Tian Guihua smiled. "Look at your father, acting like he hasn't seen a daughter in eight lifetimes. This isn't a daughter, she's his ancestor."
Lady Wu smiled along with her, though as a daughter-in-law, she wouldn't dare chime in on that.
Her father-in-law looked fierce, but he was actually good to everyone.
Reluctantly, she patted the smiling little bundle. "Be a good little aunt, Second Sister-in-law is going to go make something delicious for Mother right now, and then you'll get to eat your fill."
Just as she started the cooking, Fu Dajin came back.
"Dad, how is Mother?"
Fu Baiwan shot him a glare, seeing not a trace of anyone behind him. "Where's the physician? Did you go out and invite a ghost back? If I'd known I couldn't count on you lot, and really had to rely on you, your mother would have already gone to see your grandparents."
Seeing that the household was entirely at peace, Fu Dajin knew his mother must be fine, otherwise there would have been wailing and crying everywhere.
"Dad, there are only three physicians in town, and our family owes money to all of them. As soon as they heard it was me, none of them would come."
Fu Dajin felt quite wronged; he really had gone.
Fu Baiwan let out a cold snort. "Then why were you so slow? Did you crawl there?"
Fu Dajin had gone the moment he got the news.
"The rain washed out the bridge, so I had to wade across the river, which made me a bit slow." He gave a wry smile. "It's good that Mother is fine."
"She's doing great. Your mother gave birth to your little sister, who is our family's great benefactor. The ancestors are blessing us."
"A sister? Dad, did Mother really give me a sister?" Fu Dajin's exhaustion vanished in an instant. "That settles it, our family's fortunes are finally turning around."
Fu Baiwan kept his wits about him. "A good life is built when everyone pulls together. If life isn't going well, it's just because people aren't putting their strength in the right place."
Just in case things didn't turn out well, he couldn't let his precious little daughter take the blame.
Of course, Fu Baiwan felt that was impossible.
……
"Erjin, Erjin, why are you lying to people?"
Mother Fan, holding a wooden bucket and pulling a long face, stood at the doorway. "What kind of rubbish about fish leaping out of the water in droves in the big pond, so many you couldn't even finish picking them up?"
"Bah! I actually believed your nonsense."
When she went, there wasn't even a finger-sized little fish to be found, making her waste a trip for nothing.
Hearing this, Fu Erjin came out. "I wasn't lying! Really, look how many I picked up."
Mother Fan was waiting for precisely those words. "Well, that's just as well. Your family has so many you can't possibly eat them all, you have to give me one."
"Our family is saving them to sell."
Fu Liujin pulled Fu Bajin out with him. The brothers had already discussed it: they would keep the fish alive for a day, and tomorrow they would take these things to exchange for money, so they could buy a piece of printed calico for their little sister to make clothes.
A little girl deserved to be dressed prettily.
Mother Fan shook her head. "One fish won't make a difference, it's settled. Little Liu, you really are stingy, and here I used to dote on you for nothing."
Fu Liujin sneered internally—he had never seen her dote on him at all.
"Baiwan, let me discuss something with you? Give me your youngest son."
This was Mother Fan's true purpose. She was too old to have children of her own, but she couldn't manage without a son to support her in her old age, so she had set her sights on this.
Fu Bajin wasn't afraid of snakes, nor was he afraid of the big rooster at the village entrance, but he was terrified of Mother Fan.
"Dad, don't give me away, I don't want to go." Terrified, Fu Bajin took a few steps back and cowered behind Fu Liujin.
At three years old, the child understood a little. Knowing he wouldn't be close to her, Mother Fan glared at him. "I don't want you, I want that little younger brother who was just born."
The brothers burst out laughing, especially Fu Bajin, who laughed the loudest.
"What are you laughing at?" Mother Fan was somewhat bewildered by the laughter.
Fu Baiwan let out a scoff. "Sister-in-law Fan, you've got the wrong idea this time. Our little Jiu is a girl, we're not giving her to anyone. Not giving her away."
