It was the year 1972, just after the autumn harvest had been completed.
A military truck drove into Songjia Village’s Red Flag Production Brigade
“What’s going on? Why is there a military truck coming into the village?”
“No idea. Isn’t Song Qingfeng the only soldier from our village?”
“Looking at where it’s headed, it seems to be going to Song Qingfeng’s house.”
“Come on, let’s go see what’s happening.”
“…”
Qiao Nianyao had been holding a book and asking Educated Youth Zhao for guidance at the Educated Youth Compound when her grandnephew came running over. “Great-Aunt, Great-Uncle is back. Hurry home!”
He was Aunt Song’s eldest great-grandson, six years old that year, named Dadou.
Qiao Nianyao took a milk candy out of her pocket and handed it to him before saying to Zhao Yulan, “Educated Youth Zhao, I’ll head back first.”
“Take care on your way.” Educated Youth Zhao replied with a nod.
“Yulan, what did she bring you this time?” another female educated youth, Chen Xuemei, asked.
Educated Youth Zhao replied, “Nothing.”
This time, Qiao Nianyao had brought her an egg as tuition, but there was no need to tell anyone else.
Qiao Nianyao followed Dadou, who happily skipped along with the milk candy in his mouth, back home. When they arrived, she saw that the house was surrounded by layers upon layers of people.
As for the dog she had raised, it had already been tied up.
“Woof!”
When Dahuang, who had been tied in the corner with a rope, saw his owner return, he let out a pitiful bark.
He had always been quite fierce, but the soldier had been even fiercer.
He had tried to stop them from entering the house, but they had tied him up in just a few swift moves before barging inside.
Whine!
He had failed the owner who had raised him so well and fed him until he was strong and well-built!
Hearing the dog’s bark, the people gathered around finally noticed that Qiao Nianyao had returned.
“Qingfeng’s wife, you’re finally back. Something seems to have happened to your Qingfeng. Hurry inside and take a look!” one elderly woman hurriedly said when she saw her.
Qiao Nianyao walked into the house.
The room was also crowded with people. Her good friend, Ma Guilian, was there. The moment she saw Qiao Nianyao, she quickly said, “Comrades, this is Qingfeng’s family member!”
As soon as Qiao Nianyao entered, she saw the man lying on the kang bed. The man looked at her expressionlessly.
Without saying much, she turned toward the two men in military uniforms, who were obviously soldiers. “Hello. I’m Song Qingfeng’s family member.”
“Hello, Sister-in-law. My name is Chen Gang.”
“Hello, Sister-in-law. My name is Li Song. We’re Qingfeng’s comrades-in-arms. We were instructed by the Commanding Officer to escort Qingfeng home.”
“What happened to Qingfeng?” Qiao Nianyao asked as she looked at the man on the kang.
The man was exceptionally handsome, with cold, resolute brows and eyes, and a high-bridged nose. Yet at that moment, his lips were pale, his expression was haggard, and his entire body radiated profound weakness.
When the man met her gaze, the numbness in his eyes remained as he slowly closed them again.
“Qingfeng injured both of his legs. ” Chen Gang said.
“Can he recover?” Qiao Nianyao asked directly.
The two men exchanged glances before Li Song answered, “If he’s cared for properly, there’s still a chance he’ll recover in the future. It’ll just be hard on you, Sister-in-law. Oh, and Qingfeng will also receive a monthly subsidy of fifteen yuan. We’ve already completed all the paperwork. You just need to collect it from the commune.”
Chen Gang nodded. “Please take good care of Qingfeng, Sister-in-law.”
Telling the truth outright would have been too cruel. They could only put it tactfully and let her adjust to the reality gradually.
Qiao Nianyao, however, had already understood. He had become disabled.
The conversation inside the room had also been heard clearly by the people outside. Immediately, discussions broke out among the crowd.
“I saw Song Qingfeng being carried inside. I was wondering about that. I never expected both his legs to be injured!”
“Injured? Then why didn’t they let him recover completely in the hospital before sending him back?”
“I saw that neither of his legs was even in a cast. That means he was sent back only after finishing treatment in the hospital!”
