Chapter 63 Throw it away, rabbits hop, crabs crawl.
"Did you tell Mom?" Yue Hongwei asked.
“I told them,” Fan Yani said. “When Mom asked me, I explained everything. Did you expect me to hide anything? I’m not worried about angering them, and I won’t rely on them in the future. I don’t have my own family to back me up, so you think you can bully me?”
"Of course not," Yue Hongwei said. "Why would I bully you?"
“Isn’t that enough?” Fan Yani said. “We just need to live our lives well. Our elder brother and sister-in-law’s affairs have nothing to do with us. I’m telling you this not so you can interfere, but so you know that this matter exists. Whatever they want to do, we’re not related to them by blood, so it’s not appropriate for us to interfere too much. Even with blood relatives, people will dislike you if you interfere too much, let alone people like us.”
Fan Yani knew her identity was rather awkward. The original owner of this body had been Guo Peng's child bride. They were now like siblings, but their past relationship couldn't be denied. Li Hui was unhappy because Fan Yani was Guo Peng's child bride, so while she appeared to be nice to Fan Yani on the surface, she actually disliked her. Fan Yani, naturally, couldn't like Li Hui either. She felt she had shown mercy; if it were anyone else, they might have fought Li Hui to the death, or at most, they would have gone back to the countryside to marry, and Li Hui's life would have been completely different.
If things really escalate, Guo Peng won't be able to continue working here and will have to retire early.
However, judging from Guo Peng's situation, Fan Yani estimated that he would have to retire in a few years. There were only so many positions available; if he didn't get promoted, he would have to transfer to civilian work. Guo Peng didn't have technical skills, and it wasn't feasible for him to stay in the military indefinitely; people below him would need to be promoted.
Leaving aside Guo Peng, even Yue Hongwei might have to step down when his time comes.
Guo Peng's marriage to Li Hui was a major blunder. Li Hui had a difficult personality and had made enemies. Did Guo Peng consider him like Staff Officer Xu? No, Guo Peng didn't. Staff Officer Xu had Old Lady Cao who could keep Shi Guilan in check, but Guo Peng had no one who could control Li Hui.
Fan Yani isn't Guo Peng's biological sister, and it's inherently difficult to control someone of the same generation. Ideally, her in-laws would be able to keep her in check, but since Guo's parents both live in the countryside, even if Guo's mother came to take care of Fan Yani, she still wouldn't dare to completely break ties with Li Hui, and she would still have to consider the feelings of Guo Peng and his wife.
“Anyway, it’s not our turn to adopt a child,” Fan Yani said. “If my older brother and his family want to adopt a child, it’s for their own younger brother. Our child has no blood relation to them. If they want to adopt a child they’re not related to by blood, they can just go to an orphanage. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Children who are not related by blood may still want to find their biological parents when they grow up.
Fan Yani didn't care. It wasn't like she couldn't have children herself, or that her family had adopted a child; it had nothing to do with her family.
"Okay, let them be." Yue Hongwei nodded; he never liked to meddle in other people's affairs.
The relationship between Yue Hongwei and Guo Peng wasn't particularly good; it was more of a neutral one. They would cooperate when work required it, but otherwise, even though they were in the same unit, they didn't necessarily see each other every day.
Fatty took Zhang Xiaohu home, but Zhang Xiaohu was so engrossed in watching TV that he didn't want to go back. It was getting late, almost nine o'clock, and while Zhang Xiaohu was resting, everyone else needed to.
Zhang Xiaohu, leaning on his cane, was about to leave when Qin Zihang followed behind, watching until Zhang Xiaohu reached the door.
“Brother Zihang, you go back, I can walk,” Zhang Xiaohu said.
“He won’t fall,” said the plump woman. “I was watching from the side, and there were lights on, so it wasn’t pitch black.”
"Slow down, don't go too fast, it's hard to walk," Qin Zihang instructed.
"It's so close, we'll be there soon," Zhang Xiaohu said.
In the past, Zhang Xiaohu would arrive home in the time it took to speak, but now he has to slow down a bit, for fear of falling.
After Fatty Sister and Zhang Xiaohu walked out of the gate, Song Fenglan closed the gate and told Qin Zihang to go back.
