Sizhe didn’t sleep well that night. When he woke up in the morning, he followed his usual routine of fetching eggs and lighting the fire.
After Nan Sheng got up, he took the initiative to admit his mistake. "I was too hungry last night, so I ate the leftover steamed bun."
Nan Sheng snorted coldly and ignored him, thinking to herself that this brat still hadn’t realized where he’d gone wrong. She dumped the spoiled vegetables and porridge into the slop bucket and started cooking.
Sizhe was used to his stepmother scolding or hitting him, so her silence now felt strangely uncomfortable. At the breakfast table, she still let him eat as usual and even packed a steamed bun for him to take to school—except this time, there was no White Rabbit milk candy.
During class, he was unusually distracted and got called out by the teacher several times before finally focusing.
At lunch break, he went to the teachers’ lounge to deliver a steamed bun to his grandmother. Fan Shuting stopped him. "Dawa, Grandma heard from Teacher Tang that you weren’t paying attention in class. Is that true?"
Sizhe nodded. He just didn’t know how to face his stepmother when he got home. At this point, he’d rather take a beating—at least that would be straightforward.
Fan Shuting grew concerned. "Did your mother hit you again? Tell Grandma!"
Sizhe didn’t know how to answer. He had indeed been slapped, but his stepmother had been even angrier than him, and he still didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.
"Grandma! I came home late yesterday, and she got really mad."
After listening to her grandson’s explanation, Fan Shuting smiled warmly. "Silly child, that’s a good thing! It means your mother truly cares about you. From now on, if you’re going out or coming home late, you must let her know so she doesn’t worry."
Sizhe scratched his head. "But she’s ignoring me now. She won’t even talk to me."
Fan Shuting chuckled. "Then you should apologize properly. Tell her you know you were wrong and won’t make her worry again. She’ll start talking to you then."
Sizhe didn’t fully understand, but he trusted his grandmother’s wisdom. If she said it would work, it would.
Back in class, he curiously asked his classmates whether their mothers also gave them the silent treatment when they misbehaved.
That question stirred up a hornet’s nest—over half the class jumped into the discussion.
Little Fatty: "Oh, it’s worse than that! Even when I apologize, she’s not satisfied unless I explain exactly what I did wrong. But if I knew, wouldn’t I have avoided the mistake in the first place?" Moms are so unreasonable.
Black Monkey: "All moms are the same. If I ignore her when I’m mad, she hits me. If she ignores me when she’s mad and I try to talk to her, she still hits me!" The slaps are loud too.
Deskmate: "My mom once went half a month without speaking to anyone in the family. Impressive, right? In the end, my dad had to buy meat from town to coax her back." His mom was a glutton.
...
After hearing all their complaints, Sizhe suddenly felt he’d misjudged his stepmother. These kids all had biological mothers, yet they weren’t treated any better.
And just like that, Nan Sheng, sitting at home, inexplicably gained five more points of favorability from him.
Was it really that easy?
After setting out chili peppers and shredded beans to dry in the yard, Nan Sheng took her daughter inside for a nap and checked the new developments in the book’s plot.
Frowning after reading, she decided to visit her parents’ home the next day. As for the kids, they could either come with her or stay behind—it didn’t matter.
By dinnertime, Sizhe returned with his grandmother, right on schedule before 4:30.
He approached Nan Sheng and bowed his head in apology. "I’m sorry. I should’ve come home first to let you know before going out yesterday. I made you worry."
Nan Sheng glared at him, but the knot in her chest finally loosened. In these times, with no phones or surveillance, and with tigers and wolves roaming the mountains, how could she not panic when her child didn’t come home?
She swatted him lightly on the shoulder. "So you even went and got backup, huh? Fine, I’ll forgive you this time. But if it happens again, you’ll see what I do!"
Sizhe scratched his head, thinking that compared to other parents, his stepmother was actually pretty easy to appease. His favorability toward her quietly rose by another point.
Seeing that the matter was resolved, Fan Shuting turned to leave, but Nan Sheng stopped her. "Stay for dinner. This troublemaker brought back a carp yesterday, so I stewed it."
She’d also prepared shrimp, steamed with wine, scallions, and ginger—completely free of any fishy taste.
Fan Shuting, seeing the spread on the table, didn’t refuse. As for her husband at home? Well, he could fend for himself. She’d eat her fill first.
Who could blame her? Her daughter-in-law’s cooking was so good that one meal left her craving the next!
After dinner, Nan Sheng packed a plate of shrimp for Fan Shuting to take home. Fan Shuting also took a liking to the dipping sauce and brought some of that along too.
With daylight still left, Nan Sheng gathered the drying ingredients from the yard into the kitchen, with Sizhe and his sister helping.
"Tomorrow morning, I’ll trade for some tofu and make crucian carp soup to nourish you all." Thinking of her trip, Nan Sheng broached the subject directly.
"I’m going back to my parents’ home tomorrow. Do you two want to come along and visit relatives?"
Sizhe wasn’t keen on the idea. He’d only met Nan Sheng’s relatives once—when she married into the family—and had no idea what to say to them. Siqi, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, eager to tag along anywhere.
"Mom, take me with you! I’ll go!"
Sizhe’s mind started racing again. What if his stepmother was being nice just to sell his sister off?
If that were the case, he’d have to go too—so he could protect her and escape if needed. "Then I’ll go too! I won’t go to school tomorrow or the day after!"
Nan Sheng was pleased they were both coming. She could even stay overnight at her parents’ place without worrying about the kids back home.
With the trip planned, the family turned in early. But at breakfast the next morning, Nan Sheng noticed her son had dark circles under his eyes.
"Dawa, did you stay up late doing homework?" He’d been the last to wake up, yet he still looked exhausted.
Sizhe rubbed his eyes and mumbled an affirmative. In truth, he’d spent the whole night agonizing over whether his stepmother intended to sell him and his sister.
After feeding the chickens, with the sun still below the horizon, the family set out in fresh clothes.
Nan Sheng rode the bicycle, placing little Siqi on the crossbar. Once the bike was moving, Sizhe jumped onto the rear rack.
Villagers who saw them asked where they were headed, and Nan Sheng cheerfully replied that she was visiting her parents.
The bike made the trip fast—they reached town in under an hour. Nan Sheng wasn’t in a rush to shop, first buying each of them an ice pop.
In those days, ice pops were just frozen sugar water—nothing special, but the kids licked theirs happily.
"We’ll buy two pounds of pork and a pound of brown sugar!"
Her parents’ home wasn’t far from Xiangyang Village, but she didn’t want to arrive empty-handed, hence the detour to town.
Siqi, remembering the pig’s trotters from last time, piped up, "Mom, can we have pig’s trotters again?"
Nan Sheng sighed. "Not today. If you like them so much, I’ll make them for you when we get back."
Showing up at her parents’ place with pig’s trotters? People would laugh her out of the village—she had her pride to consider!
