It was a happy thing for the whole family that Shulin could speak. Even Zhang Lin, who seldom smiled, smiled happily. She hugged Shulin and kept calling him her darling. However, although Shulin could speak, he called "Mom" the most and didn't like to say other words. When Li Hehua was teaching him, he only said it once and then stopped. He even called "Dad" only once.
Li Hehua guessed that this might be because she inherited Zhang Tieshan's taciturn personality. Apart from talking to her, Zhang Tieshan usually kept silent and did more than he talked.
The father and son are similar in many ways.
Zhang Tieshan is in good health and has an amazing ability to recover. His body is recovering little by little over the days. At first he could only stay in bed, but now he can get up and walk around slowly. The wounds on his body are also gradually healing and new tender flesh is growing.
At first, Shulin crawled on the bed every day to accompany his poor old father. Now that his father can move, he is no longer willing to stay in the room with him. Instead, he becomes like a clingy person, following Li Hehua wherever she goes, hugging her thighs and becoming a leg pendant again.
Zhang Tieshan pinched Shulin's chubby face and said, "Now your father doesn't want to accompany you anymore, right? His love for you is in vain!"
Shulin turned his head away and broke free from his father's big hand, hugging Li Hehua's legs and burying his face in them.
Li Hehua patted Zhang Tieshan's hand and said, "Go away, stop pinching his face."
Zhang Tieshan grabbed her hand and held it tightly. Seeing that Shulin wasn't paying attention, he kissed the back of her hand. Seeing that she was glaring at him, a smile appeared in his eyes.
Li Hehua glanced at him and said, "You can get out of bed and walk around now. Go for a walk in the yard. I'll go to the kitchen to make something for you."
This was the season when fruits were in abundance. Li Hehua asked Cao Simei to bring back some fruits when she sold cakes in the town to supplement Zhang Tieshan's vitamins, as vitamins were very important for sick people.
However, Zhang Tieshan didn't like eating fruit, and Shulin, a small child, couldn't eat too much either. Li Hehua gave some to Zhang Qingshan and Zhang Linshi, and planned to make the rest into fruit dumplings. This thing is sweet and sticky, and children love it. Li Hehua also planned to launch it as a dessert after the restaurant opens.
Zhang Tieshan smiled and touched her head. "Okay, go ahead and do it. I'll go for a walk in the yard."
Li Hehua turned around and went to the kitchen. Seeing this, Shulin immediately followed her to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Xiaohong was making pastries to be sold tomorrow. Under the guidance of Li Hehua, she can now make them independently. The taste of the pastries she makes is almost the same as that of Li Hehua, so she is considered a master. Li Hehua then gave her the task of making pastries every day, and Xiaoqing helped her.
Li Hehua took some glutinous rice flour, added hot water and kneaded it into dough. He then kneaded it into small balls and added red bean paste filling to make small red bean paste dumplings.
Seeing this, Xiao Qing asked, "Master, are you going to make glutinous rice balls?"
Li Hehua shook his head. "It's not glutinous rice balls. It's fruit dumplings. If you want to learn, just watch me make it."
It is rare to use fruits to make desserts here. Xiaohong and Xiaoqing were very interested in it. They put down what they were doing and watched Li Hehua make it.
Li Hehua peeled the apples, pears, watermelons and mangoes he bought, cut them into small pieces, put them into a large bowl, then poured water into the pot. After the water boiled, he put in the small dumplings and stirred them. When the dumplings floated up, he added sugar and starch. When the dumplings in the pot became thick, he turned off the fire under the stove, poured them into a soup bowl, and when it cooled down, sprinkled in the prepared diced fruit.
Shulin saw Li Hehua put out the fire and thought that his mother was done. He pulled Li Hehua's trouser legs, looked up at her, and said in a soft baby voice, "Mom——"
Li Hehua touched his head and said, "It's not ready yet. Mom needs to cool it down with some well water. It will taste better this way. It will be ready in a while."
Shulin pursed his lips and nodded.
