CH 4

He Xiaoyun did not fall asleep until late at night. The next morning when she woke up, the child was still soundly asleep. Wei Jianwei was no longer in the room and the mat and quilts were also put away.

He Xiaoyun laid in the bed for a while before remembering that she needed to go visit her 'natal home'. So she sat on the bed, lifted the quilt, and got out of bed. 

There was a big mirror in the big closet in the room. She stood in front of it and started combing her hair. The person in the mirror has a goose egg-shaped face. Although she's living in the countryside, her skin is fair and her eyes are lightly round, the bridge of her nose is straight and under it was fleshy pink lips. Even with no makeup, the woman is a little beauty.

He Xiaoyun is also a beauty but compared to this body's beauty, she's still a little worse. In this way, not only did she gain a new life, but she also gained a healthy and beautiful body. Even if the current situation is not good, there's nothing to complain about. 

After getting dressed and going out, the rest of the family started to get up. Wang Chunhua was about to enter the kitchen, He Xiaoyun saw another sister-in-law trying to help and stopped her, and decided to go herself. 

"Wait for dinner and take this with you." Wang Chunhua cut a few sweet potatoes into a pot, covered it with a lid, and gestured for her to take the pot.

When she was putting things in, He Xiaoyun noticed that there were about two or three catties of peanuts, half a packet of orange candies, a dozen eggs, and two more buns at the top.

Among other things, the eggs alone are not easy to come by. On average, three hens can lay two eggs every day, now that a sister-in-law got pregnant, she needs nutrition and therefore needs to eat egg custards every day. Occasionally, Wei Yuanhang can get one egg but because the eggs are limited, she's afraid that all of them can't get to eat one. 

He Xiaoyun felt a little sorry. "Mom, forget about our egg, leave it to sister-in-law."

Wang Chunhua gave her a surprised look. Her expression was sincere and didn't look like she(HX) was pretending. Did her temper really change?

She shook her(WC) head, "I have already saved some for your eldest sister-in-law. This was intended for you." 

Of the two daughters-in-law, Wang Chunhua prefers the eldest daughter-in-law but she needs to keep it fair. Wang Chunhua knows that in such a big family like the Wei's, it's easy to have conflict. If she became partial, the children will be uneasy. (T/N: First time for me to read a mother-in-law that is impartial in CN, there's always gotta be a favorite son or daughter on others.)

After breakfast, Wei Jianwei carried the pot and He Xiaoyun led Wei Yuanhang to set off. The brigade they belonged to is called Qingshuihe Brigade because of the river at the foot of the mountain. There were two teams on the Qingshuihe Brigade, the Wei Family belonged to the first team and He Xiaoyun's family is on the second team. 

The second team happened to be at the end of the village, two kilometers away. 

On the way, they met a lot of people. The whole brigade and even some from the commune heard about their marriage. Now that people saw the three of them walking together, many stopped to say hello and asked them where they are going. 

Halfway through the journey, Wei Yuanhang's steps slowed down, the child became lazy from walking. "Mom, I'm so tired." 

He Xiaoyun glanced at the chubby child condescendingly, "So you're okay when you run around playing but you're tired after two steps?" 

"It's not two steps! I've had taken many steps!" The child gestured with his hand, indicating that he took many steps with big circles. 

"Then what are you gonna do? I'm also tired so I can't carry you on my back." He Xiaoyun ruthlessly said.

The child has no choice but to continue walking, groaning, and grumbling while he walks. After walking for a little and a half, he stopped and cried to her, "Mom, I really can't walk anymore!"

He Xiaoyun remained unmoved. She knows what exactly this little kid is trying. When she saw this rascal playing with Yanyan the other day, he moved and run the whole day and isn't tired. If the child only went out with her, the child wouldn't be so squeamish but when Wei Jianwei entered the picture, he became coquettish, hoping this father will carry him. 

Who says that children don't know how to scheme?

Seeing that she still ignored him, Wei Yuanhang turned his head and went to Wei Jianwei to pretend to be pitiful. "Dad, my legs are so tired."

He Xiaoyun watched and the man really stopped and squatted down in front of the child. 

"Dad is so good!" Wei Yuanhang cheered and rushed over his back, not forgetting to flatter his father,

His chubby body is a heavy burden for He Xiaoyun but for Wei Jianwei who is a soldier, easily lifting the child is nothing. Seeing that Wei Jianwei still need to carry a basket, He Xiaoyun neared and said, "Leave this to me." 

Wei Yuanhang happily threw his hand on the air while on his father's back, looking like a child who got something good. "Mom, you'll think you're tall but now I'm taller than you."

He Xiaoyun patted the child's butt. "Be safe and be careful, don't let yourself fall." 

The child was obediently quiet for a while before energetically began looking again. Wei Jianwei was strong, it was evident how stable he walked even after a mass of meat dumpling is placed on his back. 

There was still a bit of distance from the He's home. He Xiaoyun saw Li Yuegui sitting in the yard from a distance, picking up beans and looking up from time to time.

"Grandma, I'm coming to see you!" Wei Yuanhang cried out loud before entering the door.

Li Yuegui stood up quickly and wiped her hands on her apron and came out to greet them with a smile, "Jianwei is back?" 

Wei Jianwei nodded, called her mom, and put down the chubby child. Before the child even touched the ground, Li Yuegui gave him a hug, "Aiyah. Xiaoyuan has grown up again, grandma can't hold you anymore."

