It’s a Stepmother, Not a Sister [70s] - Chapter 15

There were two beds in the room. Jiang Shuangling had her younger brother, Jiang Che, cover one bed, while she pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. She carefully sniffed and detected a scent of sunshine; the blankets must have been dried in the sun.

“Little brother, it’s time to sleep.”

The obedient Jiang Che softly murmured in agreement.

Jiang Shuangling turned off the light, wrapping herself in the warm blanket. Although it was pitch black around her without a hint of light, she couldn’t suppress her excitement.

Her hands couldn’t help but clench tightly, and one after another, images of the courtyard flashed through her mind.

Although the cottage they currently lived in was simple, it had a courtyard! Saying…

Qi Heng was always absent, so wasn’t the courtyard hers to control? She could raise whatever she wanted and plant whatever she desired.

—Every flower-loving person has a dream of farming.

Jiang Shuangling’s passion for farming surged within her. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve upwards. The reason she rented this homestay was to have a beautiful vegetable garden and plant all sorts of flowers and plants nearby…

This is probably the dream of many girls.

I can plant whatever I want, however I want.

Even if I’m not good at it, this is still my territory. Who cares!

“Sister…”

In the darkness, Jiang Che, who was sleeping beside her, suddenly timidly called out to her. It was his first time accompanying his sister on a train to a strange place, and the little guy couldn’t fall asleep.

“Can’t sleep?”

With a gentle smile, Jiang Shuangling’s mood was quite good as she softly said, “Big sister will sing you a lullaby.”

Jiang Shuangling comforted him to sleep.

On the other side of the wall, Qi Heng and his son Qi Yue stared at each other.

Qi Heng used the blanket to firmly press down Qi Yue, fixing his hands and feet in their respective positions. He said sternly, “Sleep well, don’t move around.”

Qi Yue pouted, not daring to move under the other’s gaze.

“Not sleeping? Then show me how you fold the blanket one more time.”

Qi Yue quickly closed his eyes.

“Turn off the light and go to sleep.”

While Jiang Shuangling was still in her dreams, she faintly heard the sound of the alarm. She lazily rolled over in bed, curling up into a ball and continued to keep her eyes closed to sleep.

After some time, she woke up again and checked her watch. It was already ten minutes to seven.

Beside her, Jiang Che held his little hands, raising them to his head in a posture of surrender.

Jiang Shuangling chuckled lightly, looking at the army green blanket beneath her. She casually folded it into a tofu block.

Soon, a perfectly square shape appeared before her.

She looked at the neatly folded blanket, feeling satisfied and a bit proud. After all, she had undergone a month of military training when she entered university.

Jiang Shuangling changed her clothes and walked out of the room. She noticed that the door of the adjacent room was half-open, presuming that Qi Heng had probably already left. Pushing the door open, she saw Qi Yue neatly wrapped up in the green quilt.

This little guy’s sleeping posture is really neat.

Jiang Shuangling couldn’t help but nod, but the next moment, she noticed the neatly folded blanket beside him.

…

Suddenly, she remembered something a friend had said, “The tofu block you folded would be thrown into the toilet by the drill instructors at our school.”

Her expression froze for a moment, then she calmly returned to her room, picked up the neatly folded blanket, and shook it out.

Jiang Shuangling: “…”

Just fold whatever, give it a shake, and it’s good to go.

Art students never fold blankets.

Disorder is beauty.

She crumpled the neatly folded blanket into an “auspicious cloud” shape, feeling extremely satisfied.

Jiang Shuangling went to boil water for breakfast. She boiled a pot of water, cooked some noodles, cracked three eggs into them, and then woke up the two little ones to eat.

Although it was a bowl of clear soup noodles, Jiang Shuangling added enough lard and sesame oil to it. She also picked a bunch of crooked green onions from outside, sprinkling the green onion flakes onto the soft white noodles, filling the air with a fragrant aroma.

The soup had a slight yellowish hue, with an enticing layer of oil shimmering on the surface. The green onion flakes floated on the soup like floating duckweed, while the pale and tender poached eggs had a hint of light orange on their small bellies.

“Drink some warm water first before eating,” Jiang Shuangling instructed the two little ones to wash their faces and hands in the bathroom before having breakfast.

Seeing that both of them had dried their hands, Jiang Shuangling handed each of them a pair of chopsticks and lifted them onto their chairs to eat.

Perhaps familiarity had bred acceptance, or maybe it was the “broken window effect,” but Qi Yue was no longer resistant to eating what she made.

He picked up the chopsticks and slurped the noodles.

“Slow down, don’t burn yourself.”

Jiang Shuangling fetched three soup spoons, each filled with savory clear soup, and together with the tender noodles, they entered her mouth. It was a bit hot, but the savory taste of the soup combined with the slightly sweet noodles in her mouth.

The chopsticks poked into the tender egg whites, revealing the fresh and tender egg yolk inside. Because she wanted to make sure the children could eat them, she boiled the poached eggs until they were fully cooked, without any runny egg yolk flowing out.

Sitting together, Jiang Shuangling noticed that their eating habits were all different. She herself would take a few bites of noodles, then take a bite of the poached egg, watching as the tender egg yolk began to spread in the clear soup. Her younger brother, Jiang Che, preferred to eat the noodles first and save the poached egg for last. As for Qi Yue, the impatient little guy, he would immediately choose to finish the poached egg before eating the noodles.

