The Daily Life of a Stepmother in the 1980s
The person knocking on the door was Lin Fang from next door. She stood outside the courtyard gate, deliberately tidying up her appearance. When Zhao Weiguo came to open the door, she immediately put on a bright smile. "Brother Zhao, sorry to bother you!"
"What's the matter?" Zhao Weiguo frowned slightly when he saw Lin Fang, his handsome brows knitted together, and his tone carried a hint of coldness.
Lin Fang met Zhao Weiguo's eyes and shyly lowered her gaze. "Well, it's like this. My elder brother's son, my nephew Xiaoqiang, was craving something to eat. He was crying and shouting at home, saying your family had something delicious. He's the only child in our family, and we usually spoil him. He was crying so badly that I thought I'd come over and ask what delicious food you've made. If it's convenient, could you..."
Before finishing her sentence, Lin Fang shyly swayed a bit, her expression looking rather embarrassed. She felt that what she said wasn’t unreasonable and that she had successfully portrayed the image of a loving aunt. Zhao gege should understand, right?
"Could what?" Zhao Weiguo asked, not picking up on her hints.
"..." Lin Fang's tricks didn't seem to work well on Zhao Weiguo.
"Wow! The big rooster is wagging its tail again!" Shitou, a local who had lived in the alley for a long time, was very familiar with the neighbors, including the Lin family.
He disliked the Lin family and had a poor impression of Lin Fang. When he saw it was Lin Fang knocking on the door, he quickly stuffed two more soup dumplings into his mouth and snorted disdainfully.
"Yeah, yeah." The little girl He Hua beside him nodded in agreement. "The big rooster is so annoying."
All the kids in the alley disliked Lin Fang. They secretly called her the 'big rooster' because she worked at the post office and often acted arrogantly, even scolding and yelling at the kids. Over time, the children thought she walked like a rooster, always sticking her butt out.
"Auntie, you need to be careful" Shitou turned back to look at Xu Tao with a concerned expression.
"Be careful of what?" The kitchen wasn't far from the yard, so Xu Tao had been paying attention to what was happening outside and overheard the children's words.
When she had visited neighbors before, she learned a bit about them and guessed that the girl at the door was probably the unmarried daughter of the Lin family, working at the local post office. She had heard that Lin Fang was still unmarried due to her prideful attitude.
"Be careful of her seducing Uncle" Shitou said, glancing worriedly outside. He thought to himself that Auntie was so nice to them, giving them snacks and soup dumplings. He felt compelled to warn her.
Auntie was so kind. What if that big rooster tried to bully her?
"Oh!" Xu Tao was surprised by how mature these kids were.
Shitou was only seven years old, but he was sharp and observant. Xu Tao wiped her hands, took off the apron around her waist, and strode out of the kitchen toward Zhao Weiguo.
"Who's at the door?" Xu Tao asked Zhao Weiguo casually as she confidently walked over, asserting her presence while also wanting to see what this Lin family girl looked like.
"Neighbor from next door."
"Oh!" Xu Tao nodded and stood beside Zhao Weiguo. She saw that the young woman at the gate, in her twenties, was staring intently at Zhao Weiguo. Only when Xu Tao approached did Lin Fang reluctantly look away, shooting Xu Tao a glance filled with faint displeasure.
Already unhappy with me? How interesting.
Xu Tao raised an eyebrow. "You're Lin Fang from the Lin family"
"Yes, Zhao gege. This is..." Lin Fang looked at Xu Tao with suspicion, her tone less than friendly.
She wanted to be polite, but seeing such a beautiful woman like Xu Tao made her subconsciously dislike her, especially since she had finally found a man like Zhao Weiguo.
"I'm Xu Tao, the wife of the Zhao big brother you mentioned" Xu Tao replied with a smile, teasing Zhao Weiguo with a sidelong glance.
Zhao Weiguo also glanced at her, catching the teasing smile in her eyes.
"Zhao, big brother, you're... married?" Lin Fang was struck with a blow, her face fell, and she seemed unsteady on her feet, clearly unwilling to accept this news.
"Yes, what's the matter?" Xu Tao asked, noticing her reaction.
"Her nephew wants to eat the little buns you made" Zhao Weiguo answered on Lin Fang's behalf.
"Yes, that's right." Lin Fang glanced at Xu Tao and nodded, biting her lip.
So? Xu Tao raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhao Weiguo.
"She means she’s willing to pay for them, but since we’re neighbors, just pack five little buns and charge her a yuan" Zhao Weiguo added, noticing Xu Tao's raised eyebrow. He turned and walked back into the house.
Xu Tao, hearing Zhao Weiguo’s explanation, looked at Lin Fang with amusement. "You want to buy the little buns?"
"Yes!" Lin Fang, feeling frustrated but also unwilling to back down, nodded reluctantly.
"Alright, then go home and get a bowl. I’ll sell you a few little buns" Xu Tao continued.
