Chapter 6: Stepmother’s Give and Take

Chapter 6: The Stepmother’s Courtesy

The peach shortbread was gone!

Plump Auntie had originally planned to pacify her youngest son with peach shortbread, but when she opened the cabinet, she found it empty—the shortbread was gone. Her gluttonous little boy naturally threw a tantrum, flopping onto the floor and wailing loudly.

"Zhang Xiaohu, get up!" Plump Auntie felt her face burn with embarrassment. The new neighbors had just moved in and were still cleaning, yet here her son was, sitting on the floor bawling. If the neighbors heard, how embarrassing!

"No, I won’t!" Zhang Xiaohu cried, his snotty nose and tear-streaked face making him look pitiful. He was heartbroken. "My peach shortbread! My peach shortbread!"

Plump Auntie had no idea the shortbread would disappear so quickly. In her memory, there should have been two or three pieces left. Maybe her husband had eaten them. After all, it was just two or three pieces—hardly worth taking. Who would break into a house just to take a couple of cookies and not touch any money?

Nearly everyone nearby was military family, and they wouldn’t pull such nonsense.

"If you keep shouting like this, everyone will know you’re a little hellion," Plump Auntie said, not wanting the neighbors to laugh at her. Gritting her teeth, she hauled her son to his feet. "Fine, let’s go buy some."

Though she knew the child wouldn’t stay quiet for long, Plump Auntie didn’t want to lose face on the very day the neighbors moved in.

Song Fenglan didn’t go next door. No matter how loudly Zhang Xiaohu cried, she stayed put. For one, she had nothing to offer, and secondly, the neighbors might not appreciate her barging in. They weren’t familiar yet—showing up might make her look crazy.

"Mom, he’s crying really hard," Qin Zihang whispered, tugging at his mother’s sleeve. "But my candy melted."

A melted mess of candy stuck to its wrapper wasn’t proper to give someone. Folks might turn up their noses at it.

Back at his great-aunt’s place, Qin Zihang had tried giving candy once before, only to be met with disdain. He and Zhang Xiaohu hadn’t even met yet—they didn’t know each other. There was no way Qin Zihang would give Zhang Xiaohu a melted mess of candy still clinging to its wrapper.

"It’s such a hot day. What did you think would happen, stashing candy in this heat?" Song Fenglan said. "We’ll see another day if you two can play together."

Song Fenglan wanted to gauge what the neighbor’s child was like. Most kids weren’t inherently bad—some were downright adorable. But if the child was spoiled, their temper might be worse. Song Fenglan wasn’t having her son kiss up to some other kid.

Back in the capital, Song Fenglan had warned her son about rushing up to other kids. Some folks loved running their mouths about others in front of their children. Qin Yizhou had rarely been home, and people had even mocked Qin Zihang, calling him "Song Zihang" and saying he had no father.

They assumed Qin Yizhou didn’t care much for Song Fenglan and that the Qin family never really approved of her—as if she had forced Qin Yizhou into marriage.

Qin Zihang, still smarting from those hurts, wasn’t itching to play with the neighbor’s child. He had just arrived and wanted to stay close to his mother, too timid to venture out alone. Song Fenglan wouldn’t let him go unsupervised either. Thankfully, Qin Zihang was well-behaved and didn’t give her much cause for worry.

Qin Yizhou quickly finished scrubbing the wooden bed frames and set them aside to dry.

By noon, the family of three headed to the military canteen for lunch instead of having Qin Yizhou bring food back. Song Fenglan wanted to see what the canteen was like and familiarize herself with the place. If Qin Yizhou wasn’t home, she’d have to go there herself to get meals.

Qin Yizhou carried Qin Zihang, letting his son pick what he wanted to eat.

"Meat! I want meat!" Qin Zihang didn’t know which dishes were good, but he knew he wanted meat.

"Get him some braised pork or stir-fried meat—nothing spicy," Song Fenglan said, scanning the dishes at the serving window.

"We’ll take a bit of everything," Qin Yizhou said. He had stacks of meal tickets and had originally planned to trade for nationally valid ones to send back to Song Fenglan. But now that his wife and son were here, they’d use them locally.

Song Fenglan carried the tray while Qin Yizhou held their son. Once they had their food, the family sat down to eat together. Qin Yizhou even grabbed three free bowls of soup, placing them in front of his wife and child.

