(Word Count: 2228)
Recently, Han Ze has been cooking at home, and the dumplings are the most delicious. The fourth girl finally returned home. There is no shortage of meat at home. Han Ze cut a bunch of leeks in the vegetable garden, and he planned to make leek and pork dumplings for her.
The dumplings were served on the table. The fourth girl’s small body lay on the edge of the dining table, leaning her head to stare at the dumplings on the plate, swallowing her saliva.
The three girls above were fed with a lot of fish and meat by their father during this period, so they were not as greedy for dumplings as before. They did not laugh at their younger sister. Their younger sister’s actions reminded them of the past.
In the past, when the family made dumplings, they also stared at the dumplings like their younger sister, but they were not as lucky as their younger sister at that time. Their grandmother did not like them, and they could not eat as much as they wanted even if the family made dumplings. Now that their grandmother went to their second uncle’s house, they could eat as many dumplings as they wanted, and no one cared about them.
Han Ze touched the little head of the fourth girl, bent down to serve her five dumplings, and handed them to her. The fourth girl looked at the dumplings in the bowl in front of her, and then looked at the many dumplings on the plate. She felt that her uncle had served her too little, but it was much more than what her mother had served her.
Han Ze saw through her thoughts and said with a smile, “Serve more after you finish eating. Didn’t your uncle just say that you can eat as much as you want?”
But the girl pointed with her fingers, picked up the chopsticks, tilted her head and said, “I’m the second girl.”
Han Ze squatted in front of her and said gently, “You are the fourth girl in your uncle’s house, okay?”
The girl was stubborn about calling herself, “I’m the second girl.”
Han Ze smiled and said, “Your uncle likes to call you the fourth girl, what should I do?”
The girl was confused and subconsciously wanted to please her uncle, “Second girl, fourth girl…”
Han Ze carried her to sit on the stool and pushed the bowl in front of her: “Okay, we can call you second girl or fourth girl, two names. When your uncle registers you, you will have another name, and then you will have three names.”
Fourth girl’s eyes lit up, “Three names, I like them.”
Han Ze smiled and said, “When your uncle gives you a nice name, you will like it more. Let’s eat dumplings.”
Fourth girl happily picked up the dumplings and fed them into her mouth. The dumplings at her uncle’s house were delicious, better than those made by her mother, and she wanted to eat more.
At the first meal after returning home, Fourth girl was particularly satisfied. She ate ten dumplings in total, and her little belly was full. Sister Zhaodi gave her a bath, and she fell asleep happily on the bed with a quilt in her arms.
Han Ze saw that she was sleeping soundly and breathed a sigh of relief. At first, he thought that Fourth girl would make trouble for a few days after returning home, but he didn’t expect her to be so well-behaved.
……
The next day, Han Ze drove a cart and took the girls to the market in town. The fourth girl had just come back, and her aunt only gave her a set of clothes to change, which were picked up from others. They had not raised the child for a day in so many years. Finally, the child came back home, so they had to buy her some clothes to change.
Not only that, the clothes of the three girls above were full of patches. They were all girls, with young faces and strong self-esteem, so they should be given some clothes.
The girls sat on the cart excitedly. Thinking of their father saying that he would buy clothes for them, their young faces were full of expectations. What kind of clothes should they buy? Should they buy skirts or pants?
When they arrived in town, Han Ze asked Han Zhaodi to take her sisters with him and gave her ten yuan so that they could buy snacks. They would go buy clothes with them after he finished selling noodles. Han Zhaodi smiled and said, “I have money in my pocket, no need to give it to me.”
Han Ze frowned and asked her, “Where did you get the money?”
Han Zhaodi replied, “You gave me this on the day of the exam. I spent fifty cents and I have nineteen and a half yuan left.”
Han Ze felt a little sad and said, “Don’t be reluctant to spend the money I give you. Keep it for yourself. Take this ten yuan and buy some food for your sisters. Go, Dad will sell out the noodles soon.”
Han Zhaodi hesitated, took it and said, “Do you need my help with the noodle stall?”
Han Ze said, “As long as you take good care of your sisters, Dad will be satisfied.”
Han Zhaodi smiled and nodded.
Before ten o’clock, Han Ze had sold out the noodles.
The girls sat on the cart and ate melon seeds. When they saw Han Ze, they stood up happily.
Han Ze took them to the clothing store and bought several sets of skirts, pants, and short-sleeved jackets for each of them. The girls all liked sandals, so he took them to choose sandals. The children had never worn sandals before. After trying on the shoes, they didn’t want to wear them. If they didn’t want to, they had to. Han Ze paid for them and let them wear them directly. Since they were wearing new shoes, the old clothes with patches on them were not suitable, so they were asked to change them.
They wore the newly bought dresses and beautiful sandals, but they didn’t dare to take a step. They walked carefully, for fear of dirtying their skirts and sandals.
