tasteless stepfather
A solitary moon rose on the horizon, illuminating the snow-covered wilderness as bright as day. Facing the north wind, Yu Chunsheng hurried home.
A while ago, Yu Chunsheng bought a few chickens out of boredom and raised them in the yard. Now he can collect seven or eight eggs every day. Compared to before, when she was lazy and didn't know anything about farming, Xu Tangmian can now skillfully fry a decent plate of fried rice.
Yu Chunsheng parked the car in the yard and saw Xu Tangmian wearing an apron, stirring the food with a large ladle under the dim kitchen light.
Despite the outdoor temperature being below zero, Yu Chunsheng still felt that, in that instant, the fire under the iron pot also burned in his heart.
The fumes were pungent and unpleasant. A spicy smell rushed into her nose, and Xu Tangmian turned her face away, covering her mouth and nose with her left arm and sneezing three times. Suddenly, her right hand was empty.
She turned to look, and Yu Chunsheng had already taken the spatula and started stir-frying.
"So? Did you find out?"
Yu Chunsheng hummed in agreement. "Old Mrs. Wang said that Zhi Meizi's mother remarried to a family surnamed Liu in the fourth team. When he was young, he was addicted to gambling and had two fingers cut off, so he couldn't find a partner. Now that he's older, he's saved up a lot of money and has taken a liking to Zhi Meizi's mother."
"Gambling addiction?" Xu Tangmian frowned slightly. "Once you get hooked on it, you can't quit, can you?"
Yu Chunsheng didn't take it seriously. He put the lid on the pot, threw two sweet potatoes into the stove, sat on a small stool, and poked at the fire. He looked at her helplessly and said, "Why do you always think so badly of people? He can save money, so he must have completely quit. There's no reason to condemn him just because he made a mistake."
“I can’t even lose weight, how can he quit gambling?” Xu Tangmian still felt something was wrong. “You said you’ve seen Zhi Meizi twice already, she must have something to say to us. Let’s go, let’s go over there now.”
Yu Chunsheng stopped her: "Why don't you eat first before you go?"
“No.” Xu Tangmian shook her head. “I feel a tightness in my chest. I won’t feel at ease if I don’t see her. Let’s go right away.”
Yu Chunsheng looked her over again and said somewhat embarrassedly, "So...you're not in pain anymore, are you?"
Xu Tangmian was taken aback. Thinking of what happened that morning, her face flushed slightly. She glared at him but didn't say anything.
Yu Chunsheng found one of his thick clothes, folded it a few times, and placed it behind the car seat. He then tied it tightly with yarn to make sure it wouldn't fall off and get tangled in the wheel before patting it down and proudly raising his head: "Hey, now it won't pinch my butt."
Xu Tangmian rolled her eyes at him, "So, if I don't do it with you, I won't get this treatment."
“It’s not like that.” Yu Chunsheng smiled and put his arm around her waist. “I didn’t think about taking you with me before my arm was healed, but now that it’s healed, I’ll take you wherever you want to go. Of course, I’ll have to fix up the car.”
Xu Tangmian didn't waste any more words with him. It was getting late, and they needed to resolve this matter as soon as possible, otherwise, if it snowed again at night, the roads would be difficult to travel.
She sat on the back of the bicycle and naturally hugged Yu Chunsheng's waist. The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the fourth team.
There was a car repair shop at the entrance of the village. Yu Chunsheng parked his car, walked into the dimly lit room, and greeted the family with a smile: "Hello, uncle. Is this a family that just got married? The bride is with a little girl who looks about ten years old."
The man replied enthusiastically, "Yes, it's the third son of the Liu family. Just walk along this dirt road next to you, and you'll see a house with red lanterns and 'double happiness' characters hanging up; that's it."
Yu Chunsheng nodded his thanks and then left with Xu Tangmian.
