TCFSRMR |Chapter 18

As she picked these things out one by one, Yin Zhaodi’s hands were even shaking a little. Especially when she was holding that big, fat rabbit, Yin Zhaodi very nearly burst into tears…

If it hadn’t been for Shi Guoan a few days ago buying that huge strip of meat to thank Niu Erzhu’s family, she really hadn’t tasted meat for a full half-year.

And yet Shi Guoan and the others went up the mountain for one trip and brought back such a fat rabbit?

Not only had all of Yin Zhaodi’s complaints vanished without a trace, even her sleepiness had completely disappeared:

“These mushrooms, tomorrow I’ll wash them and put them all out to dry…”

City people especially like this kind of thing. Once they’re dried, if you secretly take them to the market, they can be turned into money with a flip of the hand.

“This rabbit, tomorrow I’ll skin it…”

The skin could be kept to make a hand warmer for winter. With Eldest Brother-in-law’s personality, it was impossible for him not to eat rabbit. But since it was so big, Yin Zhaodi felt that she should still be able to persuade Shi Guoan to keep half of it to air-dry…

Of course, these were all small matters. The most important thing was that Yin Zhaodi urgently wanted to know where exactly they had found so many good things. Her younger brother loved eating this kind of wild game the most, and Yin Zhaodi was thinking that after she found out where it had been picked, she could go get some too. Then, when she brought it back to her parents’ home, maybe her father would be able to forgive her and stop scolding her for saying that raising a daughter was useless and giving her the cold shoulder.

“Okay, tomorrow you and your sister-in-law clean it up together,” Shi Guoan nodded. “Cut the rabbit in half. We’ll keep half for ourselves…”

This wild rabbit meat was fresh. Just right, they had also brought back Sichuan peppercorns and bay leaves. After it was cooked down until thick, they could toss in some of the freshly picked mushrooms, and finally sprinkle on some scallions. The kids would definitely like it.

“Right, right, right, that’s what I was thinking too.” Rarely did Shi Guoan not let them finish it all at once, and Yin Zhaodi, who had just been thinking about how to persuade Shi Guoan, hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Just as she was about to ask what they should do with the other half, she heard Shi Guoan continue:

“As for the remaining half, and the meat we bought a few days ago that we also cured a few pieces of, let’s send it all to Rongrong.”

Shi Guorong was the only girl in the Shi family.

Speaking of which, the most educated person in the Shi family was not the three boys in the family, but this girl, Shi Guorong, who had actually been supported by Shi Guoan all the way until she graduated from high school.

Even after graduating, by chance and through passing an exam, she got into the county textile factory.

The words on Yin Zhaodi’s lips were blocked back down, and she suddenly remembered: that’s right, how could she have forgotten? A few days ago her younger sister-in-law had sent word saying that her due date was about to fall just a few days after the wheat-harvesting rush season.

“It should be sent to Rongrong,” Shi Guoliang said repeatedly. Fortunately, Eldest Brother had kept thinking about this matter. He had been very busy during this period, and if Eldest Brother hadn’t mentioned it, he would have forgotten it too.

“Guoan is still the most thoughtful.” Shi Zongyi looked at his eldest son and fully embodied what it meant to be deeply comforted in old age.

People outside all said he was unusually foolish, treating his eldest son, who was not even his biological child, even better than his own. But if Shi Zongyi had to say it, having such a good son and not loving him more would be the truly foolish thing.

“Our family also got some wheat distributed, and by then we can exchange for some white flour. Plus the eggs we’ve saved at home, let’s send some of those too,” Miao Xiuxiu said.

“I don’t have much on me either. Mom, did you prepare any cloth and cotton for Rongrong’s baby? Let me make a few little clothes for the child…” Yin Zhaodi said along with them.

“Is Auntie going to have a baby brother?” Shi Jie asked with innocent wide eyes.

“It could also be a baby sister…” Shi Ying was also very happy.

“Pah pah pah, children’s words carry no harm, children’s words carry no harm!” Yin Zhaodi was just turning to go out when she heard Shi Ying say this. She quickly spat a few times on the ground, then deliberately turned back to admonish Shi Ying over and over again, “Hurry and apologize to the Lady Who Sends Children, tell her you didn’t mean it, and ask her to send your aunt a big fat boy…”

Shi Ying immediately didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

After these past few days together, Shi Ying naturally also understood Yin Zhaodi, this second aunt’s knot in her heart, namely that she dreamed of having a boy.