"Mom, that cane is hard to walk on," Qin Zihang said.
Zhang Xiaohu let Qin Zihang try it. Qin Zihang tried it, but it was too difficult to walk on. His own two feet were much better. Walking on his own two feet was easier; he wouldn't walk too slowly and he wouldn't fall as easily. Using crutches required much more effort.
“It’s not easy to walk, but it’s not your own legs, how could it be easy?” Song Fenglan said. “It would be difficult to walk even with the help of others. Come on, let’s go back to the house, you should go to sleep too.”
"Mom needs to sleep too." Qin Zihang held his mother's hand.
Song Fenglan told Qin Zihang to brush his teeth, and after he lay down on the bed, she covered him with a blanket. Now that her son was older, Song Fenglan no longer needed to tell him stories all the time. Telling him stories every day was tiring, so even though Song Fenglan only did it occasionally, Qin Zihang didn't complain.
Back in the room, Qin Yizhou massaged Song Fenglan's shoulders to help her relax.
“Zihang was scared when he saw Zhang Xiaohu’s leg. He saw Xiaohu’s crutches several times tonight,” Song Fenglan said. “We should be more careful. Children recover faster, but they are prone to injury and accidents.”
Song Fenglan had bumped her knee before, falling again and again. Just as the scabs began to heal, she would fall again, bleeding repeatedly. And she always fell in the same spot, no matter how careful she was. Song Fenglan had a vivid memory of this incident; it happened when she was quite young, and her pants even tore.
“Seeing the people around you in pain makes you feel a little pain too,” Song Fenglan said. “Children like Zihang are very mischievous. He runs around much more now than when he was little. When he was little, he was probably afraid to let loose because of his surroundings. Now, he knows that everyone is good to him and that no one will make things difficult for him, so he dares to cause trouble.”
Ultimately, Qin Zihang felt everyone's affection for him, and the people around him didn't seem to harbor much malice. Like a little child tentatively exploring, he would then do much more.
“When you’re home, please teach Zihang more, so he doesn’t go astray,” Song Fenglan emphasized. “He’s my only child.”
Song Fenglan didn't want her son to go astray after all the hard work she put in to achieve success. Her son couldn't do anything illegal or criminal, couldn't commit crimes, couldn't gamble... Song Fenglan didn't expect her son to become exceptionally outstanding in the future; even if he just became an ordinary person, that would be fine.
"Don't worry, I think Zihang is alright," Qin Yizhou said. "It's fine, I'll take care of him."
"Hmm," Song Fenglan said, "You're spending a little more time at home these days."
Qin Yizhou usually left after Song Fenglan went to work, and he also returned home relatively early in the evening. Sometimes, Qin Yizhou would make breakfast in the morning, and he would also take Qin Zihang to school; it wasn't always Madam Su who took Qin Zihang to school.
“Zihang is still very obedient,” Qin Yizhou said.
“He’s much dirtier now than he was in the capital.” Song Fenglan chuckled as she thought of Qin Zihang’s clothes. “They’ve all been through that kind of fun, so they’re not exactly clean. Cleanliness isn’t the point; the important thing is that he didn’t do anything dangerous.”
This was Song Fenglan's first time raising a child, and she didn't know how to raise a child.
At this moment, Song Fenglan understood why people enjoyed raising virtual children and playing dress-up games on their phones, and why they liked to call their game characters "daughter" or "son." In games, how to allocate talent points is entirely up to the player; they can make their characters look however they want, offering high controllability. In contrast, raising children in real life involves too many uncontrollable factors, and people don't know what kind of child they'll raise.
"Isn't this good?" Qin Yizhou could sense that Qin Zihang was a little reserved when he first arrived.
“Okay, I didn’t say anything bad about him,” Song Fenglan said. “I brought him here so that he could have a new environment, one where not so many people would say bad things about him. A three-year-old isn’t a little kid; he can understand what people are saying. Bringing him here means fewer people will say a few words, and he can play with other children. Isn’t that great?”
Song Fenglan would do many things for her child, just to make her child more comfortable and to prevent her child from developing any personality problems.
In the capital, Jiang Yufei ran into her first love when she went out. She was not about to give him a friendly look.
