Chapter 50 Healing Type… Mengmeng

They left as soon as they said they would. Cao Shujie told his parents, and Wang Yuelan and Cao Jianguo, the elderly couple, were very supportive.

Cao Jianguo even said, “You two have been back home for almost two months now, haven’t you? You should have gone to visit Mengmeng’s grandmother a long time ago.”

Wang Yuelan said to her son, “Shujie, take the good liquor from the south room to Mengmeng’s grandfather.”

“Your dad barely drinks a few jins of alcohol a year. Your grandfather is getting old, too. Even when he’s back, he shouldn’t drink much. Leaving it here would be a waste.”

After saying this, Wang Yuelan remembered something and said, “Wait a bit before you leave. I’ll go to the supermarket in the north to buy something for my in-laws. You can bring it over for me.”

“Mom, it’s really not necessary.” Cheng Xiaolin hugged her mother-in-law’s arm. Her heart felt so warm, and she truly felt marrying into this family was worth it.

Wang Yuelan shook her head. “How could we not buy something?”

But when her daughter-in-law refused, she thought for a moment, went back inside, took out 500 yuan, and firmly stuffed it into Cheng Xiaolin’s hand. “Since you don’t want me to buy anything, then you two can pick out some things yourselves. Since it’s rare to go back, how could you go empty-handed?”

Cheng Xiaolin was about to refuse again, but her husband shook his head, gesturing for her to accept it.

After moving their things into the car, Mengmeng was waving goodbye through the car window to Wang Yuelan outside. “Grandmother, goodbye!”

“Goodbye, Mengmeng. When you get to your grandmother’s house, don’t be naughty or make her angry, okay?”

“Okay!” Mengmeng giggled and nodded.

Cheng Xiaolin echoed, “Mom, you should go back inside. We’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Stay for a couple more days; no need to rush. Just give me a call before you come back,” Wang Yuelan instructed them.

When Cao Shujie started driving forward, he suddenly heard his wife say, “Honey, mom is still standing at the gate.”

“She always does that,” Cao Shujie said, watching the figure grow smaller in the rearview mirror, feeling more convinced he’d made the right decision to come home.

They belonged to that group in Beijing who had a house but no household registration. Mengmeng’s schooling would be an issue in the future.

Besides, parents get old so fast…

After a moment of silence, Cheng Xiaolin suddenly said, “Honey, have you noticed that mom looks a bit younger now?”

“It’s because she’s in a good mood. With such a filial daughter-in-law and such a cute granddaughter like Mengmeng,” Cao Shujie laughed heartily.

Cheng Xiaolin scoffed at him. “You really are shameless.”

When Mengmeng heard her dad praising her, she struck a peace sign and put her hand to her mouth, laughing, “Dad, look at me! Am I pretty?”

“You are! Our Mengmeng is the prettiest little beauty,” Cao Shujie praised.

“Hehe, mom, mom! Dad said I’m pretty!” Mengmeng turned to brag to her mom.

Cao Shujie’s mother-in-law lived in the neighboring Anwu County. Although it was still within Yiling City, it wasn’t very close.

On the way, they stopped at a large supermarket to buy fruit, cake, biscuits, nutritional supplements, and even a red-blue toy car.

Cheng Xiaolin had a younger brother named Cheng Yunping, two years her junior. He married early and already had a son who was even a year older than Mengmeng.

Setting off again, the trip was smooth. When they arrived at Chengjiapo in Dayao Town, Cao Shujie parked outside his mother-in-law’s house.

“Mengmeng, look, where are we now?” Cheng Xiaolin asked her daughter with a smile.

Mengmeng pressed against the car window and looked out, but she was too young to remember.

Cheng Xiaolin wasn’t annoyed, and said, “This is grandmother’s house. We came here during New Year’s. Don’t you remember?”

“Grandmother?” Mengmeng asked curiously, “Where?”

Just then, the front gate opened from the inside. Li Xiaojuan came out, holding her grandson’s hand. Seeing the car parked at the entrance, she quickly picked up her grandson and came over.

Cheng Xiaolin saw her mother and nephew too, and said to her daughter, “Mengmeng, look, that’s grandmother.”

Cao Shujie got out of the car and called out, “Mom.”

“Shujie, how was the trip? Was everything okay?” Li Xiaojuan asked with concern.

Cao Shujie nodded, “It was smooth. I saw that the road from the town has been repaired again. It’s better than before.”

“Yes, I heard the city funded it. It’s only been done for less than a month.” Li Xiaojuan spoke while glancing repeatedly at the back seat, “Where’s Mengmeng?”

