Chapter 416: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 416: Left-behind Elderly, Even More Pitiful

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"Alright, Grandaunt Aidi, I'll take a look for you right away."

Wang Xiaohua took the mobile phone from Zhou Aidi's hand and examined it carefully.

He found the phone actually had no major problem; for some reason, it had been set to silent mode.

There were several call records from Liang Xinghua on it, all made today, each lasting over ten seconds. Presumably Liang Xinghua had answered, but because it was on silent, Zhou Aidi couldn't hear Liang Xinghua's voice and thought the phone was broken.

Wang Xiaohua turned the phone's volume up to maximum and handed it back to her:

"It's fixed. Try calling again."

"Okay, okay, I'll call back right now!" Zhou Aidi's old face wore a simple smile, full of gratitude. She quickly dialed her son Liang Xinghua's phone number again, and soon Liang Xinghua's voice came through:

"Mom, what's wrong now?"

"Xinghua, I'm home. You don't need to worry too much about me. You and your wife take care in Shenzhen, don't argue. Family harmony brings prosperity in all things, do you understand?"

"I know, I know. Didn't you just call? I called you and you didn't answer."

"My phone was broken just now. Xiaohua only just fixed it. I couldn't hear your voice earlier."

"Anything else?"

"No, nothing. Just wanted to tell you: if there's anything Mom can help with, just let me know."

"You'd better not come anymore. Every time you come, I'm stuck in the middle, caught between a rock and a hard place. I explain things to Meng Lian, but she won't listen and says I side with you instead of her. It's driving me crazy."

Zhou Aidi sighed:

"Xinghua, you believe me, right? Mom couldn't be that malicious, couldn't poison her. You know that."

Liang Xinghua was also at his wit's end:

"I know that, but she won't listen. What can I do? Still, it's true you favor boys over girls. When you first came to Shenzhen and saw it was a granddaughter, you weren't too happy. How could you put on a sour face in front of her?"

"Mom was wrong too, Mom admits it. You two live well together. Try to have another one next year, have a boy. Then your father in the Underworld can rest easy."

Zhou Aidi said thus.

"I know, I know, no more talk. I have to go feed the baby milk."

Liang Xinghua said impatiently.

The child had just been born; he was overwhelmed and his patience was completely worn out.

"Don't hang up yet, I have a few more things to say." Zhou Aidi hurriedly said.

"Then say it quickly."

"Don't feed the baby milk powder. Milk powder isn't good. Breast milk is healthy. When older, you can give a little rice congee water. Chew the rice congee soft with your mouth before feeding it to the child. Also, get some mugwort, boil water for the baby to bathe in. It can ward off evil. That way the child will be healthy and not easily get sick. That's how I fed you when you were young. You basically didn't get sick much as a child."

Liang Xinghua laughed and cried at these words:

"Mom, what era is this? Still using your old-fashioned methods? Don't worry, it's definitely breast milk. We can't afford milk powder. As for chewing rice congee to feed the child, forget it. Just buy a soy milk machine, blend it, and feed it. Who uses their mouth to chew food soft and feed it anymore? So unsanitary."

But Zhou Aidi said:

"You don't understand. An adult's saliva can make the child healthier. Don't complain about the trouble."

"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say. That's all for now. No more talk."

Liang Xinghua hung up the phone very impatiently.

Although he agreed to Zhou Aidi's request on the surface, it was obvious he would not do as she said at all.

Indeed, those child-feeding methods Zhou Aidi mentioned were outdated. Now almost no one uses such old-fashioned methods to feed infants.

City people all use milk powder. Although the Sanlu incident a few years ago caused panic, wealthy people still use milk powder, just imported milk powder instead of domestic.

Those without money, left with no choice, use breast milk.

As for baby food, it's long past the era of using rice congee as baby food.

There are so many infant nutrition products available now. Who would still use rice congee to feed a child?

Through Zhou Aidi and Liang Xinghua's brief phone call, Wang Xiaohua immediately saw the essence of the matter.

The conflict between Zhou Aidi and her daughter-in-law Lan Menglian was probably not as simple as a misunderstanding.

Rather, it was a clash of concepts. Zhou Aidi was unwilling to change her outdated concepts, while Lan Menglian was unwilling to accept Zhou Aidi's outdated concepts. Various conflicts were inevitable in their interactions.

Regarding feeding the child, Lan Menglian, as the child's biological mother, definitely wanted to have full decision-making authority, not let her mother-in-law interfere.

Especially when the mother-in-law's various child-rearing concepts were so backward.

The matter of the yellow ginger stewed chicken soup was just the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Grandaunt Xiulan, be more open-minded. Actually, rural life is quite good too. The air in the city isn't that good, and you can only stay indoors all day, with no place to move around."

Wang Xiaohua comforted Zhou Aidi.

Zhou Aidi nodded:

"Xiao Hua, you're right. In the city, it's like being locked in a cage. Not only is the house small, you can't even go out. I don't know anyone outside, and I don't dare go out, afraid of getting lost. It's better to be back in Shangou Village. No one will mistreat me. Let them do as they please. Let them raise the child however they want..."

Although Zhou Aidi said this with her mouth,

the expression on her face was still inevitably desolate.

Rural people of this generation, living a lifetime, working hard to raise children—what was it all for?

How many rural parents raised their children, sent them to work in the city, let them start families in the city, only to abandon their aging parents in the countryside and no longer care for them?

Left-behind elderly are actually even more pitiable and sad than left-behind children.

……