After the meal, Teacher Hu invited Zhou Yu to go shopping, saying that with New Year approaching, they should see what else needed to be purchased. The two chatted on the street, from bound feet to elderly women with wrapped feet. Zhou Yu said her grandmother had bound feet, her toes completely deformed, requiring the smallest shoe size with cotton stuffing added.
Teacher Hu said what a coincidence—her old classmate’s grandmother did handicrafts, specifically making shoes for bound feet to sell. In the end, they didn’t go shopping at all, but instead went to her classmate’s grandmother’s house.
That grandmother was around eighty years old with perfect eyesight, sitting by the stove gripping an awl as her needle flew through the fabric. A cart in front of the door displayed all kinds of bound-feet shoes. The grandmother said the cotton stuffing inside the shoes was even warmer than what stores sold, and she had every size.
Zhou Yu selected one pair of cotton shoes and one pair of single-layer shoes. Teacher Hu said she could buy new styles for the single-layer ones after spring came, but Zhou Yu said they were all the same—in truth, she worried about life’s uncertainties and whether she could even wait until next spring.
On the road, she sent Sun Jingcheng a WeChat message: “Where are you?”
Sun Jingcheng replied: “I’ll be home in half an hour.”
She replied: “Waiting for you at home.”
The two had agreed to return to the family compound that evening.
After saying goodbye to Teacher Hu, she returned to the marital home. Five minutes after arriving home, Sun Jingcheng messaged her to come downstairs. In the car, the two chatted briefly. Zhou Yu said she had just gone shopping with a colleague and bought shoes for Grandmother. Sun Jingcheng instinctively wanted to ask: Then why didn’t you go back to the family compound first?
The place where they went shopping wasn’t far from the family compound, but he swallowed the words back down. Only at this moment did he realize that since getting married, Zhou Yu rarely returned to the family compound alone—it was always the two of them together.
Sun Jingcheng pulled her hand to his lips and blew warm air on it. “Was it cold shopping?”
Zhou Yu couldn’t be bothered with him, then reacted and said: “If you want to hold my hand, just say so…”
Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily.
Zhou Yu was also in a good mood, saying she had received her salary and should be the highest-paid among the young teachers. Sun Jingcheng asked: “Why among the young teachers?”
“The veteran teachers have seniority, several with twenty-some years of service.” Zhou Yu took out several shopping vouchers to show him. “Year-end benefits. Plus a notebook.”
“Good benefits!”
“I’ll give your mother two vouchers, my mother two vouchers, let them buy New Year goods.” Zhou Yu continued, taking out a jewelry box to show him. “These past two months our living expenses have been ample, so I bought your mother a gold bracelet, 38 grams.”
“Didn’t I tell you to buy one for your mother?”
“My mother doesn’t wear gold bracelets.”
“Are you indirectly saying my mother is vulgar?” Sun Jingcheng teased her.
“Vulgar is good—vulgar people are easily happy.” Zhou Yu looked at him and, feeling merciful, said: “Do you know why you always get scolded?”
Sun Jingcheng shook his head.
“Because you have low emotional intelligence, no perception, and you have a face that invites scolding.”
…
“Last week at dinner, Second Sister-in-law gave Mom a set of anti-wrinkle skincare products. Mom was feeling wonderful about it, and you said those things don’t work and won’t remove the wrinkles on Mom’s face.” Zhou Yu said: “With one sentence you offended two people. Mom wasn’t happy because of the skincare products themselves, but because they were a filial gift from her daughter-in-law. My buying Mom a gold bracelet follows the same principle.”
“At the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner, Second Brother praised Mom for looking spirited and complimented the color of her dress. Mom was happy, and you said she was trying to look young, that the dress color was too youthful and didn’t suit her…”
“At the Winter Solstice dinner, Eldest Brother and Second Brother toasted Mom, thanking her for the hard work of taking care of the children, and saying she raised them well. Mom was moved to tears—it was a perfect family reunion moment of maternal kindness and filial piety—and you mentioned that Yanyan had thick nasal discharge crusted on her face…”
“Why does your sister ask you to come to the clinic together, and after confirming you’ve arrived, she saunters in an hour late?” Zhou Yu asked him.