Previously, when she had just heard Shi Ting and Shi Jie’s names, Shi Ying had still thought that Second Aunt and Second Uncle were quite cultured, to have given such nice names.

Only later did she learn that in fact, the “Ting” in their names and the “Jie” in their names were homophones of “stop” and “cut off”. Ever since having her first child, Second Aunt had kept praying that girls would stop now, not come to the Shi family anymore, she really didn’t welcome them.

Unexpectedly, after Shi Ting came Shi Jie too, and Yin Zhaodi prayed even harder that they should be cut off right here, that no more baby girls should come to be reincarnated.

Just now, Shi Jie’s first reaction was that Auntie would have a baby boy. Wasn’t that the result of being constantly influenced by her surroundings?

The family had been busy at home all day, and after roughly preparing the relevant raw materials for making soy sauce, one key ingredient was still missing, and that was sugar.

There was still half a bag of brown sugar left over from the day Shi Ying came back, but compared with the soy sauce Shi Guoan planned to make, that amount was a bit small.

They would probably have to buy a few more jin.

Besides, Shi Guorong was about to give birth, so buying her some brown sugar was necessary too.

Early the next morning, Shi Guoan took Shi Ying and went to the county seat…

Because she was closest to Eldest Brother, and also because Shi Ying really did look pink and adorable beyond words, Shi Guorong naturally doted on her the most. When she had thought Shi Ying was gone, Shi Guorong had held Miao Xiuxiu and cried into a tearful wreck several times.

Now that her daughter had come back, they absolutely had to bring Shi Ying over so Shi Guorong could see her.

Just then Liang Dacheng was going to the county for a meeting, and his wife Tian Mai had been feeling a little unwell in her stomach these past few days, so she also needed to go to the county hospital for a checkup. Shi Guoan and Shi Ying got to benefit from the ride and sat in the horse cart driven personally by Liang Dacheng.

“Oh my, what did you two bring? It smells really good.” As soon as the two got on the cart, Liang Dacheng smelled a fragrance.

“Some food and two sets of little clothes,” Shi Guoan said with a smile. “Aren’t they saying Guorong should be giving birth in just these few days? As the people from her maiden family, we came to the county to deliver some labor-inducing sugar and eggs or whatever…”

As he said this, he pulled a handful of strawberries from the bottom of the basket and handed them to Liang Dacheng’s wife:

“It’s nothing good. Sister-in-law, try this…”

“Oh my, this good stuff should be for Guorong, right? I won’t eat it.” Tian Mai hurriedly refused, but though she said that with her mouth, her eyes were telling a completely different story.

As soon as she sat in the horse cart, Tian Mai’s stomach started churning. After all, the horse had just been led out of the stable, carrying a strong smell of horse dung on its body. And the cart they were sitting in had been used every day a few days ago to haul fertilizer to the fields during the busy farming season. Even though Liang Dacheng had already worked very hard to rinse it with water and laid a layer of dry straw on top, Tian Mai still found it hard to bear.

Now that she saw the strawberries, she really wanted to eat them.

It was just that these were being sent to Guorong, and if she ate them, wouldn’t that seem too shameless?

“Auntie, you should eat them.” Shi Ying took them from Shi Guoan’s hand, held Tian Mai’s hand and put them into it, then glanced at her already slightly rounded belly, her eyes full of awe, “You need to eat more good things, and then the little baby will grow up very well…”

Today Shi Ying was wearing a new outfit made from the navy-blue fabric Yin Zhaodi had given Miao Xiuxiu before.

When Miao Xiuxiu made it, she had even specially found a piece of red cloth. Not only did she trim the collar and cuffs with red cloth edging, she also carefully gathered a few little flowers and used them to decorate the lapels and trouser hems.

In Shi Ying’s era it would naturally have been plain to the point of cheapness, but in this era, it was the kind of thing that made people’s eyes light up at once.

Add to that the fact that she was already born with delicate eyebrows and eyes, and Tian Mai, looking at her now, only found her even more precious:

“Oh my, Brother Guoan, how did you raise your daughter? How can she be so lovable? If I have this baby and can have a little daughter too, I’ll be thanking heaven and earth.”

The two boys upstairs were such rascals. Tian Mai had finally understood what it meant to “not get a beating for three days and start tearing up the roof.” She practically dreamed of having a well-behaved little daughter.

