Chapter 49 I won't buy eggs, and you're not allowed to buy them either! ...
“Song…Song…” Tian Kexian didn’t know anyone from the Song family. She only knew that Song Erge was good-looking and had a good temperament. She had taken a liking to Song Erge, so she came to confess her feelings to him.
Tian Kexian did inquire about Song Erge, asking for his name, but she didn't ask who his brother was or what the Song family was like. Tian Kexian had no idea that the person in front of her was Song Fenglan's biological brother; she was completely stunned.
Tian Kexian just thought that Song Erge was handsome and had a good salary. If she could marry Song Erge and leave her parents' home, that would be more important than anything else.
The atmosphere in the Tian family was rather oppressive, shrouded in gloom. Everyone was feeling miserable; their great-uncle had brought them far more harm than good than good. The crucial point was that they had indeed received a few gifts from their great-uncle, albeit indirectly, but not a large amount.
Without saying anything else, Song Erge left.
"You..." Tian Kexian's eyes reddened. She had originally thought that Song Erge's legs weren't very good, that he had a slight limp, and that it would be very noticeable if he walked a little faster. She thought that marrying Song Erge would be a step down for her, and that Song Erge would agree to it.
As a result... Tian Kexian was too upset; she felt like everyone around her was laughing at her.
“So many women dream of marrying him,” someone said. “You’re not the only one, but you’re the worst of them all.”
Some people are really that direct and straightforward. Tian Kexian deliberately confessed her feelings near Song Erge's workplace, and some people recognized her.
He knew Song Erge and Tian Kexian, so he spoke over there.
Even someone like Tian Kexian wants to marry Song Erge. Even though Song Erge's legs aren't very good, there are still many people who want to marry him because the Song family's conditions are just too good.
Tian Kexian slunk back to the Tian family home. When she saw her sister, she shouted, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"
"What's it to blame me for?" Tian Keshu was bewildered.
“It’s all your fault for being greedy and for treating Song Fenglan badly. If it weren’t for you, why would her second brother look down on me?” Tian Kexian said.
"Her second brother? Her second brother is several years older than you." Tian Keshu didn't understand.
"Everyone laughs at me, laughs at my overestimation of myself, and laughs at me for doing so many dirty things, and I still care about Song Fenglan's brother." Tian Kexian was very upset.
Song Erge was a man carefully chosen by Tian Kexian. He was good-looking, had a good salary, and his age didn't matter. Tian Kexian was confident that Song Erge would marry her. Tian Kexian held Song Erge in contempt and was also eyeing what he possessed.
"What...what happened to you?" Tian Keshu asked. "Did you tell her second brother?"
"I already told you, I confessed, so what?" Tian Kexian said, "It's all because of you..."
"Since you know he is..."
"I don't know. If I had known beforehand, I would never have confessed my feelings." Tian Kexian really didn't know. Even though the Song family had been back in the capital for a long time, the Tian family and the Song family had no contact. How could Tian Kexian possibly know what the Song family members looked like?
Things had come to this point, and Tian Kexian was extremely distressed. She had completely imagined how wonderful and comfortable her life would be after marrying Song Erge, and she thought that Song Erge would definitely pamper her. But now, everything was over, and Song Erge had no intention of going to her at all.
"Why didn't you tell me before you went to confess your feelings?" Tian Keshu said. "If you had told me..."
"It's all because of you, and you still have the nerve to blame me," Tian Kexian said. "You've offended people so badly that I've become like this. It's all your fault, all your fault."
Tian Kexian was crying her eyes out, extremely upset. Tian Keshu tried to comfort her sister, but it didn't help much; her sister still resented her, which was hard for Tian Keshu to bear.
Can we blame her entirely?
Tian Keshu really didn't understand why Tian Kexian would fall for the Song family.
Yes, the Song family is rich, has stable jobs, and is good-looking... However, Tian Keshu still thinks the Song family are capitalists, and who knows when they might be sent to a farm again. She thinks it's best for her younger sister not to be with Song Erge.
“He’s a cripple. He doesn’t want you, and our family doesn’t want him either.”
