Bringing Good Luck to your Husband in the '70s
Chapter 8 - About the Separation
Old lady Han looked at Su Yue's back as she left and exclaimed, "This girl is too good. How can someone be this eye-catching?"
Everyone in the family knew that old lady Han liked good looking girls, so they all smiled in agreement. The second wife said: "Yes, this Su Zhiqing is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I don’t know what kind of man can enter her eyes in the future."
The third wife didn't care. She glanced at the cakes in the hands of old lady Han and said: "Other people’s affairs have nothing to do with us, what are you worrying about? Mother, quickly look at what pastry Su Zhiqing brought you. I never heard about sponge cakes.”
The old lady Han rolled her eyes, "You only know how to eat! What? People give this old lady two pieces of pastry for her to try and you still want a share?"
The third wife swallowed and said, "Mother, I'm just curious. How can I have the face to eat your cakes? But the children have never eaten these sponge cakes, mother, please give a little for them to try."
The old lady Han scowled and scolded: "I am a grandmother. Don't I know to give it to my own grandchildren? Do I need you to remind me?"
The third wife was completely silent.
Old lady Han said to the second wife, "Go call the children back and give them the cake."
The second wife was overjoyed and hurriedly went outside to call the children.
Hearing there was something delicious to eat, the children rushed back. As soon as they entered the door, they surrounded the old lady Han screaming: "Grandma, grandma, I want to eat sponge cake! I want to eat sponge cake!"
There were a total of four children in the Han family. The second son had three, and the third son currently only had one. Neither the eldest nor the fourth had a family yet. If they got married, there would only be more children.
But at the moment just four were enough to cause headaches.
"Don't make noise, don't make noise! I'll give it to you, everyone gets one." The old lady Han took out one of the cakes that Su Yue had brought and used a knife to cut it apart for the children to eat.
As soon as the cake was taken out of the oil paper bag, a sweet smell filled the air immediately, attracting the children one after another. "Wow--", they shouted, already drooling, eager to grab it and run away. If it wasn't for old lady Han to be guarded, the cakes would really have been snatched away.
Even the third wife, an adult, kept swallowing. Her eyes were glued to the cake, unable to part from it, "My dear, this smells too fragrant."
The old lady Han also nodded and said, "This old lady has never seen such a sweet-smelling pastry at such an old age. Su Zhiqing is not only beautiful, but also very skilled."
The old lady said that as she divided the cake into small pieces and gave it to the children, one for each. After the children took it, they couldn't wait a moment before stuffing it in their mouth, making their little mouths so full they were reluctant to swallow it.
The old lady Han was helpless, "You really are starving ghosts reborn, no manners at all!"
The second son’s only son swallowed first. With a memorable expression on his face, he asked "Grandma, it's really delicious, can you give me another piece?"
He saw that there was another piece that she hadn't taken out.
The other children stared at the remaining piece with longing.
The old lady Han had a stern face and stretched out her hand to put away the remaining piece, "This piece is not for you to eat, you are not allowed to have any ideas."
The children were so disappointed that they watched eagerly until the old lady Han left with the cake.
The third wife curled her lips and whispered to the second wife, "Second sister-in-law, mother is so biased. Whenever there is something even a little bit tastier she will send it to elder brother. Look, the cake must be reserved for elder brother to eat."
The second wife looked at Han Aiguo's room and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Elder brother is injured and mother feels distressed."
The third wife was not convinced: "He can't work and stays at home all day. What does he even do to eat so well? If there are good things, second brother and my man should be the ones to eat them, anyway, they are the ones who have to work hard."
The second wife's eyes flashed, "Stop talking. If mother hears you, you can’t bear the consequences."
The third wife was still very afraid of the old lady, so she didn't dare to say more at the moment, but her heart became even more unbalanced. When she went to bed at night, she was still mumbling about the old lady's bias.
The third son frowned before she could finish speaking and reprimanded her: "What do you know, don't talk nonsense! Big brother is injured, not lazy. He has been in the army for so many years, and all his money was always sent back to support our family. Our father left early. Mother alone had limited ability to raise us brothers, it was the elder brother who went to the army early so the family could build a house. The money for my second brother and I to get married was also earned by my elder brother. He did the most for this family, and he is injured now. What's wrong with my mother taking care of him? Don’t you dare to mess around here."
The third wife had no face left, picking up the bedding and whispering, "But the hospital said that elder brother's leg could not be cured, so he won’t be able to go back to the army. He will stay at home in the future, but if he can’t work then won’t we have to eat plain rice later on?"
Third brother was silent for a while before he said, "Even if elder brother can't work anymore, it's not our turn to say anything. Don't go around speaking nonsense. Be careful or mother will cut you off."
Seeing that this man was not on her side, the third wife was so angry she pushed him and turned away with a huff.
At the same time, the old lady Han, with a bowl in her hand, opened the door and walked into Han Aiguo's room.