Now that she saw Shi Ying, she even felt that the little daughter she wanted in her dreams had a face now, and it should be one like Shi Ying.

In the end, she couldn’t resist and accepted a few strawberries. After eating them, Tian Mai instantly felt as if she had eaten them for the first time. All that nausea from before vanished completely, and even the discomfort in her stomach eased…

“Auntie, if you like them, then next spring I’ll give you a few strawberry seedlings, okay? Then you, Brother, and the little sister will be able to eat fresh strawberries every day.”

“Oh my, that would really be wonderful. Auntie will thank you on behalf of your little sister first.” Tian Mai was smiling with complete sincerity.

After Liang Dacheng’s family got down, Tian Mai repeatedly confirmed the time they would leave together in the afternoon before reluctantly leaving with Liang Dacheng.

As she walked, she was still muttering:

“I really understand now why that Niu family daughter-in-law wanted to steal Yingying. This little girl is just too lovable…”

Liang Dacheng was startled and quickly turned back to look. Fortunately, Shi Guoan and Shi Ying had already gone far away. He hurriedly reminded his wife:

“You have to watch your words. Don’t say anything about stealing a child or not stealing a child in front of Guoan…”

He understood very well that Shi Ying was Shi Guoan’s lifeblood. Even though Shi Ying had already been found and brought back, this brother of his still couldn’t bear hearing anyone mention the matter of “stealing a child.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” During this period, because her stomach had been uncomfortable, Tian Mai’s temper had also been very bad. If it had been any other time, after Liang Dacheng gave her this warning, Tian Mai would already have lost her temper. Today, for some reason, maybe because she had eaten a few strawberries, her mood was not just good, it was exceptionally cheerful. She actually didn’t get angry, and even gave Liang Dacheng a sideways glance, “I was just trying to tell you how much I love daughters. I’m not stupid, how could I deliberately poke Brother Guoan in the heart…”

While the couple was bickering, Shi Guoan had already taken Shi Ying to Shi Guorong’s in-laws’ house, but they knocked for quite a long time without anyone answering.

The weather was a little hot, and the father and daughter were standing in the sun, both of them sweating nonstop.

“Is Auntie not at home?” Shi Ying looked up and asked.

“I’ll knock again…” Shi Guoan bent down and wiped the sweat from his daughter’s face with heartache. “Yingying, you should just wait in the shade over there.”

“No, I want to keep Daddy company.” Shi Ying held Shi Guoan’s hand.

It wasn’t that she really wasn’t hot, but that she was afraid Shi Guoan would worry.

These days Shi Ying had also discovered that whenever Shi Guoan was at home, every few minutes he would turn around to look at her. In fact, it wasn’t just Shi Guoan. Miao Xiuxiu was the same.

At first Shi Ying had been a little puzzled. Later she understood that it wasn’t only because of Shi Heng’s serious psychological trauma from her sudden disappearance, even Shi Guoan and Miao Xiuxiu, as two adults, had suffered no less than Shi Heng.

If she really went to crouch in the shade, it would indeed be cooler, but Shi Guoan would probably be restless and keep wanting to turn back and check on her.

Shi Guoan knocked for a while longer, but the door remained tightly shut.

“They must not be home.” Shi Guoan thought for a moment and raised his voice. “Then let’s go back first.”

Though he said that, he did not take Shi Ying far away, but instead went under the tree shade next to them.

Shi Ying was a little lost, not understanding what Shi Guoan was doing. Shi Guoan also didn’t explain, and only took the giant taro leaves covering the basket and used them to fan Shi Ying with a rustling motion.

Just as Shi Ying was about to stop him, she caught sight of the door, which had still been tightly shut just moments before, slowly opening a crack, and an old woman’s deliberately lowered voice followed:

“Did you see it? Did they leave?”

“They left… ah!”

It was because Shi Guoan suddenly straightened his body and walked straight over.

The old couple inside the door were instantly dumbfounded.

Didn’t they say they had left? Why were they still here? Especially since the one who had come today was not the daughter-in-law’s other two older brothers, but her eldest brother.

Speaking of the daughter-in-law’s three brothers, the eldest brother in the family had the most spirit in his appearance and the most pleasant way of speaking, but the two old folks were most intimidated by him.