"Their family is doing well now, but if the policy changes in the future, they might be in trouble again."
"Why choose someone from the Song family when there are so many men in the world?"
...
Tian Keshu said a lot, but Tian Kexian was still very sad.
“Our family is in such a state, what’s the point of saying these things?” Tian Kexian wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. “I’m already like this, and everyone laughs at me.”
"So what do you want? Are you going to go find Song Fenglan's second brother and try to take him down?" Tian Keshu asked.
"How...how can I go?" Tian Kexian thought of the disgust Song Erge had shown her. If Song Erge had feelings for her, that would be one thing. The problem was that Song Erge disliked her, even loathed her. What could she possibly do?
Given the relationship between the two families, Tian Kexian knew with her own eyes that Song Erge would never marry her, and no one else in the Song family would accept her.
When Song Erge returned home, he told Song's mother about Tian Kexian's affair as a joke.
"Just make it clear," said Song's mother. "She is, after all, a young woman; don't make things too awkward for her."
"We gave them face, but did they give Fenglan any face?" Brother Song said. "They must have said a lot of nasty things to Fenglan back then. What kind of nasty things did they say? People at their level, when they say nasty things, they're even more hurtful and blunt. I didn't say much today, I just asked her if she knew who I was?"
Brother Song looked down on the Tian family. They had acquired so much, yet they remained so greedy. Human greed knows no bounds; the Tian family's current state is entirely their own doing.
"Be careful, relationships between men and women should be kept clean," said Song's mother. "Don't let anyone try to frame you."
"Yes." Second Brother Song nodded. "Mom, don't worry."
Song Erge isn't some naive fool; he won't just stand there and let others bully him, nor will he be forced to marry Tian Kexian. What is Tian Kexian anyway? The Tian family has a spy; if the Tian family dares to make any other moves, Song Erge thinks that's perfect—he can report them, saying the Tian family received orders from the spy to target the Song family.
Song Erge didn't call Song Fenglan to tell her about this matter; there was no need to trouble his sister. Song Erge wasn't a soft-hearted person; if those people dared to do disgusting things in front of him, he would retaliate.
When summer vacation arrived, the kindergarten teachers breathed a sigh of relief. They were finally able to send their little darlings away and get some rest. However, their joy was short-lived. Another document came down, requiring the kindergartens to also open during the summer vacation so that the teachers could help look after the children.
The kindergarten teachers are at their wits' end. These children are so unruly; they're always crying, fighting, and pulling hair. Sometimes, parents even come to the kindergarten. The kindergarten teachers are about to cry; this job is so difficult.
No matter how difficult the job is, kindergarten teachers have to do it.
Qin Zihang and Zhang Xiaohu stopped going to kindergarten; they plan to start first grade next semester. Also, Mrs. Su and Aunt Pang are both off work, so they have time to take care of the children.
Zhang Xiaohu and Qin Zihang were lying near the chicken coop, trying to see if the hen had laid any eggs. The two were in Fatty's backyard, staring intently at the hen in the coop.
Fatty's wife has been raising chickens for a while and has one hen. That hen has only recently started laying eggs, and Zhang Xiaohu likes to watch it. He even brought Qin Zihang over so Qin Zihang could watch with him.
Madam Su and her husband sat in the backyard watching the two children. The backyard was smaller than the front yard.
"Just watch, don't touch it." Fat Sister saw Zhang Xiaohu holding a stick and trying to poke the hen. Zhang Xiaohu was also afraid that the hen would fly up and peck him.
“I didn’t do anything,” Zhang Xiaohu said. “I was just watching.”
"Brother Xiaohu is just looking." Qin Zihang nodded. "Looking, a wooden stick is no good, it will break the egg."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaohu quickly threw away the wooden stick in his hand; he had no intention of breaking the egg.
"Cluck, cluck," Zhang Xiaohu called to the hen.
Zhang Xiaohu saw parents making a "shh" sound while trying to get their children to pee, and people making "chicken" or "duck" sounds while herding chickens and ducks. Zhang Xiaohu's eyes lit up, and he started clucking.
"..." Qin Zihang glanced at Zhang Xiaohu, then took two steps away from him.
