When Cen Jingqiu returned home, Zhao Rui was mending a fishing net. He had injured his shoulder while pulling the frame, so the brigade allowed him to rest at home for a few days.
Zhao Rui took advantage of the fact that everyone else was out working in the fields to bring out the net and repair it.
A few years earlier, he had helped a professor of agronomy who had been sent down to a nearby farm. That professor taught him the technique of artificially breeding grass carp. Zhao Rui and Li Xu secretly carried out breeding experiments in a pond beyond two mountain ridges, and to their surprise, they succeeded.
For the past few years, they had bred once annually, harvesting the pond at Dragon Boat Festival and again before the New Year, earning a bit of holiday money each time. Though the income wasn’t large, it didn’t interfere with their regular work points, so it was unlikely to be discovered—low risk.
At the end of last year, they accidentally caught two or three fish over half a meter long. Pulling the net too forcefully damaged it, and they hadn’t had a chance to repair it until now.
It was at this moment that Cen Jingqiu appeared outside the door. Her eyes were filled with nostalgia and confusion, as if tears were about to fall. When she saw Zhao Rui notice her, she smiled shyly, with a hint of timidity.
Zhao Rui froze at the sight. He had expected to receive Cen Jingqiu’s divorce letter in these days, but instead she had suddenly returned. And something about her seemed strange, which made Zhao Rui wary.
Mother Zhao came out to fetch water and also saw Cen Jingqiu entering. Delighted, she exclaimed, “Jingqiu, you’re back!” Then she turned toward the house and called, “Xiaoze, your mother’s back!”
In an instant, Zhao Chuanze ran out happily and hugged Cen Jingqiu’s leg.
Cen Jingqiu touched his hair with eyes full of affection. She had never given this child much love, yet he had remembered her for more than ten years. This time, she would not miss his growing up again.
Zhao Rui watched her expression and movements, then glanced at the bandage on her forehead. His gaze sharpened, and a suspicion rose in his mind, leaving him disgusted.
“Jingqiu, why did you come back so early? Have you eaten?” Mother Zhao asked curiously.
After all, the bus from the city to the commune only departed at seven, arriving around nine. From there, walking home would take until about eleven. Yet now it was only a little after eight—how had Cen Jingqiu arrived so soon?
Cen Jingqiu still remembered vividly how Mother Zhao had despised and driven her away before her rebirth. Now, seeing such kindness and concern from her mother-in-law felt strange. She explained briefly that she had stayed at the school, then hesitated and replied, “I haven’t eaten yet…”
Mother Zhao immediately said, “Then I’ll make you something!” Seeing the injury on her forehead, she worried aloud, “What happened to you? Zhao Rui just had his bandage removed, and now you’re hurt too. Are you alright?”
Without waiting for an answer, she muttered, “It’s only the start of the year, and already everyone’s getting hurt—such bad luck! I’ll go pick some pomelo leaves later, boil them for you to bathe with, to wash away the misfortune.”
She told Zhao Rui to fetch Cen Jingqiu’s luggage, then went into the kitchen to light the fire and prepare breakfast.
Only then did Cen Jingqiu have a chance to speak with Zhao Rui. Just as she was nervously trying to find words, Zhao Rui’s response hit her like a bucket of ice water. “Why did you come back—did you come to handle the divorce in person?”
Cen Jingqiu looked up in shock at this man, whose coarse patched clothes did nothing to diminish his presence.
Zhao Rui before her was hardly inferior to the suited man he would become years later. How had she never noticed?
She recalled Zhao Rui more than a decade later—time had left little mark on him. Even in his forties, he remained full of charm. So when her son said he had always thought of her, Cen Jingqiu’s vanity was deeply satisfied. Even though she was no longer young or beautiful, with no assets to her name, he was still willing to reconcile. Cen Jingqiu was moved by this unwavering love.
Comparing Zhao Rui at different ages, a vague thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. Uncertain, she stammered, “What are you saying? How could I possibly want a divorce?”
