Chapter 274: “just You Wait, Little Bro”
Gu Chan’s eyebrows and eyes were full of smiles. “It’s fine. I went for a follow-up a few days ago. The doctor said I’m recovering very well. It won’t affect work or daily life. Stone’s dad was still muttering… after resting for a few months, I’ve gained weight.”
At this time, Da Shitou interjected, “My grandma scolded my dad for not knowing how blessed he is when he’s in the midst of fortune.”
Xiao Shitou covered his mouth and snickered.
Heng Bao pinched his own cheek and asked his elder aunt, “Elder Aunt, am I fat?”
Gu Chan looked down, knowing what her nephew wanted to hear, and nodded. “Yes, your little face is round and full. How blessed you look.”
Villagers liked chubby doll-like children and praised them as whose family’s doll was so plump and sturdy, like the new year dolls in paintings. Heng Bao loved hearing people praise him for being fat the most.
“What about my brother?”
Gu Chan: “…Your brother is also chubby. Qian Bao and Yao Bao are round too.”
The flesh was very solid, heavy in the hand.
Heng Bao was very proud.
Yes, all four brothers were chubby dolls.
The villagers always praised them like that, hee hee.
Lin Zhao had known early on that Heng Bao liked hearing people praise him for being fat. She shook her head helplessly but said nothing.
While talking, the group returned home.
With the two Stones there, Gu Chan didn’t go back to the dormitory and stayed in the empty room.
After playing with the Stone brothers all day, they had to sleep together too. The twins were so excited they couldn’t sleep. After bathing, they clamored to listen to the radio.
“If you want to listen, then listen, but pay attention to the time. You must go to bed before nine-thirty.”
Yu Bao immediately stated, “We know. Mom, you go sleep. We’ll go to bed when the time comes.”
Lin Zhao said no more and turned to leave.
–
The next afternoon, the group returned to Fengshou Brigade.
After sitting for a while in the third branch, they went to the old house.
All the villagers knew that Lin Zhao and Gu Xing’er didn’t get along well. Seeing her, they didn’t mention yesterday’s wedding, nor tease the four kids. They just greeted them and turned their attention to Gu Chan.
“Ah Chan came back to see your parents again. You’re really filial.”
“Aiyo, the two Stones are here too. They’ve grown so well, looking sturdier and sturdier.”
“Ah Chan, how is your husband’s body recovering?”
“Ah Chan, your work is so busy, huh? You didn’t even have time to attend Xing’er’s wedding.”
…
Gu Chan chatted warmly with the aunts from the village.
She picked and chose her answers to their questions.
They dawdled all the way and finally reached the maternal family doorstep.
She let out a sigh of relief.
Noticing Lin Zhao’s smiling gaze, she gave her a helpless smile.
The villagers were too enthusiastic; there was no way around it.
The adults had to exchange pleasantries, but the children had no such troubles. They rushed through the home door, shouting at the top of their lungs.
“Grandma!!!”
“Grandmother!!”
Gu Fu and Gu Mu hadn’t seen the four kids for nearly a week and missed them terribly. Hearing Xiao Shitou’s voice, they thought Ah Chan was probably here too, so they quickened their steps to go out.
Once outside, seeing the several children, their faces lit up with smiles.
“The four treasures are back.” Gu Fu said happily, “Da Shitou and Xiao Shitou are here too. In a bit, have your grandmother stew chicken for you.”
Da Shitou sensibly said: “No chicken. Save the chicken for laying eggs.”
“It’s fine, eat it and raise more. My grandson takes care of your dad and works hard. Supplement yourselves.” Gu Fu said.
He wasn’t a biased elder; he doted on his grandsons and granddaughters as well as his own grandsons.
Gu Mu hugged Xiao Shitou and touched her grandson’s little face. “Yes, you need supplementing. Look at my grandson’s little face; it’s thin again.”
Gu Chan looked at her two sons and fell silent.
Thin?
Ever since that family paid the medical expenses and she got a job, Wei Xiangdong and the two Stones had eggs every day for months without stopping.
The two boys had gained flesh; they hadn’t even caught a cold all winter.
Obvious chubby Heng Bao stepped forward, tilting up his little face. “Grandma, do I look thin? Do I need supplementing too?!”
He asked super seriously.
Gu Mu looked down, her old face stiffening.
She couldn’t bring herself to say that word “thin”…
Looking at the other three kids, they were all round!
“…Not really thin?” she said hesitantly.
Heng Bao immediately said smugly: “I eat until I’m full every day.”
Her grandson’s playful antics were adorably explosive. Gu Mu couldn’t help but hug him in her bosom and dote on him.
“Good boy, Heng Bao is good. Today you eat until full too.”
The fine grains Lin Zhao brought, the old couple couldn’t bear to eat and saved them all for when the children came to make for them.
“Mm mm.” Heng Bao nodded unceremoniously, rubbing his little belly. “Grandma, make a lot. I’m hungry. I can eat a lot a lot.”