Yes, Jiang Yufei resented Song Fenglan because she couldn't marry her first love, but that doesn't mean she didn't resent her first love and his family. Her first love's family forced Jiang's family to drive Song Fenglan away, and when the Jiang family refused, Jiang Yufei's first love married someone else.
When her first love saw Jiang Yufei, he looked regretful and said that if the Song family had been exonerated earlier and those things hadn't happened to the Song family, they wouldn't have had to part ways.
At that time, Jiang Yufei gave her first love a scathing dressing-down.
Are you even a man?
"You didn't know you could have been braver back then, and now you're saying those things shouldn't have happened to my cousin's family."
"You're a spineless person. If you dare to admit your mistakes, I'll respect you as a hero."
...
Jiang Yufei's first love was just an ordinary person, not someone particularly outstanding. It's impossible for Jiang Yufei to feel nostalgic for him if she saw him again. They both lived in the capital, just on different streets, and sometimes they wouldn't even run into each other once a year.
Now, it's only because the Song family has been exonerated and their assets have been gradually returned that Jiang Yufei's first love has changed his attitude.
Jiang Yufei didn't get much benefit from the Song family, which was entirely her own doing. She made things difficult for Song Fenglan and tried to drive her out, even though she knew...
Mom couldn't possibly kick Song Fenglan out, but she did cause trouble and made people uncomfortable.
Returning to her parents' home, Jiang Yufei was extremely disappointed, questioning her past judgment and losing all illusions about her first love.
“If he hadn’t appeared in front of me, I would still think about how good he was. But when he appeared in front of me and said those things, I just felt uncomfortable.” Jiang Yufei felt uncomfortable all over. She said those things in front of her first love and made him unhappy, but she still felt it wasn’t enough. “I liked him so much back then.”
Back then, Jiang Yufei desperately hoped that her first love would stand up to his family so that they could still be together. But her first love didn't dare to fight back. He and his family shared the same idea: they felt that Song Fenglan wasn't a member of the Jiang family, and that Aunt Yu and Song's mother weren't born to the same mother—Aunt Yu was born to a concubine—so Aunt Yu should drive Song Fenglan away.
The first love's family thought they could control the Jiang family, but the Jiang family didn't do what they said.
“He was never a good person to begin with,” Aunt Yu said.
When Jiang Yufei's first love pressured the Jiang family to drive Song Fenglan away, Aunt Yu already felt that Jiang Yufei's first love was unreliable. She believed that if Jiang Yufei had any problems, he would immediately abandon her and kick her out.
“In the beginning, it wasn’t that we disagreed with your marriage,” Aunt Yu said. “It’s better that you didn’t end up with him; you two weren’t a good match.”
“I…” Jiang Yufei still feels heartache whenever she thinks about those things from the past.
Jiang Yufei's relationship with her current husband isn't that deep; they met through a blind date, so it wasn't exactly a love match.
"Marriage is a lifelong commitment. If you have poor judgment, you'll suffer for the rest of your life," Aunt Yu said. "Finding a good partner is more important than anything else."
Aunt Yu sometimes wondered what would happen if Song Fenglan had found another partner, but she understood that she didn't have a better choice at the time. The Jiang family members were a bit selfish, but at least they didn't drive Song Fenglan away, which was commendable. How many people take the money and then kick her out?
During those turbulent times, Aunt Yu witnessed far too much. The reason she seemed unscathed was because people assumed she was born to her aunt, who was a victim of persecution. Had Aunt Yu married better, people might not have seen her as a victim; they might have only thought she had taken too much.
The daughter of Aunt Yu married an ordinary worker, while the daughter of Song's mother, the matriarch of the household, married into a wealthy family like the Song family.
"In this life, there are gains and losses," Aunt Yu said. "Nothing is perfect."
“I’m not trying to be perfect, it’s just…” Jiang Yufei and her first love were truly in love back then, and they were still in the honeymoon phase. After that incident, their breakup was abrupt. “I just wasn’t quite willing to accept it. But after seeing him today, suddenly, I don’t feel so unwilling anymore.”
It's possible that Jiang Yufei felt a strong sense of disappointment because her current first love was very different from what she had imagined, rather than because she thought her first love was good.
