CHAPTER 17
”Dad said that you depend on uncle for your living, and told me to pay attention to my uncle’s expression. If he is unhappy, he told me to go back to grandma’s house as soon as possible and not to cause trouble for you.”
Li Xia reached out and hugged her son with mixed feelings. Fang Zhongcheng seemed to be thinking about her, but in fact, he was judging others by himself, showing his male superiority. “No. Uncle likes Yi Yi very much, and he won’t be unhappy because you came. And mom doesn’t rely on uncle for a living, so you don’t have to be so cautious when you are at mom’s house.”
”really ?”
”Really. Your clothes were made of fabrics picked by your uncle himself.”
At night, the child was taken back to his grandmother’s house by his aunt. Li Xia kept thinking about his father finding a partner. What did Fang Zhongcheng mean by this? Was he going to find a partner and start a family? Was he going to leave the child with his grandmother for the time being, or would he not take care of him in the future?
”Why don’t you bring Yi Yi here? My mother always said that a child is the apple of her eye. You would be worried and anxious if the child is not with you.”
Shen Haiyang spoke, and she turned back and sighed. “When we divorced, we agreed to keep each of us one child. He has the custody of Yi Yi.”
”We are in a better condition now, with a spacious house, so don’t worry about that. The child is still young, so it’s better for him to stay with his mother. Otherwise, I’ll find time to talk to Fang Zhongcheng and ask him to give you the custody.”
Li Xia didn’t say anything, thinking about what to do in her heart. Fang Zhongcheng wants to remarry, will his stepmother be good to Yi Yi? After this period of rebirth, her mentality has become much calmer. She left her son to his father because she was not capable at the time and didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of her previous life. After working hard for half a lifetime, the parent-child relationship was so strained.
Now that her most difficult time has passed, she has a stable residence and a good income from running a breakfast shop. If her son wants to live with her, then she can take him with her. She will find a time to talk to Fang Zhongcheng and see what he means as to change the custody, the other party must agree.
Shen Haiyang became more and more flexible every day. When the family came to clean the new house, he could also do light work such as dusting. After the new house was dusted, some furniture was added.
The back house had a door from the street, and the tables, chairs and benches were all custom-made, waiting to be opened early after the New Year. The couple lived in the main hall, and Shen Hui and Huihua lived in the east and west wing rooms respectively. Both of their rooms were not small, and they were divided into inside and outside by partitions.
”Mom, can I still go find my brother in the future?”
The area of the west wing is about 60 square meters, with the inner room as a bedroom and the outer room as a studio. The little girl’s living environment has been upgraded, and she is always thinking about her younger brother. But she is sensible and doesn’t say anything extra to her mother, not wanting to add burden to her mother. Her younger brother now sleeps on a box with his grandmother, and she is afraid that he will fall down because the box is so high.
”Okay you can.”
The next day, Huihua went to look for her brother. It was winter vacation and the kids had plenty of time. When she got there, she found her brother was gone. His father had taken him away. Just as she was about to leave, she was stopped by her grandmother.
”Where’s your mom?” Huihua was afraid of her grandmother, so she was stunned for a moment and didn’t answer. The old lady patted her. “I’m asking you a question, where’s your mom?”
”Over at the new house.”
”Let’s go, I’ll take you back.”
The grandmother was so kind that she wanted to take her home. She was so confused all the way. She was too small to resist and was forced to lead the way by the old lady.
After walking for about 20 to 30 minutes, the old lady and the child arrived at Li Xia’s new home. The neat courtyard facing the street, Old Lady Fang sighed as soon as she entered, with envy and jealousy in her eyes. When they heard that Shen Haiyang had woken up, a group of people were waiting to see this rural woman abandoned, but the two of them actually got married and now live in such a nice house.
”Mother,”
Huihua called out, and it was Shen Hui who came out of the room. “Mom accompanied Dad to the hospital. Huihua, where did you go so early in the morning? I had to look for you everywhere just now.”
