Perfect: no need to worry about fighting.
The next day, Xie Mingtu told Grandpa Jiang about his decision. Grandpa Jiang was overjoyed and kept sighing that he finally had someone to carry on his legacy. As a result, Jiang Leiyan felt sour.
“Grandpa, when you say that, I don’t feel very comfortable.”
Grandpa Jiang said coolly, “Obviously, when you went back then, I said the same thing too.”
Grandma Jiang snickered. “He’s had someone to carry on his legacy four times already.”
“Xiaoyan, next time you come back, bring your grandpa a granddaughter-in-law. Then you’ll be his darling baby.”
Jiang Leiyan: “…”
Numb. Just hearing that was disgusting. Darling baby?
Xie Mingtu chimed in from the side, “Second Brother, good luck. Hurry up and get married.”
Jiang Leiyan felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart. What should he do? He suddenly wanted to fight his younger brother again.
“Xiaotu, Brother wishes you an early happy nineteenth birthday. Unfortunately, Brother is busy and can’t celebrate it with you. Let Grandpa and Grandma congratulate you instead. Our Xiaotu is finally nineteen. It really hasn’t been easy. Nineteen—still one year away from twenty. How emotional…” Jiang Leiyan deliberately stressed the word “nineteen,” making Xie Mingtu so angry his teeth itched.
He hated people mentioning his age the most now.
They were clearly hinting that he had not truly married Manman yet!
Su Xiaoman stood beside Grandma Jiang, holding her arm, laughing as the two brothers stabbed each other in the heart.
If Second Brother Jiang were not about to leave, the two of them probably really would have fought.
Second Brother Jiang was like this. She wondered what Eldest Brother Jiang’s personality was like. She had heard that the eldest and second brothers had a very good relationship and were also very similar. When the three brothers gathered together…
With three missing one, there would be no shortage of fights.
As Su Xiaoman laughed, she could not help imagining what it would have been like if Xie Mingtu had grown up in the Jiang family, following behind his two older brothers since childhood. He would definitely have been one of the three little tyrants of the compound.
Their parents would have worried themselves sick over the three of them.
And what would her and Xie Mingtu’s future child be like? She did not know whether they would have a daughter or a son. If it were a boy and he inherited this Xie dog’s nature, then climbing onto roofs, tearing off tiles, and making trouble would definitely be unavoidable…
Thinking of this, Su Xiaoman’s face flushed slightly. She and Xie Mingtu had clearly not yet become a real married couple. They had not even had intimate relations, yet she was already imagining their future children.
That was thinking far too ahead.
They went together to send Second Brother Jiang to the train station.
“When you have time, you must come visit Second Brother with your wife!”
“Second Brother is leaving now, Xiaotu. From now on, you’re the only darling baby left for Grandpa. Spend more time with Grandpa and Grandma together with Xiaoman.” At the moment of parting, even Second Brother Jiang, who hated sentimental nagging the most, could not help giving several reminders. After patting Xie Mingtu’s shoulder, he turned and walked toward the waiting room. As he walked, he looked back and waved at the three of them.
Su Xiaoman and the other two also raised their hands and waved.
After sending off Second Brother Jiang, they returned to the rest home. Grandpa Jiang once again dragged his youngest grandson out for a walk, introducing his new grandson to his old friends and comrades-in-arms.
Su Xiaoman stayed at home to accompany Grandma Jiang.
Grandpa Jiang was very strategic. He would first show off his biological grandson now, and after some time, he would show off his granddaughter-in-law. That way, he could obtain double the happiness.
The happiness of elderly people was just that plain and simple.
“Your grandpa is like a monkey child now. Today, the Old Wang next door even complained to me about him. He angered your Grandpa Wang quite badly…” Grandma Jiang held Su Xiaoman’s hand at home, smiling as she complained about Grandpa Jiang.
After living together for decades, only mutual disdain remained.
Extreme disdain.
Although her mouth was full of complaints, the smile on her face grew sweeter and sweeter.
Su Xiaoman smiled and said, “Grandma, Mingtu really is very much like Grandpa.”
She did not know how to describe the relationship between Grandpa Jiang and Xie Mingtu. In short, when this grandfather and grandson pair were together, they were simply birds of a feather—no, no, partners in crime—no, no, no. They simply had a plain and simple grandfather-grandson relationship.
