Chapter 24: Discussing Building a House

Seeing it was getting late, Zhang Guoqing hurried home. The villagers hadn’t finished work yet that morning, so if he rushed back now, he could still help out. Pushing open the front gate, Zhang Guoqing called out loudly for his mother, who responded just as loudly. After their usual exchange, both burst out laughing. Luckily, apart from Zhou Jiao, who was still in confinement, and his young son who didn’t understand anything, there was no one else at home.

“Mom, what are you doing? I bought a bunch of stuff—aren’t you going to take a look? Take a break, I’ll help out in a bit.”

Mother Zhang came out from the backyard and gave Zhang Guoqing a look. “What is it now? Take your things to your own room. Don’t leave them out here where those with sticky fingers might get tempted and walk off with them.”

Zhang Guoqing understood—his second sister-in-law must have done something wrong, and his mother was feeling upset. He quickly pulled his mother toward his room and whispered in her ear, “Mom, come with me. I’ll tell you how I fought back against that shrew. Where’s Dad? I need to talk to him about this too, so he doesn’t get startled later.”

Mother Zhang immediately looked worried and checked Zhang Guoqing over several times before she was reassured. She grabbed his hand and said, “What happened? That shrew dared to bully you? I’ll go tear her apart myself!”

Inside, Zhou Jiao was anxious too. She’d heard voices from afar but hadn’t seen anyone come in, so she didn’t know if someone was hurt. After all, it was a woman, and a shrew at that.

Zhou Jiao glanced at her sleeping son, then covered his ears with both hands and whispered, “Brother, you and Mom come in and talk. I want to hear too.”

When Zhang Guoqing and his mother entered, they saw Zhou Jiao covering the child’s ears in a funny way, whispering and staring at them intently. She finally relaxed when they came in.

“Mom, take a look at what’s in the bag. Take whatever you need. Put the pig’s trotters and black-bone chicken in the kitchen, but leave the baby’s things here for now. I’m really tired today—ran all over the place. Had steamed buns at Second Sister’s this morning. They’re all doing well and will come over for the baby’s third-day celebration. Oh, the Zhou family came too—something happened, but I’ll tell you and Dad about it later.”

Mother Zhang opened the bag and was stunned by what she saw. This wasteful son! No matter how much money they had, he’d spend it all at this rate. Just yesterday, she’d told his father not to worry about him. Looks like she’d have to talk to the couple.

“Xiao Wu, all this must have cost a lot, right? You can’t spend money like this. And what’s with all these white towels? How will you ever use them all? I already prepared brown sugar and red dates, and we have rice at home. The rice you bought looks like some kind of special supply. And so many pig’s trotters and black-bone chickens—how will you finish them? Oh dear, you wasteful child! Don’t tell me you spent all your private savings?”

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao couldn’t help but snicker. The diapers were even better than the towels at home. Next time, they’d better buy some towels too, or it’d be embarrassing if guests came over. Neither dared talk back, so they just lowered their heads and pretended to admit fault. Mother Zhang could tell her words were wasted. No wonder the second daughter-in-law had taken that pack of diapers—this was all planned. Even if they had money, they shouldn’t spend it like this. Luckily, it was Zhang Guoqing who brought them home. If it had been one of the other two sons, she’d have taken a stick to them for sure. She’d spent over half a year gathering those diapers, asking favors from many people. Sigh, what can you do with such a spendthrift child?

“Mom, don’t worry. These things weren’t expensive. I’d already arranged them with my classmates a few days ago and just picked them up today. Oh, and those white towels are actually diapers. My classmate specially got them for me—said they won’t give the baby a rash, and they’re cheaper than towels.

The two pig’s trotters are for Jiao Jiao, to help her produce more milk. The rice is for making porridge with red dates to nourish the blood. Brown sugar and red dates are great for women, so I bought extra—not just for Jiao Jiao, but for you too. You should have some every day.

As for the two black-bone chickens, you and Jiao Jiao can cook them however you like. It’s rare to see them, so I bought them. There are two cans of formula—take one over for the two girls at home.”

Mother Zhang listened and found her son’s explanations reasonable, nodding along, but then realized she was being led astray and snapped, “You little rascal, trying to fool your own mother! Almost had me convinced. It’s your wife who’s in confinement, not me. You’re not to touch those two black-bone chickens.

I’ll save them and give them to Jiao Jiao after she’s finished the pig’s trotters. As for the rice, I’ll keep half and have your dad grind it into rice flour for the kids at home. This rice is so good, rice flour made from it will be nutritious. The rest can be used to make red date porridge for Jiao Jiao. I’m too old to eat such good stuff.”

Zhou Jiao shook Mother Zhang’s arm and said playfully, “Mom, if you don’t drink the red date porridge, how can I eat it? If I’m eating pig’s trotters and see you gnawing on veggie buns, or I’m having black-bone chicken and you’re drinking wild vegetable soup, I’ll feel so guilty I’ll lose my appetite and won’t recover well from confinement.

Let’s eat together. If you don’t, I won’t either. Look, Little Fifth bought these specially for you—if you don’t eat them, next time he sees something you’d like, he’ll remember you didn’t want it and won’t buy it. If that happens enough, he’ll think it’s normal. Even when he sees something you’d love, he’ll assume you don’t want it. Then who will think of you in the future? Don’t you think I’m right?

You should say, ‘This is what Little Fifth bought, so I’ll eat it.’ Or, ‘This is what Little Fifth bought, so I’ll wear it.’ That way, he’ll feel proud that his mom likes what he picks out, and you two will be of one heart. Then he’ll be even happier to be filial to you. Isn’t that right?”

“Exactly! Listen to Jiao Jiao. If you don’t like what I buy, then I won’t know what you want, so I just won’t buy anything. The more I buy, the more mistakes I make; if I don’t buy, I can’t go wrong. If it’s like that, why raise a son at all?” Zhang Guoqing chimed in, supporting Zhou Jiao. His mother was the classic self-sacrificing type, always saving the best for her kids and working herself to the bone. If a son is filial, that’s fine, but if he’s ungrateful, he’ll just take it for granted.

Mother Zhang listened to the young couple and thought they made sense, but it really challenged her worldview. She decided she’d better discuss it with her husband to see if it was right.

These two were coaxing, acting cute, and even threatening her, all out of filial piety. No matter what, out of all her children, only Little Fifth made her truly satisfied.

Seeing the two watching her anxiously, she nodded in agreement, though only she knew what she was really thinking. Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao exchanged a sweet smile.

Zhang Guoqing glanced at his son, who was still sound asleep despite all the commotion. It would be a while before he woke up, and the rest of the family would be home from work soon. The baby had only had a bowl of porridge and peed once since morning.

Turning to Zhou Jiao, he said, “Jiao Jiao, while the baby’s sleeping, you should get some rest too. Mom and I will go tidy up a bit—Dad and the others will be back soon.”

Zhou Jiao nodded, watching as Zhang Guoqing took out a can of formula, a bottle, and some diapers, then left with Mother Zhang. She quickly took the chance to get some sleep herself."