RBI1960 Chapter 9

In a fit of anger, Jiang Aiguo blurted out something his mother often said at home to scold Old Man Jiang. But the moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it. His mother had warned him countless times—never let the people at the old house hear what was said in their home, or else the good things from the old house would all be gone.

You see, Old Man Jiang received a monthly ration subsidy of 45 catties of grain coupons—half of which were high-quality refined grains like white flour. And nearly half of that ended up in their bellies. Every month, when the old man went into town to collect the subsidies, Fan Xiaojun would send her older son to take the younger one and go cry and act pitiful. That trick almost always worked. After all, they wanted the old couple to adopt her son as their own. Without some benefits, only a fool would agree to that. Her two sons were like money trees—she wasn’t about to give them up easily.

Because of this, Jiang Dachuan and his wife never worked hard but still ate better than most. Even little Jiang Aiguo and Jiang Aidang were already going to school with the village kids, on the old couple’s dime.

In Fan Xiaojun’s eyes, the old couple’s money would eventually go to the eldest son, and since the eldest didn’t have a son, it would naturally go to her boys. So what if they spent a little early?

Just then, Jiang Aiguo and Jiang Aidang came running home crying while Fan Xiaojun was checking their food supplies.

They had always eaten well thanks to the support from the old house. Fan Xiaojun even regularly snuck grain back to her parents’ house, confident the old folks wouldn’t let their grandsons go hungry. But now that her brother-in-law had a kid—that illegitimate brat—she couldn’t be sure of the old couple’s priorities anymore. Looking at the thin layer of grain left at the bottom of the jar, she started to worry.

They’d received quite a bit of sweet potato at the end of the year, but she didn’t like eating that stuff—it made her bloated. She’d already sent all of it back to her family, where her sister-in-law praised her endlessly. Every time she went back, they treated her like royalty, putting her above her sisters. Now, asking her own family for grain? No way.

“Moooom—” Jiang Aiguo burst into the room, shouting.

The second son’s house was much bigger than the old family home. It had been built when Jiang Dachuan married Fan Xiaojun, sturdy and spacious. At the time, the old couple had planned to live with the eldest son, so they gave all their savings to the second son to build the house, treating it as his share of the inheritance.

The house had black tile roofing and blue bricks. The whitewashed walls were redone every year. Though Fan Xiaojun was lazy, she kept the house spotless. Even the chickens in the yard were penned up in a corner—there wasn’t a single dropping in sight.

“What are you screaming for? Didn’t you take your brother to school? Skipping again?” Fan Xiaojun was already in a foul mood. Seeing her eldest son come home crying made her angrier. She put one hand on her hip and yanked his ear with the other.

Jiang Aiguo cried louder. Little Aidang, seeing his brother getting hit, started bawling too. The house was filled with screams—it was chaos.

“What the hell? Beating the kid in broad daylight?”

Jiang Dachuan swaggered in from outside. Seeing his wife laying into the kid again, he casually commented and walked over to the kitchen water jar, scooping out a ladle of water and gulping it down.

He didn’t look like Old Man Jiang or Granny Miao. He was skinny, short, and had shifty eyes—he didn’t look like a decent man.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work? Why’re you back?” Fan Xiaojun snapped at her husband.

“What’s with the attitude? You know how hot it is out there? I just took a little break. Big deal. We won’t starve as long as the old folks are around.”

Jiang Dachuan was the king of slackers. He usually did women’s piecework, like gluing matchboxes, and even then, he said it was too hard. He earned fewer work points than a fast-moving woman. If they relied on him alone, the whole family would’ve starved.

Fan Xiaojun didn’t argue—she didn’t have a leg to stand on. At least he went to work. She was even lazier, always making excuses about being sick or needing to care for the kids. If she worked one day out of ten, that was already considered good.

“Look at your son—skipping school again with Aidang. I say we just stop sending them. We’ll save a few bucks.” Fan Xiaojun shot a glare at her tear-streaked son. She didn’t see the point of school. Better to have her sons grow up a bit and have their grandpa pull strings to get them into the army. Soldiers were respected—they got high subsidies and had status.

Hadn’t her father-in-law saved some high-ranking official? He ought to have that kind of pull.

“And you—why’d you skip school again?” Jiang Dachuan ignored his wife. In his mind, women were short-sighted. These days, education matters. Being stuck in the fields like a mud-legged farmer—what kind of future was that? Look at his older brother.

Jiang Aiguo sniffled, shrugged, and told the story again, his voice trembling.

“You little bastard! Trying to get us all killed?” Jiang Dachuan exploded.

He knew his father’s temper better than anyone. Over the years, though the old man didn’t say much, he probably resented them too. Still, since the eldest didn’t have a son, no one could force them to hand over theirs for adoption. It wasn’t the old days anymore. That’s why, despite being a freeloader, the old man rarely scolded him. But even he knew—some things couldn’t be said out loud. Once you crossed that line, there would be serious consequences.

Now that his big brother had a son, those two dumb kids should’ve been buttering up the old man. Instead, they had to open their stupid mouths. No doubt the old man would cut them off for good.

Jiang Dachuan looked around, then grabbed a thick stick from under the stove and swung it at his son, who dodged and ran.

Fan Xiaojun cursed her son all the time, but she’d never laid a heavy hand on him. That stick could seriously injure the kid. She rushed forward to block her husband.

“I should be beating you!” Jiang Dachuan roared. “Always saying crap in front of the kids. Now look—he went and blabbed everything to Dad! You’re the real idiot here!”

“Go ahead and try!” Fan Xiaojun wasn’t backing down. “I gave you two sons. Hit me, and I’ll take both of them back to my parents’ place!”

