“To your house?” Zhang Laohan asked with a beaming smile. “Lan girl, your uncle has already gone to your house today; Grandpa and Grandma won’t go. The house can’t be left without someone.”
Although his family was destitute and had nothing of value, Zhang Laohan still felt uneasy leaving the house unattended.
“Uncle went to my house? No wonder I didn’t see Little Uncle. I thought he had gone to town to work.” Only after hearing her grandfather did Li Menglan suddenly realize.
“Grandma, there’s nothing valuable at home anyway. You and Grandpa haven’t been to our house in a long time, so why don’t you come along today?” To persuade her grandparents, Li Menglan did not hesitate to shamelessly act spoiled.
“Hehe… Oh, Grandma hasn’t seen Lan girl act spoiled in so long. Look at you… wriggling around like a fried dough twist.” Old Lady Wang Shi couldn’t resist teasing her granddaughter.
“Grandpa… Let’s go? Let’s go?” Li Menglan looked at Zhang Laohan pitifully.
“Fine! Then Lan girl, tell Grandpa why you absolutely must have Grandpa and Grandma go to your house?” Zhang Laohan knew his son-in-law’s circumstances were not much better than his own, so he rarely went to his son-in-law’s home; even when he did… he would always return the same day, afraid of causing trouble for his daughter.
“Grandpa, Grandma, our family is going to build a new house.” Li Menglan said with a face full of smiles: “Grandpa, Grandma, since Little Uncle has already gone over today anyway, you should go too…”
Li Menglan’s eyes rolled around as she said: “Um… Even if it’s just to help, okay?”
Li Menglan was thinking of first tricking her grandparents into coming home with her.
“Build a house?” Zhang Laohan and Wang Shi exchanged a glance, their faces full of disbelief: “Eldest, Second, Lan girl is young and doesn’t understand. You two tell Grandpa honestly—is your family really going to build a house? Where did you get the silver to build a house?”
Zhang Laohan thought Li Menglan was deliberately trying to fool the two old folks, so he turned to Li Zhiming and Li Zhihao and asked with a stern face.
“Grandpa, our family really is going to build a house.” Li Zhiming nodded. “Sister isn’t lying to you.”
“That’s right! Grandpa.” Li Zhihao chimed in from the side.
Zhang Laohan was somewhat confused: “Eldest, how did your father and mother suddenly come to have so much silver?”
“That was earned by Sister.” Li Zhihao spoke quickly, immediately revealing the source of the silver.
“Lan girl!”
Zhang Laohan’s eyes turned to Li Menglan, who was clinging to Wang Shi at his side: “Lan girl, can you tell Grandpa what this is about?”
Although he knew his granddaughter wouldn’t do anything bad, Zhang Laohan’s face still held faint worry.
“Grandpa! You and Grandma come to my house first. After we see Little Uncle, I’ll tell you then, okay?”
The past two days at home, they had been busy planning the house construction, and there were all sorts of trivial matters; Li Menglan had already looked up at the sky several times. This girl was anxious!
There were still several sets of pig offal on the ox cart that needed washing!
Grandmother Wang Shi spoke up: “Old man, alright! Didn’t Lan girl say she’d tell us together when we see her uncle? Let’s go! Go inside and pack. We’ll go stay at our daughter’s place for a few days.”
The old couple, Zhang Laohan and Wang Shi, packed their things, locked the door, and followed Li Menglan and her two brothers to the main road not far away. Their son-in-law, Li Dazhu, was waiting there with the ox cart. The cart was piled with all kinds of daily necessities; there were two large baskets of pork alone.
Zhang Laohan exchanged a look with his wife. Hehe… It seemed his grandchildren really hadn’t lied. Their daughter’s family was truly getting better and better. Perhaps this talk of building a house was also true.
“Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, you’ve come.” When Li Dazhu saw Zhang Laohan and Wang Shi, he quickly climbed down from the ox cart and greeted them loudly.
“Mmhmm… It seems Lan girl’s words were true!” Zhang Laohan looked at Li Dazhu meaningfully.
“Father-in-law, what did my daughter say?” Li Dazhu asked, not understanding.
