The Daily Life of a Stepmother in the 1980s
Xu Tao, after leaving the post office, stopped by to buy some groceries on her way home. However, as she reached the alleyway, she noticed a crowd gathered at her doorstep, sensing something was wrong. Instinctively, she quickened her pace.
Zhao Linan, being young and overwhelmed by the commotion, stood at the outer edge. When he saw Xu Tao, the little boy ran toward her, calling out, "Mom!"
"Xiaonan" Xu Tao looked him over carefully. Seeing nothing wrong, she relaxed and bent down to pick him up.
With his arms around Xu Tao's neck, Zhao Linan leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Mom, they're arguing"
Hearing this, Xu Tao raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned her gaze toward the furious Mrs. Lin, who was angrily pointing at Shi Tou's mother, Fan Qiumei. "Fan Qiumei, you heartless woman! Pay me back the twenty yuan bride price! If you don't, I'll sit in your house and eat and drink your food!"
"Mrs. Lin, you must be joking!" Fan Qiumei was fuming, her face pale with anger. Supporting her pregnant belly, she panted heavily. "Everyone in this alley knows what kind of person you are. What does Tian Ermei not liking your son Lin Lao'er have to do with me? Why are you blaming me?"
"Besides, you didn't even tell me when you went to propose. You just brought a pound of pork (500g) and a pound of noodles (500g), thinking that would get you a daughter-in-law? The Tian family isn't so easy! Now that it didn’t work out, you're venting on me. Those things weren’t even given to me. If you want them back, go ask the Tian family. I won’t give you a single cent!" Fan Qiumei, heavily pregnant, didn’t back down at all.
"You’re to blame! You were the matchmaker!" Mrs. Lin pointed at Fan Qiumei, pounding her chest dramatically as if about to faint. "You must pay me back!"
"Matchmaker? You approached me first because your family liked Tian Ermei! You thought they were foolish and begged me to speak for you. I helped because we’re neighbors and I know the Tian family. But before they even gave a proper response, you ran off with some pork and noodles to propose. It’s laughable!" Fan Qiumei deeply regretted helping her.
"Begged you? It was you who suggested my son marry Tian Ermei, saying she could work and bear sons! Otherwise, why would my son settle for her? I bet you and the Tian family conspired to cheat us!" Mrs. Lin, unaccustomed to losses, was furious that her first effort to propose marriage ended in failure, costing her pork and noodles without gaining a daughter-in-law.
"What a joke. Your family is so poor, what’s there to cheat you out of?" Fan Qiumei sneered and called to her son, "Shi Tou, let’s go home"
"Okay" Shi Tou obediently followed.
Fan Qiumei had initially tolerated Mrs. Lin for the sake of neighborly peace, but now she had enough.
Xu Tao, holding Zhao Linan, listened and quickly understood the situation. She sighed in disbelief.
Honestly, Xu Tao had always had a poor impression of the Lin family. She couldn’t imagine what kind of family could raise someone like Lin Fang. Mrs. Lin herself was already difficult, and this incident only worsened Xu Tao's opinion.
The entire Lin family was full of troublemakers! Xu Tao thought as she turned to head home with Zhao Linan.
"No! You can't leave! Pay me back for the pork and noodles!" Mrs. Lin lunged forward, trying to grab Fan Qiumei's wrist.
"Let go! Even if you want to take advantage, have some self-respect!" Fan Qiumei shook off Mrs. Lin’s hand.
Though Mrs. Lin looked frail, she was surprisingly strong. She grabbed Fan Qiumei tightly, nearly causing the pregnant woman to fall.
"You crazy old woman! Are you trying to kill me and my unborn child?!" Fan Qiumei steadied herself, frightened.
The surrounding neighbors, including Xu Tao, were alarmed. Fan Qiumei had genuinely almost fallen, and with her being pregnant, it could have ended in tragedy.
"Pay me, or this isn’t over!" Mrs. Lin persisted.
"You’re shameless!" Fan Qiumei snapped, glaring at Mrs. Lin. "I won’t give you a single cent. Let me go, or if anything happens to me, the Fan family will make you pay!"
Fan Qiumei was confident. Though her husband Sun Tonghai had few family members, her own Fan family was large. If she were harmed, Mrs. Lin would surely regret it.
"Mom, let it go" Lin Lao'er, Mrs. Lin’s second son, came out of the house, head hanging low, avoiding eye contact with the neighbors.
