Zhou Yu hurried as fast as she could and finally reached the post office before the staff got off work.
She presented her identification and the money order receipt to the clerk.
Upon hearing that she was the wife of a serviceman, the clerk carefully checked all the documents and patiently explained the procedures to her.
When she finally received the thick stack of compensation money, joy surged through her heart.
This money would be her security for the future!
Zhou Yu had already made plans.
Once policies were relaxed next year, she would find a way to separate from the Zhao family. While taking care of Zhao Yunzheng, she would use this money as startup capital for a small business.
With memories from her previous life, she knew that in a few years opportunities would be everywhere. As long as she worked hard, she refused to believe she couldn’t build a good life.
The more she thought about it, the happier she became.
After quickly depositing the money into her account, she left the post office and headed for the supply cooperative.
Fortunately, luck was on her side.
There was still one pound of pork available.
She bought all of it without hesitation.
Then, without feeling the least bit guilty about spending money, she purchased malted milk powder, nutritional supplements, snacks, and other treats.
Loaded down with bags, she returned to the place where she had arranged to meet Uncle Li.
By the time Uncle Li finished his errands and drove the ox cart back, Zhou Yu had already enjoyed her moment of happiness and replaced it with a look of sadness and grievance.
Seeing all the things she had bought, Uncle Li nearly jumped in shock.
That must have cost a fortune!
Spending so much money at once—how was she supposed to live after that?
He had never seen a young wife so willing to spend.
But then he remembered the shameless things the Zhao family had done that day.
Immediately, his sympathy outweighed his surprise.
“Yunzheng’s wife, all this is for helping Yunzheng recover, isn’t it? That’s why people say it’s good for a man to have a wife by his side. You care about him more than his own parents do.”
Then he indignantly added,
“Changdong and his wife have gone too far. Yunzheng suffered so much serving in the military all these years and brought so many benefits to their family. Have they forgotten all that? Now that he’s come home in this condition, they still don’t treat him properly!”
Zhou Yu lowered her head and listened quietly like a wronged young wife.
She even softly protested that Uncle Li shouldn’t speak so harshly about her in-laws.
That only made him angrier.
Thus, after they returned to Erniu Village, Uncle Li personally escorted Zhou Yu home and helped carry her purchases inside.
At that hour, many villagers were preparing to head out for work.
When they saw Zhou Yu carrying so many good things, their eyes turned green with envy.
Quite a few couldn’t help making sour remarks.
Zhou Yu calmly pretended not to hear.
Because after Uncle Li finished carrying the goods, he completely failed to keep his mouth shut.
Sitting under the shade with his tobacco pipe in hand, he vividly recounted how Zhao Changdong, Wang Hongmei, and Zhao Ziming had behaved so disgracefully that day.
The villagers immediately crowded around to listen.
By the time he finished, everyone was outraged and began criticizing the Zhao family.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yu was already in the Zhao family’s small kitchen busily preparing a meal.
She didn’t plan to save any of the pork she had bought.
Half of it was cut into chunks and made into braised pork, fragrant and appetizing.
The other half was turned into a light minced-meat porridge for Zhao Yunzheng.
At home, only she and Zhao Yunzheng were present.
Zhao Changdong, Wang Hongmei, and Zhao Ziming were still outside frantically searching for the missing receipt.
Zhou Yu wasn’t worried about them returning early.
She leisurely cooked, ate, fed Zhao Yunzheng, and then took out her treasured savings passbook.
Now that there was money in the account, she no longer dared leave it hidden outside.
After looking around the room, she decided that the safest place was the most dangerous one.
She tucked the passbook into a hidden compartment inside the bag that Zhao Yunzheng’s comrade had sent.
Since Zhao Changdong and the others had already given all the contents of the package to her, they wouldn’t dare ask for them back if they wanted to save face.
Which meant they would never discover the passbook.
Satisfied with her arrangement, Zhou Yu kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed for an afternoon nap.