Zhao Rui grew suspicious from Cen Jingqiu’s changed attitude toward her son and mother-in-law. If he hadn’t been certain before, her shocked reaction now confirmed his guess.
“You weren’t about to get married?” he asked. “What was that man’s name again? I forget… I think his surname was Zhou, right?”
Cen Jingqiu’s heart trembled. How did Zhao Rui know? Had he gone to Ningcheng to investigate, or he had been reborn too!
Seeing that both sides understood, Zhao Rui spoke bluntly: “So you came back to do what—take Zhao Chuanze away? Fine.”
He could pay child support.
“No, that’s not it!” Cen Jingqiu hurried to explain. “I think Heaven has given us another chance. This time, our family can live without regrets…”
“What kind of dream are you having!” Zhao Rui, disgusted, cut her off. “Why would you think that after knowing what you did in the last life, I could accept you without resentment?”
Cen Jingqiu’s heart ached at his words, but she believed he was just angry, speaking against his true feelings. “I know you’re upset, but you waited for me all those years. Now everything has returned to the beginning…”
“Who told you I was waiting for you?” Zhao Rui was speechless. Her words were unbearable, absurd, laughable.
Cen Jingqiu was struck dumb, glancing down at her son in disbelief. It was Zhao Chuanze who had told her, swearing it was true.
Zhao Rui followed her gaze and sneered. Truly Cen Jingqiu’s son—able to twist black into white for her sake. “At first, I didn’t remarry because of Zhao Chuanze, afraid a stepmother would mistreat him. Later, too many people around me had ulterior motives, so I didn’t want to give them an opening. How could it ever have been for you!”
Cen Jingqiu’s face flushed red under his open mockery.
“Wasn’t it because you wanted to remarry me that you made Mother so angry she ended up in the hospital?” she murmured, unwilling to give up.
Zhao Rui exploded. He snatched up the shuttle from the table and hurled it at Zhao Chuanze, who was clinging to Cen Jingqiu’s leg. “You little brat!”
The boy cried out in pain, terrified by his father’s fierce expression, and burst into tears.
Zhao Rui ignored him, breathing heavily with rage. “For the sake of a mother who abandoned him, he drove the grandmother who raised him into the hospital—and now dares to pin it on me!”
Hearing her grandson’s cries, Mother Zhao rushed out, scooped him into her arms, and soothed him. “You two should talk things out properly. Why take it out on the child!”
She had vaguely heard the couple quarreling from the kitchen but hadn’t wanted to interfere. She never imagined her son would strike his own child!
So Mother Zhao stayed in the courtyard, watching them closely, determined to see if they would continue fighting.
The two of them truly could not continue. Zhao Rui persuaded her for a long time before finally letting her take Zhao Chuanze back.
Only then did Zhao Rui continue: “Cen Jingqiu, don’t even think about reconciliation. The world doesn’t revolve around you. It’s not that you can divorce whenever you want, and then take it back whenever you please. You and Zhao Chuanze, in a sense, are the murderers who killed my mother. I will never forgive you two. There is no possibility between us!”
The doctor had said his mother’s health was well maintained—if she hadn’t been angered, she could have lived several more years!
Cen Jingqiu cried, “Even if everything you said is true, this time everything has started over. In this life, Mother is fine. Zhao Rui, you can’t condemn me for things that haven’t happened yet!”
Zhao Rui found her logic laughable. “Cen Jingqiu, tell the truth. If I hadn’t achieved anything in the last life, if I had remained a peasant all my days, would you have come back today? So don’t try to twist words about past and present lives. Let me tell you, my biggest regret in the last life was not leaving a will. Everything should have gone to Zhao Chuanze. He was so filial to you—you enjoyed it, didn’t you? If I had known I raised such a beast, I’d rather throw my money into the river just to hear the splash than leave a single coin to you two! Oh, and Zhao Chuanze didn’t tell you, did he? The day before my car accident, I had already kicked him out, so you mother and son could enjoy your tender affection. In this life, if he weren’t still so young, I’d have kicked him out too! Now, don’t bother with false words about wanting to reconcile or start over. I won’t accept it. This marriage—I’m divorcing for sure!”