Han Aiguo was reading a book, but seeing his mother come in he put the book aside and greeted her.
The old lady Han put the bowl on the table, revealing the cake inside, "Mother brought you a cake, you try it."
Han Aiguo already knew that the cake was given by Su Yue, because the children at home were discussing the cake during dinner.
"Mother, what kind of cake should someone like me eat? Share it with the children."
The old lady Han said, "Su Zhiqing sent two pieces. I have already divided a large piece for the children, so you can eat the rest. This is sent by Su Zhiqing to thank our family for lending her our flour. You were the one who let her borrow it, then is she not thanking you? You should eat this cake."
Seeing that Han Aiguo was about to refuse again, the old lady Han kept going: "If mother asks you to eat, just eat. You were so badly injured this time you should have eaten something more nutritional, but the family is not rich right now, and there is no way to buy delicious food to supplement your health. I heard that there are a lot of eggs in this cake, so they should be very nutritious.”
Han Aiguo knew that his mother was always worrying about his legs and couldn't bear to make her sad, so he stopped rejecting. He took the cake from the bowl, divided it into two, and handed half of it to the old lady Han, "Mother, there is no reason for a son to eat while the mother looks on. We will share it together."
The old lady Han knew that her eldest was the most filial of her four children. She couldn't help but smile, and did not reject his filial piety. She took a bite and said with emotion, "It's really delicious, so fragrant and sweet. It’s also so soft it won’t make people choke, very good for old people’s teeth. The craft of this Su Zhiqing is too skillful."
Han Aiguo looked at the cake in his hand for a moment, paused, then opened his mouth to eat. A sweet scent slipped into his throat, as if the sweetness travelled from his tongue to his heart.
Even if he had never liked sweets, he had to admit that this cake was delicious.
She had really good craftsmanship.
After waiting for Han Aiguo to finish the cake, old lady Han tentatively asked, "Laoda, you heard everything when the Wang family visited today, right?"
Han Aiguo nodded, and said without emotion, "I heard it."
The old lady Han observed him to figure out what he thought about this matter, but unfortunately she couldn't see anything from his expressionless face. "My son, don't be sad. Mother is not good, she didn't keep her eyes open and found you such black hearted people."
Han Aiguo looked at the old lady Han and said calmly: "Mother, I am not sad. I only saw her a few times, there are no feelings to talk about. If she wants to break off, just break off. No need to be angry."
"How can I not be angry!" The old lady Han was so furious when she said this, she had to pat her chest to appease herself. "Blame mother for being blind and picking a black hearted girl. She saw you had a future in the army and rushed to marry you, but now she sees you injured and ran over to separate. This family is not afraid of people talking behind their backs!"
Han Aiguo patted the old lady on the back, and comforted: "Mother, in fact, we can't blame others. The doctor said my leg could not be cured, and there is no hope of returning to the army. I will not be able to do farm work in the future, so I’m not any different from a waste. The woman who marries me will suffer for a lifetime. It’s excusable for them to back off from the engagement."
"What's excusable!" The old lady hurriedly said, "It was their family who came to me and told me that their daughter likes you! Even if you couldn’t come back from the army, she was willing to wait for you, and wouldn’t care about you not being home all the time, willing to take care of everything at home by herself. I was moved by these words at the beginning, thinking that girl had a heart for you, but okay, it's all fake! They are too shameless!"
Han Aiguo: "Alright, mother, if it’s over then it’s over. Don't be angry about it anymore. Let's not talk about it."
The old lady tried to calm herself down, remembering that her son’s leg was hurt. The saddest thing was that he was right, but she still wanted her son to comfort her, which was a bit unreasonable. She restrained the fire in her belly and said, “Okay, I’m not angry. It’s not worth it to be angry with such a person. Don’t worry, mother will work hard to find you a better one."
Seeing his mother refusing to give up, Han Aiguo was very helpless, "Mother, don't worry about my affairs. I will be like this from now on. Whoever marries me will be dragged down, so don’t ruin other people's good girls. Mother, as long as you don’t dislike your son, your son will live with you in the future. Nevermind getting married."
"Nonsense!" Unexpectedly, these words seemed to touch the old lady's reverse scale. The old lady was awfully disturbed, "Why won't you get married! You went out to serve as a soldier at the age of sixteen, and did your duty for this family for more than ten years! Only you haven’t settled until now. Even your younger brothers’ children can buy soy sauce, but you are still single. You don’t know how uncomfortable your mother’s heart is. Mother’s greatest wish is to see you married with children, living your life well. Don’t say anything about not marrying. Don’t worry, mother will find you a good girl who doesn’t dislike you, and in time you will give me a fat grandson.”
Han Aiguo rubbed his forehead. His mother had been stimulated by today's separation and wouldn’t listen to him anymore. But it’s fine, he had time to slowly persuade her later.