Although it was sent about this time annually, the logistics personnel of the army also have a lot of work to deal with on their part, so it was normal for the payment to have a delay of one or two days. The money wouldn’t be going anywhere else anyways, so there was usually no problem waiting a day or two longer.
Lin Lan pretended that she didn’t know anything as she had hidden the money. It was impossible to confess despite the general fact that any actions taken after a confession would be handled with lenience. However, with the old lady Han, nothing could ever be handled with lenience as long as the matter involved money, so she might as well just wait till the truth becomes known.
At noon, two days later.
When the workers were leaving after work, they saw a postman in uniform entering the village and a group of kids chasing the postman’s bicycle to the Han house.
The postman arrived at the door and shouted, “There’s a package!”
“Oh, my remittance is here!” The old lady Han was so happy that she smiled to the point where her eyes were squinted, almost losing its visibility as they formed straight lines on her face. She didn’t even complain about her weak frame and sore legs, practically jumping in joy as she went to receive the package.
“Xiao Dong, where’s the order? Give it to me quickly,” The old lady Han went out panting and reached out to the postman.
The postman took a look at the list and smiled, “Elder Han, it’s not for you this time; It’s for Lin Lan. Is Lin Lan at home?”
“Huh?” The old lady Han was stunned.
It was as if her chest had been pierced by a sharp arrow as she felt her strength sapping away. Subconsciously, her entire being was slipping onto the ground.
After a long while, a scream tore out from her throat, “God, this unfilial son! Once he has a wife, he forgets about his own mother-“
The postman looked at the old lady in astonishment. In every previous meeting with the old lady Han, she was always refreshed and elated. The excitement of her brows would be evidently raised as if she had met Chairman Mao(1).
(T/N: Former President of the People’s Republic of China, one of its Founding Fathers. Also the Chairman of the Communist Party during the revolution and the Civil War)
So why exactly does she look like she is about to cry anytime soon?
“Madam, what are you…”
The old lady Han ignored everything else—she just thought that her son had changed his mind. In doing so, he betrayed her and even sent the money to her daughter-in-law instead of giving it to his mother.
She could not accept this fact.
She forgot about her image and dignity as she slapped her thighs and cried out, “He sends it to me every time; how come it’s changed now? This is because he was pressured by his wife’s threats to kill herself! Sons that are wedded with wives will always forget their mothers. Ah, what an unfilial son; I no longer want to live! Don’t stop me, I would like to bang my head on a wall as well…”
The postman was very knowledgeable as he had watched many plays in the operas. To help alleviate her embarrassment, he pretended to assume that she was making an impromptu parody of a certain act. He then burst into laughter, “I’ll say, Mrs. Han, which act are you singing? This is not a remittance— it was sent from the hospital…”
He took out a small postal parcel.
Mrs. Han heard that it was not a remittance slip and she thought to herself, it means that my son didn’t betray me, right?