Then, carrying the officially stamped divorce certificate, the group went to the police station to process the household registration transfer.
Only after asking did they learn that since Qin Suian had no house and no land, she couldn’t establish her own household registration. She could only move her registration back to her original village—and that required approval from both her village and the head of the Qin family household.
Although Qin Suian had expected this, she still felt somewhat frustrated.
Seeing her expression, Wang Fuyuan felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
So what if she got divorced?
She couldn’t even establish her own household registration.
How could the Qin family possibly agree to take back a married-out daughter? Dream on.
The Qin family was even worse than the Wang family.
“I already told you divorce wouldn’t work. From now on, it’s none of my business anymore.
Your Qin family has to agree, and the Qin village has to agree too. If the villagers don’t approve you moving back, even your family’s consent won’t help.”
The brigade leader looked at Qin Suian with an expression that said, I warned you already.
That was exactly why so many women didn’t dare divorce.
They couldn’t even secure a household registration.
Xiaojun watched all this quietly, sadness filling her heart.
People always said a woman’s natal family was her support.
But when it truly mattered, nobody could be relied on.
“Still, thank you, Captain, for accompanying us all this way.”
Qin Suian took out a pack of cigarettes and stuffed it into the brigade leader’s hands.
She had sent Xiaojun to buy it while waiting for the bus earlier.
The brigade leader’s eyes narrowed into happy slits the moment he saw the cigarettes, and his attitude immediately improved.
“It’s just my duty, no need to be polite.”
But his hand accepting the cigarettes never paused.
Seeing Qin Suian casually giving away a whole pack of cigarettes, Wang Fuyuan instantly felt sour and angry again.
Qin Suian had never bought cigarettes for him before. Yet the moment they divorced, she immediately bought them for another man—using Wang family money, no less. Shameless!
But he never considered that before the divorce, Qin Suian had never even touched money in the Wang household. How could she have bought anything?
After accepting the cigarettes, the brigade leader was in an excellent mood. So when Qin Suian requested two letters of introduction, he readily agreed.
He carried paper, pen, and his official seal with him anyway, so he immediately wrote her two introduction letters allowing them to stay at guesthouses.
“So you’re really not going back?”
After stamping the letters, the brigade leader asked.
A divorced rural woman with a young daughter, no husband’s family anymore—if not returning to her parents’ home, where else could she go?
“Anywhere is better than the Wang family.”
After carefully putting away the introduction letters, Qin Suian shouldered the luggage, took Xiaojun, and turned back into the police station.
“Still not giving up, huh?”
Watching the mother and daughter’s retreating backs, the brigade leader sighed.
They simply hadn’t experienced hardship outside yet. Once their money got cheated away, they’d realize the countryside was still better.
These past two years, the cities had become chaotic.
Watching them disappear, Wang Fuyuan felt a faint but vicious anticipation.
He couldn’t wait to see what miserable ending Qin Suian would eventually meet.
She despised the Wang family, did she?
But the outside world was far more terrifying than the Wang family.
Just wait and see.
After entering the police station, Qin Suian found the officer who had handled her earlier paperwork.
Holding her introduction letter, she asked how to get to the county guesthouse.
The policewoman was very warm-hearted and carefully explained the directions.
“I see you can read. How about I draw you a route map?”
The officer took out paper and pen and drew Qin Suian a map.
“Big Sister, there’ve been a lot of thieves lately. Be careful with your belongings,” the officer reminded her while drawing.
“I will. Thank you, Officer. Comrade, I also wanted to ask—if I want to rent a place in the county and set up a small street stall for business, what procedures would I need?”
Qin Suian knew that opening a proper shop required a business license, and food businesses also needed health and sanitation permits.
But Reform and Opening-Up had only begun a few years ago, and many systems were still being figured out. If she wanted to do business properly, she needed to understand things clearly first.
“Oh, that… If you have an introduction letter, renting a place shouldn’t be a problem—as long as you can find a landlord willing to rent. There are quite a few street vendors nowadays too, but as for the exact procedures, I’m not entirely sure. You’d probably have to ask the Industry and Commerce Bureau.”
Chang Wenli thought for a moment. She really didn’t know the details.
“I see. Thank you, Comrade.”
Qin Suian gratefully accepted the route map Chang Wenli had drawn.
“Big Sister, you’re really not going back to your parents’ home?”
Chang Wenli handled household registration matters, so she already knew about Qin Suian’s divorce.
These days, women who dared divorce—and actually succeeded—were incredibly rare.
The whole thing had deeply shaken her too.
Her own husband’s family had endless problems, but she had never once dared think about divorce.
She didn’t dare. She couldn’t.
This Sister Qin before her was truly someone she admired.
“To put it simply, my parents’ home is an even bigger pit of fire.”
Qin Suian had never considered returning to the Qin family—not even to Qin Village.
The Wang family squeezed every ounce of value from her and her daughters.
But the Qin family simply never treated daughters as human beings at all.
Back during the exchange marriage, the one who suffered most wasn’t her—it was Wang Xue.
Chang Wenli let out a sigh.
Fortunately, her own natal family was decent. At least her mother treated her well.
“Big Sister, I know someone at the Women’s Federation. If you run into difficulties, you can come find me—or contact them.”
Feeling deeply sympathetic toward Qin Suian, Chang Wenli wrote another note.
“This is Comrade Liu Yan from the Women’s Federation. We were classmates. She’s a very warm-hearted person.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Comrade.”
For the first time that day, Qin Suian smiled.
Taking the note, she clasped Chang Wenli’s hands with both of hers.
There were still good people in this world.
At the very least, there were still good women.
Qin Suian led Xiaojun out of the police station. Watching the evening sun slowly sink westward, she felt as though she had truly been reborn, her whole body filled with strength.
Only at this moment did she finally feel that she had genuinely started a new life.
“Xiaojun, let’s celebrate by eating at a restaurant!”
Holding Xiaojun’s hand, Qin Suian went searching for a nearby eatery.
Nowadays, private restaurants and snack shops had sprung up everywhere in the streets and alleys.
Qin Suian chose one that looked fairly clean, ordered two stir-fried dishes and two bowls of rice, and ate together with Xiaojun.
“Mom… what are we going to do from now on?”
Only now did Xiaojun finally dare ask.
Although her mother had several hundred yuan in hand—which already felt like an enormous fortune to Xiaojun—they had no land and no home. What would they eat? Where would they live?
Surely they couldn’t stay at guesthouses forever.
The previous night, Qin Suian had been afraid the Wang family might overhear, so she hadn’t told Xiaojun her plans.
Now she could finally say it.
“Xiaojun, actually, Mom has a skill for making pickled vegetables. Your great-grandmother passed it to me in a dream. From now on, we’ll use this skill to settle down in the county and sell pickles.”
Qin Suian kept her voice low enough that only the two of them could hear.
These past few years, society had become far more complicated. When she opened her pickle shop in her previous life, there had already been several crackdowns. Things were different now.
“Making pickles?”
Of course Xiaojun knew what pickles were.
Many rural families made them, each with their own flavor.
But could something like that really become a business?