For a special reason, Chen Erye’s children were not by his side, and he had lived alone as a widower for many years. He had always been close to Gu Mingyan, teaching him his first lessons and principles, and was instrumental in securing Gu Mingyan’s qualification to enlist.
It all started when Gu Mingyan was five or six and fell seriously ill. His parents and grandparents had given up on him, but Chen Erye refused to let go. He took him to the city hospital and got him treated.
From then on, the Gu family tacitly agreed to let Chen Erye raise Gu Mingyan as somewhat of a half-son, and accepted that Gu Mingyan would share the responsibility of caring for Chen Erye in his old age.
Gu Mingyan, from the bottom of his heart, also treated Chen Erye as a second father. For every letter he sent to his parents, he sent one to Chen Erye.
“I wanted to personally bring them back for you to see,” Gu Mingyan said, taking his son from Jiang Lizhu’s arms and walking over to Chen Erye, letting him see the baby up close.
“Ah wu, ee ya,” the baby babbled, his peach-blossom eyes, so like Gu Mingyan’s, glanced at Chen Erye twice, then he turned back, excitedly patting Gu Mingyan’s face with both hands before leaning in to rub cheeks with him, showing great affection.
While they were catching up, the Gu family members busy in the fields finally got word, passed through several mouths, that Gu Mingyan had returned home for a visit.
But because of work points and rations, not everyone could come running. In the end, only Gu Mingyan’s mother, Xu Xianglian, came. Her voice preceded her.
“Gu Laosan! You’ve really become something now, huh? Do you even have eyes for your old mother? You said you were coming back since the beginning of last year, and by year’s end, I hadn’t seen a single hair of you!”
“Then you said you’d be back at the start of this year, and now it’s August! Is this how you fool me? You think I don’t know your game? Lying to me about getting married? Do I look that easy to fool?…”
Xu Xianglian strongly suspected that Gu Mingyan just didn’t want her to pressure him into marriage. He’d rather stay on duty with the troops than come home for a visit and be set up on blind dates by her, which was why he kept giving her empty promises.
As for the news in his letter that he had gotten married through a leader’s introduction? She didn’t believe a single word.
Those leaders of Gu Mingyan’s had introduced him to women before. She’d heard of several just from Chen Erye, and none of those led to Gu Mingyan obediently getting married.
Why would he suddenly cave and agree to a blind date marriage just because she was pushing hard?
“Oh my heavens, this, this is…” Xu Xianglian finally pushed her youngest son aside and saw Gu Mingyan holding the baby. Then she met the baby’s adorably curious peach-blossom eyes.
“Mother, I really am married. This is my son,” Gu Mingyan said, embarrassed and helpless after being on the receiving end of his mother’s torrent of scolding. “My own flesh and blood.”
Jiang Lizhu stopped hiding her smile behind her hand, stepped out from behind Gu Mingyan, and greeted her with a slight smile. “Hello, I’m Jiang Lizhu, Gu Mingyan’s lawfully wedded wife. He didn’t lie to you.”
“Ya, wu wu,” the baby’s head immediately tilted towards Jiang Lizhu the moment he saw her, only to be gently pulled back by Gu Mingyan.
“Uncle Er, Mother, let’s continue this at home.”
Gu Mingyan’s tone was deeply resigned. He and Gu Minghua had planned to bike all the way to their front door. They only stopped because they ran into Gu Xiao Liu playing in the village square, and they’d been delayed here ever since.
But this really wasn’t the place for talking. Most of the village was working in the fields, but there were still elderly people and children around, and the crowd was visibly growing.
Gu Mingyan wasn’t afraid of such a scene, but he couldn’t let them overwhelm Jiang Lizhu and his son.
“Alright, alright,” Xu Xianglian said, her expression somewhat strange as if she was thinking something over, but she had completely calmed down.
She didn’t want to provide entertainment for the neighbors either, especially at her own expense.
“You all head back. I need to keep an eye on the fields. Later, bring your wife and son to my place, and we two will have a drink.”
Chen Erye laughed heartily, patted Gu Mingyan’s shoulder, smiled kindly at Jiang Lizhu, then picked up his loudspeaker and walked briskly back to the fields.
