Upon hearing that Zhu Xin had woken up and was staying at home without crying or making a fuss, Hu Xinkai felt a vague unease in his heart.
He knew Zhu Xin’s temper all too well. She had silently thrown herself into the river, gone through life and death, and who knew how much anger she was holding inside. There was no telling what outrageous things she might do to disrupt his plans.
Hu Xinkai couldn’t help but call his parents to go to Xiashui Village and find out what was going on.
Hu Xinkai and Zhu Xin’s marriage had been arranged from the womb. Back then, his mother, Li Furong, and Zhu Xin’s mother, Ye Sulan, were classmates and close friends. The men they married came from similar family backgrounds, and they became pregnant in the same month. Jokingly, they said that if they gave birth to children of different genders, they would arrange a childhood betrothal.
Later, they indeed had children of different genders. At that time, the two families were still on good terms, so the childhood betrothal was settled just like that.
As time passed, Ye Sulan’s husband remained a farmer, toiling in the fields as always, living a hard and bitter life.
Meanwhile, Li Furong’s husband was quite ambitious and shrewd. To provide a better life for his wife and child, he began to study ways to make money.
After several years of careful study, he somehow managed to secure a sum of money. With it, he used his connections in Xiashui Village, where he lived, to become a village official. By now, he had risen to become the top authority in Xiashui Village, known as Secretary Hu.
With the Hu Family now wealthy and influential, they began to look down on the Zhu Family. Hu Xinkai was their only son, and the couple had long wanted to find an opportunity to break off the betrothal from years ago. However, fearing gossip, they had spent years racking their brains over how to bring up the matter of canceling the engagement with the Zhu Family.
But their son had liked Zhu Xin since childhood, always protecting her, so they couldn’t find a reason to break off the engagement.
Zhu Xin had been exceptionally beautiful since she was young. In the countryside, where most girls had sun-darkened skin and dressed in rustic, unfashionable clothes, Zhu Xin had fair, rosy skin from a young age. She had an elegant, oval face with large double eyelids, a tall and straight nose, bright red lips, and glossy black hair. One glance at her could leave anyone mesmerized.
Even though she wore the same rustic, country-style clothes, for some reason, those plain garments looked especially beautiful on her.
Hu Xinkai had been captivated by Zhu Xin’s beauty since childhood, utterly infatuated. Even though Zhu Xin had a fiery and straightforward temperament, often quarreling or even fighting with others at the slightest disagreement, he didn’t mind. He always followed her around like a shadow, and whenever he had something delicious, good to drink, or useful, his first thought was always Zhu Xin.
Zhu Xin, though outwardly cold, was warm-hearted inside. She was often moved by Hu Xinkai’s kindness toward her. Moreover, Hu Xinkai was also quite handsome and well-groomed, completely different from the rough and careless young men in the countryside. He was both good-looking and clean, and inevitably, Zhu Xin developed genuine feelings for him.
Unfortunately, despite all expectations, no one could have predicted that after a trip to the capital, Hu Xinkai would change his heart…
Li Furong brought her daughter, Hu Lili, riding the rare bicycles of the time, to the Zhu Family home in Xiashui Village and knocked on the courtyard gate.
The moment the courtyard gate opened, Li Furong saw Ye Sulan and threw a bundle into her hands. "Here, there's ten yuan, two jin of national grain coupons, a half-jin snack coupon, and my Lili's old floral-patterned padded jacket that she doesn't wear anymore. It's all for your Da Xin. My Lili is so particular about keeping her clothes clean and neat. Tell your Da Xin to take good care of it when she wears it—don't ruin or dirty it in no time. These days, making a floral-patterned padded jacket isn't easy. Take these things and tell your Da Xin not to come to my house and make a scene anymore."
The condescending tone grated on Ye Sulan's nerves. She threw the bundle back into Li Furong's hands. "Take your things back. My family doesn't need them!"
She called her two daughters Xin'er and Yue'er, affectionate and endearing names.
But whenever Li Furong saw her daughters, she insisted on calling them Da Xin and Xiao Yue, names that sounded rustic and unsophisticated.
Ye Sulan had told Li Furong several times not to call them that—the children didn't like such old-fashioned names—but Li Furong never changed. Not wanting to openly clash with her, Ye Sulan had no choice but to endure it silently.
"Well, well, it hasn't been long since we last met, and you’ve developed a temper? Have you forgotten that your Da Xin and Xiao Yue have been wearing my Lili’s hand-me-downs since they were little? And now you’re looking down on them? In the past, because we were going to be in-laws, I never hesitated to share good food and nice things with you. Whatever I gave, you and your husband never refused. So why put on this act of superiority in front of me now?" Li Furong leaned on her bicycle handlebars, openly mocking Ye Sulan.
The Zhu Family was poor. The entire extended family lived together without dividing the household, so Ye Sulan and her husband had little say in the Zhu Family. What they ate, wore, and used was no different from the impoverished farmers in the village.
After the Hu Family's circumstances improved, over the years, Li Furong had often brought things from her own home to help Ye Sulan, all because of the engagement between their children.
In the past, Ye Sulan had always been humble and eager to please her. Today, however, she coldly threw the things back, which stoked Li Furong's anger.
She glanced at Zhu Xin, who stood behind Ye Sulan. This girl was exceptionally beautiful—fair-skinned, with delicate features, long legs, and even at a young age, a well-developed figure, inheriting all of Ye Sulan's youthful beauty.
