Chapter 187: Chapter 187: Zhong Zijun and Ji Linhai

Yuan the Widow’s in-laws were the epitome of old-fashioned, traditional elders from the old society. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept such a tight leash on their daughter-in-law, refusing to let her remarry. Before, they had no idea about her affair, but now that they knew, it was as if the sky had collapsed.

Not only did they verbally abuse her in every way possible, but at night, they would often tie her up with ropes, terrified she’d sneak out and bring shame to the family name. During the day, Yuan the Widow had to go out and clear snow from the roads in the village, and at night she endured this kind of inhuman treatment. If she dared say a word in protest, she’d get a beating, and no one felt sorry for her or spoke up on her behalf.

Her own family had washed their hands of her years ago.

She was truly isolated and helpless.

All her former lovers kept their heads down, terrified she’d name them and get them dragged out for public criticism too.

The day Wang the Cripple and Yuan the Widow were publicly denounced, everyone went to watch. It was a shocking sight—who could bear such torment?

You never really know how hard something is until it happens to you.

How to put it? Pitiful people often have something detestable about them too.

With Wang the Cripple dealt with, Ji Linhai could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Otherwise, he’d always have that worry hanging over him.

Zhong Zijun’s family finally managed to prepare enough food and firewood for the winter before the cold set in.

Around the start of winter, several nearby villages organized a firewood-chopping event. After each family handed in their required quota, whatever was left could be taken home for personal use. With Ji Linhai helping out both openly and behind the scenes, Zhong Zijun ended up with a good amount after turning in her share—enough to keep the house warm all winter without worry.

This year, the village’s winter hunt gave them a cut of meat—about a pound, with a third fat and two-thirds lean. Later, when they slaughtered the New Year’s pig, they got another cut, about two pounds of lean meat.

Basically, it was all the meat other families didn’t want, and it ended up with her.

But Zhong Zijun was quite satisfied. She wasn’t short on lard—her daughter had left her a big basin of pure white pork fat before leaving, enough to last the whole winter and still have some left over.

She cut the meat into small pieces and froze them in the natural “big freezer” outside, taking out a piece whenever she needed it. Before her daughter left, she’d also given her quite a bit of meat, and these days Ji Linhai would occasionally bring over some wild game. So now, the family wasn’t short on meat at all.

Zhong Zijun quietly took care of everything, freezing it all to eat slowly through the winter.

As for grain, their share was the same as last year—not much, and all coarse grains, just enough to get by.

But this year, they’d had less work in the latter half, so the whole family got a chance to rest and recover. Now they were all in good health, and none of the three had fallen ill all winter—which was better than anything.

She didn’t realize this was thanks to Gu Qinghuan’s spiritual spring water; she just thought it was because their nutrition had improved.

All the family’s winter coats, padded pants, sweaters, and so on had been prepared in advance by Gu Qinghuan, so there was no need to make or buy more, saving a lot of trouble.

The new padded jackets for the Ji family father and son were made by Zhong Zijun and Cheng Shuying together, just in time before the deep freeze set in. Zhong Zijun quietly delivered them, and they fit well, with room to layer more clothes underneath.

She was quite skilled at making clothes, mainly because when Gu Qinghuan was little, she loved making all kinds of dresses for her. That’s how she got so much practice.

She also made a pot of pork and white radish soup to bring over. Actually, lamb goes better with radish, but since there was no lamb, pork would have to do—better than nothing.

It was the first time in years that the Ji father and son had worn warm new clothes in winter.

And with a bowl of fresh, hot radish and pork soup, they felt warm all over.

Life was getting better and better.

Old Man Ji looked at Zhong Zijun with shining eyes—she was skillful, could make clothes, cooked delicious food, and was kind and grateful. What a great daughter-in-law she’d make!

Thinking of this, he shot his son a look.

Ji Linhai, though, just said that with things the way they were, he could barely keep himself afloat and didn’t want to drag anyone else down.

Sigh!

Ji Linhai didn’t notice his father’s look at all, just kept his head down, drinking his soup seriously.

He finished a whole bowl in one go, using his actions to show Zhong Zijun just how delicious her cooking was.

Old Man Ji praised, “Your cooking is really something else. Unlike at our place—even with the best ingredients, it never tastes right.” (Mainly because their home was missing a daughter-in-law.)

Zhong Zijun smiled, “As long as you like it, I’ll bring you a bite of anything good I make from now on.”

Ji Linhai put down his bowl and wiped his mouth.

“Don’t spoil him. In this freezing weather, it’s not easy to make a trip back and forth. Just having something to eat is good enough—no need to be picky!” The last part was directed at Old Man Ji.

Old Man Ji awkwardly rubbed his nose. “I wasn’t being picky. Think about what you cook—what is that stuff, anyway? Xiao Zhong, don’t take it to heart. I’m just saying, this weather really isn’t worth running back and forth.”

Of course, Zhong Zijun took it to heart. From then on, whenever she made something good and it was possible, she’d always bring a bit over to the Ji family.

Even Zhong Weiqian came over to the Ji house twice to help deliver food.

Though the two old men—one scholarly, one martial—shouldn’t have gotten along, they actually hit it off surprisingly well.

Zhong Weiqian even made a friend. He’d come over now and then to play chess and chat with Old Man Ji, and the two of them would sometimes go ice fishing together.

The two families started visiting each other more and more.

