Chapter 12: Jiao Jiao’s Bittersweet Moment

The eldest brother-in-law, Huang Yaozong, works at the county supply and marketing cooperative. Her second brother, Huang Yaoguo, drives for the county textile factory and often travels for work, frequently bringing home defective goods and snacks. If anyone in the family dared to stand up to Lin Juhua, even if there was an argument, their mother would always side with the eldest sister-in-law. The only reason the eldest sister-in-law ever gave in was because she didn’t want quarrels between sisters-in-law to affect the relationship between her husband and his brothers.

The eldest sister-in-law, Huang Cuilan, has three sons and a daughter. In the countryside, this is something to be proud of—she stands tall in the Zhang family. The two eldest brothers of the Huang family both live and work at their factories in town. The Huang parents insist on staying in the countryside, refusing to move to the city, saying it’s too crowded. The eldest brother’s three sons often stay at their maternal grandparents’ house. Even as young as they are, the kids know where they’re loved, and sometimes they’ll arrange to stay with their cousins for a few days. The old couple actually enjoys the peace and quiet when the kids are away. All the children’s clothes are provided by their mother’s family, who always say they’re just using the surplus defective fabric from the textile factory to make clothes for the kids. But in these times, nothing is really surplus—there’s a nationwide shortage of goods, especially fabric.

Zhang Guoqing is twelve years younger than his eldest brother, who practically raised him. His eldest brother always said, as the eldest son, he had to be steady and reliable. It was thanks to his good character—and the fact that the Zhang family had no ugly genes, with handsome sons and pretty daughters—that their family was favored by their in-laws.

He’d always been close to his eldest brother since childhood, but his second brother had always been hostile toward him. When their grandparents were alive, besides the eldest cousin, Zhang Guoqing was the most doted on. Not to mention, as the youngest child, his parents loved him dearly. Luckily, Zhang Guoqing had always been well-behaved and sensible, never growing up spoiled.

When Zhang’s mother was pregnant with little Guoqing, life was a bit easier—she didn’t have to hide or worry. On the day he was born, the radio was broadcasting news of more places being liberated, and everyone was celebrating. Grandpa Zhang immediately named him Zhang Guoqing, saying the child had chosen the perfect time to be born.

His eldest brother is Zhang Guofu, his second brother is Zhang Guoqiang, and he is Zhang Guoqing. He also has two older sisters: the eldest, Zhang Meili (Beautiful), and the second, Zhang Meihao (Goodness). The two sisters were known as the village beauties and both married well.

The eldest sister married the youngest son of the village party secretary, whom she’d grown up with. Now, the couple both work at the county textile factory and have three children—two boys and a girl.

As for the second sister, who is four years older than Zhang Guoqing, her story is a bit more interesting. She often visited the eldest sister to bring things over, and her husband apparently fell for her at first sight. He went through a lot of trouble to find a matchmaker—who turned out to be the eldest sister-in-law’s second brother, Huang Yaoguo—to introduce them. He was too embarrassed to ask the eldest sister directly. It only came out after he got drunk at the wedding.

The second sister’s husband is an only child, and his parents also work at the textile factory. After marrying in, the second sister managed to get a job as a temporary worker at the factory. Now, the whole family works there, and they have only one son. Luckily, this was the 1950s—if it had been the 1990s, the whole family might have been laid off together.

All in all, the Zhang family is doing quite well—one of the best-off families in the village. The only problem is the second brother, who insisted on marrying Lin Juhua. Lin Juhua is lazy and gluttonous, loves gossip, can’t keep her mouth shut, and easily offends people. She’s always finding excuses to skip work in the fields, and her family is always coming over to take advantage. Lin Juhua dotes on her own family, and she and her husband are always fighting over trivial matters, making the whole family uneasy.

The original plan was to split the household once the fifth child got married, but then Zhou Jiao got pregnant right after the wedding. Zhang’s mother was worried about the young couple, so she decided to wait until after the baby’s hundred-day celebration, and then split the family in the spring.

