Chapter 19: Snatching It Back

 

Han Qingsong halted his steps. His stern, cold gaze swept over the women and children filling the courtyard before finally landing on Han-dasao.

Han-dasao felt utterly humiliated, wishing she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into. She smiled awkwardly, "Laosan, it's... it's nothing like that. It's just that niang said we'd improve our meals today, and she had us cook earlier so it wouldn't delay work. We didn't expect the children to get greedy and start eating early without waiting for you all. Look, even die hasn't eaten yet; he went ahead to work."

Han Qingsong's face was as dark as deep water. He didn't utter a word, but his deep eyes were terrifyingly frigid, his lips pressed into a tight, straight line.

Xiaowang quickly ran over and grabbed his niang's hand. Lin Lan stuffed a flatbread into it, then proceeded to distribute the rest of the flatbreads from the basket among the children, telling them to eat one and pocket another.

Just then, Sanwang ran in from outside. Looking confused, he asked, "Why did you guys all leave without calling me? Has my dage come home? Oh my, you guys are eating already! There's mixed-flour flatbread!"

Lin Lan immediately handed him two flatbreads; this boy had a big appetite.

Sanwang chuckled, flashing his little canine teeth. "Niang, why is my mama so generous today? Before, she was always too reluctant to let our family eat anything good."

Hearing Sanwang's innocent, guileless words, Han Qingsong felt as if needles were piercing his heart. An indescribably bitter taste filled him.

Although he knew his niang and his wife didn't get along and often argued over money, he had never imagined that the family's meals were divided into rigid hierarchies, with his own wife and children being fed the absolute worst.

In particular, Lin Lan's comment about "pig slop" deeply stung him.

In the past, she had only made a fuss about him coming home and giving her the money; she had never mentioned any of this. Then again, they rarely saw each other. Whenever he was back, all sorts of aunts, relatives, and neighbors would crowd around looking for him, leaving him with zero opportunities to speak privately with her. Even when they finally had a few moments at night, she would either complain or avoid him completely, leaving him at a loss for how to interact with her.

A profound sense of guilt suddenly washed over him. Perhaps changing professions was the right choice after all. In serving his country, he had neglected his family. He hadn't thought much of it before—after all, it was a soldier's duty. But upon returning home and seeing his wife and children suffering such grievances, he realized that now that he was laying down his military duties, he was simply the man of this household.

He needed to protect them and give them a better life.

He walked into the main room and faced the doorway of the east room, asking, "Niang, was this your idea?"

Han-laotaitai felt slightly guilty at first, muttering defensively, "Don't listen to her spewing nonsense. Since when is anyone eating two different meals? Go ask your dasao. When she makes wild vegetable steamed buns, doesn't she eat them too? Which child doesn't eat them? Stop listening to that shrew blindly squawking all day long; she can't bear to let things rest for even a single day."

As she spoke, she gathered her confidence and began to scold, "What's this? What's this? Do you dare suspect your niang now? Interrogating your own niang? What do you take your biological mother for? A spy?! Why don't you just arrest me right now! I gave birth to you and raised you, and now I'm the one in the wrong?!"

Faced with her completely unreasonable and manipulative tantrum, the warmth in Han Qingsong's eyes faded even further into a chilly indifference.

Due to his status and position as a son, he truly couldn't do anything directly to the old lady. Seeing this, Lin Lan let out a cough and also started sniffing and wiping away aggrieved tears.

Maisui suddenly burst into tears. "All day long it's 'that shrew, that shrew!' Why do you always curse my niang like that? Was my niang wrong?! You just refuse to feed us! You send all the good stuff to the county town for my xiaogu and xiaoshu. They get to eat white flour every day over there! My xiaoshu even rides a bicycle to eat at restaurants, and my xiaogu wears a wristwatch, showing it off all day long. Every few days, she even makes me go wash her clothes. Not just hers, but her classmates' clothes too! She wants to curry favor with the principal's daughter, but why should I be the one washing their clothes?!"

With her crying out her grievances, Erwang also launched into his own accusations.

"Sanwang is right, my mama just refuses to let us eat. When we had dumplings for the New Year, the leftovers my xiaogu and xiaoshu couldn't finish were saved for them to eat the next morning, while the rest of us only got four or five each. That meat and white flour clearly included our shares too, so why didn't you let us eat it?"

