"But what does that have to do with me? Brother An is treating his leg, and he’s watching the incense here, isn’t that enough?" Yang Chuxia asked again.
"But when I made the vow, I said you and Brother An would do it together," Ms.Wang said.
"Pff..." Yang Chuxia heard her own broken-hearted voice. "Mom, are you my real mother?"
Ms.Wang chuckled and patted her daughter’s head, "Dear, I swear you’re my own flesh and blood. Even if you wanted to deny it, you couldn’t."
Finished speaking, Ms.Wang continued, "Alright, I’ll go sleep for one hour. You and Brother An stay here and watch. Oh, your younger brother is also keeping vigil in the other room. Remember to check on him later."
Thus, Yang Chuxia’s living room was left with Ye Zi’an and Yang Chuxia staring at each other.
"Xiaxia, why don’t you sleep first? I’ll watch over things here," Ye Zi’an offered.
Yang Chuxia shook her head, "Let’s just keep watch together." In her previous life, she had experienced staying awake for two days and two nights, so staying up for one night was nothing major.
So, she and Ye Zi’an kept vigil together, replacing the incense as it burned out.
Finally, past midnight, the first sound of firecrackers went off in the village. Soon after, Yang Dachuan also got up and set off some firecrackers in front of his house.
Ye Zi’an went home too and lit a string of firecrackers at his doorstep.
At this time, Ms.Wang also got up and cooked a pot of dumplings. She placed a large bowl of them on the altar table, and let Yang Chuxia and the others eat a few symbolically.
Once that was done, Ms.Wang let her sleep for a while, but she couldn’t fall asleep. So, she continued the vigil until daybreak.
By the time morning arrived, Ms.Wang had prepared breakfast. After eating a little, Yang Chuxia finally felt drowsy. However, she held back her sleepiness and joined the children in paying respects to Old Yang and the others, receiving a red envelope each. Then they all went to the village together, visiting Land Officer Yang’s old house, Uncle Old Gen’s house, Auntie Li’s house, and so on.
With a bunch of food received from others’ homes and the red envelopes from Land Officer Yang and the others, Yang Chuxia finally went back to sleep.
However, not long after she lay down, Yang Xiayun came knocking on her door.
"Sister, sister, wake up!"
Yang Chuxia opened the door groggily and asked the little girl in front of her, "What happened?"
"Brother Zi’an’s mom is back."
"Brother Zi’an’s mom is back, and she’s making a scene at Brother Zi’an’s house."
Yang Xiayun’s words left Yang Chuxia stunned for two seconds. Brother An’s mom? Wasn’t she already dead? Wait, making a scene at Brother An’s house, isn’t that something Ms. Hua Junior would do?
Thinking this, Yang Chuxia quickly got dressed, tied up her hair randomly, and rushed out.
She hadn’t even reached her doorstep when she saw a crowd gathered outside Ye Zi’an’s house.
Upon reaching them, she saw Ms. Hua Junior sitting on the ground, sniffling and tearful. And there was also Ye Zi’yong, standing off to one side, fidgeting and acting coy.
It turned out that Ms. Hua Junior and Ye Zi’yong had been in jail for a month, and upon their release, they returned home only to see it occupied by someone else. So, Ms. Hua Junior came to cause a scene at Ye Zi’an’s house.
The truth was indeed so – upon leaving jail, Ms. Hua Junior and her son rushed straight back to Yangshu Village. After a month in jail, she was desperate to return home, take a bath, and have a good meal.
But, to her surprise, upon reaching the house, she found two strange men standing at the door. They told her that they were now living there.
Once she understood the situation, she learned that her home had been returned to Ye Zi’an, who had then lent it to Yang Chuxia.