Giving away little Si had been a helpless move; the child was sickly, and if they hadn't given him away, the family's conditions wouldn't have allowed him to survive. As for little Qi, they didn't even know where he was—thinking of him still made his heart ache to this day.
Sigh.
A family should always stay completely together.
"A girl?" Mother Fan looked at Fu Bajin, who was covering his mouth and giggling. "Little Ba, you little rascal, you actually tricked me."
Making a face, Fu Bajin ran off.
Mrs. Zhou seized the opportunity to return to her maiden home to get medicine. As for her mother-in-law, whether she lived or died, she couldn't help anyway, so she would just head back later.
"Mother, will this medicine guarantee that I can get pregnant?"
Old Mother Zhou nodded with absolute confidence. "Don't you worry. Not only will you get pregnant, but it's guaranteed to be a son! Your eldest sister took this medicine and gave birth to Daxi; your second sister didn't take it back then, and ended up giving birth to a girl."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhou slammed the medicine down onto the kang. "Mother, why would I want to give birth to a son? I want to give birth to a daughter, a daughter! Did you remember incorrectly?"
Old Mother Zhou glared at her. "Are you stupid? I gave birth to three of you girls, and back then your grandmother spent all day making sarcastic remarks. But once your younger brother was born, what happened?"
"Did she still scold me? She praised me to everyone she met as the great benefactor of the Zhou family."
Speaking of this matter, Old Mother Zhou looked exceptionally smug.
"Silly girl, listen to me. Your parents-in-law only talk like that on the surface, it's all empty talk. They might say they don't value sons, but the two of them didn't care about their old reputations and kept having children one after another."
"That was because they wanted a daughter."
"Nonsense!" Old Mother Zhou picked up her pipe and took a fierce drag. "That's just what people say. Daughter, let me tell you, you still need a son. Listen to your mother, you can't go wrong."
Mrs. Zhou let out a huff. "We've been married for four years. I watch the second daughter-in-law give birth, and my mother-in-law keeps having children, but look at me—there's not the slightest movement from this belly of mine."
Old Mother Zhou patted her hand. "Then that makes it all the more reason to squeeze out a boy. If you give birth to a daughter, who will you depend on in the future?"
Mrs. Zhou pouted. As long as she could give birth to a child, that was enough.
"Rest assured, even if you have a daughter, the Fu family treats them like treasures."
Old Mother Zhou curled her lips. "Just wait and see. If your mother-in-law's current baby turns out to be a girl, you'll find out—good-for-nothing commodities."
Mrs. Zhou didn't like hearing that. She was a daughter herself, so why was she a good-for-nothing commodity?
Even though the Fu family was poor, she hadn't skimped on bringing things back to her own household.
"Alright, I'm leaving."
Old Mother Zhou shook her head. "Remember, and there's also those talisman papers. On the first and fifteenth of the month, make sure you pour some down your husband's throat too. A son, you must give birth to a son."
"If you give birth to a daughter, you won't be able to hold your head up high. Those good-for-nothing goods are useless."
Mrs. Zhou had already walked to the doorway, but she simply couldn't listen any longer. "Mother, how is a daughter a good-for-nothing commodity?"
"Did the three of us sisters do something heinous for you to have such a hard time holding your head up?"
"If it weren't for the three of us sisters putting in the effort, that precious son of yours would still be a bachelor right now."
"Not to mention the eldest brother-in-law and second brother-in-law, take our Dajin—during the spring sowing and autumn harvest, which time did he ever slack off or spare his strength?"
"And your son? Your son lies in bed until the sun is high in the sky."
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. "If you really think daughters are good-for-nothing commodities, water poured out the door, then let's stop visiting each other from now on. I'll just pretend I don't have a maiden home."
With that, Mrs. Zhou turned and stalked off angrily.
Old Mother Zhou was left speechless by the rebuke for a long time. "Hmph, stubborn wretch, doesn't know what's good for her, only knows how to piss me off. Nothing like my son."
She shook her head. "Sons are still the best."
……
By the time Mrs. Zhou returned to the Fu family, it was almost dark. Fu Baiwan shot her a stern glare, but since both his wife and the baby were fine, he couldn't be bothered to lecture her.
