She put the egg on the rice and kept it warm in the pot for Changsheng. Then, she came out to eat with Changsheng’s mother.
Changsheng’s mother took some vegetables and put them into Yan Huan’s bowl. She was becoming more satisfied with Yan Huan as the latter was a kind and warm-hearted person. Putting aside Yan Huan’s appearance and disability, she was more than willing to let Yan Huan be her daughter-in-law. Ah, there was no choice left after all. Since it was not easy to get a daughter-in-law in this village, it was better for her to get a readily available daughter-in-law rather than waiting for those unreliable ones.
“Xiao Yan, how old are you?” Now only Changsheng’s mother recalled that she had never asked about Yan Huan’s age and family matters. She forgot to ask as Yan Huan never mentioned about it.
Yan Huan paused for a second. Then, she took some vegetables and put them into her bowl.
“Auntie, I’m 28 years old.”
“28 years old already?”
Changsheng’s mother was stunned upon hearing it. How could she be 28 already? She looks just like a 24 or 25-year-old little girl. So she’s actually quite old, and three years older than Changsheng. However, she felt it was no big deal after giving it some thoughts. As the saying goes, a wife three years older than the husband ensures a richer life. Such a thing was not a big deal in the village. There were women who were seven or eight years older than their husbands and yet they still lived happily.
Besides, an older person could take better care of others. Contrary to the other ordinary girls, she was quite thoughtful. In that case, it seemed like an older girl would be better.
“How about your parents? What do they do for a living?” Changsheng’s mother continued to ask.
Yan Huan bit on the chopsticks. She had a mild toothache, perhaps it was because the food was too sour or she had injured her teeth.
“My father passed away when I was young.” Again she took some vegetables and ate rice, one after another. “My mother died from an illness when I was 18, so…” She felt a tinge of pain and bitterness as she raised the corner of her lips. “I’m an orphan.”
“Sigh…” Changsheng’s mother breathed out a sigh. “A parentless child, what a pity.”
She did not ask further, as she thought Yan Huan was alone now because she had no parents. As for the matter about her marriage, she thought she was late for marriage because there was no one to plan for her. Little did she know that Yan Huan was actually married a few years ago and had given birth to three children.
It was almost night time when Changsheng came home. He brought back meat and some other foods for the Spring Festival, and also a pair of antithetical couplets. He did not know a lot of words, so he just took whatever the others said was good.
Most of the villagers had bought couplets. He took a look into the direction of the village entrance and as expected, he could see all the families putting up couplets right now. It somehow brought some festive atmosphere to the village, making it no longer as deserted as before.
Changsheng’s mother used flour to make some glue and pasted the couplets together with Changsheng. They cleaned the house thoroughly, waiting for the Spring Festival to arrive. Each and every family in the village had couplets up on their doors and bought meat. However, not every family was the same. There was at least one family who kept their door shut tightly. Nobody ever saw them coming out to buy anything.
It was Jin Gen’s house.
Jin Gen’s mother put her arms around an old and shabby jug. More than half of the jug was filled with rice. Luckily, they still had rice. Jin Gen’s mother appreciated the rice very much.
“Jin Gen, you’re really awesome! If you did not get this rice for us, I wonder how many meals we would have to skip.”
Jin Gen squatted on the ground and picked his teeth, “Of course! I’m a capable man. I can take out a pack of rice, let alone a jug of them.”
If Yan Huan were here, she would definitely realize that the jug in the hands of Jin Gen’s mother was the one that she had lost. And the rice in this jug was exactly the rice she lost as well.
It was really stolen by an ignorant and incompetent person like Jin Gen.
“Mother, give me some money.” Jin Gen reached out his hand to his mother and asked for money after he finished picking his teeth.
“What do you want the money for?” Jin Gen’s mother valued money more than her life. It was impossible for her to take out an extra penny as that money was saved for Jin Gen’s marriage. She would still be responsible for the money even if Jin Gen got married in the future, so she would not let Jin Gen spend the money for no reason.
“For the Spring Festival shopping, of course.” Jin Gen stood up. He had always been a gluttonous and lazy guy. He was not really going shopping. He just wanted to hang around in the town.
“Look, all the other families, including Changsheng’s family has pasted up couplets, but we have nothing.”
Jin Gen’s mother disliked Changsheng’s family the most. Changsheng’s mother was a widow, just like her, but she lived a happier and easier life than her. Now they even had a woman in their family who knew how to cut hair. Although the woman was a bit ugly, she could make money. Yes, money. There’s no difference between giving eggs and giving money.
Why did such a good thing never happen to her?
She reluctantly took out some money and gave it to Jin Gen. Then, she told Jin Gen what to buy but Jin Gen was getting impatient as he listened to her.
“Mother, you just gave me such little money. What else can I buy?” He interrupted his mother and put the money into his pocket. He was planning to go down the mountain and go to town. Of course, he had a plan in his mind. He wanted to take the alms from the country. As soon as he got the alms, which were a few hundred, he could buy everything he wanted.
When he reached the entrance of the village, he met Yan Huan, who had gone out to collect some firewood. He hated her so much that his face turned distorted with hatred when he saw her.
“Ugly monster, why aren’t you starving to death yet?”
Yan Huan paused at her steps, turned around and looked coldly at Jin Gen’s disgusting face. How she wished she could pick up a brick and throw it at his head.
Her rice was definitely stolen by this person. If she was the previous Yan Huan, she would have made this bastard live a life that was no better than death.
“Hmph! Wait and see how I torture you in the future! You ugly monster!” Jin Gen sneered. He caught a handful of snow from the ground and threw it at Yan Huan’s face. It hit Yan Huan as expected. She paused for a moment, but she chose to suppress her feelings.
Those who have done bad things will surely pay for the consequences. What goes around comes around, it’s just a matter of time now.
She would like to see when Jin Gen would get his karma. Not only did he steal, but he had also put her to death. He stole her rice and her hope to stay alive.
How could such a person not face retribution? If there was none, she would punish him by herself.
