(Word Count: 2877)
Time flies, autumn goes and winter comes. Han Ze’s noodle shop business is as prosperous as ever. From having no money to pay for the children’s tuition to now being a millionaire, Han Ze bought the small yard that his family rented, and replaced the bicycle he bought when he married Wu Hongmei with a brand-new motorcycle. The changes were earth-shaking.
After several months of feeding by their father, several children have grown flesh on their bodies. The girls have full spirits and fair skin, and are no longer thin. They wear new cotton-padded jackets, new cotton-padded shoes, and carry new schoolbags. When they come out of the campus, they are no different from the little girls in the town.
The three older sisters went to school. The fourth girl played with her parents in the noodle shop every day. She was well-behaved, with round eyes, like a doll, very cute. The diners liked to tease her. The little girl was shy at first, but gradually her timid and cowardly personality became lively. When she met diners she knew, she would take the lead in greeting them as uncles and aunts. The fourth girl was young, but very smart. Children forget things. The eldest aunt and uncle treated her well. They not only made delicious food for her, but also bought her new clothes. In a few months, she had regarded the small yard in the town as her own home, and gradually stopped mentioning her original parents.
The family lived a warm and happy life in the town. The only drawback was the third girl’s academic performance, which could be described as a mess. The eldest and second girls were not always in the top three in every exam, but at least they were fourth or fifth. The third girl was just in the first grade, but she had not learned Chinese pinyin well. She had never passed the exam, and once she only scored 10 points, which made Han Ze very helpless.
On weekends, Han Ze asked the eldest and second girls to take turns to tutor her. He thought that the third girl would improve in the next exam, but it was still useless. Her results were even worse than before the tutoring.
Han Yao shook her head, speechless. In her opinion, studying is as simple as eating and drinking water, but for the third sister, studying is like Mount Everest, which she cannot climb no matter how hard she tries. She thought for a while and said, “Dad, although my second sister and I are good at studying, our tutoring methods are not as rich as our teacher. My third sister just hasn’t found a study method that suits her. Why don’t we ask her teacher how to tutor her?”
Han Ze sighed and said, “Next time Dad will talk to her teacher.”
The fourth girl lay on her sister’s desk, listening to the conversation between her father and sister with her little face attentively, as if she could understand.
Han Yao couldn’t help but stretched out her hand to pinch her tender face, and said with a smile: “Dad, there is a kindergarten in town. Shouldn’t we send our fourth sister to kindergarten?”
When the fourth girl heard what her elder sister said, her eyes curved and she shouted: “Dad, kindergarten, kindergarten.”
Han Ze was stunned, with surprise flashing in his eyes, and asked stupidly: “Fourth girl, what did you just say?”
The fourth girl looked at him, her round eyes blinking, and said: “Dad, kindergarten.”
Han Ze touched the fourth girl’s head. It was not easy. After several months of hard work, the child was finally willing to change her words and said: “Yes, it’s Dad. Dad will find a kindergarten for you. Our fourth girl can go to school.”
The fourth girl clapped her hands and kept shouting, “Dad goes to school…Dad goes to school…”
Han Yao smiled and said, “It’s not Dad who goes to school, it’s you who goes to school.”
The fourth girl stared and said, “Eldest sister goes to school, eldest sister goes to school…”
Han Yao: “…”
The fourth girl grinned and kept saying, “Eldest sister goes to school…Dad goes to school…”
Wu Hongmei came in carrying the fifth girl. When she heard the fourth girl’s shouting, she said in disbelief, “Did this child change her mind?”
Han Ze nodded with relief. When the fourth girl saw Wu Hongmei, she tilted her head and shouted crisply, “Mom…Mom…”
Wu Hongmei’s eyes were wet. She wiped her eyes and responded repeatedly, “Oh, oh, oh.”
The fourth girl changed her mind. Han Ze breathed a sigh of relief and was grateful to his brother-in-law who raised the child. He glanced at Wu Hongmei and asked, “You haven’t been back to your mother’s house for a while, right?”
Wu Hongmei nodded. Since she moved to the town, she has been busy all day long. She seldom goes back to Hanjia Village, let alone her mother’s house.
Han Ze said, “I remember that the children’s grandmother should be 68 years old. Let’s go back to see them tomorrow.”
Wu Hongmei hesitated and said, “Will the noodle shop be closed?”
Han Ze said, “We will go in the afternoon and come back in the afternoon. We will not eat at your mother’s house. Tomorrow morning, you go to the street to buy some clothes and shoes for your mother, so that your mother can be happy.”
