Within minutes, the entire Han Family Village was buzzing with the news: Han Jianwu's Educated Youth wife not only decided not to return to the city but also drove away her old flame and close girlfriend.
Don't blame the villagers of Han Family Village for being gossipy—recent rumors had been swirling that Huo Qingqing was planning to return to the city with that Zhang Zhiqing, not eloping but doing so openly and legitimately.
Huo Qingqing had the appearance of a typical good girl, but her actions could truly blind people with shock.
Han Jianwu looked at Huo Qingqing and asked, "Why aren't you leaving?"
Tears welled up in Huo Qingqing's eyes as she whispered, "I'm sorry!"
Han Jianwu sighed and said, "My stance remains unchanged. You can leave whenever you want. The children and I will never hold you back."
Huo Qingqing continued, "I'm not leaving."
Han Jianwu said, "Take the children to the warm Kang. It's cold outside. I'll knead the dough and steam some twisted rolls for lunch."
Early spring in the Northwest was still very cold, and every household was still burning the Kang for warmth.
Huo Qingqing murmured, "You…steaming twisted rolls?"
Han Jianwu replied, "It's our turn to cook today."
There were five Han brothers, and Han Jianwu was the fourth. All five brothers were married with children, making over twenty people in total. Their mother-in-law was skilled at managing the household, and the five daughters-in-law took turns cooking, each responsible for three days at a time. Whenever it was Huo Qingqing's turn, Han Jianwu had to step in and cook—she simply couldn't handle preparing meals for so many people.
On ordinary days, Huo Qingqing worked as a substitute teacher at the brigade primary school. She was no good at farm work, and cooking for such a large family was even more beyond her. But on her cooking days, she had to do it anyway. After all, her sisters-in-law and in-laws wouldn't indulge her—the other sisters-in-law also had to work on their cooking days.
People in the village secretly laughed at Han Jianwu, calling him a fool for being afraid of his wife.
Huo Qingqing's family of four lived on one end of the west wing, while Fifth Brother's family lived on the other end, sharing a small hallway in between.
Huo Qingqing looked at the steaming kettle on the charcoal brazier and asked Han Jianwu, "Can I use this hot water?"
Han Jianwu was surprised inwardly but remained calm on the surface. "Of course. What do you need it for?"
Huo Qingqing said, "To wash the children's hair."
Lately, Huo Qingqing had been solely focused on divorcing Han Jianwu and returning to the city, neglecting the children. The two kids were as grimy and disheveled as the other village children.
Sigh!
Huo Qingqing sighed silently. She really was a terrible person.
The weather was chilly, and the children were reluctant to wash their hair. But when their mother said she wasn't leaving and wanted to wash their hair, they obediently sat on small stools, behaving very well.
She draped plastic cloth aprons around their necks, opened the suitcase she had intended to take with her, and took out a bag of shampoo. Carefully, she washed the children's hair until it was clean, wiped their bodies with hot water, changed them into clean clothes, and applied snow cream to their faces.
She then gave the children some biscuits she had planned to take with her and said to Han Jianwu, "Take them to their grandparents' room. I'll tidy up here."
Happily clutching their biscuits, the two children went off to find their grandparents.
Only then did Huo Qingqing pick up a round mirror to look at herself. At this moment, she was truly young and vibrant, with fair skin tinged with rosy cheeks. Which educated youth sent to the countryside had skin as fair as hers? In the four years she had been in the countryside, she had spent over three years without doing farm work. She didn’t have to cook at home either. Sometimes, to avoid scoldings from her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, she would wash dishes. Most of the time, she just looked after the children and knitted, especially since the brigade primary school only had half-day classes, and teachers had to do farm work in the afternoons.
Looking up, Huo Qingqing met Han Jianwu's deep gaze. She averted her eyes, put down the mirror, and took out a piece of high-quality black corduroy fabric from her suitcase. "I'll ask Second Sister-in-law to make you a pair of pants later!" she said. Second Sister-in-law was the only person in Han Family Village who had sewing skills and could cut patterns.
Han Jianwu said, "No need, I have pants to wear."
Huo Qingqing replied, "Don't wear these pants anymore."
Han Jianwu looked at his patched pants and said, "I only wear these for work. I have good pants."
Huo Qingqing insisted, "It's settled then. These pants must be made."
Han Jianwu felt somewhat flattered but was more suspicious about what Huo Qingqing was really up to.
"As long as you're happy," Han Jianwu said before heading to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Left alone in the room, Huo Qingqing finally began to examine her surroundings. The mud brick wall with wheat straw and the common sleeping platform were standard configurations in this area.
Against the wall stood two red chests and one red flat cabinet. On the cabinet was a red porcelain plate with peony flowers, holding an enamel mug along with a toothbrush and toothpaste. On the wall hung an old wall calendar from 1976. There was also a red thermos, a child's enamel mug, and a round mirror.
She had packed all other daily necessities into her suitcase, intending to take them with her.
Though simple and crude, everything was kept very clean. She touched the kang—it was still warm. The wooden lattice windows were covered with white paper and adorned with New Year's window decorations, with a pink floral curtain hanging over them.
The tangible reality of touching each object with her fingers confirmed that she had truly returned!
Huo Qingqing took out the items from her suitcase and organized them properly.
Although her parents had been sent down to the countryside back then, they hadn't let her suffer. They had given her over a thousand yuan in cash savings, along with many national food stamps, various cloth coupons, sugar coupons, meat coupons, and other vouchers, all because they worried she might endure hardship.
But she, like a fool, had used much of the money and coupons to help Zhang Guohua and Gao Yunxia.
"Smack."
Huo Qingqing slapped herself across the face.
Gao Yunxia had come again.
Standing under the eaves, Huo Qingqing looked coldly at Gao Yunxia. "What are you here for again?"
Gao Yunxia looked Huo Qingqing up and down and whispered, "Qingqing, tell me honestly, what's really going on? It's just the two of us now. If you tell me the truth, I'll help you.
Zhang Guohua was so angry he cried. Weren't you two supposed to return to the city together?"
Huo Qingqing said, "I'm not going back. Can't you understand?
By the way, you and Zhang Guohua borrowed a total of one hundred yuan, one hundred jin of food stamps, thirty jin of meat coupons, eight chi of cloth coupons, and five jin of sugar coupons from me. I'm giving you one week to return everything. If you don't, I'll report both of you to the commune for fraud."