Qi Fenglian returned to her parent’s home, a child in tow and fury churning in her belly.
As always, Father Qi was busy weaving bamboo baskets, while Mother Qi was washing clothes by the well in the courtyard. They both seemed surprised to see Qi Fenglian arrive.
"Fenglian, why have you come back?" Mother Qi stood up and dried her soaking hands on her apron, asking without a second thought, "That Thai daughter-in-law doesn’t need you to work for her anymore?"
Father Qi gave her a warning look.
Mother Qi looked sheepish.
Qi Fenglian was defeated by her mother’s words and said, "Mom, what are you talking about? Xiao Bao has had a high fever for the past few days, and I rushed back because of that!"
"He’s got a fever?" The elders quickly turned to look at the child she was carrying on her back.
"Oh my dear grandchild, what’s happened to you, how did you get so skinny?" Mother Qi exclaimed loudly.
Father Qi glanced over and frowned as well.
Tears welled up in Qi Fenglian’s eyes. "What else could it be, it’s the doing of his grandmother. Dad, Mom, I just can’t understand how someone can only care for their grandchild from outside the family and not bother to feed their own? And to think she would always boast about how dear her eldest grandson is."
Hearing the tone of her words, Father Qi, noticing Granny Pan peering over from next door, said, "Let’s talk inside."
Qi Fenglian sniffled and went inside to put the child down, and Mother Qi took over, loudly saying, "Look how light he is, look how light! What a sin!" "What happened?" Father Qi, seeing the child’s listless disposition, couldn’t help but ask.
A flicker of resentment passed through Qi Fenglian’s eyes, as she said, aggrieved, "My husband and I went to work in Qing City, leaving the child with his paternal grandparents, and he’s been fed nothing but formula. Dad, you know how expensive this stuff is, and yet, with Baobao being so young, I had to leave him to work. There was no choice, even if it was costly, he had to eat it for the nutrition."
"We bought formula and instructed his grandmother to feed him, but she went ahead and fed it to her grandson from the other side of the family, leaving not enough for Baobao. Just a spoon or two of formula mixed with a whole pot of water. Tell me, without proper nutrition, how could the child not lose weight?" Qi Fenglian began to cry.
"This damned evil witch, with such a heart of darkness, neglecting her own grandchild and favoring someone else’s. Has she gone mad? Oh, my poor Baobao, Granny feels so heartbroken." Hearing this, Mother Qi also cursed vehemently.
"Are you certain it was given to the other grandchild?" Father Qi interjected, "We don’t want to make a mistake."
"A mistake? Xiao Yun told me herself, and her grandmother even told her not to tell me," Qi Fenglian said resentfully.
"This witch has truly gone mad. She doesn’t think how hard it was for us to have this grandson, not cherishing him and mistreating him like this. I must confront her and set things straight," said Mother Qi defensively, not considering that Baobao was also an external grandchild to her; she only saw the suffering of her daughter’s child.
"Just calm down," Father Qi glared at her.
Mother Qi’s face darkened and she said, "Old man, that’s your own grandson, look at how skinny he’s become?"
"That’s still a matter for the Zhang family to deal with. If Fenglian wants to work outside, these two old people are the ones who need to look after the child. What grounds do we have to argue? If you want to take care of the child yourself, then you can’t work outside. If you depend on the elders, you have no right to complain. You can’t have it both ways," said Father Qi calmly.
Qi Fenglian stood in shock, then lowered her head and started to cry softly.