Sisi slept until late morning before getting up, and neither Xue Wen nor Mo Ye bothered to wake her up, letting her sleep comfortably.
In recent years, Xue Wen and Mo Ye didn’t spend Chinese New Year in Shanghai. Sometimes they were in Yuequan Village and sometimes in Beijing with Mr. Yun. Except for Sisi Garden and He Mansion, all the houses in Shanghai were rented out by him, mostly to foreigners working in Shanghai, who loved these Western-style garden houses.
Having slept a long time, Sisi felt refreshed and very comfortable. She stretched, dressed, and went downstairs. In the living room, Mo Ye, who was listening to a play in a rocking chair, smiled and said, "Ah Nan is up, there are small steamed buns I made for you in the kitchen, crab-filled buns, oh!"
"Really? I love the crab-filled buns you make, Aunt Ye, I will eat ten later." Sisi exaggeratedly said, making Mo Ye laugh out loud.
"You two father and daughter don’t look much alike, but you both do have similar eating habits, your daddy had two baskets of them this morning and said he would have crab buns for lunch too." Mo Ye said, shaking her head with a smile.
"That proves I’m Daddy’s real daughter!"
Sisi had already brought out the steaming hot buns from the kitchen. She picked up a bun with chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce, and put it into her mouth, the delicious soup splashing everywhere inside.
"So delicious!" Sisi exclaimed with satisfaction.
"It’s good, eat more. Although the food in Huang Yuan is also tasty, it’s too spicy, not refined, and has less soup, not suitable for girls to eat a lot. When you are there, try to make more soup, it’s only beneficial for girls to drink more soup," Mo Ye rambled on, caring for Sisi like a true mother.
Sisi was deeply moved, feeling incredibly fortunate in this life, encountering people who were all so good to her and who truly cared for her.
"Aunt Ye, where is Daddy?" Sisi asked.
"He went to supervise the distillery after breakfast. You know how your Daddy is, all he does is work every day, never knows how to rest." Mo Ye complained.
"Yes, Aunt Ye, you should take care of Daddy and make sure he doesn’t focus solely on work, he should also take time to keep you company," Sisi teased.
Mo Ye blushed instantly at Sisi’s words, gave her a reproachful look, her charm overflowing. Sisi, stunned, blurted out, "Aunt Ye, you are so beautiful. Why don’t you have another little brother or sister for me?"
Sisi was joking, but as she said it, she also realized a point—though Xue Wen and Mo Ye had been married for several years and were a bit older, sustained by Qiong Wine, having another child was not out of the question. Why then was there no movement?
After Sisi finished speaking, she looked down and continued eating her buns, not noticing that Mo Ye’s face had gone pale with trembling lips after hearing her words.
When Sisi looked up again, Mo Ye had somewhat recovered, but her complexion was still a bit off. She forced a smile and said, "Your daddy and I both wish that Ah Nan you will soon have a little grandchild for us to dote on!"
Sisi sensed something was wrong, as if her recent words were inappropriate. Could it be that there was another reason Xue Wen and Mo Ye weren’t having kids?
Regretting her spoken blunder that distressed Mo Ye, Sisi then started talking about some news from Huang Yuan to divert Mo Ye’s attention. Soon after, Mo Ye was brought back to laughter by Sisi.
After breakfast, Sisi and Mo Ye greeted each other and then she went out. She initially planned to go to the distillery to ask He Xuewen about what had happened just now, but then she thought better of it considering it might be prudent not to meddle too much in the affairs of her elders, and thus she turned around, deciding to take a stroll through the village instead.
In the room, after Sisi left, Mo Ye became lost in her thoughts alone. Just now, to not let down Sisi’s kindness, she had forced herself to appear cheerful, but who knew her heart was bleeding inside.
God knows how much she longed to give birth to a child - her own flesh and blood, a tender little treasure!
She had already lost the right to be a mother; she wasn’t a complete woman, and she would never be able to have her own child in this lifetime!
Mo Ye looked out the window with a bitter smile. She thought her current happy life would be enough to make her forget the pain, but the pain had always been present in her heart, not something she could simply forget because she was happy.
Slowly, Sisi walked to the Crying Girl River. Under the bridge, many village women were washing clothes, the ’bang bang’ sound was incessant.
Seeing Sisi, each of these women greeted her, their enthusiasm overwhelming her. Moreover, their questions were uninhibited — they even asked if she and Tian Xinhua were practicing contraception, the audacity of which rendered Sisi speechless.
Overwhelmed, Sisi was just looking for an excuse to escape when a rogue male voice carried over.
"What are you all talking about that’s so lively?"
Everyone turned to look. A slick-looking man stood on the bridge. He had slick, greasy hair parted on the side, wore sunglasses, and his outfit was flamboyant – a loud shirt under a floral jacket, and pants as wide as a skirt. His whole demeanor screamed ’I’m not a good guy.’ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel★fire.net
This man was none other than Zhong Shoufu, Yu Ying’s brother. Zhong Shoufu was the darling of Zhong Liangcai and his wife. He had high expectations but little ability, and usually avoided agricultural work. So, when the responsibility system was implemented, seeing so many fields that could potentially wear him out, he simply patted his behind, abandoned his elderly parents and his wife and children, and left.
Where Zhong Shoufu went, nobody knew. He was gone for two years, and everyone thought he might have died out there. Unexpectedly, last year, Zhong Shoufu returned in full splendor.
Dressed fashionably, and even brought a TV and a tape recorder. According to Zhong Liangcai’s neighbors, he also brought quite a lot of money for Zhong Liangcai and his wife.
This really improved Zhong Liangcai’s family’s standing in the village. Everywhere they went, they would boast about their son making a fortune in the city, and how the boss particularly valued their Shoufu, who was earning over a thousand a month!
Although the villagers didn’t fully believe Zhong Liangcai and his wife, the improvement in the Zhong Family’s life was indeed real. The villagers were both envious and jealous, feeling it was unjust of God to allow even a family like Zhong Liangcai’s to turn their fate around. It just seemed so unfair!
"What does a man like you want asking about women’s business?" a woman said irritably.
Zhong Shoufu was not offended and slickly responded, "Sister-in-law Jin Hua, did you eat gunpowder this morning? You’re so fiery early in the day? Let elder brother cool you down tonight."
"Zhong Shoufu, you scoundrel, you dare flirt with your talk to me!" The woman furiously picked up a wet cloth and flung it towards the bridge, splashing Zhong Shoufu all over, causing everyone to burst out laughing.
Zhong Shoufu, having mixed in the outside world for years, had become very smooth-talking, managing to charm all these women, leaving them in high spirits.