Call Me Daddy

The connection between the Yu family and the Jiang family was more complicated than just being neighbors.

Years ago, Old Lady Yu had her eye on Jiang Lianmei, hoping to marry the brigade leader’s daughter into her family. This way, the Yu family would gain status in the team and, through familial ties, secure high-paying and easy jobs during task assignments.

However, she didn’t intend for the match to be with her most accomplished second son, Yu Zhicheng, but rather with her precious youngest son, Yu Zhifu.

At that time, Jiang Lianmei had already hinted to her family about her relationship with Su Aobai’s original self from the educated youth compound. Although the Jiang family had many reservations and complaints about Su Aobai, compared to Yu Zhifu, Su Aobai seemed like a promising young man.

Yu Zhifu was a good-for-nothing who couldn’t differentiate between different grains and was lazy. The only people who thought highly of him were his parents.

Most of the allowances sent home by Yu Zhicheng were spent on this youngest son, dressing him up nicely. He had repeated junior high school three times without qualifying for any technical or high schools. Every time he failed, he would blame the examiners for not recognizing his talent or having an upset stomach on the exam day, never admitting his own lack of ability.

After too many repetitions, even the town’s school refused to accept him anymore. He had no choice but to return home and farm. This adult man worked no better than a female educated youth, earning the disdain of the entire team.

Old Lady Yu wanted to marry Jiang Lianmei to her youngest son, but according to Jiang Dajun, that was wishful thinking.

Even though Su Aobai wasn’t much of a worker, he at least had a high school diploma, good looks, and height. Most importantly, he was the one Jiang Lianmei loved. Compared to Yu Zhifu, Su Aobai seemed like a catch, which gradually calmed Jiang Dajun’s anger.

Later, when Su Aobai and Jiang Lianmei got married, Jiang Dajun even secured a temporary job for Su Aobai at a primary school. The Yu family was very resentful. If the Jiang family had agreed to the match with their son, that job should have gone to him. However, the Yu family didn’t consider that Jiang Dajun only pulled strings for his son-in-law because of Su Aobai’s high level of education. If Jiang Dajun had the ability to secure jobs easily, wouldn’t he have done so for his own children first?

From that point on, relations between the two families soured. Every time Old Lady Yu saw Jiang Lianmei, she would make snide remarks, unable to feel comfortable otherwise.

***

“Has Comrade Fan Yunxiang given birth? Why didn’t she ask Aunt Yu to help with the postpartum care?”

Su Aobai was just as mischievous, following Jiang Lianmei’s lead in lying.

Fan Yunxiang was the female educated youth who married Yu Zhicheng, the second son of the Yu family. She was cunning and resourceful, suffering only during the first 6 months after marrying into the Yu family.

When Yu Zhicheng returned home for his second visit, she cleverly made sure he witnessed his parents and sisters-in-law mistreating her, quickly applying for army spouse status.

By the second year of accompanying her husband in the army, Fan Yunxiang became pregnant. She later gave birth to a daughter named Yu Baozhu. After having the child, the money Yu Zhicheng sent home decreased further.

Old Lady Yu used the pretext of caring for her daughter-in-law during postpartum confinement to move into the military district, primarily to control the money Yu Zhicheng sent.

What exactly happened during that time was unclear to outsiders. All they knew was that Old Lady Yu returned after only half a month, before Fan Yunxiang’s postpartum period was even over. Yu Zhicheng had sent her back with a stern face and hastily left without even having a meal at home. People speculated that Old Lady Yu must have done something to thoroughly anger her usually good-natured and filial son.

In the following years, no good news came from Fan Yunxiang’s end. Old Lady Yu often gossiped, calling her daughter-in-law a hen that didn’t lay eggs and complaining that she had only given birth to a girl, leaving her son without an heir.

Last year, Yu Zhicheng called home to say his wife was pregnant again. By now, the baby should have been born and the postpartum period completed.

Jiang Lianmei had deliberately asked Old Lady Yu if her second daughter-in-law had given birth, just to embarrass her. She wanted to highlight how Old Lady Yu had alienated her most successful son to the point where his wife didn’t even want her help during confinement.

“Yes, she gave birth to a son. Your brother Zhicheng wanted me to help with the postpartum care, but your brother Zhifu was concerned about me, saying that at my age, it would be too tiring to travel back and forth. So, I declined.”

Old Lady Yu’s face turned sour as she glared at the two neighbors with malicious smiles, inwardly cursing.

The villagers were right. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go; her second son had called before his wife’s due date, telling her not to come, fearing she would upset his wife and affect her milk production. He warned her that if she caused any trouble, he would send even less money home, treating her like his older brother and younger brother did. Old Lady Yu couldn’t bear to lose that 5 yuan, so she had to swallow her anger.

No wonder Jiang Lianmei had rejected my precious youngest son back then. It turned out she had such a sharp and vicious tongue. Even Su Aobai wasn’t any better, always siding with Jiang Lianmei to target her.

Old Lady Yu dumped the dirty water from the basin onto the ground and stormed back into her house.

***

Seeing that they had won the argument, Jiang Lianmei’s expression was triumphant, and she couldn’t help but give her husband a look of appreciation.

“Younger sister-in-law, you’re here! And you brought so many things with you.”

Once Old Lady Yu retreated, Jiang Lianmei’s sister-in-law emerged from the house with a smile on her face. Her eyes glanced over the items Jiang Lianmei had brought, showing a hint of satisfaction.

“Sister-in-law,” Jiang Lianmei greeted her with a smile and then bypassed her, handing the items to her mother, who followed closely behind.

“Mom, this smoked fish was made by my mother-in-law herself. Consider it an addition to lunch, and everyone can have a taste. And these fried pastries are both fragrant and crispy, specially brought for you and Dad to try.”

