Old Madam Liu’s job was no ordinary one—it was as a server in a state-owned restaurant.
In those days, a position at a state-owned restaurant was a genuinely lucrative post. Countless people fought tooth and nail to get in. If not for her age, Old Madam Liu wouldn’t have wanted to retire at all.
High wages, financial independence, light workload, high social status, and frequent access to rich food—these were the visible benefits. But Qin Laidi saw further ahead—her elder sister urgently needed a job that could shift her focus.
After years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive, her mental state was on the verge of collapse. If she continued staying at home, enduring her in-laws’ attitudes, her health would never improve.
And if her health didn’t improve, it would only become harder to conceive, forming a vicious cycle. Eventually, her mind would snap, leading her down the same path as in her previous life.
“You girl, you’re involved in everything.”
“Didn’t you always say relying on others is unreliable? If Big Sister has her own salary, she won’t have to depend on anyone anymore. We can stay with the Liu family if we want, and leave if we don’t.” Her brother-in-law seemed honest enough, but in her past life, the moment her sister went mad, he had immediately sent her to a mental hospital. Qin Laidi had never let go of that resentment.
“Anyway, my medicine costs money. Your brother-in-law thinks it’s better to sell the job for cash.” In those days, it wasn’t uncommon to secretly sell jobs or urban household registrations. Anything scarce was considered a resource.
“Your brother-in-law is just worried about me. He doesn’t want me to be too tired. Working outside isn’t like staying at home where I can properly recuperate and prepare…”
“Grandma, Big Sister, think about it carefully—is Big Sister’s situation really caused by not having children?” Laidi couldn’t bear it anymore and interrupted.
The grandmother and granddaughter both froze. Was the root really the lack of children? Her situation was something many women who married “up” had to face. Even if she gave birth to ten sons, her in-laws would still look down on her.
At best, she would just be a more productive childbearing machine. Her husband’s parents and siblings were the real family.
“Ailan, tell Grandma honestly—does Liu Jiawei treat you well?”
“He treats me quite well. In front of his parents, he always speaks up for me. Every month he hands over part of his salary for household expenses and gives the rest to me. During my period, he secretly cooks brown sugar eggs for me. When he gets a bonus, he takes me to buy new clothes. Last month he even bought me a pile of medicine to nourish my body…” And despite years of infertility, he had never once complained, even planning to sell his mother’s job to buy her medicine.
Qin Guihua nodded. She had observed the couple’s daily interactions—Liu Jiawei was indeed honest and considerate. “Alright, then you take over that job. If that big family can live together, then so be it. If not, separate households. With just your two salaries, you’ll still live well.”
Being away from so many prying eyes would also help her mental state.
Laidi finally let out a breath of relief. Even Pandi, who had been busy eating, nodded repeatedly.
Because Ailan had returned, Qin Guihua unusually took out two eggs for lunch. She picked some green garlic shoots from their private plot and cooked them together, then steamed a pot of hot sorghum buns. Though coarse grains, they were filling. Paired with fragrant scrambled eggs, the three sisters ate until their mouths were greasy.
After eating, Laidi insisted on checking her elder sister’s pulse and examining her tongue, going through the full traditional diagnostic process. The conclusion was the same as what dozens of doctors had said before—emotional stagnation, liver qi obstruction. The medicines she had taken were all appropriate. It seemed this illness truly required self-regulation.
“By the way, I think I heard Pandi mention something about her ‘third brother-in-law.’ Does our Laidi have good news?”
Qin Laidi couldn’t bring herself to act shy, so she simply told everything that had happened over the past few days.
This really was their grandmother’s style. Ailan smacked her lips. “What’s Comrade Xiao He like? Does he treat you well? What does he do for work?”
Pandi rushed to answer, eager to build goodwill for her unseen third brother-in-law. “My third brother-in-law gave sixty yuan as a bride price and fifteen yuan for living expenses! He said he’s busy right now, but once he’s done, he’ll come hold the wedding and take Third Sister to the city to live a good life!”
She spoke as if she had heard it with her own ears.
Qin Ailan also felt happy. “That’s wonderful. It doesn’t matter if he’s from another province. Transportation is convenient now—you can come back anytime.” She didn’t dare mention the bride price. Back when she married, the Liu family hadn’t given a single cent, and she still felt guilty toward her grandmother.
The three of them chatted about “Xiao He” for a long time. Only when the sun set did Ailan reluctantly return to her in-laws’ home.
Just like Qin Ailan, everyone in the village was curious about when Xiao He had come back. Every time Laidi went to work, the aunties would ask:
“Has Xiao He written to you recently?”
“When is Xiao He coming to pick you up?”
If not for the marriage certificate tucked under her pillow, Qin Laidi might have thought she had entered a fake marriage. Compared to others’ speculation that He Liansheng had abandoned her or regretted it, she trusted his character. Since they had registered their marriage, he would take responsibility. The lack of news must be due to work, and for a long time to come, they would likely rarely meet.
Because she remembered—in her past life, when they depended on each other, he had mentioned this mission. He had chased the target to the border but arrived too late—the equipment had already been transferred abroad. After filing reports and going through approvals, he spent another half month pursuing it, all the way north into Mongolia. Disguised as a local, he infiltrated for nearly a year before successfully foiling the enemy’s plan to dismantle their equipment. It then took him another two months, changing disguises and routes multiple times, to return home.
Although the mission took a long time, he completed it brilliantly.
