Yu Shu woke up too early today. After lunch, she went back to her room to take a nap, but as she lay in bed, she just couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
She was used to the soft beds in hotels. Lying on this hard bed, she felt uncomfortable no matter how she laid. There was no heating and no air conditioning in the room either. The house faced the street, with all kinds of noise coming incessantly. From time to time, there were women shouting at their children in shrill voices.
Yu Shu had been a little neurotic this year. In this environment, she simply couldn't fall asleep!
Yu Shu couldn't help but let out a loud yell. Ye Ping then came in with the half-finished sweater, saying, "What are you yelling for, scaring me into dropping stitches!"
"Mom, it's so cold under the quilt."
"I'll go buy you an electric blanket in a bit."
Yu Shu patted the bed. "Mom, come warm Yu Shu's blanket."
"You're becoming more and more childish." Ye Ping said, lifting the quilt and getting into bed, "Still needing to be coaxed to sleep."
"I'm still a baby!"
"When I was your age, I was already married and pregnant with you." Ye Ping sat at the head of the bed and continued knitting.
Yu Shu snorted twice, "With mom here, I'll always be a baby."
Yu Shu was almost poked by the knitting needle and pouted in dissatisfaction, "Whose sweater is that?"
"It's for your second aunt's daughter Wenwen."
"Mom is biased, she doesn't even knit one for me!"
Ye Ping rolled her eyes at her, "Didn't you say you thought my knitting was ugly?"
Yu Shu was rendered speechless. She did say that. Ye Ping's knitted sweaters weren't ugly at all. She was very skilled and could knit all kinds of styles. The sweaters she made were simple yet elegant and nice looking. But Yu Shu had liked gaudy clothes a lot during puberty and left many of the sweaters Ye Ping knitted with great care tucked away in the wardrobe, unseen.
Sigh, she really was quite unbearable as a child.
"I didn't know any better back then."
"And you do now?" Ye Ping laughed and started lecturing her, "Take a look at your dad's two brothers and their mom. They used to come asking for money every now and then crying poor. Our family helped them out a lot. They owed us 80,000 yuan, with their family owing 50,000 of that. All these years they didn't hurry us to pay it back, and even sent us some food and clothing from time to time. Although we've paid the money back now, we should still remember their kindness."
Yu Shu's gaze fell on her hands. After resting at home for a month, the chilblains on her hands had alleviated quite a bit, but the indoor temperature was still cold. After knitting for a while, she would rub her hands.
Yu Shu took the sweater from her and put it aside, taking her hands and tucking them under the quilt, "It's so cold, mom go warm your hands."
Ye Ping was also a little tired. She simply took off her coat and lay down, still chattering on about family affairs, "Take a look at your dad's two brothers and their mom. In the past, they would come clinging to us from time to time, asking for money and crying poor. Our family got into trouble, and they didn't even come to the door, much less greet us when they saw us on the road, afraid we'd ask them to lend us money. Hmph, calling your dad big brother when they have money, then turning a blind eye when they don't. Not a single one of them even came to visit when your dad was hospitalized..."
The more Ye Ping spoke, the angrier she became, recalling the many fights she used to have with Yu Feng about him helping his two brothers behind her back.
Seeing Ye Ping getting increasingly sullen, Yu Shu quickly interrupted her, "It's all in the past, don't be angry mom. I saw the balcony is full of sausages and bacon. How much did you make this year?"
"We made a lot more this year. We went to the countryside and bought a whole 200 jin pig and turned it all into sausages and bacon. We made 20 jin of the sweet sausages you liked as a kid. Don't know if you still like them now."
"I still like them."
"We also made some potted meat, but it turned out a little too salty..."
Yu Shu had thought she wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but lulled by her mother's ramblings, her eyelids gradually grew heavy.
When she woke up, the sky was already completely dark. Yu Shu rolled around in the warm quilt. As she lifted the quilt to take some clothes, cold air gushed in aggressively and she instantly pulled back her hand.
