Rebirth 90: The Long Road to Finding a Son

It was already evening when Sun Aimin arrived at his hometown in the countryside. The old couple were so happy to hear that their third son was coming home.

Grandpa Sun had just killed a chicken, chopped it into small pieces and stewed it in a pot. When Sun Aimin arrived at the door of his house, he could faintly smell the aroma of meat wafting from the yard.

Mrs. Sun thought her son would be home soon, and was looking out the door when she saw a rickshaw pull up. Sun Aimin got off the rickshaw with his luggage, paid the fare, and felt warmed when he saw his mother waiting at the door.

The old lady was in her early seventies, but she was still very strong. She stretched out her hand to take Sun Aimin's luggage bag, just like a child. Sun Aimin dodged her with a smile: "Mom, it's not heavy, I can carry it myself. Let's go back to the house, it's hot outside..."

Old Mrs. Sun smiled and replied, "Come on, come inside, you can cool down with the fan inside first, and talk to your sister, your father and I will cook..."

Sun Aimin responded: "How is my sister these days? Pretty good, right?"

Old Mrs. Sun replied, "Very well, very well. We went to the hospital for a checkup, and both the adults and the children are fine. Mom's worries are finally gone..."

The mother and daughter arrived under the eaves without saying a word. Old Man Sun was busy at the stove in the yard.

He is now making a dish of golden soup fish fillet, using a large black fish that he had just caught from a fish farmer in the village today.

In the big pot in the outer room, there is steamed rice, braised pork, and pre-stewed chicken, all of which are steamed together in the pot.

Sun Aimin asked his grandfather, "Dad, is there anything else to do?"

Grandpa Sun waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, it will be ready soon, don't get involved, just go into the house and wait for dinner."

After the golden soup fish fillets were out of the pot, the old man cleaned the pot and started to make the last dish - "crispy yellow vegetable".

This dish is a test of the chef's skills, and there are many steps involved. But Mr. Sun is very familiar with this dish, stirring the egg liquid, mixing starch, spreading the egg pancake, cutting it into pieces and frying it in the pan until it bubbles, and finally coating it with sugar and pulling the strings. Every step is just right.

After the dish was served, Old Mrs. Sun opened the lid of the big iron pot in the outer room. Sun Aimin placed a round plate on the bowl of braised pork and quickly turned the bowl upside down. Then he took the bowl away and the neatly arranged, paper-thin sheets of braised pork appeared before him.

The family brought the food into the main room one by one, placed it on the dining table, and started eating.

Now, Sun Aihua is four months pregnant. She wears less clothes in the summer and you can see that her belly is slightly bulging.

In the past, Sun Aihua had a dull complexion and was not in good spirits. After recuperating at her mother's house for more than two months, she became ruddy and a little fatter under the care of the old couple of the Sun family.

Sun Aimin smiled and said, "Sister, Dad has made a lot of delicious food for you recently, right?"

Sun Aihua touched her increasingly round face and replied somewhat embarrassedly, "Sister, you have gained a lot of weight compared to before, right?"

Sun Aimin said, "You're not fat, which is just right. You should stay at home and take care of the baby, and don't worry about other things. Don't forget to go for regular pregnancy checkups."

He turned back and discussed with the old couple, "Dad, Mom, the road from here to the county town is not easy to travel. My sister is getting more and more pregnant, and it's not convenient to go to the hospital. How about picking a day for you and my sister to go back to the county town to live together?"

The old couple did not have much objection to Sun Aimin's proposal, mainly because Grandpa Sun was a little worried about the work in the fields.

However, the Sun family does not have much arable land now. After Sun Aiguo and Sun Aijun went to work in the city the previous year, all the family land except for a little food grain land was distributed to relatives for cultivation.

Mrs. Sun’s parents’ home is in the same village as the Sun family, and Mrs. Sun’s second parents’ home is in the neighboring village, not far away.

When the two brothers left, the family had already finished harvesting the crops. After discussing it, the family gave the land to their father-in-law's family.

Sun Aimin saw the old man's concerns and said, "Dad, how about this? Let's go and tell my eldest sister-in-law's family and ask them to help take care of the crops in the fields. If you are worried, come back and check on them from time to time..."

Old Master Sun thought about it for a while, then nodded and said, "That's fine. We have to take care of your sister now. We don't have much land and things."

At present, only the old couple and Sun Aihua are left in the village. Sun's second wife went to the city to accompany Sun Yao to study, and Sun's eldest wife went to send her youngest son Sun Ming to college.

This was her first time traveling far away. In fact, after her youngest son received his college admission letter, she left for Mafang City and lived in the new house she bought for her eldest son Sun Qi for a while.

It just so happened that there was a direct train from Mafang City to the city where Sun Ming's university was located, so they bought tickets and went directly to send Sun Ming to university a few days before school started.

After that, Mrs. Sun could return to the village. But if the old couple and Sun Aihua went to the county town, Mrs. Sun would be the only one left in the Sun family.

Although her parents' home is in this village, her parents are still alive, and she has an older brother and a younger brother, they do not live very close to each other. If something happens at home, her parents' family will not be able to find out in the first time.

Thinking of this, Sun Aimin said, "My sister-in-law will be back in three or five days. When she comes back, you can discuss the farm affairs.

My eldest brother will be worried if my sister-in-law is left alone at home. I will tell my brother later, or I can let my sister-in-law come to our place and I will arrange something for her to do. "

The old couple actually have such concerns. The eldest son is working now and earns a good salary. If there is no wife to look after him, what if he becomes bad?