They didn’t dare shut the door either, and could only watch helplessly as Shi Guoan walked over with a little girl. The old man reacted quickly, and hurriedly greeted them with a smile:

“Oh my, isn’t this Guorong’s eldest brother? Look at us, our ears are even deaf, we didn’t even hear you knocking…”

Shi Ying couldn’t help but laugh and cry at hearing this, thinking that this sentence had completely exposed their bottom line. You didn’t hear the knocking, so what exactly were you explaining?

The old woman also came to her senses, hurriedly glared at the old man, and said with a stiff smile:

“Look at this hot day, how did you come over? Come on in quickly and cool off in the house for a bit…”

But in her heart she couldn’t stop sighing.

They had deliberately rushed over at the hottest time of day, weren’t they just here to freeload a meal?

To speak from the heart, they were truly satisfied with this daughter-in-law, Shi Guorong. She was tall and good-looking, and had a broad-minded temperament. Normally she had hardly ever made them, the old couple, angry. But there was just one bad point.

That was that her maiden family was too poor.

Ever since the daughter-in-law married in, there had been no peace over there on the maiden-family side. Shi Guoan, that eldest brother, hadn’t come before, apparently because he was at home taking care of his wife, who had gone stupid from grief after losing her daughter.

The daughter-in-law’s other two brothers, however, had come quite a lot. Every time they came, didn’t they have to pick up something from their house?

At first the old woman had felt a bit sympathetic, thinking, who could blame them for having suffered disaster? Their good daughter was gone, the wife had gone stupid, and she had heard their son was also stupid…

And yet Guorong’s eldest brother was still the backbone of the whole family. With the sky falling on his side, wasn’t the daughter-in-law’s maiden family’s life becoming even harder to manage? If the daughter-in-law really wanted to help, then let her help them.

As time went on, there inevitably came to be some resentment.

It was one thing to send more generous holiday gifts to the maiden family during festivals, but in ordinary times she was always thinking about them too.

What made her even angrier was that the daughter-in-law ate at the factory, and even the leftover steamed buns had to be dried out and saved up together to send back to the maiden family!

She had been wondering why, whenever her daughter-in-law came home, she ate every time like a starving ghost reincarnated. So it turned out she had been saving out her own rations.

Those neighbors and old acquaintances all thought they were mistreating their daughter-in-law after seeing Shi Guorong like that.

And ever since the daughter-in-law married in, all they saw was the daughter-in-law sending things to her maiden family, and never once had they seen the maiden family send anything here.

On the rare occasion that they did come, they were always here to sponge off them.

And looking at things now, not only had Shi Guoan come, he had also brought a little girl.

They also knew the daughter-in-law’s side had quite a few nieces and nephews. They just didn’t know whose girl this was.

But since she had braved the blazing sun to come along, there was no doubt she was also here to freeload a meal at their house.

And Shi Guoan was even carrying a basket!

Who knew if he was once again planning to carry some of their stuff back.

Hadn’t he thought about the fact that his younger sister was about to give birth? Coming here to eat and take things like this, how could he not be ashamed.

Because of this, no matter how Shi Guoan knocked, the old couple simply refused to open the door.

Who would have thought the daughter-in-law’s eldest brother was so cunning, using trickery and deceit to actually fool them into opening the door after all.

It looked like this meal today was unavoidable. Fortunately, because the due date wasn’t too far off, the daughter-in-law had gone to the hospital for a checkup today. They should quickly send these people away before the daughter-in-law came back.

If they got them to leave now, at most they would lose a bit of food. But if they waited until the daughter-in-law came back, who knew what good things they might secretly give away again.

With that calculation in mind, the old woman immediately looked at Shi Guoan:

“Oh my, eldest brother, you really came at a bad time. Guorong just went out, and I don’t know when she’ll be back. Since you’ve come to the county, you probably have something to do, right? I’ll go make some soup, get a few pancakes and warm them up again, then pick some greens to stir-fry for you…”

“Old man, hurry and go fish some pickles out of the pickle jar too… Those were pickled by Guorong and me ourselves. Guorong told us that you siblings loved to eat this the most when you were young… Hurry and eat, then go do whatever you need to do. Don’t delay your business just because you came to visit relatives… By rights you’re Guorong’s eldest brother, so we should fry you an egg, but it’s just that eggs are hard to buy right now, and Guorong is about to give birth too, so I was thinking of saving it for her. Eldest brother, you mustn’t think we’re stingy…”

She simply did not believe that after she had made herself sound this poor, they would still want her family’s things.

