Chapter 29: The Aftermath of Deception

During dinner that evening, Xiang Chen felt full after only half a bowl of food.

Song Wenbin asked with concern, “Why are you eating so little? Are you not feeling well?”

He worried that Xiang Chen might still be shaken from the fright at noon. Children were often said to be easily startled, and if that were the case, a solution needed to be found quickly.

Xiang Chen’s face flushed as he covered his mouth and let out a small burp. “No, I just ate too much at noon…”

That afternoon at school, he had devoured nearly two small chicken drumsticks. His brother had only taken one bite of his, feeding the rest entirely to Xiang Chen.

Though small, the drumsticks were quite meaty, and having consumed them, Xiang Chen naturally couldn’t eat much for dinner.

After dinner, the three of them sat together, chatting idly for a bit. Then, Xu Hengzhou and Xiang Chen returned to their room to do homework, while Song Wenbin went downstairs to find Granny Li.

He had brought back some fabric, intending to have several more outfits made for the two children.

Just a few days prior, Song Wenbin had arranged for a large desk to be brought in. It was now placed by the window in Xiang Chen and Xu Hengzhou’s bedroom, along with two chairs, providing a dedicated space for the boys to study and do their homework.

Before the desk arrived, Xiang Chen and Xu Hengzhou, like other children in the family dormitories, would sit on the floor or lean over stools to write, or they would prop up their dining table.

Most families had many children, and there wasn’t even enough space for each child to have their own bed, let alone a desk.

To avoid such awkward situations, Xu Hengzhou began finishing his homework at school the very next day. Upon returning home, he would then supervise Xiang Chen as he completed his own assignments.

Xiang Chen, too, felt quite aggrieved. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do the homework; simple copying of single characters and numbers within ten would have taken him mere minutes before.

However, looking at his chubby little paws now, clutching a pencil transformed his hand into a small, squishy ball, the kind that made one want to pinch it.

Wielding the pencil felt incredibly awkward; his fingers lacked strength, and the characters he wrote were not only incomparable to Xu Hengzhou’s but also painstakingly slow.

Each day, Xiang Chen would write his homework with a grimace, while Xu Hengzhou would pull up a stool and sit beside him. In these otherwise dull days, observing Xiang Chen’s daily struggle had become Xu Hengzhou’s favorite pastime.

Today’s homework was, as usual, incredibly simple. Xiang Chen spread open his notebook and began writing slowly. He had just reached the second line when a girl’s shriek suddenly erupted from next door.

Xiang Chen’s hand twitched, dragging his pencil into a long, messy line across the page.

Xu Hengzhou used an eraser to clean it up, then patted his back. “Don’t mind them. Keep writing.”

Xiang Chen secretly listened for a moment. It didn’t sound like Chen Xiaohua’s voice; it was probably Chen Fen. In that case, he decided to ignore it.

Seeing him diligently hunched over the desk, Xu Hengzhou peeled a White Rabbit candy and popped it into his mouth. “Stay put, I’ll go check.”

Xiang Chen sucked on the sweet, sticky candy, nodding obediently.

Xu Hengzhou returned swiftly. Xiang Chen hadn’t even finished his candy when he and Song Wenbin came back together.

Song Wenbin had just gone down with the fabric; he had already made arrangements with Granny Li to sew clothes. Granny Li was renowned far and wide for her excellent craftsmanship.

When Song Wenbin inquired about tailors, everyone recommended her, so he went directly to her.

Of course, he didn’t expect her to work for free; he offered payment. However, Granny Li refused to accept money, saying that giving her the leftover fabric scraps would be enough.

In those days, when clothes wore out, they needed patching, and patches also required fabric. A family’s annual fabric allocation was often barely enough for one new garment, so cutting it for patches was out of the question. These small scraps were perfect for that purpose.

Moreover, Granny Li, with her skilled hands, could piece these scraps together to make small clothes for adults and children. They were all good quality fabrics, most comfortable when worn close to the skin.

