Raising Cuties 129 (ithink……)

  "Oh, Dong Dong?" Aunt Wang was surprised to see Yu Dong when she opened the door. Though she was glad that Yu Dong came to her house. Ever since Aunt Wang and Old Fu returned home, she couldn't calm down no matter what she did. Aunt Wang tried her best to digest the news that Yu Dong would marry Fang Chi. But she couldn't, now she was feeling really helpless. " Why are you here at such a late hour? Wait, don't tell me -" she gasped as something came to her mind. "Your husbands kicked you out of the house? You are here to spend the night, aren't you?"

  "What nonsense are you babbling? Honestly, I just took my eyes off you for a second!" Uncle Fu, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen, knew that Yu Dong was the one who knocked on their door. He thought that maybe it was because she felt conflicted because of the incident in the evening and came to talk. Then he heard his wife ask such a tactless question and couldn't help but come out of the kitchen to pull his wife's reins. "Can't you be a bit more sensible? Always speaking in such an uncouth manner!"

  Aunt Wang scratched her cheek. She couldn't understand why her husband always called her tactless and insensible. She asked the right question, didn't she? Yu Dong was marrying a new husband; it goes without saying that she was kicked out. The same would have happened to her if she had married another husband.

  "Haha, it's fine, Uncle Fu. Aunt Wang is just worried," though Yu Dong said that, she too was surprised that she was only sent to hunt fresh meat and crabs and wasn't kicked out of the house. "Don't worry, Aunt Wang, I wasn't kicked out. I was just sent hunting for a boar in the forest. It was a large boar, so we had too much meat. I brought some for you and the little ones; you and Uncle Fu always help me whenever I'm in trouble. I am a bit embarrassed that I can not do much for you and keep depending on you two."

  "Ah, my daughter is just so cute!" Aunt Wang hugged Yu Dong without caring about the two buckets that the latter held in her hands. "I knew that my daughter was the best. Just look at you, you little cute filial thing!"

  "You are suffocating her." deadpanned Old Fu when he saw Yu Dong turning a shade redder than she usually was. Only then did Aunt Wang let go of Yu Dong.

  "I'm so sorry. I was just happy that you have grown so much and become so smart that I couldn't help myself!" Aunt Wang patted Yu Dong on her back, feeling more and more happy and proud like a young mother.

  'She wasn't this proud when her own biological daughter went to the academy,' thought Uncle Fu inwardly. Nonetheless, he was pleased because he had seen Yu Dong grow up. When he remained barren for years, Father Yu befriended him while every other mer in the village called him a barren star and stayed far away from him.

  He never said it outright, but he, too, has been worried about Yu Dong.

  "You don't have to bring so much, though," said Uncle Fu when he looked at the bucket that Yu Dong put inside their house. It was filled with four giant crabs, bones and ribs, and a rather big piece of pork belly along with some lean meat. Uncle Fu was sure that their family wouldn't have to buy meat for the next two weeks with this bucket alone. He will cook a fatty piece of pork belly as cautiously as possible.

  "It's alright, and I didn't bring the meat for nothing. There is something I want to ask you two," said Yu Dong rubbing the back of her neck. She could feel her embarrassment as she tried to get those embarrassing words out of her mouth.

  Aunt Wang and Uncle Fu exchanged a glance. They didn't know what Yu Dong wanted to ask, which made her so embarrassed. At first, they thought that maybe Yu Dong was here to ask for money. Then they remembered that Yu Dong was doing rather well in her wine business. Even her delicious jam was selling relatively well. In fact, she was more or less just as affluent as the biggest landlady in their village. So what favor did she want to ask of them?

  "It's like this, as you know…… well, uh, as you know that I will be getting married…… Again." Yu Dong said, feeling a bit like a perverted old king, as she said those words. "And well, my parents aren't here anymore, you see…… And I was kicked out of the Yu family. I don't think they will come to my wedding. I won't call them either, but you know there is this ritual where the newlywed needs to bow to their parents to get the acknowledgment they need as a married couple, so if you don't mind…… Can you two stand as my parents?"

  "Dong Dong? You…… You want us to stand as your parents?" Aunt Wang was so surprised that she thought she was dreaming. She turned to look at her husband, who was just as equally shocked as her.

  "Yeah, I mean - after my parents left, you and Uncle were the only ones who were willing to take care of me. If not for you, maybe I would have died in the tavern, or maybe Mi wouldn't have been able to make it through his labor pain. It's all because of you two that I-"

  The rest of her speech drowned when someone pulled her in a rather warm embrace. Yu Dong felt the arms holding her tremble, and when Aunt Wang spoke, there was a slight tremor in her voice. "Ye……yes, we will stand as your parents. Dong Dong, don't worry as long as we are here. You - just believe that your parents are here too, don't worry. Your Uncle and I will always be there for you."

  Yu Dong felt something rise in her throat, and her eyes started to sting as she hugged Aunt Wang back. "Thank you, it really means a lot. Aunt Wang, I have always been grateful to you."

  Yu Dong didn't know that her words were like critical hits. At first Aunt, Wang stiffened and -

  And then Aunt Wang cried.