Chapter 9 - 4: Sending a Letter

Chapter 9: Chapter 4: Sending a Letter

She had suffered terribly today, and it was a complete injustice. A sense of grievance welled up in her heart as she recalled her portrayal in that book—a high-maintenance, unlucky piece of cannon fodder with a host of flaws, whose only merit was being able to bear children... ’How infuriating!’ The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

So what if she had given Gu Chenghuai four children and he provided for her? Her own husband hadn’t said a word, so on what grounds did that wretched book dare to describe her that way?!

Lin Zhao took out some stationery and a fountain pen she hadn’t used in a long time. ’I guess I haven’t been as diligent about sending letters to the military base ever since I got pregnant with the twins,’ she realized.

The ink in the pen had dried up...

It was a gift from Gu Chenghuai, and it had cost a dozen or so yuan.

She opened a drawer, took out the ink bottle, and refilled the pen.

Lin Zhao wiped the excess ink from the nib and began to write. She scribbled page after page until her wrist ached, and by the end, she had already forgotten most of what she’d written.

She was the type of person whose anger flared up quickly but also faded just as fast.

After finishing the letter and venting her frustrations, the agitation that had been weighing on her heart had mostly disappeared.

Remembering she had a braised chicken leg in the cupboard, Lin Zhao got up to get it.

As she unwrapped the oil-paper package, a rich, savory aroma wafted out, and she couldn’t help but swallow.

’It’s not that I’m being gluttonous,’ she thought. ’My body is just craving some rich food.’

There was only one chicken leg, so it wouldn’t be fair to give it to just one of the kids. Besides, it wasn’t good for them to eat something so heavily seasoned late at night. ’Best if I just take care of it myself!’

Lin Zhao licked her lips and tore into it. The braised flavor was absolutely divine. After the first bite, she found herself chewing faster and faster, polishing off the whole leg in two minutes.

’Can’t let the bone go to waste. I’ll feed it to the stray dogs tomorrow.’

The ancestors of the stray dogs in Fengshou Team had actually been heroes. Even during the hardest times, no one had ever considered killing the dogs for food.

?-

Early the next morning, when Lin Zhao woke up, her four children had already gone to the old family house for breakfast and returned.

Hearing a stir from her room, Da Zai quickly ran over and knocked softly on the door.

"Is that you, Da Zai? Come in." ’The only one of my children who bothers to knock is Da Zai,’ she thought. ’If it were Er Zai, he would’ve just barged right in.’

A smile spread across Da Zai’s face when he heard his mother’s gentle voice.

He pushed the door open and went inside.

"Mom, does your head still hurt?" he asked as soon as he entered.

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on the lump on Lin Zhao’s head.

Noticing that the bump had shrunk, he exclaimed in surprise, "Mom, the lump on your head is smaller!"

"Yes, I noticed that too," Lin Zhao said with a smile.

Just then, Er Zai burst in, his eyes gleaming as he stared at her. "Mom, when are you going to the county town to buy meat buns?"

Lin Zhao casually ruffled the stubborn cowlick on Er Zai’s head. "I’ll go right after I wash up and brush my teeth."

The smile on Er Zai’s face grew so wide it nearly reached his ears.

He didn’t pester her; he just wanted to be sure his mom was really going to buy them.

With that confirmation, little Er Zai turned into a busy bee, pouring Lin Zhao’s washing water, bringing her the basin, finding her towel, and fetching her toothbrush and toothpaste... He was so eager he looked like he wanted to brush her teeth for her.

Lin Zhao quickly stopped him. "...You don’t have to do that for me. Go on, go do your own thing."

’This is too much,’ she thought. ’It’s not like I’m just some useless beauty.’

"Oh." Er Zai turned to leave, but after taking two steps, he looked back. "Mom, please hurry."

Lin Zhao was speechless. "..."

"You little glutton," Lin Zhao teased, though her eyes were twinkling with amusement.

Er Zai didn’t take offense at all, grinning like a little goofball. "Yup, I’m your little glutton."

He scooted closer to Lin Zhao again, tilted his head up, and asked with a smile, "Mom, can your little glutton have two meat buns?" Er Zai held up two fingers.

Lin Zhao pushed away his cute, pleading face, not falling for his act. "Nope."

If she said no, so be it.

Er Zai didn’t press the issue. With a cool turn, he walked over to Da Zai.

Lin Zhao discovered another one of Er Zai’s virtues: he was pragmatic and knew when to quit without any hesitation.

The Third and Fourth Child were up as well, playing in the yard. The two toddlers wanted their mom to hold them. Da Zai was exhausted from trying to look after his younger siblings all by himself, so things got a little easier once Er Zai was there to help.

After she finished washing up, Lin Zhao took the children to the old family house and then headed to the county town by herself.

They didn’t have a bicycle, though the team leader’s family did. But the team leader’s wife was an opportunist. Borrowing her bicycle meant not only giving her some sort of benefit but also enduring her nagging. It was better to just walk.

Seeing Lin Zhao heading into town again, the team’s gossips started muttering amongst themselves.

"Da Zai’s mother is going to the county town again. Isn’t it too early to collect the subsidy? What’s she going for this time?"

"Who knows. In the entire team, Lin Zhao is the only one living well. Look at her, all fair-skinned and delicate. She doesn’t even watch her own kids, just dumps them all on her mother-in-law. Chenghuai’s mother must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to get a daughter-in-law like her."

"Exactly! And don’t give me that ’she’s fertile’ nonsense! What woman can’t have kids? A lazy, gluttonous wife like her... I wouldn’t want her, no matter how many kids she could pop out."