Chapter 10: Return

The postman looked at the old lady in astonishment. Every time he had seen Han-laotaitai in the past, she was always in high spirits, looking as radiant and animated as if she had just met Chairman Mao.

Why was she suddenly crying and shouting so unmindful of her image now? "Auntie, what are you..."

Han-laotaitai had forgotten everything else. She only thought that her son had a change of heart and betrayed her, actually sending the money to his xifu instead of her.

It was simply as if the sky had fallen!

She couldn't accept this reality.

Forgetting her image and dignity, she just slapped her thighs and wailed loudly, "He sent it to me every time, why did he change his mind this time? He's been manipulated by his laopo threatening suicide! Sons truly forget their niang once they have a xifu! Unfilial son ah, I don't want to live anymore! Don't stop me, I'll smash my head and die too..."

The postman, who traveled through streets and alleys and had seen a lot, knew at a glance that she was all talk and no action. He burst out laughing. "I say, Auntie Han, what kind of play are you putting on? It's not a remittance, it's a package from the hospital."

He took out a small parcel.

Hearing it wasn't a remittance, Han-laotaitai thought, Then my son didn't betray me?

A parcel? What was it?

She sprang up and reached out to grab it, her nimble movements no different from a young person's. "What parcel, give it to me."

"That won't do, Auntie. The sender said it must be handed to Comrade Lin Lan personally."

Han-laotaitai was unhappy and muttered, "She's my erxifu, what's hers is mine. Why can't I take it? Is it medicine for my grandson?"

The postman looked at it. "Glasses."

"Glasses?"

Xiaowang wearing glasses?

Han-laotaitai bristled even more. What kind of farming family wears glasses? He's not a teacher, isn't this crazy?

"She's not home, it's the same if I take it back."

The old lady refused to believe in this heresy. As long as it entered this door, it was hers!

However, Little Dong refused. After all, Doctor Yang had specifically instructed that it must be handed to Lin Lan and absolutely could not let her popo touch it.

This made the old lady lose face. She realized that anything involving the third branch's wife brought no good. She snorted, "Fine, a broken pair of glasses, a good person wouldn't wear them anyway. Say, Little Dong, where is our laosan's remittance slip?"

She was so angry she almost forgot the main business.

The postman shook his head. "Auntie Han, there's no remittance for you today."

"Impossible!"

The old lady refused to believe it and leaned over to look at the notebook hanging on Little Dong's handlebars.

Little Dong: Acting as if you can read.

Soon, Lin Lan returned from work. Ignoring the old lady glaring at her, she pressed her fingerprint to receive the glasses, thanked Little Dong, and went home to find Xiaowang.

Han-laotaitai absolutely didn't believe the remittance hadn't arrived. She grabbed Little Dong, refusing to let him leave, and demanded an explanation.

Han-dasao, who had come home to cook, also advised her, "Niang, maybe it just hasn't arrived yet."

Han-laotaitai, however, had an ominous premonition. Feeling uneasy, she insisted on asking Little Dong what was going on.

Little Dong knew she valued this money more than her own life. To avoid getting implicated, he pretended not to know and absolutely refused to get involved in their family affairs.

He firmly gripped the handlebars and swung his leg over. "Auntie, look, I still have a lot of letters to deliver. I'm leaving now."

Exerting force with his feet, he sped away with a whoosh, his desire to survive incredibly strong.

Han-laotaitai muttered doubtfully a few times and had no choice but to go home.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Lin Lan on the kang in the east wing, helping Xiaowang try on the glasses.

Lin Lan looked at the glasses. The material was truly good, and the craftsmanship was exquisite. It was indeed worth the high price.

"Xiaowang, come, niang will put them on for you."

Xiaowang obediently closed his eyes.

Lin Lan put them on him and couldn't help but smile. "It's not glaring, open them."

Xiaowang slowly opened his eyes. Light passed through the lenses into his eyes, bringing him natural colors.

Previously, although he could see things, they were blurry, as if looking through a fog. He couldn't even see things right in front of him clearly. Coupled with others mocking him as a fool and a blind boy, and his biological niang disliking him, he was even more afraid to look closely. Over time, psychological issues combined with physical ones made his eye condition increasingly severe.

The last time they went to the hospital, the old doctor had adjusted them, applied acupuncture to a few spots, and prescribed eye drops. His condition had already improved somewhat.

Now, wearing the glasses, the fog seemed to have been blown away by the wind, and his vision was clear and bright.

