Chapter 78: Favoritism
When Zhao Wendong recalled the image from his past life—Lin Zhiyin smiling as she led a group of people to their deaths—and contrasted it with her current daily act of playing the timid, slovenly girl, he almost burst out laughing. He hastily grabbed the items for his grandparents and got ready to head out. ’The sooner I go, the sooner I’ll be back,’ he thought. ’Then I can spend more time with Lin Zhiyin.’
"Hey, Second Bro, let me borrow that!"
Zhao Wendong pointed at the flashlight in Zhao Wenwu’s hand. Wenwu reluctantly handed it over, placing it carefully in his brother’s palm.
"Wendong, do you even know how to use this? Don’t go breaking it on me!"
"Tch! You think I don’t know how to use it? I could try to break this thing and fail!"
Outside, the sky had turned pitch-black. A half-moon slowly rose, casting down slivers of faint light.
Flashlight in hand and a sack on his back, Zhao Wendong slipped out the door and headed toward his grandparents’ house.
Zhao Dahai and his wife, who usually went to bed at dusk, were uncharacteristically still awake. The couple sat on the small kang in Zhao Wendong’s grandparents’ west room. Wang Jinzhi was gesticulating wildly, her spittle flying as she animatedly recounted what she had seen at Zhao Wendong’s front door that evening.
"Dongzi’s really become a big shot!"
"He had brand-new pots, pans, clothes, and quilts brought back on a big truck! That water vat is a whole size bigger than ours! And those giant seals—he just pulled out two of them! Zhao the Sixth shut up real quick after that. Wenwu and the others forced him to the ground and made him kowtow until his head was bleeding!"
Zhao Chuanhe and Ye Qingmei sat on the kang, warming themselves by a brazier. Both held long-stemmed pipes in their mouths, listening intently to Wang Jinzhi. Zhao Chuanhe was hard of hearing and leaned to one side, straining to catch her words. Ye Qingmei’s eyes were farsighted and often sore, making it difficult to see things up close. But as she listened to the news about her grandson, Wendong, her somewhat cloudy eyes filled with a smile.
Hearing that Zhao Wendong had brought back a mountain of goods, Ye Qingmei was instantly reminded of her grandson’s past exploits.
"That’s my Dongzi, he’s really outdone himself this time! He’s been gutsy since he was a little boy. The Wangs used to have this big goose that would chase anyone it saw. Even the dogs couldn’t handle it, and I can’t tell you how many kids it bit and made cry. Then one day, it tried to bite Dongzi. And you know what he did? He was only seven or eight at the time. He didn’t get scared and he didn’t run. He just flipped himself right onto that goose’s back, and then—CRACK!—he snapped its neck!"
"A snack? Why are we having a snack so late at night?"
Zhao Chuanhe paused, then piped up.
"You silly old man! I said he *snapped* its neck, not that it’s time for a *snack*! All you think about day in and day out is eating!"
Ye Qingmei gave Zhao Chuanhe an amused slap. He didn’t get angry, knowing his bad hearing had made him mishear again. Instead, he just gave Ye Qingmei a goofy grin.
Zhao Dahai, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
"So what if he’s so amazing and capable? What good does it do us? He hunts a wolf and a boar and only sends you two a tiny scrap of meat. He doesn’t give a damn about his own aunt and uncle. I heard he caught thousands of pounds of fish this time. I wonder if I, his uncle, will even get to taste a single one!"
As soon as Wang Jinzhi heard that, a wave of jealousy washed over her. The meat Wendong’s family had sent over was just a tiny portion, clearly meant only for Zhao Chuanhe and Ye Qingmei. She and her children hadn’t gotten a single bite. Before she could speak, her third son, Zhao Wenhua, who was standing nearby, echoed his father’s complaints.
"Forget about getting a fish from them! Mom and I didn’t even get a single bite of that meat they sent over!"
