At noon on the first day of the Lunar New Year, another huge row broke out at Old Man Wang's house. The eldest daughter-in-law was screaming that she wanted to eat eggs, and the eldest grandson was crying along with her.
Old Man Wang smoked his dry tobacco in gloom while Old Lady Wang held and comforted the eldest grandson.
The second son's family said nothing and hid in their own room.
The third son took his two younger sisters outside to scavenge for unexploded firecrackers to play with.
Only after everyone had left did Old Lady Wang point at Liu Cui and curse her out, saying she had originally planned to buy an egg today for her grandson to eat, but who told Liu Cui to go make a scene at the Zhang family yesterday and waste the money meant for the eggs?
When all was said and done, it was all Liu Cui's fault for making trouble out of nothing.
Liu Cui was hopping mad and pinned this debt onto Zhang Jinlin instead.
"Son, remember this: Zhang Jinlin next door is your enemy. Because of him, you don't get to eat eggs for the New Year. When you grow up, you give him a good beating for me!"
Wang Yuhang listened, half-understanding, simply feeling that not having eggs to eat must have something to do with Zhang Jinlin, and yesterday's meat had to do with him as well.
After finishing their dumplings, Zhang Jiandan looked thoroughly satisfied, humming a little tune as he took his second son and headed out the door to work.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Jinlin followed them out of the courtyard gate, crept up to his dad's side, and tugged at the hem of his jacket. "Dad, am I your biological son?"
Zhang Jiandan was stunned for a moment, then beamed and said, "Did your mom tell you? That's right, you really aren't our biological son."
"Alright, Dad has to go to work. Be a good boy and stay home!"
He only meant to tease his youngest son, never expecting the boy to take it seriously. From then on, the boy genuinely believed he was not their biological son, and he became a lot more obedient.
Li Baoying had just finished her dumplings and was about to call her youngest son to wash the dishes when she suddenly saw him walking back in from outside the courtyard with a blank expression on his face. She asked:
"What's wrong with you?"
Upon seeing his mother—no, his stepmother—Zhang Jinlin instantly forced a smile and said, "Nothing, Mom. I'll help you wash the dishes."
As it happened, Li Baoying nodded and went out for a stroll with Xiaohua.
As he washed the dishes, Zhang Jinlin wept tears of self-pity, feeling that he was a poor little wretch who had fallen into the hands of a stepmother, miserable beyond measure.
When Zhang Jintian returned from outside, he saw his third brother sitting desolately in the room. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but abruptly closed his mouth.
He sat down in silence and began to read.
Zhang Jinlin felt that his eldest brother had changed too; over the past few months, his brother hadn't been as close to him as before. In the past, his brother would always place food directly in front of him without ever asking if he wanted it.
Now, his brother always asked him first, and then... that was the end of it.
It seemed his eldest brother knew he wasn't his real younger brother either.
The winter sunlight shone through the window glass onto Zhang Jintian's face. The flesh on his face had filled out a bit, his skin had the luster of warm jade, and his sharply defined profile faintly reflected a translucent white glow.
Zhang Jinlin stared in a daze. His eldest brother was so good-looking; was he an immortal from the heavens sent down to undergo a Tribulation?
The "immortal" turned his head and shot him a cold glance. A shock went through Zhang Jinlin's heart—his eldest brother had never looked at him with that kind of gaze before!
He wanted to ask why, but the "immortal" abruptly turned his face back.
Terrified in his heart, Zhang Jinlin mustered his courage and called out, "Eldest brother!"
Zhang Jintian turned to look at him with a gentle smile on his face. "Jinlin, did you call me?"
Zhang Jinlin froze, suspecting he had just seen things, and hurriedly said, "It's nothing. I'm going out to play in the courtyard, just letting you know."
"Alright, go ahead."
With that, Zhang Jintian resumed reading.