Fu Dajin gave her a gentle shove. "Why don't you go take a look at our little sister? Second brother's wife has already held her."
With a gloomy face, Mrs. Zhou muttered, "Look at how happy it's making you. It's not even your daughter, what are you celebrating for?"
Her mother-in-law was already getting up there in years and could still have children, while she was young and had no movement at all. How could she possibly be in the mood?
She wasn't going to look.
Looking at her would only make her heart ache more.
"Of course I'm happy! Wife, let me tell you, ever since little Qiujiu was born, all sorts of good things have been happening to our family. I reckon our family's luck is truly about to turn around this time."
Fu Dajin lowered his gaze to look at her lower abdomen, smiling as he said, "Who knows, maybe riding on our little sister's coattails, we'll be able to have a child of our own too."
Jealousy burned furiously in Mrs. Zhou's heart. "What does us having a child have to do with her? Stop trying to gild her face."
"Wife, I'm not gilding our little sister's face."
With that, Fu Dajin immediately recounted all the good fortunes the family had encountered that very afternoon following the little sister's birth.
"And all that aside, let me tell you—that bridge I crossed was broken halfway, and I almost got swept away. I missed it by just this much."
"I reckon it's our little sister's great blessing that saved me."
"Did you get hurt anywhere? You reckless ghost, what would I have done if something had happened to you?" Panicked, Mrs. Zhou reached out to tear open his clothes to check.
Fu Dajin pressed her hands down, lowering his voice. "I'm fine, not even a patch of skin broken. I didn't dare tell Dad and Mom, they'd only worry if they knew."
Mrs. Zhou cast a sideways glance at her husband—he really was utterly foolish.
Yet he was a good person who doted on her immensely. In any other family, failing to bear children for four years would have gotten her cast aside.
Yet in this household, no one ever gave her a hard time.
……
Usually, the family couldn't even get enough to eat, but today they were feasting heartily on meat and fish.
Yet Fu Baiwan only emerged after being repeatedly urged by his sons and daughters-in-law. If the little daughter hadn't been too young to be brought out and catch the wind, he would have held her while he ate.
He glanced at the dishes on the table, his brow furrowing slightly. Lady Wu hurriedly explained, "Dad, Mother's portion is being kept warm in the pot."
She saw how much her father-in-law cherished her mother-in-law.
"And that fish..."
Fu Sanjin smiled as he spoke, "Dad, Second Brother and I already talked about it. Tomorrow we're taking it to town along with that medicinal herb to sell them together."Fu Baiwan nodded in satisfaction. A good meal once was enough; life still had to go on, and it was a good thing his sons were not gluttonous.
"First, pay back what we owe. If you borrow and repay, it won't be hard to borrow again. Remember to give a little extra—we've owed it for so long, so paying some interest is only right."
Fu Erjin nodded. "Understood, Dad."
The family chatted and laughed. Hearing some movement from the inner room, Fu Baiwan quickly put down his bowl. "Eldest daughter-in-law, go quickly and fetch the food saved for your mother."
With that, Fu Baiwan went into the room, but Mrs. Zhou didn't move. "Second brother's wife, I sprained my foot when I came back this afternoon, and it still hurts..."
Lady Wu smiled gracefully. "Sister-in-law, then don't move. I'll go. Besides, I want to see our little aunt anyway."
She laughed coquettishly. "Our dad treasures her so much, he won't let just anyone see her, hehe."
The happier Lady Wu's smile was, the more bitter Mrs. Zhou felt inside.
Seeing Lady Wu looking so cheerful made her want to go in and take a look too.
Lady Wu was diligent. After delivering the food, she went to close the chicken coop door, but one look gave her a start, and she let out a cry of surprise.
"What is it now? Always jumping out of your skin."
Fu Baiwan sighed and stroked his little daughter's dark, glossy hair. "Stroke the fur, chase the fright away. Qiujiu is not afraid, not afraid."
Fu Qiujiu wanted to say she wasn't scared at all, so she stretched her arms and moved her legs.
When on earth would she grow up?
