Stepmother

Afterwards

To others, this was just a trial but to Yingtai it was a very traumatic experience where her wounds were left bare to the public, so Sun Baohai refrained from mentioning it but even after many days passed,  matter of the trial of course made waves in the village. Old Lady Wang wailed day and night but nobody felt sympathy for her. Yes, she only had one son, but that didn't make him so special that he could trample and kill other people's children. Their land business also took a hit, after all the county magistrate had accused them of not having morals, so not many people were willing to buy from them.

At first Old Windower Wang tried to come home, but the yamen came and beat him before taking him to prison. Yingtai and the other victims had successfully gotten their compensation, and because of that almost half of the Wang family's money was gone. Many people felt grateful for helping them and getting justice, so Sun Baohai's relationship with villagers got even better. While the Wang family, especially Wang Lin came to cause trouble but was immediately scared when Sun Baohai threatened to take her to court. 

But they were not the only ones affected.

Though his business was not affected,  Zhang Enlai still got a few stares and sneers from his colleagues. Even Zhang Dai in school could hear the whispers about him, after all, he was one of the good students, so they did not expect that his background had such stains. The trial had made some light waves in town, after all this was the first time they saw such a caring sister-in-law, and such a clean defeat and divorce. People praise this sister-in-law, claiming he is a capable one.

When the two returned home it could be seen that they were quite sullen, and Old Lady Zhang knowing that just stayed quiet and set up the dinner table. She couldn't help but regret her actions sometimes, after all now both her sons were suffering from her petty actions from back then.

Back then she always felt insecure. The people in the village only acknowledged her as the second wife, and no matter what she did, she was never acknowledged as the proper wife of Old Man Zhang. She was tired of living in the shadow of his first wife, and she was scared this was also going to happen to her children, so she started maltreating the kids left behind by Qu Shuchun, and only from that could she feel a sense of superiority.

When she sent Zhang Jinhai off into the military, she felt like she finally got rid of a heavy burden, yet when she saw the small and pretty face of Yingtai that resembled her mother she felt only deep hatred, so she acted upon this hatred and even now, it came back to bite her. It seems that even after her death, Qu Shuchun would still not let her be at peace.

If Sun Baohai heard these words he would just scoff. After all just because it was long ago doesn't mean they all forgot about what happened. Just three years into her marriage, when her children were just two. Old Zhang brought Jia Fan, who was three months pregnant to be taken as a concubine. With the pressure of her husband's family and Jia's family, she agreed and took her in, but not soon after she fell ill from depression. 

Sun Baohai knew that a lady like Qu Shuchun wouldn't accept it just because she was being pressured, she did it so her husband would at least treat their children with care, and it seemed like even that small wish wasn't fulfilled after she passed away leaving behind two seven-year-olds to fend for themselves. 

Thinking about something she turned around to Yingtai who was embroidering, "Yingtai didn't your mother leave any dowry?" 

"Well since my mother was bedridden and did not trust my fickle father she sold almost all dowry to help cure her illness, that's what helped her stay with us for so long. But for jewelry, she left quite a bit. When my brother was going to the military I gave him so he could trade for money, while the rest are in my room," Yingtai responded casually. For the two weeks that she stayed with Sun Baohai, they had gotten closer and she felt much more comfortable with him, so she wasn't as polite as before.

"Your room?" Sun Baohai asked confusedly. 

"Yes, the rest of the jewelry I had taken with me over the Wang family without alerting anyone. After all, I knew how harsh the Wang family truly was so if worse comes to worst I would run away and use the jewelry to trade for money, so I never took them out and showed them to people, but after I had Yuanyuan my thought process changed. I had to make the safest option for him, so I just hid them in cases of extreme emergency." Yingtai explained.

"Oh okay, what do you think we should eat tonight?" Sun Baohai asked. He was not very used to being frugal, and their saving wasn't that much, so having Yingtai to help keep his spending in check was truly helpful.

"Well there's still some shrimp from the batch you bought from Uncle Lao, so make something with that and the rice. We also have a lot of cabbage, don't let them go to waste," Yingtai responded.

"Then we'll have shrimp fried rice and stir-fried cabbage," Sun Baohai announced happily, which caused Yingtai to giggle. Cooking was not her strong suit, even when she married she still could not cook that well so she did not try and leave everything up to to her sister-in-law. In return, the family clothes would be made by her.

Her needlework was something she was truly confident in. So in in the two weeks she's lived with Sun Baohai the kids who originally only wore jumpers now had nice little hanfus. And the jumpers were turned into playing clothes. Sun Baohai of course had no problem, he could sew and embroider decently but he did not really like it, so Yingtai was doing him a favor.

Around six, the children who were now accustomed to Sun Baohai's ways after living with him knew what to do, and took it upon themselves to teach their older cousin. First, unlike other kids they could sleep in till the hour of the dragon (7-9 am), first things first they must brush their teeth after waking up, and then they all must drink a cup of soymilk. Now that they don't stay with Aunt Lin anymore, if he wasn't here then food is already prepared and on the table, when they're done eating take a small walk around the yard to digest. By the hour of the snake (9-11 am) they should have showered, and then they study till the hour of the horse (11-1 pm).

When they're done with their studies they then have lunch. After lunch, they go out to play and back by the hour of the monkey (3-5 pm) to have dinner. Yuanjun was hesitant at first but he's getting more comfortable with this way of living. 

When he was at the Wang's house, he had to wake up at the start of the hour for the rabbit (5-7 am), farm, wash his cousin's clothes, and do other chores. He would have the time to eat breakfast at the hour of the horse (11-1 pm). Sometimes he wouldn't even get it. But here everything is just organized yet caring. His auntie said that children should rest more in order to grow, they should accordingly in order be healthy, and play lots in order to be happy. He liked this way of living, where his feelings were also prioritized. He liked how his family was now.

That night the family harmoniously sat together and had dinner, though it was simple it was still very delicious, and Sun Baohai and Yuanjun along with the others, couldn't help but once again be grateful for getting the chance to live and warmth like this. 

Question of the day.

So far how's the story?