“That’s just how he is, you just didn’t notice before,” Aunt Yu said.
"..." Jiang Yufei felt a little uncomfortable again. She had made things difficult for Song Fenglan over such a trivial matter, which had led to the Song family's current attitude towards her being unfriendly.
Jiang Yufei wanted to go to the Song family, but Song's mother bluntly told her not to go. Aunt Yu was even more outspoken; her daughter would be embarrassed there, and her sister would never tolerate Jiang Yufei.
Aunt Yu and Song's mother are sisters, but their parenting styles differ, resulting in different personalities for their children. The Jiang family is more petty-bourgeois, while the Song family is more open-minded.
“I haven’t been to my aunt’s place for quite a while,” Jiang Yufei said. “During the Spring Festival, I took the kids to visit them, but they returned all the gifts we gave them. At most, we’d have a drink together when you were there, but they didn’t even give the kids red envelopes.”
Jiang Da Sao's child received a red envelope, but Jiang Yufei's child did not.
This made Jiang Yufei feel very awkward, and her husband wasn't happy either when he found out. But they couldn't go to the Song family and demand they give their child a red envelope. Even if Jiang Yufei asked, the Song family wouldn't agree.
The Song family knew that Jiang Yufei had made things difficult for Song Fenglan in the past, and they wanted to embarrass Jiang Yufei as well.
"Never mind if you don't have it," Aunt Yu said.
"Mom..." Jiang Yufei had already mentioned this matter to Aunt Yu, but Aunt Yu had not helped to resolve it.
“That’s just how your aunt is. Talking to her won’t change anything,” Aunt Yu said.
“My aunt’s family doesn’t lack this kind of money,” Jiang Yufei said.
“This isn’t about whether you need money or not. They all know how you treat their daughter and their sister,” Aunt Yu said. “You yourself know how to hold grudges, so why can’t they hold grudges too? Don’t dwell on the past.”
That's all Aunt Yu could say. She figured if she went over less, she wouldn't lose too much face. Even if Aunt Yu herself went over, she had to be careful not to push her luck.
Jiang Yufei pursed her lips. She had really lost out big time because of her first love.
At the research institute, Song Fenglan learned some shocking news: a theater troupe went abroad to perform, but the entire troupe stayed overseas and didn't return. Not only did they not return, but some of them were also speaking ill of their motherland.
This news is absolutely shocking!
In her past life, in Song Fenglan's time, such things rarely made headlines. Back then, studying abroad and working overseas were perfectly normal. If people wanted to say the air was better abroad, so be it. But in this day and age, people who go abroad thanks to opportunities provided by various countries are now openly clamoring not to return and criticizing their motherland—that's just disgusting.
Even if living conditions are better abroad, the motherland is still the motherland. They can stay abroad, but why speak ill of the motherland like that?
But thinking about it, it makes sense. If those people didn't speak ill of their motherland, how would they apply for refugee status and stay abroad? Foreigners want to see them slander their country, to see them stab their motherland in the back just to stay abroad.
"None of them have come back?" Song Fenglan was having dinner with Professor Cai, and the director was also there.
“None of them have come back, not a single one,” the director said. “They’ve all stayed abroad.”
Because of this incident, some people involved have been punished. The higher-ups will definitely investigate whether anyone knew in advance that those people were going to stay abroad, and why they chose such individuals to perform overseas. This isn't a performance, it's not promoting the motherland; it's clearly treason.
"..." Song Fenglan bit her chopsticks, "When our motherland becomes strong in the future, we'll make them regret it."
“They don’t need to wait for our country to become strong. Perhaps they will regret it after a while,” Professor Cai said. “Do they really think it’s easy to make a living abroad? How many foreigners like to listen to traditional opera? If they don’t sing traditional opera, what else can they do? Not to mention them, even some other educated people, do they really think they can get good jobs abroad? If they could get good jobs, foreigners would do it themselves. Why would it be the turn of people from our country?”
Foreign countries can be xenophobic, and some people always think they'll live a happy life abroad. In reality, there are a few individuals who do experience this.
Some people are doing very well, but many others are doing much worse. However, these people are unlikely to admit that their lives are worse; they will only say that their lives are great and that life abroad is wonderful.
