That night, Zhao Rui squeezed into Li Xu’s small single room. Inside, he set up a makeshift bed using wooden planks and two long benches, spread out his bedding, and lay down peacefully.
Li Xu couldn’t understand why people divorcing lately seemed so determined and open-minded. His sister was like that, and now Brother Rui too.
Propping his head up, he looked at Zhao Rui, who had closed his eyes to sleep, and asked, “Brother Rui, why are you divorcing?”
His sister had been bullied badly by the Cheng family, and Cheng had taken a mistress—that was why she divorced. But Brother Rui? Surely Cen Jingqiu hadn’t taken another man?
Zhao Rui answered calmly, “She ran away, then regretted it and came back.” His tone was steady, as if he were talking about someone irrelevant, not his own wife.
Li Xu grew agitated, secretly studying his Brother Rui. In fact, he had long suspected that Cen Jingqiu had run away. After all, no matter how long a family visit lasted, it couldn’t stretch to two months without a single word. Especially since recently, many brigades had seen educated youth divorces. With Cen Jingqiu gone so long, everyone had vague suspicions, though no one spoke them aloud. But he hadn’t expected her to return—and for the divorce to be initiated by Brother Rui!
“Brother Rui, how do you know she ran away?” Li Xu asked. Hadn’t she come back? What if she had just been delayed by something, and Brother Rui misunderstood?
Zhao Rui didn’t want to explain further. He stopped answering and said nothing more.
Li Xu could only lie down, his thoughts in turmoil.
Brother Rui was a man of resolve—if he said he would divorce, he would. Ah, why were divorces piling up? His sister, Brother Rui… Suddenly, Li Xu remembered his mother praising good men the other day. He had even boasted about Brother Rui. But now Brother Rui was divorcing—what about his sister…
No, no, that wasn’t right! Li Xu quickly slapped his own face. Cen, the educated youth, was still living at Zhao’s house. If he thought about pairing her with his sister, what would that look like!
No wild thoughts, no random matchmaking!
Li Xu shut his eyes to sleep. Half an hour later, he opened them again. The more he thought about it, the more twisted it seemed!
Li Xu couldn’t sleep, but Zhao Rui slept soundly.
The fact that Zhao Rui had separated from Cen Jingqiu and wasn’t sleeping at home became known to the whole brigade when Zhao’s mother brought him breakfast in the fields. Everyone watched him like it was a spectacle.
Mother Zhao stomped her feet in frustration. “What exactly are you trying to do? You had a good life, and now you’re making a mess of it!”
Zhao Rui didn’t want her to worry or get angry and harm her health, so he explained simply: “She had a suitor in the city, then regretted it and came back.”
Mother Zhao was shocked. “This… this…”
She didn’t know what to say. Should she say her daughter-in-law had wronged her son? Yes! But wasn’t it unfinished? The daughter-in-law had returned, and her attitude of repentance seemed sincere.
To be honest, Mother Zhao felt conflicted. She couldn’t tell if it was serious or not. But as long as Cen Jingqiu had come back clean and proper, in her eyes, it wasn’t such a big deal.
Seeing how much her son cared, Mother Zhao could only sigh helplessly. After all, it was his life to live—she couldn’t live it for him, nor could she force him.
Zhao Rui then instructed, “Mom, when you get home, divide up our rations. Give Cen Jingqiu her share separately. Since we’re divorcing, it’s better to make things clear. If she insists on staying, let her cook her own meals. Don’t mix them together.”
Mother Zhao said weakly, “You’re trying to drive her away!”
Zhao Rui didn’t deny it. “I’m determined to divorce. You must stand with me. Making her leave sooner is for her own good, so she doesn’t waste her time here.”
Seeing he wouldn’t budge, Mother Zhao shook her head and went back. Zhao Rui finished his breakfast in just a few bites and went to the fields.
It was the busy season of spring plowing—preparing the land, raising seedlings; there was plenty of work.
At home, Cen Jingqiu noticed her mother-in-law seemed to have changed her attitude after returning from the fields. She wanted to test whether Zhao Rui had said something to her, but feared exposing herself and making her mother-in-law revert to the hostility of the previous life, cutting off her last hope. So she asked timidly, “Mom, do you also want to drive me away?”
Mother Zhao, separating her ration, replied uneasily, “You young people should solve your own problems. I’m old, I don’t understand, and I can’t manage so much.”
Cen Jingqiu had planned to stay and win Zhao Rui back. But soon Zhao Rui moved out, stopped eating at home, and even insisted on separating meals. No matter how well she behaved at home or how much she cared for her mother-in-law, it was like performing for empty air. So she gritted her teeth and made a decision: she would follow Zhao Rui into the fields.
The villagers, seeing her, looked on with teasing eyes. Mischievous ones joked about the couple “sleeping in separate rooms,” while kindly folks advised Zhao Rui to soften since his wife’s attitude had already gone this far.
But Zhao Rui was unmoved by the jokes, acting as if he didn’t even know Cen Jingqiu—as if she didn’t exist. Neither sad nor glad, he simply lowered his head and worked.
Those who had been joking or watching the spectacle grew embarrassed when faced with his cold expression, and fell silent, leaving Cen Jingqiu alone, humiliated and in tears.