“No need, you two don’t need to fuss.” Shi Guoan hurriedly waved his hand, and took off the basket on his back. “I didn’t come for anything else. I just came to bring Guorong some things…”

“No need, no need, look at our house, we have everything…” The old woman waved her hands like a fan.

He said he was bringing some things, but wasn’t that just the little greens growing in the fields? They had some in their own yard.

If they really accepted them, then when the daughter-in-law came back, they would still have to explain who had sent the vegetables. In fact, they had not even planned to tell the daughter-in-law that Shi Guoan had come with a little girl.

“The things in the basket are all prepared for Guorong, and also a bit of our parents’ and us aunts’ and uncles’ sentiment,” Shi Guoan did not take up the old woman’s line, and instead lifted away the grass on top, taking out the bright red strawberries wrapped in taro leaves.

“Oh my, what is this?” The old woman, who had been frowning, suddenly widened her eyes.

What fruit was this? It looked like strawberries.

Only, that couldn’t be, right?

After all, strawberries were rare goods. At the supply and marketing cooperative they would at most supply a few sour apples, and if you wanted to buy them, you had to fight your way in.

Not to mention strawberries this big! Not only were they beautiful in appearance, but in the rich fruit fragrance there was also a faint sweet scent. No matter how she looked at them, they were absolutely not ordinary strawberries.

Even in the homes of landlords and rich men from the old society, it would be impossible to eat such good things.

Yet the daughter-in-law’s eldest brother had not only brought them, he had brought so many?

Before she could even recover, Shi Guoan took out half of the cleaned rabbit:

“This rabbit has already been rubbed with salt. Please trouble Auntie to take it to a ventilated place and hang it up to dry… In our countryside, pregnant women can’t eat rabbit, so we’ll air-dry it first. After Guorong gives birth, she can use it to nourish her body.”

“Oh my, this rabbit really is fat.” The old woman was immediately overjoyed and subconsciously reached out to take it. Then, when she realized what she had done, she felt a little embarrassed.

A rabbit this fat was truly rare. What she was holding in her hand, even if it was only half, probably weighed at least three jin or more.

She had thought earlier that they had come to sponge off them, but it turned out they were this generous. After all, the old woman also knew that the Shi family’s life was hard, and they probably didn’t see much oil or meat all year round.

She had thought this was the limit, but who would have guessed there was still more? Shi Guoan took out four pieces of cured meat cut into neat squares, each piece probably weighing close to a jin:

“Let Guorong eat this first. My mom specially cured this meat, and Guorong likes it most.”

Not only rabbit meat, but pork too?

The old woman was so shocked her mouth almost wouldn’t close.

Under the pork, on the thick layer of straw, there were also several layers of eggs:

“These are fifty eggs, also for Guorong… and this bit of white flour…”

He said a bit, but anyone with a sharp eye could immediately tell there had to be at least twenty jin. That was fine flour. Not only was it expensive, but you also had to fight people for it with a ticket in hand at the supply and marketing cooperative.

The old man on the side twitched at the corners of his mouth. Seeing that the old woman had no words left apart from smacking her lips, he quickly nudged her.

He had already said not to be so stingy. Since they had come all this way, they should have been let in. But the old woman simply wouldn’t listen.

Now look at this? They had thoroughly lost face.

Only then did the old woman come to her senses, but she glared fiercely at the old man.

Who was she supposed to blame for acting like this? Wasn’t it because the old man kept nagging day after day, saying that the daughter-in-law’s maiden family only dragged her down, that they were all grown men with hands and feet, so why couldn’t they make something of themselves?

If he hadn’t said it day and night, would she have treated Guorong’s eldest brother like this?

“There are also two sets of little clothes,” Shi Guoan took out Yin Zhaodi’s needlework again. “These were specially made by the child’s second aunt…”

“Oh my, look at this, how could that be good. You say, eldest brother, what are you all doing? If you’re coming, then just come. Why bring so many things?”

“Your family’s life isn’t easy either… in this hot weather, coming all this way, how much suffering must that be…”

As she spoke, she reached out to pull Shi Ying:

“You’re an adult, but it’s this little girl who’s the pitiful one…”

Shi Ying subconsciously took a step back, avoiding the old woman’s hand:

“Hello, Grandma. We rode over on the neighbor uncle’s horse cart, so we weren’t tired.”