"My niang said she needed money to take Xiaowang to the doctor, but you refused to give it to her. If you had, would my niang have been forced to resort to that trick of hers? Last winter, when Xiaowang had a fever, she asked you for one yuan to get him an injection. What did you say? You said 'There are so many children, what's so rare about one getting sick? Do you really think he's some precious treasure?' You tossed my niang two cents to dismiss her! You told us there was no money, but for the New Year, you bought my xiaogu a pair of leather shoes worth ten yuan! You even spent five yuan just to buy the industrial coupons for them!"

Erwang was meticulous and observant. He remembered every single incident crystal clear and laid them out with sharp, undeniable logic.

Xiaowang looked from one person to another. His little mouth puckered, and he too began to bawl loudly.

Sanwang froze mid-bite on his flatbread. He scratched his head, looking utterly perplexed. "This mixed-flour flatbread is so delicious, what are you all crying for? Wait, Xiaowang was sick? When did that happen?"

Lin Lan thought to herself: This thick-skulled silly boy. He knows absolutely nothing but swimming.

Maisui snapped at him, "All you know is how to eat and how to dive into the water! What do you know?!"

Being scolded sparked a sudden lightbulb in Sanwang's head. Although he didn't quite understand what was going on, he figured that just following his sister and crying couldn't be wrong.

And so, he unleashed his voice and howled in tears.

He was a sturdy, robust boy with a booming voice. Once he started crying, it was an earth-shattering, ghost-weeping wail, complete with dramatic pitch changes.

His cries were far too contagious and sounded way too miserable; even the youngest children from the first and second branches couldn't help but whimper and join the chorus of tears.

Xiaofu from the second branch was craving meat and eggs, but his mama always insisted on saving them for his xiaogu and xiaoshu.

The first branch's little daughter, Gumi, was also treated like a servant girl by her aunt. Whenever her aunt was home, Gumi was the one who had to fetch her foot-washing water. It was only recently, when she had to start working in the fields for work points, that her mama had reassigned this task to Maisui.

The old lady's blatant favoritism toward the youngest uncle and aunt was obvious to everyone. Every time pork was distributed to the family, the old lady would personally stew the pork belly for those two to eat, while the rest of the children were only allowed to sip a bit of the oily broth.

And despite all that, the old lady still claimed she wasn't biased. She would say that xiaoshu and xiaogu were exhausted from studying and needed the extra nourishment, constantly telling her nieces and nephews to be more caring toward their youngest uncle and aunt.

Bah!

The old lady suddenly felt that something was off. Why had the entire courtyard turned into a crusade against her?

She jumped off the kang in a fit of rage and cursed, "You pack of ungrateful wolves! I raised you all, and this is how you repay me? By complaining about your own niang and mama? How can you behave like this?!"

She plopped her bottom onto a bench in the main room and began to bawl.

Han-dasao hurriedly tried to help her up. "Niang, what are you doing? Nobody is blaming you."

Han-laotaitai glared at Han Qingsong. "Laosan, what's the meaning of this? Are you trying to find fault with your own biological mother? My perfectly good son didn't stay home to serve his aging parents but instead went off to be a soldier. Is this how the army educated you? Did they teach you to be unfilial?!"

Han Qingsong replied, "I wasn't able to stay home to work and serve you two elders because I had no choice while serving in the military away from home. But I never kept a single cent of my allowance and salary for myself; I sent every bit of it back. Half of it was to support my die and niang, and the other half was to support my wife and children."

Han-dasao quickly tried to smooth things over. "Niang, laosan hasn't had it easy. He's been away all year round and hasn't even been able to see his wife and children, to the point where they've grown distant from him. If you say things like that, aren't you just stabbing him in the heart?"

Han-ersao chimed in with a sarcastic, mocking tone, "I say, laosan, are you harboring resentment against niang for letting you go off to be a soldier? When our die and niang fell ill, you truly weren't home to take care of them. That's a fact, so there's no need to sprout all that useless nonsense."

Lin Lan looked at them. Wow, they really just twisted everything in their favor. "Laotaitai made him go be a soldier, and he sent back every single cent of the allowance and salary he earned to support this massive family. And now you're blaming him for not being by your side to nurse your minor aches and fevers? If you wanted someone to tend to your every cough and sneeze, you shouldn't have let him leave to be a soldier in the first place. Well, isn't this perfect? He's changed professions now, so he can stay right here at home and serve you properly."

They had truly been spoiled rotten. They got everything exactly the way they wanted, yet somehow they were still the victims!