“Brother Zihang, you can call him that too,” Zhang Xiaohu said.
"No, I won't call it that." Qin Zihang shook his head. "That's too stupid."
"Stupid?" Zhang Xiaohu was a little confused.
"Yes, it's stupid." Qin Zihang nodded. "Especially stupid. Chickens lay eggs, but we don't. Cluck cluck, it's useless."
Qin Zihang earnestly explained to Zhang Xiaohu, "My mother said that some things are objective; no matter what we do, things will remain the same."
"What is 'objective'?" Zhang Xiaohu asked, confused. "Is it the guest?"
“No,” Qin Zihang said. “Natural phenomena are objective.”
“Brother Zihang, you know a lot,” Zhang Xiaohu said.
"Know more so you can go to university later." Qin Zihang hadn't forgotten about going to university.
Ever since Qin Zihang learned that university was a very good school, he has been thinking about going to university in the future. His mother also wanted to go to university, and he wanted to be like his mother.
“Brother Xiaohu, we’re all big kids now, we need to understand things,” Qin Zihang said. “We don’t want others to think we’re stupid little kids.”
Madam Su was fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan when she heard Qin Zihang's words and smiled. The child's earnest expression was somewhat amusing.
"I won't be a stupid child," Zhang Xiaohu quickly shook his head, "I won't be an idiot."
“That’s right, we’re not going to be idiots,” Qin Zihang said. “Brother Xiaohu, we need to learn.”
"Okay," Zhang Xiaohu said.
Seeing this, the plump woman looked at Madam Su and said, "How does Fenglan raise her child? This child is interesting. And you, Auntie, are also good at raising children. You've raised Zihang..."
"You've taken such good care of her."
“In the early years, my husband went to work, and I stayed at home alone, doing housework and taking care of the children,” Mrs. Su said.
Mrs. Su's children and grandchildren were not by her side; they were elsewhere, contributing to the country. When her daughter-in-law gave birth, Mrs. Su was neither there to care for her nor the baby. Fortunately, her son and daughter-in-law understood; Mrs. Su's most important task was to take good care of Professor Su.
The son and daughter-in-law are both adults and can take good care of their own children.
“They rarely come here,” said the plump woman.
“My husband told them not to come. If they come, we’ll have to prepare a lot of things and keep them company,” Mrs. Su said. “When they come, they want to stay a few more days, and my husband will ask them how their work is going.”
Thinking about those things, Mrs. Su felt that her husband spent most of his time at work and rarely paid attention to things at home. Mrs. Su arranged everything herself, and sometimes she would call her children to ask how they were doing.
“Your children must be very outstanding,” said the plump woman.
"They're alright," Mrs. Su said. "They're still quite a bit worse than their father."
“I think Zihang is very smart. He should be able to be as capable as his parents in the future,” said the plump woman. “Like father, like son. If the mother is capable, the son will be no less so.”
"Zihang is fine." Madam Su nodded. When she looked at Zihang, she sometimes thought of her own children and grandchildren. Madam Su wasn't unhappy that Professor Su wanted her to keep an eye on Qin Zihang; on the contrary, she was quite pleased, experiencing a bit of empathy.
Mrs. Su felt that Qin Zihang was even more pitiful than her own child. Qin Yizhou was a regimental commander and had to stay in the army, while Song Fenglan was in a research institute. Meanwhile, when her own child was young, she, as his biological mother, often spent time with him. This made Mrs. Su want to treat Qin Zihang even better, so that when he grew up and looked back on his childhood, he wouldn't feel that no one loved him.
“Little Tiger is not bad either,” Madam Su said.
"If he were even half as good as Zihang, I would be relieved." The plump woman rubbed her brows. "When you ask him to write, he can't write clearly. When you ask him to do arithmetic, he can't do it well either. Well, you can't entirely blame him. Neither his father nor I are highly educated."
Aunt Pang thought that since no one in the family was highly educated, it was perfectly normal for Zhang Xiaohu to be less educated than Qin Zihang. She figured that if Zhang Xiaohu played with Qin Zihang, he would learn more from him.
