Chapter 45: Little Rascal Annette

Ethan guessed Annette's thoughts: "In three days, Sean will come to pick us up."So, whether they split the family or not, they would be staying here for three days.

Annette was a bit surprised: "He's coming too?""Yeah, he's here to handle some business."

Ethan didn't say more, but Annette felt something was off. This poor remote village was mostly simple folk, except for the rare troublemaker like Grace.What business could Sean have here?

Grace, inside Nancy's room, heard Ethan and Annette return. She curled her lips, glanced out the window, and spat quietly.Annette was just a troublemaker!She wouldn't blame Ethan for the split, so she vented all her anger on Annette.

Nancy was lying down, watching her mother's actions with some grievance: "Why is my second brother like this now? This morning he even bought Annette some milk, eggs, and fermented rice from Lee's shop in the county."

Lee's milk-egg fermented rice was very famous in the county, said to be a delicacy only officials could eat. A few years ago, the shop wasn't allowed to open, so they set up shop at the leaders' homes.Now that business was allowed, the little shop opened, and every morning people lined up to buy it.

Grace had never tried it but had heard from villagers returning from the county. They said the taste was better than meat.

Clicking her tongue, Grace looked at Nancy: "How do you know? Your second brother isn't that kind of person."Ethan was a stiff type—would he really buy food for Annette?

Nancy pouted: "Sally saw it."

Grace was angry but powerless. Ethan was about to split the family: "Enough, don't act like you can't survive without that little bite. Take care of yourself, find a good family to marry into."

Nancy's heart turned cold instantly. She said stiffly: "Who'd want me like this? I can't even have kids."

Grace glared at her: "Shut up. This is your own fault. As long as we don't say it, who would know you can't have kids?"The more she thought, the angrier she got: "You good-for-nothing. Why not find someone in the city?"

Now they could only wait for Nancy to get better and then arrange a marriage for her to some honest young man in a distant village.

Nancy was holding back anger: "It's all Annette's bad luck. If she hadn't come back, I wouldn't be like this. And my second brother… why didn't he marry Sally? Why did he have to marry that troublemaker? I think splitting the family was her idea."

Grace said nothing but knew deep down that the split was definitely not Annette's idea. Ethan's little ledger already showed he had planned to split from the start.

Talking about the split made Grace even more uneasy. She looked at Nancy: "Enough. Say less, and stop bringing up Laura."

Nancy fell silent, her eyes bitterly staring out the window. She certainly wouldn't let Annette have a good life.

Annette checked Ethan's wound again, mainly wanting to see if there was a birthmark on his side.

She was satisfied with the wound's healing; after a night, it had improved a lot. The bandage had little blood left, and she applied some antiseptic. Using tweezers to hold an alcohol cotton ball, she cleaned the blood around the wound.

While cleaning, she reached the side of Ethan's waist. The red mark that looked like a birthmark really was one—about the size of a coin, shaped like a maple leaf, quite pretty.

Ethan was lying down, feeling a cool sensation move away from the wound to his waist. He wanted to warn her but Annette gently rubbed his waist instead.

The cool touch sent a tingling rush to his head, making his muscles twitch and stiffen.

Annette felt around the birthmark, confirmed no raised edges or lumps underneath, then casually said: "Your birthmark looks really nice, like it was painted on."

Ethan closed his eyes, suppressing the shiver and heat surging inside him, pretending not to hear as he sat up to get dressed.

Annette, unashamed, knelt by the kang (heated bed) watching him. She was now a pro at this, and the view was good for both body and mind.

By contrast, Ethan was like a shy young girl, awkwardly dressing while Annette looked like a little rascal, almost drooling over him.

Just as Ethan was dressing, voices came from outside—the voice of a woman, unfamiliar to Annette, chatting with Clara.

Seeing Annette's curiosity, Ethan explained: "That's my sister-in-law, Bonnie. She went back to her parents' home a few days ago for a wedding."

Annette knew Ethan's eldest brother Charles had three sons, the oldest fifteen, the youngest eleven—ages full of appetite and mischief.

While she was thinking, Ethan finished dressing and went out to greet Bonnie: "Sister-in-law."

Bonnie sounded joyful: "Oh my, is it really the second brother back? I just took the three little rascals to the village entrance, and folks were saying you returned. I didn't believe it at first. The little rascal at home is so happy."

No sooner had she spoken than the three half-grown boys rushed to Ethan, shouting excitedly: "Uncle! Uncle! You're back!""Uncle, tell us a war story!"

Ethan was a little dazed looking at them—so much growth in just a few years.

Bonnie scolded laughingly: "Alright, stop pestering your uncle. Give him a break! You're making too much noise!"

The boys calmed down a bit but stared at Ethan fervently.

In their eyes, Ethan was a hero who could carry a gun and sneak into enemy headquarters. That made them proud when bragging to their peers.

Whenever the brigade showed war movies, the boys boasted shamelessly: "My uncle's tougher than them!"

Annette followed outside, watching the three boys surrounding Ethan—each taller than the last, wearing patched but clean clothes.

Bonnie saw Annette too, warmly greeting her: "So this is the second brother's wife! She's really pretty, like someone out of a painting."

Annette blushed and greeted back, "Hello, sister-in-law."

Bonnie nodded repeatedly: "Very good, very good."Then called out to her three sons: "Jason, Kevin, Michael, go call your aunt."

The second and third sons, Kevin and Michael, suddenly became shy, looking at Annette: "Aunt."

The eldest, Jason, said nothing. His excitement faded, lips pressed tight as he looked at Annette, showing a flash of hostility in his eyes.

Annette noticed the hostility but kept smiling, wondering why a fifteen-year-old boy would be hostile to her.Was this their first meeting?

Bonnie punched Jason lightly from behind: "Go call her! What are you standing there for, dazing off?"