"Hey brat, what are you up to?"
"Itâs Little Yamaâs wife calling." The kid sulked, "Will Little Yama beat me up?"
Xu Yingshan didnât believe it at all. He picked up his son and threatened, "Iâll skin you alive."
"Boohoo... I donât want to be skinned alive."
"Stop crying."
"Little Yamaâs wife asked me to call you."
"What?" Xu Yingshan looked at the phone, saw it was lit up, picked it up, and heard a womanâs voice.
"Hello, is this my cousin? Iâm Sheng Ning."
"Ah ah ah..." Xu Yingshan shouted excitedly, casually tossing the kid to his buddy, saying excitedly, "Itâs my sister-in-law! Great, you and my cousin havenât called or written back for so long. Uncle and Auntie keep on talking about you two!" Mainly about when they can have a chubby baby boy.
"Iâve been really busy lately, so I havenât had time to call my parents."
"No worries, no worries, Uncle and Auntie are just mentioning it casually." Xu Yingshan felt very satisfied with his sister-in-law, considering how warmly she referred to her in-laws as mom and dad. His wife had been married for years and their son was already so big, yet sheâd never called his parents that.
"Can you call mom and dad to the phone?"
"Sure, wait there, Iâll run over to get them. Hang up the phone first, then call again in ten minutes."
"Okay!"
Xu Yingshan hung up and turned to run to Xu Xianxiongâs house, shouting loudly along the way, "Uncle, your daughter-in-law is calling back, Auntie hurry up and answer the phone."
Xu Xianxiong was at the doorway working on some small vegetable seedlings, planning to plant them when it rained. Upon hearing Xu Yingshan, he immediately stood up and dashed into the house, "Wife, wife, hurry, Ningningâs calling back."
For a full three months, the kids hadnât made a single call. Only before the New Year did they write a letter, saying everything was fine in it. They didnât believe it at all; if everything was fine, why hadnât there been any news about getting pregnant?
The village neighbors said Sheng Ning was young and a dancer in the Song and Dance Troupe, surely unwilling to have children early. If your Little Yama wants kids, he might have to wait until forty. Had they known, they wouldnât have married Sheng Ning.
Whatâs the use of being pretty? If she doesnât give Old Xu Family grandchildren, itâs all for nothing.
Such rumors were everywhere, and it made Xu Xianxiong so anxious he almost got sick. Thankfully, Zhao Lanzi never believed it. Since the daughter-in-law promised her face to face to have children soon, she decided to trust that.
She refused to be an old-fashioned, evil mother-in-law.
"Wife, hurry up, hurry up." Xu Xianxiong rushed into the house, where Zhao Lanzi was stitching shoe soles, and he grabbed the soles to put shoes on her.
"Go, go... get away, who needs you to put shoes on me?" Zhao Lanzi looked at him with disdain, "How many times have I told you? We have a daughter-in-law now, can you be a bit more proper? Stop acting undignified for your age."
Xu Yingshan was dumbfounded, "How am I undignified? The daughter-in-law is calling, are you answering or not?" If it werenât for Uncleâs face, he would have gone to answer it himself. However, if he rushed to answer when the daughter-in-law called, what would people say? The village rumors would fly again.
"Of course, Iâll go." Zhao Lanzi said, getting off the kang and putting on her shoes without missing a beat, then swiftly led the way to the small shop.
Xu Yingshan had already reached the doorway, "Auntie, Sister-in-law said sheâd call in ten minutes."