Lady Wu let out another cry. "Eggs! Our hens laid eggs! So many eggs!"
Everyone knew that the hens of the Fu Family, just like the roosters, never laid eggs.
The brothers looked at one another.
The little younger sister had brought yet another piece of good fortune.
Chapter 5: Come, Give Me a Kiss
The next day, the men went off to work or to sell their goods.
Mrs. Zhou and Lady Wu stayed home to cook and take care of Tian Guihua.
"Mom, I want to see Little Aunt. Why won't Grandpa let me see Little Aunt yet?"
Three-year-old Fu Tianfu had been shooed away by Fu Baiwan five or six times since yesterday. He seized every opportunity to sneak in, only to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and tossed out each time.
Last night, he heard his mother tell his father that Little Aunt was fair and pretty, and his little heart had been restless ever since. He hadn't even stayed in bed late today.
Annoyed by his questions, Lady Wu found an excuse and slipped away. "I'm going to steam a bowl of egg custard for your grandma. Be a good boy, and Grandpa will let you see her."Fu Tianfu couldn't wait any longer. He stepped onto a small stool, grabbed the windowsill, and peeked in through a tear in the paper window. He caught a glimpse of a small, patched quilt, but before he could see what the person inside looked like, he was caught.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo. Go play with your uncle."
Fu Baiwan and Tian Guihua hadn't closed their eyes all night from excitement. Taking advantage of the time their little daughter had eaten her fill and fallen asleep, the elderly couple planned to catch a wink of sleep themselves.
With a single snore, Fu Baiwan startled himself awake. *I mustn't snore,* he thought, *what if it wakes our little daughter?*
Subconsciously, he reached out to touch the baby beside him, but his hand met empty air.
Instantly wide awake, he looked again.
Where was she?
Where was his little daughter?
Fu Qiujiu was about to be driven crazy by these two little rascals, especially the snot-nosed one, who kept bringing his face closer and closer to hers.
"Little Aunt, how did you get so pretty? Let me give you a kiss!"
Fu Qiujiu glared fiercely at him, wailing internally: *You little brat, get away from me! If you dare kiss me, I'll... Do you even know who I am?*
"Tianfu, you're not allowed to kiss your little aunt."
Fu Bajin put on a stern face, striking the pose of an authoritative uncle. Even though he was two months younger than this nephew of his, a generation is a generation, regardless of age.
"Well... fine, then I'll just hold her."
Fu Qiujiu's heart finally settled back into her chest. Thank goodness, her first kiss from both lifetimes was saved.
"Bajin? Tianfu? You two little brats, give me back my daughter this instant!"
The only two kids left in the house were these little rascals; who else could pull off such an outrageous stunt?
Hearing her father wake up, Fu Qiujiu immediately let out a couple of wails to get him to take her back. She was genuinely worried these two scrawny little runts would drop her on the floor.
With her arms and legs as soft as noodles, not to mention her floppy little head, a single fall would make her simple-minded.
Guided by the sound, Fu Baiwan made his way to Fu Erjin's west wing room, hurriedly snatched his little daughter back, and gently coaxed her to stop crying.
"You two..." Fu Baiwan was just about to dish out some harsh words when the little daughter in his arms started pouting again, which utterly broke his heart with worry. "Oh, oh... there, there, Qiujiu is a good girl. Daddy will speak softly."
"You two..." This time Fu Baiwan lowered his voice, but the little daughter who had stopped crying instantly became unhappy again."Alright, alright, Dad won't say anymore. Dad will take you to find your mom for some food now."
This time, the little girl didn't cry.
Fu Baiwan was puzzled. Could it be that his daughter was a prodigy?
Able to understand human speech just two days after being born?
Fu Jiu simply thought those two babies were quite cute and meant no harm; she didn't want them to get scolded because of her.
Returned to the embrace of her mother, Fu Jiu was fed another meal.
"What is our daughter looking at?"
With the slightest movement from his little daughter, Fu Baiwan would become extremely nervous.
"She's full."
Fu Jiu was suffering inside.
My dear mother, I'm not staring because I'm full; I've peed.