“He is. He really is.” Grandma Jiang narrowed her eyes, recalling the past. When Old Jiang was young, he had also buzzed around her like a fly. Back then, he did not know how to speak much either; he only knew how to foolishly help her do things.
Unlike now. Now his mouth spared no one. If he did not nag at her a few times in front of them, he would not be Jiang Ruojun.
“Xiaoman, you have to keep him under control. I’m afraid that when he grows up, he’ll become like his grandpa, with a mouth that spares no one. Listening to him is annoying enough to make people angry.”
“Grandma, Grandpa does that because he loves you.”
Grandma Jiang could not help laughing out loud. “He’s trying to anger me. But Grandma becomes happy after talking to you children for a bit. You children are still the most lovable.”
Grandma Jiang stood up and found a small wooden box in the cabinet. She opened it in front of Su Xiaoman. Inside, wrapped in soft golden silk, was something precious: an emerald-green jade bracelet. Grandma Jiang slipped the bracelet onto Su Xiaoman’s wrist.
Su Xiaoman froze. “Grandma, this is…”
It was a jade bracelet, green all over, with a pure colour and excellent translucency. It was a top-quality jade bracelet. Jade was not worth that much at this time, but in the future, this bracelet would absolutely be worth no less than eight figures.
“It’s for you.”
“How can I accept this…”
Grandma Jiang gave her a reproachful look. “You are the granddaughter-in-law of our Jiang family. Of course it should be given to you. Grandma doesn’t have anything particularly good, but I still have to give you something as a token.”
“Xiaotu suffered too much when he was little. I hope that in the future, you’ll understand him more and be more tolerant of him. You two children must accompany each other well for the rest of your lives. If there are ever moments when you bicker, don’t take them too much to heart…” Grandma Jiang held her hand and rambled on softly.
“You didn’t see how anxious he gets over you. When his brother said he wasn’t twenty yet, his eyes turned red with anger. He wished he could tie you, his wife, firmly to his side. Grandma is giving you this bracelet to properly tie your hand to my youngest grandson’s side, so the two of you will never leave each other.”
Su Xiaoman’s eyes grew hot. She nodded. Yet when she thought of Xie Mingtu, she could not help smiling again.
“You must marry him and be his wife for a lifetime.”
Su Xiaoman nodded and held Grandma Jiang’s hand in return.
Grandma Jiang’s hand was already very aged. Only hard bones remained, with thin, dry skin wrapped around them like tree bark, but it was very warm.
Su Xiaoman hugged Grandma Jiang and rested her head on her shoulder. The two of them leaned close together affectionately.
Just as Xie Mingtu liked Grandpa Jiang, she also liked Grandma Jiang very much. From childhood until now, Su Xiaoman had always felt disgust toward the word “grandmother.” She had never experienced care from a grandmother before.
Now she finally felt it.
“Xiaotu, that child, has not had it easy. We elders have wronged him…”
Su Xiaoman shook her head and hugged Grandma Jiang.
“Grandma, Mingtu and I both like you.”
“In the future, will you and Xiaotu spend more time with Grandpa and Grandma?”
Su Xiaoman closed her eyes and said softly, “Yes.”
Second Brother had left. Before going to the train station, he had not even returned home for a look. It was only when Grandma Jiang called back that Xie Yazhi found out.
“He just left like that?” she murmured.
That second son of hers really was something. Did he not want to stay at home at all?
“Mm.” Grandma Jiang did not say much on the other end of the phone and hung up.
Besides her second son, Xie Yazhi also wanted to ask about that child’s situation, but Grandma Jiang said nothing over the phone.
She had heard some rumours, though. It was said that Grandpa Jiang liked that youngest grandson very much and had taken him to meet many friends. He even said this grandson resembled him the most, and after the New Year, he would send him to join the army, just like his other grandsons and granddaughters.
Xie Yazhi’s feelings were extremely complicated. Her eldest and second sons were soldiers, and they could not come home many times a year. There were not many chances for mother and sons to meet. When those two children were little, they had done nothing but make trouble, making her want to throw them out. But now, it was difficult even to see them once.
They could only exchange a few words through phone calls and letters.
Now her youngest son would also be like his two older brothers.