About two minutes later, we found the house with the big red lanterns. This house was not the typical red brick and gray tile house found in the village, but a duplex villa with a Southeast Asian style. There was a clean and tidy courtyard in front of the door, with various flowers, plants and vegetables on both sides of the gate. The cement road in the middle was better than the main road.
Yu Chunsheng turned to look at Xu Tangmian, put his arm around her shoulder and said softly, "How about it? You can rest assured now, right? Zhi is doing very well."
Before Xu Tangmian could speak, she suddenly heard a "slap" sound from inside, like someone was being slapped, and her heart jumped again.
A man shouted, "Call me Dad! You brat, you won't even call me Dad when you eat my food!"
Then a female voice said, "Zhi, call him Dad now, he's your dad from now on."
"He's not my dad! My dad died a couple of days ago!"
"Snap!" Another sound.
Xu Tangmian couldn't take it anymore and was about to rush in when Yu Chunsheng stopped her: "Calm down! This isn't our house."
The two stood outside the courtyard, anxiously watching, wondering what was happening inside. Suddenly the door opened, and Zhi Meizi's small figure ran out, followed by a man carrying a rolling pin.
"Teacher Xu!" As soon as Zhi saw Xu Tangmian, tears welled up in her eyes, and she ran towards her, hugging her tightly.
When Xu Tangmian saw the bright red handprint on her face and the several chilblains on her little hands, she felt heartbroken and shed tears.
Zhi Meizi's mother followed behind the man. When she saw Xu Tangmian, she seemed a little surprised and stammered, "Teacher Xu? What are you doing here?"
"I haven't seen Zhi in so long, I miss her." Xu Tangmian took off her gloves and put them on Zhi, then pulled her tightly against herself. "What's wrong? Why did you hit her?"
"My daughter is none of your business!" The man pointed a rolling pin at Xu Tangmian. "If you meddle again, I'll beat you up too."
"Try touching her!" Yu Chunsheng picked up a brick from the flower bushes and stood in front of Xu Tangmian.
The man, with a face full of menacing features, immediately softened his attitude upon seeing that there was another man beside Xu Tangmian, but he still muttered, "You think I'm afraid of you? This is my house!"
Yu Chunsheng noticed that Zhi Meizi's mother also had a scar near her eye and said in a deep voice, "You really have the guts to beat your wife and children."
"I paid to marry her, I can beat her if I want, what's it to you?" the man said with a grin. "You feel bad about it? If you do, give me the money, and the big one and the little one are yours."
He glanced at the dilapidated bicycle behind them, smiled disdainfully, and then used the three fingers he had left on his right hand to touch his stubble-covered chin, laughing like a fat catfish that had been doused with raw lard, dirty, oily, and shamelessly wriggling forward.
He squinted and looked Xu Tangmian up and down, his gaze shifting from her chest to her face. He grinned and said to Yu Chunsheng, "Or I don't want your money. You can trade your wife to me."
Without saying a word, Yu Chunsheng punched him, making him stagger and fall into the vegetable garden next to him. Before he could react, Yu Chunsheng snatched the rolling pin from his hand, loosened his grip and then gripped it again, changing his grip from the bottom to the top, and gritted his teeth to stab it downwards with all his might.
The man instinctively spread his legs, and the rolling pin stuck straight into the ground, less than five centimeters from his genitals.
The snow on the ground between his legs slowly melted along several yellow-black curved lines, releasing a fishy, pungent smell.
“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll cripple you.” Yu Chunsheng kicked him in the thigh again.
Zhi Meizi's mother was terrified. She quickly came over to help the man up, her eyes still fixed on Zhi Meizi as she angrily exclaimed, "Zhi Meizi! Did you...did you call them here?"
"It wasn't me!" Zhi Meizi retorted instinctively.
"This...you!" She helped the man up, then walked over and shoved her daughter with exasperation. "Your father is so good to you, feeding us and providing us with shelter. How could you team up with outsiders to bully him?"
"I didn't!" Zhi Meizi jumped up in anger.