”I’m sorry. I went to look for my brother.”
”What about Yi Yi?”
”My father took him away.”
The brother and sister were talking to each other. The old lady rolled her eyes and interrupted, “He squeezed on the box with me to sleep, and fell hard at night. Your mother is so cruel. She lives in such a spacious house, but she doesn’t want her own son.”
”What, my brother fell? Why didn’t you tell me just now, was his fall serious?”
”How come you, little girl, are talking to your grandma?
”Who is talking?” Old Lady Fang almost raised her hand to hit her, but then she put it down after remembering the purpose of her visit. “It’s nothing to be afraid of if a child falls down, stop making such a fuss. Come on, go in and pour me a cup of tea, I’m thirsty after walking all the way.”
The two children couldn’t handle such an old lady. Huihua asked anxiously where her brother was, but the old lady ignored her in a nonchalant manner.
While Huihua was circling with her grandmother, Li Xia ran into Fang Zhongcheng in the hospital corridor. The man was holding Yiyi’s hand, and the child had a square piece of gauze wrapped around his forehead. The little guy saw her with his sharp eyes, and he shook off his father’s hand and ran towards her from a distance.
”Mother,”
She squatted down and looked at the wound on the child’s forehead carefully, then looked up and asked Fang Zhongcheng what happened. “Where did he fall? The wound has been treated. What did the doctor say?”
”He fell off the bed at night and just broke his skin. The doctor said it’s okay.”
The man avoided the main point, and Li Xia was so angry that she picked up her son. “How can you be a father? You have only been asked to take care of the child for a short time and something like this happened. How could he fall down while sleeping? Wasn’t there an adult outside to block the child?”
”It’s common for children to bump into things, so there’s no need to make such a fuss about it.”
”You… a kid can get hit on the head, but it can be a big deal. If you get a brain hemorrhage, it’s no joke.”
In her previous life, she had seen this kind of thing on the news, and was very glad that her child had fallen a few times but was fine. She immediately became angry when she heard Fang Zhongcheng’s nonchalant tone, which was very bad. Fang Zhongcheng was annoyed by what she said, and his voice was unconsciously amplified.
”The doctor said it should be fine. Just take care of the wound and go home to rest. It’s just a bump, no big deal.”
”Fang Zhongcheng, you are the father and the guardian of the child. Aren’t you embarrassed to say this?”
”Why should I be embarrassed? I am taking care of the child. I will be responsible if anything happens.”
”You’re responsible for nothing. That’s your brain. If something really happens, it will be too late to regret it.”
”My own son…”
”Mom and Dad, stop quarreling.” Yiyi suddenly spoke in tears, with a look of shock on his face. “It’s all because of Yiyi. Next time, Yiyi will listen so stop quarreling.”
The two stopped arguing, and Li Xia patted her son on the shoulder to comfort him that everything was fine. Then she asked Fang Zhongcheng in a kind way, “What did the doctor say specifically? Is there anything I should pay attention to?”
”Just pay attention to the child’s emotions. If he is frightened, adults should comfort him and not blame him or increase his psychological burden.”
”I’ll take care of him for a few days. You can pick him up when you have a day off.” She looked around and saw that it was not a good place for a conversation. “We’ll talk then.”
After all, women are more careful. If a child is injured or frightened, it is definitely better for him to stay with his mother. However, “You are the kind of person who likes to make your own decisions. The head of the family is Shen Haiyang. Shouldn’t you ask for his opinion first?”
The house belonged to Shen Haiyang, and that was what outsiders knew. Li Xia said nothing about it, and just rolled her eyes at him and left with her son. He was furious at the cold stare, and turned around and left the hospital.
”When you are black-eyed and kicked out, you will naturally come to me.”
He always thought that Li Xia, a rural woman, would be unhappy or even drive Shen Haiyang away if she interfered with her son. In fact, Shen Haiyang was concerned about the child’s forehead. The little guy was very sensible to Shen Haiyang and said clearly that he fell. He comforted the child and turned to talk to Li Xia.
