I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

The bedroom door opened gently, and a little head peeked in: "Mom, what are you looking at?"

"Xiaoyong, come in quickly, it's your little brother." Li Hongxia waved with a smile, and Xiaoyong awkwardly entered the bedroom.

"My little brother is so fair-skinned and chubby." Li Hongxia held Xiao Yong's hand and touched Hao Hao's face.

"I like my little sister, Mom. What about your little sister who was born last time?" Six-year-old Xiaoyong asked.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Who told you that? Mom isn't pregnant at all." Li Hongxia interrupted Xiaoyong anxiously.

"Grandma said that Mom will give birth to a little sister for me." Xiao Yong looked at Li Hongxia in confusion.

"Look at your mother's mouth, talking nonsense. Xiaoyong, next time Mom will give you a little sister from our family, and your brother will be from your uncle's family."

Lin Jun glared at Li Hongxia with displeasure. How could his mother-in-law talk nonsense in front of the child?

"Mom, Uncle's house has lots of candy, I want to go to Uncle's house."

"And who told you that?"

"Grandma said that my eldest uncle is a hero, and he gets to eat candy and meat, which is why my little brother is so chubby and healthy."

When Xiao Yong said in his childish voice, Li Hongxia couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She pulled her thin son over and said, "Xiao Yong, Mom is sorry. In a couple of days, Mom will go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy you candy."

Li Hongxia and Lin Jun are both factory workers. The family of three only gets about 1.5 jin of meat a month. Every few days, her mother-in-law asks for half a jin of meat coupons. Li Hongxia doesn't want to give them to her and tells her to ask her sister-in-law for them. But her mother-in-law says, "Your sister-in-law's meat coupons are also given to your son, aren't they?" This leaves Li Hongxia speechless.

The eldest son is malnourished, while the younger son is as fat as a weight. They have the same parents, but different fates.

Fortunately, I sent my youngest son to my eldest brother's house; otherwise, he would have suffered just as much if he had stayed with me.

Han Dan came in to see her son and saw Li Hongxia crying. Startled, she quickly snatched her son away and asked, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

Li Hongxia lowered her head to wipe her tears, and Lin Jun smiled awkwardly: "It's nothing, sister-in-law, it's just that Xiaoyong wants to eat meat."

Han Dan breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Xiao Yong and said, "Xiao Yong is too thin. You should make some minced meat and steamed eggs for him to help him get some nutrition."

"Sister-in-law, we are just ordinary workers, each of us only gets half a pound of meat coupons. How can we compare to our brother?" Li Hongxia smiled humbly.

"That's true, only one and a half jin of meat coupons a month is indeed too little. Xiaoyong, Grandma made braised pork for lunch, but your aunt didn't eat it, so she saved it for you."

Li Hongxia was only hoping that her sister-in-law could help her out, but she didn't even mention it.

Well, if she's doing well, her youngest son will be doing well too. Han Dan may be stingy, but she's genuinely good to the children.

Han Dan naturally wouldn't help her younger brother and sister-in-law's family. She had been married for over three years and rarely visited her husband's family before having children. Even when she did visit, she never saw her younger brother and sister-in-law, who always said they were too busy with work. In Han Dan's mind, her younger brother and sister-in-law were city people, high and mighty.

Now she has a son and a job, and she is a true city dweller. Although Lin Jie is indifferent to her, at least he brings his salary home.

Han Dan straightened her back; there was no need for her to be mindful of her younger siblings' feelings anymore.

However, Han Dan never imagined that the son she cherished was secretly born to her by her younger brother and sister-in-law.

Everyone in the Lin family knew, except for her.

"Time to eat!"

In the living room, the mother-in-law called out, and her two daughters-in-law quickly got up to help.

A large table of dishes, including fish, meat, and a roast chicken, was laid out. Xiao Yong's mouth watered with envy. Lin Yuan picked up a piece of braised pork, stuffed it into Xiao Yong's mouth, and said, "Eat quickly."

The meat was so big that Xiao Yong swallowed a mouthful, and the oil dripped out.

"You little glutton, Grandma has treated you badly. Go and get your food," Li Chunlian said lovingly to Xiaoyong.

"Han Dan, give me the child, you guys eat first."

"Mom, I can hold him while I eat."

"If you eat, he'll grab the bowl and won't eat properly. You go eat, I steamed some eggs for Hao Hao, let them cool down a bit before feeding him."

