Chapter 5: The Arrogant Feng Nan

  Fu's mother and daughter parted ways unhappily at the same time, Feng's mother and daughter were also using their minds separately.

  Mr. and Mrs. Feng had three sons and two daughters in their lifetime. Their eldest son, Feng Bin, married a female worker from the same factory, Zhao Huiyan, a year ago. Their eldest daughter, Feng Nan, was introduced to Xu Jian, a driver at an electrical wire factory, seven years ago. In this era, being a driver is considered a good job, but Xu's mother dotes on her younger daughter-in-law and looks down on Feng Nan, the elder daughter-in-law.

  Feng Nan, although a girl, was the first child of the third generation of the Feng family and thus deeply loved by her family members, especially Grandma Feng, who had raised her since childhood and was particularly fond of this granddaughter, with several grandsons having to take a back seat. It was also because of this that after being treated coldly in her husband's household, Feng Nan felt very unjust and almost every day would return to her natal home to complain about her troubles or hide for a while.

  But today, when Feng Nan entered the house, her face was not very good.

  At this time, Mrs. Feng was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, knitting a sweater. Seeing her daughter come in, she smiled and asked, "Have you eaten? There's leftover food in the kitchen, we just cleared the table, it should still be warm."

  "Don't eat!" After hearing her mother's words, Feng Nan's face changed slightly, "I'm not a beggar, just picking up leftover food to eat."

  "What's wrong again?" Feng's mother saw that her daughter was not in a good mood and knew that she must have been bullied by her mother-in-law again, "Did your mother-in-law give you attitude again?"

  Feng Nan pouted, her eyes full of grievances. "We're both daughters-in-law, why do I have to do all the work while she just sits there enjoying herself?"

  "....Who made our family so incompetent, dragging you down with us?" Mrs. Feng patted her daughter's hand, "Your sister-in-law is from a powerful family, it's hard for your mother-in-law not to curry favor with them."

  "Pfft, what a big deal, just a deputy factory director, she'll retire in a few years and be done with it. Without her father's backing, I don't think she can keep being so arrogant for much longer." Feng Nan curled up the corner of his mouth, seemingly thinking of something, as a hint of gloating and mockery flashed across his eyes. "The old Zhang family had six daughters, and none of Zhang Ying's five older sisters gave birth to a son. I don't think this pregnancy will turn out well for her either."

  "It's really a matter of heredity whether to give birth to a boy or a girl." Seeing that his daughter's face had improved somewhat, Mrs. Feng hurriedly coaxed, "She is so capable, even if she can't give birth to a son, she will still be inferior to you, and your mother-in-law will eventually get around this bend."

  "Mom, you're right. I gave birth to a biological grandson for the Xu family, and our Shulan is so well-behaved. His grandma takes care of him every day, and we don't have to worry at all." Mentioning her son, Feng Nang's eyes are filled with pride.

  "Shu Luan is a good kid, you must raise him well." Mrs. Feng echoed.

  "How could I not know? Speaking of which, mom, I came today with a purpose."

  "You speak." Mrs. Feng put down the half-knitted sweater and handed her daughter a cup of sugar water.

  "It's like this, our family's Shu Luan isn't going to elementary school next year, and the two elementary schools near our house are ranked at the bottom of the whole city. If Shu Luan really goes to that kind of school, even a good kid will be ruined."

  "What do you want then?" Mrs. Feng's heart skipped a beat, she knew her eldest daughter best, and whenever she spoke in this tone, it was always because she had set her sights on something belonging to the maternal family again.

  "Mom, you're the only one who can help us with this matter. This house is right next to a great school, and if Shu Lian's household registration can be transferred here, she'll definitely get into a good school next year. You won't refuse to help, will you?" Feng Nan said, shaking her mother's arm back and forth in a flattering manner.

  Mrs. Feng swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "I'm afraid I can't make the decision on this matter, you have to ask your father."

