Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Wang Laocai’s House

Once she had the idea, Gu Qinghuan acted immediately.

She took a black-bone chicken from the fridge and started simmering it over a low flame in a clay pot, adding astragalus, longan, red dates, American ginseng, and goji berries—all nourishing ingredients to boost energy and blood, as well as being nutritious.

This was for her mother.

Then she steamed two trays of frozen buns, ate two herself with some milk, and brought the rest to the madman’s room.

When she entered, the madman instinctively glared at her fiercely.

Gu Qinghuan braced herself and placed two buns on the kang next to him.

“Figure out how to eat them yourself.” She didn’t care whether he understood or not—there was no way she was going to feed him. What if he bit her?

Although his body was tied up, his head could still move. Eating a bun shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?

There were six buns left. Gu Qinghuan packed them in an aluminum lunchbox and put it on the table by the door. The two children could have them for lunch when they came home at noon. She was going out and wouldn’t be able to look after them.

After Gu Qinghuan left, the man on the bed stared blankly at the buns in front of him. Gradually, his gaze focused.

He leaned over, took a bite, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

A single tear slid down from the corner of his eye.

Even though his life was worse than a dog’s, he still wanted to try his best to spend a little more time with the children.

Sometimes, when his mind was clear, seeing his current situation made him—once so proud—wish he could just die and be done with it. But he couldn’t bear to leave his two poor children behind.

—

Gu Qinghuan went to find the madman’s father, Party Secretary Xu Mingshan.

“Comrade Gu, you’re feeling better? What brings you here?”

As soon as Xu Mingshan finished speaking, he remembered that Gu Qinghuan was now his second daughter-in-law. Thinking of this, he felt a bit embarrassed. After all, his family had done something rather heartless.

Such a beautiful young girl, ending up with a madman and two children to care for—her whole life ruined.

He really couldn’t look after this son, and his wife refused to care for him either, so he had no choice but to find a long-term meal ticket for his son.

This girl had a good heart. Just seeing how she sold herself to pay for her mother’s medical treatment showed she was a sincere person.

“I have a favor to ask, would that be alright?” Gu Qinghuan didn’t beat around the bush. She put on a look of tears welling up in her eyes, instantly tugging at Xu Mingshan’s heartstrings.

Although this old fox was as bad as Liu Guifang, when you’re asking for something, you have to act the part.

Gu Qinghuan had worked in the professional world in her previous life. No matter where you go, you can’t get by without understanding people and situations, reading faces and moods.

As the saying goes: talk to people like a person, talk to ghosts like a ghost.

“What’s wrong? Just say what you need.” Xu Mingshan thought she wanted to back out, and his face darkened a bit.

“The old house has been empty too long. There are holes everywhere—it’s really unlivable. I don’t think the roof will last much longer. If it collapses, someone could die. You have connections—could you get us another place to live? It’s fine if it’s smaller.”

So that was it. As long as she wasn’t backing out, anything could be discussed.

Xu Mingshan hadn’t seen the old house himself, but he knew its condition. Gu Qinghuan’s concerns weren’t unfounded—if someone got killed by a collapsing roof, it would be a huge scandal.

If the Party Secretary’s son died in a dilapidated old house, the villagers would talk about it for the rest of their lives.

The reason they rushed to move them in yesterday was because Liu Guifang wanted to settle things quickly, afraid Gu Qinghuan would go back on her word.

As long as the two had spent a night together, Gu Qinghuan couldn’t back out, unless she didn’t care about her reputation and never wanted to marry again.

Xu Mingshan was a man who cared deeply about face. Gu Qinghuan’s words gave him plenty of it, making him feel quite pleased.

After all, these were his son and daughter-in-law. If things were handled too harshly, outsiders would gossip.

So he waved his hand grandly: “You’re right. I just remembered—Wang Laocai, who lived at the foot of the mountain, died last year. He had no heirs, so his house has been empty ever since—no one dares live there.

If you don’t mind, I’ll let the village know, pay a bit of money, and transfer the house to Huaian’s name.”

Wang Laocai?

Gu Qinghuan searched the original owner’s memories. Twenty years ago, Wang Laocai’s family was the biggest landlord in Xujiatun. Well, it wasn’t even called Xujiatun back then.

