Zhang Fengfeng beca increasingly angry as she talked about her sister.
"You aunt just doesn’t think straight. She’s Yuanzi’s mother, and if Yuanzi were doing well, wouldn’t she be enjoying the benefits too? Yet she insisted on keeping Yuanzi tied to her side and never let him go out. If Yuanzi had his way, he would definitely have joined the army, and with his capabilities, he would have surely made sothing great of himself by now."
Anning quickly poured another glass of water for Zhang Fengfeng and handed it to her: "What’s the use of talking about this now? We need to think about what to do when we go to my aunt’s house. The Wang family’s girl is gone, and they have a lot of people in the village, they will definitely co to make trouble. When we go there, we are there to help solve the problem, we need to suppress the Wang family’s people, and my cousin must be properly buried, that’s the proper thing to do."
"I know."
Zhang Fengfeng wiped her tears: "I’m just worried about your cousin. What if he can’t cope, I wish I hadn’t let the child..."
Zhang Fengfeng didn’t finish, but Anning heard her.
She furrowed her brows, guessing there was definitely so big issue between Zhang Fengfeng and her sister.
But since Zhang Fengfeng wouldn’t say, Anning didn’t feel it was right to ask.
After a while, Li Zhifang returned.
He had notified all his brothers, including the one in the county town at Li Zhicheng’s house, and had also borrowed a phone from the village committee to call Li Zhicheng at work.
He drank a bowl of hot tea upon returning. Anning had cald Zhang Fengfeng down, then told her, "Mother, don’t go back yet, just stay here for dinner later. I’ll ask Zhifang to bring father over, we’ll all eat here and then head to Shanqian Village."
After thinking for a mont, Anning added: "I’ll stop by Aunt Lin’s house later to let her know to help look after the children for a day."
Li Zhifang also invited Zhang Fengfeng to dinner at their ho.
Seeing it was about ti to pick up the children, he asked Anning to quickly prepare the al so he could collect the children.
Anning went into the kitchen and saw there was still plenty of food, including fresh vegetables, so at, and fried tofu balls from yesterday.
Anning washed her hands and kneaded dough, during the dough rest, she prepared a sauce with tomatoes, spinach, and tofu. She then simred so at on a small stove. After the at was stewed, she rolled out the dough and started frying two dishes.
One was cucumber with eggs, and the other was sweet and sour atballs.
After finishing the dishes and boiling water, she added vermicelli and cabbage to the simred at.
By the ti Li Zhifang brought the children ho, there was a strong fragrance emanating from the kitchen.
The four children, ravenous from a morning at school, almost drooled at the sll.
They dropped their school bags and happily called out to Grandma when they saw Zhang Fengfeng.
Seeing the children return, Zhang Fengfeng couldn’t maintain her stern deanor and smiled as well.
Jingyu and Jingyan dropped their school bags and went into the kitchen to help Anning with the cooking.
By the ti they went in, Anning was already cooking the noodles.
Anning gestured to the dishes: "Hurry and take these to the room, and ask Liu Qi to co out to serve the noodles."
Jingyu and Jingyan each carried two plates to the room, Anning scooped out the noodles into a big bowl and Liu Qi ca out to serve, followed by Liu Ming who ca out to take care of bowls and chopsticks.
Once the food was on the table, Anning spoke to Jingyu: "Your father and I need to go to Shanqian Village later, your aunt has passed away and we need to check on things. You stay at ho this afternoon and look after your younger siblings. If anything happens, go to Grandma Lin’s, I’ve already spoken to her about it."
Li Jingyu responded, then asked Anning, "Mom, when will you guys be back?"
Anning thought for a while: "Probably late tonight. Keep an eye on the house, lock the main door after we leave, and don’t open it carelessly for anyone."
After instructing the children, Anning finally started serving noodles for Zhang Fengfeng.
Once she had served them, the children began serving themselves their als.
Except for the youngest Li Jinghan and Liu Yuzhen, the four older children served their own als.
And during the al, regardless of age, all the children were exceptionally well-mannered. No one fought over the more delicious dishes, nor was there any quarreling.
The older ones even helped Zhang Fengfeng with her food: "Grandma, here’s so at for you."
Zhang Fengfeng felt particularly gratified watching this.
She thought to herself how well Anning had raised the children. In such a short ti, they had changed so much. They didn’t look like village children at all but rather like children from city officials’ families, with their clean appearance and sensible, sweet manners. They were truly lovable.
Because of this, Zhang Fengfeng looked at Liu Qi and his siblings with an especially kind gaze.
She thought that although these three were not her own, since Anning had married into the family and their children were still young, it was good to treat them well. Once grown, they would be just like her own children.
Thinking this way, Zhang Fengfeng felt even happier.
Why?
Her son had six children, and he had worked hard to raise them. Whether they were his biological children or not, how could she not care for them?
"You should all eat so at."
Zhang Fengfeng, fair and equal, served at to each child: "Hurry and eat. Once you’re full, rest up because tomorrow there are exams."
After the al, Anning cleaned up and changed her clothes before heading out with Li Zhifang.
Zhang Fengfeng, worried, insisted on following.
Li Zhikang had already brought the carriage over.
The three of them got into the carriage, and once Li Zhiping and his wife arrived, Li Zhikang started driving the carriage out of the village.
Halfway there, Li Zhiyuan from the town and Li Zhicheng from the county also followed.
A large group of people, rushing and moving slowly, reached Shanqian Village amidst falling snow.
The Xiao Family ho was at the entrance of the village, visible as soon as they entered.
As the Li family entered, they saw white banners hanging outside the Xiao Family’s main gate. The banners were supposed to blend in with the white surroundings, but for so reason, they stood out sharply, catching the eye imdiately.
At a ti like this, it should have been quiet, but from a distance, everyone could hear the noise coming from the Xiao Family.
Zhang Fengfeng’s face fell when she heard this, and she quickly instructed her six sons, "When you go in don’t mind anyone else, just look after Yuanzi and make sure he isn’t mistreated, and don’t interfere too much with your aunt and uncle, do you hear ?"
"We understand."
Li Zhiyuan, as the eldest, promptly responded.
Li Zhikang drove the carriage faster.
Upon reaching the Xiao Family’s gate, the group saw that the courtyard was in chaos.
"It seems a fight has broken out."
Seeing the commotion, the Li family hurriedly jumped down from the carriage, with Li Zhiyuan and his brothers heading straight for the yard.
Anning glanced at her elder sister-in-law Sun Xiui, and then at Liu Ru, the sisters-in-law all rushed to follow.
Indeed, the Xiao Family’s place was lively. Upon entering, they saw the yard covered in white, amidst which smoke rose. In one corner of the yard, dry wood had been lit to provide warmth. In the center, several n of different heights were surrounding two elderly people and a middle-aged man, arguing about sothing.
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