Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 6

After Cheng Jinxiang and Zhao Tingming left, they asked Zhao Da'e what had happened, but Zhao Da'e just made excuses and said that he didn't know either.

"Mom, stop worrying about my grandparents. They're always thinking about giving Xiaojuan away; maybe they're just getting their comeuppance. Heaven is watching what people do; those who commit many evil deeds will surely perish..."

"Don't talk nonsense. She's an elder, after all. There are some things you can't say," Cheng Jinxiang said.

Zhao Da'e shook his head helplessly: "Mother Cheng Jinxiang is just too soft-hearted and too gentle. But we still need to take it one step at a time. Now that we've saved my little sister Xiao Juanzi, I suppose Mother won't be so heartbroken in the future."

"Okay," Zhao Da'e replied dismissively.

She wasn't very full either, and seeing only a lunchbox of porridge on the cabinet, which she had just eaten, she noticed that Cheng Jinxiang had only recently woken up and was still quite weak. Zhao Da'e thought for a moment and decided they should go out and buy some meat to help her mother recover.

As Zhao Da'e thought this, he reached into his pocket and found it empty.

No money? Then you'll just have to go out and try your luck.

"Mom, watch over Xiaojuanzi, I'm going out for a bit."

"Be careful, you don't know the area. Don't go too far."

Zhao Da'e then left the hospital and strolled around the nearby streets.

While strolling around, Zhao Da'e came across a small restaurant. He looked up and saw the sign: Lao San's Home-Style Dishes.

Zhao Da'e was stunned. She recognized the owner of this restaurant; it was a small restaurant owned by the third brother of her great-aunt's husband.

Since it was a restaurant owned by his relatives, Zhao Da'e didn't even look up and swaggered inside.

The restaurant wasn't very big, with three tables on each side and an aisle in the middle. Further ahead was the restaurant counter, on which were several buckets of bulk liquor and a statue of the God of Wealth. The ashtray beneath the statue was full, but incense was still burning.

Inside the counter, a middle-aged woman in her forties, with a square face and a tall stature, was using a small white abacus to calculate accounts.

Further back, there is a small half-curtain, behind which is the kitchen.

A sign next to it reads, "Kitchen area, no strangers allowed."

"Third Aunt, Third Aunt, I am Zhao Da'e. Zhao Chunni is my aunt." Zhao Da'e said directly.

The middle-aged woman looked up at Zhao Da'e in front of her, paused for a moment, and then laughed: "Are you from our fourth son's wife's family? You have such a sweet tongue, calling me 'Third Mother' warms my heart."

"Come, come, sit there, sit there," the middle-aged woman said, pointing to the stool next to her. "Whose family are you from?"

The middle-aged woman knew that her fourth son's wife was Zhao Chunni, and that Zhao Chunni's family was also her own family, so she was very welcoming.

You see, in small places like the North, it's rare for girls to marry out of the village. Girls from this village marry into the next village, girls from the next village marry into the village next to that, and finally, girls from the village next to that marry back.

After several hundred years, if you go out and ask around, you'll find that almost everyone on the street is a relative.

In addition, the local customs and people are always very hospitable. When the middle-aged woman saw that Zhao Da'e was not only a relative's child, but also a little one who was particularly pretty and had a sweet tongue, she felt very happy. As she was talking, she took a large handful of peanuts from the counter, put them on a plate, and placed them on a table.

Zhao Da'e smiled shyly, revealing two small dimples. She was already extremely beautiful, but the blood draw she had undergone a couple of days ago gave her a sickly look, which only made her appear even more pitifully beautiful.

"Thank you, Third Aunt. I am the daughter of the second son of the Zhao family, and Zhao Tiesheng is my father. When my eldest aunt, Zhao Chunni, returned to our family home, she often mentioned Third Aunt to us, saying that the most capable people in your Zhang family are her third brother and sister-in-law. Not only are they hardworking and diligent, but they are also the most honest and kind-hearted. They are well-known far and wide for their good reputation and respectability."

When my aunt went back to her parents' home once, she praised my third aunt and her husband to my grandparents, saying they were a very good couple. They started by selling sesame cakes at a stall around our market, but because their sesame cakes were delicious, their business grew better and better, and they made a lot of money, eventually moving to the city to start a big business.

This is the first restaurant in the surrounding villages to open in the city. When my aunt said that, I got really itchy to go. I said that if I ever went to the city, I'd definitely go to my third aunt's restaurant and have a huge feast, ripping them off completely. My aunt said, "Hey, don't embarrass me by going to someone's restaurant and eating and drinking like crazy without paying! What, you expect my third brother and sister-in-law to throw you another two hundred yuan after you've finished eating?"

As Zhao Da'e spoke, he grabbed a handful of peanuts and started eating.

The middle-aged woman laughed, her pride fading, and said, "Look at what your aunt is saying. We're all real relatives. Coming here is like coming to your own home. Who pays for a meal at home?"

Zhao Da'e was secretly pleased and continued eating peanuts, saying as she ate, "That's right. I told my aunt that this is wrong of you. I, Zhao Da'e, am your own niece. If I go to the city one day and eat somewhere else, that's fine. But if I eat at my third aunt's shop and then have to pay her afterwards, wouldn't that be slapping my third aunt in the face?"

The middle-aged woman also said, "That's not true at all. We're all family. If you ask me to pay for a meal, I'll complain. We're all real relatives. If we didn't act like relatives, outsiders would look down on us."

"Yeah, but my aunt doesn't believe me. She said, 'Hmph...you just want to freeload off them. You're bringing shame to the Zhao family. Next time you go to the city, never eat at my third brother and sister-in-law's house. I can't bear the embarrassment.'" Zhao Da'e's expression was extremely complex as he spoke, mimicking his aunt one moment and himself the next, perfectly capturing her. This made the middle-aged woman not only empathize but also get angry herself.

The middle-aged woman stood up angrily and said with some dissatisfaction, "Your aunt Zhao Chunni is too much... She looks down on her third brother and sister-in-law so much. She won't even let her own niece come to their house for dinner. She doesn't treat her sister-in-law like a human being."

Zhao Da'e: "..."

No, Third Aunt, please don't get agitated. My aunt has nothing to do with this. If your two families start fighting, don't sell me out. ...

What Zhao Da'e said wasn't actually made up, but it was all information she knew many years later in her previous life. When she was six years old, she had never heard of who her aunt's relatives were, and even if she had, she wouldn't have remembered much of it. So, while what she said was true, it wasn't entirely true for today.