“Oh my, which brother’s girl are you?” The old woman had naturally seen Shi Guorong’s several nieces before, but in her impression they were all not only rustic and plain, but also timid, unable to say a complete sentence when they met.

Looking at the one Shi Guoan had brought now, she had not paid close attention before, but at this moment she realized that the little girl was extraordinarily good-looking, and was also dressed cleanly. At first glance, she looked just like a little girl from the city.

And her little mouth was very clever too.

“I’m not my younger brother’s daughter,” Shi Guoan looked at Shi Ying with eyes full of affection. “She’s my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” The old woman was a bit dumbfounded.

Weren’t they saying the daughter-in-law’s eldest brother only had one daughter, and she had died young? How had another one popped out?

Could it be that his wife had given birth again? But that wasn’t right either. If she had been born later, there was no way she’d be this big already.

“Mm, my daughter… we only found her these past few days… Back then she didn’t fall into the water. She was stolen by someone.”

“When Yingying was little, she was closest to her aunt. This time I brought her here so that Rongrong can also see her, and be happy too…”

“A few days ago people said the police had caught someone stealing children. Could it be that the one they stole was this girl?” The old woman’s eyes immediately went round.

Their family was also an old household in the county, familiar with the streets. The day before yesterday she had heard the son of Aunt Ding from the front street, who worked at the Public Security Bureau, come home and mention a strange thing, saying that a witch had pretended to be possessed and told people that one family’s daughter was a lucky child, and that if they took her home to raise, she would bring good fortune.

Then someone really believed it and stole that family’s little girl. Now that little girl’s biological father had reported it to the police, and they had arrested both the witch and the thieves…

At the time she had listened with great interest, and never imagined that the stolen child would actually be the one from Shi Guoan’s family.

And then she thought of the daughter-in-law’s maiden family these past few years, which had almost fallen apart because of that lost little daughter.

For a moment she was both shocked and emotional:

“Oh my, look at this. No wonder people say good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil…”

“Such a good daughter is back again. This is truly a great blessing… No, you can’t rush off. And our little Yingying too, there’s an old saying that says, ‘after surviving a great disaster, there will surely be future blessings.’ Yingying has even greater blessings ahead of her, so no matter what, we have to let your aunt and the little baby in her belly soak up some of your good fortune too…”

As she spoke, she gave the old man a look.

“Hurry and go find Quanyou and ask whether he knows where his wife went? Also, tell him not to wander around outside after work today, and come home early to keep your elder brother company for a drink.”

The old man answered and hurriedly ran outside, looking as though he feared that if he ran too slowly, Shi Guoan would take his daughter and leave.

The daughter-in-law’s eldest brother really was open-hearted. Their old couple had truly been judging a gentleman with a petty man’s heart.

“Uncle, if you see Guorong, don’t tell her about Yingying yet,” Shi Guoan called out after him. “My younger sister is about to give birth, so it’s better not to startle her with too much joy.”

Before long, footsteps sounded outside, and with the yard gate creaking, a tall young woman came in from outside.

Even though she was carrying a big belly, the woman was walking extraordinarily quickly.

Shi Guoan hurriedly took Shi Ying and went up to meet her:

“Rongrong, go slower…”

“How many times have I told you? Walk step by step, why are you in such a hurry…”

“Eldest brother.” Shi Guorong stood at the bottom of the steps, looking at Shi Guoan, and her eyes grew a little hot.

Seeing that the due date was only a few days away, Shi Guorong was growing more and more eager to see people from her maiden family.

Now that she saw Shi Guoan, her emotions immediately became a little excited.

“You’re still carrying a child, so you mustn’t get worked up.” Shi Guoan hurriedly stepped forward to support her.

“I’m fine.” Shi Guorong quickly wiped her face with the back of her hand, and looked a little embarrassed.

The reason she had been upset, besides really missing the people at home, was that she was worried something had happened back home.

After all, some time ago Mom had told her that when the time came they would bring her labor-inducing sugar. It wasn’t that she wanted things from her maiden family, but rather that she knew her parents and brothers loved her the most, yet even now no one had come over, so she kept feeling that maybe something had happened at home.

But her body was so cumbersome, and there were no cars between the county town and her home. If she really had to walk that ten or twenty li, she truly wouldn’t be able to bear it. So she could only wait at home like this.

When a person was alone, it was easy to start imagining things, and on top of that her body was uncomfortable in the later stage of pregnancy. Shi Guorong had several times dreamed that something terrible had happened at home, and she had hidden away alone and quietly cried who knew how many times.

