Chapter 9: Fighting

Although Dawang was two or three years younger than the other boy, he wasn't intimidated in the slightest, grappling and wrestling with his opponent.

Soon, Dawang tripped the other boy to the ground with a kick, drawing a round of cheers.

Immediately after, he was counter-pinned by the older boy, who sat on him and pressed his face down. "You brat, do you submit!"

Dawang naturally didn't submit. He neither cried out in pain nor begged for mercy, gathering all his strength to flip the other boy off.

Quickly, he exerted force from his waist, grabbed the other boy's shoulders with both hands, and violently flipped him off. Taking advantage of the momentum, he mounted him, bent his knees to pin down the other boy's arms, and grabbed his ear. "Do you submit!"

"Ah—it hurts to death!" The older boy instead started crying, kicking his legs wildly to push Dawang off. "It hurts to death, Han Dawang, you dare hit me, see if I don't tell my die and my ge to come hit you!"

Dawang, however, didn't care. He just held onto the ear without letting go, continuously shouting coldly, "Do you submit, do you submit, will you be obedient from now on!"

"Obe... obedient, obedient, obedient, obedient..."

"Call me boss!"

"Bo... ss..."

"Hahaha," the surrounding children all laughed.

At this time, adults were calling their children to eat all over the village—Gousheng, Zhuzi, Tiedan. The children scattered in an uproar, all going home to eat.

Soon, only Dawang was left. He stood there somewhat blankly, seemingly unable to accept the scene of suddenly losing his followers.

No one called him, and he didn't want to go home either. He turned and walked to a large stone and sat down.

"Dawang." Lin Lan called him.

Dawang was startled. Who was calling him? He looked up and saw Lin Lan standing not far away. He sprang up and turned to run.

"Dawang, where are you going, it's time to go home and eat." Lin Lan quickly chased after him.

"Mind your own business, leave me alone!" Dawang turned and ran away.

Lin Lan knew he hated the original owner for disregarding her dignity and easily making a fuss and threatening suicide. He felt it was shameful and unbefitting of an adult. Coupled with the fact that the original owner always complained to him about Han Qingsong not sending her money, the old lady being biased, the family bullying her, and so on, he truly didn't want to be in the same frame as the original owner for even a second, lest he be pulled into endless nagging.

Lin Lan could understand his feelings. After all, in her past life, when her parents nagged her, she also wished she could disappear on the spot.

If it weren't for her younger brother finally getting married and having a child, she felt that in her parents' eyes, her brother would have been her responsibility for the rest of her life, and his inability to find a xifu would have been her fault as the older sister.

So she could understand the feeling of having grievances against one's parents.

Right now, she was most anxious about Dawang. After all, 11 was a very awkward age, the beginning of the rebellious phase of youth, where his world was black and white. If his parents didn't become his role models or people he respected, they would become enemies who didn't understand him and embarrassed him.

Eighth-grader syndrome was very terrifying. When it flared up, even landslides and tsunamis weren't enough to describe it.

Otherwise, where would all those remarks about parents being a disaster come from?

What's more, the original owner was already a negative role model for him. If she didn't change now, she was afraid it would be too late.

Lin Lan felt that since she had taken over this body, she couldn't bear the title of their biological niang for nothing. Guiding the children onto the right path and avoiding the ultimate tragedy was also her duty.

Unfortunately, a boy this age already had his own ideas, and a niang truly couldn't control him. Look, Lin Lan didn't even have the chance to prove to him that she wouldn't nag him.

She was truly afraid of being powerless over Dawang's life.

She had no choice but to go home. At this time, everyone in the family except Dawang had returned and was setting the table for dinner.

In summer, they set the dining table in the courtyard and ate while it was still light out, so they wouldn't need to light an oil lamp, saving oil.

Han-ersao was like she had been fished out of a vinegar vat, reeking of sourness. She found Lin Lan an eyesore in every way and wished she could use dinnertime to hold a family struggle session and officially criticize Lin Lan.

Lin Lan felt she was pushing her luck. If it were in the past, the original owner would have started cursing at her the moment she opened her mouth and absolutely wouldn't have spoken so nicely, nor would she have dared to grumble so much to her face.

So, she was hovering on the edge of testing the waters, and absolutely could not be indulged.

During the meal, Old Man Han first asked about Xiaowang's condition, and finally couldn't help but criticize a bit. "Third branch's wife, you wanting to get the child treated is a good thing, and the family supports it. We won't criticize you for secretly getting a letter of introduction to borrow money, but don't do it again."

Saying they supported the medical treatment, Lin Lan didn't doubt it, but they just wouldn't give the money.

She didn't talk back either, just nodded. "I know."

Seeing that she actually didn't apologize and even looked self-righteous, Han-laotaitai felt even more furious.

However, Old Man Han repeatedly winked at her, so she had no choice but to forcefully drop it. Still feeling resentful, she inevitably cut back on the food for the third branch's family.

Han-laotaitai grabbed the food basket and snorted coldly. "The autumn grain hasn't been distributed yet, and xiaogu and xiaoshu are still in school and need grain to exchange for grain coupons. The family's grain rations aren't enough, so starting now, we're rationing."

The men were given cornmeal flatbreads and a bowl of pumpkin and pea porridge. The children ate thick porridge. As for the women, they could just eat dried sweet potatoes, and their porridge was the water used to rinse the pot after serving.

Lin Lan and Han-dasao ate the worst.

Han-dasao seemed used to it, bearing the burden of hard work and blame without complaint, not daring to voice any objections to their faces.

Lin Lan looked at the bowl of cloudy soup and showed an expression of extreme disgust, but she was truly too hungry, so she buried her head and ate the steamed dried sweet potatoes.