What else could she say? She could say nothing. She had originally thought she could keep one son by her side. Yet Jiang Yantang was not her child at all.
Xie Yazhi was mentally and physically exhausted, and she no longer cared what the people around her said.
Life still had to go on as usual. She also attended gatherings with her female friends, treating them as a way to relax. They were all people she normally got along well with. Since so many things had happened in her family recently, no one deliberately brought them up to embarrass her.
They talked about other things. People of a certain age, after chatting back and forth, still ended up talking about their children: whose child was doing what, whose child was studying at which university, what they had done after graduation…
In the past, at gatherings like this, Xie Yazhi’s ears were always filled with praise for her children, especially praise for her youngest son, Jiang Yantang. But today, perhaps to avoid touching her sore spot, no one mentioned her biological son, nor did anyone talk about Jiang Yantang.
They talked about other children instead.
Xie Yazhi listened from the side. After hearing a few more sentences, she suddenly froze. She suddenly realised that among these friends’ children, several were extremely outstanding. Some had already reached certain ranks in their work, while others had achieved quite a bit at a young age. One had just graduated and had already gone to the province to work as a journalist; the reports they wrote had even been praised by so-and-so…
As she listened, Xie Yazhi suddenly came back to her senses. In the past, these people had praised Jiang Yantang as if he were unique under heaven, always complimenting him in front of her, making her feel comfortable and satisfied.
But was Jiang Yantang really the most outstanding one?
He was not. Just among the children these friends were talking about now, there were many people more outstanding than Jiang Yantang. It was just that in the past, these mothers had rarely shown off their excellent children in front of Xie Yazhi. Only today, in order to cover up the awkward atmosphere, did they modestly mention their own children.
Xie Yazhi’s expression did not look very good.
Clearly, to her ears, these young people were already very outstanding. Yet the women shook their heads and said, “No, no, my child is just average.”
It was completely different from the way they had praised Jiang Yantang before.
“Your Yantang is the most outstanding.”
“Exactly. Who in the compound doesn’t praise him?”
“He will definitely achieve great things in the future! Yazhi, just wait to enjoy your blessings!”
…
But when asked exactly what made him outstanding, no one could really explain. Before, they had said he was exceptionally gifted and would surely achieve great things in the future. Now he was already eighteen or nineteen, and they were still saying the same thing: he would achieve great things.
What kind of achievements could he have?
Were his two biological older brothers not outstanding? Especially her eldest son, who was currently carrying out an urgent mission. Once he completed it successfully, he would be promoted again. And her second son too—he was also doing well. Who wouldn’t praise him after hearing about him?
Even though, in Xie Yazhi’s memory, they were still the two brothers who climbed onto roofs, tore off tiles, annoyed even the dogs, and caused her endless trouble when they were little—so much so that she could not help complaining whenever she mentioned them—they had already become upright, dependable men in their work.
They were no longer the two little tyrants who fought and caused trouble as children.
As their mother, it seemed she had still been looking at them with old eyes.
Only today did she suddenly realise that in front of these female friends, the ones truly worth boasting about were her eldest and second sons. In reality, only those two could compare with the children these women had been talking about just now.
They were the ones who had truly achieved something.
If not for her husband, and her promising eldest and second sons holding up the family’s reputation, how many people would willingly come before her to flatter her?
When the third child was little, he was weak, obedient, and sensible. He was the one she liked and doted on most. She had always felt that this child was the most outstanding. Whenever she spoke about her children in front of outsiders, she habitually said, “The eldest and second give me the most headaches. If only they could be even three or four tenths as good as Yantang.”
After she said such things often enough outside, others followed Xie Yazhi’s words and praised Jiang Yantang. Hearing that, Xie Yazhi naturally agreed even more, feeling that the eldest and second sons made her worry, and only the youngest was the clever and capable one.
But in reality, without her husband and his two older brothers, who would sincerely praise him?
They praised him as outstanding because he was the youngest son of the Jiang family and because Xie Yazhi valued him—not because of anything else.
How could Jiang Yantang compare to his eldest and second brothers? When his eldest and second brothers were his age, they had already…
Xie Yazhi fell silent.
At the gathering, Xie Yazhi did not say much. She only sat quietly to the side, listening, silently thinking about everything that had happened over the years, thinking about how she had raised someone else’s child and had even been so happy about it.