As they spent more time together, Ji Linhai did start to feel something different for Zhong Zijun.

It was the first time in his life he’d ever felt protective of a woman—tough on the outside, soft on the inside.

He didn’t want to lie to himself, but he was used to being single and honestly didn’t know how to react.

On one hand, he wasn’t ready. He was basically a prisoner now and couldn’t offer Zhong Zijun a stable life, let alone any real security. So, he wanted to, but couldn’t even bring himself to confess his feelings.

On the other hand, his male pride was at play. He wanted to be in a better place before telling Zhong Zijun how he felt.

Right now, it was clear Zhong Zijun hadn’t developed feelings for him. If he confessed rashly, he was afraid of being rejected—or worse, that they wouldn’t even be able to stay friends.

So he kept his feelings to himself.

Zhong Zijun, for her part, hadn’t even considered it. After all, she’d been through a nightmare of a marriage and had no thoughts about men anymore. All she wanted was for her family to live well and, in time, see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The vegetables in Gu Qinghuan’s backyard in Xujia Village were harvested by Ji Linhai and Zhong Zijun together. The ones that wouldn’t keep were split between the two families, while the rest were stored in the cellar by Ji Linhai.

Zhong Zijun didn’t know when her daughter and son-in-law would return, so she just helped harvest the vegetables to keep them from freezing.

Ji Linhai had also stored up quite a few animal skins from hunting, mostly rabbit, but also some roe deer.

He’d specially learned from the village’s old hunters how to tan hides, quietly processed all the skins, and then brought them all to Zhong Zijun’s house so she could make warm clothes. The fur was soft and warm.

Zhong Zijun hadn’t expected this from him, and the furs looked well-processed.

These two white ones would make a lovely hat for Huanhuan, and the gray one could be made into a muff to match.

She really liked the furs and wanted to keep them, but felt a bit embarrassed since Ji Linhai had worked so hard to get them.

To put her at ease, Ji Linhai said, as a big man, he wasn’t suited to wear such things, and it would be a waste to throw them out, so he brought them to her.

Zhong Zijun was reassured and accepted them, but tried to give him ten yuan so he wouldn’t lose out.

Of course, Ji Linhai refused the money, saying she could just make more good food for him in return.

That way, he’d have more excuses to see her.

After planning how to use the furs, Zhong Zijun made hand muffs from the roe deer skins for the Ji father and son and her own parents.

She also made a hat and a pair of gloves for Gu Qinghuan.

For her two grandsons, she made each a pair of gray fur gloves. She’d thought about making hats, but worried about the sizing since they were still growing.

She didn’t forget her son-in-law, Xu Huaiyu, either, making him a hat with ear flaps.

And her own son—even though she hadn’t seen him in ages, she still missed him. She made him a hat based on Xu Huaiyu’s size, feeling sad for a long time.

Although the furs looked like a lot, once she made something for everyone, it was pretty tight.

After finishing for everyone else, she used the leftover scraps to patch together a hand muff for herself.

When Ji Linhai received the hand muff she’d made for him and saw the one she’d pieced together for herself from all the different colored scraps, he sighed inwardly.

He’d meant for her to use the furs to make herself a new coat, but in the end, she only used the leftovers for herself. At times like this, he wished she could be a little more selfish.

Now that it was winter and the mountains were blocked by snow, making hunting difficult, Ji Linhai decided that if he got the chance next year, he’d hunt more rabbits and make her a rabbit fur coat.

The people involved are always the most clueless, while bystanders see everything clearly.

Zhong Zijun didn’t notice anything different about Ji Linhai, but her parents, Zhong Weiqian and his wife, certainly did.

This Ji guy was just too good to their daughter—the look in his eyes was burning with affection. It would be strange if he didn’t have feelings for her.

But they didn’t say anything. Zhong Zijun clearly wasn’t interested in Ji Linhai that way, and Ji Linhai hadn’t said anything either—obviously, he had his own concerns. So they decided to just let things take their course.

Their children’s affairs were for them to decide.

After all this time, they actually didn’t know much about Ji Linhai’s past, since their family wasn’t the gossipy type and never pried into others’ business. They believed in keeping friendships simple and living in the present.

They did often hear Old Man Ji mention his son’s bachelor status, though.

To be honest, Ji Linhai was tall, steady, and reliable. Even with his beard, you could tell he had good features. How could a man like that still be single?

But none of that really mattered. The key thing was, even though Zhong Zijun seemed happy every day, she was actually guarding her heart tightly, and it was hard for her to open up to anyone.

If Ji Linhai could really help her open her heart, then that would be their fate.

So her parents decided to keep quiet, watch from the sidelines, and let things happen naturally.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. Zhong Zijun counted the days, often going to Xujia Village to see if her daughter’s family had returned, and also to bring some hot food to the Ji father and son.

She thought, her daughter probably wouldn’t be back for the New Year this year. There had been a letter before, saying the house had been reclaimed and that Gu Yunchuan, that heartless man, had finally been brought to justice.

That letter had made her cry her heart out.

There’d been no news since.

She’d thought about sending something to them, since the family had stored up a lot of wild game this year.

But then she thought, her daughter was always generous and would never let herself go without, so she decided against it.

She hadn’t expected that just a few days before the New Year, Gu Qinghuan would actually come back—bringing with her the son she missed day and night, her niece, and others.

It was Ji Linhai who first came to tell her—he knew Zhong Zijun was always hoping for news from that side."