Autumn, 1977!
“Old Fifth, ten years ago your mother didn’t allow you to marry that capitalist young lady, and now she still doesn’t agree. With your looks, if you want to remarry, plenty of young girls would be willing.”
The old woman, Li Xiulan, held a rolling pin and stood at the doorway of the main hall, blocking Xiao Huai Dong and the fashionable woman he brought from entering.
Xiao Huai Dong looked coldly at the mother he had foolishly obeyed for two lifetimes. A mocking smile curled at his lips as his gaze shifted to his father, who sat on the steps at the entrance of the hall, smoking a pipe and exhaling clouds of smoke.
“Dad, do you think the same as Mom?”
Xiao Aiguo didn’t even lift his eyes and gave a heavy grunt of agreement.
Seeing her husband on her side, Li Xiulan earnestly persuaded, “Your father and I are doing this for your own good. Just look at her—she doesn’t know how to run a household. There’s already a sickly person at home, and if you add a pampered young lady who’s never lifted a finger, no amount of money will be enough to support it.”
Xiao Huai Dong clenched his fists, his handsome face dark with anger. “That ‘capitalist young lady’ you look down on is the one who, after I fell into a coma and became a vegetable, ignored all gossip and took care of me tirelessly. And you? You didn’t care whether I lived or died—you took the money and ran. I wasn’t even dead yet, and you already hung mourning banners at home.”
Li Xiulan turned her face away guiltily. “No matter what, our family will never let you marry a capitalist young lady.”
Xiao Huai Dong laughed in anger, gritting his teeth. “Fine. I’ll listen to you. I won’t marry.”
Li Xiulan and Xiao Aiguo, who was still smoking, immediately lit up with joy. This was what they liked about their fifth son—he always listened and was easy to control.
But in the next moment, Xiao Huai Dong continued, “Then I’ll marry into her family. I’ll go to the city with Hua Ying and live as a son-in-law.”
“Old Fifth, have you lost your mind?!”
The two elders were so shocked they nearly jumped up.
Behind Xiao Huai Dong stood Xiao Nanchu. With her permed hair and pale, bloodless face, she had been completely hidden. She hadn’t expected that one day her father would defy his parents, and she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a faint smile.
In her previous life, she had been a master of mysticism. Young and reckless, she defied fate to change someone’s destiny and was struck by lightning. She thought she would be reduced to ashes, but instead, she was reborn as a baby in the early 1970s.
Since childhood, her health had been poor. Her grandparents and uncles called her a sickly burden and secretly cursed her to die early.
Her father, Xiao Huai Dong, was handsome and hardworking, and also the squad leader of the village militia.
The female educated youths who had been sent down to the countryside all developed feelings for him.
But her father only had eyes for Xu Huaying, a capitalist young lady with a problematic background.
The two fell in love at first sight. But when it came time to discuss marriage, Xiao Huai Dong’s parents disliked Xu Huaying’s background and refused to let them be together.
That winter, while Xiao Huai Dong went hunting in the mountains with villagers, his parents went to Xu Huaying’s home, loudly scolding her for being shameless and seducing their son. In a fit of anger, Xu Huaying left with Gu Jianjun, who had come with a marriage contract.
From then on, her father fell into despair and never again had the desire to marry.
Her biological mother was also a female educated youth from the city. She fell in love with her father at first sight, and in order to be with him, she drugged him and became pregnant with her.
To avoid severe punishment, her father had no choice but to marry her.
After Xiao Nanchu was born, whenever Xiao Huai Dong was not home, her biological mother abused her.
When she was three, her mother returned from visiting family, filed for divorce with her father, and abandoned them both, never to be heard from again.
A month ago, Xiao Huai Dong escorted a tractor carrying public grain to the town. On the way, the tractor fell into a ditch, and he was struck on the head by falling grain, losing consciousness on the spot.
The county hospital doctor said he might never wake up and had become a vegetable, advising the family to prepare for the worst.
As soon as the village head left, Xiao Huai Dong’s eldest brother and seventh brother, who had been staying at the hospital, packed up their things, took the treatment money left by the village head, and ran home overnight.
The next day, mourning banners were already hung at home, and they told everyone that Xiao Huai Dong had died in the hospital.
When the village head heard the news, he felt deeply regretful. He gathered one hundred yuan and five jin of white flour and sent them to the Xiao family, saying it was compensation for Xiao Huai Dong, and that it should be used for the six-year-old Xiao Nanchu.
But the elders of the Xiao family only gave her one meal of salted vegetable gruel a day and never took her to see a doctor even when she was sick.
What the Xiao family didn’t know was that Xu Huaying, who had gone to the wrong hospital ward floor, encountered Xiao Huai Dong again after eleven years—abandoned mercilessly by his own family.
Under Xu Huaying’s careful care, Xiao Huai Dong, who had been declared beyond hope, miraculously woke up.
The news that Xiao Huai Dong wasn’t dead quickly spread throughout the village.
The village head forcibly took Xiao Nanchu, who still had a high fever, from the Xiao family and brought her to the county hospital.
During the nearly half a month they spent in the hospital, she felt no dislike toward Xu Huaying, her future stepmother. Instead, she felt that if her father hadn’t been so handsome, he wouldn’t deserve someone like Xu Huaying—beautiful, wealthy, and educated abroad.
Who would have thought that such an outstanding woman would be disliked by the Xiao family elders? Even more surprising, her father was willing to marry into her family for her sake.
Looking at how serious her father seemed, it didn’t look like he was bluffing. Could it be that he really intended to move to the city and rely on her?
For all these years, the entire Xiao family had been living off her father. For the sake of so-called filial piety, her father endured hardship and handed over two-thirds of his income every month to his parents.
Her grandparents would never agree to let him truly marry into another family.
Without that monthly support, the entire Xiao family would struggle to survive.
“Old Fifth, are you trying to disgrace our Xiao family? For this capitalist young lady, you’re abandoning your parents and brothers? If we had known you were so ungrateful, we should have thrown you into the latrine when you were born!”
Li Xiulan shouted angrily, striking Xiao Huai Dong with the rolling pin.
Xiao Huai Dong didn’t move, allowing her to hit and scold him.
For two lifetimes, he had grown used to his parents’ unfair treatment. This would be the last time. From now on, he would no longer be controlled by them.
Xu Huaying, who had been standing silently at the side, could no longer endure it. She snatched the rolling pin and threw it to the ground. “After all these years, you’re still exploiting Brother Dong. What, afraid that if he leaves, no one will support your entire family anymore?”
Exposed, Li Xiulan didn’t feel ashamed—instead, she became even more aggressive. “You’re an outsider—what right do you have to interfere in our family matters? Give up already! My fifth son will never go with you, and he will never marry you.”
“What if I insist on leaving?”
Seeing Xu Huaying stand up for him, Xiao Huai Dong felt moved, and his expression suddenly became resolute.
Xiao Aiguo abruptly stood up, holding his still-burning pipe and pointing it at Xiao Huai Dong. “If you dare to leave, I’ll remove your name from the household register and cut off all relations. It’ll be as if our Xiao family never had you.”
“Fine. Go ahead and remove it. Cutting ties might be for the best.” Xiao Huai Dong laughed bitterly.
“Let’s go now and find the village head. Separate my household registration from yours, along with Little Bean Sprout.”
With that, Xiao Huai Dong turned and walked out.
Xiao Aiguo and Li Xiulan were stunned. They had only meant to scare him.
If his name was really removed, he would have nothing to do with them anymore—how could they continue to exploit him?
Seeing that Xiao Huai Dong was really going to find the village head, Xiao Aiguo quickly shouted, “Old Fifth, get back here!”