Just then, a military family member who knew Qin Yizhou approached. She was Chief of Staff Xu's new wife, Shi Guilan. Shi Guilan had tried fixing him up—like many others, she’d assumed he wasn’t married at all. Her cousin was in the cultural troupe, and Shi Guilan had wanted to set her up with Qin Yizhou.

The night before, Shi Guilan had doubted the rumors that Qin Yizhou’s wife and child had come to join him.

Now, seeing Qin Yizhou serving food to Song Fenglan, Shi Guilan frowned. Then, forcing a smile, she walked up to them. "Well, well, Regiment Commander Qin, so this is the wife who refused to join you all this time?"

"It wasn’t that she refused—our child was too young," Qin Yizhou said coldly, displeased by her tactless remark.

"That’s right," Song Fenglan cut in, raising an eyebrow. She recognized the hostility in Shi Guilan’s gaze. "I’m the wife who ‘refused’ to join him."

Although Auntie Fatty's words weren't very pleasant, she harbored none of Shi Guilan's hostility. In fact, Auntie Fatty had even given them two new bamboo poles for drying clothes.

"We're barely scraping by now, that's why we've come to join him in army life," Song Fenglan said. "This child isn't just mine alone—his father should pitch in too."

Shi Guilan found Song Fenglan quick with comebacks and increasingly irritating. "No wonder," she remarked, "no wonder when I tried to play matchmaker for Regiment Commander Qin before, he refused. Truly, no one else holds a candle to your looks."

What good is a pretty face? What mattered was status and position!

"Now that you're here, have you applied for family housing?" Shi Guilan asked with fake concern. "The newly built apartments will be ready soon—how convenient you showed up now."

At her words, others turned to look at Song Fenglan, wondering if her family would be moving into the new buildings.

"You're being nasty," Qin Zihang muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Shi Guilan glared at him.

"You're being nasty!" Qin Zihang wasn’t afraid of her—with both parents by his side, he raised his voice. "You're really, really bad!"

Hearing her son, Song Fenglan gently patted his head but didn’t scold him.

"The regiment commander's missus, is this how you raise your child?" Shi Guilan snapped, then turned to Qin Yizhou. "Regiment Commander, aren’t you going to say something?"

"What should I say? As a grown man, should I lower myself to your level?" Qin Yizhou retorted.

Shi Guilan’s expression darkened. She had expected Qin Yizhou to reprimand Song Fenglan, to stop her from making enemies so soon after arriving.

Qin Yizhou wasn’t a fool—he could see Shi Guilan’s hostility toward his wife. Shi Guilan wasn’t family, nor was she related to Song Fenglan’s side. What right did she have to demand he criticize his own wife?

What kind of man would stand by and watch his wife be bullied, only to side with the bully? That made no sense.

"I have eyes and ears—I’m neither deaf nor mute," Qin Yizhou said coldly. The nerve of this woman to mention playing matchmaker in front of his wife! "As I recall, when you tried to set me up, I made it clear I was already married, with a family—not single."

Shi Guilan had raised her voice deliberately, drawing attention, assuming others would share her disdain for Song Fenglan and side with her. But in reality, their conflict had nothing to do with bystanders—they were just rubbernecking.

"Daddy has a baby!" Qin Zihang, too young to understand, only knew this was his father. "Daddy, is she bullying Mommy? Should we show her who's boss?"

"Not 'showing someone who's boss'—it's about giving someone a taste of their own medicine," Qin Yizhou corrected.

Furious, Shi Guilan stormed off before she humiliated herself further.

"She said she played matchmaker for you—I thought she had her eye on you," Song Fenglan said bluntly. She didn’t care if her words were harsh—if others could speak rudely, so could she.

"Ignore her. She’s Chief of Staff Xu’s second wife," Qin Yizhou said. It wasn’t that he looked down on second wives or stepmothers, but Shi Guilan was all about pedigree.

Qin Yizhou had occasionally been invited to dinners by comrades, though he rarely attended unless he couldn't get out of it. He observed people’s character but kept quiet—they weren’t his family, and as long as they didn’t diss him, he saw no need to comment.

This time, however, Shi Guilan had dissed my wife—and by extension, Qin Yizhou himself. She had known his wife and son were arriving, yet went out of her way to be catty.

"I’m no stepdaughter of hers, more like no relation at all," Song Fenglan scoffed. "Anyone listening would think I stole something from her."

She had just arrived, and Shi Guilan was already like this—Song Fenglan figured the woman was probably a nightmare stepmom.