Like Shi Guoliang and Shi Guoping, Shi Guorong had also depended most on her eldest brother since childhood. Even her ability to attend high school was because her eldest brother had held firm against pressure and insisted on supporting her. Shi Guorong also understood better than anyone from Shi Guoan what it meant to have an eldest brother be like a father.

Because of this, over these years, seeing her eldest brother have his whole life overturned because his daughter was gone, looking haggard like an old man who had aged by many years, Shi Guorong had cried in secret who knew how many times.

She had even thought that even if someone came to deliver labor-inducing sugar, it couldn’t possibly be the eldest brother.

Her sister-in-law and nephew simply could not be left unattended. Besides working, her eldest brother had to run around everywhere seeking doctors and medicine for the two of them, and simply couldn’t spare the time to come here.

She never imagined that, at this critical point before delivery, it would actually be her eldest brother who came to see her.

Thinking of this, Shi Guorong wanted to cry again. After wiping her tears clean, she then looked somewhat embarrassedly at Shi Guoan:

“Did Xiao Jie come too with Eldest Brother?”

Just now when her father-in-law went over, he told her that her niece had also come. Though he had been vague, judging by the age and height, it should be the little Jie from her second brother’s family.

Shi Ying had been secretly sizing up Shi Guorong all along. Hearing Shi Guorong ask this, she came out generously and supported Shi Guorong’s other arm:

“Auntie, sit down first.”

“Oh my, so it’s not Xiao Jie.” Only then did Shi Guorong realize that the little girl was not any of her nieces, but she was extraordinarily pleasing to the eye. That delicate and beautiful little face, and those eyes, somehow felt somewhat familiar.

While carefully sitting down on the chair in the yard, she said somewhat apologetically to Shi Guoan:

“Which sister-in-law’s child is this from the village? I thought it was Xiao Jie.”

Most likely she had come together with a neighbor and her eldest brother, and then since they had to do something, they had entrusted the child to her eldest brother first.

But Shi Guoan didn’t speak. Only after Shi Guorong had sat down steadily in the chair did he say:

“…Something very joyful happened in our family… Rongrong, sit steady, remember, you mustn’t get too excited…”

Shi Guorong’s heart, which had been hanging all along, finally let go a little.

That’s good, that’s good, as long as it’s not a bad thing.

Along with that came some nervousness too, after all, this was the first time she had seen her eldest brother so solemn. She felt that whatever he was about to say must be something unusual.

“I won’t get excited. Eldest brother, go ahead and say it…”

Shi Guoan pulled Shi Ying over and pushed her forward a little:

“Rongrong, our Yingying has come back.”

Yingying, Yingying has come back? Shi Guorong’s expression grew even more blank. The child named Yingying, she only knew one, and that was her eldest brother’s daughter.

That child had been very sensible since she was little. Even when she was just a tiny thing, she would smile and stretch out her hands toward her with an “ah ah” sound. Even her sick nephew had shown signs of improvement because of her.

Back then Shi Guorong had thought that once the little girl slowly grew up, maybe she would also get to see the day her nephew got better.

In the end, she didn’t wait for the nephew to recover, but instead her most beloved little niece suddenly disappeared.

That period was truly like the sky collapsing. The well-read and reasonable eldest sister-in-law became deranged overnight, and the eldest brother, who had always been smiling no matter the time, instantly aged…

Shi Guorong clearly also missed her little niece terribly, but she only dared cry in front of the old woman. In front of her eldest brother and sister-in-law, she didn’t dare mention it even one word.

All these years, that little niece had long since become a taboo the whole family didn’t dare speak of, and yet now her eldest brother was saying, Yingying, has come back?

Seeing that Shi Guorong’s face had changed, Shi Ying hurriedly tiptoed and helped Shi Guorong rub her chest:

“Auntie, follow me, breathe…”

Shi Guorong subconsciously followed Shi Ying and took a few deep breaths. After that, her face finally looked a little better. Shi Ying then went and pinched a strawberry and brought it to her mouth:

“Auntie, eat it. The strawberries were planted by me and Brother, Sister, and younger brothers and sisters together. They’re very sweet.”

Shi Guorong bit down mechanically, chewed without awareness, and swallowed it. Only then did her whole body finally ease up, but she tightly gripped Shi Ying, and big tears fell one after another:

“Yingying, it really is you. You really came back?!”