RBI1960 Chapter 10

Fan Xiaojun bent down and picked up the coarse-grain bun that had fallen near her feet. It had been sitting out all day and was already hard and dry. She weighed it in her hand. As if she didn’t know what the girls in her eldest brother-in-law’s family usually ate? A bun made with white flour? There’s no way they were the ones eating this. She didn’t believe for a second that the old woman would be so kind.

Glancing at Da Ni’s pale face, Fan Xiaojun gave a mocking smile and said sarcastically to Old Lady Miao, “Wow, Mom, looks like things are good at home these days. Da Ni and the girls are eating white flour buns. Poor Aiguo and the others can’t even get enough to fill their stomachs.”

She wiped at her eyes dramatically. Since her son had already offended the old man today, and their family wasn’t having it easy, she wasn’t about to let the eldest have it easy either. She knew how much the old lady hated two-faced behavior. That bun was probably something the eldest had hidden away for the girls. No way the old lady would be pleased about that.

Just thinking that the girls from the eldest branch were going to get scolded too made her feel much better. Her anger faded, and the irritation disappeared.

“Mom, stop joking. White flour buns don’t look like that. We just had some yesterday, and they were nothing like this dirty, dusty thing. Even the pigs wouldn’t eat it.”

Four-year-old Jiang Aidang licked the last drop of malted milk from his bowl, sniffled as the snot ran down to his lips, then wiped his face with his sleeve. He stared at the dirty, grimy bun in Fan Xiaojun’s hand and spoke up.

“Didn’t Second Aunt say that Aiguo and the others don’t even have enough to eat? Now they’re eating white flour buns? How come they didn’t bring some for Grandpa and Grandma? They’ve never even tasted anything this nice.”

Jiang Erni, still stinging from Fan Xiaojun’s earlier jab, jumped at the chance to get back at her, especially with her son calling her out.

Jiang Daniu tugged timidly at her younger sister’s sleeve, trying to stop her, afraid she’d say more. But Erni, still upset, looked like she wanted to keep talking—until she caught her big sister’s warning glare. She dropped her gaze and started shuffling her feet on the ground.

Fan Xiaojun was nearly driven mad by her two sons. The older one had offended Grandpa today, and now the younger one was embarrassing her in public. Truly, two little fools.

Seeing the look on Old Lady Miao’s face, she quickly tried to recover. “Mom, we only have a little white flour at home. I just wanted to let the boys eat something good. They’re the lifeblood of our Jiang family. We adults can eat worse, sure—but we can’t short the children. It’s our fault.  Dachuan and I are just not capable enough. We still rely on you and Dad. Dachuan always says he wants to do more work and make life better for you two.”

She finished with a harsh glare at her younger son. Jiang Aidang felt wronged. Didn’t Mom and Dad happily eat those white flour buns too? Why was she scolding him now?

After all these years, everyone knew everyone’s true nature. Old Lady Miao didn’t even bother arguing with her.

“We made it clear when we split the family: your father and I don’t need you two to support us in our old age. So don’t waste your breath,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Fan Xiaojun’s brow twitched. Bringing up the family split now—could it be that now that the eldest had a son, the old couple planned to cut her family off?

“Speak up. Where did that bun come from?” Old Lady Miao ignored her second daughter-in-law’s sour face, stared coldly at the girls, and asked sternly, her sharp eyes darting from one to the next.

“Waa—waa—!”

Just as the tension hit its peak, the sound of a baby’s wailing burst from inside the house. Old Lady Miao dropped everything and rushed to the eldest son’s room.

“Oh my baby, what’s the matter? Why are you crying?”

Little Jiang Laidi was wailing his heart out, his face flushed red, breaking the old woman’s heart.

“What kind of mother are you? Look at how you’ve upset my grandson! What if his throat goes hoarse from all this crying?” Old Lady Miao snapped at her eldest daughter-in-law, clearly dissatisfied.

“Mom, it’s not my fault. The baby’s gotten attached to Da Ni and the girls lately. They’re usually back by now to play with him, but when he woke up and didn’t see them, he just wouldn’t stop crying. Nothing could calm him.”

Gu Dongmei had been paying attention to everything happening outside ever since Fan Xiaojun showed up. When she realized the buns her husband had brought back for their daughters had been discovered, her heart dropped. If her mother-in-law found out, the whole family would be in trouble.

She couldn’t blame her daughters either for not eating the buns up on the mountain. She knew they were saving them for when they got hungry.

Just as she thought everything had been exposed, her usually quiet baby started crying loudly, even drawing the old woman inside. Thinking of the beating her girls might take, she gritted her teeth and made up a lie.

Old Lady Miao gently rocked her grandson, though she doubted the excuse. The baby was so young—how could he already recognize people? And even if he could, shouldn’t he recognize his grandma first?

But the little guy, limp and soft in her arms, kept staring toward the door curtain, crying loud enough to shake the rafters.

“Oh, Sister-in-law, that’s a good one. A baby crying, and now it’s somehow the girls’ fault? What are you trying to hide?”