Jiang Shuangling wondered how Qi Heng would eat.

…

Perhaps there was no order; they finished their meal in a few bites.

At the end, Qi Yue eagerly watched as Jiang Che finished his poached egg, then lowered his head and quietly drank a mouthful of savory soup.

Jiang Shuangling took the two little ones to wash the dishes together. After they finished, she noticed the clothes Qi Heng had taken off yesterday that hadn’t been washed yet.

She picked them up and sniffed them, her expression changing immediately.

…

No matter how handsome a man is, his clothes can still stink.

With a grim expression, she filled a basin with water, grabbed some soap, and swirled it around until the water became slightly murky. Then, she tossed the clothes in to “marinate” for a while before washing them.

“If only we could exchange that bicycle for a washing machine,” Jiang Shuangling glanced at the brand-new bicycle in the yard and sighed.

But it’s fortunate that it’s only a few pieces of clothing.

Nowadays, Jiang Shuangling is very patient. Here, there’s no client rushing her, no financial pressure, and no multiple burdens of high housing prices, high cost of living, and pressure to marry and have children. As a result, she becomes leisurely and carefree in her actions.

Slowly washing.

Jiang Che is like a little shadow, always following behind his sister. Seeing his sister washing clothes, he also rolls up his sleeves happily and helps to scrub. Jiang Shuangling doesn’t discourage his enthusiasm.

“Be careful not to get the clothes wet.”

“Mm-hmm,” Jiang Che nodded.

Seeing his obedient and easy-to-bully appearance, Jiang Shuangling’s heart softened instantly. She thought about how his timid and unconfident demeanor had been shaped by the environment in the village before. Now, in this new environment, as a parent, she had to encourage him. So, with genuine affection, she showered him with praise, one rainbow fart after another, “Little brother, you’re only four years old and you already know how to wash clothes.”

“You’re so smart.”

“He’s Sister’s favorite little brother.”

“They say if you don’t clean your own house, how can you clean the world? If you don’t wash a single piece of clothing, how can you become a pillar of the nation? Little brother, you’ve been capable since you were young. You’ll definitely be a pillar of the country in the future.”

…

While the two of them were washing clothes, Qi Yue was wandering around the yard, acting like a scout. His little ears twitched as he quietly eavesdropped on the women’s conversation nearby.

After listening for a while, he made a serious face and ran over, pushing Jiang Che aside and grabbing the clothes in the water to rub them.

Jiang Che: “?????”

Little Jiang Che was pushed aside, staring at him dumbfoundedly.

Qi Yue snorted, thinking it was such a simple task, as if anyone wouldn’t know how to do it.

After rubbing the clothes, he lifted his head, and his deep black eyes stared at Jiang Shuangling.

Jiang Shuangling almost choked on her saliva, and could only repeat the same rainbow fart to match the situation.

After finishing washing, Jiang Shuangling let the two little ones go to the kitchen to warm up by the stove and check if their clothes and shoes were wet.

Still a bit damp, she was afraid the children might catch a cold, so she changed their clothes and shoes and placed the slightly damp clothes by the fire to dry.

Worried that the children might get bored, she brought out some drawing paper and paint, quickly sketching two whimsically twisted and complicated big white rabbits, letting the children color them.

“Play by yourselves.”

Jiang Shuangling glanced at the children, then walked out from the doorway. Seeing the clothes drying in the yard and recalling the scene from earlier, she couldn’t help but find it amusing.

These two little ones were really interesting.

She stifled her laughter for a while, but when she turned back around, she saw a middle-aged woman with short hair standing outside the gate, looking at her. The woman had a round face, probably around forty years old, and had a very kind demeanor.

Jiang Shuangling: “…”

Did she do something strange just now? She had only been smiling at the clothes.

But those clothes…

The other person probably only saw her back.

Jiang Shuangling steadied herself and walked to the gate to greet the woman. “Hello, may I ask who you are?”

“Call me Teacher Yao. I live over there,” the woman pointed to the two small buildings opposite.

Jiang Shuangling suddenly realized that she was the wife of a teacher. “Teacher Yao, hello, hello. I’m Qi—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the other person interrupted with a smile. “You’re Miss Jiang, right? You look so much like your mother.”

“Do you know me? And my mother?”

“Why, don’t you know? You’re still being talked about by Qi Heng.”

Jiang Shuangling was stunned. She truly didn’t know. She only knew she was a distant relative of the Jiang family and hadn’t met them often.

There shouldn’t be any connection between her Jiang family and the teacher’s family.

“Our family once traveled on the boat your grandfather piloted, and we crossed the river safely thanks to that night’s journey.”

“Your mother is beautiful and spirited. You resemble her a lot. You’re even prettier than your mother. When I saw your photo at the Jiang’s, I remembered you.”

Jiang Shuangling had no idea about this connection. Her mother was indeed the daughter of a fisherman.

“So that’s how it is…”

Qi Heng actually said it was on his way.

“Perhaps it really was on his way…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing much. Teacher Yao, would you like to come in and have a seat?”