The words from the boy, Zheng Jinxiang, made his grandmother’s expression turn ugly. A few nearby people glanced over.
Gu’er and her three companions all frowned slightly. They were all quite filial and didn’t mind giving a child so food—in fact, they were happy to. But this kid... why was he so unlikable?
"I want a chicken leg! I want a chicken leg! Give a chicken leg! If you don’t give a chicken leg, you’re not my grandma."
Zheng Jinxiang shouted while shoving his grandmother hard, nearly making her hit her head.
"Stop acting up, stop it! That’s their food. If you want to eat, can’t you wait until we get off the train?"
Even though Zheng Jinxiang’s grandmother was upset, he was still her grandson. What could she do? Besides, they were on a train, and she didn’t want to beco a public spectacle.
"Are you even my grandma? You won’t even give a chicken leg when I ask! I’m never calling you Grandma again! And don’t expect to take care of you when I grow up!"
After speaking, Zheng Jinxiang shot his grandmother a hateful look. Then he turned to Gu’er and said, "I want a chicken leg. If there are no legs, chicken breast is fine too. I don’t eat the skin. You have to feed until I’m full. Otherwise, you’re not good people. You’re all bad guys."
Hearing his demands, Gu’er and her three friends exchanged glances. It seed that their simple act of eating and offering to share had sohow caused a problem.
"Dear, don’t mind him. The child doesn’t know any better. I’m so sorry. You just eat your food, don’t pay him any mind."
Zheng Jinxiang’s grandmother apologized profusely, her old face beet-red with embarrassnt.
"Are you going to give it to or not!"
But Zheng Jinxiang ignored his grandmother, glaring at Gu’er.
Gu’er was getting angry too. He was just a child, and normally she wouldn’t stoop to his level. A little bit of food was no big deal, but this kid was so unpleasant—why should she give him anything? ’Still, he’s a child,’ she thought. ’Even if he’s an annoying one, we aren’t his parents, so we can’t teach him a lesson. It’s best to just ignore him.’
Sun Jiaming, Li Zhi, and Dingzi also disliked the child. He was spoiled rotten. Hitting his grandmother, cursing his grandmother—they couldn’t be bothered with a kid like that.
Seeing that Gu’er’s group was ignoring him, Zheng Jinxiang threw a tantrum. Without another word, he rushed to the small table and lunged for the roasted chicken on it.
He snatched the roasted chicken, took a step back, ran to the side, and started tearing into it right away.
His grandmother was mortified. She kept apologizing to Gu’er and the others and tried to reason with her grandson. When he refused to give the chicken back, she tried to give Gu’er’s group money, which of course they wouldn’t accept.
In truth, any of them could have easily stopped the boy from taking it, but none of them made a move. Why? He was just a child, after all. If they stopped him, he would probably throw an even bigger fit. It was just one chicken. It was better to just let him eat it. Once he ate, he’d stop fussing, and his grandmother could have so peace.
Gu’er sighed internally. ’It’s one thing if I decide not to have children in the future, but if I do, I absolutely have to teach them properly. Not like in my past life.’
Gu’er and her friends didn’t say much more to Zheng Jinxiang’s grandmother, mainly because they could all see how uncomfortable the old woman was.
As Gu’er’s group finished eating and began packing up the leftovers, Zheng Jinxiang, his mouth slick with grease, yelled, "I want those pig trotters! I want the sausage! Give them all to . I’ll take them ho to eat."
Gu’er and her friends were truly speechless.
"Alright, that’s enough out of you! That’s their food! If you want to eat, Grandma will buy you so when we get off the train. If that’s not good enough, go find your mother! If you dare try to snatch their things again, I’ll spank you."
Zheng Jinxiang’s grandmother had finally reached her limit.
"You just try and touch ! If you dare hit , I’ll tell my mom! My mom won’t even let you in our house! If you want my mom to take care of you in your old age, you’d better be nice to . Otherwise, you can just wait to beco a beggar on the street!"
