Chapter 10: The Aunt Pays a Visit
After some small talk, a strange silence fell over the people in the courtyard.
The aunt suddenly plastered a smile on her face and looked at Xu An. "This must be Anzi. It’s been a few years, and you’ve gotten so big! Are you in high school? Are your college entrance exams coming up soon?"
Granny Xu couldn’t help but snort.
"What do you mean ’coming up soon’? They’re already over."
The aunt’s expression froze for a moment before she plastered on another smile. "Hah, look at my memory. It’s getting worse and worse. I can’t even remember that right."
She then changed her target, waving at Xu Kang and Xu Le. "Why are you two so shy? I’m your aunt. Come over to Auntie."
Perhaps because of Xu An’s presence, the two children were a little bolder.
In their childish voices, they shouted at the three visitors, "Old Witch, Old Demon King, and your lackey! My big brother is here, so I’m not afraid of you!"
Everyone present froze for a moment. The expressions on the faces of the three visitors ran the gamut from shock and embarrassment to outright fury.
Xu An patted his younger brother and sister’s fluffy heads and explained for them, "They’ve been listening to the story of Little Red Riding Hood recently. They think everyone is a bad guy."
"Heh, heh, is that so? So that’s what it is. Ha, haha."
The aunt took the out Xu An had given her, but the expression on her face was still ugly.
The aunt’s mother-in-law seemed unwilling to waste any more time. She raised a hand, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and looked down her nose at Granny Xu, getting straight to the point.
"In-law, we came today not just to see you, but for another purpose. We wanted to discuss having Xu Kang and Xu Le come live with us.
Look, you’ve broken your leg. Even after it heals, who knows if you’ll be as spry as you used to be. And we hear this boy, Xu An, has good grades, so he’ll have to go to university. When that time comes, it’ll be hard for an old woman with mobility problems to raise two young children.
Xu Juan and my Wen Bin have been married for seven or eight years now with no children. After all this time, I’ve tried to stop thinking about it. But all our friends and relatives have children, and their homes are so lively. It makes our house feel a bit empty.
So, that made us think of Xu Juan’s two little nephews. Xu Juan is their biological aunt; she’ll definitely treat them well."
As his mother spoke, the aunt’s husband stared at her in shock. As soon as she finished, he immediately questioned her, "Mom, didn’t we agree we only wanted the boy...?"
Before he could finish, the aunt yanked him back and explained to Granny Xu with a nervous laugh, "Grandma, don’t listen to Wen Bin’s nonsense. We like both boys and girls. We’ll treat them exactly the same, no favoring boys over girls, absolutely not."
Granny Xu was old, but her mind was still sharp. Hearing all this, how could she not understand their underlying intentions? Still, Xu Juan was her own daughter, so she showed her some face and didn’t completely shut them down.
"Xu Kang and Xu Le are shy around strangers, and they’re very close to their brother. Besides, it’s just one leg that’s giving me trouble. Once it’s healed, I’ll be able to walk and move around. I can still take care of them, so I won’t trouble you."
The aunt’s mother-in-law grew anxious at these words. Opening her mouth wide, she exclaimed with a look of great sorrow, "In-law, you can’t say that! You have to think about the future of these three children!
Xu An is eighteen now, right? When he graduates from university, he’ll be twenty-two. It won’t be long before he has to think about getting married, and by then, Xu Kang and Xu Le will only be ten.
Think about it, what girl would be willing to marry into a family where she immediately has to take care of two ten-year-olds? What’s the difference between that and being a stepmother? And don’t say you can take care of them. In another six years, you’ll be even older. There will be many things you just can’t manage.
If Xu Kang and Xu Le go with Xu Juan, she’ll definitely raise them like her own. They can go to school in the city, and maybe they’ll even get into a university in the Capital someday. They’ll have such a bright future.
Don’t you think that makes sense?"
The look of disgust on Granny Xu’s face softened slightly after these words. Everything her in-law said was exactly what she had been worried about.
But then she glanced at her own daughter, Jun, who wore an expression of complete indifference while her mother-in-law was speaking. Her eyes darted around the courtyard, and when they landed on Xu Kang and Xu Le, her expression became utterly cold.
This display made it impossible for Granny Xu to make up her mind. Since Granny Xu said nothing, the other villagers didn’t feel it was their place to interfere in such a family matter, and the courtyard suddenly fell quiet.
Xu An realized it was his time to step up.
"Aunt, I heard you went to Ma Family Village a few days ago?"
In the silence, Xu An’s words drew everyone’s attention, and all eyes turned to the aunt.
"Ah, that." The aunt, looking guilty as sin, was momentarily at a loss for words and couldn’t respond.
"Wasn’t it our neighbor, Aunt Liu, who asked you to go with her?" her husband prompted from the side.
"Ah, right, right! Aunt Liu had something to do, so I went with her to Ma Family Village. It was a few days ago, I don’t remember it clearly, haha."
At that moment, Third Granny, who was sitting next to Granny Xu, scoffed and said coldly, in a voice everyone present could hear.
"Her own mother breaks her leg, and she doesn’t even come to visit, but when a neighbor needs something, she rushes right over and even accompanies them to Ma Family Village. Ma Family Village is only half an hour from Xu Family Village, and she still couldn’t be bothered to come back and see her own mother."
Before the aunt’s family could rebut Third Granny, Xu An continued.
"How come I heard that my aunt went to Ma Family Village to see the Witch, asking for a child? And that the Witch told you it’s not in your fate to have children, that you have to adopt a child first before you can give birth to one of your own.