There was no one else to blame.
Xie Yazhi closed her eyes tiredly.
“Yazhi, when will you bring that child of yours for us to meet?” Finally, near the end, someone still asked. It was Sun Aiyuan, one of the female friends who usually got along quite well with her.
Xie Yazhi paused, then said with a normal expression, “That child is staying with his grandparents. When there’s time in the future, I’ll let everyone meet him.”
Seeing that Xie Yazhi’s expression remained normal, the others finally dared to mention that child. Quite a few of them even knew some inside information.
After all, most of them were family members within the military district, and some had elders living at the rest home, so they knew a little. At this moment, they could not help speaking up.
“That child is called Xiaotu. He’s so handsome. You didn’t see how proud Grandpa Jiang looked. I heard from my dad that he now takes his biological grandson around every day to meet his old comrades, wishing he could tell the whole world that he has gained another young grandson.”
“Really? His grandpa is that happy?”
“Of course. He even said this youngest grandson resembles him the most.”
“I saw him too when I went to my mother-in-law’s house that day. The one beside Old Chief Jiang, right? That child is really good-looking, even better-looking than his brothers.”
“I even chatted with him for a few sentences. His speaking voice is pleasant too!”
Xie Yazhi, who had originally been quietly listening to them talk, suddenly became excited.
“You’ve seen him? You even spoke to him?”
That person froze, then nodded. “Yes, just a couple of sentences.”
Xie Yazhi’s heart thumped wildly, and she felt a subtle sourness inside. She thought about how she herself had not even spoken many words to that child yet.
“What did you talk about?”
“Nothing much. Just ordinary greetings. Not long after, Old Chief Jiang called him away. His grandparents really like him.”
“Yazhi, you’re blessed to have gained such a good son.”
Xie Yazhi forced the corners of her mouth into a slight smile. “Is that so?”
Her mind drifted. In her head, she still remembered that day when the child had called her “Auntie Xie” in that clear, firm voice.
“Yes. That day, I heard my mother-in-law say that the old chief took his grandson to Uncle Wang’s house to perform reciting the dictionary. He angered Uncle Wang so badly he almost couldn’t eat. He kept saying, ‘Back then, you didn’t believe me and said I was lying. Now I’ll let my grandson recite it for you.’”
“He can recite an entire dictionary?”
“Really?” When the other women heard this, their attention was immediately drawn in. They said in surprise, “That memory is too good.”
“He’s clever. They said he can memorise it after reading it twice.”
“At our age now, if it were me, even if you made me read it hundreds of times, I still wouldn’t remember it.”
“Exactly. Yazhi, the three children you gave birth to really are all outstanding. As expected of your biological children.”
Xie Yazhi merely forced herself to keep smiling. She did not even know how she got home. Her heart was a tangled mess, and all kinds of sour, bitter, painful, and sharp feelings surged up at once.
For all these years, she had helped someone else raise a child. Yantang was also a good child and had given her many warm and joyful years of raising a son. She did not blame him. But her own child, that clever child with such a good memory, had been taken away by that countryside woman, burying his genius…
No wonder they all blamed her.
Xie Yazhi absolutely could not forgive the woman who had swapped away her child. If only she had been able to protect her child back then… then none of this would have happened now.
She clearly knew time could not be turned back, yet her mind could not help imagining it. If that child had grown up under her knees, he definitely would have followed his two older brothers and learned bad habits from them. Today, the eastern household would come to complain; tomorrow, the western household would come to complain. Every day, he would shout that he wanted to go to Grandpa’s house, to see planes and cannons…
The three children would have given her endless headaches. Her only daughter was also a tomboy, running into groups of boys with her short hair. Saying her family had four boys would not have been wrong. Ah, they would go to their grandfather’s house to play, and then the neighbour would come to complain again—her daughter had pulled down the trousers of Old Wang’s grandson next door.
The two older brothers, together with one younger brother, would appear from who knew which corner, their whole bodies tattered and dirty.
“Mum, Mum, my trousers are torn again!”
…
As she thought and thought, Xie Yazhi discovered that something hot had already rolled down her cheeks.
When her husband Jiang Liming came home today, Xie Yazhi was silent and barely spoke. Jiang Liming, however, took the initiative to comfort her with a few words.