Han Dan couldn't insist, so she gave Hao Hao to her mother-in-law.

After having a child, her mother-in-law's attitude towards her took a complete turn. She stopped asking for Lin Jie's salary and the meat ration coupons. Han Dan's good days all started after she had her son.

Li Chunlian held Hao Hao in her arms, looking him over from the left and kissing him from the right, her heart filled with joy.

Who cares who raises them? They're all my grandsons anyway.

I'm so glad I made that wise decision back then.

At the dinner table, the men were drinking, and Lin Yuan became the main target of their "education."

"The college entrance examination has been reinstated. You must study hard. There is no one educated in our family. You must get into university."

Lin Jie took a sip of wine and looked at his younger brother, who was in the third year of junior high school.

"I know, it's not like I'm not going to study. Getting into university isn't that easy either," Lin Yuan said, extremely impatiently.

"You brat, you talk back to your brother after he says a few words to you," Lin's father scolded with displeasure.

"Don't worry, Xiaoyong is smart, and Haohao is smart too. They'll both be college students in the future."

Lin Yuan pinned his hopes on his two nephews.

Han Dan smiled and looked down. What a great honor it would be if her son got into university.

"Xiaoyong, eat less meat, or you'll get diarrhea." Lin Jun used his chopsticks to nudge Xiaoyong's chopsticks as they reached for the braised pork bowl.

"Just let him have two pieces. We're not like my brother's family, where we have meat every meal. Look how thin the child has become!" Li Hongxia said protectively.

"Sister-in-law, is your family running out of meat ration coupons? Han Dan, my family gets about ten catties a month, could you spare some for your family?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jie realized that his younger brother's family was struggling financially, and quickly said...

"There aren't that many. The three of us only have seven catties of meat coupons. Hao Hao eats minced meat every day."

"How fat has he gotten? Tell him to eat one pound less, and from now on give Lin Jun's family one pound of meat coupons every month."

Han Dan lowered his head and ate in silence.

Both sons are her flesh and blood. She felt sorry for her eldest son, but her youngest son was also her son. Li Hongxia quickly said, "No need. Every family has to make a living. How can we accept the eldest son's family's money?"

Lin Jun chimed in, "Yes, no need, brother. We can help in an emergency, but we can't support someone who's always greedy. It's just that Xiao Yong is such a greedy kid."

"Xiaoyong, come to Grandma's, have some steamed eggs. Grandma put sesame oil in them, they're so delicious."

Li Chunlian hated Han Dan in her heart. What's wrong with giving only one jin of meat when you have seven jin of meat ration coupons?

She's so stingy. If it weren't for the fact that she had something on her son, I would have loved to give her a good scolding.

Helpless, he had no choice but to call his eldest grandson over to eat steamed egg custard.

Xiao Yong happily snuggled up to his grandmother, taking big bites and small bites, finishing the whole bowl of steamed egg custard.

After dinner, Han Dan wanted to go home, but Lin Jie, who had been drinking, didn't want to go back. Li Hongxia also asked her to stay for dinner, but Han Dan refused. She dressed her son and braved the heavy snow to walk home.

Li Chunlian was so angry that her face turned black, and she chased Lin Jie away as well.

"What's wrong with them? Why do they have to cause such a scene during the Lunar New Year?"

After Lin Jie and Han Dan left, Li Chunlian finally vented her resentment.

"And you guys, just eat your food, stop talking about meat ration coupons. Every family has half a pound of meat ration coupons, but what kind of children have you raised?"

If you can't criticize Han Dan, you can only criticize Li Hongxia.

"Mom, what did we say? Blame your son, he nags even when Xiaoyong is eating a piece of meat."

Li Hongxia felt wronged. Her sister-in-law was usually good-tempered. Why was she putting on such a face for a pound of meat coupons? In the end, wouldn't all of her future assets belong to my son?

"Get out, get out, all of you get back. Leave Xiaoyong here, you'll all starve, don't let my grandson suffer."

Seeing the adults arguing, Xiao Yong was already trembling with fear, crying, "Mommy, I want to go home, I want to go home."

"Go back and starve! Follow your uncle and let him teach you to read."

Li Hongxia pushed the child away, put on her cotton-padded coat, slammed the door, and left.

She's not stupid; the child will get meat to eat if he stays with his grandmother.

What should have been a family reunion turned into a bitter argument over a pound of meat ration coupons.