Elder Sister did not come over until the tenth day of the new month, but she came alone, Zhang Jisheng was nowhere to be seen.
"Since the Lantern Festival has not yet passed, my mother-in-law insists that one of us stays at home. So here I am, coming over first, and he will come after the fifteenth. That’s okay, right?" Qi Fenglian asked tentatively.
Cheng Su smiled and replied, "It’s okay, brother-in-law has to join the renovation team, and it’s fine if he arrives later, since my friend hasn’t started back at work either."
Qi Fenglian breathed a sigh of relief at those words.
Cheng Su was helping them out of a favor, and she was worried it might be hard for her.
"Big sister, have you been crying?" Cheng Su asked cautiously.
Qi Fenglian paused for a moment, then touched her cheek: "Is it that obvious?"
"Your eyes are swollen and red," Cheng Su pointed at her eyes.
Qi Fenglian gave a bitter smile and said, "I cried all the way here."
"You can’t bear to be apart from Yunyun and her siblings, can you?" Cheng Su spoke directly to the heart.
Qi Fenglian nodded and sighed deeply, "How could I bear it? It’s the first time in over a decade that I’ve had to leave them, especially Baobao, who is still so young. When I left, he cried until his voice was hoarse and still wouldn’t let go. My heart, it’s almost shattered."
Cheng Su said, "Children and mothers are connected at heart, he couldn’t bear to let you go either."
"Indeed, it’s my own flesh and blood, of course it’s attached. But speaking about this now, you might not understand it fully since you haven’t had a child. Wait until you become a mother yourself, then you’ll know this heart-wrenching feeling, it’s like hundreds of needles stabbing your heart, such pain!" Qi Fenglian said, her eyes reddening again as she spoke.
Cheng Su hastened to say, "I might not be able to feel it, but I know it must be unbearable. Big sister, you must think on the brighter side, thinking of carving out a path here and then bringing the two children over to study, reuniting the family."
Qi Fenglian nodded in agreement, "That’s all I can hope for now, it’s my only comfort. You don’t know, seeing Baobao cry like that, I almost didn’t come. But thinking deeper, if I didn’t come, there would really be no way out. I have to earn something for the children, to stand up for myself. When it comes down to it, I guess I am being selfish."
"How can you call that selfish? If you ask me, women shouldn’t just stay at home as housewives. Even earning ten yuan means having a job; that’s your own support. And besides, you’re doing it for the children, for your family. Otherwise, which parents would want to be separated from their kids? Isn’t this all out of necessity?" Cheng Su exclaimed.
Who would want to suffer if they had hair on their head, and what parents, given the choice, would want their children to become left-behind children, forcibly parted from their mother and deprived of affection?
One cannot have both the fish and the bear’s paw. The thing to do now is not to succumb to seasonal depressions, but to strive even harder to move forward, in the hopes of reuniting sooner rather than later.
The comfort Cheng Su offered allowed Qi Fenglian’s downcast heart to receive considerable solace, and it also helped her make up her mind to work hard and strive for reunion.
As the two talked, they headed back home. When Chunhua’s mother-in-law, Old Madam Liang, saw Cheng Su, she greeted her warmly and then looked questioningly at Qi Fenglian.
"This is my Elder Sister," Cheng Su introduced with a smile, "She’s come to work in Qing City and will stay with us for a few days."
"Very good, I’ll bring you some red eggs later!" Old Madam Liang said with a laugh.
Cheng Su then told Elder Sister that Chunhua had given birth to a daughter. Elder Sister offered her congratulations again and again. After setting down her luggage, she even wrapped a small red packet of money and went with Cheng Su to see the newborn baby next door.