Fan Shuting was also worried. On Chinese New Year's Day, her two daughters - in - law had a fight. A few days later, her daughter came back home crying. She had a premonition that the new year at home probably wouldn't go smoothly.
"Dear daughter, if it really doesn't work out, you can come back home with your child. It's not that your father doesn't care about you. Even if he gives you the grain, can you guarantee that your mother - in - law won't send it back?"
Lin Xue couldn't guarantee it. But the grain at home could only last for a little over a month. What would she and her child do then?
And what about her husband?
When Lin Xue returned to the room, Jiang Hua was still awake. Hearing his wife sigh, he knew she hadn't succeeded. It was his own incompetence that made his wife go back to her parents' house again and again for help.
When Lin Xue left, she borrowed a bag of grain from Third Brother Lin. What she didn't know was that after Sun Qian came back and found the grain was less, she scratched Third Brother Lin's face, and the relationship between the couple dropped to an all - time low.
Lin Han could only stay at home for one more day. On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, he and his son cooked the meal together because the mistress of the house had been tossed around half the night and simply couldn't get up!
While cooking, Sizhe asked him a question, "Dad, if Mom has a younger brother or sister, will you still love us?"
The aunts in the village were really annoying. When teasing the kids, they always said, "Once your step - mom has a child, no one will want you two!"
Although Sizhe believed in his parents, hearing such things so often made him unhappy, and he just wanted to know what Lin Han thought.
Lin Han stroked his son's head, "Don't think so much. Your mom doesn't plan to have a younger brother or sister for you for the time being.
Besides, they are all my children. Dad will definitely love you all the same. It's just that the younger ones need more care. You understand, right?"
Sizhe's current thoughts were completely off - track. All he could think about was why Mom didn't want to have a child for Dad.
Did Mom still miss that big liar?
When Nan Sheng woke up, Lin Han personally carried the meal to the kang and didn't let his wife get out of bed and make a fuss.
He knew Nan Sheng didn't like eating dumplings, so he and the kids ate the remaining ones.
Nan Sheng gave him a fierce glare. That man was so rough last night. She reasonably suspected that it was because he heard about Yu Sheng and felt uncomfortable.
After the meal, she couldn't lie down anymore and got out of bed to stretch her body.
When Sizhe saw her, he furtively dragged her to the west room to have a private conversation, not even letting Siqi listen.
Nan Sheng: …
Why did so many people want to have a private conversation with her these two days?
Sizhe said aggrievedly, "Mom, why don't you want to have a child for Dad? Do you still miss that liar?"
Nan Sheng covered her face. The child just simply wanted to know the result, but what she thought about was the whole process...
"Kids should mind their own business. You know that I've long broken up with him."
Sizhe was dissatisfied and insisted on getting an answer.
Nan Sheng had no choice but to say, "It's my own problem. I'm afraid of having a child. Just the ten - month pregnancy is hard enough, and I'm even more afraid of losing half my life during childbirth. Just think of your mom as a coward."
Nan Sheng was an orphan herself. It was only at this age that she experienced what it was like to have parents and siblings.
She wasn't confident that she could accompany her child for a long time. What if she was unlucky and suddenly died during childbirth? Then the child would be motherless from birth!
What if Lin Han was in danger on a mission and died? Then the child would become an orphan!
Sometimes her thoughts were quite extreme, always thinking about the worst - case scenario.
What Nan Sheng didn't expect was that Sizhe actually understood her thoughts and supported his mom not having a child. It wasn't that he was afraid of losing his parents' love.
It was because he always remembered that his biological mother's health had deteriorated after giving birth to his younger sister.
Sometimes when he thought of his biological mother, he would feel guilty, thinking that maybe it was because of giving birth to them siblings that his mother passed away early.
"Mom, if you want to have a child, have one. If you don't want to, don't. Anyway, I'll definitely be filial to you and take care of you in your old age!"
Nan Sheng was both touched and helpless. This one sentence seemed to send her decades into the future, as if she was an old woman in need of care.
"Then thank you, dear."
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Nan Sheng still woke up with a sore back. After breakfast, she started kneading dough to make wontons with shrimp and pork filling for Lin Han.
Lin Han was leaving at noon. He got up early and went to the old house to say goodbye.
Lin Guozheng had been in a bad mood these days. Only Fan Shuting told him to take care of his health and said that they, the old couple, would look after things at home.
Lin Han knew very well that his parents had four children, and he wasn't the most favored one. The care his wife and children could get was limited.
When he got home, Lin Han saw his wife kneading dough in the kitchen. The good food during his stay at home made him feel full of energy.
Nan Sheng motioned for her husband to drink the water in the bowl. Lin Han saw that it was black and suspected that his wife was taking revenge on him, but did he dare not to drink it?
Lin Han lowered his head and gulped it all down, not daring to spill a single drop.
Nan Sheng gave her husband another evaluation: very obedient!
"Lin Han, the ginseng wine I brewed for you is ready. Do you want to take some with you? If you need to give it as a gift, you can fill more and take it back to the military academy."
Lin Han thought of the teachers at the military academy who had taken good care of him and nodded. He didn't need it for himself because the dormitory management was very strict and he couldn't take the wine in.
After having the delicious little wontons and taking apples and pastries with him, Lin Han set off on the road to the military academy again. The next time they met would be when he came to pick up his wife and kids to join him in the army!
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Nan Sheng also had to go to work.
At the town government, everyone chatted about daily life, and the day just passed by.
When she got home in the afternoon, Sizhe and Siqi sandwiched her between them on the left and right and started telling her the new things that had happened at home.
"Mom, Third Aunt came back today and had a big fight with Third Uncle. They are getting a divorce!"
Nan Sheng was very surprised. "No way. Their relationship was quite good, right? Is it because of what happened on Chinese New Year's Day?"
Sizhe said, "No. Auntie came back on the second day of the Lunar New Year. She borrowed a bag of grain from Third Uncle. After Third Aunt came back and found the grain was less, she quarreled with Third Uncle."
Hearing that it was because of the grain, Nan Sheng didn't care anymore. These days, many families had quarrels and fights over the issue of grain. Anyway, it had nothing to do with her.
What Nan Sheng didn't know was that this time Sun Qian was smarter. She didn't go back to her parents' house herself but wanted to drive Third Brother Lin to the old house to live.
Third Brother Lin was also aggrieved. His wife could give money and grain to her parents' family, but he couldn't even borrow a bag for his sister?
It was so unreasonable!
So the couple, one slept in the east room and the other in the west room.
Neither of them was willing to leave the yard for fear that the other would send the grain away again!
