Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Celebration

As soon as the guests left, Xu Huaian immediately dropped his act. He had to lean on Gu Qinghuan’s shoulder to keep from falling over.

Showing off feels good for a moment, but you get slapped in the face right after.

He looked at Gu Qinghuan with pitiful eyes, as if blaming her for not understanding his intentions. He just wanted to give her a surprise and save face, so her family wouldn’t think she’d married the wrong person.

Gu Qinghuan could only shake her head helplessly and obediently moved closer, acting as his human crutch.

Seeing her come over on her own, a barely noticeable smile tugged at the corner of Xu Huaian’s lips.

This girl, Gu Qinghuan, may have a sharp tongue, but she’s soft-hearted.

With Gu Qinghuan’s support, Xu Huaian half-leaned on her as they walked into the main room and sat down at the dining table.

As they chatted, delicious food was soon brought out.

Looking at the table piled high with hearty dishes, Zhong Weiqian and Cheng Shuying were once again stunned.

This meal must have cost a pretty penny, right? So much meat—not just minced, but big, solid chunks.

How long had it been since they’d eaten a proper home-cooked meal like this? It felt like ages.

Zhong Zijun smiled and asked Gu Qinghuan, “Didn’t you say earlier that there was something good to celebrate? What is it?”

Gu Qinghuan stood up and poured everyone a glass of water. She’d filled the kettle with spiritual spring water—since her grandparents rarely visited, it was a good chance to help improve their health.

“There’s plenty to celebrate lately. Mom’s injury is getting better and better, Xu Huaian’s illness has clearly improved—he can even walk a few steps today.

And I made some money selling the schisandra berries I picked from the mountain. I sold three hundred jin today and got thirty yuan, so I bought some meat.

Plus, we harvested a bunch of vegetables this afternoon, and our family’s private plot is about to be returned to us.” Gu Qinghuan counted off on her fingers.

Apart from the two kids who were busy stuffing their faces, everyone else stared at Gu Qinghuan in surprise.

“You mean schisandra berries can sell for ten cents a jin?” Zhong Zijun was incredulous. This was basically free money—you just had to carry them down from the mountain and turn around and sell them for thirty yuan. That was a lot of money.

There were plenty of those berries in the mountains. If you were willing to put in the time, you could make a tidy sum.

She didn’t know that Gu Qinghuan had actually downplayed it—she’d really sold them for fifty cents a jin.

Zhong Weiqian and Cheng Shuying were both shocked when they heard this. That money was just too easy. Schisandra berries were everywhere in the mountains, and they’d never imagined they could be sold for cash.

Only Xu Huaian looked calmly at Gu Qinghuan “bragging,” but didn’t expose her.

The family’s standard of living had improved dramatically lately; everyone had enough to eat and wear. He’d already noticed something was up. Although he didn’t know how she got the money and supplies, since she wanted her family to feel at ease, he’d go along with it.

“Huanhuan, this kind of thing is considered speculation. Schisandra berries belong to the collective. If someone finds out, you could be accused of undermining socialism and get criticized. You must be careful,” Zhong Weiqian cautioned immediately.

Given the family’s situation, having a way to earn money was already a blessing—they couldn’t afford to let fear stop them.

But he’d been persecuted before and was afraid his granddaughter would follow in his footsteps, so he had to warn her.

Xu Huaian nodded in agreement. “I agree with Grandpa.”

The two women had only been thinking about the money, but now they snapped back to reality.

They were especially sensitive about money because they’d been unable to afford medical treatment before.

Cheng Shuying never thought she’d see the day when she’d worry about money.

“Huanhuan, your grandpa’s right. Don’t risk yourself just to make money.”

“Don’t worry, my way is absolutely safe, but he doesn’t want others to know about it.

Now, let’s eat! The food’s getting cold.”

Seeing how confident Gu Qinghuan was, no one said anything more. It would be a shame to dampen the mood on such a happy day.

The meal was truly sumptuous. With fragrant white rice, everyone praised Gu Qinghuan’s cooking skills.