"Alright, alright." Xu Tangmian couldn't stand it anymore and said irritably, "No one can be a mother like this. You can live a good life with your God of Wealth. I'm taking Zhi with me."
"No way!" The man was intimidated by Yu Chunsheng and dared not speak. It was Zhi Meizi's mother who spoke up: "Teacher Xu, I am very grateful to you for teaching this child to read and write before, but Zhi Meizi is becoming more and more outrageous. She used to know how to respect the elderly, love the young, and be filial to her parents, but now she talks back to us. Isn't it all because of what you taught her?"
She raised her finger as if she wanted to poke Xu Tangmian's nose and scold, "I heard before that several families went to your school to report your improper teaching attitude. At that time, I thought that since you don't get paid to teach, and Zhi is still young and can't do much work, she can learn as many words as she can. Now it seems that she is getting worse and worse by following you, and she has no manners of a girl at all."
"She's my daughter, my own child! I won't let you take her away!" Zhi Meizi's mother forcefully pulled the child back.
Xu Tangmian also got excited and gritted her teeth, saying, "I'm going to take her away today!"
"You insist on taking her away, huh? Believe me or not, I'll call the police!" The woman glanced back at her terrified husband and stammered, "Call...call the police..."
"Yes! Call the police!" The man suddenly became smug again, his eyes gleaming: "They came to my house to beat people up and even tried to take my daughter away! I'm going to arrest you all."
"No!" Zhi grabbed the man's leg and cried out, "Teacher Xu, please go back. I'm fine."
“This…” Xu Tangmian hesitated for a moment.
"Are you getting out of here or not? If you don't, I'm really calling the police!" the man continued to threaten, while also ordering the woman, "You said she's a teacher, right? I'll be coming to your school tomorrow, you just wait!"
As he spoke, he grabbed Zhi Meizi by the neck and pushed her back. The woman turned around and glared at him, as if she regarded him as an irreconcilable enemy.
Yu Chunsheng sighed, put his arm around Xu Tangmian's shoulder, and said patiently, "Why don't we go back first? If the police come, we really won't be in the right."
“But Zhi-meizi…” Xu Tangmian was worried, “What if he hits me again?”
“After we made such a scene today, maybe he’ll back down a bit.” Yu Chunsheng watched the group’s backs thoughtfully. “Besides, no matter what, Zhi is her biological daughter. She’s just angry because she feels ashamed that her family scandal has been aired in public. She can’t really harm her own daughter.”
Although Xu Tangmian was angry, she couldn't do anything about this person for the time being, so she could only swallow her anger and go home.
After finishing her meal, Yu Chunsheng brought her water to wash her feet as usual. Whether it was because she had played too excitingly during the day or because of the hot water, she felt a strange sensation in her lower abdomen as soon as she finished washing her feet. She then took a towel from the bedside table and rushed to the toilet.
Yu Chunsheng took an empty saline bottle from the clinic, disinfected it, scalded it with boiling water, filled it with hot water, and gave it to her to place on her lower abdomen through her clothes.
He hugged her from behind as usual, kissed her twice on the cheek, and then obediently held her in his arms, saying rather sullenly, "Is it already time? Haven't we done enough yet?"
"Isn't twice enough?" Xu Tangmian breathed a sigh of relief. "I feel relieved now that it's here. Although I usually feel like I'm dying every time it comes, after today's experience, I'm afraid it won't come."
"What are you afraid of?" Yu Chunsheng's voice came from above, and he sounded like he was still laughing.
"Afraid of getting pregnant? What else could I be afraid of?" With that, Xu Tangmian rolled over, put the saline bottle aside, climbed on top of him, and awkwardly asked, "Do you... still want to do it in the future?"
"Of course," Yu Chunsheng replied without hesitation, wrapping his arm around her slender waist and lifting his head to kiss her lips again. "Don't you want to?"
"If you want to, you need to go buy something."
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