“Good.” Gu Mu smiled and agreed. “What do you want to eat? Noodles okay? Fry a few eggs, fragrant and sizzling.”
Heng Bao licked his lips. “Eat! Whatever Grandma makes, I love it!”
Yu Bao’s bright eyes looked at Gu Mu, saying intimately: “Me too.”
Seeing this, the usually quiet Xiao Shitou chimed in: “Grandmother’s cooking is delicious. I like it too.”
Gu Chan was surprised and said to Lin Zhao: “You still need to play more with lively kids. Xiao Shitou has learned to talk thanks to his brother Heng Bao.”
Lin Zhao thought to herself that she never worried about Heng Bao when it comes to expressing himself.
“That’s easy. Let the two of them play together more.”
Even a little social phobe could be turned into a little social cow.
Gu Chan smiled in agreement. She couldn’t idle and went to her parents’ room to tidy up for them, washing and wiping everywhere, bustling nonstop with high efficiency.
She was very methodical in her work, quick on her feet. To Lin Zhao, watching her elder sister-in-law work was a pleasure.
…
Educated Youth Guan carried bags and packages and boarded the train.
The first half of the journey went smoothly. After she went to the toilet midway, the smooth road home hit a snag.
“Comrade, this is my seat.”
The mean old woman who had finally found an empty seat to sit in eyed her with those unfriendly triangular eyes.
“Your seat? Where does it say your name? Point it out to me. This is my seat, you girl… taking advantage of an old lady like me. Have you no shame?”
It was Educated Youth Guan’s first time facing someone like this, and her mind went blank for a moment before she quickly calmed down.
She tried to communicate with the old woman.
“Didn’t you get the seat wrong? This is my seat. My luggage is all up there…”
Before she finished, the mean old woman’s triangular eyes bulged, and she shouted loudly: “What? Your luggage? That’s clearly my luggage!”
The old woman’s mud-caked finger nearly scratched Educated Youth Guan as she angrily said: “Not only do you want to take my seat, you even want my luggage? How thick-skinned are you, bullying an old person. If I were your parents, I’d have drowned you in a urine bucket long ago.”
Her speech was extremely fast, leaving no time to react.
The old woman’s words were nasty. A righteous young man nearby couldn’t hold back and spoke up: “Your words are too harsh. This seat is indeed this girl’s. She was here when I boarded. You took her seat while she stepped away, and now you’re cursing so viciously. You…”
The old woman was haughty and glared at the youth with her old eyes.
She directly interrupted the youth’s words.
“Are you two in cahoots?”
The youth was puzzled. “No…”
“Not you blabbering on.” The mean old woman spoke sharply. “Fox spirit really knows how to seduce people…”
Educated Youth Guan said no more and turned to find the conductor, explaining the situation.
The female train attendant came over and tried to communicate with the old woman.
She was still unreasonable, shouting and yelling, very uncooperative.
This drew people in the same carriage to stand up and watch the excitement.
The staff discussed to no avail, warnings to no avail. The mean old woman lay directly on the ground, saying her chest hurt, that railway staff were bullying an old person…
Her mouth spewing filthy curses nonstop.
The female train attendant, who hadn’t been working two years yet, nearly cried from anger.
Fortunately, her colleagues came over too, comforting her while “arguing” with the old woman on the ground.
Calling it arguing wasn’t quite right; they didn’t utter a single dirty word.
“…People like you, we’ve seen more than once. After all, we serve so many people every day; we’re bound to run into a few like you who evade tickets, take others’ seats, and bully little girls. People come in all kinds; it’s normal, all normal…”
She sarcastically implied a whole bunch, finally warning the old woman once more.
“Buy your ticket now and apologize to the girl. We can pretend this didn’t happen. If you keep making trouble, we’ll have to forcibly remove you from here!”
The mean old woman was unreasonable in the village, stirring up trouble even when having no grounds.
She believed that a loud voice plus fearless making a fuss could achieve her goals.
She rolled on the ground, hair messy like a chicken coop, howling that the train attendant was bullying an old person, wronging an old person, abusing an old person…
“…First, take her away from here. Don’t affect other passengers.”
Two male staff went to pull the old woman off the ground.
But they couldn’t pull her up.
This old woman wasn’t just haughty; she was used to farm work with considerable strength, thrashing about.
Her mouth shouting:
“Playing rogue, someone’s playing rogue in public…”
The two youths looked at her wrinkly face, their faces turning every color, retreating repeatedly.
What to do if this old woman clung to them?!
Spotting two passing soldiers, they helplessly asked for help in low voices.
The two soldiers learned the cause and effect, frowned, stepped forward abruptly, and subdued the thrashing old woman in one go.
They controlled her and handed her over to the train attendant.
The mean old woman seemed fearless, twisting her body and spitting at the nearest person, yelling: “A bunch of bastards with fathers but no mothers to raise them. You dare tie up this old mother? My son won’t let you off. Just wait to lose your iron rice bowls!”
