CHAPTER 25: CHAPTER 15: THE WAY OF FILIAL PIETY

Looking at the sky, Zhang Guoqing was also eager to go home. The village hadn’t finished work in the morning, so if he rushed back now, he could still help. Pushing the door open, Zhang Guoqing shouted for his mom, and Mother Zhang responded loudly. After the two finished their ordinary shouts, they burst into laughter. Fortunately, apart from Zhou Jiao who was in postpartum confinement and their clueless son, no one was at home.

"Mom, what are you doing? I bought a bunch of stuff; aren’t you going to take a look? Take a break first, I’ll handle it later."

Mother Zhang came out from the backyard and rolled her eyes at Zhang Guoqing, "What’s up? Take the stuff to your own room so that those shallow-eyed ones won’t get tempted and sneak it away."

Zhang Guoqing understood that it was the second sister-in-law who made a mistake, making his mother uneasy. Quickly, he pulled Mother Zhang towards his own room and whispered in her ear, "Mom, come with me. I’ll tell you about how I fought off a shrew. Where’s Dad? I need to talk to him about this too, so he doesn’t get scared later."

Mother Zhang immediately looked worried, checking Zhang Guoqing over multiple times before feeling relieved. She took his hand and said, "What’s going on? That shrew dares to bully you? I’ll rip her apart first."

Inside, Zhou Jiao was also worried. She heard the voices from afar but didn’t see anyone, and didn’t know where he was hurt. A woman and a shrew, again.

Zhou Jiao looked at her sleeping son, using both hands to cover his ears. In a hushed voice, she said, "Brother, come in with Mom and talk. I want to see too."

When Zhang Guoqing and his mother came in, they saw Zhou Jiao covering the child’s ears weirdly, speaking in a low voice, watching them intently. It was only when they came in that she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mom, look at the stuff in the bag. Take what you need. Put those pig trotters and black-bone chickens in the kitchen. Leave the baby’s stuff here. I’m really exhausted today. Ran around a lot of places. Had buns at Second Sister’s in the morning. They’re all doing well and will come over on the third day of the washing ceremony. Oh, the Zhou Family also went, something happened there; I’ll talk about it when Dad comes back."

Mother Zhang opened the bag, taking things out and her eyes widened. This prodigal son. No matter how much family wealth there is, it’s not enough to squander. Just yesterday, she told his dad she wasn’t worried about him. Looks like she still needs to have a chat with the couple.

"Xiao Wu, this much stuff must have cost a lot of money, right? You can’t spend like this. Look at these white towels; why buy so many? Can you use them all?

I’ve already prepared brown sugar and red dates. There’s rice at home too. This rice you bought might be special supply, right? Can you really finish all these pig trotters and black-bone chickens? Oh dear, you’re such a prodigal son. Did you spend all your secret savings?"

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao snickered, these diapers are better than the towels at home. Next time, they still need to buy some towels; otherwise, if someone visits, it might be embarrassing. The two dared not rebut and only lowered their heads pretending to admit their mistake. Mother Zhang knew her words were in vain, and no wonder the pack of diapers was taken by the second brother’s wife; it was premeditated. Even with money, you can’t waste it like this. Luckily, it was Zhang Guoqing who brought it back, otherwise, if it were the other two sons, Mother Zhang would surely use her stick on them every few days. That pack of diapers took her more than half a year to prepare, asking many people to gather them. Sigh~ What to do with such a spendthrift child?

"Mom, don’t worry. These things aren’t expensive. I already made arrangements with a classmate a few days ago and only went to pick them up today. Oh, the white towels you mentioned are actually diapers. My classmate got them specially, said that they prevent diaper rash. They’re cheaper than towels.

The two pig trotters are for Jiao Jiao to produce more milk. The red date porridge with this rice is to nourish the blood. Brown sugar and red dates are great for women, so I bought more. They aren’t just for Jiao Jiao; you should have some daily too.

The two black-bone chickens, stew them for you and Jiao Jiao to eat however you like. It was rare to see black-bone chickens, so I bought them. There’s two packs of milk powder; take one to those two girls at home."

Mother Zhang thought what her son said made sense and nodded along, but then she realized something was off, and angrily said, "Clever boy, you’re fooling your old mom, almost got me into a pit. It’s your wife who is in confinement, not me. Don’t touch those two black-bone chickens.

I’ll prepare them after the pig trotters are eaten to continue nourishing Jiao Jiao. Keep half of the rice, I’ll have your dad grind it into rice flour for the kids at home to eat. The rice is so good, it’ll be nutritious as rice flour. I’ll make red date porridge with the rest for Jiao Jiao. At my age, there’s no need to eat so well."

Listening, Zhou Jiao shook Mother Zhang’s arm, pouting, "Mom, if you don’t even drink the red date porridge, how can I drink it? When I eat the pig trotters, I’ll see you gnawing on vegetable buns; when I eat the black-bone chicken, I’ll see you drinking vegetable porridge. It’ll make me feel so guilty, I won’t have an appetite, and I won’t get through this confinement well.

Let’s drink together. Otherwise, if you don’t drink it, I won’t either. Look, Brother Xiao Wu is being filial to you, deliberately buying it for your usual consumption. If you don’t drink it, then whenever he sees something he originally wanted to buy for you, he’ll suddenly remember you don’t want it and won’t buy it. After this happens many times, he’ll believe it’s only natural; in the future, when he sees something you like, he’ll think you don’t want it either, then who will remember you, really? Do you think what I say makes sense?

You should think, Xiao Wu bought this, I’ll eat it. Oh, Xiao Wu bought this, and I wore it. Xiao Wu will think his choice is great, and that his mom likes everything he buys. Then they’ll be of one heart with his mom. He’ll be happy then and very willing to be filial to you. Do you think that’s right?"

"Yes, listen to Jiao Jiao. If you always don’t like what I buy, I won’t know what you want, and I can only not buy anything. More purchases mean more mistakes, no purchases mean no mistakes. If that’s the case, why raise a son?" Zhang Guoqing echoed Zhou Jiao’s words enthusiastically. His mom was a typical virtuous wife and good mother, wanting to save anything tasty for the kids, working themselves to the bone hoping their luck holds out. If the son is filial, fine, but if he turns out to be ungrateful, he’ll take it for granted.

Listening to the young couple, Mother Zhang felt they had a point, but it turned her worldview upside down. She felt it necessary to talk with the children’s dad about whether this was reasonable.

The two kids were coaxing, acting spoiled, and even threatening, showing their filial piety. No matter what was decided, out of all the kids, only Xiao Wu truly satisfied her.

Watching the two kids stare at her nervously, Mother Zhang nodded to indicate agreement. As for what she really thought, only she knew. Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao nudged each other’s shoulders, smiling sweetly.

Zhang Guoqing looked at his son; with such commotion, he hadn’t woken up, so there was still some time before he would. With the family returning from work soon, it had been just a bowl of porridge and a pee since early morning.

Turning to Zhou Jiao, he instructed, "Jiao Jiao, while the baby is sleeping, you should get some rest too. I’ll go tidy up with Mom; Dad and they will be back soon."

Zhou Jiao nodded, watching Zhang Guoqing take out a pack of milk powder, a bottle, and diapers, then lifting the bag to leave with Mother Zhang. She also seized the moment to catch some sleep.