The Zhou couple didn't stay long. Everyone was busy, and their relationship with the Ran family was a bit awkward. They had come to see their daughter. Now that they saw she was doing well and seemed distant from them, they found no reason to linger. They left after dinner.
Liu Cui inventoried the items they had brought. There were fifteen eggs and a piece of salted meat. She wasn't sure if it was pork or something else, but in these times, any meat was good.
Ran Zhonghua looked at the meat and seemed pleased. Liu Cui, however, did not share his sentiment.
"What's there to be happy about? They came to see their daughter. They don't have much money now, just enough to feed their family. But didn't you hear? They can earn over ten yuan from just one shift in the mine. If they earn more later, they might just take San Ya back."
She saw clearly that their family had no young men. Her husband was already over sixty, and though he could still manage some work now, in a few years he would be unable to do anything and would only be a burden at home. Then, two women left with a child, and if the Zhou family wanted their girl back, it would be incredibly easy.
Ran Zhonghua's smile slowly faded. "Everyone in the village knows their girl is part of the Ran family now. It's not that easy to take her back."
That was true. Liu Cui thought that although many rules had changed, their village's customs still held. The Zhou family wouldn't dare to snatch the child back. However, if they offered enough, returning her might not be impossible.
Zhu Lin was unaware that she had already been schemed against. The child grew so fast that a new set of clothes made before the New Year was too small by the spring. However, the weather was warm, so he wouldn't have worn them anyway. She made him two slightly thinner outfits and ordered a stroller from a peddler. When she had free time, she would push the child around.
Last year, there were two snowfalls during the Chinese New Year, and a few rainfalls in the spring. It seemed the drought was almost over. It was the season for spring planting, and many villagers were working in the fields along the roads. As she pushed the child past them, people clearly pointed and whispered.
"That's the little girl from the Zhou family in the neighboring team, sold to the Ran family for a hundred catties of grain."
"She seems quite attentive to the Ran family's child. Does she really consider herself a Ran? Haven't her parents thought of taking her back?"
A stout aunt declared loudly, "The Zhou family accepted the grain and money. Are they going to demand the child back? There's no such rule in the village. Whoever is sold to a family belongs to them. If anyone dares to break the village rules, no one will let them get away with it."
Zhu Lin pushed the child forward, her gaze steady, completely ignoring them. The women speaking lowered their voices and began discussing another piece of village gossip.
"Didn't Old Su's daughter-in-law have a job? Why did she come back to the village?"
Another person replied, "Who knows? I heard she lost her job. Did she do something?"
One woman sidled closer to the others and whispered a few words. The others immediately understood, and their eyes widened in shock.
"That really happened?"
"Otherwise, why would a good job disappear just like that? She was living well in the city, so why come back to the village? Does she want to do farm work?"
"Oh my, I didn't expect that. But nothing is more important than continuing the family line. For the sake of a child, losing a job is understandable."
"..."
Their voices gradually faded behind her. Zhu Lin heard the child's voice ahead and went to check on him. The child was in the stroller, holding his milk bottle, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her. Upon seeing her face, a smile immediately lit up his soft, cute face, and he reached out his hands to her.
Zhu Lin reached out and touched his little face, making the child giggle and squirm. Then, she continued pushing the stroller forward. The village was built on a mountainside, with houses scattered at different elevations. There were no paved roads yet, only dirt paths dug by the villagers, which became muddy when it rained. It was only when the weather cleared that Zhu Lin could push him out like this.
The Ran family's house was located on a higher spot. The other family members were working in the fields, and the path to the fields sloped downwards. Along the way, there were many houses, most of which were thatched huts, with only a few having tiled roofs. As she passed a tiled house, Zhu Lin felt a bit puzzled. This place had been a thatched hut before, and it seemed to have been built recently.
Just as she was thinking, the sound of a child crying suddenly came from the yard of that house. The sound was too abrupt and too loud, startling the child in Zhu Lin's stroller, who immediately began to cry. Zhu Lin quickly went to the front and picked him up. He nestled against her, nuzzling his little head into her neck, whimpering as if wronged.
"Shh, don't be scared, big sister is here."
"Waaah..."
Zhu Lin gently patted his back and whispered comforting words, kissing his forehead. The child gradually stopped crying. Tears still glistened on his face, and his fair, soft little face showed signs of unease. He turned his head around, and Zhu Lin supported the back of his head to prevent him from straining his neck. The child looked towards the source of the noise, babbling incomprehensible "baby talk." Zhu Lin continued to pat his back and said, "Were you scared? Oh, it's okay now, good boy, big sister is holding you, it's alright."
"Waaah..." Baby is scared. He lifted his little arms to wipe his face, but he didn't wipe away the tears cleanly, making him look even more miserable. Zhu Lin took out a damp piece of cotton cloth and wiped the tears from his face. He had been scared, so putting him back in the stroller wouldn't work; he would cry inconsolably. Zhu Lin had no choice but to hold him and pull the stroller to the fields.
The weather was quite hot today, and the people working around were sitting on the ridges, drinking water. Seeing them, most people didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until they arrived at the Ran family's field that Liu Cui came over to rest and look at the child. Two tears had somehow appeared at the corner of his eyes, leaving tear streaks on his face.
Liu Cui took him and examined him closely. "What's wrong? Did you cry? Did you fall?"
Zhu Lin rolled her eyes internally. "When you brought him down, I don't know which house was hitting a child, and he got scared."
Liu Cui didn't doubt her. In her opinion, this little girl cared more about her grandson than she did. She was so afraid of him getting cold if she held him too loosely, or melting if she held him too tightly, how could she possibly drop him?
"Which house was hitting a child?"
"It was in the newly built tiled house below. The child suddenly started crying, and he cried along with it."
Liu Cui seemed to recall something. "The Su family. Oh my, that child is truly paying off a debt from a past life. They were hitting him this morning, and they're still hitting him now. A little girl of two or three years old. They probably won't stop until they beat her to death."