  "Mom, you're being too modest, aren't you? My dad listens to you for everything. As long as you agree, my dad won't say another word." Feng Nan flattered. Although Father seemed stern, he rarely went against Mother's wishes, so this matter still had to be handled from Mother's side.

  It's a pity that Grandma went to her aunt's house in another place, otherwise she could also help her say some good words. Speaking of the Feng family, the one who loves her own the most is still Grandma Feng Lao Tai Tai. With this old ancestor around, when she asks her parents for things, it's always a piece of cake.

  "Xiao Nan, it's not like before. Your older brother is already married and having children. I have to give her some face no matter what." The eldest daughter-in-law had never liked Feng Nan and would definitely not easily agree to let Feng Nan move her household registration back to her maiden home. Now that she was pregnant with the Feng family's grandson, it wasn't good for her to cause trouble as a mother-in-law either.

  "Mom, you're so biased! You don't even know the difference between men and women, yet you're always taking their side. What if I hadn't gotten pregnant?!" Seeing her mother refuse to help, Feng Nang immediately turned red with anger, "Mom, am I not your own daughter? Is Shu Luan not your own grandson? Why do you always take the side of outsiders?"

  Huìyàn is your brother's wife. Mrs. Feng looked at her daughter with a scolding gaze, saw that she was still huffing and puffing, shook her head helplessly, and ignored her, picking up the sweater to continue knitting.

  Feng Nan looked at the small sweater in her mother's hand and pouted, "It's clear that once you have a biological grandson, you don't want an adopted one anymore. Poor Shu Lian from our family still doesn't have a winter sweater to wear."

  Mrs. Feng was so angry that she laughed, "Wasn't the sweater I made for Shu Xuan last year enough? This year Shu Xuan didn't grow much taller, and last year's one could still be worn."

  "What about the cotton jacket and pants? Last year's are all broken." Feng Nan argued, "You're not unaware of my mother-in-law's hands, she's as clumsy as I am, how can she make this?"

  In the late 1980s, the economy of Qingcheng City was still in its early stages. Except for some wealthy families, ordinary people wore woolen sweaters and pants knitted by their own family members during winter. Children's cotton-padded jackets and pants were also handmade by their elders. Feng Mama was skilled with her hands, and for many years, the clothes and pants of the children in the family were all made by her. However, as a daughter, Feng Nan did not learn her mother's good craftsmanship and was clumsy with needlework, so every winter she would come to bother her maternal grandmother.

  "If you can't do it, go buy it outside. I'm your mom, not your family's servant." Feng's mother glanced at her daughter lightly, "Your mother-in-law won't do it either, and Xu Jian didn't lack warm clothes to wear before you got married."

  "It was all done by Auntie Xu Jian, but Mom, think about it, when Auntie knits sweaters for my sister and two nephews, that's fine, but can't she also do one for her nephew? " Feng Nan chuckled and coaxed his mother in a prolonged tone, "Mom, I just like the clothes you make, Shu Lian loves wearing them too, so please spoil us a bit more."

  Mrs. Feng looked at her daughter with a half-smile and said, "Once you've made the cotton-padded jacket, don't mention anything about household matters again."

  "Mother, what do you mean by this?" Feng Nan sat up straight and said unpleasantly, "I thought you used to care about our family's Shu Xuan, but now you won't even help with such a small matter."

  "Xiao Nan..."

  "Alright, don't say anything else. Isn't it just that you're afraid of Feng Bin and Zhao Huiyan not being happy? I'll find an opportunity to talk to them and settle it. I won't believe that my own big sister asking him for such a small favor would be rejected." After finishing speaking, she picked up her bowl and drank the sugar water clean, then asked, "Where did those two go wandering off to again?"

  "Go for a walk now, and be careful what you say, Huiyan is pregnant." Feng's mother reminded.

  Feng Nan rolled her eyes and said, "Got it."