As she said that, she ushered them to come into the house. Seeing He Xiaoyun bringing in a big basket, she can't help but say, "Next time, tell your mother-in-law not to pack too many things. You have many family members so you need to be frugal."

"Got it." He Xiaoyun responded, seeing the little guy still clinging to his grandma, she spoke, "Xiaoyuan, come down. You little fat guy, you're grandmother is tired."

Wei Yuanhang pouted but didn't dare disobey her words.

As someone who cherished her grandson, Li Yuegui immediately defended the child, " Where is Xiaoyuan fat? Children need to be round and chubby to look good." But she didn't hug Wei Yuanhang anymore, instead, she let him sit with Wei Jianwei and entered the kitchen.

Yesterday, Li Yuegui heard that her son-in-law returned. She was 80% sure that her daughter will visit. She had boiled water when she woke up this morning. Now, she poured some hot water into the pot and ignited the stove. 

He Xiaoyun followed to help, seeing Li Yuegui beating up the eggs, she tried to stop her. The He's family situation is much worse than the Wei's. 

"No need." Li Yuegui replied. "Usually, if it's only you, it's fine. But Jianwei is here today. All of you were guests."

He Xiaoyun shook her head helplessly. No matter what era, this kind of thinking seems to exist. Many people thought that since their daughters were already married to another family, they can only come back home as guests. 

She knew that this kind of thinking can't be changed in just a few words and He Xiaoyun didn't dare argue.

Li Yuegui looked at her, "Why don't you talk to Jianwei outside?"

He Xiaoyun thought to herself, 'I have something to say to him but I'm not yet ready.' She has no choice but to divert the question with another one.

"Where is dad? Why isn't he at home?"

"He was called back to the team to discuss rice planting. He'll come back soon." Li Yuegui beat six eggs in a row, covered the pot, and simmered it for a while, then turned to look for brown sugar in the cabinet. "Your eldest sister also came yesterday."

There are three children in the He Family. Both the first and second are daughters while the third is a son who's still studying. He Xiaoyun ranked second in the family. The eldest sister married another brigade and give birth to two daughters. He Xiaoyun nodded and waited for her to continue.

Li Yuegui pulled out a paper bag from the cabinet and sighed. "These candies are from the last year's baby shower. I bought more and saved them. She quarreled with your brother-in-law yesterday."

"Because of the baby?" He Xiaoyun guessed. The eldest sister's mother-in-law wanted a boy and was a bit dissatisfied with having two granddaughters. Not long after the eldest sister's confinement, she urges another for another baby. The eldest sister want to talk about it later but the mother-in-law insisted. So it has been noisy.

This kind of thing is not uncommon. In the Qingshuihe brigade alone, someone gave birth to five daughters in a row in hope of having a son. Some people are black-hearted, seeing that the baby born is a girl, they will drown them in the washbasin and tell others that the child died after birth.

He Xiaoyun was born in a mountain village in her previous life. At that time, family planning has already been implemented. The country only allowed families to have one child. But in their place, if the first child is a daughter, her birth will be concealed and they need to wait for a son to take over the first child. 

Her family is in this case, she had a brother three years younger by her, who is almost brought up by her.

Many of the girls in the mountains do not go to school. They went to work before graduating from junior high and after few years, gave birth to a child and leave them to their houses, and then continue to go work again. Once the children grew up, they will repeat the same cycle. 

He Xiaoyun has better luck than the others. Her grades in elementary and junior high are good, and she's number one in the high school entrance examination. Originally, her parents wanted her to work but the school teachers and the principal rushed to her house to persuade them and promised to help He Xiaoyun. They reduced her tuition fees so she can continue going to school.

However, they are a poor county with a lack of educational resources. Although her grades were not bad, she can't get to the few key colleges. Still, she was the first college student in their small village. At first, her parents felt happy and glamorous, Later they heard that she needed to study for four years before she could work. It costs a lot of money to pay the tuition fees every year.

Then one day, a woman in the village with a particularly good house came to visit her parents and repeatedly seek her out. He Xiaoyun became vigilant in her heart and overheard the woman's talk with her parents. It seems like the woman had a son who has intellectual problems and wanted him to marry an intellectual woman and see if they will give her a normal grandson. 

He Xiaoyun received a bolt out of the blue. She thought her parents wouldn't agree to the matter but choosing over a daughter or money, they didn't hesitate to choose the latter. Her parents not only locked her in a room but also burned her college admission. If not for her brother that let her go, she's afraid she's already a wife of a fool.

When she ran out of her house, she had nothing else on her body but her clothes. In those years that she's outside, she was beaten, deceived, and was almost sold off. Later, she struggled and live like a little bit of a human. But it didn't take long for her to found out that she have cancer. 

Precisely because of her experience that He Xiaoyun knows that some deep-rooted thoughts are difficult to change. 

The eggs in the pot were already cooked. Li Yuegui took out three bowls and put some brown sugar in them and filled them with the eggs. She said to He Xiaoyun, "If it was me, I'll take advantage of giving birth more since the body is healthy. Your life is better than your eldest sister, you gave birth for the first time and it was a son. Jianwei has a future. Follow him and live well in the future. Don't always make him angry, okay?"

He Xiaoyun didn't answer, her eyes staring at the dizzying sparks in the stove.

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T/N: Woah. Life in the past sure is tough. Wouldn't want to go there, I wouldn't last a week.

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