"Did you come here this year just to make me angry?!"
Old Deng was so angry that he stood up on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Before she got married, Deng Min had to endure hardship and humiliation at home because she had no other choice. But now that she was more assertive, she had already said what she wanted to say, so she straightened her neck and looked up at Old Man Deng: "Yes, I shouldn't have come! You only need one son. After you've paid the bride price for him, you can go wherever you want!"
Deng Min picked up Bai Manlin from the kang (a heated brick bed): "Brother Hai, let's go home! We can still make it back in time for lunch!"
Bai Shihai also felt that the atmosphere in the Deng family was too oppressive, so he put the coat that Bai Manzhi had just taken off on her back, carried her off the kang (a heated brick bed), and picked up the basket that Deng Min had packed: "Then, Mom and Dad, we'll come to see you again next time."
Old Deng was furious. It would have been better if Bai Shihai hadn't been so polite; his polite words were like a direct insult to his nose.
"Hey, little sister, why did you leave?"
The Deng sisters, Deng Lan and Deng Hua, were waiting in the kitchen for Deng Min to come out and talk to them, since they hadn't seen each other for many years.
Just a few minutes later, Deng Min stormed out carrying the child.
"I'll go out and take a look." Deng Lan wiped her hands on her apron and followed the two out the door, stopping them at the alley entrance.
"Xiaomin, what are you doing? You finally managed to come back for a visit."
Deng Lan was the eldest sister, and Deng Min respected her greatly.
Her nose suddenly stung with tears: "Big sister, didn't you see the look on Ning Cuicui's face just now! And Dad, he just spoils her! We, her own daughters, don't even get that kind of treatment!"
"Oh dear, you've been like this for a long time now, especially during the New Year..."
"You and Xiaohua can put up with it if you want, but I'm married far away, and I'm not going to put up with this humiliation! Big sister, you should go back now, I'm leaving with Hai-ge."
"No, no, no, how about this, you go to my house first. How can I let you walk on an empty stomach in this cold weather? It's been so many years since we sisters have seen each other."
Deng Lan married into the village. Old Man Deng had originally intended to leave his daughter in the village so that she could easily bring him food and take care of him when he got old.
Deng Min glanced at Bai Shihai, who said gently, "Why don't we go to my eldest sister's house? The whole forest is freezing. We just got on the kang (heated brick bed) a little while ago, and before we could even warm up, we had to be carried out again."
"Mom, I'm cold too."
With a bicycle to carry the family of four, Deng Min could only hold Bai Manlin on the back seat, while Bai Manzhi sat on the crossbar, exposed to the cold wind in front.
Deng Min couldn't bear to part with her child: "If Dad finds out, won't he get angry at you, eldest sister?"
"It's okay, you still remember the door, right? Just go over there, your brother-in-law is home."
Old Man Deng didn't think much of Deng Lan's son-in-law either, so the eldest son-in-law stayed at home, waiting to go over at mealtime.
They thought their youngest daughter had married the best; he was a worker in town. But her husband didn't even come back with Deng Hua for the New Year this year.
Deng Min and Bai Shihai knocked on Deng Lan's door. Sun Shaojun didn't recognize them at first when he opened the door, until Deng Min called him "brother-in-law" and he realized, "It's Xiao Min, come in quickly, what brings you back for the New Year?"
Sun Shaojun was an honest man. He and Deng Lan lived a typical life in the village, barely making ends meet and having to be very careful with every penny.
When he saw that these two people came to his house instead of the Deng family's, he knew what it meant.
After welcoming the two in, Sun Shaojun happily picked up Bai Manzhi and swayed her gently: "I really want a daughter. I'm so worried about these three boys in my family."
Deng Lan gave birth to a son with her first child, and two sons with her second child. Sun Shaojun was completely clueless at the time.
Bai Manzhi would also say to him, "Happy New Year, Uncle-in-law! May you live a long and healthy life." Sun Shaojun envied Bai Shihai even more.
Bai Shihai smiled and said, "Then let's have another one."
"I dare not have any more children. If I have another son, I'll give up my old life for them."
Sun Shaojun added some more firewood to the kang (a heated brick bed): "Are you going to your father-in-law's house for dinner later? Otherwise, let's just have a meal here."
Sun Shaojun really couldn't be bothered to go. His father-in-law was indifferent to him, but the real problem was Deng Lan's younger brother and sister-in-law, who were acting like they were on top of the world.
If it weren't for the fact that they lived in the same village, he wouldn't have visited Deng Min unless absolutely necessary.
Bai Shihai smiled wryly: "We can't go back, but brother-in-law, if you want to go, go ahead. Don't worry about us. We'll warm up for a bit and then we'll leave."
It's so tragic. In a fit of anger, Deng Min left the house without a word of apology from her parents.
"Hey, wait! Your sister asked you to come, right? What am I going to say if you leave?"
Sun Shaojun held Bai Shihai down: "Don't complain, I'll go cut up a couple of snacks to go with the drinks. There's plenty of jellyfish skin."
That thing is all water, and you can pull up a big one. It's very cheap, like you're getting it for free.
Bai Shihai and Deng Min felt embarrassed when Deng Lan returned at mealtime.
She didn't come back to invite Sun Shaojun over for dinner; she came back in a huff.
"Big sister, what's wrong with you?" Deng Min asked knowingly, clearly upset that she was either looking for her father or Ning Cuicui.
“Our father really spoils Ning Cuicui. He knows I left you here, so he sent me over to take back the malted milk powder you brought.”
Deng Lan was furious.
She put down what she was doing and left. Although she would definitely have to apologize later, Deng Lan really couldn't bring herself to ask for the malted milk powder back.
"Big sister, why don't you stay and have dinner with us? After we finish eating, you can take this jar of malted milk powder back with you." Deng Min hadn't originally planned to take these things back, but she was just angry.
"I think you shouldn't have given it to them. Even if you did, it would all end up in Ning Cuicui's mouth. What chance would our parents have of getting any to drink?"
Deng Lan knew all this perfectly well, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"Alright, you were just trying to persuade me. Big sister, I happened to bring an old hen with me. You can take it and make a dish, and we can have a good meal at your house."
Deng Lan was worried about not having anything to serve Deng Min at home, and thinking that if she took the chicken back to her parents' house, Deng Min wouldn't get to eat it either, she simply nodded and said, "Wait here, it'll be ready in a little while!"
"My sister and I went into the kitchen to talk."
Deng Min and Deng Lan went into the kitchen, and Sun Shaojun took out a plate of jellyfish skin.
"What do you think of our father and brother-in-law? It's really embarrassing," Deng Lan thought to herself, feeling ashamed. But then she asked, "Has the Bai family struck it rich this year? They're getting chickens and malted milk powder all the time. And this bicycle, did your family buy it too?"
“It’s not that he made a fortune, it’s the money Shi Bo earned while learning a trade outside.”
Deng Min didn't tell Deng Lan the truth either. Deng Lan thought to herself, "Hmm, these days skills are still valuable! You've finally reaped the rewards of your hard work."
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