"Fine, I’ll be back." Lin Fang clenched her teeth, irritated, and turned to go home.
When Lin Fang left, her nephew, Lin Xiaoqiang, stopped crying, and Lin Tao, her mother, stretched her neck in anticipation. Seeing her daughter return empty-handed, she frowned. "Did you not get the food?"
"Don’t ask." Lin Fang snapped back, storming into the kitchen to grab a bowl before heading out again.
Lin Tao, seeing her daughter with the bowl, assumed she had gotten the food, and smugly smirked. "So petty. You give a little food, and they still have to go home and get their own bowl. Tch!"
Lin Fang didn’t delay for long. She returned with the bowl, which Xu Tao noticed was the same one she had used for the snacks when she had visited Lin Tao. Apparently, it had become part of their household. Xu Tao sighed and went into the kitchen to fill the bowl with five little buns.
"Thank you for your business, here’s your bowl, one yuan" Xu Tao said, handing the bowl to Lin Fang.
"You’re scamming me! These buns are so small, five of them don’t even equal the size of one bun! And you want to charge me one yuan?" Lin Fang scowled, glaring at the buns. She admitted they looked cute and smelled delicious, but the portion was too small to justify the price.
"The buns have meat inside."
"Even if there’s meat, they’re not worth this much!" Lin Fang's tone was still irritable.
"Well, whether you buy them or not is up to you" Xu Tao said briskly, reaching out to take the bowl back.
Lin Fang, frustrated and annoyed, realized her plan had failed. Plus, with Zhao Weiguo already married, she lost her desire to spend money. She had only been coerced into buying them before, but now that Xu Tao asked again, she hesitated. Finally, she said, "I won’t buy them."
"Alright then!" Xu Tao turned, preparing to close the door with the bowl and buns in hand.
"Hey! You haven’t given me my bowl back!" Lin Fang angrily reminded her.
"You're talking about this bowl?" Xu Tao turned around, holding up the bowl in her hand. "This is the bowl I gave you a few days ago with the snacks. Thank you for bringing it back." With that, Xu Tao casually shut the courtyard gate.
Bang—
The gate slammed shut, and Lin Fang, standing outside, stared in disbelief with wide eyes. Her mouth moved, but she couldn't get any words out. After a long while, she angrily stomped her feet and turned back home.
"Where's the food?" Lin Tai Tai asked when she saw Lin Fang come back empty-handed after going out with the bowl. Her face immediately darkened.
"There’s none" Lin Fang answered angrily.
"What about the bowl? You useless child, did you lose the bowl?" Lin Tai Tai was furious. She always prided herself on taking advantage of others, never letting anyone take advantage of her family. But now, her daughter went to ask for food and even ended up losing a bowl.
"She said that’s the bowl she gave us with snacks a few days ago. She claimed it’s her bowl" Lin Fang explained.
"Her bowl? That little witch is talking nonsense! It’s obviously ours!" Lin Tai Tai felt a sharp pain in her heart.
"..."
Lin Fang, also irritated, understood her mother’s tendency to complain. After hearing Lin Tai Tai's words, she guessed that the bowl indeed belonged to the neighbor. It wasn’t the bowl that bothered her, though. What truly upset her was that Zhao Weiguo had already married.
She had finally found a man she liked, and now he was married. How could she not be angry?
"No, I’m going to get it back" Lin Tai Tai muttered, patting her chest and cursing under her breath. She immediately set off to get the bowl back.
In her eyes, that bowl belonged to her, and there was no reason not to get it back.
"Mom, don’t go. Isn’t it embarrassing enough?" Lin Fang was also angry but managed to calm her mother down after some effort.
o0o
Back at Xu Tao’s house, she put the dumplings and the bowl away. Since the bowl had been handled by Lin Tai Tai’s family, she felt uneasy about it.
She casually tossed the bowl and dumplings in the kitchen corner and then glanced at the tall man standing beside her with a playful tone. "You’re really something, huh? Even peach blossoms are chasing you home."
"..." Zhao Weiguo helplessly met Xu Tao's gaze. "I didn’t do anything."
"Heh!" Xu Tao gave a cold laugh.
Hearing her laugh like that, Zhao Weiguo didn’t dare to say more.
"Shitou, Shitou... time to go home for dinner!" Just then, the voice of Fan Qiumei calling from the alley outside was heard.
As it was evening, the children usually played in the alley, and adults would call them from the door.
"My mom’s calling me to dinner" Shitou, who had finished the two dumplings, said happily. Upon hearing his family call, he immediately decided to head home.
"Then Huahua should go home too." Hehua pouted.
"Auntie, we’re going home now." Shitou said to Xu Tao, along with several other children, and they turned to run back home.
"Wait a minute." Xu Tao saw that the little troublemakers were about to leave, so she called out to them and handed over the little animal-shaped dumplings she had specially made for them.
She also gave each of them one of the five dumplings originally meant for Lin Fang.
o0o