Xu Zhiqiang hesitated for several moments before he took the teacup and sipped from it.
Xu Duoyu was still sweetly sipping his sugared water egg, the child knew who treated him well, holding out the bowl to Xu Zhicheng,
Xu Zhicheng's mouth twitched several times.
Seeing the egg sticking to Xu Duoyu's lips, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva several times.
He had never had sugared water egg before.
Watching Xu Zhicheng like this, Xu Niannian felt nothing but sorrow.
For her, accustomed to all sorts of delicacies, she could not comprehend the level of desire the people of this era had for an egg—a dish considered everyday fare in the future.
"You two share it, I'm going back to my room to rest," she said.
Having said that, Xu Niannian got up and returned to her room.
No sooner had Xu Niannian left than Xu Zhicheng took a sip from the bowl, daring not to drink too much, just tasting it.
Accustomed to eating coarse grains, this first taste of egg, so tender and fragrant in his mouth, made him reluctant to swallow, though it was just a small bite.
"Brother, you should have a sip too," Xu Zhicheng said.
Xu Zhiqiang didn't drink it, letting the two younger brothers finish it by themselves.
After finishing the sugared water egg, Xu Zhicheng eagerly said,
"Brother, do you think our sister got possessed by a ghost or something, to forget all the past, and also... "
"And what?" Xu Zhiqiang asked.
Xu Zhicheng lowered his voice and muttered,
"It's like she's become different."
Although sister still kept a stern face, she didn't scold them or hit them, and she even let him and Duoyu have the sugared water egg.
In the past, Xu Zhicheng wouldn't have dared to imagine such a thing.
Lying in the hall, Xu Niannian, despite Xu Zhicheng keeping his voice very low, still heard everything.
With a bruised forehead, Xu Niannian was truly in pain and couldn't care about much, soon drifting off to sleep.
In the evening, Dawei Xu and Yang Cuihua returned from outside one after another.
Yang Cuihua's mouth was her downfall; as soon as she returned, she began scolding vehemently.
One moment lambasting Dawei Xu for being good for nothing, the next berating the three sons for being an eyesore and wasting food.
It was Yang Cuihua's voice that woke Xu Niannian.
Coming out from her room, she saw Yang Cuihua seizing Xu Duoyu's ear, scolding,
"You little scamp, what are you doing clinging to the bowl licking it? After you've licked it, how are we supposed to eat? Don't you think it needs washing?"
As she spoke, she snatched the bowl from Xu Duoyu's hands, her nose sharp, detecting the egg smell almost instantly.
Her expression turned ugly on the spot, and she started yelling,
"Oh, you've got nerve, stealing eggs to eat! Those are your sister's food. They call you Duoyu (surplus), and you truly are an unnecessary little scamp. Let's see if mother doesn't throw you out to feed the dogs."
She grabbed the crying Xu Duoyu, intending to take him outside, and Xu Niannian, panicked, hurried over to grab Yang Cuihua.
But Yang Cuihua was full of energy, while Xu Niannian felt dizzy after just a few steps and failed to catch up.
Yang Cuihua had reached the courtyard entrance by the time Xu Niannian had only just left the room.
Fortunately, Xu Zhiqiang and Xu Zhicheng, carrying back baskets, arrived just in time to block Yang Cuihua's path.
"Mom, what did Duoyu do?" Xu Zhiqiang anxiously blocked Yang Cuihua.
"Move aside! Today I must throw out this extra brat to feed the dogs. He even dares to steal and eat what belongs to his sister," she exclaimed.
On hearing this, Xu Zhiqiang's eyes widened in shock, his hands tightly holding onto Yang Cuihua, and his resentment towards Xu Niannian deepened by yet another degree.
It turned out her kind gesture of giving Duoyu the sugared water egg at lunchtime was for this very moment.
"Mom, it wasn't Duoyu who stole the eggs; my sister gave them to Duoyu herself."
"You're spouting nonsense!" Yang Cuihua blurted out angrily: "Niannian would never do such a foolish thing."
