She gestured for Song Yan to be quiet, and then secretly led Song Yan out of the house.
The two slipped into the kitchen, where Shi's mother lifted the lid of a large pot containing boiled eggs.
"Mom, you're so kind! I'm starving!" Song Yan was so excited she almost jumped up.
"I knew you'd be hungry. Let's have something to eat first. Once they're gone, we can stir-fry the vegetables." Shi's mother smiled gently, picked up a large ladle, and scooped up several boiled eggs for Song Yan.
Only then did Song Yan notice that the kitchen was filled with chopped vegetables and the meat had been prepared.
"Mom, you must have missed your afternoon nap to do all this!" Song Yan said, her face full of emotion.
"I was so happy to see you all come back together that I couldn't sleep. That's why I was thinking of preparing in advance. I'm sure you didn't eat enough at noon." Usually, it's just the two of us at home, and we don't have much food, so I had to make several extra pancakes.
As she spoke, Shi Mu's hands never stopped moving, and in no time, a flawless boiled egg appeared in her hand.
After Song Yan took it, she took a big bite, her eyes crinkling with happiness.
"This is the kimchi you liked at noon. Eating eggs alone isn't very flavorful, so have some with it." As if she could read Song Yan's mind, Shi's mother turned around and handed her another plate.
"Oh, Mom, you're so kind! Why did I let you go back to Xiaogu Village in the first place!" Song Yan was filled with regret.
When Xiaoshan was born, both of her sisters-in-law were in their postpartum period, and her mother couldn't take care of them all, so Jun brought her mother from their hometown to live with them.
It was around that time that Song Yan met her mother-in-law.
Speaking of her mother-in-law, Li Chunniang, her personality was the complete opposite of Song Yan's; she was gentle and mild-mannered.
After arriving, while Song Yan was still worried about how to get along with people, her mother-in-law immediately started cleaning the house inside and out, making it spotless.
Besides, the mother-in-law was very good to the two children, and Song Yan often saw her mother-in-law holding her eldest son in her arms.
She would also quietly remind herself to pay attention to her eldest child's emotions and not let the child feel that he had lost his favor because of the arrival of his younger brother.
The gentle and caring mother-in-law lived with Song Yan for half a year. Only after Song Yan was able to take care of the child on her own did she ask Jun Ge to send her back home, citing her concern for Shi's father being alone in his hometown.
Song Yan was secretly enjoying her meal in the kitchen, a bite of kimchi, a bite of egg—she was so happy.
"You ate behind my back, did you leave me any?" Shi Jianjun's voice came from the doorway. He peeked in and saw Song Yan eating to her heart's content.
"Who stole the food? Mom saved it for me because she saw I was hungry, right, Mom?" Song Yan made a face at him.
"Yes, yes, I saved it for Xiao Yan," Shi's mother said affectionately.
Shi Jianjun was helpless. Every time he brought Song Yan back, his status at home plummeted. He couldn't even compare to his two children. His parents were incredibly biased.
Well, they're all family anyway, so he decided not to argue with them.
"Alright, you guys go out and rest now, I have to cook." Mother Shi started to shoo them away.
"Mom, let me help you start the fire!" Song Yan jumped out first.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" Shi Jianjun asked.
"You two get out. I don't need you to do anything here. Starting the fire is your father's job. You two can't control the heat properly." Mother Shi pretended to be disgusted and pushed the two of them out.
Song Yan looked helpless and turned around to ask Jun Ge where he had gone in the afternoon, but saw Shi's father carrying a small bamboo basket and packing firewood by the courtyard wall.
In Song Yan's eyes, in this small ancient village, only her father-in-law could be considered a good man. He was upright, never beat or scolded his wife, loved his children, and could do housework within his ability. No wonder her mother-in-law looked younger than other people of the same age in the village and lived a comfortable life without any worries!
Song Yan decided not to be a third wheel for the elderly couple, so she grabbed her husband's arm and went back inside.
"Don't touch me in broad daylight. If you want to, wait until night," Shi Jianjun said with a smile as he watched his wife lock the door.
"Get out of here, who laid a hand on you?" Song Yan's face flushed slightly. What kind of lewd talk was this man saying!
"Then why are you in such a hurry to pull me back to the room! I wouldn't mind having another daughter back in my hometown." A malicious smile appeared on Shi Jianjun's face. His daughter Dashan was conceived back in his hometown, which, in her mother's words, was due to good feng shui.
"You're so irresponsible!"
Song Yan blushed deeply and gave her man a coquettish push, but her hand was grabbed by someone else.
Shi Jianjun pulled her into his arms. He had only been teasing his wife, but he hadn't expected her to react so strongly.
If he can't do anything else, a kiss is still possible. They've been married for a long time, and he understands Song Yan's half-hearted resistance.
Faint voices could be heard outside the window. The couple were hiding inside the room, making intimate gestures behind everyone's backs, giving off a feeling of having an affair.
It took the couple quite a while to calm down. Song Yan buried her head in Shi Jianjun's arms, listening to his strong heartbeat, and suddenly burst out laughing.
"What's wrong?" Shi Jianjun asked, looking down at his wife.
“I suddenly remembered what happened when we first came back,” Song Yan explained with a smile.
They had just gotten their marriage certificate and hadn't held a ceremony yet; they were still living separately.
But at that time, Shi's mother didn't know this and arranged for the two of them to live in the same room.
Shi Jianjun was worried that Song Yan would feel uncomfortable, so he wanted to find a place to stay. Unexpectedly, Song Yan was unwilling and was afraid that Shi's father would overthink things.
In the ensuing stalemate, Song Yan blurted out, "Since we've already registered our marriage, isn't it only natural that we sleep in the same bed?"
After Song Yan finished speaking, she felt a little embarrassed. Although she was a bit unconventional, Shi Jianjun was someone she liked, and she cared about her image in his heart.
What she didn't expect was that this scoundrel was just waiting for this opportunity, and he took advantage of her on the spot that very night, causing her to not be able to get out of bed the next day.
Shi Jianjun also thought of what happened back then, and touched his nose embarrassedly.
There was no way around it; his mother-in-law had kept a close eye on Song Yan back then, and he had never found an opportunity. Also, despite Song Yan's outgoing and carefree demeanor in public, she was very shy around him, and he was afraid of scaring her.
Seeing her husband's unusually embarrassed expression, Song Yan thoughtfully changed the subject.
Where did you just go?
"I went to the commune. One of my comrades was assigned to the commune's security team back then, and he's now been promoted to deputy captain." Shi Jianjun was in a good mood after chatting with his old comrade for a while.
"You entrusted your family to him?" Song Yan asked.
"No, I was just lying to the villagers. No one is home all year round, and I'm afraid someone might have bad intentions and cause trouble. But I also asked my old comrade to come and check on things when he happens to be passing by, just to deter people." Shi Jianjun was very thoughtful.
"We'll still have to ask the village chief for help with things at home." Shi Jianjun smoothed Song Yan's hair.
"All right!"
"There isn't a single reliable relative in the family, it's really..."
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