Lu Laoda said angrily, “You don’t need to worry about my son! Mind your own business! When you have a son of your own, then you can criticize others!”
Zheng Xiaoliu cheerfully stepped forward, “Third Aunt, let me hold the little sister!”
Jiang Yue was in a very good and bright mood now. “Don’t worry, all of you! I’m only taking the clothes that belong to me and my child. Surely you won’t want to inspect those too? If you really insist on checking, that’s fine too. Let the whole village see how you two elders conduct yourselves! Oh, and I’ll also tell the entire brigade and commune that our family was driven out by you—while I’m still in my confinement month! Look at this—leaving without a single cent to our name! How ruthless! Since you’re not afraid of people pointing fingers behind your backs or being drowned in gossip, then I don’t care either. After all, it’s the Lu family’s face that’s being lost, not mine. My surname is Jiang!”
Mother Lu was so furious she could die. Jiang Yue had managed to twist all the words to her advantage.
Lu Er Sao came out carrying a small bundle. “Mother! We really shouldn’t go too far. Jiang Yue, take whatever you can from your room. It’s not easy to buy these things now. Take the clothes I made for Little Bean Sprout too. If you ever need any help in the future, just come to me.”
She still wanted to continue collaborating with Jiang Yue; otherwise, where else would she get her private savings?
Jiang Yue felt indifferent toward her. It was just a cooperative relationship—neither good nor bad.
“Thank you, Second Sister-in-Law.”
Lu Da Sao harbored resentment in her heart and was waiting to see Jiang Yue regret her decision.
Establishing a household was no easy task.
In the end, Old Man Lu still let them take the bedding, pillows, and other items. Jiang Yue had a point—he couldn’t let people openly criticize him. He would rather die than lose face.
The entire village came out to watch the commotion. There was all sorts of chatter, buzzing like a flock of sparrows overhead.
Captain Lu asked, “Are you planning to move to town? At a time like this, it’s not easy to rent a place in town. Besides, if you return to the army, it wouldn’t be safe for her to stay in town alone with the child. There are two empty rooms behind the brigade office. If you don’t mind, you could stay there temporarily.”
The village office, now called the brigade office, was converted from an old landlord’s house.
It had two courtyards, one in the front and one in the back. The front was used by the village, while the back stored miscellaneous items.
Lu Jingzhou didn’t answer immediately but turned to look at Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue didn’t want to go too far for now. The child was too young, and she hadn’t finished her confinement month yet. She needed a quiet place to recuperate.
More importantly, she couldn’t be too far from Zheng Xiaoliu. She still needed him to exchange goods later.
“As long as it’s quiet, it’s fine.”
“Quiet? You’ll see when you go there. Through the side gate, it’s an independent small courtyard. I’ll have someone clear out the things inside. You can move in tonight.”
Lu Jingzhou said, “I’ll pay three months’ rent in advance. Is one yuan per month enough?”
Captain Lu didn’t refuse. The house belonged to the public, so he couldn’t offer it as a personal favor. “Enough, that’s more than enough.” It was better than leaving it empty anyway.
The landlord’s house was in a prime location.
It was the highest point in the village, half-surrounded by a pond.
Turning up and left, the brigade office was just ahead.
Following the pond for about thirty meters, there was a small courtyard’s side gate. The gate faced the pond, with a plank for washing clothes by the water.
Captain Lu took out his keys and unlocked the door. “Look at this courtyard—how clean and spacious it is. The separate room on the right is the kitchen, and further right are the bedrooms—two in total. This row on the left is where our Brigade offices are.”
Jiang Yue noticed the line of windows. “These windows need to be sealed up later.”
Otherwise, anything she did in the courtyard would be exposed.
Lu Jingzhou also nodded. “I’ll seal them up right away.”
Jiang Yue also stared at the courtyard wall, beyond which was another Brigade courtyard. “This wall needs to be heightened too.”
“Alright!” Lu Jingzhou agreed quickly. For him, these were trivial matters.
He added, “Go check the back area. If there’s anything else that needs fixing, I’ll do it now. It’s still early—I can probably finish by evening.”
It was just a matter of mixing some mud to seal the windows. As for the wall, they needed to stack adobe bricks to heighten it. The Brigade likely had some ready-made ones; they could just buy a few.
“Third Aunt, hold the little one. I’ll go find someone to help. It’s just tidying up—it won’t take long.” Zheng Xiaoliu handed Little Bean Sprout back and turned to leave.
Captain Lu also said, “Then I’ll go find the clerk to write a receipt.”
Since it was a rental, the payment needed to be recorded.
Lu Jingzhou went inside, found a long bench, checked the wind direction, and placed it near the kitchen. “Sit here and wait. I’ll tidy up the rooms first, then you can go inside to rest.”
Jiang Yue looked at him, her gaze hesitant. “You…”
Hearing her, Lu Jingzhou turned to her. “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Yue bit her lip. “Do you blame me?” By the standards of any era, she wasn’t exactly a model wife or mother.
Lu Jingzhou looked at her and was silent for a moment. “You’re my wife. Protecting you is only natural!”
Jiang Yue’s heart skipped a beat. “But… they are your parents after all. What if you regret it later?”
Lu Jingzhou’s gaze shifted from her face to their daughter’s. “There is no ‘what if’!”
His wife was his. His daughter was his.
When he heard about the dangers Jiang Yue faced during childbirth and what his parents had done to her, it felt like a knife stabbing his heart.
They might not like Jiang Yue, or favor boys over girls and dislike his daughter.
But they shouldn’t have talked openly about killing the child or disregarded Jiang Yue’s life.
In his presence, they spoke harshly—who knew what they said behind his back?
He had always known his parents were biased and didn’t like him.
As a child during meals, he always had to let his older brothers eat first. Only after they were full could he have what was left.
But by then, what was left?
He’d lie awake hungry at night, climbing walls to catch birds in the mountains or mice in the fields. He ate anything that could fill his stomach.
Once, he fell from a tree and injured his leg. When he returned home, Old Man Lu beat him, while Mother Lu stood by scolding him for causing trouble—because if he were seriously hurt, they’d have to spend money on medicine and treatment.
But if the same thing happened to his older brothers, it would be different. They’d be fussed over with concern.
Before he turned ten, he never wore intact clothes, let alone new ones. In winter, he ran barefoot in the snow searching for food.
Lu Jingzhou looked at her and said earnestly, word by word, “They are my parents. I owe them for raising me. But you don’t. You’re just their daughter-in-law—you shouldn’t have to endure this.”
His ideas left Jiang Yue utterly stunned. “Your thinking… is so avant-garde!”
“What’s avant-garde?”
“Never mind, but don’t they say ‘marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog’? Your eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law are like that. Don’t you think my ideas are rather unconventional?”