The 70s Novel: The Supporting Character Just Wants to Lie Down

Chapter 342 - 332: Equal Treatment for All

Zhu Zheng and Yang Qingwen always had a good relationship. At home, he inadvertently overheard Wang Zhaodi and Zhu Zicheng talking about the birth of a little brother, and also heard some discussions about the differences between boys and girls.

He was older now, and naturally understood the implications.

So today, he kept an eye on Yang Qingwen, hoping he was just overthinking it. But in the end...

"Don’t worry, they’re just excited to see the little brother for the first time..." he clumsily explained, watching everyone gather around the little baby, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit lost himself.

He wondered... did he receive this kind of treatment when he was born... probably not.

Yang Qingwen’s heart was in turmoil. Ever since her mom got pregnant, the family was very happy. To ensure a smooth birth, her father even quit his job, and the whole family moved here together.

Moving to Beijing was great, but the reason behind it made one think.

She knew how much her mom hoped the baby would be a boy. Her mother had told her more than once that when she had younger siblings, she should act like an elder sister and take care of them.

Her mother really just wanted to say "brother," didn’t she? The sister seemed like an afterthought, and that inexplicably saddened her.

Her grandmother told her more than once, "You’re a big girl now, you need to be sensible and well-behaved. You can’t cling to your mom anymore. From now on, you have to help take care of the little ones..."

Sensible and grown-up?

If being sensible and grown-up meant this, she’d rather not be.

Yang Qingwen looked at the lively scene with a desolate face, feeling troubled and frowning. Then, she turned and ran out.

"Hey, where are you going?" Zhu Zheng quickly followed.

"Leave me alone, stop following me, it’s annoying." Yang Qingwen just wanted some peace, so her tone was a bit harsh.

Zhu Zheng felt a little hurt, but he still followed quietly.

Wang Miaomiao just finished helping the children with their clothes. Watching the two children run past one after the other, she felt a bit puzzled. Were they having a tiff?

She didn’t think much of it for the moment, she took the children back to the main room. Seeing the lively atmosphere inside, she couldn’t help but show a satisfied smile.

It wasn’t until lunch that everyone realized two kids were missing, and Wang Miaomiao remembered they had gone next door.

"Did anyone check next door? I saw them run over there this morning," Wang Miaomiao was busy looking after four kids.

After getting the information, Yang Zhigang immediately went to find them.

"Little one, Zeng Er..." The next-door house had the same layout as theirs. He searched around and finally found them by the well in the backyard.

"What are you two doing hiding here, come on, it’s time to eat..." Yang Zhigang called from a distance.

Hearing her father’s voice, Yang Qingwen’s eyes, already red and swollen, now brimmed with tears again.

"What’s wrong? Come on, get up..." he called for quite a while; Zhu Zheng stood up, but his own daughter still sat there, staring at the ground, unsure of what she was doing.

Yang Zhigang finally noticed something was wrong. He walked over and saw several drops of water dripping onto the tiles at his daughter’s feet...

"Sweetie, who bullied you?" Yang Zhigang had a thought and immediately squatted down, lifting his daughter’s little face, and sure enough, saw her tear-streaked expression. He was both anxious and angry. Seeing her look at him with only grievances and stubbornness but saying nothing, he turned his anger towards Zhu Zheng, "Zeng Er, what happened? Did you bully her?"

Zhu Zheng was frightened and quickly shook his head, "No, no. I didn’t bully my sister."

"If not you, then who? There’s only you here." Yang Zhigang actually knew it wasn’t Zhu Zheng, he was just provoking the two of them.

Sure enough, his daughter couldn’t stand seeing her father wrong others and finally spoke up, "It wasn’t him, it was you, it was you... you all..."

The more Yang Qingwen thought about it, the sadder she felt. Her father and mother, as expected, had stopped caring for her after having a brother, and now they were even scolding her.

If Yang Zhigang could hear her inner thoughts, he would certainly cry injustice. How could he have scolded her? He was clearly scolding Zhu Zheng, alright.

Oh, he didn’t even scold; he just teased him, that’s all... it wasn’t that serious.

But now, with his daughter crying so sadly, he couldn’t think about those matters anymore. He immediately went over to her to console her, "Sweetie, don’t cry. Tell daddy who made you upset, and I’ll go teach them a lesson..."

"It’s you, it’s you..." Yang Qingwen sobbed, evidently deeply hurt.

"Me?" Yang Zhigang was puzzled. How had he upset this little boss of the family? But now wasn’t the time to investigate; he promptly comforted her, "I’m sorry, Daddy’s sorry. Daddy apologizes to you, okay? Please stop crying, you won’t look pretty if you cry."

"I’ve never been pretty; all of you just love the little brother now, not me, I know..." The more Yang Qingwen thought about it, the sadder she became.

"No, who said that? I love you the most, sweetie. That newborn little rascal can’t talk, can’t walk, can’t do anything, can’t be anything. Right? How could I ignore my most adorable little fairy to like him?" Yang Zhigang said this while gently wiping her tears with the little handkerchief from her pocket.

Hearing her father’s words, calling the little darling of everyone’s eyes a little rascal, Yang Qingwen suddenly felt cheered up. Through her tears, she laughed.

A child’s emotions come quickly and go just as fast, and for no particular reason. They don’t have many twists and turns in their thoughts; if they want to cry, they cry, and if they feel like laughing, they just laugh.

Yang Zhigang quietly breathed a sigh of relief, understanding the root cause of his daughter’s troubles made it easier to deal with.

"My sweetie is really growing up, getting jealous now..." Yang Zhigang said with a smile, "But really, there’s no need to be jealous. Daddy likes you best. When you were born, my eldest daughter, I was so happy I couldn’t sleep for three days, watching you every day, afraid someone might steal away my little fairy."

"Who would steal who? If anyone were to steal, they’d steal a chubby boy. Daddy just makes stuff up to fool kids..." Yang Qingwen stopped crying, her eyes swollen, as she challenged Yang Zhigang with keen curiosity.

Yang Zhigang solemnly assured her, "Daddy’s not lying, Daddy’s a soldier, and soldiers can’t lie." He almost swore to it.

At the mention of soldiers, Yang Qingwen’s faith increased. She knew the sacredness of a soldier’s duties; since Daddy vouched by his soldierly honor, he certainly didn’t lie. Daddy really loved her the most, and somehow, she felt happy again.

But thinking that only Daddy loved her, and no one else did, she felt downhearted again, "Only you love me in the whole family..."

Yang Zhigang raised an eyebrow, "Who says that? Everyone in the family loves you, don’t believe me, let’s go ask."