Most of the land belonged to his family. During land reform, he was labeled a landlord and brought down.

Wang Laocai’s parents and wife died during the struggle sessions. Later, he and his son were driven to a cowshed at the foot of the mountain to tend cattle.

Wang Laocai’s son was well-educated and clever. Thanks to his learning, he became a teacher in town at just fifteen or sixteen, managing to support the family and even rebuild their house with new tiles—bright and spacious.

Unfortunately, he was later falsely accused of having an affair with a married woman in town. Because he was a landlord’s son, no one believed him. In a fit of youthful anger, he drowned himself in the river.

With his son gone, Wang Laocai was left alone, becoming an eccentric, solitary old man.

Last winter, he fell ill at home. No one knew, and he didn’t make it through.

The original owner knew all this because the odd old man had once helped her.

Wang Laocai’s house was actually quite nice—a tiled house. But no one dared to take it over, for a reason.

Back then, most families in Xujiatun were tenant farmers under Wang Laocai. To put it bluntly, they all depended on him for a living.

But during the land reform, they completely forgot his past kindness and ganged up to destroy his family.

In the end, his line was wiped out.

Having done such a heartless thing, they were afraid to even go near the house, let alone live in it.

What’s more, a house with no heirs was considered bad luck, possibly bringing misfortune to a family.

Ironically, Xu Mingshan was the most sanctimonious of them all. He’d even been Wang Laocai’s study companion.

Wang Laocai had treated him well, letting him learn to read and write—otherwise, he’d never have become Party Secretary.

The cruelest part? It was said that the big-character posters denouncing Wang Laocai’s family were written by Xu Mingshan himself.

The Xu family’s current house was once Wang Laocai’s grand landlord’s courtyard.

Xu Mingshan was the very picture of a treacherous wolf—ungrateful and backstabbing to the core.

But for now, Gu Qinghuan still needed him, so she suppressed her disgust.

She put on an expression as if she’d just received a great favor: “I don’t mind at all! Dad, you’re so good to us—spending money to buy us a house. I don’t even know how to thank you! I’ll go tell Huaian the good news right now.”

After handing out the compliments, Gu Qinghuan dashed off like a dog being chased, disappearing in a flash.

Xu Mingshan was left standing there, stunned.

Wait, he had to pay for this? What the hell?

But then he thought it over. After all, it was a house with no heirs and no one dared live there. Giving it to them was fine—he didn’t believe anyone in the village would object. He was the Party Secretary, after all.

He’d been Party Secretary for nearly twenty years, and his authority was considerable.

Meanwhile, Gu Qinghuan made a detour straight to the Educated Youth Courtyard.

She went to find the only “rich” person there with a bicycle—Comrade Chen Jianghe—to borrow his bike for the day.

She had to pay, of course—twenty cents a day. That was the unwritten rule in the Educated Youth Courtyard.

After all, a bicycle didn’t just fall from the sky. Everyone wanted to use it, so you had to pay for the privilege.

The county seat was far away—a one- or two-hour walk. She didn’t want to exhaust herself. Riding a bike would save her most of that time.

Chen Jianghe was out working. His roommate, Zhu Chunlin, was on kitchen duty that day and had come back early. Seeing Gu Qinghuan, who almost never borrowed the bike, he looked at her curiously.

“Gu Qinghuan, are you alright? If you’re really in trouble, just say so. Everyone will help you.”

He was known as the nice guy in the Educated Youth Courtyard, so it wasn’t strange for him to say that.

But everything was in the past now, and Gu Qinghuan didn’t want to make small talk.

She glanced at the female educated youth in the kitchen who was secretly watching her, and deliberately raised her voice: “I’m fine. Here’s twenty cents—please give it to Comrade Chen. I have something urgent and don’t have time to tell him myself.”

“Alright, I’ll be sure to pass it on.” Zhu Chunlin was trustworthy.

Gu Qinghuan wheeled the big black bicycle out of the courtyard, took a couple of minutes to get used to it, then rode off smoothly toward the county seat she remembered.

The original owner had taken her mother to the doctor twice before, so she knew the way."

"Chapter 7: Chicken Soup and Pork Dumplings