Chapter 360 - 372: Troublesome Matters
Everyone in the An family could feel Lin Cuihua’s gloomy mood, even little Hei Dan’er.
By now, Hei Dan’er had started eating some solid foods, like steamed egg custard and spinach puree.
Every morning, Hei Dan’er would sit in his special little chair and eat a bowl of steamed egg custard.
But today, Hei Dan’er refused to sit in his chair no matter what. They couldn’t even push him down into it. In the end, he took his bowl of custard and went into his playpen to eat with Xiao Lang.
Lin Cuihua glanced over. She looked like she wanted to say something but held her tongue, merely quickening her pace of eating.
"The bowls—"
"I’ll wash them!"
"I’ll do them!"
"Let me!"
"I’ll do it!"
The members of the An family scrambled over each other to do the chores, hoping to earn a word of praise from Lin Cuihua.
"Oh, wonderful. You’re all so diligent, aren’t you? How many times a day do I do the washing? I finish one meal just to start the next, spending all day around this stove. And in the end, it’s all just to make you lot look good, is that it?"
With that, Lin Cuihua slapped her apron down on a stool with a WHAP, took a deep breath, and stormed out of the house.
The moment Lin Cuihua walked out the main door, the rest of the family, who had been watching her, turned in unison to stare at An Sancheng.
"Dad, what did you do to upset Mom?"
"Did you bully Mom?"
"Dad, what on earth did you do to Mom?"
"Dad, I’m telling you, if you two fight, I’m on Mom’s side."
Hearing one accusation after another from his four children, An Sancheng, who had been eating, put down his bowl and chopsticks.
"Great. So my status in this family is basically zero, huh?"
An Sancheng wasn’t truly bothered. He glanced outside and, after confirming Lin Cuihua was nowhere in sight, finally said, "I have no idea what’s going on. Your mom’s just been really irritable the last couple of days. Nothing seems right to her, and everything I do is wrong."
"You all better watch yourselves. I can’t cover for you."
An Sancheng picked up his rice bowl and continued eating.
Among the four siblings, An Guoqing went back to eating. An Guoming couldn’t figure it out but voiced his concern, "Could there be something wrong with her health?"
"What? We should take her to the hospital, quick."
Startled, An Guoqing threw down his bowl and was about to go find Lin Cuihua, but An Ning stopped him.
"Big Brother, Second Brother is just guessing. Don’t go yet. Let’s wait and see."
An Guoqing was still worried, but he obediently sat back down.
With Lin Cuihua absent from the table, everyone ate distractedly.
After the meal, her sister-in-law cleared the table, and An Ning helped.
The other men had all gone out to work. An Ning sidled up to her sister-in-law to ask about it.
"Sister-in-law..."
"I don’t know the specifics. A couple of days ago over by the Big Willow Tree, Mom got into a bit of an argument with a few of the old women. I think it was about Second Brother still not being married."
"But I don’t think that’s it. Mom’s usually pretty open-minded about whether he gets married or not."
Her sister-in-law was just as lost.
An Ning nodded, having gleaned a small piece of information.
After she finished washing the dishes, she first headed for the greenhouses. Just as she left the An family’s house, she ran into Master Tang, who was on his way out to pick vegetables.
’Master Tang has extensive knowledge of pharmacology,’ An Ning thought. ’He’s practically half a doctor—even more capable than some poorly skilled full-time physicians.’
"Master Tang?"
"If you have something to say, say it."
An Ning chuckled and walked up beside Master Tang. "You’re just incredible. I wanted to ask..."
An Ning briefly described the situation. After listening, Master Tang asked, "Your mother, she’s almost fifty this year, right?"
"Yes, she’s forty-nine. Could it be... she’s having anxiety about her age?"
Master Tang gave An Ning a speechless look before continuing, "Anxiety about her age is unlikely, but menopause is a definite possibility."
"After a woman goes through menopause, the yin and yang in her body become imbalanced. This loss of balance directly affects her emotions."
Master Tang gave a simple explanation. An Ning didn’t understand it all completely, but it sounded a lot like what was happening with Lin Cuihua.
"Then what should I do?"
"Starting today, I’ll brew some medicinal soup for you to give your mother every day. Or, I could prepare a tea blend for her. Having her drink it steeped in water each day would be even better."
Master Tang paused, thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s do tea bags. That’ll be more convenient. But the most important thing is to make your mother happy and free her from the trivialities of daily life."
An Ning nodded repeatedly as they walked, and soon they arrived near the greenhouses.
"I’m going to pick some vegetables. I’ll prepare the tea bags for you when I get back."
"Thank you, Master Tang."
"No need. The vegetables will cover it."
An Ning took a stroll through the greenhouse, mutually nourishing the plants with her spiritual power.
After leaving the greenhouse, she headed for her own fields, continuing to exchange spiritual power with the plants as she worked.
Around noon, as the sun climbed higher, the people working in the mountains and fields began to head home.
The An family was no different.
When the family entered the house, for the first time ever, a meal wasn’t ready and waiting for them.
Her sister-in-law was busy cooking, her hands moving nonstop with Hei Dan’er strapped to her back.
An Ning went over and took Hei Dan’er from her, mouthing a question about Lin Cuihua.
Her sister-in-law didn’t dare to speak, quietly pointing toward the bedroom.
An Ning peeked through a gap in the curtains and saw Lin Cuihua sleeping.
An Sancheng tiptoed over and whispered, "Your mom hasn’t slept well these past few days. Keep it down and let her rest."
An Ning and her sister-in-law nodded, then together they scooped the thin noodles out of the pot.
An Guoqing carefully carried a large basin of noodles out to the courtyard, while An Guoping and Zhou Xiaoshan grabbed bowls and chopsticks, handing one to each person.
The group squatted at the base of the wall, eating noodles that had been simply boiled in water, without even a drop of sauce.
It wasn’t that they had no other ingredients; they were just afraid of making too much noise and waking Lin Cuihua.
When Lin Cuihua woke up, a plate of steaming hot dumplings was waiting for her in a pot in the kitchen. An Ning and her sister-in-law had made them in the courtyard.
Everyone else in the family had gone back to work. Lin Cuihua stood alone, looking at the plate of dumplings in the pot as tears streamed down her face.
She herself didn’t know what was wrong with her. ’Why do I feel so angry all the time?’
An Ning, carrying Hei Dan’er, hadn’t gone far. When she saw Lin Cuihua crying over a plate of dumplings, her heart ached.
Lin Cuihua’s contributions to this family were immense.
Inside and out, for all these mouths to feed, it was Lin Cuihua who did the laundry and the cooking.
She had almost no time for herself, no friends of her own. Her greatest pleasure was going to the Big Willow Tree to listen to gossip.
But with her second son remaining unmarried, there was always idle talk in the village. While it wasn’t necessarily malicious, there were always people who couldn’t stand to see you doing well.
Lin Cuihua started going to the Big Willow Tree less often. Instead, she took on another task: looking after Hei Dan’er.
An Ning carried Hei Dan’er away from the main gate, walking along the road instead of heading home.
’Right now, Lin Cuihua needs a break. She needs a space of her own.’
An Ning felt a pang of guilt. ’I’ve always just been myself, but what about Lin Cuihua?’
’She shouldn’t just be a mother. She should have an identity of her own.’
So, who was Lin Cuihua, really?
’Perhaps... I can help her find out.’