Cluck cluck, the hen came out of the coop.
Zhang Xiaohu quickly called Qin Zihang to go check the chicken coop. There were two eggs in the coop. One egg was the one that had been there before; if there was only one egg, the hen would go there to lay another. Zhang Xiaohu then picked up the egg and handed it to Qin Zihang.
"It's still warm," Zhang Xiaohu said. "You can eat it while it's hot."
“Eggs shouldn’t be eaten raw, as they can harbor bacteria,” Mrs. Su said.
"But Uncle Fang next door ate it, opened it and took a bite," Zhang Xiaohu said, indicating that he saw it.
"Shall I steam some eggs for you?" the plump woman asked.
"Okay." Qin Zihang handed the eggs to the fat woman. "Children are not adults. Adults eat raw food, but children don't."
Qin Zihang dared not eat raw food, "because it would hurt my stomach."
Hangbao's tummy hurts, and Mommy will worry.
Qin Zihang is very sensible. He mainly wanted to see the chickens lay eggs, not to eat them raw.
Fang Xudong is from the countryside. Some people in his area crack open freshly laid eggs and eat them, thinking they are delicious and not at all suspicious.
Qin Zihang didn't see Fang Xudong eat eggs like that because his house was a bit far from Fang Xudong's. Zhang Xiaohu, however, saw it once and remembered it.
The plump woman took out two more eggs from the cupboard and steamed them for the three children, one bowl for each child. She wasn't stingy by only steaming one egg; Song Fenglan and her husband had given Zhang Xiaohu and his brother plenty of food, so it was impossible for her to be stingy with just one egg.
Madam Su did not stop her sister-in-law from reciprocating the gift; only by doing so could the relationship last.
Around 7 p.m., Song Fenglan returned home and overheard her son talking about Fang Xudong eating raw eggs.
"That's what Brother Xiaohu said. Uncle Fang ate the raw egg in one bite," Qin Zihang said. "Brother Xiaohu let me eat it, but I didn't eat the raw egg. Auntie steamed the egg custard for me."
“You can’t eat a raw egg,” Qin Yizhou said. He couldn’t say that Fang Xudong shouldn’t have done that, nor could he say that Fang Xudong shouldn’t have let the child see him eat the egg like that. It was someone else’s food, and he could eat it however he wanted. All Qin Yizhou could do was teach his own child not to do that.
"Mom, I haven't eaten." Qin Zihang saw his mother and wanted to say to her, "Mom, why are you back so late? You haven't eaten with Hangbao for several days."
"I'll have dinner with you in a few days." Song Fenglan has been very busy lately, and working overtime until this late is actually quite good.
Lately, Song Fenglan has been waking up earlier every morning. After getting up, she doesn't eat breakfast at home but goes to the research institute for breakfast, and then goes to work. Song Fenglan has no choice; she has to personally oversee many things. If she doesn't, even a small mistake can lead to a huge error.
Airplanes fly in the sky; if something goes wrong, it could lead to a crash and loss of life.
Song Fenglan has a responsibility to the pilots and to the country. It's important to understand that the country doesn't yet have a true fourth-generation fighter jet. Previous aircraft were all modified versions of those outdated designs from other countries. After modification, they would be renamed, but they weren't entirely new and domestically developed.
This time, everything is new, from the engine to the fuselage, and many other aspects. It's new to Professor Su and others, but for Song Fenglan, it's the fourth-generation fighter jet from her homeland in her previous life, not even a fifth-generation one.
Song Fenglan has to keep a close eye on things, addressing problems as they arise and preventing them from piling up. When Song Fenglan gets busy, she has less time to spend with her children.
"Mom, you're too busy," Qin Zihang said. "Mom, remember to spend time with Hangbao."
"I remember, I remember," Song Fenglan said with a smile, hugging Qin Zihang.
"Just spend more time with Hangbao. Dad is an adult, so he doesn't need to spend as much time with Dad," Qin Zihang added.
Qin Yizhou was speechless. Could he still keep this son? Was this son picked up from a garbage dump?
