Mrs. Wang scolded Mrs. Hu and then switched to scolding Mrs. Wang, "You foolish woman, you're just a club. She asked you to stoke the fire and you did, hurting your hand. What's your whole family going to do, live off the wind?" She rambled on.
Upon hearing this, Chen Alu promptly got up and headed to the kitchen. His sister was unwell, Dabao was still young, and it was him who had to help their mother with the chores.
Before leaving, he said softly to Chen Afu, "You and Dabao just stay here in the hall, don't go anywhere."
Chen Afu nodded, watching the small figure that limped away disappear from sight, she felt a sting in her heart. All she could do now was to keep sitting in a daze, with Chen Dabao leaning on her. In the meantime, Chen Agu brought out a handful of peanuts for them to eat.
It wasn't long after the old lady returned to the West Room that Chen Agu's son, Chen Dahu, ran into the hall. He approached Chen Afu, stretched out a hand, in which lay a black piece of toffee. Tempting her, he said, "Aunt Afu, do you want some?"
The child had a round face and a plump body, quite a cute look.
Chen Afu shook her head.
Chen Dahu puckered his lips and asked, "Why are you still drooling if you don't want to eat?"
A spasm tugged at the corners of Chen Afu's stiff mouth. This child, despite his smiling face, was quite unlikeable with his words.
Blinking his eyes, Chen Dahu continued his enticement, "My aunt has several pieces of pine nuts candy in her room, much tastier than this toffee. She's inviting you to eat candy. She wouldn't give any to my sister and me." He paused, cleverly shifting the blame, "Remember, it's my aunt who asked you, not me."
Chen Dabao quickly said, "My mother doesn't want any candy."
Chen Dahu glared at Chen Dabao and growled, "In my house, there's no place for you, the wild child, to speak."
Stubbornly, Chen Dabao said, "I am my mother's son, I am not a wild child, my household registration is under my mother's name."
These words were meant to console Chen Dabao by Chen Ming's parents. Chen Afu hadn't officially applied for a female household registration yet, so naturally, Chen Dabao's household registration couldn't possibly be under her name.
Because the voices were loud, people in the West Room heard it, Chen Agu raised his voice and said, "Dahu, Dabao is your brother, you should play nicely with him. If you talk nonsense again, watch me beat you."
Dabao was picked up and brought home on the second day of the third lunar month, which is considered to be his birthday. Dahu was born on the tenth day of the first lunar month, hence Dahu is his elder cousin.
Chen Dahu promptly replied, "I was just playing with my brother Dabao." He then forced himself to give a few hefty laughs.
Chen Afu, on the other hand, was intrigued about what Chen Aju was up to. She stood up and said, "Let's go—eat some candy."
Seeing Chen Afu take the bait, Chen Dahu grinned and gave Chen Afu a scornful look, murmuring, "Stupid and greedy, no wonder she has a child before she's married."
Chen Dabao didn't want Chen Afu to go, so he remained standing. Chen Afu gently pinched Chen Dabao's thin little arm. Knowing that his mother was very different from before, the little fellow followed along.
Arriving in the north room of the east wing, the room's arrangement was similar to many rural homes—bed, cabinet, table. However, a bronze mirror, two rouge pots, and a basket for needles and threads on the table indicated that this was a boudoir. Moreover, there were several blue-and-white porcelain covered tea cups on the table, and a small jug with a few fresh flowers, indicating that the room's owner had certain taste.
This was the bedroom of Chen Alan and Chen Aju.
Judging from the distribution of the rooms, Chen Ye's family was living quite well. In many rural homes, parents, sons, and daughters all sleep on one big bed.
In Chen Ming's house they could sleep separately as there were fewer people. But in Chen Ye's house, there was a total of nine people spanning across three generations. The elderly matriarch lived in the upper room, and when Chen Shi's family came back to visit, they would also stay in the upper room. Chen Ye and his wife, along with their two daughters, lived in the east wing, while Chen Dagui and his wife, along with their two young children, lived in the west wing.