In her past life, Song Fenglan had traveled abroad. At that time, her motherland was already very powerful, and its development was in no way inferior to that of foreign countries. The motherland also had a visa-free policy for tourism, open to many countries.
“That’s true,” the director said. “When foreigners invite people over, they always say nice things. Some people, after being encouraged by others, just want to stay abroad and don’t think about returning home. We don’t need to bother with such people. Even if they stay in the country, they can’t possibly contribute to the motherland.”
It wasn't just the opera singers who stayed abroad; there were others too.
When Song Fenglan arrived in this era, she felt that there were many things she had never seen before. Their country did not allow dual citizenship. Those who went abroad and did not return would have their citizenship revoked. If they had not yet obtained foreign citizenship, they would be undocumented.
Regardless of how those people are doing, Song Fenglan just needs to focus on doing her job well.
Along the coast, foreign aircraft came to provoke us, but fortunately, our domestic fighter jets have made great progress. The new fighter jets that Song Fenglan and her team were researching are already in mass production. We need to use these new fighter jets to replace some of the older ones. We still need the old fighter jets, but we need to put the new ones into service.
A nearby air force base is training pilots to master the new fighter jet's maneuvers. The new aircraft boasts longer flight times and superior performance across the board, even surpassing some foreign aircraft. During aerial combat between the two nations' fighter jets, the pilots can clearly perceive the superiority of the new aircraft over their predecessors.
The positive response naturally pleased the national leadership. They encouraged Song Fenglan to boldly pursue her research, not to be afraid of failure, and not to have any psychological burden; failure is an inevitable part of the path to success. They were worried that giving Song Fenglan a high starting point would put too much pressure on her, which is why they said that.
Song Fenglan, however, didn't feel that much pressure. She had learned a lot of advanced knowledge and was still working hard to learn more and conduct research. Song Fenglan wasn't afraid of failure; she was afraid of not being able to get back up after a failure. They needed to keep researching.
"The weather is getting warmer, so you can take the kids for a walk," the director said. "Don't stay at the office for too long; you still need to rest."
Although Song Fenglan's overtime hours weren't particularly long, many people in her group worked long hours.
People's brains are vastly different; some people understand immediately, while others take a long time to comprehend.
When Song Fenglan led the group, she did teach them, but they didn't understand immediately; those who understood right away were a minority. Most people still found the content difficult to grasp and needed to continuously learn and practice. Song Fenglan patiently explained each time, again and again, without showing any impatience.
Song Fenglan knew the level of these people. It was not their fault; the technology in China was simply far behind.
"It's a bit warmer now, but the weather is still quite changeable, with a large temperature difference between day and night," Song Fenglan said. "I was worried the child would catch a cold, so I didn't take him for walks much. His father took him for runs to strengthen the bond between them."
“That’s true. You used to spend more time taking care of the children,” Professor Cai said. “Men can take care of children too. It’s not that they can’t.”
Professor Cai himself is a man and rarely takes care of children. However, he felt that Song Fenglan had more important things to do, and that Qin Yizhou should spend more time with the children to truly demonstrate Qin Yizhou's value.
A new batch of cadets arrived at the air force base. The cadets were both young, both men and women. Some had taken the college entrance examination, so they were more educated. The military needed these individuals to learn more relevant knowledge; it wasn't enough to just know how to operate the equipment. Superficial operational skills weren't enough; they also needed to know how to handle emergency situations, which required them to understand more.
The research institute needs to send people to instruct the trainees. This time, the instructors are different from the last time. They will take turns instructing the trainees; Song Fenglan will not be going.
New trainees undergo extensive training and study before they can fly fighter jets. It's not easy for a country to train a pilot, and fighter jets are expensive, so we have to be extremely careful to avoid losing both the pilot and the aircraft.
In the afternoon, Song Fenglan, Professor Cai, and others visited the new trainees. They weren't directly involved in the instruction, but they compiled some of the materials. Song Fenglan and her team had researched what these pilots would learn and the specific components involved. Pilots, after all, aren't researchers; they couldn't possibly know as much as researchers.
When young female trainees met Song Fenglan, they all felt that Song Fenglan was very young.