The cart arrived at the door of the house. The children carefully got off the tractor, pinching their skirts. The four girls walked hand in hand happily into the yard. Halfway through, they saw people in the yard and suddenly stopped there in panic…
Han Ze was holding the clothes and meat and vegetables he bought for the children. Seeing that they were not moving, he smiled and said, “Why don’t you leave?”
The children didn’t say anything. Han Ze looked into the yard, his eyes lit up, and asked, “Mom, and when did the little sister come back?”
Although his mother beat him that day, as a son, could he still hold a grudge against his mother?
Han Xilan was wearing a white shirt and a red skirt. She was young and beautiful, with a compelling temperament. She was indeed the only female college student in the village. She smiled and said, “Brother, you are back from the market.”
Han Ze smiled and nodded.
Mrs. Han had no time to take care of her eldest son. She stared at the clothes on the girls with her eyes blazing. The eldest son had a lot of money, so he bought such good clothes for the girls. How much money would it cost? With that money, it would be good to save it to build a house for the family, so that the third son would not have no place to live when he came back.
Turning her head, she saw the eldest granddaughter holding the fourth girl. Her eyes widened and she pointed at her and asked, “Who is this girl?”
The fourth girl was startled by her action and quickly hid behind Sister Zhaodi, looking at her timidly.
Han Ze frowned slightly and said in a silly voice, “Mom, you scared the child.” He added, “This is our fourth girl, who came back yesterday.”
“Why is she here?” Mrs. Han looked at her eldest son in disbelief, with a bad feeling in her heart.
Han Ze smiled and said, “Mother, didn’t I tell you that I would bring the fourth girl back? Did you forget?”
Sure enough, her premonition came true. Mrs. Han shook her body and asked Han Ze with gritted teeth, “Why didn’t you discuss it with me before bringing her back? Do you take me, your mother, to heart?”
Han Ze smiled bitterly and said, “Mother, you have never given up on letting me give birth to a son. How can I discuss it with you?”
Mrs. Han snorted, “So you just acted first and asked for permission later?”
Han Ze said, “Mother, I know you don’t like those girls. You get a headache when you see them, and you get irritable and can’t help but want to yell at people. You are already 65 years old. Losing your temper is not good for your health, mother. For the sake of your own health, can you stop worrying about my giving birth to a son? And stop getting angry at the girls, okay?”
“I won’t be angry if you don’t bother me,” said Mrs. Han.
Han Ze thought for a while and said, “Mom, we all know that you like grandsons and are happy to see them. There are three boys in my second brother’s family and two boys in my third brother’s family. In this case, why not live with them? In this way, you can see your grandsons every day and be happy every day. When people are happy, they are not prone to getting sick. What do people want when they get old? It’s all for the filial piety of their children and not to get sores and diseases. Look at why you get sick every other day?”
After he said that, he looked at Mrs. Han.
Mrs. Han turned her face away from him. She was a little moved in her heart. It would be great to see her grandchildren every day. However, the second and third daughters-in-law liked to talk back to her, and were not as honest as the eldest daughter-in-law. She was not so comfortable living with them. It was all Wu Hongmei’s fault for not being able to give birth to a son.
Han Ze didn’t care about his mother’s attitude. He looked at Han Xilan and asked, “Little sister, you are a college student. Do you think what big brother said is right?”
Han Xilan curled her lips. What big brother said was right. It is not good for old people to get angry, but: “Mom lives with the second and third brothers. Big brother won’t provide for her in her old age?”
Han Ze glanced at Han Xilan and said, “You are a college student as expected. You hit the nail on the head. Since mom lives with the second and third brothers, I should pay for their living expenses. They work hard and I pay for them so that they won’t suffer any loss.”
He will not default on his share of providing for his parents’ old age.
Han Xilan felt a little uncomfortable and said, “Brother has always been fair.”
Han Ze smiled and said, “We are brothers, there is no such thing as fairness. Besides, our father is gone, and we only have mother as an elder. We should let her enjoy her old age and not let her worry about our younger years.”
Han Xilan said, “Brother is right.”
Han Ze said, “My younger sister should have graduated from college, right? Where has she been assigned a job? Mother has always said that she will be able to enjoy her life after you graduate, and that you should take her to a big city. While mother can still walk, when will you take her out to play?”
Han Xilan … Han Xilan: “Brother, you know I haven’t been assigned a job yet, where can I get the money to take mom out to play?”
Han Ze said: “You are a college student, so it must be easy to assign a job. Mom said that the old blind uncle told you your fortune and you are the most promising among us brothers and sisters. She is counting on you to enjoy a good life in the future. She wants you to go to school no matter what. Now you have finally graduated, mom should be relieved.”
Han Xilan smiled, but her heart was very bitter. She was born in the countryside, her academic performance in college was average, and she had no connections. It was difficult to assign a good job unless she had money to pave the way. Several brothers could support her to go to college, but they might not be willing to pay for her to find a good unit.
Han Ze suddenly said: “Little sister has graduated, so we don’t have to raise tuition for you this year, right?”
Han Xilan shook her head gently, feeling even more bitter. Without a job and without the support of her brothers, what should she do?
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152