I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 90 - 89: Mrs. Song Longs for Her Children and Grandchildren

Xu Xiuxiu was quite surprised by this and, after giving it some more thought, she let the two of them ask around to see if any employees were willing to volunteer to stay at the store over the New Year. Those who stayed did so voluntarily, signing up of their own accord with no coercion. For those who wanted to go home for the New Year, a generous red envelope would be given out before the holiday as well, and the benefits were quite good, considering everyone had worked hard for many days.

However, for those who agreed to stay at the store, from New Year’s Eve to the seventh day of the New Year, wages would be tripled. In addition to receiving the New Year gift package, there would also be a red envelope worth no less than 100 "foreign dollars," which amounted to two months’ salary. Naturally, this news made many employees eager.

Xu Xiuxiu had initially thought that there wouldn’t be many people willing to work over the New Year, but after the managers announced the benefits, a surprising number of employees signed up. Keeping the business running during the New Year was no longer a problem. However, Xu Xiuxiu didn’t want to solve one problem only to face a significant staffing shortage after the New Year that could affect business. Therefore, she asked the two managers to arrange for half of the Sichuan Pavilion’s staff to stay, while the first group of employees who went home for the New Year would return to work after the sixth day of the New Year. Those who stayed would hand over their duties and then go home for the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. The candidates were to be drawn from those who volunteered to stay.

With the arrangements all sorted out, time slipped by quickly, and with only a few days left until the New Year, Song Yuanhuan’s unit finally approved his holiday leave after several urgent phone calls from home. Carrying train tickets that had been prepared well in advance, along with large and small bags of luggage, the family of three set off on their return train journey two mornings before New Year’s Eve.

...

Mrs. Song woke up early to prepare various things when she heard from a phone call that her second son and his family would be taking the train home today. She even took the time to simmer a chicken on low heat for several hours in a pot, just so that her son’s family could have a nice hot soup to warm their bodies upon their arrival.

After busying herself in the kitchen, Mrs. Song had some free time and occasionally stepped out to the courtyard gate to look around. If it hadn’t been for the heavy snowfall that blanketed the village paths the previous night, making it difficult for her to traverse, she would have wrapped herself in her padded coat and gone to the village entrance to wait for them early on.

"Stop pacing back and forth; you’re making my head spin with all this milling around," Mr. Song said, puffing on his pipe in the main room of the house as he watched his wife, who stood at the doorway looking toward the courtyard gate. He thought about their daughter-in-law hiding in the room, unwilling to come out, with a face not quite a face and a nose not quite a nose, and couldn’t help but express his irritation to dampen his wife’s excitement: "Get inside and check on Niuniu. Isn’t the girl down with a cold again today? Keep a close eye on her. The day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and it’s not auspicious to take medicine during the New Year; otherwise, she’ll be relying on medicine all year round. Her mother is a handful, so don’t you, as a grandmother, neglect your granddaughter just because your son is coming home." Mr. Song voiced his concern for his granddaughter but couldn’t help muttering a few complaints internally.

Nowadays, he deeply felt that girls couldn’t compare to boys. He didn’t mention how their grandson, who had been born less than a month prematurely, had once been skinny with hardly any meat on him but now was growing stronger and sturdier. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the boy had come back looking plump and particularly charming. Their granddaughter Niuniu must have kicked around in her mother’s womb for a full ten months! She was already seven and a half pounds at birth, yet now she seemed to be growing more delicate and sickly every other day. The once lively and clever child had been worn down so much she hardly seemed clever anymore.

Upon hearing her husband’s words, Mrs. Song remembered her granddaughter lying in the back room. Although the girl’s mother, Wang Qinghua, had done those things in the past, which Mrs. Song still couldn’t quite forgive, and sometimes she wasn’t as devoted to the girl as she had been before, the fact remained that Niuniu was the child she had raised from infancy, and Mrs. Song still felt a deep affection for her.

"I’ll fix a bowl of chicken soup for her and see if she has taken her medicine," Mrs. Song frowned, turning to walk into the kitchen. In no time, she returned with a bowl of chicken soup and headed down the corridor, "Keep an eye out, and call me as soon as they’re back." Mrs. Song instructed her husband anxiously.

"The train left at seven in the morning; they wouldn’t get here until nightfall. What’s the rush?" Mr. Song retorted, tired of his wife’s nagging.

"I haven’t seen my grandson for months; aren’t I allowed to miss him? You may not miss your grandson, but I sure do," Mrs. Song huffed, carrying the chicken soup back across the corridor to the inner room.

Mr. Song remained seated, puffing heavily on his pipe. He too was discontented with his wife’s rebuke; naturally, as a grandfather, he missed his grandson too. How could he not? Besides Niuniu and Song Tianxin at the Song family home, there was only that precious little darling. As a grandfather, how could he not long for him? But being a stoic man, he had rarely exchanged tender words with his son throughout his life. Despite the closeness with a grandson, a man like him, habituated to saving face, couldn’t easily express his longing.

While Mr. Song mused in the main hall about when his grandson might arrive, Mrs. Song fed her granddaughter, Song Tianxin, a small bowl of chicken soup. After finishing, the little girl lay down obediently. As Mrs. Song stepped out of the room, she peeked toward the courtyard gate with a look of concern on her sun-worn face, now creased with wrinkles.

"What if Yuanhuan and the others haven’t come back because the snow has made the roads treacherous and delayed the train?" Despite never having traveled by train, Mrs. Song knew that cold weather and snow could make any task difficult, let alone a train packed with so many people and luggage. Could it be that the train was unable to move?

"Always overthinking, you are—incessant worry and endless nagging. With the snow, the roads are slippery and hard to navigate. The kids have to be cautious. A delay is only natural!" Mr. Song thought irritably, wishing to silence his wife’s constant fretting.

Mrs. Song’s temper flared up at the rebuke. Just then, scattered voices sounded at the courtyard gate, followed by the appearance of figures. Xu Xiuxiu, holding Song Chengguang’s hand, was the first to step through the gate, followed by Song Yuanhuan carrying a large suitcase, looking protective of the mother and child.

"Dad, Mom, we’re back," Xu Xiuxiu called out warmly as soon as she caught sight of Mrs. Song standing at the entrance of the main hall, her face breaking into a smile.

"Ah! Xiuxiu! You’re finally back. I’ve been looking forward to your return since early morning; my neck has stretched from all the waiting, but at last, you’re here. Come, be careful leading Chengguang; I’ve shoveled the snow in the yard but the water from the melted snow is still damp and slippery." Mrs. Song, seeing her happy little grandson coming in with tiny steps, started fussing immediately.