“Xiaotu is doing well at his grandfather’s place. Our mother really likes Xiaoman, that beautiful granddaughter-in-law. Whenever she goes out, she wants to bring her granddaughter-in-law with her. Today, someone from Old Zhang’s family saw our mother and daughter-in-law going to the market to buy vegetables. They said they bought quite a lot of sauces, dried tangerine peel, and star anise. They said this daughter-in-law of mine is very skilled at cooking, and our father is very satisfied eating the dishes she makes…”
Jiang Liming slowly told his wife the few things he knew.
Only, when mentioning that daughter-in-law, Jiang Liming himself felt a little dazed. He had not expected that, by now, all the children had grown up. Originally, the eldest had not married, the second was also still a bachelor with no telling when he would take a fancy to some girl, and as for the others, there was even less to say.
Now, suddenly, a daughter-in-law had appeared. This feeling…
Jiang Liming suddenly realised: was he about to hold a grandson soon? Time passed so quickly. In the blink of an eye, the children had all grown up. Even his youngest son had started a family.
It was just that his eldest brother, second brother, and third sister had not married yet, and he alone had got ahead of them. Although he was married, unfortunately, there was no certificate. This child was not even twenty yet and was still in the prime of youth.
Late marriage and late childbirth were now being promoted, but the youngest in their family had clearly failed to keep up with this trend.
Xie Yazhi was very happy to hear this and wanted him to say more. Unfortunately, Jiang Liming did not know much. In just a few sentences, he had already explained everything.
“And you still say son and daughter-in-law. They call you Uncle Jiang,” Xie Yazhi said reproachfully.
“Take a day off sometime and go to Grandpa and Grandma’s house to bring them back.”
Jiang Liming raised his brows. “The retirement home isn’t far. Why don’t you go yourself?”
“How do you know I haven’t gone?” Xie Yazhi had secretly gone to look at that child and had called out to him once, but he had not responded. He was very stubborn and did not put her, his mother, in his eyes at all.
“If you went, then you should know. He really doesn’t want to acknowledge us. Knowing that the child is doing well, we as parents should be happy. Our dad especially likes him. Let him spend more time with Dad and Mum.”
Xie Yazhi thought, don’t we parents also need our child to accompany us? This was her first time being a mother-in-law, yet she had only seen her daughter-in-law a few times. Now, she no longer minded the things Su Xiaoman had said to her before. She was simply anxious inside, not knowing how to get along with these two children.
In the end, she was still their mother.
“It will soon be their birthdays. Call him back to have a meal. All these years, we as parents have never celebrated a single birthday for him. Invite his grandparents over too.”
Jiang Liming pursed his lips and asked, “Celebrate the birthday for both children in the family together?”
Xie Yazhi: “…”
“Since you kept Yantang, don’t hurt that child’s heart either.”
Xie Yazhi smiled miserably. “It’s my heart that was hurt. Earlier, he even pleaded with me on Sun Mei’s behalf. That woman swapped away my child and treated my child like that. I hate her. I can’t possibly forgive her.”
“At that time, I took my anger out on him.”
“After that, he didn’t say those things again. But I still feel uncomfortable inside. I keep wondering whether, in the future, he’ll resent me for treating his biological mother this way.”
“After all, she is his biological mother.”
“He speaks less in front of me now too.”
Jiang Liming closed his eyes, then sighed along with her. Things had developed to this point, and he still did not know how they could end in a satisfactory way.
**Nomad: It’s great that she’s finally coming to the realisation of how hurtful her actions and words were. Hopefully, she can take responsibility and apologise to him properly.
I’d love to see some kind of relationship develop between the MMC and his mother, but at the same time, I don’t think the mother should heartlessly abandon Jiang Yantang either. She raised him as her son for so many years, so they can’t just expect her to cut ties with him overnight. What she really needs to do is reflect on her biased behaviour and change how she treats them.
For me, it’s kind of like adopting a child because you think you can’t have biological children, then suddenly having a biological child and cutting off the adopted one. I would honestly hate that. Plus, none of this is Jiang Yantang’s fault. The blame should be on Sun Mei. And honestly, he shouldn’t forgive Sun Mei either.
Am I bad for thinking that?**
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