/
Chapter 93 – Want to Enjoy a Few More Years of Blessings
“Jindang, the water for the animals is gone, so go down the mountain and carry some up,” Father Ji said to him.
Recently, the mountain was using more water than before. Aside from that, Mother Ji had to get water for the watermelons and strawberries every day, which consumed a lot of water.
“Okay.” Su Jindang took two buckets and went down the mountain.
For a man from the countryside, carrying two buckets of water was not a problem at all.
“Second brother, let’s rest for a while.”
When Su Jindang came down to carry water up the mountain, Su Danhong said this to him.
“I don’t need to rest. It’s not hard work,” Su Jindang laughed.
The work on the mountain was a lot, but there were also a lot of workers. On average, this was not much work. Plus, he was obviously treated better than Xu Aidang and Ji Hongjun because he ate lunch with Father Ji and did not go back.
He was satisfied with every lunch.
“Second brother, when you go home today, can you see when it would be convenient for my second sister-in-law to bring my nephew over?” Su Danhong asked with a smile.
“Your second sister-in-law had been thinking about it, too. In a few days, I’ll ask her to bring Shitao over,” Su Jindang replied and nodded.
Then, he picked up the filled buckets and went up the mountain.
After a few days, second sister-in-law Su came over with Xiao Shitao in her arms. Yan’er and Renren welcomed their new brother with curiosity.
“I haven’t seen you for a while, and Renren has changed again,” second sister-in-law Su looked at Xiao Renren with bright eyes and said.
“The boy doesn’t have a small appetite and eats a lot. He is growing a bit fast, but Shitao is also growing well. Come here and let me carry him.” Su Danhong smiled and took Xiao Shitao.
Xiao Renren was almost three months older than Xiao Shitou. Xiao Shitao was almost two months old. Renren was only five months old. Children who were five months old moved around more and spent more time awake, so they ate a lot and grew faster.
Xiao Shitao had more saliva coming out of his mouth compared to the last time she went to see him. Second sister-in-law Su cleaned him up, and he was not as messy as other children.
“Hong Jie bought even more malt milk than last time. It’s all from Shanghai. I saved one for Renren, and you can take the other one back for Shitao to have,” Su Danhong said.
“I can’t use that. Sister-in-law, just save it for Renren to have, and I’ll just breast-feed the Xiao Shitao,” second sister-in-law Su quickly said.
“Don’t be polite to me. This is my second brother’s son. What’s wrong with having a can of malt milk from his aunt? When he grows up, just let him buy some nice things for his aunt,” Su Danhong countered.
If it was her eldest brother’s child, then she wouldn’t care to do this.
Don’t blame her for playing favorites. Every interaction with them led to mishap, so how could she not be biased?
When she was living at her maternal home, her second brother took care of her most. In the past, when he went out to work and came back, he always gave her a dime or two to spend. Even though it was not much, he did not earn a lot either. He saved only one or two dimes for himself because the rest had to be handed over to Mother Su.
As for their eldest brother? He spent all day at home being idle. When he did work, he never finished it. He would also order her around all the time. Who even gave him such a cocky personality?
Naturally, she had an okay relationship with her eldest brother and a really good relationship with her second brother.
Therefore, Su Danhong did not feel ashamed or distressed for her biases.
When second sister-in-law Su heard what she said, she nodded her head sheepishly. She saw Yaner come over and told her younger sister-in-law that she wanted to pee. Su Danhong took her to the bathroom to let her pee.
After peeing, Yaner said, “Mom, water, drink.”
Second sister-in-law Su was slightly shocked. Su Danhong poured her water to drink. Then she went back to play with her brothers again.
“Sister-in-law, this is your fourth brother-in-law’s daughter, isn’t she? Why does she call you mother?” Second sister-in-law Su asked in a confusion.
Su Danhong answered with a smile, “Yaner is still young, so she does not understand. When she’s older she’ll know how to say it properly.”
She had made corrections on this matter several times, but Yaner continued to call her mother in front of her mother-in-law. Aside from how she did not adapt well in the beginning, she eventually settled in. Mother Ji praised Su Danhong on how she took good care of Yaner, while Yaner just took her in as her mother.
Seeing what she meant, second sister-in-law Su whispered, “Sister-in-law, are you really going to raise her like this?”
“Raise or not, it doesn’t matter. Renren will just have another playmate,” Su Danhong giggled.
Yaner was still very obedient. She was bigger now. Whether it was taking a dump or peeing, she would speak up about it. It was not difficult to take her. She was good as long as she was fed.
How hard was it to feed a child? Along with the  fact that she was at home all day, there weren’t any problems with her, so Su Danhong just took her with her.
Second sister-in-law Su wondered, “Who else besides my sister-in-law would be willing to do that?”
She was also telling the truth. Who would help raise another person’s child for nothing? When a child was being raised, it didn’t matter who raised them. When the child meets their biological parents, they would forget about their caregiver, so what was the point?
Su Danhong smiled and did not continue the topic.
She couldn’t say that she was raising Yan’er to lay the foundation for raising a daughter in the future, right?
Second sister-in-law Su stayed for lunch, and she saw the extravagance of Su Danhong’s meals.
Four dishes and one soup.
Among them, two dishes were meat dishes. There was one plate of scrambled eggs and one plate of braised pork belly. The soup was tofu soup.
Seeing Mother Ji’s expression and her sister-in-law’s calmness, second sister-in-law Su silently swallowed what she had in mind.
In the evening, she went back with Su Jindang.
On the road home, she said, “Jindang, from what I have seen today, I don’t say anything about my sister-in-law’s life. Don’t ask me to persuade her. Her mother-in-law didn’t say anything, so how can I say anything?”
It was usually the mother-in-law who spoke up, so what would be the point if she spoke up instead?
Hearing that, Su Jindang said, “Then forget about it. Why did you bring a can of malt milk?”
“Sister-in-law gave it to me. I couldn’t refuse it, so I took it,” she said.
Su Jindang questioned her with annoyance, “If you couldn’t refuse then why did you shamelessly take it? Are you afraid that we can’t buy it even if we go to the city?”
“Well, she said that it was from Shanghai and it would be lucky for Shitao to eat it,” second sister-in-law Su said with a smile.
Su Jindang shook his head and had nothing else to say.
Su Danhong cooked dinner and said to Mother Ji, “Mother, buy a few jin of spareribs tomorrow. I’ll stew it with some eggs and mushrooms. I haven’t eaten it in a long time.” She gave Mother Ji ten yuan.
Although Mother Ji was accustomed to Lao San’s wife’s extravagance, she was still a little tongue-tied. But, she didn’t say anything.
At noon the next day, Father Ji and Su Jindang ate spareribs with boiled eggs and mushrooms. Today’s rice was drenched with the sauce, and Father Ji and Su Jindang ate happily.
“Lao San’s wife’s cooking is really great,” Father Ji said to Mother Ji.
Mother Ji didn’t hold back from rolling her whey’s at the old man. Now their lives were getting better and better. Do you see how energetic the old man was in just gnawing the ribs?
“Danhong boiled a big pot of herbs at home today. Remember to go down and take a bath.”
With that, Mother Ji packed up the dishes and chopsticks and went down the mountain. She also wanted to go back and take a good herbal bath. It was from the fresh herbs magically planted by the Great Fox Immortal in the backyard. It was said to have anti-inflammatory and disinfectant properties, and the health effects were very good.
Now that Lao San’s wife was so filial, Mother Ji also wanted to live longer and enjoy a few more years of blessings like the old man.