"Let it go? Just like that?" Mrs. Lin, though wary of the Fan family, still mourned her losses. She slapped her legs and wailed, "You useless fool! You couldn’t even handle a woman! I told you to just sleep with Tian Ermei, but you didn’t dare! What was the point of raising you?"
Lin Lao'er remained silent, head down as his mother scolded him.
Xu Tao was already appalled by Lin Fang’s behavior, but now, hearing Mrs. Lin encouraging such actions, she rolled her eyes in disbelief.
Unbelievable! This family was truly rotten from top to bottom.
Shaking her head, Xu Tao hurried home, while the other neighbors, unwilling to get involved, quietly dispersed.
The children playing nearby were also taken home by their parents. Soon, the alley was empty, leaving only Mrs. Lin loudly cursing her son and hurling insults at Fan Qiumei.
o0o
In the evening, Xu Tao and Zhao Linan watered the young vegetable seedlings. The weather was hot, and the vegetables were growing rapidly. The tender sprouts that had just emerged before Zhao Weiguo left for Shanghai had now grown a few centimeters taller. In another ten days or so, they could start picking fresh, tender greens to eat.
“Mommy, awesome!” Zhao Linan poured a little water on the seedlings and turned around to seek praise from Xu Tao.
“Hmm, Mommy is awesome!” Xu Tao nodded in agreement.
The little one was initially waiting for Xu Tao to praise him, but hearing her praise herself felt off. Puffing up his cheeks, he patted his chest and said, “It’s Linan who’s awesome!”
Xu Tao couldn’t help but burst into laughter at Zhao Linan’s cute and silly expression. “Yes, my little Linan is really awesome. You can even help Mommy water the plants now”
“Yeah! Linan helps!” Satisfied with the praise, Zhao Linan grinned, showing his small white teeth.
“Alright, come here. Mommy will make cold noodles for Linan tonight, okay?” With Zhao Weiguo away, there was one less person at the table. Xu Tao cooked less, and since Zhao Linan was just a little kid who couldn’t eat much, and Xu Tao herself didn’t have much of an appetite, she didn’t feel like cooking anything complicated. Lately, she had been making simple dishes that didn’t take much time or effort.
“Okay!” Zhao Linan didn’t actually know what cold noodles were, but he trusted Xu Tao completely and nodded with a smile.
The two happily finished dinner. Zhao Linan enjoyed the cold noodles so much that his little belly was round and full.
“Mommy, a story" Recently, with Zhao Weiguo away, only Xu Tao and the child were at home. To pass the time at night, Xu Tao started telling bedtime stories.
Zhao Linan, being a clever little boy, had been asking for stories every night since the first time she told him one. Now, he wouldn’t go to bed without hearing a story.
Xu Tao regretted creating this routine because it disrupted his good sleeping habits, but she still softly told him stories until he unknowingly drifted off to sleep.
Once he was asleep, Xu Tao turned off the light and lay down.
Zhao Weiguo had been in Shanghai for six days. He said he would be gone for a week, so he should be back tomorrow. Strangely, knowing Zhao Weiguo would return made Xu Tao feel much more at ease.
Outside, cicadas chirped in the night. Xu Tao fell asleep to the sound of insects but was vaguely awakened around eleven or twelve by a faint noise.
She was about to turn over and continue sleeping when she suddenly opened her eyes in shock. The drowsiness instantly vanished, and her heart started pounding wildly.
In her sleep, she thought she heard someone climbing over the wall into the yard. Now, fully alert, she strained to listen and heard footsteps.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Tao reached for the wooden stick beside the bed. She slowly got up and approached the door, gripping the stick tightly as she carefully listened for sounds outside. She thought if the intruder dared to enter, she would knock him out.
Click, click—
In the dark, Xu Tao saw the doorknob turning several times. The thief wasn’t being quiet at all; instead, he brazenly tried to turn the knob. Realizing the door was locked from the inside, he stopped.
“Damn it! Bitch!” the person outside cursed.
Xu Tao’s heart tightened in fear. Leaning against the door, she heard the cursing clearly, and her fear grew even stronger.
Click—
Suddenly, through the gap under the door, Xu Tao saw the light in the small living room turn on. A thief who breaks into someone’s house at night dares to turn on the lights openly?
“Open the door!!! Ugh!” After the light came on, the next moment, Xu Tao’s bedroom door was knocked on.
Xu Tao gripped the stick in panic. The man outside was terrifying in his boldness—breaking in, turning on the lights, and now pounding on the door. What did he want?
Even without surveillance cameras everywhere, no one would dare to be this brazen! Yet the man outside continued banging on the door. Xu Tao didn’t dare to open it to see who it was.
o0o