Now the aunties didn’t even avoid Hongguo when they talked. She mentioned craving Auntie Liu’s fermented tofu, and Auntie Liu picked out two pieces and dropped them into her bowl before continuing the conversation with Wang Auntie.
“The new bride only overslept a little on her first day. You can’t make her cook breakfast for the whole family on day one. You’re not some wicked mother-in-law.”
That wasn’t what Wang Auntie was unhappy about.
“You don’t know. The noise those two made last night—carried on until after midnight. Is my son’s body made of iron? If this keeps up, he’ll collapse within a month.”
Auntie Liu laughed. “We’ve all been through it. Don’t blame the new bride. It must be your son who can’t get enough. Newlyweds are always like that. If you don’t believe me, ask Hongguo. She’s been married to Educated Youth Gu for a year and they’re still like that.”
Wang Auntie didn’t believe it. Who had that kind of stamina? Even if someone did, it would be the man whose body gave out. There had never been a plow that wore out the field—only fields worn out by plows.
She assigned Hongguo a task. “Hongguo, you and Qingdai are both young wives. Later, go to my house and have a private talk with her. There’s plenty of work at home—she can’t cling to her husband all day.”
Hongguo’s face turned scarlet. How could she possibly say something like that?
Besides, Meng Qingdai and Educated Youth Gu had once been in the same literacy class—he was the teacher, she the student. Hongguo had no intention of seeking Meng Qingdai out.
Auntie Liu chimed in, “Hongguo’s too shy. She wouldn’t dare say it. When my daughter finishes her postpartum month and comes back to visit, I’ll ask her to talk to Qingdai.”
“My son’s body can’t wait that long. Fine. If it’s still like this in a couple of days, I’ll say it myself.”
Not a single word Hongguo had hoped to hear was said. Instead, her ears were filled with embarrassing talk. Of the two pieces of fermented tofu, she ate only a little, saving the whole one for Changzong.
“Fermented tofu Auntie Liu makes is so good. I tried learning, but mine never tastes as good as hers.”
Pickled vegetables and fermented tofu—every household had its own flavor. You could try to copy it, but it would never be quite the same. Jiang Hongguo firmly believed Auntie Liu’s was better than hers. Back when Educated Youth Gu had still been reserved and aloof, he’d shamelessly gone to Auntie Liu twice to trade for some.
Gu Changzong stared at the small chunk of pungent, mold-ripened tofu sitting atop his thick porridge and couldn’t help frowning.
“Try it,” Hongguo urged. She only shared the good stuff with him.
Changzong wrapped the tofu in a mouthful of plain porridge and swallowed it in one go.
Hongguo’s eyelid twitched. She lowered her head and nibbled at her own piece in tiny bites. Even his tastes have changed. He used to love all kinds of meat most of all, then vegetables. As for pickled things, she hadn’t seen him touch them again.
Then… should I still cure bacon this winter? She suddenly had no idea.
“Hongguo, you went to ask for two pieces of tofu and were gone so long. Did you say something?” Changzong asked.
“Wang Auntie was there. She said her new daughter-in-law woke up late and that it’s bad for her son’s health.”
Hongguo thought it was bad for one’s health. She hinted around the point, hoping Changzong would take it to heart.
Changzong glanced up at her, completely serious. “Her son’s body really can’t handle it. Wang Auntie’s not wrong to worry.”
Hongguo didn’t understand. If he knew that man couldn’t handle it, why didn’t he know moderation?
“Wang Auntie’s youngest son is two years younger than you.”
Changzong smiled. “Guoguo, are you worried about me? I’m fine. He’s not even one-tenth of me. Don’t worry.”
Hongguo ignored him. There was nothing she could say anyway. Over at Wang Auntie’s house, shouting broke out. Hongguo put down her bowl and chopsticks and went with Auntie Liu to break up the fight.
Meng Qingdai had overslept that morning. Her two sisters-in-law had already been unhappy, so they’d left her only pickled vegetables for breakfast.
Meng Qingdai complained the pickles smelled strange and refused to eat them. After some sarcastic remarks from her sisters-in-law, the argument escalated.
Wang Auntie thought about how there had been leftovers from yesterday. The daughters-in-law were clearly playing tricks. They were upset the youngest had slept late and deliberately gave her only pickles. So she blew up.
Oversleeping one day was understandable for a new bride. Giving her only pickles was obviously making things difficult. Wang Auntie scolded her eldest and second daughters-in-law in defense of the youngest.
The two older daughters-in-law had long-standing grievances with their mother-in-law. This time, it exploded. They accused her of favoritism and demanded to split the household.
Everyone tried to mediate. After all, it was hard to treat everyone perfectly equally—and Wang Auntie really did favor the youngest.
Wang Auntie felt wronged. “My eldest and second daughters-in-law both had bride prices paid for them. The youngest didn’t ask for a single cent. How am I playing favorites?”
Everyone seemed to have their reasons. It took the entire morning to calm things down.
Hongguo felt a small flicker of secret relief. She had no in-laws, no sisters-in-law, no younger brothers- or sisters-in-law. Just the two of them living their little married life. True, there were no elders to rely on, no siblings to lean on—but there was also far less trouble.
She hadn’t seen Changzong for only half a day, yet she already missed him. After leaving Wang Auntie’s house, she went to the fields to walk home with him. She had just reached the ridge when the production team leader told her Changzong had gone to the village office to make a phone call.
“A call came from his family. Urgent—they told him to call back.”
Hongguo’s heart turned cold.
She had just been congratulating herself on having no in-law troubles—but Changzong wasn’t without parents or siblings. He just didn’t have them here in the countryside.
He was from the city. Now that his parents had been rehabilitated, who wouldn’t want to return to the city?
