The arrival of Sister Qingxue and her sister was warmly welcomed by Miao Fengqin, who quickly offered them water and chairs to sit on.
Having experienced her own daughter’s various whimsical, selfish, gluttonous, and lazy behaviors, Miao Fengqin increasingly appreciated her well-behaved, hardworking niece who knew how to repay kindness, and wished she could swap her for her own daughter.
"Aunt, I came to see my cousin. There’s no need for all this fussing about. You’re being so attentive, I don’t know what to do with my hands and feet!"
Upon hearing Feng Qingxue’s words, Miao Fengqin stopped her bustling and gestured towards the west room.
"Your cousin is asleep in there, she hasn’t gotten up yet! She is so lazy, I don’t know what to say anymore. But anyway, she’s going to be someone else’s wife someday, so I don’t need to worry. Go in and see her, then come out, and we’ll have a warm chat as mother and daughter. We’ll have lunch here. Your elder cousin caught a grass carp in the river yesterday, so we have fish and flatbread for lunch."
Miao Fengqin has three sons, all married.
The eldest son is Wang Dachun, the second son is Wang Daxia, the youngest son is Wang Daqiu, Wang Jiao was originally named Wang Dadong, but later changed her name to Wang Jiao.
The names were chosen by Wang Zhenguo’s deceased father, based on the seasons they were born in. It’s quite a coincidence, as the four siblings were born in the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Although Wang Zhengguo originally wanted to change ’Da’ to ’Zhi’ to make them sound more refined, his father strongly disagreed, considering it too cumbersome.
Miao Fengqin was genuinely good to her daughters-in-law. When they first entered the family, she discreetly gave each a gold piece, so while there was occasional friction among the daughters-in-law, they held this mother-in-law in high regard and were wholeheartedly thankful. Hence, when Wang Dachun brought home a few fish for his wife to nourish her body, his wife immediately had him send one to her in-laws.
"Aunt, a simple meal will do, save the fish to nourish you and uncle."
"We’ll all have it for lunch, everyone can benefit."
Feng Qingxue thanked her aunt, handed over the things she brought, and went into the west room. However, she found Wang Jiao wasn’t sleeping, but rather sitting on the bed in a disheveled state, cracking melon seeds with seed shells littering the floor.
"I heard from uncle over a month ago that you were injured, cousin. Are you better now?" Feng Qingxue asked.
When Wang Jiao lifted her head and saw her, a look of surprise flashed across her face. As she continued eating her melon seeds, she mumbled unclearly, "You’re calling me cousin? Who are you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before."
Could it be that she’s really lost her memory?
Feng Qingxue said with a smile, "It’s me, Feng Qingxue, cousin. My family lives in Caohu Brigade, my mum is your second aunt."
"I remember now, you’re from Second Aunt’s family. It’s been years since I last saw you, what brings you here?"
Feng Qingxue sat in a chair in the room, quite a distance from the bed, fearing that the splatter from Wang Jiao spitting out melon seed shells would reach her face. She laughed and said, "Cousin, your memory isn’t too good. We saw each other just before the New Year, not years ago."
"We saw each other before the New Year?" Wang Jiao rubbed her head, "Wasn’t I at my grandma’s place all that while? When and where did I see you? It’s very strange, I clearly remember that I didn’t want to marry Lu Jiang, so I went to my grandma’s place. And then, after waking up from a knock on my head, everyone said that half a year had passed, and I had already returned home. I took a look around and noticed that it had turned from winter to spring. And then there’s my mom, constantly pestering me about what I did with the money and stuff I took from home. How would I know? They only ever accuse me and never treat me kindly."