I didn’t believe it at first. But today you show up at our door, and the first thing you say is that you want to take Xu Kang and Xu Le. It’s hard for me not to believe it now.
Xu Kang and Xu Le have been alive for four whole years, and they’ve barely seen you. Now you suddenly want to take them away. No matter how you look at it, something feels wrong."
Xu An’s words hit upon the trio’s secret scheme, and they were furious that their plan had been exposed. The three of them glared at Xu An, looking as if they wanted to swallow him whole.
’So being nice doesn’t work, huh? You just had to force me to air your dirty laundry, is that it?’ The aunt’s mother-in-law was fuming.
She strode quickly into the Xu Family’s kitchen. When she had first arrived, she had carefully inspected all their belongings and clearly remembered that their rice jar was nearly empty.
She easily lifted the nearly empty rice jar, placed it in the center of the courtyard, took off the lid, and pointed to the bottom as she said triumphantly, "You don’t need to worry about what our intentions are! Given that your rice jar is empty, if Xu Kang and Xu Le come to our house, they’ll at least get to eat a full meal. They won’t go hungry or cold."
Hearing this, the first to disagree were Xu Kang and Xu Le. Their big, round eyes stared right at the aunt’s mother-in-law as they retorted in their childish voices.
"We have food to eat! And meat, too!"
"Yeah! We ate yummy steamed eggs, bitter melon with meat, and meat patties, and bone soup! Lots and lots of yummy things!"
But the aunt’s mother-in-law wasn’t listening. She seized on the empty rice jar and kept arguing.
"You might get to eat meat for one meal, but can you eat it for every meal? This rice jar is empty! Soon you won’t even have rice to eat. You’ll only be drinking watery porridge with a few grains of rice in it. You’ll be so constipated you won’t be able to take a crap for ten days!"
The words had barely left her mouth when the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the small courtyard. Several people appeared at the gate.
"Anzi, I brought the pork and pork bones you asked for."
"Here are the two bags of rice you ordered. We’ve delivered them."
"Oyster sauce, cornstarch, rice vinegar, cooking wine..."
"..."
Dozens of assorted items piled up at the courtyard gate.
The aunt’s mother-in-law, who had been grandly declaiming over the empty rice jar, saw this and, not wanting to lose face, blustered, "A family with no income! You can buy food for today, but can you buy it for a lifetime?"
After saying her piece, she put down the rice jar and scurried back to her seat on the long bench.
"In-law, don’t blame me for being harsh. That’s just how it is. We..."
"That’s enough," Granny Xu interrupted her this time. "Adopting two children is no small matter. You all go home and think it over again, and we’ll think it over too. That’s all for today."
The aunt’s husband grew anxious and tried to stand up to say something, but his mother pulled him back down.
"Fine, fine. In-law, don’t be angry. Think it over carefully. We absolutely won’t mistreat the two children. We’ll come back in a few days. Let’s all think it over."
With that, the aunt’s mother-in-law pulled her son and daughter-in-law away.
From beginning to end, the aunt never once asked how Granny Xu’s leg was doing.
Watching the three of them leave, Third Granny finally couldn’t hold back anymore and started cursing.
"I’m telling you, Lan, you’re getting more muddled as you get older. It’s not like you don’t know what your daughter has become since she got married. How could you let her sway you?"
Granny Xu just smiled without responding and patted Third Granny’s hand. "Thank you for coming to help. I will think carefully about this matter."
It was such a clear dismissal that Third Granny couldn’t press the issue further. It was their family’s business, after all. Moreover, Granny Xu kept looking at Xu An, clearly wanting to speak with Anzi alone, so Third Granny took her leave.
At the courtyard gate, Third Granny paused and said earnestly, "I know things will be difficult from now on, but us old bones are still around. We can still help."
After everyone had left, Xu An closed the courtyard gate. Only then did Granny Xu speak slowly.
"Anzi, I know you three siblings are close, but what your aunt’s mother-in-law said is also true. Once you go off to university, it will be very hard for an old woman with a bad leg to take care of two little ones.
Your aunt isn’t very good at handling things, but she’s not a bad person, just a little cold.
I can guess what her intentions are, but after a few years, once you’ve graduated from university and have a job, it’ll be up to you whether you want to bring them back or not."
"Grandma, I’m an adult now. I can see many things clearly.
In the four years since my parents passed away, she hasn’t come back once. You’re her own mother. The day you broke your leg, Aunt Hong called her. And what was the result? No visit, no money, not even a single word of concern.
It’s only an hour’s trip back from the city. No matter how busy she is, she couldn’t spare two or three hours? Not to mention you were being treated in the city hospital, and her workplace is only a twenty-minute drive from there. She could have dropped by after work, but did she even come to see you once?
This is a person who doesn’t even care about her own mother. Now she suddenly shows up wanting to take Kangkang and Lele. Do you really think she’ll treat Kangkang and Lele well?"
"But you have to go to school. What will happen to these two children if you’re not at home?"
Xu An blurted out, "I never planned on going to university!"
’The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he’d messed up. His original plan was to get his lunchbox business on track and earn some money before telling his grandmother. Cold, hard cash would be much more persuasive than empty words.
If that failed, when it was time to fill out his university choices, he would just pick the country’s two top universities. He knew what his exam score was; there was no way he could get into either of them, so he would definitely be rejected.
Once he was rejected, he would have a legitimate reason not to go to university.’
He never expected to blurt out the idea in a moment of desperation.
Granny Xu’s eyes went wide with fury. She pushed herself up from the rocking chair with her elbows, slammed her palm hard on the armrest, and roared at Xu An, "What did you say?!"