The meat was especially delicious, and the spiritual spring water made it even better.

Since it was a rare visit, after dinner the family chatted for a while longer.

Most of the conversation was Zhong Weiqian asking Xu Huaian about his background.

Xu Huaian shared everything he could.

Zhong Weiqian and Cheng Shuying finally felt a little relieved.

Before, in order to pay for their daughter’s treatment, they’d forced their granddaughter to sacrifice her marriage for money. The two elders had always felt guilty and heartbroken about it.

But now, if Xu Huaian could slowly recover, this marriage didn’t seem so bad.

The young man was upright, polite, and open.

He’d made it to deputy battalion commander in the army and even won a first-class merit award. He’d been tested by the country, so his character and ability were beyond question.

As for his family background, that was none of their business. Since they’d already split off, they could just live their own lives behind closed doors.

Gu Qinghuan wanted to see them off herself, but the two elders refused. It was late, and they’d worry themselves sick if a young girl walked them home and something happened.

In the end, she had to let them go by themselves. Luckily, it wasn’t far—just a ten-minute walk, and they had a flashlight, so it should be fine.

The next morning, Gu Qinghuan got up early, put on her old clothes, gloves, and straw hat—fully armed.

She had to go to work today.

She’d already missed so many days; if she didn’t go soon, the brigade leader might come looking for her.

She didn’t care about those work points, but with Xu Huaian already not working, if she didn’t go either, it would be hard to justify when it came time to divide the rations at the end of the year.

Seeing Gu Qinghuan so busy every day, Zhong Zijun could only worry. With her hand injured, she couldn’t help at all, so she stuck to doing what she could—cooking and such.

Gu Qinghuan was surprised when she saw the egg pancakes and cabbage soup on the table.

“Mom, did you turn over a new leaf today?” Normally, she was so frugal she’d serve coarse black bread every meal. Why was she being so generous today, making white flour egg pancakes?

“If there’s food, eat it!”

Zhong Zijun glared at her, annoyed. She made it sound like she was some wicked stepmother.

It was just that after so many years of hardship, she’d gotten used to living frugally.

But now, she’d come around. Since her son-in-law didn’t mind, why should she be the bad guy? Besides, the whole family really did need some nourishment.

Gu Qinghuan felt a little embarrassed and obediently sat down to eat.

Xu Huaian quickly tried to smooth things over. “Mom, that’s not what Huanhuan meant. She just thinks you’ve worked hard.”

That made Zhong Zijun feel much better.

“My son-in-law is the thoughtful one!”

Gu Qinghuan secretly kicked Xu Huaian under the table.

Why do you have to talk so much!"

"Chapter 47: Hand Over the Red Envelopes and Go Earn Work Points

“Sigh, Xu Huaian, something’s not right. How come you’ve been so clear-headed these past two days?” The improvement was almost unbelievable.

After finishing the meal, Gu Qinghuan handed him the spring water mixed with medicine she’d prepared.

As usual, Xu Huaian didn’t ask any questions and downed it in one gulp.

“I’m not really sure myself. It seems like as long as I don’t think about the past, or those things that made me angry, I can keep my violent emotions under control.”

These past two days, Gu Qinghuan had kept him on his toes—sometimes sweet, sometimes melancholy—he barely had time to dwell on the past.

Gu Qinghuan wasn’t sure if this counted as being stable, but it was certainly better than before.

“Your legs still can’t handle much movement, but at least you can take care of yourself now. The kids are finally free. They’ve been stuck at home every day looking after you and haven’t been able to go anywhere.

Da Bao, Bei Bei, you both get a day off today. If you want to go out and play, go ahead!”

The two little ones, still busy eating at the table, looked up at her.

“Mom, really?” Four-year-olds are at the age where they love playing with other kids. Bei Bei had been getting bored at home these days, but she was so well-behaved she never complained.

Gu Qinghuan nodded. “Of course. When you head out, let Grandma give each of you a peach pastry. You can share them with your friends.”