Afraid that the little guy couldn't wait, Li Hehua hurriedly fetched a basin of cold well water and put the soup bowl into the basin to chill it. Although there was no refrigerator and no ice, the well water did have some effect.
After being chilled in well water for about half an hour, the fruit dumplings were ready to eat. Li Hehua served a bowl to Xiaoqing and Xiaohong respectively, put the rest into other bowls, and carried them out of the kitchen, intending to let everyone taste them.
As a result, as soon as she entered the main hall, she saw that there was someone else in the hall besides Zhang Lin, and that person was none other than Wu Fang, the mother of Wu Meizi who had caused trouble for her.
Wu Fang was talking to Zhang Lin when she saw Li Hehua come in. Her eyes immediately became disdainful and she said to Zhang Lin, "Oh, isn't this your former daughter-in-law? Why is she here? I remember Tieshan wasn't Xiu--" At this point, Wu Fang pretended that she had said something wrong and quickly stopped talking, but anyone with a discerning eye knew what she meant.
Zhang Lin did not follow Wu Fang's lead, mainly because she did not like Wu Fang very much. Wu Fang had approached her many times before to propose marriage, hoping to marry Wu Meizi to their Tieshan. She was tempted. Although Wu Meizi had a scar on her face, she was hardworking, good at work, and respectful to her. Even the scar on her face was caused by helping her. Therefore, if Wu Meizi became her daughter-in-law, she would be willing. However, she could not agree because Zhang Tieshan was unwilling.
But who would have thought that when her Tieshan was injured and dying, no one from the Wu family showed up. Wu Fang, who had always said she wanted to marry into the family, didn't even come to see them. Wasn't it because her Tieshan was dying? Now that her Tieshan was able to get out of bed and walk around, he came again.
She finally saw what kind of person Wu Fangshi was, and she also disliked Wu Meizi. Now Wu Fangshi was talking about Li Hehua in such a sarcastic way, and she didn't want to agree with her at all. Although she didn't like Li Hehua, she came when her son was dying and took care of her son for so many days, which was much better than the Wu family.
Seeing that Zhang Lin didn't respond, Wu Fang was embarrassed for a moment, but she quickly said again: "Hey, elder sister, let me say that Tieshan and her...if she lives here like this now, it's inevitable that people will misunderstand her. If Tieshan finds another wife, it will become a topic of gossip. Elder sister, you can't not consider it."
When Zhang Lin heard this, she remembered that her son now had to rely on Li Hehua, and she couldn't help but feel upset. She glanced at Li Hehua and snorted.
Li Hehua was so angry that she almost laughed. This old woman was too much. She said bad things about her without avoiding her and said them right in front of her. Did she think she was easy to bully?
Li Hehua put the tray heavily on the table with a "bang" sound, which scared Wu Fangshi and Zhang Linshi. Wu Fangshi patted her chest, pointed at Li Hehua and said angrily: "What are you doing? What's your attitude? This is not your home, how dare you, an outsider, act wildly in someone else's home?" After that, she looked at Zhang Linshi and said: "Old sister, you have to control it. What does it mean for a divorced woman to smash things in your house? She doesn't take you seriously at all!"
Zhang Lin's face looked a little bad.
Li Hehua sneered, "Don't worry about it. It's not your turn to say what I want to do. I am an outsider and so are you. You are an outsider and you are too thick-skinned to point fingers at other people's affairs. How dare you criticize others?"
Wu Fangshi was so angry that her eyes widened. She pointed at Li Hehua and said angrily: "You little bitch, say it again?"
Li Hehua said indifferently: "I'll say it again, so what? You are so shameless to meddle in other people's business!"
Shulin saw his mother arguing with someone, and worriedly clutched Li Hehua's trouser leg. He called out "Mom" in a low voice, but it was drowned out by Wu Fang's loud voice, so Li Hehua didn't hear it.
Shulin saw that Wu Fang's finger was about to poke his mother's face, so he frowned and became angry.
He thought about it, loosened Li Hehua's trouser leg, and ran out with his short legs. He slipped out in a flash and no one noticed him.