Hands on hips, finger jabbing at Jiang Dachuan’s chest, she was livid.

Jiang Dachuan swung the stick in the air but didn’t follow through. Furious, he slammed it down on the ground. “Take the kids to the old house and apologize! Dad loves those two—he won’t hold a grudge against them, right?”

He flopped into a chair. “Bring a few eggs too. Call it a gift for Big Brother and his wife. Maybe if Mom and Dad get something out of it, they’ll cool off.”

“Eggs? Are you crazy?” Fan Xiaojun gasped. Those eggs were worth money—she didn’t even eat them herself. No way she’d hand them over to that woman.

“Just do it. You think I won’t hit you?” Jiang Dachuan roared again, grabbing the stick as if ready to swing.

Terrified, Fan Xiaojun shut up. She pulled the kids into the kitchen and carefully picked out six of the smallest eggs, placing them into a basket with a heartbroken look.

“You’re not coming?” she asked, dreading her stern father-in-law.

Jiang Dachuan gave her a dirty look. “I still have to go to work. Your good-for-nothing son messed things up with Dad. You want the whole family to go hungry?”

The truth was, he didn’t dare face a furious Jiang Cheng either. He was just using work as an excuse.

Fan Xiaojun said no more, holding her sons’ hands as they headed to the old house.

“Mom—”

When Fan Xiaojuan brought the kids to the old house, Granny Miao was squatting in the yard washing soiled baby clothes. As soon as she saw her two grandsons, she quickly dried her hands and hurried over to greet them.

“What’s wrong with Aiguo and Aidang? Their eyes are red like rabbits—did you and Dachuan hit them again?” Granny Miao scowled, her eyes glaring with anger.

Even though she now doted most on the only grandson from her eldest son’s family, she still cherished the two grandsons from her second son’s household.

“No, it’s not that,” Fan Xiaojuan replied, noticing her mother-in-law looked completely normal, as if she didn’t know anything. “Mom, where’s Dad? He hasn’t come back yet?” she asked cautiously.

“He went to the educated youth settlement. Still not back yet,” Granny Miao said, waving a hand dismissively before turning to the boys with affection. “My sweet grandsons, come on inside. Grandma’s got something good for you.”

As soon as Fan Xiaojuan heard “something good,” her eyes lit up. She didn’t mention why she’d come and simply followed them into the house.

She placed the bamboo basket on the main room’s table. “Mom, this is a little gift from me and Dachuan. Didn’t Sister-in-law just have a baby boy? These eggs are to help her recover.”

Granny Miao raised an eyebrow. The second son’s family was always on the receiving end, never the giving—was the sun rising in the west today? But seeing her two sons getting along made her happy, so she cheerfully carried the eggs into the kitchen. When she lifted the blue cloth covering the bamboo basket and saw six tiny eggs, she curled her lips—something from the second son’s household. It took skill to pick eggs that small.

She carefully stored the eggs and took out two bowls and spoons from the cupboard.

“Wait here, Grandma’s going to get you something special,” she said with a grin, then walked into her and Old Man Jiang’s room, locking the door behind her.

After all, anything valuable in the house was kept in their room. Granny Miao had even asked her eldest son to install a wooden door with a lock for that reason.

Fan Xiaojuan craned her neck to peek inside. When she saw the old woman locking the door, she sneered with disdain.

Inside, Granny Miao pulled out a tin of malted milk powder that her daughter had sent her last time. She carefully scooped out a spoonful into each bowl, then sealed the tin tightly and put it back.

“This stuff smells so good. Too bad little precious is still too young for it. I’ll save the rest for him when he’s a bit older,” she muttered as she poured hot water from the kettle to mix the powder. A rich, milky aroma quickly filled the room.

When she opened the door again, the two boys sitting in the main room instantly caught the sweet scent and rushed over.

“Easy now! Don’t spill it—this stuff is high-end and expensive,” Granny Miao said as she placed the bowls on the table. The two kids each grabbed a bowl and held on tightly.

“Mom, that’s malted milk powder, right? Where’d it come from?” Fan Xiaojuan’s eyes sparkled. She’d never even tasted it before. But judging from Granny Miao’s attitude, she had no intention of letting her have any. Xiaojuan’s eyes darted around as she plotted.

“Aiguo and Aidang have both lost weight lately. They haven’t had much of an appetite. I think they could use some nourishment,” she hinted to Granny Miao.

But Granny Miao acted like she hadn’t heard a word. Fan Xiaojuan was so mad that she was grinding her teeth. Under the table, she kicked her eldest son and shot him a look.

The six-year-old had no clue what was going on. He set down his bowl, still with milk on his lips, and looked at her innocently. “Mom, why’d you kick me?”

Fan Xiaojuan was seething, but she couldn’t lose her temper in front of her mother-in-law. These two old foxes—back when Aiguo and Aidang were the only grandkids, they never held back the good stuff. But now that there’s a new grandson, she couldn’t even get a spoonful of malted milk powder.

Just then, Dani and Erni returned from feeding Zhu. When they saw their two younger cousins drinking something tasty, they didn’t say much—just politely greeted everyone and carried their little sisters back to their room.

“Useless girls, you stop right there!”

Aiguo, still sore from a beating earlier, suddenly perked up when he saw the cousins he bullied daily. He jumped off the chair and charged at them, fists waving.

Jiang Dani, holding little Sini in her arms, didn’t react in time. She fell to the ground, and a big steamed bun from her pocket rolled to Fan Xiaojuan’s feet.

Both Jiang Dani and Jiang Erni went pale, frozen in place at the sight.