The train attendant who got spat on wiped his face and couldn’t help feeling nauseous.
Fuck.
“…Damn it, I’ll see whether your son loses his iron rice bowl first or we do.”
He’d been working a while and encountered weirdos before, but none this weird.
He usually didn’t mind, but this time he couldn’t not mind!
Just you wait, you little old bastard.
The youth felt so disgusted he left the spot to wash his face, scrubbing until it was red and peeling, but still felt… unclean!
Hearing the train attendant’s vicious words, the thrashing old woman belatedly felt uneasy and quieted down a lot.
She neatly bought the ticket.
The letter of introduction she carried revealed her family’s address.
Looking at the address, it was exactly the place where the youth she spat on had an uncle.
Thus.
The shrew mean old woman didn’t enjoy a few days of fortune in the city before slinking back to her hometown gray-faced. Her son, upon learning it was his old mother who ruined his years of effort, hated her to death.
This was later.
Educated Youth Guan thanked the train staff and soldiers who helped her.
“…Could you tell me your names?”
She wanted to write two letters of thanks.
“No need to thank us; it’s what we should do. I’m Yang Jin, a train attendant on this train.”
“I’m Wen Ping.”
“I’m Sun Yi. The one who got disgusted away is Shen Jian Shan.”
Educated Youth Guan noted them all down and called to the two departing soldiers.
She chased forward two steps.
“Wait, tell me your names too.” Her eyes were sincere.
“No need…” A clear male voice hadn’t finished before being interrupted by another resounding voice. “I’m Xu Jian. The one next to me is Lin Shichang.”
Lin… Shichang?
Educated Youth Guan looked at the youth who hadn’t said much.
Lin Shichang noticed her strange gaze and asked: “Do you know me?”
“…No.” Educated Youth Guan shook her head.
“I’m an educated youth from Fengshou Brigade.”
At this, Lin Shichang understood. “You know my sister?”
Educated Youth Guan smiled with pursed lips. “If you’re talking about Comrade Lin Zhao, yes, I know her.”
“That’s my sister.” Mentioning his sister, Lin Shichang’s casual eyes filled with smiles.
“Is my sister doing well?” he asked.
He and his comrade had completed a task and hadn’t returned to the troops for three months, so of course he hadn’t received Zhaozhao’s letters. Meeting someone from “hometown,” he naturally asked more.
“Very well.” Educated Youth Guan shared what she knew.
Learning his sister’s recent situation was an unexpected joy for Lin Shichang.
In a great mood, he said: “We’re in… such-and-such carriage. If you run into anything you can’t handle again, come find us.”
Educated Youth Guan’s smile disappeared.
No, she didn’t want to run into any more upsetting things!!
Lin Shichang also realized his “well-wish” wasn’t auspicious and added: “Forget it. Better to wish you a smooth journey home.”
“…Thank you.”
Lin Shichang said no more and dragged his weird comrade away.
Once completely out of the pretty female comrade’s sight, Xu Jian weirdly glanced at Lin Shichang in a pinched voice: “If you run into anything you can’t handle again, come find us.”
“…”
Lin Shichang looked at him speechless. “Did you go eat shit in the toilet?”
Xu Jian’s face turned green.
He was just about to get a meal.
Disgusted by Lin Shichang, he lost the mood to tease him.
Educated Youth Guan struck while the iron was hot and sat in her seat to start writing the letters of thanks.
She asked which military region Lin Shichang and they were from; Lin Shichang said it was confidential. Educated Youth Guan half-believed it and planned to ask Lin Zhao in a letter later.
The rest of the journey went smoothly.
Guan Baba specially took a day off to pick up his daughter.
“Yuyu!” The middle-aged man was full of joy.
He was about to say, you’ve gotten thin and tanned…
But looking closely, hmm?! Seems not tanned.
Thin yes, but spirited.
Guan Yu didn’t expect to see her dad right at the station. The usually calm girl down countryside now had tears welling in her eyes.
“Dad!”
Guan Baba took the luggage from his daughter’s hands and hugged her shoulders with one arm, patting gently a few times.
His voice was also choked.
“Home, let’s go home. Your mom made a lot of your favorite foods at home.”
His Yuyu had suffered.
The father and daughter returned home.
After wolfing down food to fill their stomachs, the family caringly asked if Guan Yu’s journey was smooth, if she’d been wronged or bullied in the down countryside place…
Letters were letters; face-to-face was different.
Guan Yu briefly talked about things at Fengshou Brigade.
Then calmly recounted the upsetting incident on the train.
“…That old undead stinky thing!” Guan Mama cursed angrily. “Bullying a little girl, what skill is that? Good thing this old mother wasn’t there, or I’d have scratched her face to pieces!”
Guan Baba was relatively calm but still took several deep breaths.
“You do need to send letters of thanks. Dad will mail them for you later.”
Thanks to the responsible train attendants and upright soldier comrades; otherwise, who knows how much grievance and bullying his family’s Yuyu would have suffered.
