Chapter 22 Son and Mother-in-law
After Zhao Sheng left home, the only ones left in the room were Xiao Tiedan, who was not even as tall as the table legs, and Lin Yiyi, a new wife. The two of them stared at each other.
They looked at each other silently to see who would blink first. After a while, no one looked away first, until Xiao Tiedan sniffed his nose and wiped it with his sleeve horizontally.
Lin Yiyi's eyes twitched when she saw this. Oh my god, this kid is so dirty.
She couldn't stand it anymore and was worried that the child would let her hold him, so she went to the cupboard to find a handkerchief. The handkerchief was the one Zhou Jingfeng had returned to her. There was a big white cat printed on it, which was perfect for the child.
Lin Yiyi handed Tiedan a handkerchief and asked him to use it to wipe his nose. "Tiedan, you should use a handkerchief to wipe your nose from now on, okay? It's too dirty to wipe your clothes. You need to learn to be a hygienic kid."
Xiao Tiedan didn't say anything for a long time. Lin Yiyi thought he was going to ignore her again, so she stuffed the handkerchief into his bag.
Tiedan followed Lin Yiyi's gaze for a while before he slowly agreed, "Oh."
His reaction time is too long, he is slow and doesn't like to talk to people.
The black little hands took the handkerchief directly in front of his eyes and looked at it, as if he had never seen a handkerchief with a cat pattern before. His eyes rolled around, full of curiosity and joy.
Lin Yiyi:……!!!
This hand has become black because it touched there just after breakfast.
Fearing that it was unsafe for him to stay alone and rummage around, and also because of his dirty hands and face, Lin Yiyi simply grabbed Tiedan's jacket on the back and carried him to the kitchen like a grown winter melon.
I was a little worried that Tiedan would not cooperate, but I didn't expect him to cry or resist at all, and his attention was completely on the white cat handkerchief. There was no such thing as early music education in that era, and there were no kindergartens in rural areas. Tiedan spoke not very fluently, and only used single-word sentences.
I decided to give the dirty kid a bath and make him some children's card books to teach him to speak.
The hot water was quickly boiled, and she found a large wooden basin by the well and filled it with hot water. Thinking that it was cold, she used the kitchen as a bathroom. The kitchen was small and warm. He was well-behaved throughout the whole process, staring at her with his round eyes, and still didn't say a word.
"Tiedan, is the water cold?"
"Tiedan, call me sister from now on."
"Tiedan, why don't you say anything? Play your little trick."
"Tiedan, you understand but just don't want to talk, right? If yes, nod your head, if not, shake your head."
…
Lin Yiyi herself has just turned twenty years old, and the original owner is even younger than her, only eighteen years old. She can't accept that a three-year-old child suddenly calls her mom, so it's better for her to call her sister.
Lin Yiyi was a little discouraged by the failure of communication, and she carefully gave Tiedan a hot bath. She didn't know how Tiedan got so thin and had little flesh on his body, but she washed the little kid into a fragrant smell in a short while. Except for his outer clothes which were a little dirty, the clothes inside were all clean. She didn't have Tiedan's coat in her room, so she just put the dirty clothes on him to prevent the child's cold and runny nose from getting worse.
After cleaning up the kitchen, she took Tiedan to the small vegetable patch in the backyard of the Zhao family. She didn't go to work, but she still had to cook for the family. She took Xiaowei to pick vegetables, pulled out a green radish and dug a cabbage. There were no other vegetables except these two.
Little Tiedan had been playing with the handkerchief in his hand, following silently. Lin Yiyi thought that it was still early, so she went back to the house and found the original owner's paper and pen, took off Tiedan's coat and shoes, wrapped him in the original owner's old coat, and carried him onto the kang.
The little guy didn't resist, and Lin Yiyi coaxed him softly, "Tiedan, do you want some candy?"
"I want to." When it comes to eating, he replies extremely quickly and never ignores anyone.
Beautiful girl Lin Yiyi was speechless.
"Then I'll teach you how to count. If you learn it, I'll give you a candy. Okay?"
The little baby voice whispered, "Okay." He wants to eat candy!
The charm of candy is irresistible.