Kids are easy to make friends with if you bring snacks, right?

In the book, the two little ones were always loners—no one wanted to be friends with them.

Da Bao quickly turned to his sister to discuss, “Bei Bei, let’s go dig wild vegetables in the mountains! If we dig up a lot, last time we sold them for twenty cents!”

Bei Bei hesitated.

She was finally wearing new clothes and had peach pastries to eat. She wanted to show off a bit to those kids in the village who used to look down on them.

But what her brother said made sense too.

Her little face was full of conflict.

Gu Qinghuan stifled a laugh. Da Bao was already money-minded at such a young age, but there’s nothing wrong with nurturing a sense of earning early on. She respected the kids’ choices and didn’t interfere.

“Da Bao, wherever you go, remember to look after your sister and don’t do anything dangerous.

And don’t tell anyone about Grandma. Also, keep a low profile when you make money! If anyone asks about our family, just say I spend money recklessly and we’re almost out of food.”

“Mom, I got it. Oh, and here’s the red envelope Great-Grandma gave us last night.” Both kids pulled out their red envelopes and handed them to Gu Qinghuan.

Da Bao had meant to give it to Mom last night, but it got late and they forgot.

This was a new experience for Gu Qinghuan. She took the envelopes and checked inside—Grandma had given each of them twenty cents.

They probably didn’t have much money. The leftover money from the hospital had already been given to her, so these forty cents were basically all they had—a generous gift.

She’d have to bring some fine grains to the two elders when she had time.

“This money is from Great-Grandma, so you two should keep it. Whether you save it or spend it, it’s up to you.” After checking, Gu Qinghuan returned the envelopes to the kids.

They looked at her in surprise.

They’d heard from other kids in the village that red envelopes received during the New Year had to be handed over to the adults—they weren’t really theirs.

But Mom was actually letting them keep so much money?

Twenty cents could buy a lot of good things.

Zhong Zijun wiped the table and smiled, “When your mom was little, Grandma let her keep her own pocket money too. It’s our family tradition. You’ll need to learn to manage your own money in the future.”

Da Bao and Bei Bei let out an envious “Wow!” Mom must have been so happy as a child.

Thinking of the past, Zhong Zijun’s eyes grew a little red. The two kids, sensing the mood, didn’t ask more.

Seeing everyone had finished eating, Xu Huaian took the initiative to help clear the table. Gu Qinghuan didn’t stop him—she wasn’t one for old-fashioned ideas about men staying out of the kitchen.

Now that he could move around, it was time for him to start taking on some responsibilities.

Xu Huaian found out she was going to work today and hesitated several times, but in the end, said nothing.

He wanted to say that if she didn’t want to work, she didn’t have to. Once his legs recovered, he could handle the fieldwork.

But looking at his unsteady legs, he could only sigh inwardly.

After these days together, he could tell Gu Qinghuan had been pampered growing up. Fieldwork must be hard for her to get used to.

Xu Huaian, get better soon! Then you’ll be able to support her and the kids.

He’d never wanted so badly to be a whole, healthy person.

Before Gu Qinghuan left, Xu Huaian filled her military canteen with water and packed a few persimmons for her. “If you get tired, take a break. It’s okay to earn a few less work points. Let the kids bring you lunch at noon—don’t run back and forth, it’s too tiring.”

He fussed over her like a wife seeing her husband off to work.

Gu Qinghuan couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I bet your soldiers used to love you, huh?”

Who teaches people to slack off? And wouldn’t it be just as tiring for the kids to run back and forth?

Xu Huaian’s face turned bright red.

He’d always been strict with his men—so strict they called him the Demon King behind his back. In his view, only tough training could give them a better chance of survival in war.

But later… what happened later? He couldn’t remember. He just felt like he’d forgotten something important.

Seeing his embarrassment, Gu Qinghuan didn’t say more and headed out.

—

This was Gu Qinghuan’s first time going to work since getting married, and everyone’s eyes were on her.

