Su Jiaxuan walked in, took a look, and also frowned.
The glass in the window had aged, and the broken hole was quite large, now letting a cold wind whistle into the house.
Moreover, judging by the situation, the other panes wouldn’t last much longer either.
“Let’s patch it up with paper for now, and figure something out during the day,” Su Jiaxuan said.
Su Jianjun’s expression turned troubled. “When my older brother and I were packing, we only brought a few books and notebooks, but they burned them all when we left.”
Where would their family have any paper now?
It seemed like enduring the cold today was unavoidable…
Shen Fujuan sighed and turned her head to see Su Jianqiang already silently opening his luggage bag, taking out the only cotton-padded jacket they had.
Everything was exactly the same as what they had experienced in their previous life.
Shen Fujuan quickly stopped Su Jianqiang’s action—just one second later, and the cotton-padded jacket would have been torn apart.
Fortunately, in this lifetime, Shen Fujuan had come prepared. She had over ten cotton-padded jackets for winter warmth alone.
Returning to her room, Shen Fujuan rummaged through her suitcase and finally pulled out a cotton-padded jacket that looked worn.
Carefully cutting it into small squares with scissors, Shen Fujuan stacked them into a pile and distributed them after stepping outside.
“Check carefully. If there are any other places in the house where the wind is leaking in, use these cotton pieces to block them.”
Looking at the red cotton fabric pieces in Shen Fujuan’s hands, even Su Jianqiang, a grown man, couldn’t help but tear up.
“Mom, how could you cut up your own cotton-padded jacket…”
Shen Fujuan quickly stopped Su Jianqiang. “Let’s tidy up first and get to bed quickly!”
They were all native Beijingers who had never been to the Northeast before. In their previous life, they had severely underestimated the harsh cold of the Northeast.
In this lifetime, Shen Fujuan, with her foresight as someone who had lived through it, firmly went to the department store and picked out several of the thickest quilts.
Now, they were already proving useful.
That night, the family didn’t suffer from the cold and slept a warm, cozy sleep.
Lying in the same bed as Su Jiaxuan in a familiar room—this was a scene Shen Fujuan had fantasized about returning to countless times in her previous life.
The feeling of regaining what was lost filled her with joy. Shen Fujuan turned over and hugged Su Jiaxuan tightly.
In the darkness, Su Jiaxuan guessed that Shen Fujuan must have thought of something unpleasant.
His large hand gently rested on Shen Fujuan’s back, embracing her and giving her a light pat.
“Husband, I’m afraid that when I open my eyes, I’ll find all of this was just a dream,” Shen Fujuan said, her voice muffled and thick with a nasal tone.
Su Jiaxuan comforted her in a low voice, “This time, I won’t let you and the children suffer again.”
Shen Fujuan’s heart stirred, and she buried her face in Su Jiaxuan’s firm chest.
The next morning, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, they were awakened by the sound of a gong being struck.
Shen Fujuan fought off her drowsiness and propped herself up to look. Through the yellowed, blurry glass, she could see two figures standing outside, one of them holding a gong and striking it repeatedly.
By the time they finished washing up and went outside, the people outside were already growing impatient.
Looking at this family of handsome men and beautiful women, all city folk with delicate skin, the young man standing next to Huang Chaoying, with his reddened, rough skin, curled his lips in undisguised disdain.
“Now that you’ve come to our place, you must abide by our rules. When you were allowed to come here, you should have been told—you’re not here to enjoy life. You’re here to labor, to atone, to get close to the people!”
Shen Fujuan, like the others, kept her head slightly bowed.
The person lecturing them now was someone Shen Fujuan would never forget in her lifetime.
Secretary Huang Wenqiang of the commune, also a distant nephew of Huang Chaoying.
Though they were relatives, the two shared almost nothing in common.
Huang Wenqiang was far from possessing Huang Chaoying’s kindness; even at a young age, he was full of malice.
Villagers said that even before the movement began, Huang Wenqiang’s wife had run off with a university student and never returned.
Thus, he harbored an almost fanatical hatred for intellectuals.
During work assignments, he deliberately omitted Su Jiaxuan’s work credits, and when distributing rations, he intentionally withheld their rightful share.
It could be said that the hardships endured by their family for most of their lives began with Huang Wenqiang.
Huang Chaoying couldn’t help but frown. “Why are you telling them all this? Take them to the fields, hand out the tools, and let them work!”
Huang Wenqiang was deeply dissatisfied with Huang Chaoying’s approach. “The higher-ups sent them to us precisely so we can reform them properly. Ideological education is equally important!”