After saying this, Qin Zihang secretly glanced at his father, realizing he hadn't said anything wrong; this was how it should be. Qin Zihang straightened his back again, "Dad, you're an adult now, many, many times three years old."
"It's not like there are many three-year-olds; many three-year-olds are still three-year-olds," Qin Yizhou said quietly.
"Okay, when Mom is with me, you can be there too, and Mom will be with you too." Seeing that his father wasn't very happy, Qin Zihang walked over to his father and gently patted his arm. "Dad, look, my mom is there, my mom is with me."
Qin Yizhou looked at his son and wanted to say: Your mother shared a room with me and stayed with me all night.
However, to avoid upsetting Qin Zihang and to prevent him from clamoring for his mother to stay with him, Qin Yizhou decided to keep quiet. Children are too naive; the time a child spends with their mother is very short, not that long.
"Mom is with you," Qin Yizhou said. "As for me, I'll be with you and your mom."
"Mom, did you hear that?" Qin Zihang turned to look at his mother. "I shared it with Dad."
"You really are a good child," Song Fenglan said.
"Of course," Qin Zihang said.
In summer, many children like to run to the river, and if their parents don't supervise them, problems can easily occur.
So, a family's child drowned in the river. The crucial point is that the child went to the river with other children; the other children were fine, but that child was the one who drowned.
This incident did not occur in the staff quarters, but in a nearby residential area, on a street close to the suburbs, near a river.
Children are naturally curious, and even if their parents tell them not to play by the river, some of them still go to play there.
After this incident, the parents of the surviving children beat the deceased children. Even so, the parents of the deceased children still blamed these people, saying why only their own children had problems. Then, one of the children couldn't take it anymore, ran to the river and jumped in, and died.
The matter caused a huge uproar and spread far and wide.
Parents in the residential compound all told their children not to run to the riverbank and even told them about this incident to scare them.
After dinner, as Song Fenglan and the others sat in the courtyard to cool off, Fatty Sister-in-law mentioned this matter.
"How can you blame the child alone? The parents didn't have time to look after their child, didn't take good care of them, and when something happened to their child, they blamed someone else's child," the plump woman sighed. "Twelve..."
A three-year-old child, gone just like that. The second one, who could have easily survived, also died. Both children were boys; the two families are now enemies.
The boy behind was burdened by adult pressure, but also by his own problems. The adults were blaming them, and the boy couldn't bear it. He thought he'd take his own life in return, and that was it. He left a short suicide note, but by the time the adults went back to look for it, it was too late.
"Did you hear me? Don't go playing by the river." Song Fenglan looked at Qin Zihang.
"I'm not going," Qin Zihang said. "Going to the river is just playing in the water. We have water at home. There are fish in the river, and we can buy fish at home. The river is not as fun as home."
Qin Zihang disliked going to the riverbank. Even when adults occasionally took him there to look at the water, he wouldn't want to stay there. He'd rather spend that time at home watching TV or doing other things; going to the river was just a waste of time.
"Little Tiger," Aunt Pang cautioned Little Tiger, "you mustn't go."
“If my little brother Zihang isn’t going, I won’t go either,” Zhang Xiaohu said.
Fatty was afraid Zhang Xiaohu would go; Zhang Xiaohu was always quite mischievous, and boys preferred playing by the river more than girls. Often, it was the boys who drowned.
The two sets of parents have been arguing fiercely these past few days. Both families have lost their children. The parents of the other children are keeping a low profile and dare not say a word. They are also keeping a close eye on their own children, afraid that their children might also run to the river and jump in.
Some children simply ignore their parents' advice; they just love playing by the river. With no other forms of entertainment, they prefer to go fishing. Even if there are other forms of entertainment, they still prefer going to the river.
When Song Fenglan heard about this, she felt that those two families would never forget this incident. Not just those two families, but any other family that knew about it would never forget it either.
The kid was quite loyal, what a pity.
Fan Yani is pregnant, more than a month along. She never expected to get pregnant at this time. Calculating the timeline, she'll have to take the college entrance exam with a big belly when it resumes. Fan Yani hasn't considered aborting the baby; her grades weren't good to begin with, and she could feel it herself when she was studying.
