Although she had not drunk the pesticide directly, 1605 was highly toxic. Even taking a sip of water used to rinse the bottle was enough to make someone seriously ill.
Lin Lan felt dizzy and nauseous, with a constant ringing in her ears. She prayed that her liver, kidneys, nerves, and other organs had not been poisoned or permanently damaged.
After lying down for a long while, she began to feel less uncomfortable and decided to get up and move around.
The room was narrow and dark. She nearly tripped when she climbed off the kang. Seeing that the tattered straw curtain made the room both gloomy and poorly ventilated, she yanked it down.
Xiaowang, who was sitting on the kang, thought she was about to lose her temper again and shrank desperately into the corner.
Lin Lan walked around for a couple of steps, but her chest felt tight and she struggled to breathe. She wanted a drink of water, only to remember that the original Lin Lan had smashed all the earthenware jars and bowls.
She wanted to go into the main room to pour herself some water, but she was too weak, so she could only return to the kang and sit down.
At that moment, Erwang returned. He placed a parcel wrapped in leaves on the kang. Inside were several pieces of charred fish and two cicada pupae.
Erwang grinned.
“Mother, Sanwang ate all the fish. I couldn’t bear to eat any, so I saved this for you.”
Lin Lan knew perfectly well what had happened. She glanced at him.
“Erwang, your father isn’t at home, and it isn’t easy for us to get by. It doesn’t matter whether you eat more or less, but you mustn’t lie to Mother or try to play tricks on me.”
Erwang smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Mother. I never lie to you.”
Lin Lan told him to pour her a bowl of water.
Erwang soon slipped back in carrying the water and whispered, “Mother, something terrible is happening. Grandfather and Grandmother are hiding in their room, holding a meeting to deal with you.”
Lin Lan had already heard the faint sound of conversation coming from the main house, mixed with the old woman’s curses. She had guessed that they were discussing what to do with the original Lin Lan.
She accepted the bowl and discovered that the rim was sticky. She immediately felt nauseated. When she raised it to her mouth, she caught a strange smell coming from the water and wanted to drink it even less.
The family’s meals rarely contained any oil, so even without washing-up liquid, the bowl should not have been this filthy.
Suppressing her disgust, she took a sip. She decided that once she was in charge of her own household, she would keep everything spotless. She would never allow the place to become so dirty and unhygienic.
“Did your grandmother say she wants to drive me back to my maiden family?”
Erwang stared at her in surprise.
“Mother, how did you know?”
There was no way she could hear what they were saying from here.
Lin Lan snorted.
“It was easy to guess.”
Erwang watched her, expecting that in the next moment, his mother would roll up her sleeves, howl at the top of her lungs, and charge over there to start an enormous fight.
He instinctively edged aside so that he would not be caught in the chaos.
Unexpectedly, Lin Lan did not move. She put down the bowl and asked, “Where is Sanwang?”
“He started slacking off after cutting grass and went swimming in the river again. Mother, when he comes back, I’ll teach him a lesson for you.”
Erwang put on the dignified air of an older brother.
Lin Lan glanced at him.
“Go to the main room and listen to what they’re saying. Come back and tell me.”
Erwang immediately left.
Xiaowang crawled forward from the corner.
“…Send Lin family…divide family.”
Lin Lan looked at him curiously. Only then did she remember that although Xiaowang had poor eyesight, his hearing was better than that of an ordinary person.
It was only later, when the original Lin Lan became increasingly twisted, vented her anger on him, and constantly treated him with disgust, that he developed severe autism.
At present, he was still a relatively normal child. He had merely begun speaking later than usual.
Because the other children all called him “little blind boy” and “little fool,” he became even less willing to speak. With no one there to protect him, it was only natural that he would grow increasingly withdrawn.
Lin Lan beckoned to him, but Xiaowang did not react.
She had no choice but to say, “Xiaowang, come here.”
Xiaowang crawled over to her.
Lin Lan coaxed him gently.
“What did you hear them saying? Tell Mother properly.”
At first, Xiaowang could only say a few individual words and phrases. Under Lin Lan’s guidance, however, he slowly managed to form complete sentences.
From Xiaowang’s fragmented words, Lin Lan was able to guess most of what had happened.
A while later, Erwang returned to report what he had heard, further confirming Lin Lan’s suspicions.
As expected, the old woman had first proposed calling her son home to divorce his wife. She had already sent Han Qingsong a telegram.
Old Man Han, however, disagreed. He felt that after so many years of being related by marriage, they could not be so heartless. It would look bad and bring shame upon them. Instead, he said that he supported dividing the family.
It appeared that the eldest brother and his wife agreed to the division. After all, the couple were the household’s main labourers and did the most exhausting work.
The second brother and his wife, however, disagreed. They probably wanted to continue spending Han Qingsong’s money while making the eldest brother and his wife do most of the work, allowing them to live comfortably.
“Grandmother means to keep Father’s military allowance and not give Mother a single cent. She also wants Mother to take us children and move out,” Erwang said indignantly. “She said we’d get nothing except our grain ration, and from now on, we’d have to earn our own work points if we wanted to eat. Mother, how can they be so wicked? They want to keep Father’s allowance instead of giving it to you, but they also want us to earn our own food. Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle both stay at home and earn work points, so why don’t they go outside and earn money for the family to spend?”
Lin Lan gestured for him to calm down.
“We’ll discuss it when your father returns in a few days.”
Erwang stared at her in astonishment.
Mother was not going over there to cause trouble?
Grandmother and the others were already talking about driving her out. Why was she not going to fight them?
“Mother, they want to throw us out!”
“I know,” Lin Lan said. “I won’t let them succeed.”
They could divide the family if they wanted, but it had to be done properly and fairly. How could they keep the money earned by the third branch while throwing out the third branch’s wife and children?