Lin Yiyi gently held Tiedan in her arms and began to teach: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5..."
Tiedan watched Lin Yi follow the instructions and made no mistakes.
After teaching several times without any mistakes, it seems that teaching children is still very easy. Lin Yiyi was a little proud, so she speeded up the teaching, "Very good, now you read all of them in succession."
"1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 7, 10." Tiedan stuttered and read out a series of mistakes.
The slap in the face came too quickly, and Lin Yiyi had a headache. She retracted her previous thought. Education is a gradual process. Lin Yiyi repeatedly asked Tiedan to repeat the numbers. After teaching for a whole morning, he could finally speak fluently in front of her.
Teaching children is so torturous. It feels like a lot of brain cells are dying. It all depends on patience and good temper. Tiedan, on the other hand, was happily eating candy and feeling soft and sweet in the arms of his new mother. He liked her a little, but still didn't want to talk to her much.
Without a watch to check the time, Lin Yiyi had to estimate the cooking time. She dressed Tiedan, took him to the kitchen, and arranged for him to sit on a stool to watch the fire.
Lin Yiyi cut a juicy radish and tasted it. It was extra sweet, like fruit. She cut a few small pieces and put them in an empty bowl and gave it to Tiedan. "You must be hungry. Eat this first. Sister is going to cook. Be good."
There are two ways to cook cabbage: stir-fried cabbage and cabbage pancakes mixed with batter. Thinking that there was scallion dipping sauce at yesterday's wedding banquet, and that the Zhao family probably likes it, I simply cut the radish into strips and put it together with the scallion segments, leaving the sauce for dipping.
Food was precious in that era, and I wasn't sure about the Zhao family's usual eating habits, so I just imitated the corn porridge made by Zhao's mother and stuck corn cakes on the edge of the pot.
After looking at Tiedan who was gnawing on a radish with his small teeth, he went out and opened several half-person-high jars under the eaves, and took out the side dishes and soybean paste one by one.
As soon as the dishes were placed on the table, the Zhao family came back. Lin Yiyi greeted them sweetly, "Dad, Mom, Third Brother, and Sister-in-law, wash your hands quickly and get ready for dinner. I have prepared lunch a long time ago."
Old Man Zhao nodded in satisfaction but said nothing.
Ma Dongmei was very happy. In the past, she was the one who cooked and washed dishes after work. Now she could eat ready-made meals when she came back. She felt very happy. It was different to have more women in the family to share the housework.
All the food was served, and the family started eating right away. The men in the Zhao family were quiet, and the third son's wife Ma Dongmei was honest, so the only one who spoke was Zhao's mother Wang Caihong. Thinking about breakfast, Wang Caihong wanted to give Lin Yiyi a warning, so she spoke to her in a bad tone, "Second son's wife, your cooking skills are not bad, and the cabbage pancakes are delicious, but don't make these oily dishes when your husband is not at home. Also, it's not easy for the men to make money outside, so don't fight over the food, understand?"
Lin Yiyi: “…”
I'm a little angry. She basically didn't use any oil, but she was afraid of this. What she feared was bound to happen. Aren't people going to eat what she makes?
I originally thought that Zhao's mother was generous and easy to get along with, but she was wrong. It was just an egg she had in the morning, and she didn't know it was for Zhao Sheng alone. The man was willing to give it to her, so it was no big deal. Why did she not say it when her son was around and bully her because she was too young?
Being so frugal, the brown sugar eggs I cooked for her yesterday must have cost Wang Caihong a lot of money.
A soft knife is indeed the most hurtful.
But now that she was living under someone else's roof, how could she dare to lose her temper?
Lin Yiyi suppressed her displeasure and put on a fake smile, saying in a good-tempered manner, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
At worst, she could cook every meal in advance and make boiled vegetables for them, which would be simple and convenient.
After hearing her happy agreement and no fuss, Zhao's mother looked a little better. She said, "You cooked this meal very well. You can cook at home like this from now on."
Ma Dongmei kicked her husband and argued with him, "Look, I told you that you like to harass people behind their backs, but you didn't believe me. Now you see it!"
Zhao Li coughed lightly and understood the meaning in his wife's eyes, but did not respond and just ate his meal in silence.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