In her previous life, Fan Yani had only graduated from junior high school and attended a vocational school, so she didn't know much about high school material. Vocational schools were mostly about getting by; although some did teach some high school material, the content was minimal.
Fan Yani knew her own abilities. She decided to take the college entrance exam as a gamble. What if? What if others had worse grades? What if she got lucky and actually passed? If she did, it would be a stroke of luck; if she didn't, she wouldn't lose anything.
Because of her deep understanding of herself, Fan Yani did not think that the child came at the wrong time, nor did she think that the child should not have come.
Fan Yani is pregnant, but Li Hui is not.
Previously, Li Hui danced in the cultural troupe. In order to dance better and become the lead dancer, she lost a lot of weight, ate some other things, and applied some cold-natured substances to her navel.
In order to present her most beautiful self and to make sure everyone's eyes are only on her, Li Hui has made many sacrifices.
Shi Guilan told Li Hui to get pregnant with Guo Peng's child as soon as possible. It wasn't that Li Hui didn't want to get pregnant, but that she just couldn't.
While Guo Peng and Li Hui were having dinner, Guo Peng recalled what an acquaintance had told him on the street. Someone had seen Fan Yani leaving the hospital; that person had also gone to check if she was pregnant. Then, that person learned that Fan Yani was pregnant and told others. And then, someone told Guo Peng.
"Buy some eggs and deliver them to Yani's house," Guo Peng said.
"Why would you give it to her?" Li Hui frowned. "It's not like it's a holiday."
“Yani is pregnant,” Guo Peng said. “She still calls me brother, so I’ll send her some eggs to help her recover.”
"The child in her belly isn't yours, why is she so eager?" Li Hui disliked Fan Yani at all, and the fact that Fan Yani got pregnant before her made Li Hui even more unhappy. "Isn't she afraid of what people will say?"
"What's there to say?" Guo Peng asked.
"She was originally your childhood sweetheart," Li Hui said sarcastically.
“What era are we living in? She’s my sister now, there’s no other relationship,” Guo Peng said. “My parents also said that we should just treat Yani as our sister. During the Chinese New Year, Yani didn’t go back home, but she did send some things back.”
Fan Yani's parents praised her, saying she was hardworking and capable, and that Guo Peng should have married her. However, since Guo Peng was already married to Li Hui, Guo's parents didn't say much. But they knew in their hearts that Li Hui didn't like them. If Li Hui respected them, she should have gone back home with Guo Peng for the New Year, or at least show some appreciation.
Li Hui, however, did not prepare thoughtful gifts for her in-laws. She had high expenses, even spending a significant portion of Guo Peng's salary. Li Hui didn't want Guo Peng to give money to his parents; she preferred to spend it herself.
Guo Peng liked Li Hui, and he let her be. He even thought his wife was right; he was married now and couldn't keep sending all his money back home like before. He had other siblings who could take care of their parents, and he couldn't be the one to pay for everything. If Guo Peng contributed less, his parents would be somewhat unhappy.
After all, Guo Peng had given them a little more money before, and Guo's parents had hoped that he would give less after he got married. However, they did not expect that Guo Peng would suddenly reduce the amount of money by so much, a precipitous drop. As parents, they could not force their son to give more money, so they could only sit at home and sigh.
“She grew up in your family, raised by your parents. If it weren’t for your parents, whether she could have grown up is another matter entirely,” Li Hui said. “To be honest, we don’t owe her anything at all.”
Li Hui felt displeased thinking about Guo Peng's attitude towards Fan Yani. Guo Peng seemed to genuinely treat Fan Yani like a younger sister, even inviting Fan Yani and her husband to their home for meals. Now that Fan Yani was married, Guo Peng even asked Li Hui to prepare eggs.
“Others usually send eggs after the baby is born and during the postpartum period, not this early,” Li Hui said. “If we send eggs, will she send me eggs when I get pregnant later? Maybe we shouldn’t send them to each other at all.”
"..." Guo Peng was speechless, not expecting Li Hui to say such a thing. "Never mind, you don't need to buy it."
"I didn't buy it, and you're not allowed to buy it either!" Li Hui slammed her chopsticks on the table.