Xu Zhicheng, terrified, cried as he clung to Yang Cuihua's waist, begging, "Mom, please don't throw Duoyu away, Duoyu really didn't steal the eggs, my sister gave them to him."
Xu Niannian finally staggered to the gate.
Upon seeing Xu Niannian with a bandage wrapped around her head, soaked with blood, Yang Cuihua panicked. She let go of Xu Duoyu without care, regardless of whether he might be killed from the fall.
"Niannian, oh my heart, why did you come out? Go back and rest properly."
Fortunately, Xu Zhiqiang caught him in time. Xu Duoyu, sobbing uncontrollably, clung to Xu Zhiqiang's neck and cried bitterly.
Holding Xu Duoyu, Xu Zhiqiang's gaze was fixed threateningly on Xu Niannian; if she dared to falsely accuse Duoyu today, he would take a knife and kill her.
Xu Niannian, already feeling dizzy, got even dizzier after being jostled by Yang Cuihua.
"Mom, listen to me, Duoyu really didn't steal anything, I let Duoyu have the egg soup."
At these words, Yang Cuihua was visibly taken aback and immediately burst out crying, "My Niannian, what's happened to you..."
Xu Zhiqiang and Xu Zhicheng were also shocked as they stared at Xu Niannian.
So it really wasn't her who had wronged Duoyu; it was their mother who had misunderstood.
Xu Niannian hadn't expected that a bowl of sugar water with an egg could cause such an uproar.
Outside was not the place to talk, and with all the crying and commotion, many neighbors had come out to see what the fuss was about.
Xu Niannian quickly pulled Yang Cuihua into the house, knowing that calming down the 'big Buddha' was the most important thing at the moment.
The family entered the house and shut the door behind them.
The aunt from next door, while cracking sunflower seeds in her yard, complained to her husband, "The Xu family's at it again. Tell me, does Yang Cuihua have shit for brains or what? She neglects her three precious sons and treats that girl like a golden lump. It's bad enough for the woman to be foolish, but Xu Dawei is being equally stupid."
Her husband grunted and clacked his Liberation shoes on the ground to shake out the dirt.
"As if you don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong," he retorted.
The auntie pursed her lips disapprovingly but didn't argue with her husband, continuing to crack seeds.
Meanwhile, inside the Xu Family Hall, Xu Niannian had finally managed to explain the sequence of events with great difficulty.
Yang Cuihua and Xu Niannian sat on chairs by the dining table while Xu Zhiqiang and his brothers stood in a row in front, waiting for Yang Cuihua to decide their fate.
After hearing the whole story, Yang Cuihua couldn't help but spit in disgust and said irritably, "If your sister tells you to eat, you eat. She pities you, but I've never seen you pity her."
The three brothers, Xu Zhiqiang included, hung their heads as she scolded them, not daring to talk back.
Because talking back would only result in a beating, without solving anything.
Xu Niannian, her head throbbing, listened to Yang Cuihua's tirade.
She knew that one can't rush when eating hot tofu, and in Yang Cuihua's firmly entrenched mind, not only were the sons useless, but they were also a losing proposition.
Changing her mind instantly was impossible; it was going to take time.
Although Yang Cuihua was dissatisfied, the decision had been made by her daughter, and she feared that saying too much would make her daughter think she disapproved of her.
The foolish son had benefited, and according to her daughter, not only had Duoyu had the egg soup, but Zhicheng had as well.
They had already taken advantage of the good, and she couldn't go on scolding them, but that didn't mean she could just keep silent; she had to find another approach.
"Your sister loves you so much. She endured hunger and couldn't bear to eat, instead giving you precious food. In the future, you must repay your sister. Once you grow up and earn money, you have to provide for her. The best food and drink should always go to her first. Do you hear me?"
Xu Duoyu didn't understand any of this, while Xu Zhicheng and Xu Zhiqiang just smirked.
Xu Niannian's mouth twitched for quite a while before she finally recovered.