Chapter 53: Being a Stepmother 20
Ye Zhiqiu could understand Han Xiaoqin's feelings, but was it too late to come and talk about this now? There was no regret medicine in the world. She didn't want to listen to her at the beginning, and now it seemed that nothing she said was appropriate. She was not the type to comfort people. She just hoped that Han Xiaoqin would leave as soon as possible. If she sat down any longer, it would affect her meal.
Perhaps God heard her prayers, and the sound of a door being pushed open was heard in the yard. No matter who came at this time, Ye Zhiqiu was only happy, because he finally didn't have to listen to Han Xiaoqin's endless regrets and complaints.
She thought she was stupid, thinking she couldn't hear the hidden meaning in his words. She blamed herself for not forcing her to learn. It was really infuriating and funny. What was their relationship? Why did he force her to learn? It was really shameless.
Ye Zhiqiu was too lazy to care about the other person, so he got up and went to the yard to see who was running around in the middle of winter. As a result, he saw a strange yet familiar face.
It feels familiar because I take care of the things in the room and I see them every day. It feels unfamiliar because not only have we not seen each other for a long time, but we also separated after just knowing each other for one or two days. I was able to recognize each other thanks to the photos.
Han Dalin stood in the middle of his yard, and couldn't believe that the girl in front of him was Ye Zhiqiu. Two years ago, she looked like a village girl, and now her face was still the same, but the temperament she exuded from the inside out was very different.
The two of them stared at each other for a full minute, and finally Ye Zhiqiu took the initiative to speak: "Welcome home."
"Thank you." Han Dalin said, and then realized that he was too polite. He put his luggage away, looked around but didn't see his daughter, so he gave her a questioning look.
"Han Yue couldn't stay at home, so she went to play with other kids."
Han Xiaoqin realized belatedly that she shouldn't have stayed. She said hello to Han Dalin with a red face and left in a hurry. If she didn't leave, the villagers would gossip about her behind her back.
Humph! Those gossipy women love to gossip about others. Han Dalin had to go through the whole village to go home, and there was no telling how many people would see her along the way. The longer she stayed, the more chances of being gossiped about would increase.
Han Xiaoqin could imagine what the gossips and the women said about her. It was nothing more than that a young lady who was about to get married had no sense of propriety and what she would do when she got married into her husband's family. Her sisters-in-law were so pitiful that they had to deal with such a little sister-in-law.
Humph! What's so pitiful about her sister-in-law? She doesn't stir up trouble between her sister-in-law and her mother's wife, doesn't ask her brothers to pamper her as a younger sister, and doesn't want her sister-in-law to work. What else does she want?
In her opinion, it is pitiful to be a daughter-in-law to these gossipy women.
Han Xiaoqin returned home and told her family about Han Dalin's return. As expected, everyone had known about it long ago, and several of her sisters-in-law were even concerned about what good things he had brought back.
The village chief despised his daughters-in-law for being short-sighted. What's the use of having good things? His family is not close to Han Dalin, so it's not their turn.
Han Dalin didn't know that someone was thinking about the things he brought back. He was taking out the gifts for Ye Zhiqiu from his luggage. In addition to hers, there were also gifts for Han Yue, all of which were good things that could only be found in coastal areas.
Ye Zhiqiu had seen all kinds of good things, and what made her happy was that Han Dalin did not forget her when buying a gift for Han Yue. The gift was not valuable, but the thought behind it was precious.
Han Yue, who heard her father coming home, screamed with excitement when she saw all kinds of beautiful shells. It was a full box, and she could show it off to her friends for a long time.
She decided that from now on, she would lend the shells to those who listened to her to play with, and those who didn't would just stand aside and watch her play.
Han Yue, who was too embarrassed to recognize him and call him "Dad" the last second, looked at the big bag of toys and food, all of which were good things he had never seen before, and couldn't help but please Han Dalin: "Dad, I love you the most."
The little girl did not forget to look at Ye Zhiqiu's face when she said this, and was relieved when she found that she was not angry. In her heart, although her father was good, she was not at home every day, and Aunt Ye who cooked for her was more important.
The two of them naturally noticed the little girl's little trick, but seeing the little girl's clever look, they tacitly didn't expose her. Ye Zhiqiu was fine, as he had known how smart Han Yue was after spending so much time with her.
Han Dalin hadn't seen the child for two years. If Ye Zhiqiu hadn't sent him a photo every once in a while, he wouldn't have dared to recognize him. When he walked outside, some people would believe that Han Yue was a city kid.
At this moment, he was really grateful to Ye Zhiqiu, who not only took good care of the child, but also placed his photo at the child's bedside, let the child see his photo every day, and told the child not to forget that he was working hard outside to earn money to support the family.
His own mother might not be able to do better than this. He had to admit that at this moment, he was unwilling to let go. Before coming back, he was still thinking that if Ye Zhiqiu knew a suitable partner, or really didn't want to marry him, it would be too late to regret before getting the marriage certificate.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't know that she had missed an opportunity to be single again. Seeing the room full of Han family members who came to see Han Dalin, she quickly went into the kitchen. They were all relatives. Apart from the others, Han's father and his family would definitely stay for dinner, so she had a lot to do.
When Han Dalin saw Ye Zhiqiu enter the kitchen, he guessed what she was going to do. He wanted to help, but unfortunately Han's father would not let go.
In the past, he would have sat down obediently, but now he learned his lesson and pretended to be tired. He said to Han's father: "I'm tired after sitting on the train for a day and a night. We can talk tomorrow if we have anything to say."
Father Han nodded in understanding. He had already taken the lead and left, so how could others feel comfortable staying?
Ye Qiuzhi didn't expect Han Dalin to ask for help, but she performed well. Just because she can cook doesn't mean she likes to cook a large table of food. The meal for only three people is much simpler. The dried seafood that Han Dalin brought back was not soaked in advance, so it couldn't be cooked, but there was also pickled bacon at home.
Pork belly stewed with dried beans, braised tofu, fried eggs with pickles, and rice without even sweet potatoes. This is not a bad life. Seeing that Han Yue didn't seem to be greedy when he saw the meat, Han Dalin became more and more satisfied with Ye Zhiqiu.
Whether it was because she had never mistreat her children or because she had educated them well, she had put a lot of effort into it. The meal was served, and the two of them ate and talked, but Han Yue had his mouth full of meat, like a mouse that had stolen some oil.
After eating and drinking, Ye Zhiqiu thought of an important question: where would Han Dalin sleep tonight? There were two rooms in the house, but Han Yue always slept with her. The key point was that in order to save firewood in winter, the other kang was never heated.
She knew Han Dalin was coming back, but he didn't say when. She hadn't even emptied the other kang, and she didn't know if it could be lit. She felt a little embarrassed to ask him to leave, but she was even more unwilling to ask him to sleep on the same kang.
Before they got their marriage certificate, Han Dalin had already prepared to sleep in the next room. It was not difficult to heat the kang. He was in good health and was not afraid of sleeping on a cold kang. He did not take the initiative to mention it because he wanted to see Ye Zhiqiu's embarrassment.