Chapter 66: The Beloved Scapegoat of the Era? It Doesn’t Matter—My Father Will Take Care of Everything (3)

Whether or not the two had a koi’s presence in their lives, they always brought everything home. After the koi arrived, it was simply that they favored the koi a bit more.

“Daddy, are we going to find uncle and little aunt?”

Stone Village and Creek Village were considered close, but the mountain paths were difficult. Before they’d gone very far, Zhizhi was already stumbling, unable to keep up.

Seeing this, Ye picked her up. At first, Zhizhi insisted she could walk, but when she realized Ye could carry her and her sister and still walk the mountain terrain as easily as on flat ground, she fell silent.

Perhaps it was because Cai had less strength and couldn’t carry her for long, which made Zhizhi think grown-ups would get tired carrying her, so she tried to act tough.

Zhizhi had been to Stone Village before and still retained some vague memories.

Now, seeing familiar scenery, she asked, “Are we here to pick up mom?”

A single sentence rendered the wild father, who had stormed through other worlds, silent for my sake!

Zhizhi, not yet four years old, had no idea what achievement she had reached; she simply turned curiously to look at Ye’s face when she didn’t get a reply.

Ye: …

“Zhizhi, mommy went up to the sky. She’s now a star up there.”

“I don’t want mommy to be a star. I want her to stay with Zhizhi.”

Zhizhi’s voice quivered with the urge to cry, but she didn’t shout or wail, not even making a sound as she cried.

If she had shouted, Ye wouldn’t have indulged her—the wild father never coddled spoiled children—but this wasn’t a spoiled child, and Ye suddenly felt at a loss.

Fine, each world gets smaller and smaller. Next world, let me raise a child from infancy.

Zhizhi didn’t cry for long; she quickly soothed herself, clinging to Ye’s neck, looking sullen.

Ye quickened his pace and soon arrived at Stone Village.

By the time he reached the village, darkness had fallen, but fortunately, a bright moon hung in the sky, so the path was still visible.

Cai’s house was obvious—it was the most dilapidated in Stone Village.

An appeared just as he was going outside, saw Ye, but didn’t recognize him.

After all, the original person, after his wife became pregnant, Feng refused to give even an egg, so he boldly went out to find work.

It wasn’t that there were no eggs at home, but Feng only let the three golden grandchildren eat them.

The mother of the golden grandsons got to share in her son’s fortune, but Cai, who was pregnant, got nothing.

The original person directly broke the lock, stole all the eggs, went to his mother-in-law’s house to borrow brown sugar, and cooked brown sugar eggs for his wife.

Later, Feng chased him, scratching and grabbing, making a spectacle for the whole village.

An and his sister were very unwelcome in the Qin family. Back then, An was already a teenager, and Feng’s favoritism was obvious. An wasn’t blind.

Because he understood, An became stubborn and avoided Qin family members, lest they think he wanted something from them.

An didn’t recognize Ye, but Zhizhi recognized An and called out sweetly, “Uncle!”

An had only one married sister with children, so the only one who would call him uncle was his sister’s child.

With that call, An immediately recognized Zhizhi.

Zhizhi reached out to be carried, and An skillfully took his niece, still a bit confused, but carried her inside.

Ye followed them in.

Li was tending the fire, and Hua was mending clothes by the firelight.

Li’s family had lard lamps. She’d pull cotton from old quilts, twist it into strips, soak them in lard, then expose one end and light it.

Kerosene lamps? Out of the question—those cost money.

Li’s family couldn’t afford such luxuries.

At least, for New Year’s, they’d buy some meat and get some lard to reward the family for a year’s hard work.

Though usually, they didn’t use lard for lighting, only going to bed once it got dark.

But with guests, the lamp must be lit.

“Are you the wild child? Why are you here so late?” Li had Hua light the lamp, stared at Ye for a while, then recognized him.

He’d always been called wild child, but Ye had long accepted that.

He’d been called Dog Two, so what’s wild child?

Ye, well-adjusted, didn’t forget what he’d said when he left home. The child on his back, Sang, had woken up, fussed a bit at first, and when no one responded, stopped.

A more experienced parent might worry something was wrong with the child, but Ye was confident.

She was breathing—no problem; no need to check.

Now at Li’s home, Ye finally set the child down, only to discover his back was wet.

???

“Sang is still little, can’t hold her pee. Did you not have her go before carrying her over?” Li asked.

