"Big sister! Why did you suddenly come back?"
Ma Alin's face lit up with surprise, his eyes wide open, and his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement.
He rushed forward as if the wind were blowing, taking three steps at a time, and carefully reached out to support his sister's arm, afraid that she might accidentally fall.
He craned his neck and peered intently out the door, but when he didn't see his brother-in-law, Shen Zishan, Ma Alin felt somewhat disappointed.
At this moment, Ma Aning gently patted her younger brother's hand that was supporting her and said with a smile, "Oh dear, don't look anymore, your brother-in-law didn't come back with me."
Ma Aning breathed a little heavily, then plopped down steadily on the stool next to her.
"Where are Father, Mother, and my younger brother? Why do I only see you?" Ma Aning asked her younger brother with a puzzled look on her face.
Upon hearing her sister's question, Ma Alin quickly looked away, turned around, walked to the kitchen, picked up a bowl, poured a full bowl of cooled boiled water from the kettle, and handed it to her sister.
He explained, "This year's drought is terrible, the fields are terribly dry. The brigade leader made everyone carry water to irrigate the fields early this morning. So, my parents and second brother went to carry water to irrigate the fields, hoping to harvest a good crop this year."
"We ran out of firewood for lunch, so I stayed to chop some for later use."
"Big sister, you still haven't told me why you came alone? You're so pregnant, your brother-in-law must have felt bad about you coming," Ma Alin asked again.
“We’ve split up, and I came here specifically to let you know,” Ma Aning said with a smile as she stood at the door.
"Really? That's wonderful!" Upon hearing this, Ma Alin was so excited he almost jumped up, his face beaming with uncontainable joy.
"Yes, that's great. Your brother-in-law and I have moved out of our old house. We bought the house in the village where Grandma Sun used to live."
“However, your brother-in-law accidentally injured his leg a few days ago, and he’s still not very mobile.” Ma Aning said with a soft sigh.
"Sister, please let me know if you need any help," Ma Alin asked hurriedly with concern.
"Ah Lin, I really need your help with something. I was thinking if you or my younger brother were free tomorrow, could you go to town and buy some pots, pans, and other kitchenware for me?" Ma Aning looked at her younger brother somewhat apologetically.
“Sure, no problem! I’ll take care of this little thing.” Ma Alin agreed without hesitation.
Afterwards, the siblings started working together to prepare lunch.
The sounds of chopping vegetables, stir-frying, and the siblings chatting happily could be heard from the kitchen.
Just then, a clear end-of-work bell rang from afar. Soon after, Ma Quan, Wen Li, and their eldest son returned home one after another.
"Father, Mother, younger brother, you're back! Quickly wash your hands and get ready for dinner," Ma Aning greeted her family with a beaming smile.
"Ah Ning, why did you suddenly come back? Didn't your son-in-law come with you?" Ma Quan put down his tools, looked around, and asked first.
Wenli, who was standing nearby, also stepped forward with a smile to support her daughter, and said with concern, "My dear daughter, how have you been these past few days? Have you been wronged?"
"Dad, Mom, don't worry, I'm fine. Let's eat first, and I'll tell you everything after we finish eating." Ma Aning pulled her parents toward the dining table.
The meal was quite enjoyable, with everyone sitting together as a family and having a great time. However, the family was also worried about their daughter coming home heavily pregnant, wondering if something had happened.
After the meal, Ma Alin took the initiative to get up and clear the table. He quickly stacked the bowls and chopsticks neatly, then picked up the plates and went into the kitchen to wash them.
Unlike other men, these two brothers wouldn't sit around doing nothing after eating, like those big, strong men.
From childhood, thanks to their parents' guidance, the two brothers personally took care of all the household chores, such as washing clothes and cooking.
Over time, this habit has become deeply ingrained in their hearts.
Therefore, after each meal, the two of them would voluntarily help clean up the table, and sometimes even after returning home early, they would personally cook for their family.
Once everything was in order, everyone sat down again.
Wenli looked at Ma Aning's large, protruding belly with concern and couldn't help but ask, "Aning, what's going on? Don't hide it from me, just tell your mother! You're carrying such a big belly, why did you come back to your parents' home alone?"
Ma Aning first signaled her family to close the door tightly and carefully observed the surroundings. After confirming that no one was nearby, she lowered her voice and slowly told her parents and brothers about the various things that she and her husband had experienced.
She said in a heavy voice, "Father, Mother, this is how it is..."
"My in-laws decided to separate us and let us live separately. You could say it was our idea."
“I know that Brother Shan has lost his job and injured his leg. We don’t know if he will recover. He’s afraid that he will implicate his other two sons, so he will definitely divide the family property.” Ma Aning said casually, as if she were talking about someone else’s business.
“Those two old bastards will get their comeuppance. They only gave you this little bit of property after the family division. All the money in that family was earned by the son-in-law.” Wenli was furious.
"Mom, don't be angry. We didn't hand over a single penny of the money we earned from selling our jobs. The 600 yuan is all in my hands, and we also got 120 yuan from the hospital, so it should be 720 yuan," Ma Aning said to her mother in a coquettish tone.
Ma Aning continued, "We used the nominal sum of money we received when the family divided the property to buy a house."
"After buying some pots, pans and other household items tomorrow, we'll barely have any money left. That way, I doubt anyone will try to take advantage of our meager savings."
After saying this, Ma Aning sighed softly, her face full of helplessness.
The father, Ma Quan, sat silently to the side, only tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table, as if he was thinking of a solution.
"Now that the division of the family property has been agreed upon, you have bought the house, renovated it, and moved in."
"We don't have any better suggestions for the current situation, but like you said, since your leg is injured, it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone. During this time, you need to take good care of yourself and not give anything away."
"If anything happens that needs to be dealt with, you can ask your two younger brothers for help. As for the food issue, don't worry, we'll buy it for you when we go to buy grain."
Ma Quan calmly and methodically arranged all the matters, demonstrating clarity and thoroughness.
"Dad, thank you so much!" Ma Aning's gratitude was overflowing. She knew that her parents had always cared for her deeply.
From childhood to adulthood, I have never spoken a harsh word to myself, and I always do my best to plan and arrange things properly for myself.
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