“It’s just a little thing, nothing expensive.” Guo Peng didn’t quite understand Li Hui. He had said many times that he and Fan Yani were siblings now, siblings. “When you have a baby in the future, Yani will help you. Yani, she…”
"All you do is praise her. If you think she's so great, why didn't you marry her in the first place?" Li Hui said angrily.
Li Hui felt that Fan Yani's existence was a stain on her life. Everyone who saw Fan Yani would think that Li Hui was a mistress. Li Hui thought that if she had known about Fan Yani's existence beforehand, she might still have married Guo Peng, but she would definitely have let Fan Yani marry someone in the countryside, and would never have let Fan Yani come to the family compound.
"I have no romantic feelings for her. I've told you that so many times. Why are you still saying this?" Guo Peng frowned.
No matter how many times Guo Peng said it, it was no use; Li Hui just liked to make a fuss about this one thing.
When Fan Yani came over, Li Hui acted more gently. Li Hui didn't want Fan Yani to look down on her, and she didn't want Fan Yani to think that the relationship between her and her husband was good.
In fact, Li Hui had yelled at Guo Peng quite a bit, and many of the neighbors had heard it. Some of the gossipy people had already spread the word about the arguments between Li Hui and Guo Peng, so others just treated it as entertainment.
Fan Yani knew that Li Hui and Guo Peng had argued, and she felt relieved. Fan Yani felt indignant for the original owner of this body; the original owner had done so much, and Guo Peng had just kicked her aside.
The original owner. Although the two didn't get married, and Guo Peng didn't have to marry the original owner, Fan Yani had to consider things from the original owner's perspective since she had transmigrated into the body of the original owner.
Guo Peng hadn't broken the law; he just had some moral flaws, which is normal for an ordinary person. Fan Yani didn't make things too difficult for Guo Peng, at most reminding him and his wife a few more times. She, Fan Yani, was determined to stay here, to take the place of the original owner, and to make Guo Peng regret not treating the original owner better.
Song Fenglan paid little attention to the gossip circulating in the family compound, and even less attention to Li Hui's affairs. Regardless of whether Li Hui had ever harbored feelings for Qin Yizhou, or anything else, Song Fenglan didn't keep an eye on Li Hui.
Li Hui was feeling terrible, and she didn't feel comfortable talking to her neighbors or calling them to ask for money. She also couldn't call Shi Guilan often, so she could only keep it to herself.
Meanwhile, Shi Guilan was not doing well. It was unclear who had learned of Shi Guilan's past actions, but rumors circulated that Staff Officer Xu had been implicated by Shi Guilan and was thus exiled from the prosperous region to the Northwest.
Shi Guilan originally thought those people didn't know, and she planned to keep a low profile for a while so she could go out and talk to more people. Who would have thought that someone else would bring up those things again, and everyone else who knew about it thought Shi Guilan was terrifying.
"I never would have guessed she was such a ruthless person."
"It's true, absolutely true, not fake."
"She's been staying at home ever since she came here, because she's afraid."
"You should be careful when you associate with her, lest you get completely devoured. Be careful that your men don't end up with other women because of her."
"She's really capable of introducing potential partners to married men."
"Regardless of their social class, they've already submitted their marriage application and gotten married, which means they're legally married."
...
When Shi Guilan went outside, she saw people talking about her. She heard them, but she couldn't rush over. She had to pretend she hadn't heard and greet them with a smile. Shi Guilan didn't know many people around here, and not many were willing to stand by her side, unlike back in Nancheng, where quite a few people sided with her out of respect for Staff Officer Xu.
The more Shi Guilan pretended not to hear, the more others felt that there was something wrong with her, and the more they wanted to say those things.
When Li Hui called Shi Guilan, Shi Guilan was also feeling irritable.
“If you can’t get pregnant, go to the hospital to get checked out. Telling me won’t help,” Shi Guilan said.
"Sister." Li Hui sensed that Shi Guilan's tone wasn't very good.
“Making phone calls costs money, so be careful. Raising children costs money,” Shi Guilan said. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now.”