Ye was stunned.

In the last world, as a male mother, he had the village matrons and young helpers to assist.

Carrying children through mess—he thought it was just a phrase.

Now it seemed the phrase was turning literal.

Li adeptly took Sang, sent Hua to find old diapers from when she and her sister were young, and changed Sang.

As for Ye, An, though not yet grown, already sixteen, was taller than the original Ye.

So he could wear An’s clothes.

Ye changed, squatting on the floor, hands in pockets, numb.

Zhizhi precisely found the jar of wheat malt brought by Ye, cupped it in both hands and gave it to Hua.

“Little aunt, drink.”

Hua, just fourteen, grinned like a pig when she heard this.

Li rolled her eyes at Hua, telling her to boil water and make wheat malt for Zhizhi and Sang.

By this hour, Li’s family had eaten. They ate early to save oil for the lamp—so they ate before dark, saving lard.

That lard could be used to cook, wasn’t it better saved?

Hua and An bustled about, heating up food for Ye, Zhizhi, and Sang.

Li’s family raised a chicken, saving up a few eggs, originally meant for sale. But with her son-in-law and granddaughter visiting, Li gritted her teeth and had Hua steam an egg custard for Sang.

Even in ancient times, Ye had never been so frugal.

Hua held Sang and fed her, while Zhizhi watched eagerly. Hua immediately split some, mixing it with rice for Zhizhi.

Zhizhi’s face lit up, holding her small bowl and eating her cornmeal slowly and happily.

Cornmeal, once steamed, with the leftover tofu dregs pushed aside and boiled, throw in a few cabbage leaves, and it’s a dish that could last days.

As for tofu, that was reserved for New Year’s.

Qin’s family was better off; Creek Village had geographic advantages, each household had a few acres of rice paddies, so they could eat rice during festivals.

With the original Ye sending money home every month to improve life, the Qin family lived more comfortably.

Li’s family had little land; what was originally theirs had been taken bit by bit under various pretenses, leaving only a little.

Li still remembered fondly the days of communal meals—if she worked hard for work points, her family wouldn’t go hungry.

Li looked far older than in past years, a consequence of her daughter passing early, ahead of her own mother.

After dinner, Ye spoke, “Mom, Zhizhi and Sang lost their mother. I can’t trust leaving them at home any longer.”

“Your parents are still alive, you earn money, and the children stay with their grandparents. You don’t need to worry,” Li replied.

“I used to think that too. But mom, do you know how Zhizhi’s mother died?

She worked herself to death. Every chore was my wife’s; they squeezed her like an old ox, and didn’t feed her enough.

I send money home every month, sometimes nearly a hundred yuan.

But look at Zhizhi and Sang—has a single cent been spent on my wife and children?”

Feng and Old Qin boasted about their improved household, but never mentioned how much the eldest son sent home each month.

It was the first time Li heard this, and she was stunned.

If they earned a hundred yuan a year, they’d already be living well.

Her son-in-law sent money every month, sometimes nearly a hundred? How could her daughter, her granddaughters, still be so thin and frail?

Cai’s body, Qin’s family hadn’t wanted Li’s family to see, but An kicked up a storm, threatening violence if they weren’t allowed.

Li fainted from grief when she saw her daughter’s body, and Qin’s family only reluctantly held a funeral for fear of An’s anger.

If An hadn’t grown up enough to be counted as a man, and if Cai had only had Hua as a sister, Qin’s family would have been even more ruthless.

“This time coming back, I finally saw my parents’ true faces.

They always favored my younger brother. Both families had daughters, but my brother’s girl was plump and healthy, mine was skin and bones.

If I was useless and couldn’t earn, I’d accept it.

But the one who’s useless is my brother, not me.

I’m successful, capable, yet my parents treat me, my wife, and my daughters this way.

If something happened to me one day, I can’t imagine what would happen to Zhizhi and Sang.”

Ye spoke with righteous indignation, as though something had already happened to him.

Li was moved, and in the heavy atmosphere, the still-young-faced An suddenly spoke up:

“If brother-in-law, you ever have an accident, I’ll raise Zhizhi and Sang!”

Ye: …

Li scolded An, “Children speak without thinking.”

Then she scolded Ye too, “You as well—children speak without thinking, don’t take it to heart.”

Afterward, Li asked, “So what are you planning?”