The Tanghe Brigade had doctors, but Wang Guifen still wanted to find a better physician for her daughter-in-law, to conduct a thorough check-up and to understand what precautions she would need in the future.
Her daughter-in-law was frail and slim, considered physically weak even by the standards of the Tanghe Brigade.
Carrying twins with such a body would be extremely taxing during childbirth; not a single complication could be allowed.
Su Yi nodded. “Mom, I’ll listen to you.”
She already had children—two little ones of her own.
She was carrying this man’s children now.
Su Yi slowly placed her hand on her belly. If the man didn’t like her, she would sign the divorce papers and raise the two children alone.
He had been forced to marry her in the first place and must have been very unwilling. They had only known each other for three days in total, and she hadn’t even had time to ask if he cared for her before he had already left Tanghe Village to return to his unit.
Wang Guifen watched Su Yi gently touch her stomach and her face lit up with a smile. She had been unfortunate in the past, but now she felt extremely lucky. She no longer blamed heaven—surely it was pity for her and for her obedient daughter-in-law that allowed her to be reborn.
Wang Guifen gently patted Su Yi’s hand and said slowly, “Don’t worry. With Mom here, even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”
Su Yi’s eyes turned red, and she nodded. “Mm.”
Wang Guifen’s rough hand brushed away her tears. “Don’t cry. Life will get better from now on.”
Su Yi wiped her eyes. “Mom, I’ll go wash the dishes.”
“No need, no need. Just two bowls—you rest. I’ll do it.” Wang Guifen got down from the kang, placed the bowls and utensils in a wooden tray, and carried them out.
Su Yi also got down and helped Wang Guifen tidy up the kitchen.
Next door, Aunt Zhang’s family was large. When a fish was served, by the time each person had taken a few pieces, the fish had to be flipped over.
Sun Meili gave Xu Dong a thick piece of fish, picking out all the bones first. “Xu Dong, Auntie spoke harshly yesterday. Auntie’s sorry. It won’t happen again. Just live comfortably. Whatever you want to eat, tell me, and I’ll get it for you.”
Xu Dong’s eyes lit up. “Malt sugar! Auntie, I want malt sugar. Third son at Aunt Li’s ate some and said I didn’t get any.”
“I’ll get it. Auntie will buy you three pieces—you can eat them in front of the third son,” Sun Meili said loudly.
Everyone at the table laughed.
“Aunt Yi Yi from the Wang family is a good girl, good-looking, and socially adept. We were too narrow-minded before. Meili, when you’re home, go talk to her sometimes. The gossipy women in the brigade are blind; we can’t afford to be blind too.” Aunt Wang handed a piece of fish to Sun Meili.
Sun Meili smiled. “Mom, don’t worry. I like Yi Yi too. She’s gentle and kind, but she’s clever and resourceful when problems arise. You wouldn’t believe how she made Li Chunlan lose out today. Even the brigade chief couldn’t defend her. She’s better at acting than Wang Qiulan—just a few words, and she made her point so well that the chief was speechless.”
“That’s exactly how it should be. A beautiful young daughter-in-law without a voice will inevitably suffer. Aunt Wang, you can’t always protect her,” Aunt Zhang nodded.
It was just a pity that her body was so delicate. If she didn’t have children in the future, she would definitely suffer. Even just the spit of the gossipy women in the brigade could drown a person.
On one side, the families were cheerful. On the other, Li Chunlan’s family was loud and chaotic; their table was even overturned.
“Wang Jialiang, look what Wang Guifen did to me! What were you doing? Aren’t you a man? How could you just… I was wrong!” Li Chunlan’s forehead was injured, her face swollen.
“What could I do? If you hadn’t had such a loose mouth, Wang Guifen wouldn’t have hit you,” Wang Jialiang said angrily, sitting on a chair.
“Do you even know what kind of person I am? I just said a couple of words. Wang Jiadong is the brigade chief, yet he let Wang Guifen bully me. Even my own family didn’t help,” Li Chunlan said bitterly.
“Hmph. So what if I’m the brigade chief? This is your fault to begin with!”
Suddenly, the brigade chief’s voice came from the doorway.
They looked over and saw Wang Jiadong standing at the entrance of Wang Jialiang’s courtyard.
The two households were close enough to hear the quarrel. Wang Jiadong hadn’t planned to come, but Li Chunlan had a loose mouth. If things continued, the whole Tanghe Brigade would know by the next day.
“Do you want this matter blown up to the commune? Even at the commune, you’ll be the one causing trouble. You insulted a soldier’s wife and said things like ‘no descendants.’ Do you think you won’t be punished? Wang Jialiang, if you can’t control your wife, once Wang Guifen reports this to the police, I won’t be able to protect you!”
Li Chunlan went quiet immediately at the mention of the police.
Rural people rarely saw police; just hearing “report to the police” was intimidating.
“It won’t happen, Big Brother. Chunlan knows she was wrong and won’t dare again,” Wang Jialiang said, looking at Li Chunlan.
“Chunlan, isn’t that right?”
Li Chunlan reluctantly said, “Yes, I won’t dare again.”
Only then did Wang Jiadong turn away. As he left the doorway, he said, “Jialiang, the day after tomorrow, a group of educated youths will arrive in the village. You’ll drive the tractor to the commune and pick them up from the city.”
“All right,” Wang Jialiang replied.
The Tanghe Brigade had an “Iron Bull” tractor, a collective asset of the commune. Few people in the village knew how to drive it; Wang Jialiang was one of them. This was also why Li Chunlan could show off among the brigade women.
News about the educated youths spread throughout the Tanghe Brigade the next day. Wang Guifen also heard about it and learned there would be a tractor going to the city the day after tomorrow. She wanted to take Su Yi to the city for a check-up, so she went to the brigade chief’s house to explain everything and asked to ride along.
The brigade chief didn’t make it difficult. Since Wang Guifen’s family was paying more for the tractor, he immediately agreed.
Early the next morning, the weather was misty.
“Clatter, clatter, bang, bang.”
Wang Jialiang drove the Iron Bull tractor down the slope with Li Chunlan on board.
Wang Guifen and Su Yi were waiting early at the fork under the old locust tree.
When the tractor stopped, Wang Guifen first glanced at Li Chunlan, then climbed onto the tractor and extended her hand. “Come, Yi Yi.”
Su Yi reached out, and Wang Guifen pulled her up.
The tractor bed was lined with hay. Wang Guifen placed a thick cushion on top and helped Su Yi sit.
Li Chunlan rolled her eyes and couldn’t resist saying, “City girls are so pretentious.”
Wang Guifen looked at her. Li Chunlan immediately covered her face and leaned back. She had been scared by Wang Guifen before, unconsciously protecting her face with both hands.
“That’s right. My daughter-in-law is pretentious, and I spoil her. Not everyone is so lucky,” Wang Guifen said with a smile.