Lin Chunhua returned very quickly. Seeing the small sedan Gu Wan had mentioned parked at her front door made her feel a bit nervous—no one in the entire township owned such a car.
When she stepped inside and saw the table piled high with gifts, a single glance revealed only malted milk powder and fruit candies. She couldn’t recognize the other items whose high-end packaging clearly signaled their value. Looking at the fair-skinned, decently dressed young boy, Lin Chunhua felt her home and its furnishings were far too crude and felt embarrassed to entertain such a polished child.
Greeting him with a bit of restraint, she learned he was the younger brother of the comrade-in-arms who had been injured alongside her son Zhijun on this recent mission. She asked out of concern, “Is your older brother doing better now?”
Zhou Jing smiled, “Thank you for asking, Auntie. My oldest brother is out of danger now, though he still needs to rest and recover for a while.”
“Yes, he must recover properly.” Lin Chunhua nodded. Having said this much, she didn’t know what else to say and added awkwardly, “Why don’t you sit for a bit while I go prepare lunch.”
A distinguished guest had suddenly arrived at home, yet there was nothing good to entertain him with. Lin Chunhua prepared to slaughter the family’s old hen and fry a few eggs.
It was already mid-morning, so the meat at the township food station was likely already snapped up by others. Thinking back, Old Three Tian at the end of the village had just gotten a slip approved by the Party Secretary to slaughter a pig two days ago—half of it went to the food station, and the other half was kept in the village to sell. She didn’t know if there was any left today.
Pigs slaughtered by villagers didn’t require meat coupons, but the price was more than ten cents per catty higher than at the food station, selling for eighty-five cents per catty. After thinking it over, Lin Chunhua took three yuan from the cabinet, planning to weigh out three-plus catties to properly entertain the guest.
Hurrying over to Old Three Tian’s home, she found that the whole family had gone to the fields, leaving only Old Mother Tian in her seventies sitting at home. When asked if there was any meat left, she said it was all sold, with less than twenty catties kept for themselves, and asked if salted cured meat would do.
Lin Chunhua had expected as much in this weather, meat really wouldn’t keep without being cured in salt. Salted meat was fine; stir-fried with garlic scapes, it was extremely fragrant too. She pleaded with Old Mother Tian to spare three catties, and also took half a set of small intestines to make a soup.
Zhou Jing’s visit, however, was not purely for a casual social call. He said to Qin Zhijun, “You injured your leg to save my big brother. What a shame it would be for you to apply for discharge like this on your own. Before I came, my grandfather asked me to pass a message to you: he held back your discharge application without approving it, telling you to just focus on recovering at home for now. My mother was originally going to come on this trip too, but for one, my big brother needs care, and for another, my mother stayed in the capital to search for a doctor for you.”
Hearing that his discharge application had actually been held back, Qin Zhijun froze, feelings swirling inside him. Having spent ten years in the military, his feelings for it ran extremely deep; truth be told, he couldn’t bear to leave. Yet the doctors had said his leg injury was severe and a full recovery was nearly impossible, so how could he stay in the military?
Turning it over in his mind, he remembered Zhou Yang’s grandfather’s current position—if the old gentleman intended to help, even if his leg remained limped, he could likely arrange a suitable placement for him.
Aside from leaving the training grounds and his former brothers, he didn’t care much about other things.
However, seeing how attentive the Zhou family was, he couldn’t help but be touched. He smiled and said, “You really don’t need to do this. Zhou Yang and I were partners for six years; we’re comrades-in-arms and brothers. I believe if your big brother were in my position at that moment, he would have saved me without hesitation as well. Please tell your mother not to bother looking for a doctor for me. Even the most authoritative doctors at the Military General Hospital had no solution after their consultation. It doesn’t matter if I get discharged; starting a different kind of life where I can spend more time with my family isn’t bad either.”
