In the end, Zhao Dahe stopped insisting on following Meng Yao. However, he also said if Meng Yao didn't return in an hour, his siblings and him would go to the Mengs to pick her up.
Meng Yao nodded. It wouldn't even take a quarter of an hour to go back and forth from her house to the Meng's residence, so the remaining time was more than enough.
Meng Yao followed her predecessor's memories and headed toward the Meng family while Zhao Dahe went to Zhao Xiaoshu's room.
Zhao Xiaoshu was practicing his writing on the wooden plates while Zhao Xiaohua mumbled to herself as she poked her body.
Zhao Dahe did not know his mother was teaching his two siblings how to read and write. Hence, Zhao Dahe was utterly stunned. Zhao Dahe thought his mother was joking when she said Zhao Xiaoshu and Zhao Xiaohua would surpass him.
Even though Zhao Xiaoshu used a tree branch to write on the sand, Zhao Dahe felt Zhao Xiaoshu's writing was more impressive than his.
Zhao Dahe suppressed his shock and asked casually, "When did you learn to write, Xiaoshu? Can you let me see what you wrote?"
"I started learning to write when you went back to school," Zhao Xiaoshu answered obediently.
"Huh?" Zhao Dahe could not control his expression.
"Dahe, why don't you take a look at mine?" Zhao Xiaohua pushed her sandbox toward Zhao Dahe.
'Zhao Xiaohua's handwriting is okay. The sizes are inconsistent.'
Zhao Dahe wanted to slap himself as soon as he thought of this.
Zhao Xiaoshu learned to write after he left, so did that mean Zhao Xiaohua learned it too? It only took the twins a month to learn to write, so how could Zhao Dahe think their handwriting was just okay? Zhao Dahe had to practice for over half a year to learn how to write like Zhao Xiaohua.
'No wonder Mother said my siblings might surpass me. They would probably surpass me even if I studied hard, right?'
"So? How's my writing, Dahe?" Zhao Xiaoshu asked urgently.
"I-It's all right. You can't be proud just yet. You can do better if you put in more effort." Zhao Dahe mimicked his principal's tone.
Zhao Xiaoshu nodded in agreement. "You're right. I think so too. Mother said my handwriting isn't bad, but I still can't compare to her."
Zhao Dahe felt lightheaded.
'Was I absent for a month, or has it been several years?! Why does everything feel so unfamiliar? Does Mother know how to write? Why didn't I know about that? What else did I miss out on?'
'Wait, that's not right. If Mother could write, why did she tell me to write a regiment for Qin Zheng just now?'
"W-What else did mother teach you?" Zhao Dahe tried his best to appear calm.
"When we finished reciting the Three Musketeers, Xiaohua and I memorized Mother's soup recipes. Mother also told us some fairytales," Zhao Xiaoshu replied. "Mother said Father only taught her a few miscellaneous things besides reading medical books. Also, she said I have to go to school."
Zhao Dahe still had a deep impression of his father, Zhao Ting, and knew his father could read. He also remembered his mother being unwilling to learn. She even quarreled with Zhao Ting and asked him if he disliked her for being unable to read.
'So, Father won the argument and forced Mother to learn? No, that can't be. Mother's handwriting wouldn't be better than Xiaoshu's if that were the case. If forceful learning could result in this, I want someone to force me too!' Zhao Dahe muttered inwardly.
Zhao Dahe thought about speaking about this to Meng Yao when she returned. Two flowers bloomed, each representing a branch.
Meanwhile, Meng Yao was already standing in the central room of the Meng family residence. The original Meng Yao's father, Meng Qingshan, sat on a chair alongside her mother, Madam Sun. There was a mild sense of anger on their faces.
Meng Ruyu cried breathlessly on Madam Sun's knees.
"I told Ruyu to get you, so why were you so mean to her? Come at me if you're angry, not her," Sun Shi's first words to Meng Yao were criticizing.
Meng Yao only blinked. When Meng Ruyu went to the Zhaos, Meng Yao only said one sentence to her.
"It wasn't Aunt Yao who was rude to me, Grandma. My second cousin, Zhao Dahe, was," Meng Ruru explained sobbingly.
"Dahe is her son. If Meng Yao didn't instigate it, then what?" Sun Shi said unhappily.
Meng Yao didn't want to waste her breath on the Meng family, so she got straight to the point. "Why did you pretend to be sick and ask me to come back here?"
"Did you hear what Meng Yao said?! Is what Meng Yao just said something a child would say?!" Sun Shi thundered. "I'm your mother, and I told you to come home, so you have to obey me!"
"That's not what you said when you gave me away, not even when I came to ask for your help! What's wrong? Is what we said back then not count anymore, and we're mother and daughter again?" Meng Yao said sarcastically.
"How can you talk to your mother like that, Yao?! You're our flesh and blood, so how could she not care for you?! You shouldn't have said that!" a middle-aged woman said.
Meng Yao knew who that middle-aged woman was. She was the original Meng Yao's sister-in-law, Madam Lin, Meng Ruyu's mother.
"It seems you were the one who incited him to do so this time?" Meng Yao didn't even lift her eyelids as she asked.
Previously, Madame Lin had instigated the Mengs to force Meng Yao to marry. Of course, she was also the one who had hired her.
Just because Meng Qingshan and Sun Shi were still alive, Madam Lin, who had just entered the family, interfered with Meng Yao's marriage. It was apparent Madam Lin didn't have good intentions from the start.
Indeed the marriage Madam Lin proposed to the original Meng Yao was not ideal. The man was from a wealthy family but was more than ten years older than the original Meng Yao. The man already had two sons, and his wife died a mysterious death.
The original Meng Yao was not a fool to agree to such a marriage, leading Zhao Ting to marry the original Meng Yao instead.
"How can you say that about me, Yao?" Madam Lin looked offended. Tears welled in her eyes, and her body trembled like she was sick.
'Hmph, she is trying to cry but can't. Madam Lin is pleasing to the eye even though she's almost forty. I'll give her that. However, she's still putting on an act like a child. How unsightly.'
"You're getting older, huh, Madam Lin? You're almost a grandmother, but you can't even cry properly?" Meng Yao spoke condescendingly, but she didn't beat around the bush. She was shockingly straightforward.
Madam Lin froze as she didn't know if she should cry.
"You b*tch! Your sister-in-law is older than you! Is that how you talk to your elders?!" Madam Sun pointed at Meng Yao and thundered.
"What kind of mother are you?" Meng Yao said, "Or are you saying you've lived enough? Even so, my father is still strong, so he might need to find another wife. I'll have a stepmother by then, and you will be nothing but a memory."
Sun Shi was flabbergasted.
Meng Qingshan, who Meng Yao mentioned, heard his daughter's words and fell into profound thought.
Madam Sun might be gone anytime soon, so Meng Qingshan would have to find another wife. When that happens, his new wife would be kind and gentle so he could live comfortably. Meng Qingshan wouldn't have to live in such a sullen manner.