After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

"Mom, take Qianqian with you when you cook. She fell and her ankle is so swollen that she has trouble walking," Hu Zi suddenly remembered something and quickly said.

"How badly are you injured?" Aunt Ding frowned.

"Dr. Zhou said there was no bone damage, but he needs to rest," Hu Zi said matter-of-factly.

"I'll go take a look later," Aunt Ding said, turning to walk towards the kitchen.

Uncle Ding called out to her, "Take some eggs over there."

"Will you still supply the restaurant tomorrow?" Aunt Ding asked, turning around.

"Yes, I'll go early tomorrow. Sister Qianqian will direct me," Hu Zi said, adding, "We also need to go collect snails tomorrow! Later, Uncle Lin said he would go, so I went with him. While the weather is still okay, my sister said to stock up on some, because it will get cold in a couple of days and we won't be able to go into the water."

"Tomorrow, Da Hu and Er Hu will also go snail hunting. The more people there are, the more snails we can catch," Aunt Ding instructed.

Both the big tiger and the two tigers agreed.

Chunfen wanted to go and help, but Aunt Ding stopped her: "The water is too cold, it's not good for women, especially for childbirth."

Chunfen understood what her mother-in-law meant, and pursed her lips: "Then I'll help prepare some other things."

Aunt Ding nodded in satisfaction, then looked back at the ginseng on the table and sighed softly, as if she were both happy and feeling a pang of regret.

Aunt Ding caught an old hen, killed it, made soup, served Lin Qianqian a large bowl, and put ten freshly laid eggs in a basket, intending to go and see the girl.

When Chunfen saw that Aunt Ding was going to the Lin family, she said, "Mother, I'll go with you to see Qianqian."

"Okay, then you carry this chicken soup, and be careful," Aunt Ding reminded her.

And so the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law each carried a basket and walked toward Lin Qianqian's house, with Hu Zi following behind them, trotting along happily.

"Slow down, don't bump into your sister-in-law and spill the chicken soup," Aunt Ding quickly reminded him, seeing his bewildered expression.

"Okay, Mom, I'm watching." Tiger looked dejected after being scolded.

"Look at him, he doesn't like it when you say a few words to him." Aunt Ding noticed that something was wrong with Hu Zi at a glance.

"Tiger also has his pride," Chunfen chimed in.

"Sister-in-law, look at Mom, she doesn't give me any face at all," Tiger said, sounding aggrieved.

"Okay, I'll give you face next time," Aunt Ding said.

Aunt Ding was about to knock on the door when Hu Zi pushed it open.

The three entered the courtyard. Lin Qianqian heard the noise and looked through the window to see that it was Aunt Ding and the others.

"Auntie, I'm inside. Come in quickly. I'm too tired to move around, so I won't go out to greet you," Lin Qianqian said.

"No need, no need, we're not outsiders either." Aunt Ding's laughter grew closer.

"Tiger said you fell, how badly did you fall? How could you be so careless!" Aunt Ding sat next to Lin Qianqian and looked at her ankle, which was wrapped in gauze.

"It's nothing, just a sprained ankle, it'll be fine in a few days," Lin Qianqian said, lying on the kang (heated brick bed).

"I made you some chicken soup, have some to nourish yourself." After Aunt Ding finished speaking, Chunfen had already placed the basket by the kang (a heated brick bed) and handed the chicken soup inside to Lin Qianqian.

"Thank you for your trouble, Auntie and Sister-in-law," Lin Qianqian said.

"My mom killed the old hen at home. This soup is really nourishing, Sister Qianqian, you should drink it quickly," Hu Zi said.

Lin Qianqian brought it over and drank more than half of it.

"This soup is really delicious."

"I was worried that my skills weren't good enough!" Aunt Ding said.

"I love everything my aunt makes," Lin Qianqian said.

"You're just good at making me happy," Aunt Ding said. "You have no one to take care of you. How about we leave Tiger with you so you can fetch water or something?"

"That's so embarrassing!" Lin Qianqian said.

"What's the big deal? He's like your own brother. If you don't mind, Tiger will stay with you for the next few days," Aunt Ding said.

"That's great! Tiger is like my own younger brother, I don't feel anything special." Lin Qianqian was worried about who would take care of her.

Tiger lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said, "Then I'm not leaving. This big house is so spacious and bright. It's so much more comfortable than sharing a room with my second brother."

"Look at him like that, why don't we give you to your sister Qianqian's family?" Aunt Ding said.

"Auntie was just saying. If you really gave it up, you'd be heartbroken. I wouldn't take what belongs to someone else. A child is flesh of my flesh!" Lin Qianqian said.

That's right. Even if Aunt Ding talks about Hu Zi, she still loves her son.