They could keep dreaming!
Erwang stared at Lin Lan as though he no longer recognised her.
Lin Lan, meanwhile, stroked Xiaowang’s head and smiled at him approvingly.
“Xiaowang is amazing! What you said was almost the same as what your brother told me.”
Mother had praised him!
She had praised him just as she praised his older sister and brothers!
Xiaowang lifted his head and stared at her with wide eyes, struggling to see his mother’s face clearly.
The child looked so excited that he seemed ready to faint. Lin Lan hurriedly stroked his head again.
He appeared to love being petted. His fluffy little head rubbed against her palm like a sunflower turning towards the sun.
For some inexplicable reason, Lin Lan suddenly felt as though she were petting a cat. Startled, she hurriedly withdrew her hand.
Sensing his mother’s rejection, the light in Xiaowang’s eyes dimmed again, and his entire body shrank in on itself.
Lin Lan inexplicably felt a painful tightness in her chest. Unable to bear it, she smiled, cupped his little face, and turned him towards the window, indicating that he should go there and eavesdrop.
Xiaowang thought his mother was playing a game with him. His eyes lit up with such joy that they almost seemed to burn.
He quickly crawled off the kang. Although his eyesight was poor, he was extremely familiar with his surroundings and did not bump into anything. He stepped onto a small tree-stump stool and listened through the window.
Erwang stared in bewilderment.
What had happened to Mother?
Although he found it strange, he did not want to fall behind. He ran outside to eavesdrop as well.
Mother had just praised the little fool without praising him for reporting so well. He could not allow himself to lose.
Lin Lan held Xiaowang and listened for a while. Even someone as laid-back as her began to feel angry.
Old Madam Han was truly something else.
The original Lin Lan had certainly been wrong to constantly argue, cause trouble, and threaten suicide, but the old woman was not much better.
If she did not rely on her position as an elder and the respect the children showed her, she and the original Lin Lan would probably have been equally matched.
Nothing demonstrated this more clearly than the way she handled the money Han Qingsong earned.
The old woman spent it only on her youngest son and youngest daughter. They were clearly the children of poor and lower-middle peasants, yet she insisted on raising them like the young master and young miss of a landlord’s family. They were either eating at restaurants or buying this and that.
Meanwhile, the other children in the household were too young even to attend school. They had to cut grass, collect manure, and follow the adults into the fields to earn work points.
Every one of them was thin and dark from hunger and labour. Even Lin Lan, who disliked children, felt uncomfortable seeing them that way.
No matter how terrible the original Lin Lan had been, how could she not feel sorry for her own children?
Naturally, she had wanted money to improve their lives.
Lin Lan immediately came up with an idea. She leaned close to Xiaowang’s ear and whispered a few words.
“Do you remember?”
Xiaowang nodded.
“Mother, re…member.”
Lin Lan lifted him down.
“Go after they leave.”
She casually picked up a wooden stick as thick as a thumb from beside the wall.
The moment Xiaowang saw it, he became frightened and immediately hid in the corner, thinking that his mother was going to hit him again.
Lin Lan hurriedly said, “Xiaowang, Mother is giving this to you as a walking stick. When you hold it while walking, you won’t bump into things.”
Xiaowang had poor eyesight, but keeping him trapped inside the room all day was not a solution. She would not be able to watch him every moment in the future, so she would have to teach him how to walk around independently.
Once she had money, she would take Xiaowang to have his eyes examined first. With early treatment, perhaps his vision could still be partially restored.
Only then did Xiaowang smile.
“Mother, good.”
Holding the stick, he felt his way outside.
Lin Lan then called Erwang back and gave him several instructions.
Erwang hesitated.
“Mother, it’s pasted right beside Grandmother’s kang. Won’t she notice if I take it?”
Lin Lan said, “After the family is divided, don’t you want to come with Mother? Do you want to stay with your grandmother?”
Erwang immediately shook his head.
“Of course I’m going with Mother. Eldest Brother will definitely stay with Grandmother and abandon Mother, but I won’t do that.”
“Your eldest brother won’t abandon Mother either,” Lin Lan said. “Your eldest brother is a real man. After the family is divided, he’ll understand even more that he must protect Mother and all of you. Go.”
After the meeting in the main house ended, the men went outside while the women remained at home to prepare the meal.
Following Lin Lan’s instructions, Erwang and Xiaowang went into the main house.
Second Sister-in-law Han and the old woman had gone to the vegetable garden, while Eldest Sister-in-law Han was cooking.
There were many children in the family. As long as none of them fell or injured themselves, the adults rarely paid much attention to what they were doing.
Before long, Erwang returned to the eastern wing carrying something.
“Mother!”
It was Lin Lan and Han Qingsong’s marriage certificate.
It resembled a primary school certificate of merit, with one-inch bareheaded photographs of the two of them attached.
In the photograph, Lin Lan was young and beautiful. Her gaze held a mixture of shyness and boldness.
Beside her, Han Qingsong wore a military uniform. He sat tall and straight, and his features were handsome. They appeared fairly well matched.
However, several tiny holes had been made in Lin Lan’s photograph. Looking closely, it appeared that someone had pricked it with a needle.
Ordinarily, each married couple could simply keep their own marriage certificate. Old Madam Han, however, insisted on pasting all her sons’ marriage certificates inside her own room, claiming that they looked as attractive as pictures hanging on the wall.
Judging by what had been done to Lin Lan’s photograph, she seemed to be imitating Nanny Rong.
Lin Lan rolled up the marriage certificate and smiled.
“Erwang, Mother promises all of you that once the family is divided, I’ll give you a good life. I’ll let you eat white flour, meat, and sweets—and I’ll send you to school!”
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