The straw curtain was awful—what was said inside could be heard outside, and vice versa.

Fan Xiaojun swept the curtain aside and walked in with a sway in her hips. She looked at the skinny, monkey-like newborn lying on the bed, completely unimpressed. He was nothing like her sons when they were born—all fat and fair. She curled her lip. Only those two old fools would treat something like this as a treasure.

But she never stopped to think about what she had eaten during her pregnancy versus what Gu Dongmei had endured. When Gu got pregnant, Fan spread gossip everywhere, saying it was “probably just another girl.” Old Lady Miao had already given up on Gu by then—didn’t even give her any extra food. She was still working in the fields right up to labor. How could a baby born in such conditions be strong?

Just as Fan finished speaking, Da Ni and the girls walked in behind her.

The moment they stepped inside, Jiang Laidi’s cries stopped. He stretched his little arms toward Da Ni.

Fan Xiaojun felt like she’d just swallowed a fly. She had just finished mocking the kid, and then he slapped her in the face. Just like his parents—annoying to the core.

Da Ni stepped forward and gently picked up her baby brother, soothing him softly. Even San Ni, who had been scared of Old Lady Miao’s scolding, found her courage and came forward to coo at the baby.

Seeing this, Old Lady Miao’s stern expression softened a little. Her anger at the girls hiding the buns also faded.

“Mom, the bun came from yesterday when Dahai was doing piping work in the county. He wanted to reward the girls since they’ve been taking such good care of their baby brother. We should’ve told you—our mistake. It won’t happen again,” Gu Dongmei quickly explained when she saw the old lady’s mood change.

“Mm,” Old Lady Miao responded. Seeing how happy her grandson was, she decided to let it go. Dahai was a simple, honest man. That bun had probably come from his ration. And those girls—well, they were his daughters too. Of course, he’d want to treat them sometimes.

Fan Xiaojun, seeing that the whole situation was blowing over just like that, was fuming. “Mom, Big Brother hid food from you, and you’re just going to let it go like that?!”

Maybe because she raised her voice, the baby, who had just calmed down, was startled and began crying again.

“You trying to get yourself killed? You scared the baby again!” Old Lady Miao shouted, pinching her daughter-in-law hard and dragging her outside.

Jiang Erni couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched Second Aunt get chewed out for once.

“Good thing little brother’s clever, or we’d probably be skipping dinner tonight,” she whispered, pinching her baby brother’s cheek—only to get smacked on the hand by her older sister.

“Don’t pinch babies’ cheeks!” Da Ni scolded, kissing her little brother.

Little Jiang Laidi gave a tiny sigh of relief. He hadn’t been sure if his plan would work, but surprisingly, it did. Still, his little throat burned from all the crying. At his age, this was the only weapon he had.

“Mom—” Fan Xiaojun tried to argue again, but was startled into silence when someone walked in. She stiffened, not daring to move.

Jiang Aiguo and Jiang Aidang froze too, stopping their rummaging in the front room and hiding behind their mother.

“What are you doing here? Even if I were dead, there’d be plenty of people to see me off. Don’t need heartless dogs like you!” Old Master Jiang stormed in, pointing to the door.

“Old man, what are you doing? You scared the kids!” Old Lady Miao was confused by her husband’s sudden outburst, but stepped in when she saw the kids on the verge of tears.

“Hmph! I don’t have grandsons like that. He said it himself—he won’t even come see us off when we die. With grandsons like that, who needs enemies?”

Old Master Jiang was still furious about what Jiang Aiguo had said that morning.

Old Lady Miao looked at her second daughter-in-law and suddenly understood. So this was why they brought food today—they were trying to make amends. Looking at her two grandsons now, she was nothing but disappointed.

All these years, even if she’d been biased, the kindness she showed wasn’t fake. They had saved every good thing for the second family, and this was the thanks they got—an entire household of ingrates.

Kids didn’t just pick things up on their own. It was clearly their parents teaching them this nonsense.

Without another word, Old Lady Miao returned to the kitchen, took the six eggs Fan Xiaojun had brought, stuffed them back in the basket, and shoved them into her hands before pushing her and the two boys out the door.

“Mom, let me explain—Mom!” Fan Xiaojun cried, but Old Lady Miao grabbed the broom by the door and whacked her out the door.

“Everything you gave us before—I’ll just pretend we fed it to the dogs. Your father and I don’t need thankless brats like you supporting us in our old age. Get lost!”

Just thinking about what the old man had said made her heart ache. She had been so cruel to the four girls and gave everything to the two boys. And this was how they repaid her? Even gave them malted milk to drink! From now on, she’d rather give it all to the “money-losing” girls than let the second family have another drop.

Fan Xiaojun shielded her face. People coming home from work had already gathered to watch the scene unfold, whispering and pointing. Being someone who cared about appearances, she didn’t dare argue. She covered her face and fled, dragging her sons behind her.

Old Lady Miao dropped the broom and slumped to the ground.

“What a mess…” she sighed.