NOVPUBChapter 271: Chapter 271: Sudden Realization
Chapter 271 -271: Sudden Realization
“Song, you’re here! Come to grandma right away!” Li Chunhua waved her hands.
Bai Song approached and respectfully kowtowed to the old lady, “Happy New Year, Grandma.” His sisters also knelt down and kowtowed, while the elder cousins watched enviously as these grandchildren showed their respect.
Who wouldn’t know that Li Chunhua’s life had become comfortable? The youngest son lived with her, and she called the shots in the household. It was only the eldest son’s children who had each made something of themselves: one served in the military, others worked in the town, and one even became a doctor in the big city. Even the eldest granddaughter, who had divorced and was raising three kids in the village, had more success in raising chickens and pigs than others.
Especially this time, they even had someone driving them back in a car.
Many villagers had never even seen a car in their entire lifetimes. Even though the Bai Family was unassuming now, everyone knew that the eldest son’s family had risen in status. It was just a pity that the eldest son of the Bai Family had passed away too early; otherwise, the couple would have been enjoying their great fortune now.
“Happy New Year, happy New Year! Stand up, everyone, stand up!” Li Chunhua smiled so hard her eyes turned into slits.
Ever since the old lady had her paralysis the last time, the weight she had lost never came back. Bai Xiao thought Li Chunhua looked more full of life than when she had left, suggesting that Bai Jianguo’s life must have been extremely difficult.
The elder cousins couldn’t stay seated any longer, “It’s the big New Year’s celebration, and I have to visit other families so I won’t stay. You have a good time sitting with your grandchildren.” With that, she left the house.
Li Chunhua pulled Bai Song to sit beside her and beckoned Bai Ju and Bai Yue, “Come on over, everyone come over!”
Seeing Bai Xiao unwillingly approach, Bai Yue gave her a firm pull. She obviously understood her younger sister’s feelings. Grandma and their uncle had given Bai Xiao trouble for four years, and after Bai Xiao learned about her own origins, she harbored a strong resentment against Li Chunhua.
Bai Yue understood these feelings, but she still hoped that the Bai Family could be harmonious and united.
The old lady had changed, not just a little but a lot. Bai Yue didn’t expect Bai Xiao to do anything specific for their grandma, but at the very least, she hoped Bai Xiao could maintain a cordial facade; after all, their relationship with their grandma was lifelong and unbreakable.
Bai Xiao had no choice but to sit down on the edge of the kang bed with her elder sister.
Li Chunhua shakily took out several red envelopes from the kang cabinet.
To Bai Song, Bai Yue, and Bai Ju, Bai Xiao each received one.
“It’s the big New Year, and grandma has never given you red envelopes before. This year, it’s just a token of my heart. Don’t think it’s too little,” said Li Chunhua, managing to make Bai Xiao feel quite downcast. When you regard someone as an enemy, and suddenly they become someone you can’t understand, it’s disconcerting.
She had only wanted the old lady and Bai Jianguo to be at each other’s throats, never anticipating this kind of outcome.
When you hate someone to death and that person suddenly starts to treat you well, it’s a very difficult feeling to deal with.
Bai Xiao felt she could not forgive Li Chunhua. The dismal end of her past life bore an inextricable link to Li Chunhua’s responsibility. Just because Li Chunhua had become better, did that mean she should really put aside past grievances?
Could she do it?
It’s probably impossible.
No one would know how tragic her previous life had been, with all the cause and effect tied to Li Chunhua and Bai Jianguo. Just because she had come back and hadn’t let these people succeed this time, did it mean she no longer needed to hold a grudge?
She estimated she absolutely couldn’t do it.
She didn’t use her special ability to kill the old lady, because she knew she didn’t want to fight violence with violence. Once she really started using her medical skills to kill people, she feared that the darkness in her heart would slowly deepen. In the future, would she have to kill all her enemies one by one?
Would she still be herself then?
No, she absolutely didn’t want to be dragged into endless hell because of other people’s darkness. That would betray her own rebirth.
The greatest revenge was not to wish these people death but to wish them a life worse than death.
Clutching the red envelope in her hand, she looked around the room.
“Grandma, where are Bai Jianguo and the others? Why did they leave you alone at home? This room doesn’t feel warm at all. During the New Year, didn’t they prepare any firewood? Why is it so cold?” Bai Song had already launched into a series of questions.
Li Chunhua sneered, “Bai Jianguo? That good son of mine, along with his good wife, went to curry favor with Bai Zhuang’s father-in-law’s family. They wish I would die sooner and couldn’t care less about my well-being.”
Bai Jianguo had indeed gone with Hao Fang to Wu Xiaoyue’s house, hoping to finalize Bai Zhuang’s marriage to Wu Xiaoyue during the New Year. Of course, they were also eyeing the Wu Family’s obligation to show hospitality during the holiday. The couple knew they couldn’t delay Bai Zhuang’s marriage any longer. Otherwise, he would soon be twenty-five, and in their village, there wasn’t a single man of that age who wasn’t married—kids would already be all over the place.
Bai Zhuang was a stubborn man, set on Wu Xiaoyue, and his parents couldn’t say no. They had no choice but to shamelessly visit.
Bai Song sighed. Bai Yue and Bai Ju had stepped out of the house, where firewood was piled up against the wall in the yard. Both of them sighed as well. This uncle’s family really didn’t know how to live; everyone knew that in the first month of the year, you needed a whole month’s worth of firewood. How could this amount last a month?
Without another word, they grabbed a big bundle each and went straight to the stove in the old lady’s room, adding firewood and stoking the fire until the room finally started to warm up.
“Grandma, once the new year passes, my older sister will take the three nephews and move to the city with us. If you are left alone in the village, why don’t you come with me? Even though I’m just a soldier and don’t have any remarkable skills, I can still make sure you’re well-fed, instead of you having to tolerate my uncle’s treatment here,” Bai Song said with sincere concern.
Bai Xiao turned her head to look outside and let her thoughts drift into emptiness, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.
“Yue is leaving, huh! Let her go, let her go. It’s better for her to take the three kids to the city and live there. With you all looking out for her, her life in the city surely won’t be too hard. It’s much better than being pointed at and talked about in the village. I’m old bones now; there’s no way I can go with you. This is my home, and even if I die, I want to die here. Besides, if I go, that would only benefit Bai Jianguo and his spouse, which I cannot allow. Grandma still has to keep this house and this land for you when you get married someday,” Li Chunhua said with a shake of her head and a loving look at Bai Song.
Bai Song shook his head, “The way my uncle treats you, you’ll end up without anyone to look after you if you stay here.” He was worried about Li Chunhua being bullied by Bai Jianguo.
Li Chunhua laughed, “Don’t worry. Ever since the last time they mistreated me, the village Women’s Federation Director has been coming over every other day to check on me. Even if that couple wants to try something, they probably wouldn’t dare now. Your grandma has been a burden to you and your siblings all your lives; I absolutely cannot be a burden to you all anymore.
I treated your uncle so well in the past, and now it’s only right for him to provide for me and take care of me. Grandma knows what’s what. I’m already of such an old age—how much longer can I live? As long as you four live well, that’s better than anything.” The old lady’s words were the same as the last time, which even made Bai Xiao give her a second look, having always thought Li Chunhua was just making a gesture without real intention, but she truly seemed to have had a change of heart.