Zhao Rui stripped away each lie Zhao Chuanze had woven for her, leaving Cen Jingqiu reeling, shaken to the core. She shook her head again and again. “No, I don’t believe it. I won’t divorce!”
Zhao Rui was indifferent. “If you don’t agree, I’ll file for divorce in court.”
In a de facto marriage, if both parties agree, they can simply separate. More formally, they must first register the marriage certificate, then process the divorce certificate. If one party refuses, the other can directly file for divorce in court.
Cen Jingqiu was unafraid, gritting her teeth. “I have no fault. The court won’t grant the divorce!”
Zhao Rui laughed. “Then we’ll drag it out. I’ll keep filing. During that time, we’ll live apart. After two years, the marriage will be dissolved automatically.”
He was willing to wait, but Cen Jingqiu could not endure.
After years of marriage, Zhao Rui believed he understood her well. Cen Jingqiu was greedy for comfort, unable to bear hardship. She had gone to the countryside only because she was forced. Now that she knew the future after reform and opening, she would never willingly stay in this small village to suffer.
If she were counting on the future he had built in the last life, she would be disappointed. This time, Zhao Rui had no intention of leaving the village to develop elsewhere.
Cen Jingqiu cried, heartbroken, her sobs tearing through the air.
Startled, Mother Zhao rushed out again, scolding her son while comforting her daughter-in-law.
When Zhao Rui said he wanted a divorce, Mother Zhao objected. “Other families divorce only when the educated youth run away and there’s no choice. But you… Jingqiu has come back, so why divorce? And Xiaoze is still young—are you willing to let others laugh at him for being a child without a mother?”
Zhao Rui felt helpless. He couldn’t tell his mother about the previous life.
In the last life, his mother disliked Cen Jingqiu because she thought Cen Jingqiu was shallow and materialistic. Back then, when Zhao Rui was just a poor peasant, Cen Jingqiu abandoned father and son to marry into a wealthier family. Later, when Zhao Rui became successful and she had fallen into hardship, she wanted to return. But why should she? His son was not a trash bin. He had better choices than to be dragged down by her mess.
But Mother Zhao now knew nothing of this.
Cen Jingqiu clung tightly to Mother Zhao—she would not leave! She had abandoned everything in the city to come back. If she left again, she would truly have nothing.
Seeing her determination, even sticking close to his mother without leaving her side, Zhao Rui was enraged. He immediately went out, borrowed a bicycle, obtained a certificate from the brigade committee, and went straight to the court to file for divorce.
No one knew when the court would issue a verdict, but the entire village soon knew Zhao Rui was seeking divorce.
The elders in the village couldn’t understand. In these times, no matter how big the issue, it was usually settled privately. How could a couple’s quarrel be taken all the way to the “yamen” (the authorities)?
The brigade’s women’s director also came to mediate. Cen Jingqiu clung to her, crying nonstop, insisting “I won’t divorce.” Since Zhao Rui wasn’t home, the director could only comfort Cen Jingqiu a little before leaving empty-handed.
That evening, Zhao Rui returned home. Li Xu quickly came over to check on the situation, bumping right into Zhao Rui’s bedding roll. He was told directly by his “Brother Rui”: “I’ll stay at your place for a few days.”
Meanwhile, early the next morning, Jiang Nan discovered the female educated youth was gone. At dawn, she had heard some movement, thinking the girl was just going to the toilet. Unexpectedly, she had left entirely.
Jiang Nan stared at the bedding on the upper bunk for a few seconds, then climbed up herself to fold it and return it to Teacher Zhu. This back-and-forth drew many ambiguous, knowing looks from those unaware of the truth. She and Teacher Zhu each explained the situation, and only then was the matter dropped.