Hongguo trudged along the field ridge in a low mood. Gu Changzong, having finished the call, caught up to her halfway.
“Guoguo, the sun’s strong. Walk in the shade.” He pulled her beneath the big willow tree.
Hongguo stopped walking altogether, staring at the weed-lined ridge, her heart restless.
“They called so urgently. What is it? Urging you to go back, right?”
“Mm.” He looked at her. “Guoguo, do you want me to stay… or go back?”
Back when they’d lived separately in name only, she’d hoped he would stay. Now that they were a real married couple, did he even need to ask?
Her tone turned sharp. She shook off his hand and walked ahead. “If you want to go, then go. Why ask me? Decide for yourself.”
Changzong caught her arm and pulled her back. “I don’t want to go. I refused. What about you? Do you not care whether I leave, or do you want me to stay?”
Hongguo looked up at him in surprise. Before, the moment he heard his family had been rehabilitated, he’d rushed back without waiting a single day. Now they were urging him, and he wasn’t going?
He really was different.
The words slipped out before she could stop them. “I want you to stay.”
Changzong smiled and pressed her into his chest. “Good. You said it. You’re not allowed to chase me away in the future.”
They were out in the fields, right when people were heading home from work. And he dared to act so intimate—it was mortifying.
Hongguo shoved him away and jogged a few steps, her face burning. Looking out over the endless crops, she suddenly laughed.
It wasn’t that she forbade him from ever going back. As long as he remembered to come home, that would be enough.
No one paid attention to the young couple. Hongguo quietly hooked her fingers into Changzong’s big hand. It was strong and warm. She found herself looking forward to winter—holding that hand would surely be very warm.
…
These days, Hongguo stopped overthinking whether Changzong was Changzong—or Educated Youth Gu. It was a question she couldn’t untangle.
He was no different from a normal person now. Perhaps she’d simply been overthinking before. How could Changzong not be human? Maybe it was the Educated Youth Gu who had lived apart from her that had the problem.
Changzong worked in the fields every day. When it rained and the river swelled, he went to net fish and shrimp. She experimented with new dishes at home and waited for him to return so they could eat together. She loved watching his brows furrow—or the way he smiled.
The biggest news in the village was still Wang Auntie’s family. The youngest daughter-in-law loved fish and shrimp, so the youngest son went fishing daily. One day, he slipped into the river and would have been in serious trouble if Gu Changzong hadn’t happened to pass by and pull him out.
After that, Wang Auntie forbade her son from fishing again. Chatting at the village entrance, she complained that a daughter-in-law who hadn’t cost a bride price was just a decorative vase—nice to look at, useless in practice. Lazy and gluttonous, always wanting meat.
Hearing it, Hongguo couldn’t help comparing. Wasn’t she even more lazy and gluttonous than Meng Qingdai? Whenever she tried to do housework, she had to compete with Changzong just to get a chore.
Her face flushed, and she couldn’t join the conversation—only listen.
She heard that Meng Qingdai’s two sisters-in-law had set aside their grudges to target her together, and now even her mother-in-law had begun complaining. Life wasn’t easy for her. Hongguo sighed inwardly. Fortunately, Kong Laosan still cherished his wife. Otherwise, how could she endure?
Hongguo listened to all the gossip but didn’t mention it at home. She didn’t want to bring up Meng Qingdai in front of Gu Changzong.
But the very next day, Meng Qingdai’s situation took a sudden turn.
Here’s what happened.
After another spat with her sisters-in-law, Meng Qingdai stormed off into the mountains to gather mushrooms. She encountered a wild boar weighing over three hundred jin. Luckily, she could climb trees. The boar rammed into the trunk and knocked itself half-unconscious. She smashed its head in with a rock and ended up with a huge wild boar for free.
Several strong young men in the village were called to carry it back. Gu Changzong was among them.
Wang Auntie was so delighted she couldn’t close her mouth. She knew if her family kept the whole boar, resentment would follow. She was savvy—she spoke to the village head and offered half the boar free, selling the other half. It was like buying half a jin and getting half free.
With such a bargain, the village office was livelier than during the New Year pig slaughter. Crowds gathered, waiting for the butcher to split the meat.
Hongguo grabbed her money and hurried over with Auntie Liu, afraid it would sell out.
Auntie Liu kept praising Wang Auntie. “Half a pig gives over a hundred jin of meat at least. That’s sixty or seventy yuan! What a windfall. Your youngest daughter-in-law really brings prosperity.”
Wang Auntie had completely forgotten what she’d said days ago under the big locust tree at the village entrance about her daughter-in-law being a useless vase.
“Exactly! I always said Qingdai was a good catch—more filial than the other two. She never angers me and even brought fortune to the family. From now on, she’ll never have to eat pickles again.”
Hongguo couldn’t help looking at the shy Meng Qingdai leaning against Kong Laosan. It was obvious she truly liked him. She’d been lucky not to get hurt by the boar.
But why were her eyes repeatedly drifting toward Gu Changzong?
A flicker of displeasure rose in Hongguo’s chest. She stepped forward, subtly blocking Changzong—who was learning how to slaughter a pig—from Meng Qingdai’s view.
Changzong looked up and smiled at her. “Guoguo, they’re about to kill it. Don’t watch.”
The wild boar wasn’t fully dead yet, only barely alive. Hongguo quickly turned her head away, covering her ears as she ran off.
She glanced once more at Meng Qingdai. She too was burying her face shyly in Kong Laosan’s shoulder, looking frightened.
Frightened? Hongguo thought. She smashed a boar’s skull with a rock. Now she’s pretending to be scared? She really knows how to act.
Later she’d remind Changzong to stay out of the mountains. No need to run into… complicated situations.