Only after Zhang Jinlin had left did he raise his head from his book and quietly gaze toward the doorway.Li Baoying took Xiaohua to the supply and marketing cooperative for a stroll to check the purchase price of eggs, and then bought some brown sugar. Although her eldest son had put on a little weight recently, his complexion remained quite pale. Everyone said brown sugar was good for building blood, so she intended to bring it home to dissolve in water for him to drink.
She had already made up her mind: as soon as the hens laid eggs tomorrow, she would make brown sugar eggs for her eldest son.
They only received two jin of sugar coupons per year. With a determined heart, Li Baoying pulled out over thirty cents to buy a jin to nourish her son.
On the way back, Xiaohua stared at the brown sugar, her mouth almost watering.
Li Baoying couldn't help it; she pinched a tiny bit with her fingers and placed it in the girl's mouth so she could have a taste.
"Raise daughters well"—that was a concept from decades later, but she felt it was absolutely right. If she hadn't failed to raise her little Xiaohua properly when she was young, the girl wouldn't have grown up to be so submissive and bullied by that family.
Looking at Xiaohua's upturned, smiling face, Li Baoying smiled back.
Daughters are always the sweet, comforting little cotton-padded jackets for their parents, and her Xiaohua was no exception.
In her previous life, it was Xiaohua who had washed away the filth of her incontinence. The girl had never once shown impatience, though she had remained very quiet, saying nothing at all.
Upon returning home, Li Baoying didn't even glance at Zhang Jinlin before heading straight to her room to prepare the sugar water for her eldest son.
Her eldest son was still reading; he was always so diligent.
Setting a steaming bowl of brown sugar water in front of him, she said, "Jintian, stop reading for a while. Take a rest and drink some sugar water."
The color of the dissolved brown sugar was enticing, and the rising steam carried a sweet fragrance.
Zhang Jintian took a deep breath and said, "Mom, you have some too. I can't finish it all."
"You silly child, I'm in good health. There's no need for me to drink this; it would be a waste. You hurry up and drink it to build up your blood," Li Baoying said affectionately.
"Drink it all. Don't leave a single drop."
Zhang Jinlin, standing at the doorway, heard these words and immediately retreated, continuing to watch ants in the courtyard.
Since he wasn't her biological son, there was no point in fighting over food or drink.
Li Baoying noticed the shadow that had flashed past the door and said with a smile, "Tomorrow, when the hens lay eggs, Mom will make brown sugar eggs for you."
"I'll make sure to get you nice and plump."
"That's right, big brother, hurry up and drink it! Brown sugar is so sweet, it's good for your health," Zhang Hua said from the side, looking on with envy.
Zhang Jintian no longer refused. He picked up the bowl and drank it down in big gulps, leaving only the last two mouthfuls, which he fed to his little sister, who was practically drooling.
His little sister didn't mind his saliva at all and drank what remained from the bowl.
"Is it sweet?" Zhang Jintian asked.
"Sweet, so sweet," Zhang Hua replied, licking her lips.
Li Baoying took the bowl away to wash it.
Zhang Jinlin, still watching the ants in the courtyard, felt a bit sad. His big brother wouldn't even give him a drop, only to his own biological sister.
*No,* he thought, *I have to find out who my real mother is. I need to go find her as soon as possible; I don't want to stay here and be treated like this.*
That evening, Li Baoying checked the chicken coop again. It was a pity there were no eggs; she had hoped to collect one or two in the afternoon. After all, she kept five hens, yet only two were laying.
Early the next morning, the sound of cackling filled the coop. Li Baoying sprang up, put on her clothes, and hurried over.
The hens were very sensible today; knowing she wanted to make brown sugar eggs for her son, they had laid them first thing in the morning.
She retrieved an egg and excitedly went to cook.
At mealtime, alongside a bowl of rice porridge, a bowl of brown sugar eggs sat in front of Zhang Jintian.
Zhang Jinhe didn't even look over, eating only the porridge in front of him.
Xiaohua, being sensible, also said nothing.
Zhang Jinlin was drawn by the sweet, fragrant aroma of the brown sugar eggs and kept glancing toward them, but he didn't dare say a word.