Since Song Wenbin had brought a considerable amount of fabric, Granny Li examined it, measured a few times, and suggested that the surplus could be used to make a pair of shoes for the children.

Thousand-layer-soled cloth shoes were soft and comfortable, ideal for children as they helped nurture their feet.

Finding her suggestion reasonable, Song Wenbin prepared to go upstairs to measure the children’s feet. He had just reached the third-floor landing when he heard the Chen family’s household erupt in chaos once more.

Song Wenbin, startled, rushed up the stairs. He bumped into Xu Hengzhou, who was just leaving their room. Only after confirming that Xiang Chen was safely inside the bedroom did he finally relax.

While he didn’t particularly want to meddle in the Chen family’s affairs, there was a certain connection, and knowing what was happening would allow them to take precautions.

Thus, Song Wenbin and Xu Hengzhou mingled among the curious neighbors, watching to see what new trouble the Chen family was stirring up.

The Chen family had been far from peaceful these past few days, with incidents occurring every two or three days. They had practically monopolized a year’s worth of gossip for the entire residential building.

Tonight’s commotion was, in fact, a continuation of what had happened at noon.

After Chen Guoliang brought Old Lady Chen home at noon, he immediately emptied their family’s grain jar. He was truly ruthless, not even leaving behind the family’s rations.

Along with the black steamed buns Cai Zhen had prepared and stored in the cupboard, he poured everything into a bag for Old Lady Chen to take away.

This seemed strange. Hadn’t the other members of the Chen family tried to stop him? Of course they had.

Chen Xiaohua and Chen Xiaocao were too young to have a say or dare to speak up, and Chen Fang didn’t dare to step forward. But Chen Fen was not so oblivious; if her father gave away their grain, she would go hungry. How could that be allowed?!

Old Lady Chen, having been deceived and heartbroken that day, was instantly consumed by rage. In her household, there was no rule against hitting children. *Slap! Slap!* She struck Chen Fen twice across the face.

Chen Fen was stunned by the blows. She had never been hit like that in her life. Usually, when disciplining the children, they were made to kneel or stand, or Cai Zhen would handle it.

The younger ones had all been beaten before, but she never had.

“You hit me?” Chen Fen clutched her face, unable to believe it. Old Lady Chen, however, showed no mercy. With pinches and twists, she pried Chen Fen’s hands away from the grain, then dragged the bag, intent on leaving.

Chen Fen shrieked, rushing forward and pushing Old Lady Chen, causing her to stumble. This time, it was Old Lady Chen’s turn to be shocked.

She was a matriarch, respected and revered by all. To be pushed by a mere granddaughter was infuriating.

“Fourth Son!” Old Lady Chen’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared at her son. “You… you’ve raised a fine daughter!”

When Old Lady Chen started hitting, Chen Guoliang, regardless of anything else, was genuinely filial. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given away all their family’s rations.

Seeing his mother so enraged, Chen Guoliang also felt that Chen Fen was disrespectful and deserved a beating. He grabbed a broom nearby and swung it at Chen Fen’s head.

Chen Fen dodged and shrieked, “Mom! Mom, quick! Dad’s going to beat me to death, Mom, come!”

But Chen Fen was destined not to call her mother. Because her mother had already fled.

It took Chen Guoliang breaking a broom in their home before Old Lady Chen finally let out a breath.

He ignored Chen Fen, who lay on the ground crying, covered in bruises, and paid no mind to his other daughters, who were silent with fear. He simply escorted Old Lady Chen away.

After seeing Old Lady Chen off, Chen Guoliang rushed back to work. By the time he finished and returned home, the house was deserted; Cai Zhen had not come back.

Chen Fen was lying in bed, having skipped school that afternoon. Two broom marks stood out on her face, making her feel as though it would be better to die than to go out and face people in such a state.

Chen Guoliang pulled out a corn cake, which he had borrowed from a coworker in the cafeteria.

He divided the cake among the children, allowing them to slightly fill their stomachs, and then went to boil water.