"Mommy." Qin Zihang served her some food. "Eat, Mommy. I’m here."

Song Fenglan quickly moved her bowl closer to avoid spills.

"It’s fine, let’s just eat," she said. "Don’t sweat this petty crap."

The onlookers now understood Qin Yizhou’s stance toward his family—and that Song Fenglan wasn’t one to mess with. Still, no one blamed her—Shi Guilan had asked for it with her snarky comments.

It's good that they know about this matter, but there's no need for them to get involved. Although everyone lives in the residential compound, it's not that small, and people don't necessarily gather together every day. There isn't that much to talk about either.

Shi Guilan picked up her meal and went back home, where she saw her stepdaughter and immediately started scolding, "Have you washed the clothes? Did you soak them properly? No other girl is as filthy as you—the water from washing your clothes is all cloudy and filthy."

Her stepdaughter sat nearby, not daring to serve herself while eating. Ever since Chief of Staff Xu remarried, the child from his first wife had endured plenty of scolding. At first, Shi Guilan had treated her stepdaughter well, but after giving birth to a son, her attitude did a complete 180.

"At your big age, you still don’t know how to cook," Shi Guilan said. "Every day, you wait for me to cook for you. If I’m busy and don’t have time, you don’t even think to cook for yourself or go get takeout. You just expect me to wait on you hand and foot like some spoiled rich girl!"

The neighbor next door overheard Shi Guilan berating her stepdaughter and couldn’t help but shake her head. Shi Guilan had really changed a lot. Back then, she had doted on the girl, spoiling and coaxing her, and the child had been happy, thinking Shi Guilan was wonderful.

Wonderful? Yeah right—it was all an act.

But who'd dare meddle in Chief of Staff Xu’s family matters? If he himself didn’t step in, no one else would bother to keep an eye on things for him. Men were often busy with work outside and didn’t have much time to look after their children. When they came home, they didn’t want to hear family quarrels—they just wanted peace and quiet.

"You refuse to learn this, you refuse to learn that—what will you do when you get married? Expect your husband to handle all these trivial chores? Or expect your mother-in-law to kowtow to you, doing everything for you?" Shi Guilan sneered. "If I don’t teach you now, people will say I’m a cruel stepmother, that I pampered you into uselessness."

"..." The stepdaughter kept her head bowed, saying nothing. Her stepmother was no longer the kind woman who had once treated her well—she had become a completely different person.

In the past, the stepdaughter would have slammed down her chopsticks, refusing to eat, and marched off to her room. But then she’d go hungry—her stepmother wouldn’t bring her food or pamper her anymore, and her father would scold her for being unreasonable, saying she’d eat when she got hungry enough.

As Qin Yizhou’s family of three finished their meal and headed back, they happened to see a truck pulled up at the entrance, with people unloading things like straw mats, blankets, and quilts.

"I'll help! I'll help!" Qin Zihang excitedly rushed forward.

One of the movers saw Qin Zihang reaching out and dug in his pocket before pulling out a piece of candy, placing it in the boy’s hand.

Qin Zihang looked at the candy in his palm, then got a bright idea. He turned to his father and said, "Dad, do you have any cigarettes? Hurry, give Uncle one!"

"..." Song Fenglan put her face in her hands, wishing she could pretend she hadn’t seen this. She took a deep breath and explained, "This kid just saw people moving things and noticed them sharing cigarettes, so he... really gets this quid pro quo thing."

She hoped they wouldn’t think she was a smoker—she didn’t smoke.

Song Fenglan knew that even if her aunt helped raise the child, or even if she did it herself, kids could still pick up some bad habits. Thankfully, this wasn’t too serious—children’s ability to imitate was just too strong.

"Reciprocity, reciprocity!" Qin Zihang giggled.

"Dad doesn’t smoke. Smoking is bad for your health and makes you stink," Qin Yizhou said with a light chuckle. He could sense his wife’s embarrassment—she was a neat freak who disliked drinking and smoking.

"Then forget it. I don’t want a stinky dad, and other kids wouldn’t want one either." Qin Zihang decisively handed over his treasured candy instead. "It’s just a little melted—just a little! It’s not bad, still good to eat. Really tasty!"

The movers were Qin Yizhou’s comrades, so of course they didn’t mind the melted candy. They thought Qin Zihang was adorable.

Not far away, a young woman watched this scene, her eyes growing red. She clutched her bag tightly, unsure whether to step forward or turn and leave.