Chunniang helped her mother-in-law sit down on the edge of the kang, twisting her fingers and mumbling: "We still have eggs at home, you two should keep these for your health..."
It’s not easy for everyone these days, let alone I haven’t given birth yet, so how can I ask for my sister-in-law’s eggs
Jiang Liu gave her a blank look, took off her shoes, got on the kang, and sat cross-legged.
"Your family has its own things. Your sister-in-law is so kind, how can you refuse her? Besides, this is your first pregnancy, and you have twins, so you need to eat more to replenish your body."
Xu lowered her head and listened quietly to the instructions.
Jiang Liu got angry when she saw her third daughter-in-law was silent. She counted on her fingers and began to lecture her: "Look at you, you are pregnant, don't stay at home all the time. Move your legs and feet more often, and the delivery will be smoother."
Chunniang wanted to argue that she didn't stay at home all the time, but she was afraid to interrupt and upset her mother-in-law, so she had to hold back.
Jiang Liu continued, "You don't have to do any heavy work. Sanlang will be there for you. If you need anything, just go to the front and call your elder sister-in-law and second sister-in-law. They will always help you."
Faced with her mother-in-law's kindness, Chunniang was somewhat moved and responded softly, "Yes, mother."
Jiang Liu sat upright, spitting and giving a long lecture. Seeing that Chunniang was always obedient and not like to talk back like the second daughter-in-law, she felt much more relieved. Years of depression were also diluted by the third daughter-in-law's pregnancy.
The old lady tapped the tip of Xiaoyingbao's nose and said gently, "And you, don't let your mother hold you anymore. Be careful not to squeeze the little brother in your mother's belly."
Seeing her grandmother talking about her, Yingbao smiled at her, "Grandma, be good, I don't want to be held, I want you to hold me!"
"Oh my, the good kid can call grandma now."
Seeing the little baby so sensible and able to understand what people say, Jiang Liu was overjoyed. She touched the baby's head and said lovingly, "Grandma is old and can't hold Yingbao anymore. Can I let your sister hold you later?"
"Yes!" Yingbao nodded rapidly, "Sister, hug me!"
There are several boys in my eldest uncle's family and my second uncle's family, but only two girls, namely Da Ni from my eldest uncle's family and Er Ni from my second uncle's family, one is nine years old and the other is six years old.
In my previous life, before I was five years old, I often ran around following my two cousins.
They picked up lichens, collected firewood, cut pig food, and played house with mud together, having a lot of fun.
But those beautiful memories came to an abrupt end when the Chen family arrived.
"Okay, grandma will let your sister come and hold you." Jiang Liu touched Yingbao's forehead and said to her daughter-in-law, "Pack some clothes for Yingbao and take her to the front yard. Let your sister-in-law help take care of her and you should take good care of the baby."
"Ah?" Xu Chunniang declined immediately upon hearing this, "Why should I trouble my sister-in-law? Yingbao is very well behaved. I, I can take care of her myself. It's not a big deal." She couldn't bear to hand Yingbao over to others, not even her sister-in-law.
"Whatever you want."
Jiang Liu glanced at her third daughter-in-law, and felt that she had explained everything she needed to, so she got off the kang, put on her shoes, patted her clothes, and walked out, saying as she walked:
"If you can't find it someday, go to the front and call Dani and ask her to help look after it. I'm going back. Be careful about everything and don't climb up or else you'll hurt yourself."
"I know, mother."
After seeing her mother-in-law off, Xu Chunniang sighed.
Thinking of her mother-in-law's advice to move around more so that she could have a baby, she reached out and hugged her daughter, "Yingbao, would you like to go outside with me to see the peach blossoms?"
Yingbao remembered her grandmother's instructions and didn't dare let her mother hold her.
Shaking her head and pushing her mother's hand away, Yingbao twisted her butt and slid off the kang, then she handed her little hand to her mother to hold.
A peach tree was in full bloom at the gate of the courtyard, and pink petals fluttered all over the ground.
The mother and daughter walked around for a few rounds and rested under a peach tree.
Yingbao held onto a large rock under the tree and raised her butt to pick peach blossoms, while Xu Chunniang sat beside her embroidering tiger-head shoe uppers.
Aunt Wang from next door also came over with a basket of needlework, sat down on a small stool under the tree, stared at the tiger-head shoes in Chunniang's hand, rolled her eyes, and made small talk: "Oh, you are making shoes for Yingbao."
"Yeah." Xu Chunniang didn't want to pay attention to Aunt Wang Er. This woman had often talked about her in public in the past.
Aunt Wang ignored Xu Chunniang's indifference and said mysteriously, "Chunniang, let me tell you something strange."
Xu Chunniang glanced at her and asked, "What's the matter?"