He actually no longer held out much hope for his leg. Zhou Jing, however, said, “This Doctor Zhong is different. He saved Old Chief in the war years ago and possesses formidable medical skills. It’s just that he dislikes fame and wealth, so few people can find him. I came with a mission this time: before finding Doctor Zhong, I will periodically take you to the provincial capital for treatment. If you leave an injury like this unattended in the village, I’m afraid it will be neglected.” Read the latest chapters at g.com.
The underlying meaning was that he intended to stay for an extended period.
Qin Zhijun knew a bit about the Zhou family’s background. Zhou Yang only had one brother, and now Zhou Jing was going to nest in Qinghu Village for a considerable length of time for his sake—Qin Zhijun had never expected the Zhou family to arrange things this way.
Yet Zhou Jing clearly grew up in comfort; what sense did it make for him to stay in the countryside for long for his sake? After a moment’s thought, Qin Zhijun said, “I really didn’t expect your family to be so attentive to my affair, and I’m very grateful. But as you see, conditions in our countryside are truly not great. How about this: I will go to the provincial capital for follow-up visits on my own periodically, and if your mother finds that Doctor Zhong, you can bring Doctor Zhong over then?”
Zhou Jing waved his hand and said, “No need. I wouldn’t dare carry out my mother’s order with a discount! The countryside is quite nice, it’s a good chance to experience life. It’s just that I’ll be adding some trouble for your family.”
Just like that, Zhou Jing settled down in Qinghu Village. The Qin family only had four rooms: Qin Dayou and his wife occupied one, Qin Zhijun had one, the two brothers Qin Zhigang and Zhihua shared one, and Qin Xiaomei had one. There was simply no extra room left for Zhou Jing to stay in.
When everyone returned from the fields at dusk, Lin Chunhua went to find Zhu Fengxian. The Gu family’s house had the same layout as the Qin family’s, but they had a spare room.
When she explained the situation to Zhu Fengxian, how could Zhu Fengxian be anything but willing? She was only afraid of neglecting the distinguished guest. Without even waiting after coming back from the fields, she called Wang Shuiying to cook dinner and led Gu Wan with two basins of water to tidy up the guest room.
The Gu family’s house had just been built early this year—a green-brick and tiled structure with white-washed walls, much better than the mud-brick houses in the village.
She moved all the miscellaneous items originally kept in the guest room into her own room, and replaced the bedding with a new set the family hadn’t been willing to use yet. Once cleaned up, although it looked simple at first glance, it was clean and refreshing.
Gu Jinsheng also attached great importance to having such a distinguished guest stay temporarily at their home. After Zhu Fengxian finished tidying up, he went specifically to check on it. After taking a look, he told Zhu Fengxian to take away the straw stuffed under the straw mat, wipe the bed frame clean, and replace it with a winter mattress quilt underneath.
Zhu Fengxian froze. Doesn’t every household put straw under the straw mat? Why replace it with a quilt?*
Gu Jinsheng said with a stern face, “Listen to me and you won’t go wrong. How could city kids ever sleep on straw? Don’t scare him.”
Zhu Fengxian listened and thought it made sense. She gathered up the straw, wiped the bed frame thoroughly again, pulled out an eighty-percent-new cotton quilt to lay on the bedboard, and then spread the straw mat on top. Pressing down with her hand, it felt soft and comfortable.
Only then was Gu Jinsheng satisfied. Scanning the room, he said to Gu Chao, “Go move the table and chair set from your sister’s room into this room. He’s coming to our house as a guest; it’s bad to neglect him.”
Then he turned to Gu Wan and said, “You’ll just have to make do. If you need to place a cup or a mirror, set it on top of your wooden trunk. Have your brother stack your two trunks on top of each other for you; that way the height will be enough.”
Gu Wan nodded obediently, her mood immensely joyful. She had no objections to her father’s decision—she only hoped this guest of the Qin family would stay comfortably and remain at their home for a good long while.