"I forgot to tell you all—this wok is mine!" Lin Lan let out a cold snort, shoved the food basket into Sanwang's arms, ran into the main room to grab a rag, and went straight for the heavy iron pot.

"What are you doing?!" The old lady was startled and immediately rushed forward to stop her.

"Laosan's wife, put that down!" Han-ersao panicked as well.

This wok only had two patches on it; it was in incredibly good condition. Their previous pot had five or six patches, and whenever it held a bit too much water, it would constantly drip and leak. They absolutely could not let Lin Lan take this one away!

Lin Lan angrily retorted, "My man brings in the money to support this whole family, yet when you divide the New Year's money giving out five or ten yuan, you always manage to short me by two yuan! You won't even let my kids eat their fill of dumplings, you treat my daughter like a servant girl, and when my son falls sick, you refuse to pay for his medical treatment! Why on earth should I keep indulging you all?!"

Previously, when Han-laotaitai demanded the pot back, Lin Lan, who was used to spending freely, had looked down on it with disdain: It's just a broken pot, look at how pathetic you all are acting.

But later on, she discovered that an iron pot was incredibly vital to a farming family!

Some families didn't even have a broken iron pot and had to resort to using earthenware pots and clay jars for cooking!

Why should she let them off so easily?!

She was going to snatch it back!

Han-laotaitai tried to rush over and grab her, but Han Qingsong's tall, imposing frame blocked her path.

"Laoda's wife, laoer's wife, stop her for me!" Han-laotaitai was firmly supported by Han Qingsong, unable to move a single inch. Disregarding the fact that she wanted to curse at him, she frantically shouted for her other two daughters-in-law.

Han-dasao felt too embarrassed to intervene, but Han-ersao lunged forward to snatch it, only for Lin Lan to twist her waist and bump her right onto the ground.

Han-ersao rolled on the floor crying and shouting. Her daughter and son rushed forward to help, and Sanwang and the other kids immediately charged forward as well.

Seeing that they were about to brawl into a tangled mess, Han Qingsong let out a low shout: "Stop!"

His voice was inherently deep and magnetic; roaring out with such commanding anger, it possessed an overwhelming, authoritative force.

The children were so terrified they didn't dare take another step.

Lin Lan, however, had already gathered her strength and hoisted the iron wok straight out of the stove with a single heave!

Earlier, Han-dasao had steamed the mixed-flour flatbreads and scooped the water into a soup jar to keep for drinking. She was just about to add more water to make the second round of breakfast when Lin Lan vaulted over the wall.

By now, the wok had mostly cooled down. Using a tattered rag for padding, Lin Lan truly pulled it out without breaking a sweat.

A wok weighed barely over twenty pounds!

Lin Lan looked incredibly smug.

"You bastard! Put that down!" Han-laotaitai let out a devastating howl as if someone had just gouged out her heart, and she began to throw a dramatic, suicidal tantrum.

Erwang and the others had already run over to help carry the wok.

Just then, Dawang rushed in from outside. Stunned by the scene, he shouted, "What are you all doing?!"

He originally thought his niang was throwing another embarrassing, suicidal fit, but upon entering, he realized it wasn't his niang at all—it was his mama. Meanwhile, his niang was standing there with the triumphant, gloating air of a victor.

She really was capable now. He was utterly dumbfounded.

Sanwang shoved a flatbread into his hands, exaggerating wildly, "Dage, you came at the perfect time! I only just found out that this wok is our family's!"

"Nonsense, look at how angry you've made mama!" Dawang glanced into the room, his gaze sweeping past Han Qingsong's stern face before landing on Lin Lan. She looked like an old mother hen fluffing out her wings to protect her chicks—it was truly an ugly sight. Yet, surprisingly... he found it quite pleasing to the eye!

"You guys are going too far!" Dawang snorted, stepping forward to snatch the wok.

Although he was young, his strength vastly exceeded that of his peers. Holding up a solid cast-iron wok on his own actually took him zero effort.

"Hey, that's our family's wok!" Lin Lan assumed he was helping the old lady and was so angry she wanted to kick him into the air. This brat.

Everyone assumed he was going to place the wok back onto the stove, but to their utter surprise, Dawang hoisted the wok upside down onto his own head and yelled at Han-laotaitai, "Mama, I'll bring the wok back later!"

With that said, he darted off like a wisp of smoke, wearing the pitch-black iron wok on his head.

Everyone: !!!