On the day of Lantern Festival, when families come together, Qi Fenglian hurried to the bus station before dawn to return to her hometown. She tried to be as quiet as possible, but Cheng Su still woke up. After seeing her out, Cheng Su went back to bed for a bit more sleep and didn’t get up until eight o’clock.
Yawning and carrying a pot, Cheng Su stepped out of her room and smelled the scent of burning incense. She saw that Chunhua’s mother-in-law was busy inserting a bunch of incense sticks.
At some point, an incense burner had appeared at the entrance to Chunhua’s home, with spent incense sticks still in it from before.
"Good morning, Yuer’s Grandma," Cheng Su greeted her.
Liang Shurong and his wife had named their daughter Liang Qingyu, and they endearingly called her Yuer, which rolled off the tongue quite nicely.
"Morning, Sister-in-law Qi," Old Madam Liang replied with a smile, lifting the incense in her hand, "Today’s the fifteenth, you’re up late. When worshiping the gods, you have to be early."
Cheng Su said with a smile, "I don’t have the habit of offering sacrifices to the gods. It’s enough that my mother-in-law takes care of it at home."
"How can that be? These things are passed down from generation to generation. I’ve heard your husband is the eldest son, right? As the eldest daughter-in-law, you have more reason to learn, because sooner or later, it will be your turn," Old Madam Liang disagreed.
Cheng Su politely responded, "Well, we’ll talk about that when the time comes."
"Young people these days, they have no respect for the gods. How can this be?" Old Madam Liang shook her head, seeing Cheng Su’s non-committal attitude, and carried the incense to the kitchen.
"Burning incense every single day, creating such a smoky haze—it’s suffocating. This is nothing but feudal superstition," Hualing commented, standing at the doorway without anyone noticing when she arrived.
She had also gone back to her hometown with Chen Shouwang for the New Year, but she reportedly returned to her parents’ home on the third or fourth day and stayed there until the ninth before coming back.
Cheng Su sniffed the scent of the incense and remarked, "Sandalwood, it’s calming and actually smells pretty nice."
She didn’t have any particular faith, but neither did she criticize the beliefs of others—that was respect.
Hualing looked displeased, but Cheng Su ignored her and went straight to the kitchen, only to hear the sound of someone vomiting, followed by Old Madam Liang’s voice.
"Look at how violently you’re throwing up. With all this commotion, no need to guess—there must be a little boy in there," she said, glancing at Guihua’s belly, her voice tinged with sourness and envy.
With a forced smile, Guihua replied, "Boy or girl, it’s all good, as long as the baby is healthy and complete. Look at Yuer, she’s becoming livelier by the day, so adorable. If I weren’t pregnant myself, I’d want to hold her."
Old Madam Liang’s face lit up a bit at that, "Yes, our Yuer is a good eater too, easy to care for." She paused and added, "Right, I brought a lot of sour dates when I came, I’ll get some for you later. It can help stop vomiting."
"Thank you so much," Guihua said with a pleased smile.
Old Madam Liang left with a smile.
Cheng Su entered the kitchen and, seeing Guihua’s pale face, asked with concern, "Does the vomiting make you feel awful? How long does it last?"
Guihua shook her head and replied, "They say it should get better after three months."
"Maybe it’s just like Yuer’s Grandma said, and you’ve got a lively little boy," said Cheng Su cheerfully.
"Just say that here, but don’t mention it to Chunhua. We don’t want to upset her," Guihua hurriedly said.
"Why worry? Why would she be upset after hearing that? Yuer is so lovable," Cheng Su was unconvinced.
Guihua explained, "That’s true, but she might feel uncomfortable about it deep down. She’s always wanted to have a son." And then she added, "But she’s fortunate too, to have such a nice mother-in-law. Although Grandma Liang also wants a grandson, I can tell she truly dotes on Yuer from the bottom of her heart."
It was true, despite always talking about wanting a grandson and lamenting that Yuer wasn’t a boy, Grandma Liang still took proper care of Chunhua. She never skimped on food and drink, made sure to have delicious meals ready and washed diapers until they were spotless, rinsing them with hot water every time, and she always tenderly called her granddaughter ’good girl.’
Cheng Su and Guihua exchanged glances, seeing the envy in each other’s eyes for having such a good mother-in-law—that was someone else’s blessing.