Gu Mingyan withdrew his gaze, turned to Jiang Lizhu, and asked softly, “Walk or take the bike?”
“I’ll take the bike. Just push us slowly,” Jiang Lizhu replied. If she could ride, she naturally didn’t want to walk. And the fact that Gu Mingyan asked meant there was still a fair distance from the village entrance to his family home.
Jiang Lizhu took the baby back from Gu Mingyan and sat sideways on the back of the bicycle. Gu Mingyan pushed them along slowly.
Over there, Gu Minghua, who had been pestered by Gu Xiao Liu for a while, had no choice but to sit his little nephew on the bike seat and push his bike along too.
“Oh my, so fair, so chubby, oh, smiling at me!” Xu Xianglian adjusted her mindset surprisingly quickly. She walked alongside Gu Mingyan’s bike, her gaze practically glued to the baby.
When had their village ever seen such a fair, chubby, and adorable little baby? Even Gu Mingyan wasn’t this cute as a child.
Jiang Lizhu could sense Xu Xianglian’s overflowing fondness for the baby. She took the baby’s little hand and waved it at Xu Xianglian.
“Baby, this is Grandma.”
“That’s right, that’s right, I’m Grandma! Is he four or five months old?” Xu Xianglian asked, then couldn’t help but glare at Gu Mingyan’s back, itching to hit him.
Her little grandson was this big, and she only just found out!
“He’ll be four months old on the fifth of next month,” Jiang Lizhu replied with a slight smile. Her baby was indeed easy to raise. He happily drank both breastmilk and formula, and he was developing better than most babies his age.
Throughout the journey, eating, sleeping, and playing, he was in much better shape than Jiang Lizhu.
“Third daughter-in-law, I’m so sorry. His father and I didn’t prepare anything for you and… the baby.”
As Xu Xianglian spoke, her other hand ruthlessly pinched Gu Minghua’s lower back. This fourth son clearly knew something but hadn’t come back to the village beforehand to tell them.
“Mother! Hiss! Easy, easy, that hurts!” Gu Minghua howled miserably, feeling wronged. “I only knew I was supposed to pick them up at the train station. I didn’t know anything else!”
Gu Mingyan’s call to him was answered by the factory switchboard operator, who simply told him the arrival time of Gu Mingyan’s train and asked him to meet them at the station.
“Please, just call me A-Li. Ming Yan is a soldier, his duties come first. We got married in a hurry, and I soon became pregnant, so we couldn’t return to the village to see you. I just hope you’re not upset with me.”
Jiang Lizhu didn’t hesitate to use tactful language, glossing over the tricky parts, and consciously stepped back, giving Xu Xianglian the face she was due.
“How could I possibly be upset with you…” Xu Xianglian naturally knew who she should be angry with. This was also her first time dealing with a daughter-in-law so delicate and charming, even more so than the sent-down youth in the village.
Her loud voice seemed to malfunction; she felt like whatever volume she used was wrong.
When Gu Mingyan looked back, Jiang Lizhu playfully winked at him.
Xu Xianglian’s anger should naturally be directed at her son Gu Mingyan. She and the baby could just watch the show.
What else could Gu Mingyan do? He had to take all the blame.
The Gu family house was located at the edge of the woods west of the village, with a front and back yard covering a considerable area.
Xu Xianglian and her husband Gu Dazhu had raised two daughters and four sons. The eldest daughter had married into the county town years ago. The eldest and second sons had been married for many years. The youngest daughter was about to marry the son of the Party secretary from the neighboring production brigade. The third son had been away in the military for years, and the youngest son worked in the city.
Xu Xianglian and Old Gu essentially lived with their eldest and second sons.
The Gu family hadn’t divided the household yet. The village was sparsely populated, and the Gu house had been gradually expanded. Though it looked a bit worn, it was very spacious to live in.
Especially since Gu Mingyan and the youngest son sent money home every month, their family was considered one of the most respectable in the village.
“Lan Lan, still hiding in your room? Get out here and work, quick!” Xu Xianglian entered the Gu family courtyard ahead of the others and called out to her youngest daughter, Gu Lanlan, who was sleeping in her room.
The Gu family didn’t rely entirely on farming. The sons and daughters-in-law were all capable workers. Since Gu Lanlan was getting married soon, she hadn’t been sent to the fields for this autumn harvest. The family needed someone to cook and do housework anyway.