As she spoke, she held her grandson with one hand and opened the car door with the other. Seeing inside, the smile on her face grew, “Mengmeng, hurry and come out. Grandma has made something delicious for you.”

“Grandma!” Mengmeng shouted.

That one word seemed to smooth all the wrinkles from Li Xiaojuan’s face.

Cheng Xiaolin got out of the car with her daughter, while Cao Shujie unloaded the things they had brought.

Li Xiaojuan saw and complained—since they were visiting, why bring so many things?

“Mom, is Dad not home?” Cheng Xiaolin asked.

Li Xiaojuan nodded, “Your dad and your brother and his wife are out working.”

Cao Shujie looked at his nephew Dongdong in his mother-in-law’s arms and thought to himself, That’s another left-behind child.

“Dongdong, greet your uncle,” Cao Shujie said, offering the toy car he had bought.

But Dongdong seemed shy, neither greeting “uncle” nor taking the toy car. Instead, he quickly turned his face away and buried it in his grandmother’s shoulder.

Seeing her grandson’s reaction, Li Xiaojuan sighed. “It’s just because you haven’t seen each other in a while. He’ll warm up soon.”

“Mom, Yingying didn’t stay behind to take care of the child? If not, she could have taken Dongdong out with her. Otherwise, Dongdong will just grow more introverted,” Cheng Xiaolin said bluntly, never shy about speaking her mind.

Li Xiaojuan understood too, but said, “It’s not as simple as you think. Everywhere you go outside, you have to spend money. Your brother and his wife both work, so they can earn a bit more. If they brought Dongdong, at least one of them would have to stay home to look after him. If your brother worked alone, how would he support a family of three?”

Cheng Xiaolin protested, “That’s how Shujie and I got by in Beijing, isn’t it?”

“That’s because you had a good mother-in-law.”

Li Xiaojuan didn’t want to argue with her daughter anymore. If it hadn’t been for her in-laws’ help, the couple wouldn’t have known when they could buy a house.

Thinking of this, she asked, “Why did you two sell your place in Beijing and quit your jobs? You already have a child, how can you still be so rash!”

“Mom, you just don’t understand!”

Cheng Xiaolin said, “Shujie was exhausted, working till one or two in the morning and getting up at six or seven to drive to work. No one could keep that up forever.”

“And we didn’t have Beijing household registration. Getting Mengmeng into school there would have been a headache. It’s better to come back.”

Li Xiaojuan shot her daughter a side-glance. “You sure have an easy attitude about it.”

Hearing his mother-in-law, Cao Shujie smiled and said, “Mom, we’re doing pretty well at home. Mengmeng is still young. We’ll think about school later.”

Cao Shujie handed the toy car to his wife, asking her to coax their nephew with it. Unexpectedly, Mengmeng, standing on the ground, looked up at the little boy and called out, “Brother.”

“Hello, brother.” Seeing her cousin ignore her, Mengmeng called out again.

This time, Cheng Tiandong turned to look at her. He glanced down at his little cousin Mengmeng on the ground. Maybe it’s easier for kids to make friends—he wriggled out from his grandmother’s arms.

Li Xiaojuan saw this and breathed a sigh of relief. “Shujie, you all come in and sit down. The chicken will be done soon.”

Cheng Xiaolin handed the toy car to her daughter. “Mengmeng, give the car to your brother.”

She could tell that kids communicated best amongst themselves.

“Oh, it’s heavy,” Mengmeng said, holding the toy car with both hands.

Cheng Xiaolin helped her husband carry the rest of their things inside.

At that moment, Mengmeng looked very seriously at her cousin across from her, making Cheng Tiandong a little uneasy. But in no time, Mengmeng’s serious face broke into a smile. “Hehe, brother, hello!”

“Dongdong, see, Mengmeng is saying hi to you. Say something,” Li Xiaojuan said, looking at her silent grandson, feeling a deep ache in her heart.

But she was well aware—real-life financial problems are just like this. Staying home all day means no money.

As she was worrying, little Cheng Tiandong seemed to be moved by Mengmeng’s smile. After hesitating a moment, he finally called out, “Mengmeng, hehe!”

“Hehe, brother, here you go!” Mengmeng handed the toy car over.

(End of chapter)

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—Left-behind children in China are kids who stay in rural areas while their parents migrate to cities for work. Due to the hukou system, many parents can’t bring their children with them because of limited access to schools and services in cities. These children, often raised by grandparents, face emotional, educational, and safety challenges. There are millions of left-behind children, though the number has decreased in recent years.

—The hukou system is China’s household registration system that links people to their place of birth and controls access to public services like schools and healthcare. Migrant workers with rural hukou often can’t access these services in cities, which is why many leave their children behind in rural areas.