Huang Wenqiang led them into the fields, chattering incessantly along the way.
In the vast Northeast, standing at the edge of the fields, one could see endless stretches of black soil.
Their family was not the first to be sent down. Before them, many with even worse class backgrounds had already been brought here, now toiling in the fields, covered in dust and sweat.
Looking at them, Shen Fujuan couldn’t help but think of her own past.
Expecting a group of intellectuals who had never done manual labor to start working in the fields right away was clearly too difficult.
Shen Fujuan harbored no complaints. She took a sickle and walked ahead.
Just as she was about to step into the field, Huang Wenqiang stood at the edge and shouted.
“Look at you, who goes to work in the fields dressed so heavily? Are you here to enjoy yourself or to labor?”
Shen Fujuan glanced back.
It was late autumn, and the weather in the Northeast was already very cold. A slight breeze was enough to cut through their clothes.
Even Huang Wenqiang himself was shivering, unable to extend his hands from the cold.
The Su family wore only thin padded jackets, which were no thicker than what many locals wore.
“Secretary Huang,” Shen Fujuan frowned, “if we don’t wear warm clothes in this season and work up a sweat in the fields, we’re likely to catch a chill.”
Huang Wenqiang curled his lips into a cold sneer. “Are you city folks just that delicate?”
He muttered a few more unpleasant but harmless remarks.
Suppressing her discontent, Shen Fujuan was about to enter the field with her family.
Huang Wenqiang, feeling ignored, grew displeased again. He tilted his chin toward someone nearby, signaling them to stop the family.
“Who said you’re responsible for this area?”
Shen Fujuan paused.
In her previous life, the commune had assigned them this very plot of land.
Seeing the entire family turn to look at him in unison, Huang Wenqiang grinned triumphantly.
He squinted, scanning the surroundings, and finally fixed his gaze on a distant low-lying area at the foot of the mountain.
Following Huang Wenqiang’s gaze, Shen Fujuan also looked over.
That low-lying area was a persistent headache for the entire village.
Back then, in response to policies to increase production, Huang Wenqiang had insisted on having that land cleared.
But the land was fertile yet water was scarce, making the rice seedlings grow crooked and harvesting even more difficult. Walking through it, people easily slipped and fell.
Huang Wenqiang was deliberately trying to make things hard for them!
Sure enough, Huang Wenqiang chuckled coldly, “You all go over there. Don’t disturb the other comrades.”
Shen Fujuan bit the inside of her cheek, her mind racing as she thought of a way out.
Aside from her, no one in the family had any experience working in the fields.
Sending them to the low-lying land was purely meant to make them suffer!
Shen Fujuan took a step forward, and Huang Wenqiang immediately frowned and shouted, “What do you think you’re doing?”
The two men standing beside him raised their hoes.
Shen Fujuan stood at the edge of the field ridge, looking at Huang Wenqiang with a forced smile. “Secretary Huang, I have something to say to you.”
In her past life, Huang Wenqiang had exploited the villagers relentlessly.
Shen Fujuan walked up to him and leaned in close. “Secretary Huang, I suppose the villagers don’t know that you got your position as secretary by trading a load of rice, do you?”
When the commune was first established, Huang Wenqiang seized the opportunity, took the initiative to hand over grain, and secretly secured this position for himself.
This was something Shen Fujuan only learned after returning to the city in her past life.
“Coincidentally, I have friends in the county’s disciplinary inspection committee. If they knew we were suffering here, I doubt they’d just stand by, would they?”
Huang Wenqiang’s face turned ashen, his eyes wide like copper bells as he stared at Shen Fujuan for a long time.
How did this wretched woman find out?
Shen Fujuan took two steps back and glanced downward. “Secretary Huang, my husband and child are both in poor health. If you make them work in the low-lying land, I’m afraid I’ll feel too sorry for them and might say something I shouldn’t.”
Huang Wenqiang gritted his teeth, his hatred reaching its peak, but there was nothing he could do. He could only stiffly allow them to work there.
Jianjun looked at Shen Fujuan curiously, about to ask what she had said, but she gently patted him.
“Focus on the work. Don’t give anyone a reason to target us again.”
After a day of hard labor, they could barely straighten their backs, supporting each other as they walked home.
Just then, someone called out from behind.
“Su Jiaxuan, do you know the rules? Don’t you know that newcomers are supposed to fetch water for the secretary and the director first?”
Shen Fujuan turned to see Huang Wenqiang’s lackey, a hand-rolled cigarette dangling from his lips, sneering at them.