Shulin ran into the yard, but didn't see his father, so he ran outside again. He ran all the way to the door and saw his father and second uncle standing by a pond not far from the door. He clenched his fists and ran over like a gust of wind, almost falling down on the way.
Zhang Tieshan saw Shulin stumbling towards him, his expression straightened up, and he didn't care about the injuries on his body that prevented him from walking fast, and hurried forward to catch Shulin, "Shulin, what's wrong?"
Shulin gasped for breath, pointing his little hand in the direction of home, "Mother - Mother -"
Zhang Tieshan's face darkened. He quickly handed Shulin to Zhang Qingshan who had caught up with him and strode home.
Zhang Qingshan also felt something was wrong, so he picked up Shulin and ran back home.
As soon as Zhang Tieshan entered the house, he heard Wu Fangshi scolding Li Hehua, "You shameless bitch, you've been divorced but you're still clinging to someone else's house and won't leave. If anyone knows about this, they'll all laugh their heads off. Tieshan doesn't want you anymore, but you're still clinging to him. You're so shameless!"
Zhang Tieshan was so angry that he clenched his fists and shouted, "Enough!"
The roar startled everyone. Wu Fang was so frightened that she shut her mouth. When she saw that it was Zhang Tieshan, she was immediately frightened and said hesitantly, "Tieshan, I heard that you are better, so I came to see you and chat with your mother..."
Zhang Tieshan's face darkened as he said angrily, "Don't I know how to insult my wife? When did it become your turn to butt in on our family affairs?"
Wu Fangshi turned pale, frightened by the anger on Zhang Tieshan's face, and said with all her might, "Tieshan, you divorced her, how can she be your wife? Isn't what you said wrong?"
Zhang Tieshan said with a sullen face, "Do you need to tell me whether she is my wife or not? She is my wife and the mistress of this family. What does it mean for you to curse at someone else in their home?"
Wu Fangshi was completely humiliated by Zhang Tieshan's merciless words, but she could not refute him. She could only look at Zhang Linshi, "Old sister, you don't care about it? You are the one who is in charge of the family!"
Zhang Lin moved her lips, glanced at Zhang Tieshan, who was full of anger, and said to Wu Fang: "Go back, you don't have to worry about our family affairs."
Wu Fang was so angry that she almost vomited blood, but she also knew that she would not get any good result today, so she stood up and said, "Okay, okay, good intentions are not rewarded. If you don't appreciate it, then forget it. I won't be hated here anymore!" Then she walked away angrily.
When passing by Zhang Tieshan, Zhang Tieshan suddenly kicked the stool at his feet. The stool was thrown against the wall with a loud noise, and then bounced back, almost killing Wu Fangshi.
"Ah--" Wu Fang screamed, her face turned pale and she ran away in fear, disappearing in an instant.
After the troublemaker left, the room suddenly became quiet. Zhang Lin looked at Zhang Tieshan's face, which was still not well, and felt a little guilty, so she sat there without saying a word.
Li Hehua didn't want to face this situation. It would be inappropriate to say anything, so she simply said nothing. She picked up Shulin's bowl of fruit dumplings and waved to Shulin, "Shulin, come on, mom will take you to eat."
When Shulin heard his mother calling him, he quickly broke free from his second uncle's arms and ran towards Li Hehua.
Li Hehua pulled Shulin towards the room where he was currently living, closed the door, held Shulin in his arms and fed him fruit dumplings, helping him to calm down his depressed mood.
The other people in the main room watched Li Hehua close the door, and the atmosphere became even worse.
Zhang Tieshan looked at Zhang Lin and said in a deep voice, "Mom, she is your daughter-in-law, and you just let others scold her at home?"
Zhang Lin hesitated and said, "She came to see you, you can't chase her away..." Seeing that her two sons were looking at her with unpleasant expressions, she swallowed the next words and muttered, "Then...she...she is not my wife either..."