  If grandma were here, where would she let her suffer this breath? Feng Nan pursed her lips, she had to hurry up and write a letter to her aunt, asking her to send grandma back to Qingcheng.

  At this time, Fu Peilan did not know the wailing and shouting of the Fu family, nor did she think that the seemingly calm Feng family also hid a struggle.

  Fu Peilan, now, walked out of Yangshu Alley in a daze, once again confirming that although the years were similar, this life and the previous one were absolutely not in the same world. Just like when she couldn't find her mother Fu and Feng Xiang there, here, she would never have the parents who loved her and her younger brother.

  Even if it's true, what can she do about it? Such a strange thing, speaking out will only make people fearful. She has enjoyed twenty years of her parents' love and care, how can she bear to let them worry about her illness for twenty years and then continue to trouble them again?

  It's better to leave like this, even if you don't want to, what can you do? She can't come back anymore...

  "Fu Pei Lan, you should wake up..." Fu Pei Lan sighed softly.

  "Xiao Lan?" Feng Xiang's bicycle stopped beside Fu Pei Lan, seeing her with a sorrowful and perplexed face, he was startled, "What's wrong? Scolded by Old Lady Fu again?"

  Fu Peilan turned her head and looked at Feng Xiao's worried face, forcing a smile, "......I'm fine."

  "Don't laugh if you don't want to, it's hard for me to see you like this." Feng Xiao didn't understand why Fu Mama didn't like Fu Pei Lan, a considerate and independent girl like her. "Fu Da Niang, did he hit you?"

  It's already past seven in the evening. If she hadn't had another fight with her family, why would Xiao Lan be wandering around alone on the streets?

  Fu Peilan shook her head and saw Feng Xiao didn't believe her, so she said, "Really nothing, just got scolded a few times."

  Feng Xiao pursed his lips, wanting to comfort Fu Pei Lan with a few words, but he really couldn't find the right words. Other people's mothers scolding their daughters could be said to be hoping for their daughter's success, but Fu's mother...

  "...Don't argue with her, you can't win." It took Feng Xiang a long time to spit out these words. Fu Mama was a veteran of a hundred battles, and her tongue was the sharpest and most agile. Coupled with her usual habit of being unreasonable and stubborn, how could Fu Pei Lan, a young girl, possibly gain the upper hand in a verbal sparring match? Especially when that woman was her own mother, there were many things that she couldn't say as a junior.

  Fu Peilan smiled, previously she had been constantly opposing Fu's mother to get her attention and balance her own mind, but now she wouldn't. She had already received selfless love from her parents and the deep affection between siblings, although it was regrettable that she couldn't get Fu's mother's love in both lifetimes, but she wouldn't be as biased as before.

  "I'm fine, just feeling a bit restless and wanted to come out for a walk, what are you doing here?"

  "My dad is working night shift today, I just went to deliver food for him."

  Feng's father works in a paper mill. Because his arm was injured a few years ago, the factory arranged for him to change jobs and now he is a gatekeeper at the factory entrance, working one day and resting the next due to night shifts. Usually, Feng Xiao sends dinner to his father.

  Fu Peilan nodded and sat on the back seat of Feng Xiao's bicycle, looking at him and said, "I want to take a walk by the willow river."

  Feng Xiao looked down at his somewhat worn-out watch on his wrist and hesitated, "......can you come home so late?"

  Fu's mother was very strict with her children. Before they got married, the sons and daughters of the Fu family had to return home before 8 o'clock unless they were working night shifts.

  "The willow river is just near my home." Fu Pei Lan said with a droop of her eyelids, "I'll go for a walk and come back, if you don't want to accompany me, I'll go by myself.

  Having said that, he jumped down from the carriage and pulled his collar, ready to leave.

  Feng Xiang hastily pulled her back, patted the rear seat of the bicycle and sighed lightly, "Your temper... Come on up quickly, I'll ride with you."

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