Zhao Wenhua was twelve years old and had a rather fair complexion. Because his parents, Zhao Dahai and his wife, doted on their son far more than their daughters, he had been spoiled since birth and was quite arrogant. His two older sisters were already obediently asleep on the kang in the east room. Only he wasn’t afraid to stay up, hugging his mother’s legs and leaning against the edge of the kang to eavesdrop on the adults’ conversation.
The old woman, Ye Qingmei, scowled. She sharply tapped the bowl of her pipe against the brazier, sending a few sparks dancing into the air.
"Have you no shame, saying things like that? Do the two of you not have hands and feet of your own? You’re grown adults, begging your nephew for handouts? Let me tell you, Dahai, don’t you ever say that kind of thing around me again. I won’t have it. If you do, I’ll slap you right across the mouth!"
Zhao Dahai lowered his head and kept quiet. In this family, Ye Qingmei held more authority than even Zhao Chuanhe. In her younger days, none of her children, daughters-in-law, or sons-in-law would have dared to cross her. Now that she was old, however, people like Wang Jinzhi were no longer quite so intimidated.
"Mother, that’s not right. Zhao Wendong has to call us ’Uncle’ and ’Aunt,’ doesn’t he? That makes us his elders, correct? Isn’t it only right for the younger generation to provide for their elders once they’ve made something of themselves?"
"Yeah! Grandma, you’re playing favorites!"
Zhao Wenhua chimed in to back up his mother. Ye Qingmei took a deep breath, her eyes widening in a glare at the boy. But before she could lose her temper, Zhao Chuanhe, still sitting on the kang and smoking his pipe, suddenly lifted his leg and kicked Zhao Wenhua clear off his mother’s lap.
Zhao Wenhua flew a good distance before landing on the floor with a THUD. He was completely stunned, partly from the fall and partly from shock. He just stared blankly at his grandfather, having forgotten to even cry.
Wang Jinzhi let out a shriek and shot to her feet, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Father! Why would you kick him? He’s your own grandson!"
Zhao Dahai’s face fell. He scrambled up to check on his youngest son. This was his precious boy, the apple of his eye; he could never bear to so much as scold him, let alone strike him.
With his parents there to back him up, the stunned Zhao Wenhua’s face crumpled, and he began to wail. His cries were world-shaking, as if he had suffered a greater injustice than any soul in history.
On the kang, Zhao Chuanhe acted as if nothing had happened. Whether he hadn’t heard his daughter-in-law’s accusation or simply couldn’t be bothered to answer, he went right back to puffing on his pipe with a SIZZLE. Ye Qingmei glanced at him, the corners of her lips turning up in a slight smile. She put her pipe back to her lips, and the two of them sat side-by-side, silently smoking.
"The boy was right! You do play favorites! You just go on and side with Second Brother’s family! We live with you day in and day out and get nothing good from it! What did he even say that was so bad? How could you kick a child like that? Wenhua is the son we tried so hard to have! What if you’ve really hurt him? Are you trying to make Dahai and me die without an heir?!"
Looking at her precious son crying so pitifully, Wang Jinzhi could no longer contain her fury. She stood up, planted her hands on her hips, and was about to demand an explanation from Zhao Chuanhe and Ye Qingmei. At that very moment, the door opened with a CREAK, and Zhao Wendong walked in with a wide grin, a burlap sack slung over his shoulder.
"Whoa, what’s all the ruckus? Can’t sleep, so you’re practicing your scales? What’s this, Auntie? Are you planning to join the opera this year?"
Wang Jinzhi instantly fell silent. She stared at Zhao Wendong, who had appeared as if out of thin air, and was suddenly at a loss for words.
"Zhao Wenhua, what the hell are you crying for? Ate too much and have energy to spare, do you? How about I string you up and give you a good whipping to help you digest that food?"
"YIPE!"
Zhao Wenhua forgot all about crying. With a terrified yelp, he tucked his tail between his legs and scurried back to his family’s east room. Zhao Wendong didn’t coddle him in the slightest; he was a man of his word when it came to beatings.
Zhao Dahai stared at Zhao Wendong with a grim expression, his tone laced with hostility.
"Dongzi. What are you doing here?"