Within a few days, Cen Jingqiu couldn’t hold out any longer. It wasn’t just Zhao Rui’s cold indifference—it was also the heavy farm work. In her previous life, she had chosen Zhao Rui precisely because the labor was easier. After marriage, Zhao Rui earned full work points and brought in extra money from outside. The Zhao family never worried about food. She only idled in the fields, earning two or three points a day, and at home she barely did chores. When her mother-in-law couldn’t stand it, she would take over the work herself. All Cen Jingqiu had to do was wash her own clothes and occasionally cook. Even later, when she fled the Zhou family and went to another city, the hardest jobs she did were domestic service or dishwashing—never such high-intensity farm labor.
After just a few days of gritting her teeth, she couldn’t endure anymore. Her back ached, and her waist was sore.
Whenever she grew tired, Cen Jingqiu would recall Zhao Rui’s rise to fortune. In the early years of reform and opening, he went south to work, starting as a laborer on construction sites. Step by step, he became a foreman, then founded a real estate company. To raise funds for bidding projects, he even went to Russia as a trader. By chance, he brought back a batch of materials, and the authorities rewarded him by granting him that piece of land.
From then on, his career soared. Once real estate funds were consolidated, he ventured into the stock market, energy, and emerging technology industries… his business empire grew larger and larger. It was a well-known story, but the one flaw was that she didn’t know the exact timing of Zhao Rui’s rise.
Now Zhao Rui had been reborn, yet he made no moves—spending his days working in the fields.
A man who had been a pampered, powerful boss was now laboring harder than the seasoned farmers of the village. Cen Jingqiu couldn’t understand. Having lived such a life, shouldn’t his first instinct be to escape poverty?
She couldn’t bear it. She began to prepare two plans: thinking of how to use her memories to make money, to change her situation. But with the economic zones not yet established, and with no capital or technology, she could do nothing!
Suddenly, Cen Jingqiu’s eyes lit up—she thought of someone! Perhaps she could hitch a ride on another’s success.
Meanwhile, the departure of the female educated youth was like a pebble dropped into a lake—sinking quickly, its ripples fading, leaving little impact on Jiang Nan’s life. She continued her routine of classes, study, and exam preparation. But today, after class, as she was about to return to the office, a girl tugged shyly at her sleeve, blushing as she told her that her trousers were stained.
For a moment, Jiang Nan didn’t understand. After her surgery, she hadn’t had her period for a long time.
Seeing the girl’s head droop lower and lower, Jiang Nan quickly pulled a few milk candies from her bag and handed them over, saying sincerely, “Thank you. But you don’t need to feel embarrassed about this—it’s a normal physiological phenomenon.”
The girl’s eyes sparkled as she nodded, then returned to class.
She was a sweet, introverted girl. Junior high girls were in the midst of puberty, and in those days bras were rare. When the PE teacher made them do frog jumps with hands behind their backs, the boys noticed the girls’ developing bodies.
This girl was among those developing earlier. Jiang Nan had once passed the playground and seen several boys following her, laughing and making vulgar remarks. Jiang Nan had scolded them, then had their homeroom teacher discipline them before letting them go. She kept an eye on them afterward, worried they might retaliate or continue bullying the girl.
She hadn’t expected that a girl too shy to speak to teachers would come to remind her of such an awkward matter. Clearly, she had made progress.
After reflecting, Jiang Nan returned to the dormitory to change her sanitary pad. But in the following days, something felt strange—it didn’t seem like menstruation at all. Jiang Nan finally realized it might not be her period, but a post-surgery complication!
Alarmed, she rushed to the health clinic for an examination after class that afternoon.
The doctor examined her condition, looked over her medical records, and finally said, “This is normal.”
Only then did Jiang Nan relax.
Then the doctor asked, “Do you have children?”
Jiang Nan nodded.
The doctor let out a breath of relief. “That’s good. In your situation, if you want more children in the future, it’s best to see an experienced traditional Chinese doctor for treatment. Even if you don’t plan to have more children, you should still take care of yourself—your body is too weak.”
Jiang Nan took it seriously. In the TV drama, the “sister-in-law” had fallen ill and died in her fifties or sixties, not even reaching the average life expectancy. That was a warning!
She quickly asked the doctor where she could find a reliable traditional Chinese physician.
The doctor recommended the farm’s clinic. “There’s an old doctor there named Yu. His medical skills are excellent. A few years ago, he was sent down to the farm for reform. In 1976, he was rehabilitated, but he severed ties with his children and stayed on at the farm instead of returning to his hometown. You can go to him for treatment.”
Jiang Nan smiled, handed the doctor a handful of milk candies, and left the health clinic. On the weekend, she borrowed a vehicle from Principal Yang and went to the farm for treatment. She had just taken a number and sat down when she ran into familiar faces.
“Aunt Zhao, Brother Rui.” Jiang Nan stood up, following Li Xu’s way of addressing them.
Zhao Rui supported his mother by the arm as they walked closer.
“Oh my, isn’t this Xiao Nan? Are you feeling unwell?” Mother Zhao recognized Jiang Nan and asked with concern.
Jiang Nan worried Mother Zhao might go back and tell Aunt Jiang that she had come for treatment, so she quickly smiled and said, “It’s nothing serious. I just heard the doctor here is good, so I came to get some medicine to strengthen my body…”
Before she could finish, the nurse called her number. Jiang Nan smiled at Mother Zhao and went into the consultation room.
Mother Zhao sat down in Jiang Nan’s former seat, right outside the consultation room door.
After a while, during the pulse-taking, the old doctor inside asked Jiang Nan, “What outcome do you want—children, or health?”