Her mother, Yang Fengxia, said, "Xiao Hai, your father doesn't know that Xiao Qiao is back yet. Go to Labor Park and ask him to bring Xiao Long home."
Fang Hai replied, "I'll go right away."
"Wait a minute." Yang Fengxia took out a meat coupon she had prepared from her pocket, handed it to him, and said, "On your way back, stop by the meat shop and see if they still have meat for sale. If they do, buy a pound and we'll make dumplings tonight."
"Okay."
Dong Ping stood up, chased after him, and took his arm: "I'll go with you."
Fang Hai pushed her away in disgust: "What are you doing following me? I can handle this by myself."
Dong Ping didn't mind being pushed and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "I have something to tell you."
"Okay, okay, let's go together."
After Fang Hai and Dong Ping left, the courtyard became much quieter.
Yang Fengxia looked at Fang Qiao, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.
"I think I saw an apple stall under the overpass when I came here. I'll go take a look." Cheng Baidong made up an excuse, tactfully handed An'an over to Fang Qiao, and took Xiao Jing and Tian Tian out of the main room.
After Cheng Baidong left, the room became even quieter.
Looking at Fang Qiao's face, which was even fairer than before, Yang Fengxia tentatively asked, "Qiao, how have you been these past few years in the countryside?"
Fang Qiao chuckled and asked in return, "Do you think you could live well in that place?"
One sentence shut her up, and Yang Fengxia fell silent.
They looked at each other in silence, and Fang Qiao did not take the initiative to speak.
After a long while, Yang Fengxia sighed and said guiltily, "Xiao Qiao, it's your sister who wronged you by sending you to the countryside. There are four children in the family, and only you went to the countryside. Mom knows it's unfair to you..."
Fang Qiao interrupted her: "If you know it's unfair to me, then don't say it. It's no use except reopening old wounds. It's all in the past, and I don't want to bring it up again."
To judge a person, look at what they do, not what they say.
The same applies to parents.
Don't listen to what she said today, as if she felt guilty towards her; it's just empty talk.
If I felt truly guilty, I wouldn't have ignored her for so many years.
The parents of the educated youth sent money and goods to each other every month.
Her parents would send her at most one letter a year. The only time they sent her a package was when she said it was too cold in winter and her feet were covered in chilblains. They sent her a pair of men's cotton rubber shoes for working, but the shoes were two sizes too big and didn't fit properly. She had to put an extra pair of insoles inside and stuff some scraps of cloth inside to make do with them.
So listen less to meaningless things, it's a waste of time.
"Okay, okay, Mom won't bring up the past. Fortunately, you married a husband who knows how to cherish you, and now you have a stable job and can settle down in Beijing. Life will only get better and better in the future. I can rest assured that you are living a good life." Yang Fengxia carefully changed the subject.
In the past five years, she has aged a lot. Scattered white hairs have grown in her once jet-black hair, and her back is no longer as straight as before.
Fang Qiao, impatient with the repetitive ramblings, changed the subject, saying, "Tell me about your family. My older brother and sister-in-law, my older sister and brother-in-law, and my younger brother... A lot must have happened in the years I've been gone."
"A lot has happened. Your eldest sister and brother-in-law had a daughter named Panpan. She's five years old this year (by Chinese reckoning) and will be able to start primary school next year..."
Time flew by amidst Yang Fengxia's rambling, and a noisy commotion arose outside.
Unable to bear the strange atmosphere between her and her daughter, Yang Fengxia said, "It must be your dad and the others who are back. I'll go out and see."
Fang Qiao nodded: "Let's do it together."
She carried An'an out of the main room, just as people from outside the courtyard came in.
Fang Qiao saw her older sister, Fang Xue, holding her daughter's hand.
She wore a peach-pink padded jacket, a red scarf around her neck, and her hair was braided into two pigtails and pinned up at the back of her head. She looked very smart and neat, like an office worker.
Her daughter, Zhang Panpan, was dressed in a drab gray cotton-padded jacket. Although she was a little girl, her hair was shaved into a short, flat style that only little boys would have, covering her delicate features. Judging from her clothes alone, you couldn't tell she was a girl at all.
Panpan.
What are we hoping for? A boy.
From the name to the clothes and appearance, everything expresses the expectations for a boy.
Perhaps because she was still young, her older sister was better off in the past few years. But when Panpan was in her teens, her obsession with having a boy reached an almost fanatical level.
No wonder Zhang Panpan got annoyed with her as she grew up; instead, she became closer to her aunt.
Fang Xue smiled as soon as she saw Fang Qiao and said, "No wonder the family bought meat, it turns out that my little sister is back."
As she spoke, she turned around and said to Fang Yaozu behind her with a smile, "I knew Mom loved my little sister the most. Look, as soon as she came back, she eagerly bought meat dumplings! I've never received this kind of treatment when I come back to my parents' home."
"Go away, how can you compare to your sister?" Her father, Fang Yaozu, said jokingly, "You married into the back alley and can come home three times a week, while your sister only comes back once every few years, and you still feel jealous of her."
"Dad, why are you like this too?" Fang Xue drawled out her words, feigning concern. "Sure enough, my little sister is the most favored. As for me, I'm just like that little cabbage, yellow and withered in the field..."
Fang Qiao initially didn't want to talk to Fang Xue, but upon hearing this, she couldn't help but tease her: "Big sister, don't say such things. There are four brothers and sisters in the family. If Mom loved me the most, she wouldn't have let me go to the countryside to suffer back then."
The eldest sister got married unexpectedly, the eldest brother took over Dad's job, and the youngest brother took over Mom's job. Everyone benefited except her. She got nothing and was even scolded for being selfish and willful because she was unwilling to go to the countryside. She was also beaten before going to the countryside.
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