“Alright then.”
Shen Yueliang silently closed her mouth and watched the jeep drive into the compound.
Actually, she should have gone to see Su Zhiqing and let her know she was back, as well as thank her for helping. But it was already getting late. It would take more than half an hour to walk home, and the nights in this era were truly pitch-black. She really didn’t dare linger outside alone.
She could do it another day. Once she finished making the clothes, she’d bring Su Zhiqing a basket of eggs as thanks.
Having made up her mind, Shen Yueliang spun on her heels and headed home.
As soon as Ji Yanchuan parked the jeep, Qin Zhihang sprang over like a monkey. Blocking the driver’s side door, he bent down and stuck his head through the window, peering all around the vehicle.
“Old Yang said you took a female comrade hundreds of kilometers away to find her brother. Where is she? Let me have a look. Just how stunning is this rare beauty? I’ve known you for so long—how come I never knew you were so compassionate?”
A stunning beauty?
Ji Yanchuan’s mind immediately conjured up that figure. His eyes narrowed meaningfully.
“What stunning beauty? She’s just a female swind—”
“Huh? What did you say? Speak louder, I didn’t hear you!” Unable to hear clearly through the window, Qin Zhihang grew anxious and reached for the door handle.
The door opened.
Looking at his monkey-like friend bouncing around restlessly, Ji Yanchuan suddenly didn’t feel like saying it anymore.
“Nothing.”
Qin Zhihang had spent two days itching with curiosity, only to receive such a perfunctory answer. Naturally, he didn’t believe it. He climbed into the jeep and searched everywhere, from the seats to the floor mats. Even though the vehicle was obviously empty, he looked as if he expected to uncover a living person.
“What’s this?”
A brown envelope folded in half had been wedged into a gap between the seats. It didn’t seem very thick. Qin Zhihang squeezed it a few times before opening it directly.
Hearing the noise, Ji Yanchuan turned back, but he was a step too late. He could only watch as Qin Zhihang opened the envelope and pulled out three ten-yuan bills.
“Money? I thought someone had written you a letter.”
Having no interest in the money, Qin Zhihang looked disappointed and handed it over.
Ji Yanchuan took it.
Holding the three thin bills between his long fingers, he stared at them for a moment before suddenly laughing out loud.
A swindler who remembered to pay after lying?
“Ah-choo!”
On the way home, Shen Yueliang sneezed three times in a row.
Rubbing her nose, she suspected the night breeze had gotten a little chilly.
Several kilometers wasn’t exactly far, but it wasn’t close either. By the time Qinghe Village came into view, the sun had already set.
A large river ran through the village. Nearby fields surrounded clusters of low houses, and wisps of cooking smoke rose into the air. The place carried a quiet, rustic charm.
Shen Yueliang looked at it for a few moments.
This would be where she lived from now on.
Well…
It would do.
Closing her eyes briefly, she tightened her grip on her bundle and quickened her pace.
The Shen family’s house was considered fairly impressive in Qinghe Village.
There were three old houses and a newly built brick room beside them. The entire courtyard was enclosed by a waist-high earthen wall.
As dusk settled, the Shen household was filled with the rich aroma of chicken soup.
Mother Shen stood at the courtyard entrance, constantly looking outside.
Her daughter had been gone for so long without returning, and she was deeply uneasy.
It would have been easier if she had someone to discuss it with, but when she turned around, she saw her daughter-in-law He Erhong and her younger brother’s wife He Fengying greedily eating chicken soup, their mouths shiny with grease. Neither seemed remotely concerned about Yueliang’s whereabouts.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Walking into the main room, she directly carried away the pot of chicken soup.
“One chicken was already eaten yesterday. This one is being saved for Yueliang.”
He Erhong was still gnawing on a chicken leg. Hearing that, she glanced at her aunt, He Fengying.
He Fengying had already drunk two large bowls of soup and eaten plenty of meat, yet she still wasn’t satisfied.
“I’m saying, Second Sister, don’t be so stingy. Back then, when your family of widows and orphans was driven out by the Shen family, if I hadn’t agreed to take you in, would your family be living such a good life now? Forget chicken soup—you’d have been buried somewhere and rotted away long ago.”
The moment that old debt was brought up, Mother Shen lost her confidence.