Zhang Tieshan said, "Mother, let me say it again, she is my wife now and will be in the future. You may not like her, but she is a member of our Zhang family, and this will never change. If you don't acknowledge her, you don't acknowledge me." After that, Zhang Tieshan walked towards Li Hehua's room, pushed the door open, and left Zhang Lin in the main room with a unhappy look on her face.
Zhang Qingshan sat down next to Zhang Lin, pursed his lips, and said, "Mother, what you did today was wrong. Although sister-in-law was wrong before, she has changed now. You have seen that she is very good to Shulin, to us, and to my brother even better. Even if you are still uncomfortable, we have been eating and drinking her food every day, and wearing clothes made of the fabric she gave us. You should protect her at this time. Aren't you hurting people's feelings by doing this? If she ignores my brother in the future, how sad you will make my brother and Shulin."
After spending some time together and seeing all of Li Hehua's behavior, Zhang Qingshan has convinced himself and gotten over the hurdle in his heart. He decides to give Li Hehua another chance and treat her as his sister-in-law again. However, her mother is still angry and dissatisfied with his sister-in-law.
He knew that this would not work, so he decided to persuade his mother more. Fortunately, Zhang Lin was not an unreasonable person. She knew that Li Hehua had done a lot for them during this period of time. However, when she thought of how she was bullied by this woman before, she could not get rid of the anger in her heart. So just now, she did not help bully Li Hehua, but she did not drive Wu Fang away. At this moment, she felt a little uneasy after being told by her two sons, and said hesitantly: "You all help her, I can't argue with you, can't I help her in the future!"
Zhang Qingshan curled his lips and smiled. Although her mother's words were unpleasant, her heart had softened. That was enough.
In the room, Li Hehua and Shulin were sitting at the table eating fruit dumplings together. Seeing Zhang Tieshan come in, Li Hehua glanced at him and continued to feed Shulin.
Zhang Tieshan walked over and sat down, staring at Li Hehua for a while, then gently stroked her face, "Are you angry?"
Li Hehua turned her head away from his hand and said nothing. In fact, she was not angry. She could see that Zhang Lin's attitude was softening step by step. Although she didn't help her much today, it was much better than before. Moreover, she had no right to ask others to protect her, so she was not angry. She was just a little unhappy, simply because she couldn't escape the influence of the original owner. She was unhappy and a little bored, but it was not a big deal.
Seeing that she ignored him, Zhang Tieshan felt upset and simply picked Shulin up. "Shulin, Mom is not happy. Daddy needs to comfort Mom. Can you go out and play for a while? Daddy can't comfort Mom well if you are here."
Shulin wanted to struggle at first, but when he heard that he had to make his mother happy, he hesitated. In the end, he thought that his mother's happiness was more important, so he was carried out obediently.
Zhang Tieshan closed the door again, walked to Li Hehua, picked her up without saying a word and put her on his lap.
Li Hehua exclaimed, and thinking of the injuries on his body, he angrily hit him lightly, "What are you doing? Put me down now!"
Zhang Tieshan hugged her waist tightly and held her in his arms, "Are you really angry with me? Then you can hit me or scold me, but just don't ignore me." What he feared most was that she would ignore him and push him away.
Li Hehua was softened by his tone and shook her head, "I'm not angry with you."
Zhang Tieshan lifted her chin and looked into her eyes, "Really? Then why are you ignoring me?"
Li Hehua touched his face and said, "I'm really not angry. I'm not ignoring you. I just felt a little depressed after the argument with someone."
Zhang Tieshan looked at Li Hehua inquiringly. Seeing that she was really not angry, he breathed a sigh of relief. A smile appeared in his eyes. He lifted her chin and said, "I can't tell if you are really not angry with me anymore. Prove it."
Li Hehua didn't react and asked subconsciously: "How to prove it?"
Zhang Tieshan raised the corner of his mouth and said, "This proves..." Then he lowered his head and kissed Li Hehua's lips.
Li Hehua's mind suddenly went blank, only the feeling of sucking and biting on his lips kept circling, circling...
Her first kiss in her life...
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