Five years later, in Hongqi Village.
Song Lili stood in the courtyard, surrounded by the white snow. She wore a blue coat, handmade cotton shoes, and her hair was neatly braided and hung down her back.
Her skin remained fair, moist, and radiant, so delicate it seemed as if the years had stood still.
Only her more gentle and mature demeanor reveals that she has undergone some changes.
Compared to five years ago, she has matured and possesses a charm that only mature women have, but it has been tempered by time and carefully hidden away by her.
Right now, she was looking at the house with a helpless expression. "Xiao Chen, if you don't come out soon, I'm going to leave with your grandpa and abandon you."
Zhang Qinghua stood beside her. He had also matured. The man who was already composed before was now like a majestic mountain. Just seeing him made people feel at ease.
His face was still rugged, but he had become even more charming, and his masculine appeal was even greater than before.
He wasn't as easy to talk to as Song Lili; he spoke in a calm, warning voice, "Hurry up."
Just then, a small figure burst out of the door like a cannonball and plunged headfirst into Song Lili's arms.
"Mommy, Grandpa scolded me again." The child looked at her pitifully, with tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.
Song Lili wasn't fooled. "If you don't come out soon, I'm going to yell at you. Today is your cousin's one-month celebration. If you're late, see if your aunt will be angry."
Song Lili chuckled and pinched the child's chubby cheeks, ignoring the expectation in his bright eyes, and grabbed his hand, heading towards the door.
"Hmph, you're all bullying me. I'm definitely not your biological child. Grandpa said I popped out of a rock."
The child, their son Zhang Chen, is five years old and at the age where he is mischievous and naughty.
"Yes, your grandfather is right. You are the one I picked up. If your family comes looking for you in the future, I will send you back."
Song Lili, that unscrupulous mother, actually followed her child's nonsense, scaring the little boy so much that the tears he had been pretending to shed actually fell from his eyes.
"I don't want to go with them, I want my mother!" Little Zhang Chen cried out.
"Lili..." Zhang Qinghua called out helplessly. She was getting more and more mischievous, and her family was at their wits' end with her.
This wasn't the first time they'd scared their son like this; each time, the two of them played along with such earnestness, leaving him utterly helpless.
"Okay, okay, I was wrong, I was wrong, alright?" Song Lili quickly raised her hands in surrender. Only then did she say to the little bun, "You are my child, I went through eighty-one tribulations to give birth to you, this little monkey."
Thinking back to those days, she's terrified just thinking about it now; she doesn't want to experience that kind of pain again.
Zhang Qinghua: "..." Why are you talking nonsense again?
"Really?" Tears streamed down the little bun's pink cheeks, and her jewel-like eyes were also watery.
"Of course, when have I ever lied to you?" Song Lili nodded insincerely. You weren't born of me, I would have thrown you away long ago.
"Mom, you just lied to me," the little dumpling said softly.
Song Lili: "..." Do you understand the principle of seeing through things but not saying them out loud?
Zhang Qinghua chuckled softly, feeling helpless towards the two of them.
"Let's hurry up and go, Chu Ci must be getting impatient."
Chu Ci and Song Fang got married last year, and their first child was born a few years later. Today is their one-month celebration.
It's unclear whether Song Fang was influenced by Song Lili or by the educated youth in the village—well, probably the educated youth. She dragged things out with Chu Ci for several years, almost making Chu Ci's hair turn white with worry.
The two got together after Song Fang and Song Lili had talked, and by the time they got married, they had been dating for three years.
Chu Ci wanted to get married when Song Fang was eighteen, but Song Fang wouldn't agree, which made Chu Ci anxious.
It took two years of this, until Chu Ci threw a tantrum and begged the old man to finally give in.
At the time, Song Lili only reminded them to get a marriage certificate, and then ignored the rest.
Fangfang couldn't hold onto Chu Ci's kite string at all, but she wasn't worried.
"Mom, I want to give the slingshot that my grandpa made for me to my little sister so she can play with me," little Zhang Chen said happily, skipping around.
He usually has many playmates. These days, people can have many children, but he is still very happy to have a younger sister.
Song Lili found it amusing. "You were looking for a slingshot in the house just now? Well, you're going to be disappointed. Your little sister can't play with it yet."
"Why?" As expected, the little bun was disappointed.
"My little sister is still young. All she knows is to eat and sleep. She doesn't know what playing is. She'll understand when she's a few years old."
"Sleep? Eat? I can do that too, but I can also play, and so can my sister." He nodded confidently.
“Okay, then you can talk to your sister about it later. I don’t care.” Song Lili nodded in agreement, looking very serious.
This made Zhang Qinghua even more helpless. Is a baby who is only a month old really able to understand?
Little Baozi hadn't thought of any of this. When he heard his mother say that, he was overjoyed. "I'll tell her in a bit," he said.
Song Lili's lips twitched. "Okay, then remember."
The mother and son chatted happily, leaving Zhang Qinghua with a dark expression. He suddenly wondered what his child would become if he grew up with Song Lili.
"You've finally arrived. Fangfang has asked me countless times. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have dared to go in."
As soon as they arrived at the Song family's door in the Fifth Brigade, Chu Ci ran out and poured out his grievances, making Song Lili raise an eyebrow.
"Oh, are you feeling really upset? Do you feel like you made a mistake marrying Fangfang?"
"Sister, big sister, please stop adding fuel to the fire, okay? I'm scared of you, I was wrong, okay?" Chu Ci quickly bowed and scraped, almost kneeling down to Song Lili.
He still remembers that when he was dating, it was all because of his sister-in-law, Song Fang. He was tormented by her quite a bit.
He was afraid of her and dared not go against her, for fear that his wife would cause trouble for him. Now that they were finally married, he dared not offend her even more.
Song Lili then smiled and said, "You're smart enough to go see Fangfang first. You two can do as you please."
After Chu Ci and Song Fang got married, they lived in the Song family's house. Chu Ci didn't have a house here, so he could only live in the Song family's house. He couldn't live in the educated youth settlement, could he?
Although Xia Niu was very unwilling, Song Yongren and Song Jianshe both agreed, so she could only keep it to herself.
Seeing Song Lili come in just now, she felt annoyed. Neither of her two sisters-in-law was someone she could control.
They are all very opinionated people. She would only suffer losses at their hands. As the so-called housekeeper of the Song family, how could she possibly have any face left?
She was unhappy and resentful, but she could only keep it to herself and dared not tell anyone. She could only keep it to herself, even though she had already given birth to two sons for the Song family, she dared not say it out loud, for fear that her father-in-law would be angry.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