He Fengying knew exactly how to exploit that weakness and became even more brazen.
“If you’d listened to me back then and married Yueliang to my nephew, things would’ve been settled. Their child would already be running around by now. But no—you insisted on giving her to the Luo family. Now you’re suffering the consequences. The Luo family is prospering, but your daughter won’t get a share of it!”
Every harsh word stabbed Mother Shen’s heart like a needle.
Because of that old favor, she had never once held her head high in front of this sister-in-law all these years.
She accepted it.
She had already sacrificed her son’s lifelong happiness. She absolutely could not ruin her daughter’s future as well.
“Fengying, we’ve discussed this before. Either Xiangdong married your niece, or Yueliang married your nephew. Since Xiangdong married Erhong, the matter is settled. You don’t need to keep bringing it up.”
Mother Shen wasn’t a harsh person.
But looking at the grease-covered He Erhong, she truly couldn’t bring herself to feel any affection.
When He Erhong had first married into the family, she had been as restless as a monkey. For an entire year, she ate without working. She had literally eaten herself into a ball. Every day she dragged a stool under the eaves, armed herself with half a jin of sunflower seeds, and sat there from sunrise to sunset doing absolutely nothing.
“If you’re going to put it that way, fine. You’re a married-out daughter. Why should your household registration still be in Qinghe Village? This homestead originally belonged to the Wang family. Don’t think having the surname Wang means you’re still one of them. Once a daughter marries out, she’s spilled water. Just because I agreed to let you return and register here back then, you’ll owe me for the rest of your life!”
He Fengying rattled on endlessly, slamming the table and throwing down her chopsticks. She marched up to Mother Shen and reached out to snatch back the chicken soup.
Mother Shen’s fingers turned white from gripping the basin.
As she stared at He Fengying, murderous intent actually surfaced in her eyes.
She was truly fed up with this life.
If not for her son and daughter, she would have followed her husband long ago when news of his sacrifice had arrived.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Her gaze grew increasingly fierce, almost as if she wanted to kill someone.
He Fengying’s attention was completely fixed on the delicious chicken soup. She didn’t notice the abnormal look in her sister-in-law’s eyes at all.
Instead, she wondered how another woman could possess such strength.
“Let go! Let go of it!”
Smack!
“Ouch! Who hit me?!”
Looking at the reddening back of her hand, He Fengying let out a shrill scream.
“Your great-grandmother!”
Shen Yueliang snapped.
After all the trouble she’d gone through to get home, the first thing she saw was Mother Shen being bullied.
What nonsense was this?
She was Shen Yueliang now.
How could she stand by and watch her body’s own mother being mistreated?
“Mom, are you alright? Mom?”
Noticing something was wrong with Mother Shen’s condition, Shen Yueliang called out repeatedly.
She tried taking the chicken soup from her hands, but Mother Shen’s grip was frighteningly tight. Her eyes seemed unable to focus properly, making Shen Yueliang’s heart tighten with worry.
“Mom, I’m back. Don’t worry…”
Mother Shen stared blankly at the person before her.
After a long while, she seemed to come back to herself.
“Yueliang’s back.”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Mother Shen looked at her daughter’s fair face.
Remembering how, just moments ago, she had nearly decided to kill He Fengying and then take her own life to escape everything, cold sweat immediately broke out across her body.
She really had gone crazy.
She had endured far harder days before.
What had happened to her now?
Besides, if she killed someone and then died, what would happen to Xiangdong?
He was a soldier. What would it mean for him to have a murderer for a mother?
And Yueliang…
How pitiful would it be for a child to lose both parents?
Mother Shen quickly forced a smile.
“I’m fine. I was probably just distracted.”
“That’s good.”
Shen Yueliang took the basin of chicken soup.
This time Mother Shen let go easily.
Just as Shen Yueliang was about to set it down, He Fengying immediately reached for it.
She had no idea that if Shen Yueliang had arrived even one minute later, she might have ended up dead on the spot.
At this moment, all she could see was that big basin of chicken soup.
“Give it to me!”
Shen Yueliang narrowed her eyes.
“Sure. You can have all of it.”
She lifted the basin high.
Then she poured the entire basin of leftover chicken soup directly over He Fengying’s head.