He saw a pair of beautiful eyes, black and white distinct, gentle and smiling. They were like the March wind gently blowing across his cheeks, like the morning sun warming him, like fine drizzle moistening him. They even made him feel as comfortable as the sounds he heard in the wind when he closed his eyes...

Niang is so pretty!

He stared at Lin Lan unblinkingly, as if he could never see enough. He called out "Niang," hugged Lin Lan's neck, rubbed against her, and let out a satisfied grunt like a little beast.

This sudden hugging without a word... Lin Lan still wasn't used to it.

She let Xiaowang hug her for a while before pulling his little hands down and straightening the skewed glasses. "Wear them for half a day, then take them off to rest your eyes. Niang will pick some wild chrysanthemums, dry them in the sun, and boil water to wash your eyes later."

Xiaowang agreed obediently.

"Once you can see clearly, you can go to school." Lin Lan was very happy for him.

Xiaowang was still young and hadn't been too severely affected, so sending him straight to school would be fine.

"What school? Everyone thinks they're the reincarnation of the God of Literature. Why don't they take a piss and look at their own reflection." Han-laotaitai was full of anger and vented it whenever she got the chance.

At this time, the children all came back. Seeing Xiaowang's glasses, they all said they looked nice, asked how much they cost, and wanted to try them on.

Lin Lan: "Xiaowang's glasses are specially made. If you wear them, your eyes will get ruined. No."

Sanwang was unconvinced and insisted on trying them on. As a result, as soon as he put them on, he felt dizzy and his vision blurred. He immediately let out a loud cry and fell to the ground. "Aiyaya, my head hurts. Master, stop chanting... stop chanting... your disciple knows his mistake."

"Hahaha." The children burst out laughing.

Maisui laughed so hard her stomach hurt, leaning on Lin Lan's leg unable to get up.

Lin Lan casually picked up a comb with missing teeth and a broken handle to comb her messy hair, then told Sanwang to get up quickly. "You're so dramatic. The ground is cold, get up quickly."

Erwang pulled Sanwang up. "Like a loach, slippery as can be."

Sanwang giggled. "I'm clearly a little fish, why do you call me a loach? Loaches are ugly."

Lin Lan looked outside. "Where is your dage?"

Erwang immediately put on an "I don't know, don't ask me" expression.

Sanwang rushed to say, "I know, he's fighting with Tiezhu in the fields."

Lin Lan: This brat!

If people didn't know she was a shrew, the other parents would be coming to their door every day.

She wanted to find a chance to chat with Dawang, at least to let him know that his niang was changing. Unfortunately, Dawang didn't give her the chance.

Ever since she showed the intention of wanting to chat with him, he avoided his biological niang like the plague, as if the wolf had come.

Lin Lan also felt powerless. It seemed breaking the ice still required effort.

Outside, the old lady was making a fuss. "Where's laoer, is laoer back yet? Hurry and borrow a bike from the brigade to take me to the county post office! Hurry, I have to get the money back quickly. My eyelid keeps twitching, I just feel uneasy."

Her premonition was not good.

When it came to money, the old lady couldn't wait a single second.

However, even riding a bicycle, they wouldn't be back until evening, so Han-erge would have to ask for leave.

Seeing them busy, Lin Lan naturally wouldn't volunteer a confession. She just pondered how to deal with the old lady.

After lunch, Lin Lan went to work, but Han-ersao claimed she had a headache and asked for leave to rest at home.

Because Xiaowang had glasses, he refused to play at home and insisted on going with Sanwang and Erwang to cut grass. Lin Lan instructed the older brothers to take good care of their younger brother and let them go.

Although Erwang was scheming, he was careful, so she felt at ease letting him watch the child.

County Post Office.

Han-laotaitai leaned on the counter, staring eagerly at the staff member's hands.

When she heard the other party say that someone named Lin Lan had already withdrawn the 260 yuan a few days ago, her anxious heart plummeted straight to the bottom, shattering into eight pieces with a crack.

"Niang ah! This bastard xifu ah, she truly has the audacity to cover the sky—"

Before she could raise her pitch, slap her thighs, and wail, Han-erge quickly supported her. "Niang, why are you still shouting? Let's hurry home and make her bring the money back."

This third branch's wife—he always thought she was stupid and troublesome, but he never expected her to be so scheming, actually secretly withdrawing the money without leaking a single word.

Han-laotaitai originally wanted to cry a bit, but hearing her son say this, she didn't even care to visit her son and daughter. She hurried home as if stepping on wind and fire wheels.

On the way, she gritted her teeth fiercely, vowing that once she got home, she would definitely do this and that to that shrew...