“Dad, I didn’t say much to Grandpa either; just that our family is building a house.” Li Menglan looked up at the sky. “Dad! Let’s talk about everything when we get home. If we don’t head back now, it’ll be late. There’s still lots of pig offal to wash.”
Li Menglan reminded Li Dazhu that there was much to do at home.
“Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, please get in and sit first; we’ll talk as we go.” Li Dazhu looked at the sky—it really was getting late.
..............
Li Menglan finally saw her little uncle, Zhang Wenli—the one who had broken off his marriage in order to pay for her medical treatment. He was a tall, sturdy, strapping young man; wearing a navy blue outfit washed white in places, with several patches on the chest and hem.
Though his skin was a bit dark, his features were quite handsome; thick brows, large eyes, and a gentle smile on his face. One could tell at a glance he was easy to get along with and had a good temper.
“Dad, Mom, why have you come too?” Zhang Wenli looked at Zhang Laohan and Wang Shi climbing down from the ox cart, his eyes full of astonishment: “Dad, Mom, I was just planning to tell Sis that it’s getting late and I should head home. Now this is perfect—you’ve come too.”
“Little Uncle.” Li Menglan suddenly jumped down from the ox cart, took a few quick steps to Zhang Wenli’s side, and called out with a bright smile.
“See, it’s all because of your precious niece making a fuss; she insisted your father and I come to her house.” Wang Shi tapped Li Menglan’s forehead with her finger, her tone exasperated but carrying three parts doting affection.
“Lan girl, did you miss Little Uncle?” Zhang Wenli cheerfully scooped Li Menglan up into his arms.
“I did!” Li Menglan knew her little uncle doted on her the most, so she answered without hesitation: “Little Uncle, why haven’t you come to see me?” Taking advantage of the fact that this body was only ten years old, Li Menglan didn’t have so many scruples; she affectionately wrapped her arms around Zhang Wenli’s neck and said with a grin.
Zhang Yuniang walked over and said reproachfully, “Daughter, you’ve wronged your little uncle. Recently he’s been working in Changban Town the whole time. See… as soon as he got paid, he immediately brought the money over to our family, saying to buy you something good to eat and nourish you.”
Zhang Yuniang’s words made Li Menglan even more certain of the idea in her heart. She would wait until evening to bring it up and discuss it with the family.
“Little Uncle, thank you!” Li Menglan said with curved brows and smiling eyes. “I knew Little Uncle is the best person in the world.”
“Lan girl, don’t you think Little Uncle is quite useless?” Zhang Wenli laughed foolishly with embarrassment. “Little Uncle can’t earn big money, so he has to wrong our Lan girl!”
“Who says that? Little Uncle is the best uncle in the world!”
Hehe… Whether it was Li Dazhu’s family or Zhang Laohan and Wang Shi… everyone in the courtyard was amused by the interaction between Li Menglan and Zhang Wenli… Clear, joyful laughter rang out from the small farmhouse courtyard, carrying far into the distance.
Today, the Li family’s dining table was especially lavish: braised pork belly, cold tossed pig stomach, radish stewed with large bones, hot and sour fatty intestines, spicy pig lungs… as well as braised eggplant and stir-fried plain cabbage… Even during New Year, the Zhang and Li families hadn’t eaten this richly in a long time.
During the meal, Li Menglan finally voiced her plan: “Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, I want Grandpa, Grandma, and Little Uncle to build the house together with us this time.”
“Daughter, what did you just say?” Li Dazhu thought there was something wrong with his ears and that he had misheard, so he quickly asked.
Zhang Yuniang didn’t speak. After all, this concerned her own parents and younger brother; as a daughter-in-law, it naturally wasn’t her place to say anything. However, the eyes she turned toward Li Menglan held hidden gratification.
After a startled pause, Zhang Laohan immediately reacted: “Lan girl! Grandpa is already very happy that you have this intention. As for building the house, let’s forget it. Later, when your little uncle earns money, Grandpa will naturally build a new house.”
“That’s right! Niece, don’t worry. Later, Little Uncle will earn money and build a house himself.” Zhang Wenli smiled with great satisfaction. This girl had a conscience; it wasn’t in vain that he had doted on her all this time.