Most people thought she’d fallen from her pedestal—once a princess, now not even as good as an ordinary person. Truly pitiful.

Some wanted to see her make a fool of herself, others were secretly curious.

But they were all wrong. After marrying a “madman,” Gu Qinghuan wasn’t a mess at all—if anything, her life seemed even better.

Look at her face—she used to be a bit sallow, but now she looked fairer and rosier.

She even seemed a bit plumper.

Gu Qinghuan acted as if she didn’t notice the stares and whispers, standing quietly to the side, waiting for the team leader to assign tasks.

That cool, aloof air was just like before.

“Sister Guifen, you’re really blessed. Both your sons married educated youth, and both are beauties—can’t find girls like that for miles around. Are you planning to find an educated youth for your third son too?”

At that moment, Liu Guifang’s vanity was thoroughly satisfied. Her two daughters-in-law really were a source of pride—both from the city, both beautiful and educated, much better than the illiterate village girls.

She completely forgot she herself was illiterate.

“Our third son is a high school graduate! Of course we’ll find him an educated city wife!” Liu Guifang said proudly.

She’d actually considered matching Gu Qinghuan with her third son.

But after careful thought, Xu Mingshan disagreed. Gu Qinghuan’s mother had been labeled a “stinking intellectual.” If anything happened, it could ruin their third son’s future.

But with the second son, there was no such concern. He was already “crazy”—things couldn’t get any worse. Having someone to take care of him was already a blessing."

"Chapter 48: The Autumn Yellow Sweater

As for the third child, she was already making plans in her heart.

The third child was twenty-one this year. Because he spent a few extra years in high school, most of the boys his age in the village were already married by now.

They had delayed things because they wanted to find him a good match.

Lately, the third child had been constantly asking her for money to go into the county town. He said he was seeing an old female classmate, and things were heating up between them. She figured there would be good news soon.

Having learned her lesson from bragging too much before, this time she kept quiet, afraid she’d end up losing both the bride and her pride.

Everyone offered Liu Guifang a few words of congratulations.

The women soon moved on to a new topic, chattering away as if there was never an end to their conversation.

The threshing ground quickly filled with people.

They split into small groups—the educated youths stood together, the villagers stood together.

Gu Qinghuan glanced around casually and immediately spotted Lin Xiaomeng, who, like herself, didn’t quite fit in with the crowd.

Like her, Lin Xiaomeng was technically an educated youth, but not entirely anymore. She stood off to the side, ignored by everyone.

The two of them were considered the oddballs of Xujiatun.

Looking closely, Gu Qinghuan noticed that the “fortune progress bar” behind Lin Xiaomeng was still stuck at thirty percent. It seemed she hadn’t had a chance to make a move on Qian Caihua yet.

For now, she couldn’t think of any good ideas either—she’d just have to take things one step at a time.

The brigade leader arrived, checking his watch, to assign today’s work.

All the educated youths were tasked with digging up sweet potatoes today, including Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng.

Since they were sisters-in-law and lived near each other, the two of them were, unfortunately, assigned to the same group. Both glanced at each other with a bit of distaste and said nothing.

Because the educated youths weren’t very skilled at farm work, and digging sweet potatoes required experience and judgment, the brigade leader decided to assign an experienced worker to each group.

Lin Xiaomeng silently prayed: Qian Caihua, Qian Caihua, let Qian Caihua be assigned to our group.

She’d been trying to find a way to get close to Qian Caihua these past few days, but she couldn’t just walk up and offer her water for no reason—that would be too obvious and might cause problems.

So things had dragged on until now.

When the brigade leader got to their group, he originally meant to assign Liu Guifang to them—after all, the three of them were mother-in-law and daughters-in-law, and Liu Guifang could teach the other two.

But when he read out the names, for some reason, he slipped up and said Qian Caihua instead.

Once the words were out, there was no taking them back. Qian Caihua it was.

Lin Xiaomeng got exactly what she wanted.

