she had a knife, she didn't dare to come over and could only curse her from afar.
Her cousin made another lantern for Hanhan, and the two children ran around playing with it in the yard. Qin Xiaoyu glanced at it every now and then, feeling a warm glow in her heart. Her cousin was a quiet, unassuming man, not good with words, but very skillful with his hands. These past few days, he had made many things for Hanhan, some a kite, some a lantern, and one day he even swatted a cricket out of grass. Hanhan's smiles became more frequent. With her mother's love, her uncle's company, her plenty of food, warm clothes, and a fragrant blanket, this was like a paradise for her.
The filling was mixed, and the dough was kneaded. Qin Xiaoyu called Hanhan and her brother in, gave her younger sister an orange to eat, and told Hanhan to sit on the stool. The stool had been repaired by her cousin; it was sturdy and stable, so there was no need to worry about her falling off.
Qin Xiaoyu brought back the clippers from the shop and gave Hanhan a haircut. Her skills weren't great, but her hairstyle was very fashionable, a 21st-century style, much better looking than the simple and crude hairstyles of that era.
"She'll be a heartthrob from now on," Qin Xiaoyu said with a satisfied smile as she looked at Hanhan.
Hanhan suddenly turned around, reached out and hugged her neck, pressed her face against hers, and whispered, "Mom, don't go."
"Where am I going?" Qin Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, then she understood something.
"Hanhan, do you know something?" she pressed. Hanhan nodded seriously.
"What do you know?" Qin Xiaoyu asked anxiously.
"You're not my mother." Hanhan's eyes were filled with tears.
"How did you know?" Qin Xiaoyu thought she had kept it a secret, but she didn't expect Hanhan to know all along.
"Because my mother died."
"..."
Qin Xiaoyu then learned about what happened before her rebirth.
Since Tang Wenzhi's death, the host had been in a daze. If it weren't for Hanhan's desperate efforts to keep the family afloat, they would have collapsed long ago. That night, Hanhan was half asleep when he felt movement beside him. Afraid that his younger sister would wet the bed, he quickly opened his eyes, only to find something dangling in front of him. He sat up, and his mother, who had been lying beside him, was gone. She was suspended in mid-air in a strange position, with an overturned chair on the other side of the kang (a heated brick bed).
He retreated in terror, nearly stepping on his little sister, before realizing that he had seen it on TV—this was called hanging, and his mother had hanged herself.
He grabbed his younger sister, not caring whether she was awake or not, and threw her to the ground. He climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and righted the chair. His mother had hung herself from the beam with a red scarf. The shed wasn't high to begin with, and the paper covering was long since torn; she must have climbed up on a stool to hang the scarf, and then kicked the chair over. Hanhan was short; even standing on the chair with her feet up, she could barely reach the scarf, and couldn't untie it. He wiped away his tears as he climbed down and retrieved a pair of rusty scissors.
He dared not call for help. In his mind, his mother's behavior was causing trouble. His family had already caused trouble time and time again, and they couldn't let others despise them anymore. He wanted to smooth things over, and he believed he could do it well.
When the rope broke, Mom's body crashed heavily onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Hanhan jumped off the chair, moved it to the ground, and picked up her little sister who was standing there in a daze.
Mom lay motionless on the bed. Hanhan was terrified. Trembling, he reached under his mother's nose, but she wasn't breathing. What should he do...?
He held his little sister and stayed by his mother's side. The sound of roosters crowing came from outside. Dawn was approaching, and he didn't know what to do.
Just when he was in despair, his mother suddenly opened her eyes, rushed over with overwhelming joy, and called out "Mom!"
But his mother looked at him with a terrified expression and asked, "Who are you?"
"You knew I wasn't your mother back then, so why have you been taking care of me all this time?" Qin Xiaoyu couldn't believe that Hanhan had gone through such a terrible ordeal, and she felt even more sorry for him, but she was still a little confused.
"I already don't have a mother anymore, I can't lose you too." Hanhan's tears fell and landed on Qin Xiaoyu's hand.
"No, you won't lose me. I'm your mother, and I always will be." Qin Xiaoyu hugged Hanhan in her arms, letting him cry his heart out. Finally, she had resolved the child's inner conflict, which was a good thing.
Once the dough was ready, Qin Xiaoyu asked Hanhan for help. The two of them went to her cousin's house to deliver the food. They had eaten a lot of food from their house these past few days, so they couldn't eat meat all by themselves today.
"What's this? Oh, it's minced meat! You three can eat it, this, this..." My cousin's wife stammered excitedly. Even during the holiday, she hadn't been willing to buy half a pound of meat, only adding a few eggs. Today, seeing Qin Xiaoyu bring back a pound of meat, she thought she would wrap it up and bring a plate over, but she brought it all over to eat together. How much could the three of them eat? She really got a great deal.
"Making dumplings by myself is too slow. Luckily, my older brother is home. Isn't this a good opportunity to get some help?" Qin Xiaoyu joked. Her cousin chuckled and washed his hands to help.
"I forgot to mention, I went to the parent-teacher conference yesterday, and Tang Long got first place again. The teacher said the students should learn from him. I thought to myself, what can you learn? My Tang Long has a great aunt, do you guys have one?" My cousin-in-law couldn't hide her pride.
The first batch of dumplings came out of the pot, filling the whole house with a wonderful aroma. Qin Xiaoyu scooped twenty dumplings into a small bowl and had Hanhan take them to her mother, instructing her on what to say.
Hanhan carefully brought it back, and as soon as she entered the room, she held up the candy in her hand to show Qin Xiaoyu.
"Madam gave me candy, several pieces." Hanhan unwrapped the candy and stuffed it into Qin Xiaoyu's mouth. She took a bite and realized it was royal jelly candy. This was incredible! This candy was the most expensive, even more expensive than White Rabbit candy. It seemed that Madam was very satisfied with this bowl of dumplings.
"Give the candy to Auntie and Uncle," Qin Xiaoyu instructed. The two of them were reluctant to share it with the child and refused to accept it no matter what.
The family sat down together and ate dumplings. Everyone was in a good mood. With his wife's approval, the cousin poured himself a small glass of wine and offered it to Qin Xiaoyu, but she smiled and declined.
"I saw Tang Hu gave my little sister royal jelly the other day," her sister-in-law said thoughtfully. A warning bell rang in Qin Xiaoyu's heart. Royal jelly cost over a dollar a pound, enough to buy several pounds of meat. Her sister-in-law wouldn't buy it, so could it be…?
She looked up into the courtyard and saw Tang Hu leading the way, followed by the old woman, as they exited through the gate. A thought struck Qin Xiaoyu, and she followed them out. The gate was tightly shut, and the two were talking outside.
"Grandma, give me fifty cents."
"Didn't I already give it to you that day? You want it back!"
"The flowers are all gone," Tang Hu said bluntly.
"No!" the old woman retorted angrily.
“Then I’ll ask my second aunt for it.”
"Hey, you little brat, you've learned to threaten people now!" The old lady angrily pulled out five cents and threw it at Tang Hu. She turned around and opened the door, seeing Qin Xiaoyu standing inside, and panicked a little.
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