"..." Li Hui never expected Shi Guilan to hang up the phone so quickly; she hadn't even mentioned that Guo Peng was going to send eggs to Fan Yani.
It was a holiday, and Song Fenglan took Qin Zihang to the store to buy eggs, as they only had two left at home. Song Fenglan planned to buy a few more eggs, as eggs spoil easily in the summer and wouldn't keep for too many days even in the refrigerator.
Qin Zihang insisted on carrying a bamboo basket, refusing to let his mother carry it.
"I'll take it." Qin Yizhou reached out his hand.
"No, I'll take it," Qin Zihang said. "It's only a little bit heavy."
Qin Yizhou looked at the bamboo basket. He was mainly concerned that the basket had a large opening, and Qin Zihang hadn't held it properly, so the eggs might fall to the ground. It would be such a waste if the eggs broke.
"I need to eat too." Qin Zihang looked at the eggs in the bamboo basket. "I'll get them."
Qin Zihang was carrying the bamboo basket, but then felt it was too heavy to carry, so he tried to put it on his back. The eggs almost rolled to the ground. Qin Yizhou reacted quickly and caught the basket.
"Put it in your bag." Song Fenglan took out her cloth bag. There weren't many things in the bag, just a handkerchief and a wallet.
Since Qin Zihang insisted on carrying the eggs, we had no choice but to give him something else to carry.
A family of three bought some groceries and went outside the shop. They took the items out of their bamboo basket and put them in a cloth bag. There were quite a few people buying groceries, and some were even queuing. Those queuing were mainly looking to buy meat. Sometimes the shop didn't have much meat, and because of the hot weather and early sunrise, people would come early to queue.
Song Fenglan's family is doing well; if they go out to queue but can't buy meat, the relevant departments will send them some meat.
"We're making pancakes today," Song Fenglan said. They had bought bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, and other ingredients to use as fillings.
"Eat pancakes, eat pancakes!" Qin Zihang was especially happy when he heard about eating pancakes.
Qin Zihang skipped and hopped all the way home, but when they got there and went to take out the eggs, one of them was broken, and some egg white had spilled onto the cloth bag. Qin Zihang felt guilty. He lowered his head and kicked at something that wasn't there on the ground. What should he do? What should he do?
"Mom, did the egg pee?" Qin Zihang tried to make an excuse.
"..." Song Fenglan's lips twitched slightly. An egg can urinate?
"Mom, I don't want my allowance anymore." Qin Zihang fiddled with his fingers. He didn't mean it. Seeing that his mother didn't say anything, he added, "I just want to go home quickly."
"It's alright, just be more careful next time," Song Fenglan said. "Just wash it, let's wash the vegetables first."
Song Fenglan still had to prepare the dough. They couldn't find any pancakes for sale outside, nor could they go far to buy any, so they decided to make them themselves. Making them themselves meant they could make more pancakes.
"I washed the vegetables with my dad," Qin Zihang quickly replied.
Song Fenglan noticed the bottom of the cloth bag was sticky. Luckily, she hadn't put anything else in it. After a quick wash, it would dry quickly in this hot weather. Song Fenglan couldn't possibly hold such a small matter against her son. She put the cracked egg in a bowl.
Qin Zihang moved a small stool and washed vegetables with Qin Yizhou in the yard. When Qin Zihang saw the carrots, he looked around and thought about putting them under the stool, but then thought it was inconvenient to put them under the stool, so he decided to put them under his bottom instead.
"Why didn't you hide the carrot inside your clothes?" Qin Yizhou noticed his son's little trick. "Didn't you used to eat carrots?"
"Shh, I've grown up now," Qin Zihang whispered. "Mom doesn't like carrots, and I'm doing this all for her sake."
"You might as well just find a place to bury yourself," Qin Yizhou joked.
“It will produce even more carrots,” Qin Zihang refused.
"Brother Zihang." Zhang Xiaohu came over to find Qin Zihang.
Qin Zihang had a sudden inspiration. He stuffed the carrot into Zhang Xiaohu's hand and said, "Auntie, do you want to make tofu? Do you need a carrot? I have one, we have some here."
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