With her current fortune value, she could only influence small outcomes—like getting Qian Caihua assigned to her group, or maybe stumbling upon a rabbit or pheasant in the mountains, or finding a wild duck egg while washing clothes by the river.

That wild ginseng last time had just been a lucky fluke.

When Gu Qinghuan saw Qian Caihua assigned to their group, she immediately understood—Lin Xiaomeng was about to make her move.

Everyone crowded over to the tool shed to collect their equipment, then slowly made their way to their assigned plots.

Qian Caihua was muttering to herself that she was unlucky—having to work with these two today meant she probably wouldn’t earn full work points.

She slung her hoe over her shoulder and walked ahead, face dark.

Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng followed behind with two baskets, heading to the sweet potato field assigned to them.

“These three rows of sweet potatoes are our task for today. If we finish, we all get full work points. If not, just you wait!” Qian Caihua shouted.

“I’m telling you two, you’d better work hard today and not drag me down!” she added loudly.

Lin Xiaomeng walked over with a bright smile. “Aunt Caihua, don’t worry, I’ll definitely work hard. You’re the expert here—you’ll have to teach me more!”

Gu Qinghuan shivered at the sight, feeling a chill run down her spine.

Anyone who didn’t know better would think Lin Xiaomeng really liked Qian Caihua. In reality, she was already plotting to siphon off Qian Caihua’s good fortune, yet she looked so harmless—she was even more ruthless than Pan Jinlian.

Truly, nothing is more venomous than a woman’s heart.

Qian Caihua saw how agreeable Lin Xiaomeng was being and her expression softened a little.

Then she noticed Gu Qinghuan still standing at the edge of the field and shouted, “Huai’an’s wife, what are you daydreaming about? Get down here and get to work! Or do you want me to invite you personally?”

Gu Qinghuan snapped out of it and hurried down to start working.

Their division of labor was: Qian Caihua would dig up the sweet potatoes, while Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng would clean the dirt off them, put them into baskets, and carry them to the tally keeper.

It didn’t seem fair—Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng were doing all the heavy lifting.

But letting the two of them use hoes to dig up sweet potatoes was out of the question.

Only seasoned hands could judge where the sweet potatoes grew best from the way the vines looked. If you dug blindly, you’d just end up with a pile of broken sweet potatoes and wouldn’t be able to turn in your quota.

This was how all the educated youth groups were assigned.

Once the tasks were divided, they got to work.

Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng, as if by prior agreement, both took out a pair of work gloves from their pockets and put them on.

A woman’s hands are her second face—they couldn’t afford to ruin them.

Qian Caihua muttered, “What, are your hands made of gold? What’s the point of being so fussy? These cotton gloves are so nice, and you’re just going to ruin them in the dirt. You’d be better off unraveling them and knitting a sweater—it’d be warmer, too.”

Gu Qinghuan turned her gloves over in her hands. “How could you knit a sweater from these gloves?”

Lin Xiaomeng looked at her curiously as well.

“Don’t look down on me just because I’m old and worn out now. When I was young, I liked to look pretty too.

Back when I was a girl, I especially loved knitting. But times were hard then—no money for crochet hooks, so I’d make do with a hook head attached to an old toothbrush handle.

No money for yarn either, so I’d save up white cotton work gloves, unravel them into thread, roll them into balls, and knit sweaters out of them.

But white sweaters weren’t considered lucky, so I taught myself to dye them with pomegranate peels.

I’d dry the peels, break them into pieces, boil them in water, then soak the sweater in the pot while it boiled and took on the color.

In the end, I got myself an autumn yellow sweater.

That year, I wore that autumn yellow sweater to a matchmaking meeting, and Old Xu took one look at me and picked me out.”

Qian Caihua was lost in her fond memories, and even the air seemed to turn gentle and romantic.

Whether forty or seventy, everyone was once young.

Time may smooth away our rough edges, but it can never take away those beautiful moments we once had."

"Chapter 49: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish—A Deadly Lesson