...

At dusk, Lin Lan returned from work.

Hot, tired, sore, and with her hair standing on end—this was her direct feeling after going to the cotton fields to catch insects. She truly couldn't do manual labor or "repair the earth."

Anyway, everyone avoided her, and she didn't need to wrong herself to please others, so she went straight home after work.

As she was walking, she suddenly heard crying, scolding, fighting, and the wailing of children.

Every household lived in single-story courtyard houses. Loud talking could be heard by neighbors, let alone crying and making a fuss.

Whose family was so unrefined, beating children when it wasn't raining or snowing?

After pondering for a minute, Lin Lan realized belatedly: It's my own family!

She didn't expect that even when she, the shrew, wasn't home, a fight could still break out in the family.

She quickly ran home. "What are you doing? What can't be said properly, why must you... Wang Xiufen, why are you hitting my son!"

She saw Han-ersao holding a pitch-black fire poker, pulling Sanwang's slender arm and thrashing him indiscriminately.

Maisui was tangled in a fight with Han-ersao's guinv. Erwang followed Han-dasao around the courtyard, trying to persuade this one and that one, shouting, "Stop fighting, stop fighting!"

Where was Xiaowang?

Lin Lan quickly scanned the area and saw Xiaowang lying on the ground outside the west room's window, his face covered in blood!

Her heart instantly felt a needle-like pain. Damn it! Beating my child while I'm not home, you think you're capable, huh.

Pulling hair and scratching faces wasn't Lin Lan's style, and she didn't waste words. She pulled a stick from the haystack at the base of the south wall, raised her hand, and whipped it toward Han-ersao with a swish.

"I'll let you hit my child, I'll let you hit him!"

............

Han-ersao was passionately thrashing Sanwang when she was suddenly struck by a stick, letting out an "ow" of pain.

Lin Lan didn't make a sound, continuing to whip her with the poplar stick as thick as a rolling pin. Aren't you capable? Hit him!

After two strikes, she dropped Han-ersao and ran toward Xiaowang.

Han-ersao, however, thought Lin Lan had gone mad and was going to beat her to death. Terrified, she jumped up and ran. In her panic, she chose the wrong path and crashed headfirst into the wall of the outhouse in the southwest corner.

With a "bang," golden stars danced before Han-ersao's eyes, and her mind went blank.

Her head felt a bit painful, a bit itchy, and a bit numb. She raised her hand to scratch it and felt something sticky. Taking it down to look, "Blood, ah—"

"I'm bleeding, my head is broken, I'm going to die!"

Then she felt a coolness on her forehead, something flowing down, and instantly her vision turned red.

"Ah—"

Han-ersao's whole body went soft. She twisted and fell to the ground, unable to get up no matter how hard she tried, feeling certain she was going to die.

The adults and children making a fuss in the courtyard were all shocked. Han-dasao hurriedly said, "Aiya, this is terrible, don't die from the crash."

Han-ersao's children also stopped fighting and quickly ran over to check on their niang.

Han-dasao hurriedly instructed the older children to call the barefoot doctor to bandage the wound.

Lin Lan ignored her and quickly picked Xiaowang up, telling the dazed Maisui and the others to fetch water.

"Niang~" Xiaowang frowned and called out.

Lin Lan quickly responded, "Where does Xiaowang feel uncomfortable? Are you dizzy?"

She checked him over. There was a large bump on Xiaowang's head, and the blood on his face was from a scraped nose that had bled a lot, which had now clotted on its own.

Xiaowang said weakly, "Niang, I'm fine."

Erwang took the water basin from Maisui's hands. "Niang, quickly wash Xiaowang."

Lin Lan scooped water and gently washed the blood off Xiaowang's face, terrified of hurting him.

Xiaowang, however, was quite happy. "Niang, I don't hurt~"

The more sensible the child was, the more Lin Lan's heart ached. Such a small child, already anemic, and now bleeding so much. How pitiful.

As she was washing him, Han-laotaitai arrived at the door. Without waiting for Han-erge to park the bicycle, she jumped off and stumbled into the house.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, her gaze locked onto Lin Lan, like a lioness locking onto her prey, seeing no one else.

"You thief, you bad element!" Han-laotaitai's teeth ached with anger. She snatched the pitch-black fire poker from the ground, lunged at Lin Lan, and brought it down on her head and face.

As she hit, she cursed, "You thief, bad element, jinx, spendthrift! I'll let you steal money! You're so capable, you even dared to go behind my back to withdraw money! Get out, roll back to your niangjia, our old Han family cannot afford to keep you!"