This is what Zhang Guoqing remembers about the Zhang family: open-minded parents, a harmonious family—except for the second brother and his wife. It was a kind of happiness he’d never experienced growing up in an orphanage. Now, thinking about it, he felt happy that he’d have parents, brothers, and sisters in the future.

Whatever the reason they’d ended up here, just being alive was enough. They didn’t have any real attachment to their previous lives—except maybe for that vast fortune, but Grandpa had passed away, and the Zhang family no longer meant much to him, though he sometimes thought of the old butler.

As for Zhou Jiao’s family, there was even less to miss. In the end, they’d just cried and made a scene for money, and behind Zhou Jiao’s back, he’d secretly transferred 500,000 to them, making it clear he wouldn’t be responsible for their retirement. Luckily, they’d come here—otherwise, he’d have been afraid Zhou Jiao would be heartbroken if she ever found out.

At this moment, Zhang Guoqing still didn’t know that after their deaths, Zhou Jiao’s family had actually sued. But even if he knew, there was nothing he could do—no one could go back.

As dusk fell, Zhou Jiao had been in the room for two hours after eating her noodles, and there hadn’t been a sound. Zhang Guoqing was starting to get anxious, afraid something might have happened. In this strange world, if he lost Zhou Jiao and the baby, he’d have no reason to go on either. The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became. “Jiao Jiao, are you okay? Why aren’t you calling out? Say something!”

Right now, Zhou Jiao was in terrible pain. To save her strength, she didn’t dare answer, just followed the midwife’s instructions—taking deep breaths and pushing with all her might.

“Hurry, hurry, push again! I can see the head! One more push and the baby will be out!”

Zhou Jiao felt numb all over, relying on instinct to push. As something slipped out from below, the baby let out a loud wail. Finally, she relaxed and fainted. She swore she’d never give birth again—it hurt like hell.

The midwife wrapped up the baby and came out to announce the good news: “Brother Zhang, your wife has given birth to a son—a big, healthy boy, over six jin!”

Zhang Guoqing didn’t even stop to look at his son, rushing into the room. He found Zhou Jiao drenched in sweat, her face pale and waxy, unresponsive when he called her. He panicked.

“It’s okay, Xiao Wu. Don’t call her—she’s just exhausted. Let her sleep, she’ll wake up when she’s rested. When she wakes up, make sure she eats something and takes good care of herself during the month. If you don’t know what to do, ask your mother—she’s raised all her kids just fine.” The midwife gave her instructions, took her big red envelope, and left with a smile. The Zhang family was known for their generosity—no matter if it was a boy or girl, the red envelope was always the same.

“Xiao Wu, look at your son—he looks just like you did when you were born. Oh, my little darling, grow up quickly!” Zhang’s mother was beaming, finding everything about the baby wonderful.

“Mom, look at Jiao Jiao—she’s soaked with sweat. I want to help her change her clothes, and the bedding is all wet too. What should I do?” Zhang Guoqing knew Zhou Jiao was a bit of a neat freak, so he wanted to tidy up before she woke up. Otherwise, she wouldn’t recover well during her confinement, especially since she looked so thin.

Mother Zhang glared at her silly son. “Are you stupid? Get her some clean clothes and help her change. Wipe her down with hot water—remember, it has to be hot, and do it quickly. Then change all the bedding. I’ll wash the dirty ones tomorrow.”

Zhang Guoqing hurried to do as she said, then carefully carried Zhou Jiao to the bed, kissed her on the forehead, and felt a surge of gratitude. Mother Zhang followed with the baby, placing him on Zhou Jiao’s left side, then told her youngest son to go eat—his bump still hadn’t gone down. After eating, he should lie down and rest with Zhou Jiao. Zhang Guoqing was a little embarrassed—looked like he’d be doing confinement with her.

Now he could finally relax and look at his son. Dinner could wait—he had to see his boy first. Sure enough, he was better looking than any other baby, and quieter too. Having grown up in an orphanage, Zhang Guoqing had seen plenty of kids—most of them cried a lot and were skinny. But his own son was handsome. He’d have to discuss with Jiao Jiao to pick a good name worthy of their child.

At this moment, Zhang Guoqing was in full-on doting-dad mode."