She didn't want to get out of bed...
Ye Ping called from the living room, "Dinner's ready, why aren't you getting up yet? Does the young miss need maids to dress her?"
Oh well, it was only the first day back home after all. She should try her best to maintain some semblance of their crumbling relationship.
Yu Shu reluctantly got out of bed to get dressed, then went to the bathroom first. She immediately spotted the new electric blanket on the sofa.
As soon as she sat down at the dinner table, her mother shot her a dirty look. "Lazy donkey grinding flour."
"Wah..."
The dishes had turned cold and had to be reheated.
By the time the food was served hot again, Yu Shu had also turned cold, shivering all over and stomping her feet as she held the hot soup.
Yu Shu whispered, "Mom...let's buy an air conditioner."
There was only one old air conditioner in the master bedroom that could cool but not heat. It made a deafening noise when turned on, and consumed a lot of electricity. It couldn't be turned on for more than a couple of times a year.
Before Ye Ping could retort, Yu Shu stretched out her fair and delicate little hand, "My hands will get cold when I type."
Her hands were so fair, soft and petite. Even Ye Ping couldn't take her eyes off them. Just imagining them chapped from frostbite made it impossible for her to utter any word of refusal.
After dinner, Yu Shu felt sleepy again. She yawned incessantly, as though she could fall asleep just sitting there.
"Let's go, walk around to aid digestion."
"......"
Cinderella Yu Shu looked at her stepmother in utter disbelief. "It's only 5°C outside! And windy!"
"All you do is eat then sleep, sleep then eat. Come next New Year you'll be hanging on the balcony with the sausages."
The sausages and bacon on the balcony swayed as if to welcome her to join them.
"Put on some more clothes. The cold won't kill you."
Under her mother's coercion, Yu Shu bundled herself up into a ball with only her eyes visible and followed her mother out, leaving her dad behind to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen alone.
The mother and daughter duo met a familiar face about every 50 steps out of the house. Yu Shu stood by listening to her mom chat with them. She would be well-behaved and smile politely when they praised her. Her mom would then humbly deflect their compliments and run her down while singing praises of their kids.
After three aunties pulled her mom aside to quietly ask if "Yu Shu has a boyfriend" yet, Yu Shu suddenly had an epiphany and understood her mom's real motive for dragging her out into the cold.
In ancient times, when girls in the family came of age, the matriarch would take them out to banquets and on scenic outings to let other families know "my daughter has grown up, act fast if you want to ask for her hand". Her mom's actions seemed to echo such customs.
Unknowingly, the mother and daughter arrived near Yu Shu's middle school. Checking the time, it was almost the end of school for the high school seniors.
"Mom~ I want brown sugar boba milk tea~" Yu Shu pointed at the milk tea shop at the school gate and said coquettishly in an affected tone.
Ye Ping shot her the 17th dirty look today, "Speak properly."
"Two brown sugar boba milk teas, half sugar."
Ye Ping: "I don't want any!"
Two minutes later, Ye Ping was taking big gulps from her milk tea - delicious!
The mother and daughter sat in the milk tea shop to rest their feet and waited for Yu Yang to get off school. Shortly after taking their seats, a pair of young lovers walked in.
Yu Shu had been hugging herself and sipping her milk tea. Hearing the familiar voice, she immediately looked up, "Lin Fangyu!"
The girl was startled when she saw Yu Shu, then jumped and screamed in delight, shaking off her boyfriend to throw herself at Yu Shu, "Darling! I missed you so much!"
Her words were rather reminiscent of comedian Song Xiaobao's style.
The two bosom friends hadn't seen each other for a long time, but there wasn't any awkwardness when they reunited, chatting intimately while sticking together, leaving Lin Fangyu's boyfriend looking sour.
Ye Ping sized up Lin Fangyu's handsome and talented-looking boyfriend, then glanced at Lin Fangyu, feeling they were a perfect match. Then she looked again at the "lonely" Yu Shu, and her heart soured even more.