"She's so young and beautiful," a female pilot nudged the hand of the person next to her.
A female pilot saw Song Fengyan with a complicated expression; that person was Tang Lu, the daughter of Song's third aunt. During that turbulent era, fearing for their own safety, Song's third aunt's husband divorced her.
After the Song family was exonerated, Aunt Song returned to the city. When Song Fenglan returned home for the New Year, she didn't see Aunt Song; Aunt Song had other matters to attend to. Aunt Song now lives on her own and doesn't live under the same roof as Song's parents.
Tang Lu's father remarried long ago, and his current stepmother has no children of her own. Tang's father has no stepchildren. However, Tang's mother likes to have her nephews and nieces from her maternal family come over, and Tang Lu's relationship with her stepmother is so-so.
Since her stepmother had no children, Tang Lu and the others had a relatively good life in the Tang family.
Tang Lu was quite young when her parents divorced. She had met Song Fenglan, who was more than eight years younger than her.
After Aunt Song returned to the city, Tang Lu met her mother, but the two met infrequently, as her mother was reluctant to see Tang's family members.
"Yes." Tang Lu nodded, unsure if Song Fenglan would recognize her.
When they lived together in the capital, the Tang family forbade Song San's children from seeing Song Fenglan, wanting them to stay away from her. Tang Lu did as her father and grandmother told her, pretending that Song Fenglan didn't exist as a cousin and that the Tang family had absolutely no connection with the Song family.
Song Fenglan spotted Tang Lu. She had seen Tang Lu in the capital, and even though they hadn't spoken much since, she still recognized her. Song Fenglan didn't have much of a problem with Tang Lu, but she couldn't be too nice to her either.
During those special times, these people distanced themselves from the Song family, which Song Fenglan could understand, but that didn't mean she had to be kind to them now.
These people were able to become pilots because they all passed political vetting.
When Song Fenglan was about to leave, Tang Lu took two steps forward but did not follow her.
"Do you have a problem?" The instructor noticed Tang Lu's actions.
"No, no," Tang Lu said.
"Remember to keep this a secret. Once you're here, no matter who you meet or what you learn, you can't tell anyone," the instructor said.
"Yes!" Tang Lu replied.
Tang Lu knew that the Song family had been exonerated, that Song Fenglan was now working at a research institute, and that Song Fenglan had been admitted to Nancheng University. She just didn't know that Song Fenglan could walk alongside those powerful figures.
Is Song Fenglan really that amazing?
Tang Lu had many questions in her mind, but she dared not ask them or speak them out; she had to abide by the rules.
In Nancheng, no one knew about the relationship between Song Fenglan and Tang Lu, but Song Fenglan still reported this relationship to the organization. Song Fenglan had no intention of making things difficult for Tang Lu, nor did she intend to give Tang Lu special treatment; she simply wanted to report the relationship to the organization and let them know about it.
When Song Fenglan returned home, she didn't tell Qin Yizhou about Tang Lu, nor did she tell Qin Zihang. Qin Zihang didn't even know who Tang Lu was; by the time he was born, the Tang family had long since stopped contacting Song Fenglan.
After the Song family was exonerated, Song Fenglan didn't know if the Tang family had sent these people to the Song family, but she knew that once you've seen the ocean, you can't be satisfied with a river, and the relationship between the two sides could never go back to what it was.
These days, Aunt Song doesn't like to associate with those people. Instead, she lives in her own house and buys groceries and cooks for herself. This was mentioned by Song's mother when she called Song Fenglan. Aunt Song hasn't remarried. She was betrayed by her husband and doesn't want to find another man to serve her. She's more comfortable living on her own.
Inside the room, Song Fenglan looked at Qin Yizhou, then at the blanket.
"The weather is getting warmer, so we need to take the blankets out to air them," Song Fenglan said. "After a while, we can use the blankets again."
The blankets at home are all very thick, weighing over eight or ten pounds each, no lighter than a quilt.
"We'll have to wait. It's been cloudy lately, and it rains on and off," Qin Yizhou said. "The air is very humid, and the clothes we hung out to dry aren't quite dry yet. My aunt is helping us dry the clothes over a charcoal fire, saying that this way the humidity will be lower."
