Chapter 169: No Backer

Chapter 169: Chapter 169: No Backer

Li Tian slammed his hand against the car door, his palm turning bright red.

"Gimme candy! I want candy! I want fruit!"

The door didn’t budge, so he started kicking it.

"Open up! I want some! I want some!"

Li Yuan started to step forward to pull the boy away.

But Li Hanchen had already reached out and grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Stand up straight."

Li Hanchen was rarely home, and his stern expression carried an overwhelming presence.

Li Tian had only seen him a handful of times and flinched in fright.

Wu Xixi immediately plastered on a smile, crinkling the corners of her eyes.

"Hanchen, you’ve finally made a rare trip back. You didn’t come empty-handed, did you? Couldn’t you have brought a few pieces of candy for your nephew?"

Before Li Hanchen could open his mouth, Song Yao cut in.

"Well, well, your little boy is quite something! He’s bold enough to grab his own aunt’s butt; you think he’d care about a few pieces of candy from his uncle?"

Li Hanchen froze on the spot.

Li Ying gasped and shivered, hastily turning to Li Tian. "Tian, that’s not right! Hurry up and apologize to your aunt!"

Having been well-behaved and sensible her whole life, she couldn’t bear to see a child act like that.

The moment Song Yao said this, Wu Xixi’s face fell, and she immediately started shouting.

"Bullshit! Who’s spreading rumors? Tian is just a little kid! What would he want with her butt? Think it’s going to lay an egg for him?"

"I don’t know about laying eggs," Song Yao said with a shrug, "but he nodded and admitted it himself that day. Everyone heard him."

Li Hanchen’s expression hardened. He growled at Li Tian.

"Apologize. Now. Immediately!"

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Wu Xixi leaped forward and shoved Li Hanchen.

"Who do you think you are? Did becoming an official go to your head? You come in here and immediately start trying to walk all over us?"

Li Hanchen didn’t budge, standing firm as a pine tree as he stared at her coldly.

"Is this how you raise your child?"

After speaking, he jutted his chin toward his older brother, Li Yuan.

Li Yuan hurried forward and grabbed Wu Xixi’s arm.

"Tian was the one in the wrong. What are you throwing a fit for?"

Wu Xixi glanced at her husband, then at Wei Guilan and Li Ying. Her nose tingled, and her voice cracked.

"Fine... just fine... You’re all ganging up on me, aren’t you?"

She jabbed a finger at Song Yao.

"Is it just because her parents have money? Is that why you’re all fawning over her now?"

"I don’t have a powerful family to back me up, so I deserve to be walked all over, is that it?"

"The heavens are cruel! I just lost my baby a couple of days ago..."

She plopped down on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing.

Mortified, Li Yuan had to drag her into the house.

Li Tian glanced at his stone-faced uncle, ducked his head, and muttered quickly.

"Sorry."

Then he turned and bolted.

Li Hanchen frowned at the wailing, retreating figure, then glanced back at Song Yao.

’Good thing today’s Song Yao is no longer the pushover she used to be.’

’Otherwise... he probably wouldn’t even be in the mood to watch the Spring Festival Gala.’

Wei Guilan watched her eldest daughter-in-law rolling on the ground and shook her head.

With a sigh, she turned and beckoned to Li Hanchen and Song Yao.

"You just got home, and your stove is cold. I’ve already prepared the noodle dough. You two can come over and eat later."

It was true. The house hadn’t even been dusted and the stove hadn’t been lit. Li Hanchen nodded.

Song Yao smiled and agreed.

Wei Guilan pressed the keys into their hands, then left with Li Ying in tow.

Li Hanchen pushed open the courtyard gate, took out the key, and unlocked the main hall.

The inside was spotless. The floor was wiped clean, without a speck of dust. It was obvious Wei Guilan had tidied up beforehand.

Li Hanchen expertly made the bed. Song Yao leaned in for a sniff and grinned.

"Tsk, having a reliable mother-in-law is a real blessing!"

Li Hanchen smiled and told her to rest while he rolled up his sleeves and started moving their luggage.

The Shen Family had sent them with an enormous amount of things.

Song Yao had left all the non-perishables back in the city.

She’d stuffed all the perishable items into their bags to bring back.

