Her foolish son only knew how to listen to his wife, and his wife only listened to Doctor Lin, so Aunt Hehua called Lin Zhilan.
Lin Zhilan reassured the old woman a few times and explained that a nanny was different from the servants of the past.
There were no landlords and slaves anymore. It was an equal employment relationship now. Nannies earned money through their labor, and the government recognized their work.
Li Jiang had explained this to his mother many times, but Aunt Hehua had never believed him.
After hearing it from Lin Zhilan, however, she was completely convinced.
When they returned home, Wang Rou was eating steamed buns made by the nanny. As soon as she saw her mother-in-law come back from the phone call, she hurried over, helped her to the dining table, and stuffed a bun into her hand. With a laugh, she asked, “Well? What did Sister Lin say?”
Aunt Hehua snorted and took a bite of the soft, fluffy bun. “What else could she say? She still only knows how to take your side.”
Wang Rou beamed triumphantly.
Su Li’s scream jolted Lin Zhilan out of her thoughts.
The ferry had arrived.
The crowd at the distant dock slowly began to surge forward. Jiang Chengzhou accompanied Linlin and Shen Man as they stepped off the ferry with the flow of passengers.
Linlin spotted her parents waiting at the dock at once. All the longing she had accumulated over the past few months surged up in an instant. She hurried over and threw herself into Lin Zhilan’s arms.
Lin Zhilan’s heart melted. She quickly hugged her daughter back.
Linlin clung to her mother and refused to let go, her eyes rimmed with red.
Su Lang went around behind them and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did someone bully you in the capital?”
Linlin looked at her father through tearful eyes. “No. I just missed you both so much.”
Su Lang’s heart ached. His daughter was grown now, and it would no longer be appropriate to act too affectionately with her, so he simply circled around her and softly comforted her.
Jiang Chengzhou stood behind them, looking helpless.
Su Li tilted his head back and comforted him. “Brother, don’t be jealous. You’ll get used to it.”
Jiang Chengzhou laughed and pinched his cheek. “Are you jealous?”
Su Li put on an expression that seemed to say, “Who do you think you’re looking down on?” “Hmph. How old do you think I am? In a few more years, I’ll be an adult.”
Jiang Chengzhou burst out laughing, and Su Li began giggling too.
Not far away, Shen Man was also talking with her parents after their long separation.
After greeting one another, the two families prepared to head home.
Kong Baozhu’s eyes and heart were filled with her daughter. Only by accident did she notice Linlin crying in Doctor Lin’s arms.
She suddenly froze.
She had never noticed the difference before, but now Kong Baozhu suddenly remembered that ever since she had recovered and regained consciousness, her daughter Manman seemed never to have cried in front of her.
A strange panic and bitterness suddenly welled up inside her. She tightened her grip on Shen Changshan’s sleeve. “Changshan, why doesn’t Manman cry?”
Shen Changshan was stunned, then gave a bitter smile.
Because of the changes their family had gone through when she was little, their daughter had always been sensible and strong. She had never caused them any worry in her studies and had always been independent in life.
As parents, they had hoped their daughter could grow up carefree. But they had not been able to give her that, and now…it seemed their daughter no longer needed them to.
Shen Man suddenly turned around and asked in confusion, “Dad, Mom, why aren’t you coming?”
“Oh, right, right. We’re coming.”
The two hurried to catch up. Shen Changshan took all the luggage from his daughter, while Kong Baozhu held her hand and chattered about all the delicious food she had prepared for her.
Her uncle and aunt walked ahead with Linlin. Jiang Chengzhou followed behind them and glanced in Shen Man’s direction, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
No one noticed this scene…
Except Su Li.
“Brother, what are you looking at?”
Jiang Chengzhou wiped the smile from his face and tried to fool him. “I just saw a snake on the road.”
A fake smile appeared on Su Li’s face. “Oh.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Su Li said, “Brother, it’s winter now. Snakes are hibernating. How could there be a snake on the road?”
Jiang Chengzhou raised an eyebrow. “Then I must have seen wrong.”
Su Li said, “Can someone with such poor eyesight really become a soldier?”
Jiang Chengzhou fell silent for a moment. “…Did you fail to get perfect scores in both subjects on your final exams because you spent all your time at school learning how to argue?”
Su Li: “…”
Adults were so annoying. Whenever they couldn’t win an argument, they went straight for your sore spots.
When they got home, hot water had already been prepared for them to bathe.
After washing up, the two of them each ate a bowl of noodles before being sent off to their rooms to rest.
Linlin’s room still had several strings of seashell wind chimes Yan Yuan had given her hanging inside. The moment she entered, she thought of him.
Ugh, how annoying!
Linlin went back out and tugged on her mother, insisting that she sleep with her.
Lin Zhilan naturally agreed. She took off her coat and lay down on the bed beside her daughter.
“Mom,” Linlin said, hugging Lin Zhilan’s arm. “I have a secret. Do you want to know what it is?”
“No.”
Linlin froze, then wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist and protested, “Mooom…”
“All right, all right.” Lin Zhilan put an arm around her and said indulgently, “Mom really wants to know our baby’s secret.”
“Mm…” Linlin blushed. “Now I don’t want to tell you anymore.”
Lin Zhilan tickled her in retaliation, and mother and daughter laughed together on the bed.
Out in the courtyard, Su Lang was building supports for the flowerpots. When he heard the laughter from inside, the corners of his mouth naturally lifted.
Jiang Chengzhou was laughing too, but he still teased his uncle. “A henpecked husband?”
There was an old saying in the south: “A lifetime of debts to one’s children, half a lifetime as a slave to one’s wife.”
People used it to poke fun at men who were afraid of their wives.
But Jiang Chengzhou did not think there was anything wrong with it. Love was something that flowed both ways. Fortunately, his uncle loved his aunt, and his aunt loved his uncle too.
Su Lang had lived in the south for so many years that he had naturally heard the saying as well. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at his eldest nephew. “What slaves are there in the new society? Your ideological awareness still needs improvement. Hurry up. You two, go help me carry over a few boards!”
The three of them worked in the courtyard all afternoon.
At last, they finished arranging the flowerpots on the supports.
Jiang Chengzhou took Su Li by the hand and led him to wash up. Su Li muttered under his breath, “There are slaves in the new society too. I’m my dad’s slave.”
“What did you say?” Su Lang’s voice came from across the courtyard.
A standard, eight-teeth smile instantly appeared on Su Li’s face. “I said, Dad is amazing. The supports you made look great!”
Jiang Chengzhou was stunned by Su Li’s smooth change of attitude.
“Su Li.”
“Hmm?”
“Come to my room. I need to give you a lesson in politics.”
That afternoon, Su Li emerged from Jiang Chengzhou’s room looking radiant, invigorated, glowing, and positively flushed with excitement…
If he had been old enough, he would have enlisted in the army that very night.
Over the next two days, Linlin and Jiang Chengzhou became the treasures of the household. They also gained the privilege of eating whatever they wanted.
Su Li became their personal errand boy, and his smile grew brighter by the day.
It was only after Linlin had gone off to school that Su Li realized how wonderful it was to have an older brother and sister at home.
Lin Zhilan and Su Lang were both very busy with work. Normally, Su Li had school to keep him occupied, but whenever he was on vacation, no one had time to look after him.
Lin Zhilan had considered letting him do his homework in the traditional medicine department’s office, but Su Li could never sit still. After a while, he would run off.
Now that his older brother and sister were home, Su Li was delighted, even when they ordered him around.