Aunt Wang moved the stool towards Xu Chunniang and kept her in suspense. "Didn't the daughter-in-law of the Zheng family in Chen Village give birth a year ago? They invited Aunt Wu from Xichen Village to deliver the baby. Guess what happened?"
"What?"
Aunt Wang smiled, glanced in Yingbao's direction, and whispered, "I heard from Aunt Wu that Chen Changping's wife in West Village gave birth to another daughter."
Without even raising her eyelids, Xu Chunniang said unhappily, "What's wrong with giving birth to a daughter? There's nothing strange about that."
"Hey! It's nothing unusual, but since Chen Erlang's mother gave birth, I've never seen her take the baby out of the house."
Chunniang stopped sewing and looked up at me. "What's wrong with not going out?"
Aunt Wang covered her mouth and chuckled, "Some people say that his family gave their daughter away."
Chunniang's heart skipped a beat and she frowned.
"Oh, who can I give it to?" Aunt Wang kept glancing at Yingbao, "Who has the spare money to support someone else's daughter?"
Chunniang's face darkened. "Second Aunt, what do you mean?"
Aunt Wang Er smiled and said, "I just said it casually, don't take it too seriously. Yingbao was picked up by your Sanlang from outside, what does she have to do with Chen Changping's family? Chen Er is an educated man after all, and his family has enough food and drink, so how could he do such a thing as abandoning a child, don't you think?"
As he said this, he winked: "However, Chen Changping's mother told others that the little girl was weak when she was born and died the next day."
Gone? Chunniang felt relieved.
"Oh, people are two-faced. You can say whatever you want. I don't know which one is true and which one is false."
Aunt Wang said as she sorted out the wires, "But Aunt Wu, who was the midwife, said that the baby cried loudly that day and didn't seem to be weak in any way.
Tsk tsk tsk, if it wasn't for the weak body, how could the child die out of nowhere? Oh, I dare not think about it. In this year, it's not like they are short of food and clothing, who can be so cruel as to throw away their own baby. "
Chunniang pursed her lips and said nothing.
Xiao Yingbao, who was picking peach blossoms, turned around to glance at Aunt Wang Er, her heart in turmoil.
In the previous life, Chen Changping's family insisted that the child was thrown into the back mountain because he was weak and had stopped breathing, and that he was not abandoned intentionally.
Therefore, the government directly sentenced her to return to her family, and Chen Changping paid the Jiang family two taels of silver as child support.
I remember that when I was forcibly taken away, my parents' eyes were red from crying.
It was also because of that lawsuit that the Jiang family and Chen Changping's family completely fell out.
Yingbao rubbed her nose and pulled her sleeves down.
This birthmark was the ironclad evidence that Chen Changping and the midwife used to confirm her identity. They must have found a way to get rid of it before she was three years old.
…
In the evening, Xu Chunniang told her husband what Aunt Wang had said during the day, and said worriedly, "Do you think Yingbao is really Chen Changping's child?"
Jiang Sanlang remained silent for a long while before he said, "So what if she's his? He has already lost his daughter, can he still get her back?"
"But..." Chunniang pulled her daughter closer to her, and said in a low voice, "I feel uneasy and uneasy."
Jiang Sanlang held his wife's hand and comforted her, "Don't let your imagination run wild. When I found Yingbao, no one was around to see her. Who can prove that the child is from Chen Changping's family? Besides, they threw the child away in a graveyard, which clearly shows that they didn't want her to live. How could they find her again after such a long time?"
"Yeah." Xu Chunniang felt slightly relieved.
He closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them again, "Sanlang, you didn't tell anyone where Yingbao got it from, did you?"
Jiang Sanlang nodded, "I'm not stupid. Since I've decided to keep Yingbao, how can I tell the truth to others?"
"That's good." Xu Chunniang leaned her head on her husband's arms and whispered, "If, if someone really comes to claim Yingbao in the future, you can say that you found it in Xiaonan Mountain."
One is in the south and the other is in the north, with a distance of about ten miles between them.
"good."
The couple was speechless for a moment.
Chunniang suddenly remembered something and said anxiously, "Sanlang, Yingbao has a birthmark on her wrist. Do you think that family will use the birthmark to make trouble?"
Jiang Sanlang frowned, and after a long while he said, "Then let's not let others see her birthmark."
"But," Chunniang was worried, "it's okay in cool weather, but I'm afraid that summer won't be able to hide it."
How can a child wear long sleeves in summer? Even if she were to wear them, she wouldn't be able to wear them. Can't she pull them off herself? Oh.
"Don't think about it. Go to sleep. There will always be a way out." Jiang Sanlang comforted his wife, "Chen Changping is a scholar after all. He still needs to save face. We didn't steal Yingbao. If he wants it back, he has to be reasonable."
Chunniang was depressed and didn't say anything.