The guest room was directly opposite her room, separated by less than five meters. Given Zhou Jing’s special physique that she had sensed, could there be a bigger bargain than this? Every night when he came home to sleep, she wouldn’t even need to leave her room to reap the benefits. This wonderful feeling surpassed finding a sudden fortune.
Gu Jinsheng glanced at her, thought for a moment, and nodded. The bed net in his son’s room had been bought when he got married. In contrast, his daughter hadn’t had a bed net before; it was added only after they built the new house, brought out for use just at the start of summer, so it was still brand new. It was indeed most suitable to use hers.
The moment he nodded, Gu Wan nimbly went back to dismantle the net.
Hoping this distinguished guest would stay long was one reason; another was that ever since the birthmark appeared, common rural flying insects like mosquitoes and flies wouldn’t come anywhere near her at all.
Though electricity had been connected to the village over the past few years, most families were reluctant to use it. Rural dinners were eaten very early, though today was slightly later due to the busy farming season. Before seven o’clock, Qin Zhihua brought Zhou Jing, who was about his age, over to the Gu family’s house.
The Gu family had finished dinner early and cleaned up, sitting together in the courtyard to enjoy the evening cool. Normally, sitting out in the evening was done in complete darkness, first to save electricity, and second to avoid attracting mosquitoes. Tonight, knowing the Qin family’s guest was coming, the light in the Gu family’s main hall had been left on as soon as dark fell.
Seeing Qin Zhihua leading a young boy wearing a white shirt over, the Gu family knew this was the Qin family’s guest. Gu Jinsheng, who was sitting on a low wooden stool, stood up and took two steps forward to greet him. His dark red face broadened into a big smile, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling up so much that Gu Chao and Wang Shuiying beside him gasped in surprise.
“This must be Zhou Jing!” Gu Jinsheng smiled with exceptional warmth, combined with the simplicity of an old farmer.
Qin Zhihua also found it rare. Greeting him with “Uncle Gu,” he said to Zhou Jing, “Zhou Jing, this is Uncle Gu. You’ll be staying temporarily at Uncle Gu’s house for this period.”
Zhou Jing smiled, his row of white teeth flashing brightly. Warmly calling Qin Zhihua’s suggestion “Uncle Gu,” he reached out to shake Gu Jinsheng’s hand. Such a formal greeting etiquette left Gu Jinsheng, who had never experienced it before, flustered for a moment.
Holding a pipe in his right hand, he frantically extended his left hand. Zhou Jing was stunned for a second, but his expression didn’t change at all as he quickly brought his own left hand out as well, clasping Gu Jinsheng’s left hand with both of his hands, smiling as he said, “Sorry to bother you, Uncle Gu. I’ll be causing trouble for you and your family during this time.”
Seeing that this young man spoke and acted with great courtesy while showing him immense respect, Gu Jinsheng’s smile bloomed like a chrysanthemum. In his half-local, half-accented, non-standard Mandarin, he began exchanging pleasantries with Zhou Jing:
“What are you saying! My family and the Qin family share an extraordinary friendship; I watched Zhijun and the other kids grow up. Anyone can tell at a glance that you come from a good city family—we’re only afraid you won’t get used to living in a country house like ours.”
He then pointed to his family members and said, “Come, let me introduce you. This is my son Gu Chao, about the same age as you, though nowhere near as accomplished. That’s Gu Chao’s wife and child. This is my wife—you can just call her Auntie. Beside her is my daughter, Gu Wan.”
Following Gu Jinsheng’s introductions, Zhou Jing greeted them one by one as Big Brother, Sister-in-Law, and Auntie Gu. When he reached Gu Wan, he raised an eyebrow, looking again at the little toddler held in the arms of the Gu family’s sister-in-law. So she was carrying her nephew.
This girl was truly timid. Everyone else was standing out in the courtyard, yet she alone had retreated far back by the hall doorway, treating him like a ferocious beast. He grinned at her, a faint dimple appearing on his cheek. “Little Sister Wan.”