Chapter 12: The Child

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“For something like that, if your son-in-law doesn’t know how, you should be a little more proactive. Teach him, and he’ll learn.”

Zhen Mi’er’s face turned scarlet. Her mother spoke as though she herself knew what to do! But then she remembered the illustrated guide to marital intimacy her mother had stuffed into her hands on the night before her wedding. Well, perhaps she did know just a tiny bit more than her husband.

Madam Zhao chattered on for quite some time. No matter what she said, Zhen Mi’er merely nodded along at random.

Outside, Gu Tingzhi had been about to go in and look for Manman, but the moment he heard his mother-in-law mention children, he stopped in his tracks and pricked up his ears.

After a long while, he took several pieces of candy from his pocket and stared at them in his palm without blinking. A dark tide stirred in the depths of his eyes.

The Zhen family had stewed meat for lunch, and its savory aroma drifted a long way. Several children from nearby households clamored for meat. Their mothers, however, could hardly conjure meat out of thin air, so the children could only crane their necks and stare toward the Zhen family’s courtyard.

They had seen it with their own eyes: today, the Zhen family’s daughter and son-in-law had returned to pay their respects, carrying an enormous piece of meat! How long would that last them? They really mustn’t think about it anymore, or they would start drooling.

Wasn’t the Gu family supposed to be desperately poor? If they were poor enough to rattle with every step, how had they managed to produce so many fine gifts? And if they were no longer poor, then surely the things they had brought over must be worth silver!

The villagers gathered together, each adding their own comments, all envious of the Zhen family’s good fortune. No one noticed the plump little girl crouching beneath the fence separating the Zhen and Wu households, stuffing something into her mouth.

Even if they had noticed, they would not have thought much of it. Which village child had never picked something up from the ground and eaten it? To put it unpleasantly, some children, when driven desperately hungry, could even pick up their own excrement and stuff it into their mouths.

The girl was Old Master Wu’s granddaughter. She was two years old. In the middle of the previous night, Wu Cuihua, the second daughter of the Wu family who had married out, had suddenly returned home in tears, a child in her arms. The little girl was fair and clean, and appeared to have been well cared for.

“What a cruel fate!” People said that the family Wu Cuihua had married into despised her for giving birth to a girl and wanted to give the child away.

How could Wu Cuihua agree? Her family was not so poor that they could not afford to raise a child. Besides, after several years of marriage, this was the only precious child she had.

To ask her to give away her daughter was tantamount to asking for her life! So, in the dead of night, while her in-laws slept, she had fled back to her mother’s home with her daughter.

After suffering mistreatment at her husband’s house, she had returned to her parents’ home and wept as she poured out her grievances. Then she had fallen ill. Everyone had to work in the fields during the day, and there was no one to look after the little girl.

At the Zhen household, meanwhile, this was the first time their son-in-law had come home for a meal. Madam Zhao was not stingy and prepared three dishes and a soup: pork stewed with potatoes, sausage stir-fried with garlic shoots, and stir-fried cabbage. She also beat three eggs to make the soup.

For once, there was no arguing in the household. Zhen Jin sat quietly and accompanied Gu Tingzhi through a proper meal. As for his younger brother, Zhen Bowen, he remained in his room and did not come out.

Zhen Jin loved drinking. He invited Gu Tingzhi to have some as well and personally filled a cup for him. Gu Tingzhi looked toward Zhen Mi’er, silently asking with his eyes whether he was allowed to drink.

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Zhen Mi’er was somewhat worried. She did not know whether her husband had ever drunk alcohol before, but considering his current condition, she still stopped him.

Gu Tingzhi was unbelievably obedient. When Zhen Mi’er told him not to drink, he did not drink. It was only when Zhen Jin grew displeased and darkened his expression that Gu Tingzhi reluctantly drank a cup.

Zhen Mi’er glanced at Zhen Jin and silently continued eating. She said nothing more. At present, she truly did not know how to describe her father.

She remembered that when she was young, her parents had shared a good relationship. Her father had been hardworking then, leaving early and returning late each day to farm, and he had cared deeply about his three children.

Because she had been an adorable and lovable child, her father had treated her best. Her parents would sometimes quarrel, but they always made up soon afterward.

Yet the family had changed. It no longer resembled a home at all. Its warmth was gone.

Her father had become addicted to drinking and gambling, and overnight, it seemed that all affection had vanished between him and her mother, leaving behind nothing but endless arguments.

One day, Bowen had suddenly refused to return to school. After coming home, he spent every day in a daze, hiding in his room and refusing to go out. He no longer liked to speak. Somehow, he and their father had become enemies. They could hardly exchange a few words without quarreling, and whenever they fought, they hurled only the ugliest and most vicious insults at each other.

Her elder sister, Zhen Meier, had been so desperate to escape the household that she had hurriedly found someone and married him without much thought. She had never imagined that the man would prove even more unreliable.

Zhen Mi’er thought of something her mother-in-law had once said: When the family is harmonious, all things flourish.

She truly could not agree more. The greatest reason the Zhen family had gone from poverty to even greater hardship was that the hearts of its members were no longer united.

Each person had his or her own ideas. They stopped communicating and lived their own separate lives, and their hearts drifted farther and farther apart.

She had tried to change things. She had made countless efforts, but in the end, she had given up.

For all her weight and strength, she was still powerless before this family.

The Gu family, however, was fundamentally different from the Zhen family.

“Manman, eat!”

The piece of meat held to her lips brought Zhen Mi’er back to herself.

When she noticed everyone staring at her, she felt a little embarrassed and hurriedly opened her mouth and swallowed. Her husband seemed to enjoy feeding her. He had done the same thing when they ate at the Gu household the day before.

Madam Zhao’s face filled with satisfaction. She had misjudged the situation before, thinking that since her son-in-law had injured his head, he would not know how to show affection.

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The four of them finished the meal in relative peace. Madam Zhao carried the food she had set aside for Zhen Bowen to his room and placed it outside the door.

She knocked, but no one answered from within.

Zhen Jin’s face was filled with anger. He opened his mouth, then restrained himself and said nothing. Turning around, he walked out. He had probably gone to find his gambling companions again.

Zhen Mi’er left Gu Tingzhi at home to rest while she accompanied Madam Zhao to the fields to do some farmwork. She had assumed that Gu Tingzhi would refuse and had already prepared herself to bring him along. Unexpectedly, he nodded readily.

“Manman, go on. I’ll wait for you at home.”

Zhen Mi’er was somewhat uneasy and instructed him, “Then stay home and rest obediently. Don’t wander off, all right?”

“All right.”

Two hours later, when Zhen Mi’er returned from the fields with Madam Zhao, she saw Gu Tingzhi sitting safely in the courtyard, whittling bamboo for amusement. Only then did she finally relax.

Seeing that the house was somewhat disorderly, she helped Madam Zhao tidy every corner of it. She had planned to leave afterward, but then noticed two long robes requiring mending lying on a chair in the main room.

She knew that Madam Zhao’s eyesight had begun to fail. Each time she threaded a needle, it took her a long while. So Zhen Mi’er sat down again, threaded the needle, and swiftly mended both garments.

By the time she finished, the sun had already set. They truly could not leave any later.

She took Gu Tingzhi by the hand and led him away, but he kept turning back several times. Zhen Mi’er assumed that he was simply reluctant to leave.

“Husband, we’ll go home for now. I’ll bring you here again next time.”

Gu Tingzhi nodded, his eyes rolling thoughtfully as though he were turning something over in his mind.

On the way home, he walked very slowly. Zhen Mi’er did not hurry him, but accompanied him at an unhurried pace.