Zhang Minzhen had known since she was little that there was no such thing as a perfect life.
She had a father who doted on his daughter, but she also had grandparents who were very unhappy about it.
In her grandparents' eyes, a girl was just money-losing goods, someone who would eventually belong to another family. So, while her grandparents were alive, they couldn't stand seeing her favored. They couldn't do anything about her father, but they never missed a chance, both to her face and behind her back, to "enlighten" her. Their words always implied that a girl should take the initiative to do more work and sacrifice for her brothers. Day in and day out, they would tirelessly talk about how so-and-so's daughter could carry buckets of manure for miles at just seven or eight years old, doing the work of half an adult in the fields, or how so-and-so's son never had to work the land because his sisters waited on him hand and foot.
The consequences of this were obvious: her second and third brothers, who were close to her in age, began to ostracize her more and more. Their relationship as siblings was mediocre at best when they were young, and it only got worse after her brothers married their wives.
Her eldest sister-in-law was kept in check by her eldest brother, so she was usually polite to her, but it was a far cry from a warm relationship between a sister and sister-in-law.
Her second and third sisters-in-law, however, weren't so restrained. Since her money was tightly controlled by Gu Lihui, she was always short on cash. Every time she returned to her parents' home, the gifts and snacks she could buy for her nieces and nephews were very limited. Her eldest sister-in-law never said anything, but her second and third sisters-in-law never stopped with their snide remarks.
'But what could I do besides pretend not to hear them? Could I really throw a fit over a few catty comments from my sisters-in-law, putting Mom and Dad in a difficult position and making myself the laughingstock of the village?'
So, although she never said a word, she knew exactly what was going on.
"Let's not talk about that for now. Eating is the most important thing. Whatever it is, it can wait until after you've eaten. Go put your things in the cabinet in your father's and my room, then come out and eat." Wiping her hands on her apron, Wen Xiu filled two large bowls with three fried eggs each, placed them on a wooden tray with two spoons, and said, "Let's eat in the yard. It's cooler out there."
"Okay." Zhang Minzhen did as she was told.
"Nuannuan, come quickly! Look what Grandma made for you!"
In the yard, Gu Nuan Nuan had been intently watching her grandfather weave a fan from cattail leaves. Hearing her grandmother call, she quickly ran over and saw a bowl of dough drop soup. With its mix of red, green, and white, it looked especially appetizing. She swallowed hard. As a child, her favorite thing to eat was her grandma's fried egg and dough drop soup; she even loved that it used celery instead of scallions.
The truth was, when she was little, she was mostly just craving eggs. Her grandmother would always put at least three in her soup. Seeing it now, her face lit up with a huge smile. "It's fried egg and dough drop soup! Thank you, Grandma."
As she spoke, Gu Nuan Nuan picked up a spoon, scooped up a fried egg, and carefully blew on it to cool it down. Wen Xiu watched with a gentle smile, not expecting Gu Nuan Nuan to bring the cooled egg right to her lips. "Grandma, you eat."
"Grandma doesn't need any. Nuannuan, you eat it." Wen Xiu's eyes immediately reddened. She knew how much her granddaughter loved fried eggs, yet today, the little girl remembered to offer her the first bite. All her love for the child hadn't been in vain.
"Grandma, eat," Gu Nuan Nuan insisted, her little face set with determination. Wen Xiu had no choice but to take a small bite. "Grandma's had some now. You eat the rest, Nuannuan."
"No, this whole one is for Grandma." Gu Nuan Nuan shook her head. 'In my last life, I never had the chance to repay my grandparents. In this one, I don't know if I can change their fate of dying young, so I've decided my filial piety has to start with these small, everyday actions.'
'I'm sure they weren't good to me just so I would repay them in the future. For them, maybe seeing their children and grandchildren happy is the greatest joy and blessing in life.'
"But Grandma is full. Be a good girl, Nuannuan, and eat it yourself, okay?" Wen Xiu was both touched and exasperated.
"No." Gu Nuan Nuan shook her head firmly, holding the spoon out and refusing to move it. In the end, Wen Xiu relented. Next, Gu Nuan Nuan repeated the process, carefully scooping up another fried egg, cupping her other hand underneath it for support, and coaxing her grandfather to eat it. Only then did she return, satisfied and ready to eat herself. But when she looked down, she saw an extra egg in her bowl and, as expected, one was missing from her mother's. She looked up at her grandmother.
Wen Xiu winked at her and urged lovingly, "Grandpa and Grandma have both eaten now. It's time for Nuannuan to eat." Gu Nuan Nuan gave a sweet smile and sat down at the stone table under the tree to eat. As she ate, she showered her grandmother with compliments, keeping a smile plastered on Wen Xiu's face.
From a short distance away, Zhang Dazhuang looked over, an uncontrollable smile spreading across his face.
"What are you all talking about that's so cheerful?" Zhang Minzhen came out after Gu Nuan Nuan had already taken several bites. She noticed one of the fried eggs was missing from her bowl and was slightly puzzled, but she didn't say anything.
"Our Nuannuan is growing up and becoming so sensible. See, just now she insisted that your father and I each eat a fried egg. I saw she only had one left for herself, so I moved one from your bowl to hers," Wen Xiu explained with a smile.
"Such a good girl. Then Mom will reward you with another one." Overjoyed, Zhang Minzhen leaned in to kiss her little cheek and scooped up an egg to put in Gu Nuan Nuan's bowl.
"No, I have enough! My tummy will be too full." Gu Nuan Nuan threw her arms over her bowl, protecting it fiercely and shaking her head nonstop until Zhang Minzhen finally gave up.
With Nuannuan around, no one in the yard brought up the unpleasant business with the Gu Family again, and the atmosphere finally warmed up a little.
"You're here."
She hadn't had more than a few bites of her dough drop soup when Zhang Weimin came out of his room, heading for the outhouse. He looked up and saw the mother and daughter, Zhang Minzhen and Gu Nuan Nuan, eating in his family's yard. He shot a subtle glance at their bowls and saw, sure enough, that they had eggs. He secretly pursed his lips. 'She's a married daughter, yet she's still bringing a money-losing good-for-nothing back to her parents' house to freeload day in and day out. Has she no sense of shame?'
No matter how displeased he was, with his parents present he couldn't just ignore them, so he offered a lazy greeting.
"Third Brother," Zhang Minzhen replied, her expression just as indifferent.
"Third Uncle."
Gu Nuan Nuan looked up, remembering how she used to be terrified of her second and third uncles as a child. To avoid giving herself away, she kept her voice small and even shrank back a little, playing the part.
"Hmph." Zhang Weimin shot her a disgusted look and grunted in reply, not even bothering with a perfunctory courtesy before heading straight for the outhouse.
Wen Xiu saw Gu Nuan Nuan's obvious timidness and sighed, stroking her little head but ultimately saying nothing.
'The second and third boys never had a good relationship with my youngest daughter, and it didn't improve much after they grew up. That's why the two of them are always so cold and indifferent whenever they see their niece, Nuannuan. Children are very perceptive; they can always tell who is good to them. Take my eldest son, for example. Even though they don't see each other often, Nuannuan is still very close to him and has never been afraid of him.'