Although they trusted their sons' personalities, there was always a chance of something going wrong. Especially since their sons were good-looking, had skills, and were not too old, it was inevitable that they would have second thoughts if they were not together all the time.

The youngest son was the most thoughtful. In their village, every household didn't have much land for food, only a few mu per person, and they couldn't make much money from farming all year round.

If the old man hadn't always been thinking about researching new varieties of peppers, the old couple wouldn't have felt bad about dividing the land.

After all, the children are not at home. They are old and cannot farm for many years, so it is inevitable that they will live with their children.

Thinking this way, the old couple and Sun Aihua both agreed with Sun Aimin's proposal. The old lady said, "Okay, I'll talk to your sister-in-law when she comes back. She hasn't been away from home much, so when she gets there, you two should take care of her."

Sun Aimin replied: "Mom, don't worry. My elder brother and Xiaoqi have adapted well now. With them around, are you worried? And they bought their own house. With a house, they can be considered to have settled down in the city...

When I am free, I will take you there to have a look. You don’t have to stay in a rented house this time. You can stay in my house or my eldest brother’s house.”

The old couple were very pleased to hear their youngest son talk about their life in the city. Who could have thought that in just one year, the family would have undergone such earth-shaking changes, and all three sons would have taken root in the city?

However, compared to their sons making money, what made the old couple happier was that their daughter, who was nearly 40 years old, finally got pregnant.

Now Sun Aihua has passed the obvious stage of pregnancy sickness, can eat and sleep well, and often goes out to bask in the sun and stroll in the village every day when the weather is good. Such a pleasant life is much less stressful than when she was a teacher.

That is, without her income, the financial pressure on the family would be greater.

Sun Aimin is a careful person who thinks things through carefully. After the family finished their meal, he rushed to wash the dishes.

After entering the house and drying his hands, he took out a few unopened new clothes from his backpack and handed them to Sun Aihua: "Sister, these are maternity clothes I bought in our city. It's almost autumn, so they're perfect to wear."

There are no specialized stores selling maternity clothes in their county yet. Pregnant women all wear baggy clothes. Some of them have their own clothes too tight, so they wear baggy clothes owned by old ladies or men at home.

Sun Aihua was not very particular about clothes, as long as they were clean and comfortable. She was wearing a large white short-sleeved top, which Old Lady Sun bought for more than ten yuan at the market. She bought several for Sun Aihua to wear alternately.

As for the pants, Mrs. Sun bought some cloth from the market and made a few pairs of pants with elastic waists for Sun Aihua. These clothes were loose, but they didn't look neat.

Sun Aihua took the maternity clothes her brother bought for her and couldn't put them down: "There are special clothes for pregnant women in the city? These are so beautiful.

I have never seen a pregnant woman wearing this kind of clothes. I thought all pregnant women would dress like me. My colleague also wore a big and loose coat when she was pregnant..."

Sun Aimin responded: "There are all kinds of maternity clothes now, which are convenient and good-looking. If you need anything at home, just call me and I will mail it to you."

Sun Aihua said: "Don't bother with that. Although our county town is not as good as the city, we can still buy what we need for daily use."

Sun Aimin opened a secret pocket in his backpack, took out a red envelope and slapped it on Sun Aihua's hand: "Sister, take this.

I'm busy recently, and I may not be back until the Chinese New Year. I can't help you much during normal times. If you need anything, just buy it yourself..."

Sun Aihua touched the red envelope, which was not thin. She wanted to refuse, but then she heard Mrs. Sun say, "Aihua, just take it if I tell you to. Why are you being so polite to your brother? Your brothers are all making money outside now, so it's nothing serious..."

Sun Aimin also advised Sun Aihua to put the red envelope away, and only then did Sun Aihua accept the red envelope with a heavy heart.

The family chatted and watched TV for a while. Sun Aihua felt sleepy and went to the west room to sleep first.

The old couple lived in the east room. When Sun Aimin came back, he lived in the same room with the old couple.

Every household in their village has a kang, and a large kang can be six meters long.

Old Mrs. Sun made the mattress for Sun Aimin and found a clean towel blanket to cover him.

After Sun Aimin finished washing and returned to the house, the old lady took out a small cloth bundle, counted out ten large bills from it and handed them to Sun Aimin: "Mom doesn't know how much money is in the red envelope you gave to your sister, it must not be less. Take this.

I wanted to give it to your sister originally, but she was too proud and too thoughtful to ask for it. This time I am giving it to you through your hand. If it is less, you will suffer a little loss..."

Sun Aimin looked at the stack of hundred-yuan bills handed over by the old lady, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Mom, what are you doing? You should keep this money and use it to buy delicious food for my sister. I don't want it."

But the old lady was stubborn, the more Sun Aimin refused, the more she stuffed the money into Sun Aimin's bag. Sun Aimin took out the living expenses for the old couple from his bag, and the old lady gave up and took back her money, but she said she didn't want any money from Sun Aimin.

"Mom and Dad have money and don't want yours. You should live a good life and take good care of the children. Keep your money for my grandchildren and don't worry about us..." said Old Mrs. Sun.

Grandpa Sun added: "Your mother and I are able to walk and move, so you don't have to worry about anything. But your father-in-law and mother-in-law have worked hard to raise your children, so you must respect them well..."

In the end, the money war ended with Mrs. Sun and her son each taking back the money in their hands.