Bah, bitter, astringent, and sour, what was this stuff?

Hard to swallow!

She truly missed Yang Han's white flour steamed buns.

Once the family was split, she must eat white flour and big chunks of meat, and make them die of envy!

Lin Lan didn't understand that sweet potatoes and dried sweet potatoes in this season were truly unpalatable.

Sweet potatoes were generally harvested after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some were sun-dried into dried sweet potatoes, and those harvested after the Frost's Descent were stored in the cellar to be eaten throughout the winter. If stored properly and not rotten, they could make do until the following spring, but basically, after the New Year, they would start to rot, and they could only cut off the bad parts and boil the rest to eat.

Even those absolutely couldn't be kept until this season!

What they were eating now were actually the mother sweet potatoes used to sprout seedlings, sliced and sun-dried, kept to be eaten when the grain couldn't last until the next meal.

This kind of sweet potato, which lacked nutrition, wasn't filling, and might even be toxic, was naturally eaten by the women.

But the old Han family wasn't actually poor enough to eat this. Wasn't it just the old lady being angry and deliberately having Han-dasao boil it for Lin Lan to eat?

Xiaowang was holding his bowl and drinking porridge. Suddenly, he held up his coarse porcelain bowl and placed it in Lin Lan's hands. "Niang, eat."

Originally, everyone was eating their own food. Xiaowang suddenly saying this, and his speech not being very fluent, made it very abrupt.

When Xiaowang said this, Erwang held his bowl and hesitated for a moment, while Maisui glanced over with no reaction and just focused on eating her own food.

Sanwang turned his head to look and said loudly in surprise, "Niang, why is your porridge so thin?" He turned to look at the others and found theirs weren't like that. He looked at his own again, scratched his head, "Niang, I'll share half with you."

Saying that, he poured half of his porridge for Lin Lan.

Although women eating the worst food was an established custom in the countryside, except for those who were domineering, sickly, or in special circumstances, every household did this.

But once it was pointed out, the men at the table still lost face.

Han-dasao glanced at her man and several children, but unfortunately, they only knew how to bury their heads and eat foolishly, slurping away without any thought of sharing some with her.

Han-laotaitai couldn't save face and pointed her chopsticks at Sanwang. "You reckless boy, just eat your food."

Sanwang was still curious. "Mama, can our family not afford to eat anymore? Then tomorrow when I cut grass, I'll dig some wild vegetables along the way. I saw Xiaoniu and the others digging them."

Han-laotaitai was almost choked to death by him.

Old Man Han had no choice but to say, "Eat." He glanced at the basket, which still had some flatbreads, and signaled the old lady to let the children eat.

For matters outside the old Han family, the old man was in charge, while the old lady managed the household affairs and controlled the money and grain. However, for some matters, she still had to listen to Old Man Han.

After all, she couldn't reject the old man's face in front of the children; this was also a rural rule and a man's dignity.

She angrily placed the basket on the table.

Sanwang immediately stood up and reached for the biggest flatbread. Erwang snatched it away and handed it to Lin Lan. "Niang, you eat the flatbread."

Sanwang was used to it and just focused on eating his own food.

Lin Lan broke it apart and distributed it to the children. Seeing Maisui looking listless, she forcefully stuffed a piece into her hand.

After eating, Han-dasao took her guinv to clear the table, wash the pot, and wash the bowls. Han-ersao couldn't get over the hurdle in her heart and yelled at Lin Lan again.

"I say, third branch's wife, you borrowed the brigade's money yourself, so you pay it back yourself. Don't expect to use the family's work points to pay it back."

Before Lin Lan could speak, Sanwang shouted, "My die will send money back to pay it."

Han-ersao's teeth ached with anger. "Your die's money belongs to the whole family, it doesn't count!"

Sanwang was puzzled. He was an upright and serious child and wanted to argue with his ershen. "Er-niangniang, tell me, why doesn't the money my die earns count?"

Han-laotaitai waved her hand in annoyance. "Roll, roll, roll, go play somewhere else."

Speaking of sending money back, she busily counted on her fingers, calculating the fifth and the fifteenth. "Sigh, is today the eighteenth or the nineteenth? Laosan should have remitted the money back, why hasn't the postman delivered the slip yet?"

Although it was around this time every year, the army's logistics personnel also had a lot of work, so a difference of a day or two was normal. Anyway, just waiting at home for the remittance slip was fine; it wouldn't get lost.

Lin Lan pretended to know nothing. She had already hidden the money well, and confessing was impossible. After all, leniency for those who confess was impossible with the old lady when it came to money matters, so she could only wait until the matter was exposed.

Two days later, at noon.

When the commune members returned from work, they saw the postman in uniform entering the village, with a group of little brats chasing his bicycle toward the Han family's house.

The postman arrived at the door and shouted, "Got a delivery!"

"Aiya, my remittance has finally arrived!" Han-laotaitai was so happy she couldn't even see her teeth. No longer claiming she was weak or her legs hurt, she swung her arms and trotted out briskly, the hair bun on the back of her head bouncing along.

"Little Dong ah, where's the slip, give it to me quickly." Han-laotaitai came out of the door panting and reached out to the postman.

The postman glanced at the slip and smiled. "Auntie Han, this time it's not for you, it's for Lin Lan. Is Lin Lan at home?"

"What?" Han-laotaitai was instantly dumbfounded.

As if her chest had been pierced by a sharp arrow, all the strength in her body was drained, and she unconsciously slid toward the ground.

After a long while, a sharp shriek erupted from her throat. "Heavens ah, this unfilial son ah, forgetting his niang once he has a xifu ah—"