Just as a kettle of water finished boiling, Cai Zhen returned. She reached the doorway, saw the water boiling, and casually picked up the kettle of hot water, entering the house.

As soon as Chen Fen saw her mother, sorrow welled up in her heart, and she rushed over, bursting into loud sobs.

During the commotion at noon, everyone knew something was happening at Chen Guoliang’s house and had watched their fill. This sudden scream in the evening once again drew the neighbors out.

After an entire afternoon, the red marks on Chen Fen’s face had become somewhat raised, leaving two prominent red welts that looked rather horrifying.

Cai Zhen hadn’t even had a chance to ask when Chen Fen, clinging to her mother, began to wail.

She cried about Old Lady Chen slapping her, and about her father aiding and abetting the abuse, but all of this paled in comparison to the deafening final sentence: “Grandma took all our family’s grain!”

Upon hearing this, Cai Zhen jolted upright and immediately rushed to check their grain jar. It was empty, not even a speck of dust remained.

She then checked the cupboard; the black steamed buns she had carefully put away, which she had counted to be over twenty that morning, were all gone!

Cai Zhen felt as if she had been stabbed. She lunged at Chen Guoliang, demanding, “Where’s our family’s grain? Did you let your mother take it all?”

They were still half a month away from receiving their next rations. With all the grain gone, how were they supposed to live through the remaining days?

Chen Guoliang lifted his eyelids, sneering. “Our family’s grain? Didn’t you send it all to your mother’s house?”

It was indeed Cai Zhen’s doing. When Song Wenbin had delivered dozens of jin of cornmeal to compensate for the grain Old Lady Chen had taken when buying Xiang Chen, the Chen couple had different ideas.

Chen Guoliang wanted to send the cornmeal back to his elderly mother in the countryside as soon as possible, while Cai Zhen planned to send half of it to her own family.

Since Chen Guoliang had to work, he initially planned to deliver it on his weekend off, so the grain was left at home for the time being.

And that’s when the problem arose.

No matter how many precautions were taken, a thief within one’s own home was hard to guard against. After Cai Zhen secretly used some cornmeal to make a good meal for her children, she moved the remaining grain, bag and all, to her mother’s house.

Cai Zhen reasoned that if she only gave Old Lady Chen half the cornmeal, Old Lady Chen would surely ask about its origin, and it wasn’t easy to gather so much cornmeal all at once.

This would expose the fact that Song Wenbin had compensated them with grain, and her act of subsidizing her own family would naturally be revealed.

So, Cai Zhen went all the way, embezzling all the grain.

If anyone asked about Xiang Chen, she would simply invoke Song Wenbin’s status as the factory director, confident that Old Lady Chen wouldn’t dare cause trouble at the director’s home. This way, she not only got the grain but also kept the fifty yuan.

Unexpectedly, Old Lady Chen didn’t follow Cai Zhen’s script. Ignorant of rules, hierarchy, and propriety, she rashly charged to the factory director’s house to cause trouble.

Cai Zhen mingled in the crowd, trying to pull Old Lady Chen away, but by then, the situation had escalated beyond her control. Realizing her scheme was exposed, Cai Zhen immediately slipped away.

If she didn’t leave now, she’d face the wrath of both her husband and mother-in-law when she returned!

Cai Zhen ran back to her mother’s house and stayed there for half a day, not even daring to go to her afternoon shift, asking someone to request leave for her.

Bringing back so much grain, her mother and sister-in-law greeted her with smiles. Resting at home for an afternoon, chatting with her mother—it felt incredibly peaceful.

In the evening, when she thought enough time had passed and Old Lady Chen must have returned to the countryside, Cai Zhen dusted herself off and went back to the Chen family home.

She had been with Chen Guoliang for many years and knew how to handle him. At most, he would argue with her for a while. Anyway, she had gained the practical benefit, so what was there to fear?

What she hadn’t anticipated was Chen Guoliang’s desperate move to pull the rug out from under her.

Cai Zhen, despite all her calculations, never imagined that the vast amount of grain she had hoarded would ultimately be used to fill the void of their own family’s rations.

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