CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82: POLAR OPPOSITES

The three sisters of the Bai Family excitedly came over, originally planning to get some benefits from their older brother’s home and have a meal of meat dumplings before going back. But who would have thought they’d end up with a bowl of thin cornmeal porridge and not gain a single benefit. Apart from their brother, no one else was in a good mood.

The three of them—more accurately, Bai Dajuan and Bai Damei—left the old house with sour faces.

Because Bai Xiaomei hardly spoke from start to finish, nor did she have any complaints about the cornmeal porridge and pickles. This was already a good meal for her; at home, she might even miss meals like these.

Traditionally, the daughters and sons-in-law who return on the second day of the New Year are supposed to stay overnight before leaving. Who knows who set this rule.

And so, Grandma Bai spent the night listening to her two daughters’ complaints.

Even though Grandma Bai didn’t treat them as well as she did Bai Dahe, they were still acceptable. They didn’t usually have much contact, but when they came back, she wouldn’t let them leave with empty stomachs.

And so, the group was dismissed without much warmth or confrontation.

On the third day, Li Xiuying and Grandpa Wang came over with Wang Yongsheng.

Since their daughter was finally willing to see them, they couldn’t wait for her to finish her postpartum month at home; they hurried over.

But the moment they entered, they saw their precious daughter crying.

"Cuihua... my precious daughter!" Li Xiuying rushed over as soon as she saw her daughter, her eyes brimming with tears.

The young ones, seeing their grandparents and uncle arriving, happily jumped off the kang.

Bai Daliang also quickly got off to greet them, "Mom! Dad! Yongsheng, you’re here! Come, sit down!"

"Mom... Dad, little brother?" Wang Cuihua looked up through tearful eyes towards the door, and seeing her beloved parents and brother there, she cried even more bitterly.

"Sister, why are you crying like this? Did brother-in-law bully you?" Wang Yongsheng asked in surprise.

"No... Mom, Dad, please get on the kang!" Wang Cuihua hurriedly wiped her tears and invited her parents to sit.

"Yongsheng, don’t say such things! When have I ever bullied your sister?" Bai Daliang said in his simple and honest voice, "Cuihua is crying because the baby is crying."

"The baby? Cuihua, which baby is in trouble? What’s going on?" Li Xiuying asked anxiously upon hearing that.

"It’s Xiao Feng, the older of the two newborns! He has pneumonia..." Wang Cuihua’s voice was hoarse as she spoke.

"Where’s the baby?" Grandpa Wang asked, not seeing Xiao Feng on the kang, his old eyes cloudy.

"Dad, Xiao Xue took the baby to the hospital! They’ve gone to Chenxi County!" Bai Daliang quickly responded.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle! Have some tea!" Bai Ruyun and Bai Ruxia had already gone out to make tea for the three of them.

"Good children!" Li Xiuying looked at her two identical granddaughters with eyes full of tenderness.

"Are you saying Xiao Xue went by herself? Why didn’t you go with her? She’s just a child, and she took a baby with her! Aren’t you worried about her going so far? What kind of father are you? You have less and less responsibility as a man! You still have the nerve to sit on the kang drinking tea?" Grandpa Wang had always disapproved of his only son-in-law. Not only was his character weak, unable to stand tall, but he was also tightly controlled by his mother.

If it weren’t for his daughter liking him and the fact that he was good to her and didn’t bully her, he wouldn’t care about reputations and would have taken his daughter home long ago.

"Mom, besides, Xiao Yuan is with her! He’s Xiao Xue’s partner! This young man is from the Capital City and is more capable than Daliang outside! Xiao Xue was worried about the family, so she let her father return!" Wang Cuihua, still unwilling to let Bai Daliang be scolded, explained for him.

"Cuihua, they’ve gone to a big hospital; Xiao Feng will be fine! Don’t worry! You still haven’t finished your postpartum month!" Li Xiuying patted her daughter’s hand sympathetically.

Her daughter had a tough life; just as days were getting a little better, this kind of thing happened!

"Mom..." Feeling her mother’s gentle touch, Wang Cuihua could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

These past two days, she had been so repressed; the pain of potentially losing a child was something no one could understand. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and cried so much that seeing Li Xiuying made her break down completely.

"Okay, child, don’t cry! Mom is here! Don’t cry!" Li Xiuying patted her daughter’s back gently, comforting her.

"Daliang! Let your mother stay and take care of Cuihua for a few days! You and Yongsheng should go to Chenxi County Hospital to see how the baby is doing! Things can’t keep going on like this! If Cuihua keeps crying like this, she’ll end up crying her eyes blind!" Grandpa Wang hurriedly issued instructions.

"Dad, Xiao Xue specifically said we should stay home and not go anywhere, just wait here..." Bai Daliang said softly.

"Grandpa, elder sister said the baby would be fine and asked Dad to stay home and look after Grandma..." Bai Ruchuan looked at Grandpa Wang, unsure how to talk about his grandma.

But letting Dad and Uncle go to Chenxi County to find elder sister shouldn’t be okay; elder sister had instructed them not to go! To stay home and take good care of Mom and little sister, this was his and third sister’s responsibility!

Elder sister probably meant that Dad shouldn’t go either?

"This... your grandma she’s... sigh!" As a man, Grandpa Wang did not feel it was appropriate to speak ill of womenfolk in front of his grandson! He sighed and lowered his head, his face full of worry.

He hadn’t expected his daughter to have such a hard time; now, life was supposed to be easier with enough to eat, but her mother-in-law was still oppressing her. Even though they had separated, she still had to endure this treatment...

"Dad, even if brother-in-law and I want to go, there aren’t any buses running yet! It’ll be after the Lantern Festival when they start!" Wang Yongsheng, worried about his tired-looking sister, said. But how are they supposed to go when it’s so far away?

If it were summer, it might be okay, but now it’s the dead of winter!

"Mom and Dad, don’t worry yourselves about it! I believe in Xiao Xue; if she says it’ll be okay, it really will be! But it’s just hard on the heart, and I can’t help controlling myself... I just cry..." Wang Cuihua, originally intending to comfort her parents, couldn’t help but cry again.

This might just be a typical case of postpartum depression?

"Grandma, Grandpa, talk with Mom! We’ll go make dinner!" Bai Ruyun gently covered Wang Cuihua with a blanket on her legs and then took her siblings out.

"Xiao Xia, take out some of the food from the house! Cook a nice meal for Grandma and Grandpa!" Bai Ruyun knew that Xiao Xia and Little Chuan had hidden the food at home!

"Okay, let’s stew a chicken, and make rice for them!" Bai Ruxia said, taking Bai Ruchuan to get the food.

Meanwhile, Bai Rushan was still stuck with the task of keeping the fire burning.

The constant activity at the Bai Family’s home was completely unknown to Bai Ruxue and Zhang Yuan, who were busy buying a house, selling grain, and getting involved in various tasks.

In the past few days, Bai Rufeng’s condition had considerably improved! In the earlier days, he had diarrhea and vomited, but he had almost coughed up his phlegm completely, which helped clear the heat and detoxify him.

The two of them watched the little guy getting better by the day, happy and relieved, to the extent that Bai Ruxue didn’t even want to go home anymore.

She loved it here; this was exactly the kind of life she wanted to live.

Handsome men, delicious food, a carefree little life, making her lose track of time.

In the morning, she prepares a delicious breakfast for herself and Zhang Yuan.

During the day, they take care of the little guy, playing with Xiao Feng when he’s awake, and living in leisure.