Wu Hongmei sighed happily, looked at her husband, and said carefully, “Buying clothes and shoes for my mother, should I also buy clothes for my mother-in-law?”
She has been bullied by her mother-in-law for more than ten years, and her obedience to her has become a habit. Even if they moved to the town and bought something for her mother’s family, she couldn’t help but worry that her mother-in-law would be dissatisfied if she knew.
Han Ze glanced at her and said, “You can do it.”
Wu Hongmei wondered what it meant. Her husband has always been filial to her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law colluded with Old Han to make up lies to deceive the family about her younger sister and third brother. Her husband didn’t express anything. He was still filial to her mother-in-law as usual, and didn’t forget to ask her to give her mother-in-law pension money every month. Since the man did not refuse openly, he probably hoped that she would buy clothes for her mother-in-law, right?
Thinking of this, Wu Hongmei said, “Okay, my mother-in-law is about the same height and thin as my mother, so I’ll buy clothes for them together tomorrow.”
Han Ze just nodded and said nothing.
…
Wu Hongmei spent more than a hundred yuan to buy a pair of silk cotton jackets for her two mothers. Considering that she was going back to her parents’ home, she weighed a few kilograms of fruit, cut a few kilograms of meat, and bought two bottles of wine for her father. She was reluctant to buy anything else.
Although the family earned more now, Wu Hongmei’s concept of money has not changed. She is still reluctant to spend. She counts and calculates when she goes back to her parents’ home to buy things. She feels distressed when she sees Han Ze buying clothes and shoes for the children and giving Han Yao pocket money of ten yuan. She thinks, how can he spoil the children like this?
…
Wu’s father and mother are of course surprised by the arrival of their daughter and son-in-law. Especially when they see the motorcycle that their son-in-law rides, they are stunned. When their daughter gave birth to the fifth daughter, her daughter complained to her that the family was poor and they had no money to pay for the tuition of the three daughters. In just a few months, they bought motorcycles. Each motorcycle costs several thousand yuan. The son-in-law can afford to buy it. Does it mean that the daughter’s family is rich now?
The Wu family is not in Shuangji Town. They usually don’t go to Shuangji Town for the market. Although the two old people know that their son-in-law has opened a noodle shop in Shuangji Town, they are busy with farm work all day and have no time to go and see. They don’t know how the son-in-law’s noodle shop business is. Now seeing their family’s clothes and dressing, they think the business is good, right?
“Why did you buy me clothes? It’s a waste of money.” Mother Wu touched the cotton-padded jacket her daughter bought for her, complaining in her mouth, but she was happy in her heart. She had never worn such a beautiful cotton-padded jacket before.
Wu Hongmei smiled and said, “Han Ze bought it for you because you turned 68 and it’s a birthday present for you.”
“This kid just likes to spend money recklessly. It would be better to buy some food for the children with that money.”
When Mother Wu heard that it was her son-in-law who asked her to buy it, she couldn’t stop smiling. Obviously, her son-in-law was more filial than her daughter, which made her happier. Wu Hongmei whispered, “The children don’t lack food.”
Mother Wu looked at her daughter’s expression and sighed. It seemed that her daughter’s life was really good. How could she say so generously that the children didn’t lack food? It was good to be full. It was really a happy ending. After so many years of suffering, her daughter should enjoy her life.
“Is she accustomed after she came back?” Mother Wu looked at the new clothes on the fourth girl and the red head flower on her braid and asked thoughtfully.
Speaking of her daughter, Wu Hongmei became more talkative: “Mom, you don’t know, the fourth girl didn’t make a fuss on the day she went back with us. Her father made dumplings, and her little belly was full. The eldest girl gave her a bath, and she fell asleep on the bed. The next day their father took them to buy clothes. The fourth girl was so happy. Later, she never made a fuss to come back. She was so well behaved.”
Mother Wu was surprised and asked, “Really?”
Wu Hongmei smiled and nodded. Mother Wu patted her arm and said, “This child is destined to be with you. She is also blessed. Now that you have a good life, she went back. It is better than living with her uncle.”
At least her uncle has never bought a piece of clothing for the child.
Mother Wu paused and asked in a low voice, “Han Ze really doesn’t plan to have a son?”
Wu Hongmei shook her head and said, “He’s been sterilized, how would he have a son?”
Mother Wu widened her eyes: “Really?”
Wu Hongmei said with certainty, “Really.”
Mother Wu took her daughter’s arm and asked in a low voice, “Did your mother-in-law agree?”
The old woman valued her grandson more than anyone else. She would make a fuss if her son-in-law was going to get sterilized.