“It’s not like everyone’s back before dark, why so early…” Gu Lanlan, still bleary-eyed, followed her mother out of the house in a daze.
But it was still broad daylight, nowhere near time to cook dinner.
“Your third brother and his wife, and your little nephew are here. Give me a hand,” Xu Xianglian said. First, she needed to clean out the room belonging to Gu Mingyan.
Because Gu Mingyan was away from home all year, his original room had been used as a sort of storage room.
Gu Mingyan himself could probably rough it, but her fair-as-snow daughter-in-law and little grandson definitely couldn’t.
“Huh? Third sister-in-law? Didn’t Third Brother just have a blind date with Sister Xiuxiu? Where did a little nephew come from? Mom, are you confused from not sleeping?”
As soon as Gu Lanlan finished speaking, she got a flick on the forehead from her mother and immediately clutched her head. “Ouch!”
“You’re the confused one! Work, and no more talking!”
Xu Xianglian shoved a rag and a basin of water into her daughter’s hands and briskly went to get the keys to open the storage room… no, to open Gu Mingyan’s room door.
She had a little grandson now; why would she be arranging blind dates for Gu Mingyan? Her daughter-in-law definitely couldn’t hear that.
However, she hadn’t expected Jiang Lizhu to have sharp ears. Jiang Lizhu looked at Gu Mingyan, who had come to take the baby, with a teasing glint in her eyes. “Xiuxiu? Blind date? Childhood sweetheart?”
Couldn’t the “Sister Xiuxiu” Gu’s little sister mentioned be none other than the reborn female lead and stepmother she hadn’t yet met?
Gu Mingyan had heard it too. He met Jiang Lizhu’s gaze, then raised his hand and gently brushed the back of it against her cheek. “My wife is you.”
“Never been matched, don’t know her, and I don’t have a childhood sweetheart either.”
The Xiuxiu his little sister mentioned was completely unfamiliar to him. He was six years older than Gu Lanlan and had left home to join the military at fourteen. It was impossible for him to have had any contact or relationship with any woman his sister played with.
His rare trips back home for visits had always been rushed. Until his leave last year, he hadn’t realized how much his family worried about his marriage.
Leaders and comrades in the army had gradually introduced people to him, but he didn’t want to get involved in factional disputes among the leaders, so he refused whoever he could.
If he couldn’t refuse, he’d meet them once at most and then never contact them again.
Although Jiang Lizhu was the daughter of Deputy Division Commander He’s childhood friend, on the surface, due to Jiang Yuanbai’s downfall, there was no connection between Jiang Lizhu and Deputy Division Commander He’s family.
On the other hand, Deputy Division Commander He was Gu Mingyan’s mentor, repeatedly giving him important assignments and promoting him ahead of schedule.
In a sense, without needing to pick a side, Gu Mingyan was already part of Deputy Division Commander He’s faction.
It’s just that Deputy Division Commander He hadn’t previously thought to bind Gu Mingyan tightly through marriage, and others who tried to lure him away with marriage hadn’t succeeded either.
“Alright, fine, so he doesn’t exist. No need to be so harsh with me.” Jiang Lizhu felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt under Gu Mingyan’s gaze but quickly regained her confidence and turned the accusation back on him.
This was exactly how the book described his relationship with the stepmother female lead: childhood sweethearts who missed their chance, one marrying someone else, the other also marrying someone else. The book stated it so emphatically, she couldn’t be blamed for having preconceptions.
“I wasn’t… Hmph, it’s my fault.”
Gu Mingyan promptly remembered Xiong Dongjun’s advice and lowered his head in apology, but he still felt that Jiang Lizhu’s attitude towards this matter was somewhat off.
Jiang Lizhu hadn’t been angry at all. She tilted her head, rubbed against the back of his hand that was still there, and said coquettishly, “Lift us down.”
Gu Mingyan’s hand, which had been resting, circled her waist and lifted both her and the baby off the back of the bicycle.
Gu Mingyan’s mood improved accordingly. After these four-plus days of travel, not only was his son more attached to him, but Jiang Lizhu was also clearly more dependent on him, acting coquettishly with him more and more naturally.