“Don’t you get it? He’s getting a fifteen-yuan monthly disability subsidy. That means he’s disabled. They’re just too polite to say it outright!”
“…”
Although the people outside spoke in hushed voices, every word reached the room with perfect clarity.
Ma Guilian heard it as well and could not help looking worriedly at Qiao Nianyao.
Qiao Nianyao remained silent.
To Ma Guilian, Chen Gang, and Li Song, her silence clearly meant that she could not accept such a devastating blow.
Yet Chen Gang and Li Song had no words of comfort.
They could only sigh inwardly. Brother Feng’s unbelievably beautiful wife probably would not stay with him anymore.
“It’s getting late. You should head back.” Song Qingfeng said to his comrades. At some point, he had opened his eyes again, and he had seen all of Qiao Nianyao’s reactions.
“Sister-in-law, we’ll be leaving then. Brother Feng is in your hands now.”
“Thank you. Won’t you stay for a meal before you go?”
“No, we have to hurry back.”
“Alright then. I won’t see you off any farther. Have a safe trip.”
“…”
Qiao Nianyao escorted them to the front gate and watched as the two soldiers boarded the truck and drove away.
“Yaoyao, what’s going on? What happened to your Qingfeng? Why was he sent back?” asked Sister Wu, who had always gotten along fairly well with her.
“He was injured.” Qiao Nianyao replied.
“Injured? Neither of his legs is even in a cast. Doesn’t that mean he was sent back after recovering in the hospital? Or did he fail to recover?” another married woman asked, unable to hide the schadenfreude in her eyes.
Qiao Nianyao merely glanced at her. Ma Guilian’s face darkened as she helped drive the crowd away. “Alright, Qingfeng is fine. He just needs to recover properly. Everyone, stop crowding around and go back to whatever you were doing.”
“That’s right. Everyone, go take care of your own business!” Sister Wu also joined in shooing people away.
After sending away those who were only casually acquainted with them, only Sister Wu and Ma Guilian remained. The two women exchanged a glance before comforting Qiao Nianyao.
“Yaoyao, don’t worry. They said there’s still a chance as long as he recovers properly.”
“That’s right. Don’t overthink it. If he’s taken good care of, he’ll be able to recover!”
Qiao Nianyao nodded. “Sisters-in-law, don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”
After Sister Wu and Ma Guilian left, Qiao Nianyao went into the kitchen and skillfully lit the stove to boil water.
She stuffed dry, highly flammable rice straw into the firebox. Once the flames had caught, she fed in small, easily ignited dry twigs, added a couple more handfuls of straw, and before long the thin firewood had also caught fire. Only after making sure it was burning steadily did she place the larger pieces of dry wood into the stove.
The flames in the stove cast a warm glow over Qiao Nianyao’s fair, delicate face, making it appear even rosier and lovelier. Yet her eyes carried a steadiness and maturity far beyond her age.
No one knew that she did not belong to this era. She had transmigrated here two years earlier.
At that time, her base had been locked in fierce combat with an enemy base. Relying on her wood-element supernatural ability, she had remained in the rear camp, healing the wounded who had been carried back from the battlefield.
In the end, someone from the enemy side had shamelessly launched a sneak attack. Knowing that there was no way to escape alive, she had ultimately chosen to perish together with the enemy.
She had never expected that, upon opening her eyes again, she would arrive in this harsh era that existed only in the pages of history books.
But in Qiao Nianyao’s eyes, no matter how difficult life was here, it was still ten thousand times better than the apocalypse, where everything had been utter chaos and death could come at any moment.
When she had first transmigrated, she happened to arrive just as the Original Owner, Qiao Xiaowan, had jumped into the river to commit suicide. She had almost drowned from choking on the water before Song Qingfeng, who had just returned home from the army, pulled her out.
According to the old local customs, because he had touched her body while rescuing her, he had been obligated to marry her.
Song Qingfeng had indeed married her. He had paid the astronomical sum of five hundred yuan to redeem her from the Old Qiao family.
Why was it called redeeming her?
To explain that, it was necessary to start with why the Original Owner had jumped into the river to commit suicide.