Chapter 204: This Heavy Love

Granny Yun’s hat was also the object of the other old ladies’ envy. Every one of them wanted to reach out and feel it.

Granny Yun subtly edged away. Some of them had filthy hands, and she wasn’t about to let them get her new hat dirty.

"This color is just beautiful."

"How did they knit the flower on top? It’s so nice, and so soft."

Granny Yun said modestly, "It’s just an ordinary hat, knitted from yarn. You could knit one too if you bought some yarn."

"But it wouldn’t look this good. Besides, you look so sharp in it."

"Did that little girl Jiaojiao really buy it?"

"You guys give Jiaojiao that much money?!"

A three-year-old, buying gifts for the adults in the family.

And this hat didn’t look cheap.

The whole combination of ideas seemed unbelievable no matter how you looked at it.

Granny Yun puffed out her chest. "Of course! Our Jiaojiao is so filial. This was all her own money."

"My Jiaojiao is even better at fishing than her dad and her uncle."

"My Jiaojiao is so smart, she even has an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor as her master. She bought all these gifts with the red envelope money her master gave her. Tell me, wouldn’t it have been better for the child to save that money? She had so little, and she still spent it on gifts for all of us."

They were so jealous! So, so jealous!

"An old traditional Chinese medicine doctor? Does that mean Jiaojiao is going to be a doctor in the future? That’s a job for life!"

She wouldn’t have to worry about finding work when she grew up.

"Wait, if your family has this opportunity, why send Yun Jiao to study? Why not send Xiao Wu and the other boys? A girl is just going to get married off eventually. She’ll belong to another family then. What’s the point of raising her so well? In the end, you’re just doing someone else a favor."

Clearly, this woman was one of those who favored boys over girls.

Granny Yun did not like hearing that one bit. The smile on her face instantly vanished, and she rolled her eyes at the woman.

The person next to the old woman nudged her with an elbow.

"What are you saying? That’s their business. Besides, the old doctor took a liking to Yun Jiao. You think just anyone can get chosen like that?"

Granny Yun sneered, "Your son is so wonderful, isn’t he? He’s almost forty and still relies on an old hag like you to support him. His wife even ran off. If I had children and grandchildren like yours, I’d rather have none at all."

Yun Jiao immediately perked up. ’There’s gossip!’

She fiddled with the puppy’s ears and tail, her own ears pricked up as she listened intently.

The old woman had clearly been hit where it hurt.

"That bitch was just unlucky! A man as good as our Ah Ji is hard to find. The bitch wasn’t satisfied, so she deserves her bad fortune.

"If she wants to run, let her run. My Ah Ji is a man, the pillar of the family. We’ll just find someone better than her later. But it’s different for that bitch. Who would dare want damaged goods like her?"

With her upturned, cruel-looking eyes, the old woman truly lived up to her appearance. Her personality and her words were dripping with acidity and spite.

Granny Yun pursed her lips. ’With a family like yours, you’re still trying to make excuses for your son.’

That poor girl was driven away by a nasty mother-in-law like you.

Anyone you asked would know. For miles around, any good family that knew their situation wouldn’t dare marry their daughter into that house. Even women on their second marriage weren’t interested.

And that’s not even getting into the hypocrisy of it all. The son was divorced himself, yet his family was still incredibly picky on top of being notoriously stingy. They refused to offer any bride price but still demanded a bride who was good-looking, hardworking, and fertile. Even the matchmakers wanted to flee for their lives after hearing their demands. They truly had no self-awareness about their own situation.

The other old ladies glanced at each other, all understanding the subtext.

But in the end, they didn’t say anything to her face. After all, this old woman was a difficult one, and they didn’t want to get into an argument with her here.

As Yun Jiao listened, she realized they had changed the subject. The light in her little eyes immediately dimmed.

It felt like she’d only gotten half the gossip, which was a little frustrating.

But she quickly adjusted her attitude and continued to listen.

When it was about time, Granny Yun led Yun Jiao home, walking in high spirits.

When they got home, Grandpa Yun, Dad, and the others weren’t back yet, but Mom and her aunt had returned.

"Jiaojiao, your brothers will be out of school soon. Do you want to go pick them up today?"

"Yes!"

Of course she did.

With a bag of spicy chips, two dogs, and one cat, Yun Jiao marched out majestically to meet her brothers.

She wasn’t actually very afraid of the cold. After all, in her past life, she had lived at the bottom of the sea, which was constantly in a low-temperature environment.

Some of her physical traits, though much weakened, had carried over into this life.

But there’s a special kind of cold called ’your family thinks you’re cold.’

As she was about to leave, Yun Jiao was bundled into patterned long johns, a gaudy padded jacket, a scarf wrapped around her little neck, and a small knitted hat.

Yun Jiao was dressed up until she looked like a chubby little penguin before she was finally allowed to go out.

Yun Jiao: ’This love is so heavy!’

But ever since the weather turned cold, this was how she was always dressed to go outside, so she was used to it.

After putting on all her gear, Yun Jiao waddled along with her mom to pick up her brothers.

Shen Yunlian thought to herself, ’My daughter is so cute!’

If this were in a future era with smartphones, she would have, at the very least, snapped several photos to post on her social media and show off.

The seaside temperature was also quite damp in the winter. Whenever a typhoon blew in, it would pour, which meant the roads around here were rather muddy.

Yun Jiao wore two layers of socks before pulling on her small, plastic rain boots.

She hadn’t walked for long before a layer of mud clung to her boots.

Her feet already felt a bit heavy.

Even a cat would disdain this kind of road.

Cat Boss leaped directly into Yun Jiao’s arms to be carried.

He was a huge ball of fluff. An ordinary three-year-old wouldn’t have been able to lift him.

But Yun Jiao held the big tabby cat with ease, her steps steady and sure.

"Sister! Mom!"

Yun Xiaowu and his brothers were also bundled up thickly. They were laughing and roughhousing as they walked down the road. The moment they saw Yun Jiao and their mother, they acted like little monkeys, their army-green satchels slung across their chests as they sprinted toward them.

Shen Yunlian frowned at the sight. "Slow down! If you fall, I’ll have to do more laundry when we get home."

And winter clothes were a pain to wash.

The words had barely left her mouth when, SPLAT, Yun Xiaowu tripped on something and fell to the ground.

The ones behind him were running too fast to stop and ended up tripping over Yun Xiaowu.

The good news was, they landed on top of Yun Xiaowu.

The bad news was, they all got dirty to some degree.

Finding the weight on top of him too heavy, Yun Xiaowu clamored and shoved his younger brothers off.

Whoops. Now they were even dirtier.

Yun Xiaowu got up and patted the mud off himself. Unconcerned, he grinned widely and, like the show-off he was, spread his arms toward Yun Jiao and hollered.

"Don’t worry, Sister! I’m okay!"

"A little fall like that can’t hurt me!"

He seemed quite proud of himself.

Among the boys behind him, Yun Xiao Liu keenly sensed that their mom was angry. He dawdled, not daring to come closer.

Yun Jiao looked over at her mom.

She saw her normally gentle mother’s brows furrow, the corners of her mouth turn down, and her eyes suddenly fill with an unmistakable rage.