The fourth day of the fifth lunar month, June seventeenth on the Gregorian calendar.
The day before Father's Day.
An You's birthday.
Early in the morning, An Yang heard her hugging her phone and calling Teacher Xie, chattering away with all sorts of cheesy words—
"Mom, you've worked hard..."
"You must have spent a lot more effort giving birth to me than giving birth to An Yang! I'm so smart and so pretty. As the saying goes, the better something is, the harder it is to come by. You must have been exhausted back then..."
"An Dayang? He probably just crawled out on his own."
"No, no, I'm still in bed and haven't gotten up yet! But I stayed over at An Yang's place last night, so you don't need to worry about whether I'll eat breakfast. Sister-in-law Xiao Qian gets up very early every day and makes a huge pile of delicious food... That's right, Sister-in-law Xiao Qian makes it all. That guy wouldn't, he's so lazy!" An You's tone was full of slander against An Yang. "Wait a second, I'll turn on speakerphone and get up to put on my clothes first. Xueer is already up, I can't fall behind, can I... I am not causing trouble for Sister-in-law Xiao Qian!!"
The ensuing sounds were clearer to An Yang, likely because she had turned on the speakerphone. There was some rustling static, probably as she was getting dressed.
"How are you doing over at your brother's place?" Xie Yunqing asked.
"Pretty good, Sister Xiao Qian is a very nice person, I've already passed judgment for you first," An You said. "It's just that your son is really out of line, he bullies me all the time!"
"How does he bully you? Isn't it always you bullying him?"
"What?!