While she slept comfortably at home, news about the missing money order receipt spread through the village like wildfire.
By the end of the afternoon, practically everyone had heard about it.
Meanwhile, Zhou Rulan wasn’t in Erniu Village.
She had gone to a neighboring village to visit a girl she had befriended when she was trafficked there years ago.
Her purpose was simple: to show off how wonderful her life had become.
Originally, after marrying the Zhao family’s second son, she had already been considered one of the best-married women in the area.
Countless women envied her.
Then her husband died.
The same women who had envied her began mocking and ridiculing her.
She had suffered greatly because of it.
Now that she was about to marry into an even better situation, she naturally wanted to flaunt her success and regain her dignity.
As she returned to Erniu Village, humming happily to herself, she suddenly overheard a conversation near the fields.
“Poor Zhou Yu. It’s bad enough that she married into a living-widow situation with the Zhao family’s eldest son, but she’s being bullied so badly too!”
Zhou Rulan stopped instantly.
Her eyes lit up.
She hadn’t paid much attention to Zhou Yu lately.
Was Zhou Yu actually suffering?
She couldn’t miss that bit of entertainment.
Just as she moved closer to listen, she heard someone continue:
“Zhao Changdong and his wife are unbelievable. They’re all sons—how can they treat their eldest son like that? And Zhao Ziming too. Who would’ve thought he’d bully his own sister-in-law?”
Zhou Rulan blinked in confusion.
Why had the conversation shifted to the Zhao family?
Since she was about to marry into the Zhao family and was already imagining her future happy life, she certainly didn’t want anything bad happening to them.
Her heart immediately tightened.
She moved closer and listened.
Bit by bit, piecing together the villagers’ gossip, she learned about the missing money order receipt.
Her first reaction was excitement.
She hadn’t realized the Zhao family was even wealthier than she’d thought.
But the moment she heard that the receipt had disappeared, her excitement turned into panic.
She stomped her foot anxiously.
It felt as though her own money had been lost.
Then she learned that the Zhao family had blamed Zhou Yu for stealing it.
To her surprise, her first reaction wasn’t sympathy—it was delight.
As expected, after marrying that useless invalid, Zhou Yu wasn’t living a good life at all.
But the money order receipt was more important.
Far more important.
Without hesitation, Zhou Rulan turned around and hurried toward the Zhao family home.
She cared far more about the missing money than about the Zhao family’s reputation.
By pure coincidence, just as she neared the Zhao residence, she ran into Zhao Ziming, who was returning from the neighboring village with a dark expression.
He had gone searching for the mail carrier.
But how could he possibly catch up on foot?
Even after borrowing an ox cart, he had arrived too late.
He learned that the mail carrier still had many places to deliver mail and wouldn’t be returning to the county for at least another half month.
“Ziming!”
Hearing someone call his name, Zhao Ziming looked up and saw Zhou Rulan.
Immediately, he suppressed the gloom on his face and replaced it with a gentle smile.
“Rulan, what brings you here at this hour?”
Unable to contain herself, Zhou Rulan asked,
“I heard your family received a money order receipt today—a very large amount of money. Is that true?”
Zhao Ziming froze.
“How did you hear about that?”
“The whole village is talking about it!”
Zhao Ziming: ???
Zhou Rulan quickly explained everything she had overheard from the villagers.
His expression changed immediately.
“Who spread it?”
But Zhou Rulan had no idea.
She had only heard the gossip secondhand.
Could it have been Zhou Yu?
The thought immediately surfaced in Zhao Ziming’s mind.
A wave of disgust rose inside him.
He resolved to go home and settle the score with her.
“Ziming,” Zhou Rulan asked shyly, “so the money order receipt was real? Have you found it yet?”
Then, lowering her eyes bashfully, she added,
“You said you’d probably bring the bride price to my family in the next couple of days. That should be happening soon, right?”
The moment he heard those words, Zhao Ziming’s expression stiffened.