Sun Jingcheng shook his head like a rattle drum.
“Because she calls you back first to absorb the firepower, so by the time she returns, Mom has no energy left to scold her.”
Sun Jingfei followed the car ahead into the residential complex. After watching the two of them go upstairs, she looked at her WeChat messages. The message was from the lawyer, who said the evidence Sun Jingfei provided wasn’t strong enough and would also be questioned regarding its legality. Especially the recordings secretly made at home, which the other party could claim as invalid evidence on grounds of privacy violation.
Sun Jingfei called to discuss it. The other party said some behaviors themselves carry great controversy, so whether certain defenses are supported depends on the court. Based on current evidence, she had the advantage in property division, but the children had lived with their paternal grandparents for a long time, and the father-son relationship was harmonious. Whether considering the court or the children’s opinions, things were very unfavorable for her. The court wouldn’t award her the children just because she was the innocent party. She could only work hard to win the children’s preference.
Because it was a phone conversation, the lawyer spoke very formally and cautiously. Sun Jingfei felt this kind of conversation was pointless and arranged to meet in person next time. After hanging up, she saw the two of them walking out of the complex arm-in-arm. She turned around and slowly followed them. Seeing they were about to enter the market, she suddenly accelerated, the car body brushing past her husband as it charged forward. After turning a corner and merging into traffic, she lowered the window and adjusted the side mirror.
The car was one she had rented from a dealership. She changed cars every two or three days.
She pulled over and scrolled through the Sun family WeChat group. An hour ago, Mother Sun had posted in the group, telling everyone to report what they wanted to eat. Second Brother and his wife confidently ordered dishes. Eldest Sister-in-law said as usual she would come over in the afternoon to help. Zhou Yu gave her unchanging response of “anything is fine.” Only Eldest Brother and Fourth Brother hadn’t replied.
She privately messaged Sun Jingcheng: “Not coming back to the clinic tonight?”
After a long while, Sun Jingcheng replied: “Coming back.” Immediately after, she saw him report in the group: “Braised hairtail fish.”
Sure enough, Mother Sun sent him a twenty-second voice message: “Too late, I’ve already returned from the market. Am I your personal nanny? Supposed to wait by the vegetable stall until you finish your business before ordering…”
Sun Jingcheng directly threw an image into the group with text: “Mom, you’ve worked hard. I was just at the gold shop selecting your birthday gift for next week, so I didn’t have time to reply.”
…
Sun Jingfei felt like vomiting. She privately messaged him: “Did Zhou Yu teach you that?”
Sun Jingcheng didn’t bother responding to her.
The message where Mother Sun had scolded Sun Jingcheng showed “content withdrawn.” Soon after, she sent a text message: “Our home is right next to the market, I’ll go buy it in a bit. Besides braised hairtail fish, is there anything else you want to eat?”
Second Sister-in-law asked: “Mom, don’t you not know pinyin?”
Mother Sun replied: “Mom, I’m your son Jiaxing.”
…Everything was in chaos.
Sun Jingfei saw her opportunity had arrived and started typing: “Mom, I just got back from a business trip, I’m also coming back tonight. I want to eat shrimp and tofu, Chinese broccoli with beef…” preparing to send…
She saw that scolding-face Sun Jingcheng had sent another message: “Mom, I won’t trouble you anymore. Just the braised hairtail fish is complicated enough.”
Sun Jingfei deleted all the content she had typed. She privately messaged Sun Jingcheng: “Even Liu Neng isn’t as capable as you!”
At the dinner table, aside from Eldest Brother and Second Brother not coming, even Sun Jingcheng unusually didn’t show up. Sun Youping’s face looked unpleasant. Mother Sun looked at the table full of dishes she had carefully prepared and said quickly: “If everyone’s going to be too busy in the future, let’s just not gather.”