As soon as Chen Afu and Chen Dabao entered the house, Chen Aju shoved Chen Dabao, berating him, "You little wild child, who let you follow us here?"
Chen Dabao was a bit afraid of Chen Aju, so he shrunk his neck in fear. But he was also worried about his dear mother, so, plucking up courage, he puffed out his small chest and said, "My grandma asked me to stay by Mom's side."
Chen Aju scoffed, "Mom, mom, mom, such a nice sounding word. She's your stick of a mom, huh? She's clearly a never-been-wed maiden, where did she get a son from?"
Chen Aju treated Dabao like this, and really angered Chen Afu. She truly was a sly and petty maid. Chen Afu thought to herself that once she healed, she would have to teach her a lesson.
Maybe Chen Aju felt she shouldn't sacrifice the big picture over a small matter, so she didn't confront Chen Dabao anymore. Instead, she turned around to pour a bowl of water. Handing it to Chen Afu, she said, "This is sugar water, even sweeter than syrup candy. Afu, drink this first to quench your thirst."
The water was piping hot, so much so that even Chen Aju didn't dare to hold the teacup. Instead, she used her hand to support the bottom of the cup. Chen Dabao saw through the plan and urgently pulled at Chen Afu's hand. Chen Afu squeezed his little hand back in assurance.
She shook her head indicating that she wouldn't drink it, then moved to sit on the bed.
Chen Aju shrieked, "That's my bed, you filthy idiot, get up now!"
She put the teacup on the table. Just as she was about to pull Chen Afu herself but realized she did not want to touch her, she turned to Chen Dahu, "Go, kick her, kick her up."
But Chen Dahu shook his head and said, "I dare not hit her anymore. The last time Auntie told me to hit her and Dabao, my dad gave me a good beating. He also said, if I hit them again, he won't give me food. There's a lot of meat today, I would be so upset if I couldn't eat any."
Upon hearing this, Chen Aju looked like she was about to reach out and pinch Afu herself, but she suddenly remembered something and changed her face to a smile. She took a piece of pine nut candy from another tea cup, "This is the pine nut candy my dad bought from the county town, it's very sweet. Dahu and Daya have been fussing about wanting some, but I didn't want to give them any."
The bottom of the pine nut candy was red, clearly laced with chili powder.
She thinks I'm an idiot, huh? Those tricks to harm people are too naive. Chen Afu silently despised this spoiled and wicked maid.
Ignoring Chen Dabao's protests of "don't," she reached out to take the pine nut candy. Instead of putting it in her own mouth, she skillfully stuffed it into Chen Dahu's mouth, who stood at the side, salivating.
Chen Dahu was craving the pine nut candy and didn't care if Chen Afu was dirty. He opened his mouth to suck in the candy. But immediately, he spat it out, then began to bawl, with snot and tears streaming down his face.
In her mind, Chen Afu quietly apologized to Dahu for the spicy candy, but at least it wouldn't scald a person like that bowl of water could have.
Seeing her plan fail, with Chen Dahu bearing the brunt instead of Chen Afu, Chen Aju angrily shoved Chen Afu and screamed, "You idiot, I gave it to you to eat, why did you give it to Dahu?!"
Dahu's crying drew the others over. Mrs. Hu was the first to rush in; she picked up Chen Dahu and asked, "My precious grandson, tell Granny, who hit you?"
Chen Dahu's mouth was so spicy from the candy that he couldn't speak. He pointed at Chen Afu while crying loudly.
.........
Thank you for all the support, my dear readers, I really appreciate it! I'd also like to thank the reader named keppra for his votes and a red packet, a heartfelt thank you! Yesterday, there was a new addition to my author management called "Interaction Management." Here, I saw comments from many readers under "This Chapter Says," but I couldn't reply or see these comments on my phone nor on the commentary area. I asked other authors about this, and they said some phones don't display this function. So, I apologize for those comments that I didn't reply to. It's because I either didn't see them, or I couldn't reply.