Recently, almost every household has been using charcoal fires to dry their clothes. It's necessary because in the southern part of the city, the rain lasts a long time around this time, and the clothes don't dry properly, leaving them sticky and sticky.
“Auntie is very thoughtful,” Song Fenglan said. “When Zihang is a little older, he will go to and from school.”
Zhang Xiaohu and Zhang Wen, children from the family of the woman surnamed Pang, were also in elementary school, so Song Fenglan didn't ask Pang to help pick them up and drop them off. Having someone pick up and drop off the children every day was inconvenient, especially since Qin Zihang also needed to eat. With Madam Su at home alone, Song Fenglan could pass the time with Qin Zihang, and she could also think of other ways to repay Madam Su.
Professor Su said that Mrs. Su smiled more often, but it was actually because of loneliness. Professor Su worked at his workplace, while Mrs. Su stayed at home alone, doing laundry and cooking. Without family members to accompany her, it was inevitable that she would feel lonely.
Qin Zihang did indeed trouble Madam Su. Song Fenglan couldn't say that because Qin Zihang accompanied Madam Su, Madam Su should take care of him; that would be wrong. They could have chosen not to take care of Qin Zihang and didn't have to go through so much trouble. Madam Su did all those things diligently, and they were grateful; they should remember and be thankful.
“My aunt is old and tired,” Song Fenglan said.
"It's alright," Qin Yizhou said. "When he's older, he'll be able to eat in the cafeteria by himself."
We just have to wait a bit longer. Qin Zihang is still too young. It would be much better if he were around ten years old.
“Yes,” Song Fenglan said. “When he grows up, we may not be here.”
"Hmm?" Qin Yizhou looked at Song Fenglan.
"Have you thought about going back to the capital?" Song Fenglan asked.
"I've thought about it," Qin Yizhou said. "When you were in the capital, I was in the south, so we couldn't be together. I thought about whether I could be transferred there. But transfer orders aren't so easy to come by."
That's the capital, not some other place. Countless people would kill to get a job in the capital. Qin Yizhou's qualifications weren't high enough, so he didn't apply.
“But if you go to the capital, our whole family can really go back together,” Qin Yizhou said. “When do you want to go back?”
"We should wait until after we graduate from university to go," Song Fenglan said.
"Graduating from university, really four years of study?" Qin Yizhou asked.
“Of course,” Song Fenglan nodded, “It’s four years.”
If she continued her studies at the normal pace, no one would suspect Song Fenglan. Graduating too early was not a good thing for her.
“The capital has specialized aviation colleges and research institutes,” Song Fenglan said. “When we went to the capital for the Spring Festival before, they asked me to come over, didn’t they? They all really wanted me to come. In a few years… But we still have to see how things go. What if something else happens and I can’t go back and have to stay here? We can’t be too slow to tell you.”
Song Fenglan was never a hesitant person. "I'm just thinking about Zihang. If Zihang's grades are good, it doesn't matter whether we go back to the capital or not. If his grades are not good, it's best to let him go back to the capital."
“He’s getting old, he can stay in the capital on his own,” Qin Yizhou said.
“It’s never good for him to be alone,” Song Fenglan said. “Aren’t you afraid he might go astray if no one is watching him?”
“It’s not that bad. His parents are over there, as are his maternal grandparents and his uncle,” Qin Yizhou said.
“They spoil Zihang even more than I do.” Song Fenglan was really afraid that those people would spoil Qin Zihang. Now that Qin Zihang doesn’t live in the capital all the time, Song Fenglan’s parents still send him things from time to time. “Zihang doesn’t see them often, but he likes them a lot now. They are so good at pampering Zihang.”
Song Fenglan thought that if they were still in the capital, Qin Zihang would easily become spoiled and arrogant.
On the morning of the new day, Qin Zihang got up early. He wanted to go to school with Zhang Xiaohu and see how Zhang Xiaohu walked. Qin Zihang thought that walking like that was too tiring for Zhang Xiaohu; for every step Zhang Xiaohu took, he could take several steps himself.
Qin Yizhou accommodated Qin Zihang's wishes by sending him off earlier and walking slowly on the way. This way, Qin Yizhou and Madam Su would take turns dropping Qin Zihang off in the morning, allowing Madam Su to get more rest.