Let it spoil?

What a waste!

In the house next door, Wu Xixi was so angry she was slapping her thighs, her voice raised in a screech.

"You dote on him like he’s your own brother, but does he respect you as his big brother?"

"Open your eyes and look! They’re bringing over bags and bags of stuff. I can live with gnawing on dry bread, but you’re his big brother, and you’re eating dry bread too! We can’t even afford a treat for our own child! We live just a wall away, would giving him a single piece of candy choke him to death?"

Li Hanchen didn’t spare a thought for what Li Yuan might be thinking.

He let all of Wu Xixi’s barbed comments go in one ear and out the other.

The moment he stepped inside, he asked Song Yao.

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner about what that little brat Li Tian did?"

Song Yao waved her hand.

"What was the point? I gave him a good spanking right then and there."

"I was just so annoyed by her phony enthusiasm today. It was disgusting, so I just let it slip."

Li Hanchen didn’t respond. He quickly put their things away, picked out a few items to bring to Wei Guilan’s house, and the two of them headed out with the gifts in hand.

As they reached the doorway, they heard the SCRAPE SCRAPE of a spatula against a wok.

Wei Guilan was squatting before the stove, stir-frying eggs and green onions in a wok by the dim, yellow glow of a kerosene lamp.

In those days, a bowl of plain noodles with a spoonful of lard was considered a real treat.

But her son and daughter-in-law had made a rare trip home, and Song Yao was pregnant, to boot.

’Besides... she’s a girl from a high-ranking official’s family.’

’Just a bowl of plain noodles?’

’Even Wei Guilan felt that wouldn’t be presentable enough.’

She had rushed to the backyard to pull up some green onions, given them a quick rinse, and dug out the eggs she’d been saving for ages, the ones she couldn’t bring herself to eat.

She’d cracked three of them—CRACK, CRACK, CRACK—and tossed them in the wok with a SIZZLE. The fragrance was intoxicating.

Song Yao and Li Hanchen stood at the door, holding their things.

Wei Guilan had a sharp eye and spotted them at once. She immediately called out to Li Ying, who was bent over, feeding wood into the stove.

"Don’t add any more wood! Get up, take your sister-in-law to the main hall to sit down. It’s too smoky and dusty in here, you’ll choke!"

Her mother-in-law was clearly concerned for her, so Song Yao didn’t put on airs. She slung the cloth bag she was carrying over her arm, a smile on her face.

"Mom, what are you talking about! I practically grew up by the stove. I’ve squatted by the fire pit, raked out ashes, and swept the hearth. What’s a little grime? It’s nice and warm in the kitchen, much better than outside!"

Despite her words, Wei Guilan waved her hands insistently at Li Ying.

"Go on, take her away! Don’t block the way. The space in front of the stove is tight; it’s too crowded for so many people!"

Li Ying helped her into the main hall and brought over a low stool that had been wiped clean.

"Would you like some brown sugar water? I just made it. It’s nice and sweet."

Song Yao quickly waved her hands, pressing her palms down a couple of times.

"Don’t go to any trouble, Xiao Ying. I’m not thirsty, really."

She patted the empty stool next to her, her voice soft.

"Here, sit down! Don’t just worry about me. You take a break too."

Then she turned to Li Hanchen. "You go help out in the kitchen. Help Mom with the fire! The wood in the stove hasn’t caught properly yet; the flames are weak. Someone needs to tend to it."

Li Hanchen had just finished neatly arranging the things he’d carried over.

He set the sack of rice against the wall and gently placed the jar of pickled vegetables in a cool spot by the door.

"Okay, I’m on it."

Before his foot had crossed the threshold, two uninvited people burst in at the courtyard entrance!

Wu Xixi had waited for the moment Li Yuan went to the kitchen to cook.

Then she’d grabbed Li Tian by the wrist and rushed over to her mother-in-law’s house.

The second she saw Li Hanchen, she was on the move as if she had rockets on her feet, rushing to the door in a couple of large strides.

"Oh my, what heavenly dish are you cooking up?"

"That smell is so good I can barely stand! It’s making my nose twitch!"

Wei Guilan had just served the glistening plate of scrambled eggs with green onions into a coarse porcelain bowl.