”Make him some delicious food to nourish him at night. The little guy must be quite frightened. How about you take him to bed with you tonight?”
”Yeah.” Li Xia agreed happily. “It depends on him, whether he wants to be with me or his sister.”
”Thank you, uncle. I want to stay with my sister.”
In half a year, the originally heartless little son became very polite, and Li Xia felt distressed. What did Fang Zhongcheng say to the child that made the child very careful around her, for fear of causing trouble for her?
She bought some pig’s feet from the hospital and stewed them with soybeans in the evening. Li Xia was playing with her son and asked him how he fekk on the ground at night. The little guy shook his head and said he forgot.
”Who do you sleep with?”
”grandmother.”
”Are you on the inside or the outside?”
”Can not remember.”
How could you not even remember this? Li Xia looked doubtful. The little guy had already run off to play with his sister, and obviously didn’t want to talk about this issue anymore. Li Xia looked at the little guy with distress in her eyes, and while cooking, she was thinking about how to tell Fang Zhongcheng about her son.
For dinner, she gave the little one two large pieces of pig’s trotters, and the child was very happy while eating. After dinner, the children went to play, and she discussed with Shen Haiyang about picking up her son.
”When we got divorced, I was penniless and had no place to stay, so I thought it would be better for him to stay with his father. Now…”
”Talk to Fang Zhongcheng about giving you the custody of Yi Yi. I have no objection. The current family planning policy allows one child per family, so having three in our family will make things more lively. I like children very much, and our conditions allow for raising them, so you don’t have to worry that I won’t agree.”
”Thanks.”
”We are a couple. It’s only natural for us to stick together when we encounter difficulties. You don’t have to be so polite to me.”
Li Xia said nothing this time, and got up to make him some calcium-supplemented milk powder. She looked at him with a smile on her face, and felt warm in her heart.
When she was putting the children to sleep at night, she asked her son if he was willing to follow her in the future. The little guy was happy at first, but then he shook his head.
”I’ll stay with Dad.”
”Why?”
”Dad should have raised me.”
This little guy, is he worried that his mother is too burdened? “Who taught you this? You are so young, you don’t need to think so much.”
”Mom has worked very hard. They said that you work very hard selling buns from dawn to dusk and earn very little money. The house you live in now belongs to my uncle. You can only stay in the city because of my uncle.”
They also said that you might be driven away by uncle someday, and no one likes a daughter-in-law with two burdens. The little guy looked at his mother and said nothing. He didn’t want to add burden to his mother, and one less burden was a better one. He wanted his mother and sister to stay in the city, so that the three of them could all be in the city, and life in the city was better than in the countryside.
”Mom, mom sells steamed buns to support herself. She’s not as poor as they think. You…”
”Mom, can I come to eat buns with you often in the future?”
”Yes, anytime. Remember, mom’s home is your home. You can come whenever you want. You can stay here permanently. Uncle also welcomes you to come. He won’t be unhappy as you think.”
”Okay.” The little guy happily hugged her neck: “Mom, I love you.”
”Mom loves Yi Yi, too.”
The little guy said he would sleep with his sister at night. After the conversation, Li Xia led them to the main room. Shen Haiyang told the three children stories, and she sat beside him while doing needlework.
Shen Haiyang has soft features and a gentle temperament. After spending a few times with him, Yi Yi became very close to him and forgot everything his father and the others said. At night, he changed his mind and slept with his mother. He talked to his mother in bed for a long time. Li Xia didn’t sleep well that night, and she was relieved to see that her son was fine the next day.
Nowadays, the provincial hospital does not have a CT scan, so brain damage is usually not visible. The doctor’s instructions were the same as those passed down by the elderly, to pay attention to the child’s reaction for 24 hours, and she would not feel relieved until 24 hours had passed.