Even though she worked in the fields with Ye Slan every day, her snow-white skin never seemed to tan. Unlike Li Furong and her daughter Lili, who never worked in the fields and stayed indoors, their skin was still a shade darker than Ye Sulan and her daughter's.
Li Furong glared at Zhu Xin irritably. "Da Xin, even if you and my Xinkai can't be husband and wife, you can still be like siblings or friends. Why couldn’t you think it through and go jump in the river, making such a mess of things? Here, take what Auntie brought you, take good care of yourself, and don’t keep coming to my house to make trouble. Otherwise, none of us will have an easy time."
Hu Lili chimed in, "Da Xin Jie, you should take my mom's words to heart. You’re still young—there are plenty of other matches out there. Why insist on clinging to my brother? If this gets out, it won’t be good for you, my brother, or either of our families."
This mother-daughter pair, in every word they spoke, blamed the original host for jumping into the river, for causing trouble for Hu Xinkai and the Hu Family, and for tarnishing their reputation—as if the original host’s desperate leap into the river was nothing but a deliberate attempt to make life difficult for the Hu Family.
Zhu Xin sneered, turned around, and grabbed the urine bucket that Old Mrs. Zhu had left in the corner of the yard—still unemptied—and flung its contents all over Li Furong and her daughter outside the gate. "Listen here, Li! Tell Hu Xinkai to come here and give me an explanation. If he doesn’t show up, I’ll go find him myself! If he dares to be a Chen Shimei, I’ll dare to be the Qin Xianglian who takes her grievance to the emperor! If I’m not going to have it easy, none of you will!"
The foul-smelling old urine drenched them completely. Li Furong and her daughter shrieked and dodged, cursing as they fled on their bicycles.
Zhu Xin’s action stunned Ye Sulan and the others, who stared at her, unsure of what to say.
Before Hu Xinkai changed his heart, Li Furong would often bring over old, unwanted items—like moldy pastries or worn-out clothes that Hu Lili no longer wore—to "bestow" upon Zhu Xin and Ye Sulan’s family.
Ye Sulan would always accept these items with trepidation, feeling that their family was already fortunate to have their daughter engaged to someone from the well-off Hu Family. Not wanting to take things for nothing, she would often give Li Furong and her daughter eggs, poultry, meat, or vegetables that she herself was reluctant to eat—yet she never received a single word of thanks in return.
Zhu Heping found it infuriating and would often clamor for Zhu Xin to break off the engagement. But Zhu Xin would always defend Hu Xinkai and her future in-laws. So why had she suddenly changed her attitude now, even going so far as to dump urine on the future mother-in-law she had once held in such high regard?
Zhu Xin glanced at them and spoke calmly, "I’ve already died once. Having walked through the Gate of Hell and back, I see everything clearly now. If Hu Xinkai betrays me and the Hu Family bullies me, then don’t blame me for being ruthless!"
"What are you planning to do?" Ye Sulan asked with concern.
She knew her daughter had a fiery temper and a sharp tongue, and she worried that Zhu Xin might do something reckless in the heat of the moment. She advised, "Xin’er, your grandmother has already accepted the Hu Family’s betrothal gifts. Even if you want to make a scene, you should hold back a little. Don’t go too far—after all, I’ve had decades of friendship with your Aunt Li."
"Mom, I know. I have a sense of what’s appropriate." Zhu Xin only wanted to teach that scoundrel Hu Xinkai a lesson and secure some benefits for herself. If Hu Xinkai knew what was good for him, she wouldn’t go too far. Otherwise, he shouldn’t blame her for being merciless.
She strode toward the chicken coop in the yard, grabbed the two half-dead old hens that the Hu Family had sent over a couple of days earlier, and signaled to Zhu Heping with her eyes. "Come on, let’s go to town."
Zhu Heping understood immediately, took one of the chickens from her, and headed out.
Old Madam Zhu, hearing the commotion of the chickens being taken, rushed out to stop them. Unfortunately, the siblings were too quick—one faster than the other. No matter how much Old Madam Zhu cursed at them from the doorway, neither looked back.
When they reached the town—Hongqi Commune—Zhu Heping asked, "Sis, why did we bring two chickens to the commune?"
Zhu Xin led him toward a row of old houses behind the commune. "You’ll know when we get there."
"Why so mysterious?" Zhu Heping muttered but kept pace with Zhu Xin.
Soon, they arrived at an old house at the end of a narrow alley. Zhu Xin reached out and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" The door opened, revealing a dark-skinned young man around seventeen years old.
Zhu Heping stared at him in surprise. "Zhu Zi, what are you doing here?"
The young man named Zhu Zi was taken aback when he saw Zhu Heping. "Heping, didn't you go home to see your older sister? What are you doing here?"
As the two stared at each other in surprise, Zhu Xin raised the scrawny hen in her hand. "Comrade Tian Dazhu, right? Hello, I am Zhu Heping's older sister, Zhu Xin, a proud Little Red Guard. We've worked together on the revolution before. I heard from my younger brother that during the recent trip to the county for criticism activities, several Little Red Guards from our Red Flag Commune were injured by a group of ignorant and resisting capitalist-revisionist elements. They've all returned home to recuperate. So, on behalf of all the proletariat of our Red Flag Commune, I've brought two old hens that even my own family couldn't bear to eat, to extend our regards to all the comrades."