Chapter 167 Life-saving Grace
An Zhiqiu and An Zhixia, two siblings, could not feel much warmth during their hard days under their stepmother. First, the siblings were very wary of others, and second, everyone else was struggling with their own lives, so how could they have the energy to lend a hand to the children next door?
The Xue family and the old lady of the Kang family who lived in the same courtyard as the An family were almost the two few lights in their dark years. Now that they have the ability to walk out of the darkness, they find that the Xue family may not be as pure and kind as they imagined.
"I heard that it was difficult for the educated youth who went to the countryside to return to visit their families. How come you two were able to come back in the first year?" Xue's mother asked curiously, "Did the people over there make things difficult for you?"
"No, everyone is doing well," An Zhiqiu said with a polite smile, "I learned some cooking skills, and someone took a fancy to me, so they arranged two apprentice jobs for my brother and me in Dongcheng District. Now we can support ourselves. We just settled down, so we came to visit relatives during our off-duty time."
This was the result of their discussion last night, and he would take the blame.
"That's good," Xue's mother smiled a little stiffly, seeing her daughter-in-law coming in with a bowl, "You're wearing too little. Look at Xia Xia's little face, it's all red from the cold. Hurry up and eat some soft-boiled eggs to get rid of the cold."
Dong Yun placed the bowl somewhat heavily in front of the An siblings, and with her belly slightly protruding, she sat down on the chair opposite with one hand supporting her waist and her chin slightly raised.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Xue's mother stood up and asked, then turned to the An brothers and sisters with joy and explained, "Hu Zi just got married during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I forgot to write to you to tell you. Dong Yun is already three months pregnant, and she has no appetite. She feels dizzy after walking a few steps. We can only ask someone else to take over and take care of the baby at home for the time being."
Dong Yun touched her belly and smiled, "That's right, this child is destined to be reborn. Everyone in my family is a worker, and he's the only one who needs to eat. Who wouldn't say he's in luck?"
An Zhixia smiled and picked up her bowl, then walked over to her. "Aunt and sister-in-law are too polite. We are young and strong and don't need any nourishment. Let sister-in-law eat the soft-boiled egg."
Dong Yun was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved her hands and said, "That won't do. Mom asked me to make this for you. You are honored guests, how can I snatch food from you? You eat, you eat, I'm going to lie down in the room for a while."
"Okay, then you go into the house and lie down first. I'll ask Guofei to bring you food later." Xue's mother said quickly.
As soon as Dong Yun entered the room, Xue Guofei came in after washing up. "Why didn't you say hello? I'll pick you up at the station. Where are you living now? There are so many An family members, but there's no place to stay."
"We came back with others and now live in Dongcheng District. You have to catch the bus back and forth, which is too troublesome, so we didn't tell you." An Zhiqiu said with a smile, "Look, we just came here and made a detour to wish you and your aunt a happy new year, and to ask what's going on over there."
At this point, Xue Guofei walked to An Zhiqiu, pulled a chair and sat down, and whispered: "Your stepmother gave birth to another brother for you two. His birthday is in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which means he is almost three months old now. Uncle An now listens to her and lets the Kang family live at home. The children quarrel all day long because you eat more steamed buns and he eats less meat.
I think your stepmother may not be back to work..."
Xue's mother also interrupted and spoke from the bottom of her heart: "You finally came back, you should stay away. Dongcheng District is far away from here. As long as you don't come here, who will know that you have returned to the city?
Are you coming here now because you are afraid that they will not care about your jobs and money?"
The An siblings didn't say anything. An Zhiqiu took out two packages of snacks and two handfuls of noodles from the sack and said, "Aunt, Guofei, we won't stay any longer. We have to rush back to Dongcheng District in the afternoon. We know you are doing this for our own good, but as long as my father is still alive, this relationship will never end."
"You are so polite. Just come. Why bring anything with you?" Dong Yun walked out of the house and said with a smile, but she stretched out her hand to grab the sack, with her belly bulging forward.
An Zhiqiu pursed his lips and took a step back, but he lifted the sack away before she could grab it. It seems that his exercise with the girl every morning was effective, and his reaction ability was much faster than before.
"Sister-in-law, the things in this sack are heavy, don't twist your waist," he said with a smile and nodded to everyone, pulling the girl's arm and walking into the yard.
"What? If my mother-in-law hadn't taken pity on you, you would have starved to death. But now you have jobs and come all the way here, but you only bring these few things, which is not even shabby enough. We are so sincere to you, but you don't know how to repay a drop of kindness with a spring?
When you heard that I was getting married to Guo Fei, you didn’t react at all. You are such a child without parents, you don’t even know how to give gifts…”
"Dong Yun, what are you talking about?" Xue Guofei covered her mouth with a livid face, but was bitten hard. He pulled back in pain and threw it away.
"What are you doing?" Dong Yun walked towards Xue Guofei with her belly bulging. "Your childhood sweetheart is back, so you don't want a pregnant woman like me anymore? Who should sleep on the same kang with you, her or me? Don't think I don't know that you've been thinking about her all the time!"
Xue Guofei's face turned red and he couldn't utter a word.
Seeing this, Dong Yun became even angrier and reached out to hit him a few times.
An Zhiqiu clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth: "Did you just pull your mouth out of the cesspool? My sister and Xue Guofei are innocent!"
An Zhixia looked at her brother standing in front of her with an expressionless face in surprise, reached out her hand, grabbed his, and shook it gently.
"Dong Yun, I see that you have lost your mind because of your pregnancy. What nonsense are you talking about? You even hit a man? Don't think you can be a big shot just because you are pregnant. Go back to the house quickly," Xue's mother scolded with a cold face.
"Mom, you and Guofei are both good-tempered. You let others take advantage of you, but I can't do that. Our family saved their lives, and now they have jobs and are able to repay us. Why can't I ask for it? You two brothers and sisters have some backbone, so you can return tenfold the food you have eaten from our family over the years. From now on, our two families will owe each other nothing," Dong Yun shouted with her neck stretched.
An Zhiqiu held his sister's hand and said coldly, "I don't know what Aunt Xue told you, but the neighbors around should all know that we have never taken advantage of anyone. Even if we ate the Xue family's steamed buns before, we collected firewood and washed clothes to give them back! We can live to this day, all by ourselves!"
(End of this chapter)
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