But Zheng Jinxiang wasn’t scared in the least.
A few of the nearby passengers started murmuring that the child was poorly raised and that his parents were to bla.
Seeing the old woman’s face flush a deep, ugly red, Sun Jiaming’s own expression darkened. He thought of Cao Qiu. ’So this is how painful it is to be a mother-in-law when your daughter-in-law treats you poorly. Although my brother and I weren’t raised to be like this, after my older brother left ho, how many tis did he ever co back? When Grandma was in the hospital, he only visited once. He stayed for ten minutes and then left, saying he was busy, that his wife couldn’t co because she had to watch their child, and that the child might get sick at the hospital. Grandma must have been so heartbroken then, right? Did she feel the sa anguish and despair as this old woman right here? From her own grandson...’
Sun Jiaming closed his eyes for a mont. He felt that many of his previous ideas had been wrong.
Gu’er was also deeply moved. ’To raise a child without teaching them is the father’s fault. Once you have a child, you have to teach them well. In my last life, what happened with Zhang Juan was partly due to her innate personality, but also because I never taught her properly.’ Looking at this boy, Gu’er’s desire to have children waned even further.
Watching the grandmother struggle to pull the boy away, saying she would get him so water, Li Zhi sighed. "Man, if my future wife ever gives a kid like that, and he dares act this way, I swear I’ll beat him to death."
Sun Jiaming didn’t say a word. He had a mother like that himself, so he was in no position to make such a statent.
Dingzi didn’t speak either. He didn’t know what to say. He just thought that compared to this boy, that kid Lin Zheng was really great. ’I’ll have to buy Lin Zheng so more little toys when I get back,’ he thought. ’I really like that kid.’
"You don’t even know where your wife is, and you’re already talking about kids."
Gu’er said this with a laugh, trying to distract Sun Jiaming. She knew that Cao Qiu was even worse than Zheng Jinxiang’s mother.
"In my mother-in-law’s belly."
No one expected Dingzi to be the one to respond to Gu’er. They all stared at him in amazent. ’Is this really Dingzi? Dingzi can make jokes?’
The three of them staring at him made Dingzi uncomfortable, but his face remained expressionless and his gaze was still cold. There was no outward sign of his discomfort.
"Who said my mother-in-law is in my wife’s belly? Pfft, I misspoke. Who said my wife is in my mother-in-law’s belly! Your wife is the one in her mother-in-law’s belly! By the ti my kid is old enough to run errands, I bet you still won’t even be married!"
In his haste, Li Zhi had gotten his words all mixed up, but he wasn’t truly angry.
"No rush."
Dingzi gave him an unconcerned glance and slowly uttered the two words.
Gu’er and Sun Jiaming burst out laughing, while Li Zhi could only glare in frustration.
They got off the train in Harbin. Because they were heading to Wenzhou, they had to buy their tickets in Harbin, as there were no direct tickets to Wenzhou from their city.
As they were leaving the station, Gu’er saw Zheng Jinxiang’s parents there to pick them up. Zheng Jinxiang threw himself into his mother’s arms and started wailing, telling her how awful his grandmother had been to him and how she had even wanted to hit him. Zheng Jinxiang’s mother shot her mother-in-law a look. Zheng Jinxiang’s father’s expression was also grim, but he didn’t say anything.
Zheng Jinxiang’s grandmother’s face was beet-red. The strange looks from the people around them and from her own daughter-in-law made her unable to even lift her head.
Sun Jiaming started to step forward, but Li Zhi grabbed him and shook his head.
Gu’er sighed silently. These mother-in-law and daughter-in-law problems were truly hopeless. Even if they sympathized with the old grandmother, there was nothing they could do to help. They were just passing strangers. Besides, family matters were notoriously difficult to judge, and they had no way to intervene.
User Comments
0 comments from readers