Wu Hongmei glanced at her and said, “Of course, she didn’t agree. Han Ze went for the sterilization without telling her. Later, she found out about it and was so angry that he fainted and stayed in the hospital for a week.”
Mother Wu curled her lips and thought to herself that he deserved it. As if she had thought of something, she asked, “She didn’t come to settle with you, did she?”
Wu Hongmei glanced at her mother and said, “She can’t blame me. After all, it’s not my fault. Han Ze has always believed what Old Blind Han said and believed that he would not have a son. It was because Old Blind Han had told sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s fortunes, and they all came true, so he made up his mind to get the sterilization. It turns out that my mother-in-law, asked the blind Han to make up that story in order to get Han Ze and others to support my sister-in-law and brother-in-law to go to school and work.”
“What?” Mother Wu couldn’t believe that there would be such a mother. She was so confused.
Wu Hongmei looked at her and said, “So Han Ze went for sterilization. It was all caused by my mother-in-law.”
Mother Wu: “…”
Wu Hongjun was very interested in Han Ze’s motorcycle. He asked Han Ze for the key and wanted to try it out. The two richest families in their village had bought motorcycles a long time ago. He was so envious at that time that he dreamed of his own family buying motorcycles at night. Although his sister’s motorcycle was not his own, he could still ride it to satisfy his craving.
Nian Aiying didn’t expect that in just a few months, the fourth girl would change so much. When she saw her, she didn’t run over to call her, but hid behind her brother-in-law, quietly looking at her, looking very scared, as if she was a bad person who ate children. This made her a little depressed. After all, she had raised her for several years, but she didn’t expect her to be an ungrateful person.
What made her even more confused was how did her eldest sister-in-law’s family become rich? Even a motorcycle was equipped. It really fits the saying: A man should be treated with new eyes after three days of separation.
It seems that we can’t look down on anyone, because you never know when someone will become rich.
…
After opening a noodle shop, Han Ze rented out all the land because he didn’t have time to tidy up the family’s land. He didn’t have to worry about the crops and farm work. They lived in the town and had nothing to do there, so they rarely went back to Hanjia Village.
People in Hanjia Village knew that Han Ze made money by setting up a stall to sell noodles, bought a storefront in the town and opened a noodle shop. They all envied Mrs. Han’s sons for being promising and the most honest Han Ze became rich, which was really a blessing.
Mrs. Han was full of bitterness. Her eldest son made money by selling noodles, and asked Wu Hongmei to send her endless living expenses on time every month. She should be happy, but she just couldn’t be happy. She hadn’t seen her eldest son for a long time and didn’t know what he looked like now.
For the first time, Mrs. Han regretted what she had done before. She lived in her second son’s house for a few months. The second son’s wife squeezed her openly and secretly, and even drove the youngest daughter out despite her opposition. Finally, she realized that although she had three sons, it was true that the only one who was really good to her and obeyed her in everything was the eldest son, Han Ze. The other two sons were cowards who only cared about their own families.
And the eldest son, the only one who listened to her, lost his descendants because of her. Thinking of this, she felt infinite regret and annoyance in her heart.
The days passed slowly. Shuangji Town added two new streets. Han Ze spent all his money and took the opportunity to buy five storefronts. The fourth girl had already gone to school, and the fifth girl was running around. Han Ze recruited two young apprentices in the noodle shop and planned to train them. The young apprentices did the dishes and cleaning work, and Wu Hongmei was free.
The two years of living in the town have broadened Wu Hongmei’s horizons. She is no longer the timid woman who was inferior and cowardly because she couldn’t give birth to a son. She has her own insights and learned how to dress. Knowing that her husband has bought five storefronts, she became more active and wondered if she could do some small business.
When she told Han Ze about the idea, Han Ze denied it without even thinking about it. Wu Hongmei was very disappointed. If the man didn’t support her, it would be useless for her to have any ideas. After all, the money in the family was earned by the man.
Han Ze explained to her: “Doing business is not as simple as you think. With the children’s grades, they will definitely be admitted to the county high school next year. I plan to open a restaurant in the county, and leave the noodle shop in the town to Dawei.”
Dawei is one of his apprentices.
Wu Hongmei was stunned. She knew better than anyone how much money the noodle shop made. She was very reluctant to hand it over to Dawei. After thinking for a while, she said, “Is Dawei’s cooking skills up to the task?”
Han Ze knew that Wu Hongmei had misunderstood his meaning and said, “Let Dawei be the chef. Although Dawei’s cooking skills are not as good as mine, he can still make do. I will come back every now and then.”
If he didn’t come back, he was worried that the diners would make a fuss.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152