Second Sister-In-Law Yu’s face momentarily fell when she didn’t receive the items from her sister-in-law, but then she reconsidered. Since the items were given to her parents-in-law, who lived with them, her family would benefit the most. Her expression softened.

“Fried pastries?” Han Juan smacked her lips. That must be a delicacy. At her age, she would save it to occasionally treat her grandchildren. The smoked fish and seaweed Lianmei brought could add two or three dishes to lunch.

In no time, the men and children of the family, along with the second son, Jiang Lianbian, and his family, returned home. Jiang Lianbian’s wife, Xia Yaofang, was holding two handfuls of freshly picked vegetables from their garden.

“Sister-in-law, I saw the spinach in the yard growing well, so I brought two handfuls for a vegetable soup at lunch,” Xia Yaofang said.

Xia Yaofang and Yu Zhao’er were both quite ordinary in appearance. Due to years of hard work, they were sturdily built with somewhat dark skin, looking very capable and efficient.

The two Jiang sons were somewhat dull, having not inherited Jiang Dajun’s cleverness and capability. Fortunately, the eldest, though dull, had a stable personality and was a diligent worker, earning the elders’ approval and smoothly taking over as the team leader from Jiang Dajun.

When choosing wives for these two sons, Han Juan specifically picked shrewd and assertive women to help manage their households after the family split. In hindsight, they both seemed too sharp, often clashing with each other.

“There’s no need to bring vegetables when you come,” Yu Zhao’er said with a forced smile as she took the spinach. It wasn’t anything valuable, and with Jiang Lianbian’s family, including their two children, they consumed a lot of food. In her eyes, it always seemed like their side was at a loss.

The women went to the kitchen to help, while Su Aobai stayed in the main room, chatting idly with his father-in-law and brothers-in-law.

Before they arrived, Han Juan and Yu Zhao’er had already prepared most of the meal. Now, with the additional items they brought, they made a few more dishes.

***

Today’s lunch was exceptionally lavish.

Su Aobai brought a plate of smoked fish and a bowl of onion scrambled eggs. Yesterday evening, Jiang Dajun went to the river and caught a few clumsy fish with a small net. They weren’t very big, so they were chopped into pieces and stewed with the homemade pickled vegetables. These three were the main dishes. There were also some vegetables from the garden, a bowl of boiled taro, a bowl of pickled vegetables stir-fried with pumpkin, and the spinach brought by Xia Yaofang was cooked into a soup, with an egg added, giving it a fresh flavor.

The whole family had six dishes to eat, with ample portions of vegetarian dishes, enough for everyone.

Su Aobai knew that this was already a decent meal for this era, with fish and eggs, though it lacked a bit of meat.

The original owner’s family was a working-class family. Father Su had a pension, and Mother Su was an accountant. Eldest Brother Su and his wife were also factory workers. However, during Su Aobai’s stay at home, the daily meals were very ordinary.

Because his eldest brother had three children, and his sister-in-law was pregnant with another, the family not only faced housing shortages but also had to save money for these four children. They couldn’t afford to spend lavishly.

During that time, although eggs weren’t in short supply, there would only be meat and vegetables once every few days, and they didn’t have rice or white bread every meal.

“Mom, this fish is delicious!” Su Mingmei exclaimed as her mother fed her. She finally tasted the smoked fish she had been longing for, her expression filled with satisfaction.

Today, because it was a reunion dinner after 3 months, and with the return of the son-in-law to share the burden of the elderly couple, Jiang Dajun instructed his wife to make today’s lunch as good as possible. Although it wasn’t pure rice, Han Juan tried to use fewer sweet potatoes and less water.

The plump rice mixed with sweet potatoes, paired with a bite of savory smoked fish, tasted incredibly good.

The expressions of the others weren’t as good as this little girl’s. Yu Zhao’er was afraid of eating less and losing out, so she kept serving her own children the main dishes. Xia Yaofang did the same.

Han Juan still felt embarrassed and decided to split the bowl of smoked fish in advance.

Although scrambled eggs and pickled fish weren’t often eaten, they were still available. However, the bowl of sea fish brought by the son-in-law was indeed rare, especially since it was made by the in-law herself. Han Juan hoped that everyone could have a taste.

The adults were given thicker portions from the middle section of the fish, while the children received smaller pieces. With only one piece of smoked fish per person, there was one small piece left after the distribution.

Han Juan picked it up and put it in her husband’s bowl, and no one objected.

Compared to the Jiang family, who hadn’t experienced much, Su Aobai had eaten plenty of good food. Having recently endured some hardships, he wasn’t that eager. So, he picked up the piece of smoked fish he was given and placed it in his wife’s bowl.

“You and the children can share it.”

He genuinely wasn’t interested, but others didn’t seem to see it that way. Xia Yaofang and Yu Zhao’er looked at their shy sister-in-law and then at their husbands, who were enjoying the smoked fish, feeling a bit upset.

Wasn’t this sister-in-law too fortunate? Not only did she have a good-looking husband, but he also always thought of the three of them.

But on second thought, didn’t her husband’s decision to give up his job at the food factory for her and the children prove this?

The two of them ate a bite of pickled vegetables, feeling even more sour in their hearts.

***

Su Mingmei took another bite of the delicious and oily smoked fish, enjoying the envious glances of her cousins who had already finished their portions.

[Daughter’s favorability rating: 71. Reward: 100 catties of smoked fish.]

Even such a young child knew how to compare. Eating her father’s portion of smoked fish, she felt that it tasted even better. Perhaps it was because her cousins’ envious looks made it more appetizing.

With this satisfaction, her favorability rating soared, breaking through the difficult barrier of 70.

Su Aobai paused, startled by the sudden voice in his mind.

Smoked fish… 100 catties!!!