Mrs. Su said she could get up early; she was getting on in years and didn't need to sleep that long. Mr. and Mrs. Qin, however, urged Mrs. Su to rest more and not overwork herself. They couldn't let her do more work just because she was helping them take care of the child for free.
"Brother Xiaohu, slow down." Qin Zihang stared at Zhang Xiaohu as he walked, afraid that Zhang Xiaohu would fall down at any moment.
Qin Zihang wanted to walk next to Zhang Xiaohu, but Qin Yizhou pulled Qin Zihang aside.
“Stand back a bit, so Xiaohu will have room to maneuver,” Qin Yizhou said. “You’re standing too close; you’re becoming an obstacle.”
"Is that so?" Qin Zihang hadn't noticed at all.
“It’s alright,” Zhang Xiaohu said. “I’m going to take it slow.”
"I'll just stand a little further away," Qin Zihang said.
Today, it wasn't Fatty's wife who took Zhang Xiaohu to school, but Zhang Chenghai. Seeing how slow Zhang Xiaohu was, Zhang Chenghai almost wanted to just pick him up and rush to school. Zhang Xiaohu walked slower than a crab or a tortoise, but Fatty's wife had told Zhang Chenghai to let him walk on his own.
“Your sister-in-law said that if he’s not allowed to walk on his own, he’ll be crippled.” Zhang Chenghai said with a headache, “I said it would only be once, and I could carry him. But she still refused, saying that I didn’t go to work that early today, so I could spend more time with Xiaohu.”
Previously, Zhang Chenghai wasn't so troubled by Zhang Xiaohu, but now he is. When it's Zhang Chenghai's turn to take care of Zhang Xiaohu, he finds he doesn't have the patience and wants things to be done quickly.
“Taking care of children requires patience,” Qin Yizhou said.
“Your Zihang is a good boy, he doesn’t cause so much trouble,” Zhang Chenghai said.
“He… also has a lot of things to do.” Qin Yizhou sometimes found Qin Zihang annoying; how could a child be so troublesome?
At first, when Qin Zihang first came to Nancheng, Qin Yizhou thought his son was adorable and wanted to make up for it. But now, all Qin Zihang wants is for him to be less troublesome; Qin Zihang is the kind of person who can poke holes in the yard for a long time with just a twig.
When they raised chickens at home, Qin Zihang would catch earthworms and even dare to touch small green caterpillars. Song Fenglan said that touching caterpillars would easily cause blisters on the hands, and that those little insects would spit out toxins, so Qin Zihang stopped catching them. However, Qin Zihang would still remove the caterpillars from the vegetable leaves in the yard so that the chickens could eat them.
The chickens were kept in the yard, as were the vegetables, which the chickens had eaten most of. To prevent the chickens from eating all the vegetables, Qin Yizhou specially found bamboo strips and fenced off a small area to keep the chickens out.
“Raising children is never easy,” Qin Yizhou said.
“Zihang is much better than Xiaohu.” Zhang Chenghai repeated the same point. “Look at Xiaohu, climbing trees and ruining his leg like this.”
"Brother Xiaohu won't do it again," Qin Zihang said. "Brother Xiaohu won't do it a second time."
“Next time, if you don’t fall on your foot but on your hand, that will be the first time you fall on your hand.” Zhang Chenghai understood his son too well.
"..." Qin Zihang looked at Zhang Chenghai, then at Zhang Xiaohu, feeling a little conflicted. What Xiaohu's father said seemed to be true.
"Dad, I won't!" Zhang Xiaohu shouted. "I'll be fine. It's impossible for it to happen again. My hands and feet, it's the same! If my hands and feet are broken, I won't be hopping like a rabbit, I'll be crawling like a crab."
"How many legs does a crab have? How many legs do you have?" Zhang Chenghai raised an eyebrow. "You can crawl like a tortoise at best. Crabs have little pincers; if one falls off, it can grow back. Can you do that?"
Zhang Xiaohu's eyes were red. "Little brother Zihang, I don't want my dad anymore. I'll give him to you. If you don't want him, just throw him in the trash! I don't want him anymore!"
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