The Su family home.
Su Jiao Jiao had not left her room for three days. She stayed shut inside all day, and Liu Hong Mei was extremely worried. Tonight, seeing that she still had no intention of coming out, she grew increasingly anxious.
“Jiao Jiao, come out and eat first, okay? No matter what, you still have to eat!” Liu Hong Mei called out from outside the room, pacing back and forth in worry. At the same time, she was silently cursing Meng Jun Cheng in her heart.
The fact that Meng Jun Cheng could return to the city should have been a happy thing—who wouldn’t want a city son-in-law with good background and looks? It would be something to be proud of.
Even better, he would take Jiao Jiao with him. If her daughter married into the city and lived well, she could also help support the family’s sons.
But who would have thought the rumor spreading through the village was that Meng Jun Cheng was taking that little bitch Su Qian’an instead!
Why?!
Jiao Jiao was supposed to be Meng Jun Cheng’s partner. Everyone in the village already assumed she would be his wife in the future.
Now those rumors made it seem like her Jiao Jiao wasn’t as good as that little bitch Su Qian’an!
And that Meng Jun Cheng was no good either. He secretly returned to the city a few days ago without taking Jiao Jiao with him, turning her into a laughingstock.
People in the village were even saying that Meng Jun Cheng looked down on her country girl status.
Thinking about how her family had treated him well when he was still in the village—how Jiao Jiao even gave him her own food, refusing to eat it herself—Liu Hong Mei grew angrier and angrier. She wanted nothing more than to drag him back and slap him a few times.
Creek—
The door opened.
Behind it appeared Su Jiao Jiao’s face. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and she looked pitifully at her mother.
“Oh, Jiao Jiao, why are you still crying? Don’t ruin your eyes,” Liu Hong Mei said in distress, grabbing her hand gently. Then her tone changed sharply with hatred. “That Meng Jun Cheng is really not a good person. How could he abandon you and return to the city on his own?”
Hearing her mother insult Meng Jun Cheng, Su Jiao Jiao quickly stopped her.
“Mom… it’s not Brother Jun Cheng’s fault. It’s… it’s Su Qian’an.”
“Su Qian’an?”
“Yes. The night before he returned to the city, Jun Cheng went to see Su Qian’an. She must have been the one stirring trouble between us.”
Su Jiao Jiao sobbed as she spoke. She had only learned this from her friend Liu Xiao Cao that day.
Now that everything was connected to Su Qian’an, she was certain that Su Qian’an must have said bad things about her in front of Jun Cheng, causing him to refuse to take her to the city.
So she blamed everything on Su Qian’an.
Liu Hong Mei immediately erupted in rage.
“That damn Su Qian’an! Eating our food and living under our roof, yet doing such shameless things! No father or mother raising her properly—no wonder she’s a wild brat! Now she’s even hanging around that hooligan Huo Zheng—”
Her words were filthy and vicious, unbearable to hear.
But speaking of it, three days had already passed, and there was still no sign of Su Qian’an returning home. Who knew which wild man she had gone off to fool around with? She truly had no discipline at all.
Su Jiao Jiao felt a flicker of guilt when she heard this, but she said nothing about what had happened by the river that day.
“When she comes back, I’ll deal with her properly,” Liu Hong Mei said coldly.
Then her tone softened as she turned back to Su Jiao Jiao.
“Let’s go eat first.”
Meanwhile, in Huo Zheng’s home.
When Huo Zheng was taking clothes for a shower, he noticed that his torn clothes had all been mended.
His heart instantly felt warm and full.
Su Qian’an saw him staring at the clothes and noticed the crooked stitches. Her face flushed red.
“I… I saw your clothes were torn, so I just patched them up. My sewing isn’t very good, so don’t dislike it.”
“It really isn’t very good,” he said.
But even so, he didn’t look like he disliked it at all. He simply picked up the clothes and walked out.
Su Qian’an wrinkled her delicate nose and huffed softly.
The next morning, breakfast was again made early by Huo Zheng. After eating, he went to work, and Su Qian’an cleaned the house briefly before planning to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy vegetable seeds for winter planting.
She carried the baby in an old cloth carrier and took a basket before heading toward town.
Halfway there, she ran into Ma You Lan.
“Oh, Xiao An, you’re also going to town? Let’s go together.”
Ma You Lan greeted her warmly and joined her.
After chatting while walking, they reached the supply and marketing cooperative about half an hour later.
The place was crowded—packed with people.
Since Su Qian’an was carrying the baby, she decided to wait until it was less crowded before going in.
Ma You Lan stretched her neck to look inside but couldn’t see anything. She asked someone at the front, “Why are there so many people today?”
The person replied, “You don’t know? They’re selling pork today.”
“Pork!”
Ma You Lan was shocked.
Pork wasn’t often sold here. Even when it was available, it would be gone within minutes of opening.
Today was rare—it was still available at this hour.
Without hesitation, Ma You Lan handed her basket to Su Qian’an and pushed her way into the crowd.
Soon, voices came from inside: “The pork is sold out!”
A wave of disappointment rose from the crowd.
Ma You Lan squeezed her way out again, hair messy, holding a small piece of meat, smiling proudly.
“Whew, that was exhausting,” she said.
Su Qian’an gave her a thumbs-up.
“You’re amazing, Aunt You Lan.”
“Just average, just average,” Ma You Lan said modestly, though her expression was full of pride.
With pork sold out, the crowd dispersed and the place became much quieter.
Su Qian’an had already planned what to buy. She walked toward the counter and asked the clerk for cabbage seeds, Chinese cabbage seeds, and white radish seeds—all crops suitable for winter.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed cloth on display and thought of Huo Zheng’s worn-out clothes.
She asked about the price.
“One foot of cloth is 2.38 yuan plus a cloth voucher. Without a voucher, it’s 3.45 yuan,” the clerk replied.
Ma You Lan teased with a smile, “Planning to make your man a new outfit?”
Su Qian’an nodded, but then checked her pocket. With Huo Zheng’s height, making a single outfit would take at least five feet of cloth—and she didn’t even have a cloth voucher. Buying it without one would be too expensive.
She sighed softly and gave up on the idea, then bought a few other items and walked out.
“Hey, Brother Zheng, isn’t that sister-in-law?”
Not far away, Zhao Yingjun spotted someone walking out of the supply store and turned to the man beside him.