Of course, Qin Laidi couldn’t reveal any of this. To everyone’s questions—whether well-meaning or mocking—she simply replied, “He’s busy with work.” Her current problem, however, was craving meat.
Ever since eating that meal with eggs, her appetite had awakened. She dreamed of eating meat. In her previous life, due to illness, Old He had restricted her diet strictly. She had been craving it terribly. Clutching the five yuan her elder sister had secretly given her before leaving, Laidi made a bold decision—to visit the black market again.
The black market wasn’t large, and not everything was available. Pork, of course, was the most sought-after.
Five-layer pork at sixty-five cents per jin—just as she hesitated, it was gone in a blink. Only a bit of tenderloin and hind leg remained, priced at sixty cents, but with hardly any fat. Laidi didn’t want lean meat that got stuck in her teeth—she wanted fatty pork dripping with oil!
After wandering around empty-handed, she spotted someone selling rabbits.
Not wild rabbits, but domesticated ones. It looked a bit sluggish, lacking energy.
“Little girl, want it? I’ll give it to you cheap—one yuan and fifty cents.”
Laidi noticed the rabbit seemed unwell and suspected illness. She didn’t dare bring a sick animal home. She handled piglets daily—if it carried an infectious disease, it could wipe everything out.
Sensing her hesitation, the old man selling the rabbit said, “Don’t worry, it’s not disease. Just been in the sun too long—low energy. Look.”
He plucked a handful of grass nearby and waved it in front of the rabbit’s nose. Immediately, the rabbit perked up, ears standing, chasing after the grass while making soft sounds, its hind legs strong and springy.
Quickly calculating, Laidi considered the cost-effectiveness. Pork was fifty cents per jin with ration coupons, or sixty-five cents without coupons on the black market. This rabbit weighed over four jin—about three jin of meat. At one yuan fifty, it wasn’t a loss. After bargaining, she bought it for one yuan twenty-five.
The old man tied its limbs, placed it in her basket, and covered it with branches to shield it from the sun and hide it from view.
However, Laidi didn’t get to eat rabbit meat after all. Back home, Pandi touched the rabbit for a while and suddenly exclaimed, “Grandma, Sis, is this a female rabbit?”
Qin Laidi only cared about eating—spicy diced rabbit, braised rabbit, rabbit head—she didn’t care about gender. “Female tastes just as good.”
But Pandi said seriously, “We can’t eat it.”
“Why?”
“It seems… it’s pregnant.”
Laidi froze and checked. There really was something in its belly. It was unclear how long it had been pregnant—likely the seller hadn’t noticed, or he wouldn’t have sold it so cheaply. After all, rabbits had a very short gestation period—just one month. They could reproduce rapidly, even immediately after giving birth. Who would sell such a “money tree”?
No matter how much she craved meat, she reluctantly spared it and even built a small nest in the corner of the yard.
Fortunately, it ate everything—vegetable leaves, mountain grass, even pig feed—devouring it happily.
Wulitun had an excellent location, facing south with mountains on all sides and a winding river in front like a jade belt, crystal clear. A group of children bathed in the river, running around naked without shame, even greeting Sister Laidi.
Qin Laidi climbed the mountain path, cutting suitable pig grass (and rabbit feed) into her basket. Purple-flowered alfalfa, pink sour grass, gray-green leaves of goosefoot grass… By halfway up the mountain, she had already filled half her basket.
It was quite heavy. She set it down to rest, then carefully searched nearby.
The mountains of the country were a treasure trove—not only mushrooms and wild vegetables, but also medicinal herbs.
Back when she was a doctor in Lenghe Town, transportation was limited. When medicine couldn’t arrive in time, she would follow an old herbalist into the mountains to gather them. After many trips, the appearance, growth habits, and properties of these herbs were etched into her mind.
In just a short time, she had found honeysuckle, coptis root, eucommia bark, spatholobus vine, and bupleurum—common herbs suitable for summer and autumn harvesting.
Carrying nearly fifty jin back home, even if others saw the herbs, they wouldn’t think much of it. These were common and easy to cultivate, with low purchase prices. Some villagers had once tried to make money from them but found it wasn’t worth the effort.
After weighing the pig grass at the team office, she earned five work points. Including her regular work, Qin Laidi earned a total of fifteen work points that day.
“Oh my, Laidi works like two people combined,” Widow Liu said sourly. “But what’s the use? A girl still needs a good marriage. Marry the wrong man and it’s all over—not like our Baozhu…”
Qin Laidi raised her eyelids slightly. So the Zhao family had gone to discuss marriage—it explained her smugness.
She ignored her.
Widow Liu felt disappointed. Ever since falling into the water, Little Chili Pepper wasn’t as fiery as before. She had planned to provoke her into making a scene, so Baozhu could step in and appear gentle and considerate.
Laidi paid her no mind. She laid out the herbs in the yard—some leaves needed trimming, some roots needed washing. By the time she finished, the sun had set and Pandi had returned from school.
“Sis, why are you gathering herbs?”
“To keep for use.”
Pandi twitched her lips. Who stockpiles medicine like that? “We can’t even finish all this.”
Qin Laidi smiled. She planned to make medicinal pills during the farming off-season—some for household use, but mainly for her elder sister. Her condition required long-term care, and pills would be convenient for work.
Just as she was thinking, the light suddenly dimmed. A man in a green military uniform appeared at the doorway.
He had a square, resolute face, dark skin, and rolled-up sleeves revealing muscular forearms—strong and powerful.
Even if turned to ashes, he still carried a sly, calculating air.