I peed.
To think that she, a top-tier almighty expert of the twenty-second century, had actually peed her pants.
How embarrassing.
"Come to think of it, it's strange. The first few didn't have much milk, but this one has more than enough. I'm even thinking about giving Bajin a bit more; look at how skinny he is, like a dried stalk."
When Tian Guihua woke up in the morning, a large patch of her clothes was wet. She was overjoyed and quickly fed her daughter.
Fu Baiwan stroked his daughter's tiny feet, gesturing constantly near his mouth as he desperately wanted to swallow them whole in one bite.
"If Bajin finishes eating, what will our daughter eat? How old is he anyway, what is he eating for? Give it to the daughter."
Tian Guihua was just saying that casually; she hadn't expected him to take it seriously.
"Hey, why is this daughter looking at me like this?" Fu Baiwan noticed that the little milk bun kept staring right at him.
Fu Jiu gave up. So much for the telepathic bond between father and daughter?
It seemed this trick wasn't going to work.
And so...
"Waa~"
"Oh my, what's wrong with mother's little darling?" Tian Guihua held Fu Qiujiu and patted her gently, but it didn't help at all.
"Didn't she eat enough?" Fu Baiwan's face drained of color in panic.
Tian Guihua pulled aside her clothes as she said, "That can't be. She spat it out herself just a moment ago, which means she was full."
Sure enough, little Qiujiu refused to eat.
"What should we do then? Is something hurting her?"
"My heart, my baby, please stop crying and tell Daddy where it hurts?"
Fu Jiu: Daddy, nothing hurts, I just peed.
"Waa~ waa~"
Mrs. Zhou and Lady Wu were in the kitchen and both heard the commotion.
"What's going on? Crying so loudly, could she be unwell?"
Mrs. Zhou rolled her eyes. "Mom and Dad have raised so many already, they have way more experience than you. Aren't you just sticking your nose into things if you go over there?"
Lady Wu smiled helplessly, but her heart had already drifted into the room.
"The egg custard should be ready. I'll take it to Mom."
Watching her back, Mrs. Zhou curled her lips in a sneer—she was just going to suck up to them.
Still, could that child really be in trouble?
When Lady Wu walked in, she heard her parents-in-law laughing.
She was somewhat baffled. "Dad, Mom, what's going on? I just heard Little Aunt crying, how come you guys are... how come you're laughing?"
Tian Guihua pressed her lips together and poked her man in the arm. "It's nothing. Qiujiu peed, and this fellow got so scared he thought something was wrong, his soul almost flew right out of his body."
Lady Wu let out a chuckle. Not only her father-in-law, but she had been worried sick just now as well.
Looking at the newly changed diaper, Lady Wu didn't even blink an eye. "Dad, give it to me. I'll go wash it for Little Aunt. The sun is strong, it'll be dry before the afternoon."
Back when she gave birth to Fu Tianfu, her mother-in-law had waited on her through her month of confinement with a big belly; helping her mother-in-law and Little Aunt now was only right.
Fu Jiu turned her head to look at this virtuous second sister-in-law. She really couldn't be any better.
Yet, she still found it utterly humiliating.
"I'll go," Fu Baiwan said in a deep voice, not sounding like he was just joking around.
"Dad, you're a grown man, how could you wash it clean? Besides, the riverbank is full of women, it wouldn't be convenient for you to go."
Tian Guihua nodded, deeply gratified. "Second daughter-in-law, thank you for your hard work."
"It's no hard work at all, what hard work? Little Aunt, come give Second Sister-in-law a smile, and I'll wash you up all nice and fragrant."
This request was far too simple.
Fu Jiu immediately rewarded her with a sweet smile.
Utterly captivating.
"Oh, she really smiled! My, with a smile like that, Second Sister-in-law would do anything you ask." Lady Wu wasn't lying; looking at the little girl's sweet smile warmed her heart to the core.
Outside the door, Mrs. Zhou pouted. Only the second family knew how to curry favor.
Yet the mere thought of washing that diaper stained with urine and shit made her unable to bring herself to do it.