NOVPUB
Chapter 283: Chapter 283: Lots of Trouble at the Widow’s Door
When Si Weimin heard his wife’s complaint, he felt a bit guilty too, and comforted her, "You’ve been wronged recently; I’ll ask them about work tomorrow and see what they think. If you feel wronged, tell me. Don’t show displeasure towards them. Xiao Hui is quite sensitive, she might think you dislike her. The only relatives left in my family are my sister-in-law, two nephews and one niece. I hope you can understand me, Caizhen."
His gentle coaxing worked wonders. Even though Yuan Caizhen originally felt wronged, she now felt like she wasn’t tolerant and understanding enough of her husband.
She sympathized with her husband’s lack of kinship and was also afraid that he’d have qualms with her because of his niece. She was aware that his niece was unlikely to stay there for long, probably not more than a year or so. So, it wasn’t worth it to estrange from her husband on this matter.
"I’m not trying to get rid of them; I just think they should find jobs to support themselves. Giving a man a fish feeds him for a day. Teaching him to fish feeds him for a lifetime. Anyway, since you’ve already decided, just handle it in your own way. Rest assured, I won’t show displeasure to them."
"Thank you for understanding me." Si Weimin hugged his wife.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Yuan Caizhen curiously asked, "Xiaohui has also been here for quite some time, why haven’t we heard anything from Tong Yao and Si Chen?"
Compared to Si Xiaohui, Yuan Caizhen liked Tong Yao and Si Chen more. She found Tong Yao to be a good person after a few interactions with her. Since they were both living in the same community, she wanted to befriend Tong Yao even more.
Sigh!
Unfortunately, Tong Yao and Si Chen seemed totally unwilling to interact with them, likely they still blame her husband.
"They probably don’t want to see me." Si Weimin took a deep breath and said quietly, "I neglected them in the past and didn’t fulfill my obligation as an uncle. I left them, a mother and her child, helpless for so many years. Now that they’re better off and I want to reconnect with them, it’s understandable that they blame me."
Yuan Caizhen felt strange about Si Weimin’s words, "What you just said makes it seem as if you’re a heartless man who abandoned his wife and child at home."
The Si siblings blamed her husband for not returning home for so many years. Although Yuan Caizhen could partially understand their grievances, she also felt that her husband had unspeakable difficulties. When he first arrived in Kyoto, life was tough. If her family didn’t support him to marry her, he might have starved to death.
Besides, her husband is only an uncle, not the father of the Si siblings. It would be a kindness if he chose to take care of them, and it’s only natural if he didn’t help.
In the past, everyone was struggling, who had the capacity to help others?
"Stop talking nonsense." Si Weimin’s face darkened, he sternly said, "My sister-in-law raised a child by herself, it wasn’t easy. As the saying goes, gossip is rife in front of a widow’s house. If others hear what you just said, what will they think?"
Yuan Caizhen knew she misspoke, but she thought Si Weimin overreacted, "I just made an offhand comment without any other implications. Your sister-in-law is probably ten years older than you. The saying goes: respect your elder sister-in-law as your mother. I couldn’t have implied anything else."
Upon hearing the phrase "respect your elder sister-in-law as your mother," Si Weimin frowned and quickly changed the subject, "It’s late, we should go to bed! We have to send the child to school early tomorrow."
Just as Yuan Caizhen lay down, she recalled something odd, "Oh, when I was cleaning up yesterday, I found Xiaohui’s marriage certificate. The date they registered their marriage was the day they came to Kyoto. Isn’t it a little strange? Shouldn’t they have registered their marriage before the wedding?"
Si Weimin didn’t think much of it, "What’s so strange about that? In the countryside, people usually register their marriage after the wedding ceremony. Some even don’t register after being married for several years."
Hearing this, Yuan Caizhen didn’t think further, "After sending the child to school tomorrow, I’d like to have a chat with Tong Yao." Since Tong Yao provided Si Xiaohui with the address, she probably wasn’t so against them anymore.
"Do as you wish, go to sleep now!"
Si Weimin clearly didn’t want to talk more. He lay down on the bed, his back towards Yuan Caizhen, and fell asleep.
The next day, just like every other day, Si Xiaohui and her husband didn’t get up until Yuan Caizhen had cooked breakfast. By the time the couple had finished washing up, Yuan Caizhen had already gone to take the child to school.
When she was alone with her uncle, Si Xiaohui didn’t act like a guest at all. She immediately started complaining, "Uncle, my aunt is over the top. She makes us eat her leftover food every day and throws her irritation at us. She only cooks eggs for her son, not for Song Yu and me. How nice it would be if you hadn’t left our village, life there was much better and people were hospitable. Not like people in Kyoto, who look down upon us."
Si Xiaohui didn’t think she was relying on others, nor did she feel there was anything wrong with her late rising. On the contrary, she felt Yuan Caizhen was wrong for not waiting for them to have breakfast.
Who doesn’t wait for everyone to gather before starting a meal in any family?
Clearly, Yuan Caizhen looked down on her.
Si Weimin just thought she was acting like a child, so he chuckled, "You want to eat boiled eggs, don’t you? I’ll ask your aunt to cook a few more tomorrow."
"Uncle, I knew you always loved me the most." When Si Xiaohui saw Si Weimin taking her side, she instantly felt relieved and happily began eating her steamed bun.
Song Yu cast his gaze back and forth between Si Xiaohui and Si Weimin, full of doubt. After living together for a while, he noticed that Si Weimin cared a lot about Xiaohui and was quite lenient with her. His level of tolerance did not seem like an uncle towards his niece.
Yet indeed they had an actual uncle-niece relationship. Not understanding the reason behind this, he didn’t dwell on it. As long as the uncle was good to Xiaohui, everything was fine. Now they had a place to live, food to eat, and someone to serve them, they were living like royalty and he didn’t want to leave.
Seeing that Si Xiaohui was in a good mood, Si Weimin took the opportunity to bring up the topic of work, "Xiaohui, Song Yu, you’ve been in Kyoto for a while now. Have you thought about what kind of work you want to do in the future?"
Since arriving at his uncle’s house, they had food and shelter sorted out, so Song Yu put job hunting aside. Now that Si Weimin suddenly asked about it, Song Yu felt nervous and didn’t know how to respond. After a while, he laughed, "Uncle, in terms of work, I’ll follow Xiaohui’s lead." 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
He felt his response was perfect. Letting Xiaohui make decisions, his uncle should have no objections, right?
Si Weimin furrowed his brow. He was tolerant towards Si Xiaohui because they were blood relatives, but his tolerance towards Song Yu was purely for Xiaohui’s sake.
Although he didn’t have much interaction with Song Yu over the past half a month, he wasn’t very satisfied with his new nephew-in-law. He felt Song Yu was indecisive and somewhat idle.
Having lived here for more than half a month, neither Xiaohui nor Song Yu were eager to find jobs. They had no sense of responsibility at all. How could a man support a family if he can’t endure hardships?
"Uncle, we want to open a shop, but we don’t have money now. Can you lend us a few thousand yuan?" Xiaohui had been living here for half a month and had some understanding of Si Weimin’s situation. Her uncle was a businessman. Although his business was not big, he wouldn’t be short of petty cash.
Lending a few thousand yuan to them to start a business wouldn’t be a problem, right? And they weren’t planning not to pay him back.
To her surprise, Si Weimin didn’t refuse outright, instead he asked, "What kind of shop are you planning to open?"