Unable to dodge in time, Lin Lan, terrified of Xiaowang getting hit, could only use her body to shield him. The stick struck her arms, shoulders, and back, the pain causing her tears to flow uncontrollably.

Sanwang quickly protected Lin Lan, Maisui cried in fear on the side, and Erwang ran over to pull the old lady. "Don't hit, don't hit my niang!"

Han-laotaitai, however, acted as if she had gone mad.

"Are you done!" Lin Lan was furious. Enduring the beating, she forcefully snatched the fire poker away.

Han-dasao was so frightened she quickly called out to her, "Third branch's wife, you can't hit niang!"

...

A tractor stopped on the south road, and a tall, upright man jumped down. He was dressed in a military uniform and carried a half-person-tall military backpack.

He waved to the driver, adjusted the shoulder straps of his backpack, and strode toward Shanzucun.

People watching asked each other who it was.

"Aiya, isn't that Old Brother Han's third son?"

"Yes, yes, Qingsong is back!"

At this moment, several children ran out of the alley in a panic, standing on the street and shouting, "Somebody come quickly, my san-niangniang has gone mad, she's going to hack my niang and my mama to death—"

Han Qingsong's vigorous steps suddenly grew a bit heavier.

...

In the small courtyard, Lin Lan held the fire poker, her own arms and shoulders burning with pain. She glared at Han-laotaitai, ultimately feeling it was inappropriate to hit an old woman.

She fiercely snapped the fire poker in half and threw it to the ground with a smack.

Han-laotaitai was certain Lin Lan wouldn't dare hit her. Over the years, no matter how much the third branch's wife fussed, it was nothing more than crying, making veiled insults, and tormenting herself. She truly had never dared to directly curse the old lady, let alone hit her.

"Hurry up and give me the money! Otherwise..." She turned around but couldn't find her second son, shouting angrily, "Laoer, where did you die off to? Hurry and send a telegram to laosan, tell him to come back quickly and divorce his laopo! Tie her up for me, struggle against her! This parasite of a socialist family, bad element, traitor!"

As soon as Han-erge entered the door, before he could even speak, he was ordered by his dasao to take Han Wang Xiufen to the clinic, so he wasn't present at the moment.

"Eldest branch's wife, why aren't you getting the rope!" Han-laotaitai's throat was almost on fire.

Han-dasao looked at this one and that one in a difficult position, and had no choice but to advise Lin Lan, "Third branch's wife, why did you go withdraw the money? Hurry and return it to niang, that's the family's life-saving money."

Han-laotaitai was dizzy, her vision blurred, and her ears ringing. She spun around looking for a stick to hit Lin Lan. "You've grown capable, huh! I thought you were stupid and foolish, who knew you were so damn cunning inside! You even knew to steal the marriage certificate to withdraw money!"

"How can taking my own marriage certificate be called stealing? How can withdrawing the remittance my man gave me be called stealing?"

She stood up and was about to take Xiaowang back into the room.

"Take out the money!"

"Money? It's all spent," Lin Lan put on an innocent look. "How could two hundred be enough? Treating Xiaowang's eyes will cost at least a thousand yuan, I still owe seven or eight hundred..."

"Ah—you spendthrift old woman—I'll fight you to the death!" Han-laotaitai's sky had fallen. She let out a loud cry, bent over, and charged headfirst toward Lin Lan.

How could Lin Lan let her hit her? She quickly dodged, only to see Han-laotaitai unable to stop her momentum and crash toward the wall of the east wing.

If she hit it, her head would probably be broken and bleeding. Lin Lan subconsciously pushed her, making her change direction and fall toward the south, preventing her from crashing into the wall and getting seriously injured.

"Aiyowei!" Han-laotaitai plunged headfirst toward the ground.

In a flash of lightning, a pair of sturdy, powerful hands supported her, preventing her from rolling on the ground like a candied haw.

The newcomer was dressed in a green military uniform, his face stern and cold. Though travel-worn, it couldn't conceal his heroic bearing.

The old lady immediately burst into loud wails. "Laosan ah, if you were a step later, you wouldn't have seen your niang anymore! Your niang was about to be beaten to death by your shrewish laopo!"

"Quick, hurry up and send her back to Linjiatun! Our old Han family cannot afford to keep her—"

What a coincidence for him to come back!

Lin Lan raised an eyebrow and glared over dissatisfied, only to crash right into a pair of pitch-black eyes. That gaze was as sharp as a falcon's, making one not dare to look directly at it.