17: Chapter 10 Falling Chain – 2 17: Chapter 10 Falling Chain – 2 At that time, even a wedding would at most receive a pair of socks, and extraordinarily, a washbasin as a gift; the several yards of cotton Lin Xiaoguai gifted were indeed a generous gesture.
Luo Yufang wanted to speak to dissuade her from such thoughts, but Shen Chi intervened, “Sure, I remember Second Aunt’s grandson just turned one, this fabric will be just right for him.”
Shen Chi was not a man who liked to insist; regarding fatherly love, he had tried to salvage it but soon realized it was futile and gradually came to peace with it.
In his previous life, despite being unwilling and using all means of coercion and enticement, he still let Lin Xiaoguai leave in the end.
However, he was a person who respected others as much as they respected him; his aunts had always been kind to him, so naturally, he also wished to be close to them.
The money he sent to grandma and grandpa over the years was used by them to support their children’s needs.
He never mentioned it, but that didn’t mean he was unaware.
What pleased him the most was seeing his wife’s actions just now, clearly not someone stingy.
Seeing Luo Yufang still hesitant, Lin Xiaoguai said, “Although cotton is good, it will discolor if kept too long.
It’s not as good as buying new.”
In fact, her actions were not out of generosity; she simply did not think much of the cotton available at that time.
Such coarse cotton was okay for adults, but she would never want to use poor-quality fabric for children.
After all, she had plenty of high-quality fine cotton stored in her space.
Because they had to catch the train, the three of them had risen before dawn.
Lin Xiaoguai, who loved her sleep, did not get up until eight or nine o’clock and naturally did not see them.
“Sister-in-law, I made corn and bean sprout porridge, please have some quickly.” Seeing her clutching her stomach as if extremely hungry, Shen Xiu hurriedly said.
Though there were no signs of nausea, Lin Xiaoguai was not only sleepy but also got hungry easily, usually waking up hungry.
Lin Xiaoguai had half a bowl of porridge before feeling the torturous hunger subside, she looked up and asked, “Xiu’er, have you eaten?”
“I have eaten, sister-in-law, just wait, I’ll come and wash the dishes once I’m done here,” Shen Xiu was setting up a frame for the beans in the yard, wiping her sweat as she spoke.
Lin Xiaoguai would not let her wash the dishes, quickly washing them herself, and started nibbling on a bright yellow corn cob.
“This corn smells great, is it also grown here?” She took a small stool and sat under the eaves.
“No, it’s from the elderly neighbor next door,” Shen Xiu said as she rinsed her hands in the bucket to wash off the mud.
“In the spring, we had more radishes than we could eat, so we gave many away to neighbors.
The corn is more like a return of favors.”
Lin Xiaoguai nodded in understanding.
In her past life, she had gotten along well with her old neighborhood, but there was always a formal air to it, lacking warmth – this old-fashioned neighborhood kindness was something she had not experienced in a long time, and it felt quite nice.
Though Shen Xiu stayed to care for her, she was not by her side all the time, she had plans to go out that afternoon.
“Sister-in-law, there’s porridge in the pot and the fire hasn’t died down; if you get hungry, just help yourself.
I’ll be back early to cook dinner.”
“Got it, have fun,” Lin Xiaoguai watched as Shen Xiu’s figure disappeared down the alley.
After sweeping the pathway clean at the courtyard entrance, Lin Xiaoguai closed the gate and went inside.
Sitting in the room, she carefully drew the curtains and hesitated before unclasping the pendant around her neck.
This chain was guarded by Aunt with great effort during a difficult period from the Red Guards; it was passed down by Lin Xiaoguai’s grandma to her daughters-in-law, with each of the three daughter-in-laws receiving one.
Both Aunt and Second Aunt’s pendants were gold chains with a small gold Ruyi, but it was slightly different when it came to Lin Xiaoguai’s Mom.
Since grandma did not like her mom, feeling that her youngest son had married a dull wife and thus been wronged, she took the pretext of worrying that her daughter-in-law would lose it and kept it for herself.
Later, during the turbulent times, the village was chaotic, and the house was busy.
Although a thief visited and grandma was alert, during a confrontation, the thief managed to snatch away the small gold Ruyi, leaving behind a bare chain.
With the family still possessing some resources, grandma didn’t want to favor one over the other and decided to replace the small gold Ruyi with a small Jade Pendant.
Perhaps because all four brothers were more like their mom in temperament, grandma didn’t favor them as much as she did the cousins from Uncle’s and Second Uncle’s family.
When Lin Xiaoguai was born, the old lady, who had a preference for boys, insisted that Lin Xiaoguai looked like her and treated her just as well, if not better, than her cousins.
Even on her deathbed, she entrusted the pendant to Aunt, instructing her to give it to Lin Xiaoguai when she grew up.
At that time, Lin Xiaoguai was only three years old, not yet steady on her feet.
After that difficult period was over, Lin Xiaoguai’s mom passed away, and Aunt discreetly handed over the pendant to her before the arranged time.
Because of this pendant, Lin Xiaoguai led a comfortable life in her previous life, and because of it, rebirth held meaning for her.
She looked down at the somewhat oddly shaped Jade Pendant in her hand; the pendant could be divided into two parts, one part was a thumb-sized round white jade with a green bean-sized circular depression in the middle, the top of which was delicately inlaid with gold; the other part looked like a blue waterdrop-shaped object embedded or dyed on the back, if not for the tactile prominence, it would seem fused with the former to the naked eye.
The Jade Pendant was beautiful, but the quality of the jade wasn’t good and wasn’t an ancient relic with a known provenance.
It wouldn’t sell for much if it were put on the market.
This was also why Aunt and Second Aunt did not object to grandma’s proposal initially.
However, no one knew what kind of treasure was hidden inside the Jade Pendant!