The mere mention of dumplings made Shu Jin Yue's mouth water, her stomach rumbling once more.
Three years of hunger had damaged her digestive system, leaving her with the recurring issue of stomach growling. She rubbed her abdomen, thinking that once the most critical matters were settled, she would need to properly nourish her body. In her previous life, she had constantly suffered from stomach problems—at their worst, the pain could knock her unconscious in the fields. Poor appetite and digestion led to severe malnutrition, and during a struggle with a local ruffian, she fainted and fatally injured herself. Thus, her tragic death was truly due to her frail constitution.
"How many meat ration coupons do we have left?" Shu Li Nong pulled his wife into the adjacent room and asked quietly.
"None."
Shu Li Nong frowned. "Did our eldest take them again? How many times have I told you—both he and his wife are permanent workers with no children to support. They could eat freely and still be better off than us. I told you not to give them any, but you insisted. Now our second son isn't married yet, Wen Yun's relationship fell through, and we still need to find a way to keep Jin Yue here. Everywhere we turn, there are expenses…"
Zhao Wan Qiu sighed. Being a stepmother was truly difficult.
"I'll go ask Aunt Zhao next door to lend us half a catty. Their family has more workers, so they're better off than us." Although Aunt Zhao's family also lived in the communal courtyard, her husband was a welder at the Machinery Factory with a seventh-grade wage—90 yuan a month! Her five sons were also workers at the Machinery Factory, so their life was more comfortable than most working-class families. They alone had four large rooms.
Unlike the Shu Family, who only had two small rooms. The left room was the parents' bedroom, where the entire family ate and entertained guests on their large kang bed; the right room had poor lighting and was divided by a curtain made from an old bedsheet into two small compartments—the outer one for the second son to sleep in, and the inner one for the sisters Wen Yun and Jin Yue.
"Jin Yue, you're awake. Come warm up first. We'll cook the dumplings once your eldest brother and his wife arrive." Zhao Wan Qiu and Shu Wen Yun, both wearing aprons, had already laid out a tray of neatly arranged, plump white dumplings on the kang table.
The large kang was warm and cozy. Shu Wen Ming didn't speak, but at least he shifted to make room for her.
"Your second brother specially saved half a catty of celery when he heard we were having dumplings. It's still fresh and green."
Green vegetables were precious at this time of year. If not for Shu Wen Ming working at the vegetable shop, they wouldn't be able to buy any even with money. And celery and pork dumplings were Shu Jin Yue's favorite.
She glanced at Shu Wen Ming, who had now lain down. In her previous life, she often quarreled with this second brother. He had a bad temper and wasn't well-liked, whether in the alley or at the vegetable shop. Later, he went on several blind dates, but all fell through due to his lack of housing and stable job. Eventually, in the 1980s, unable to bear the strange looks from others, he went south alone.
As an A Piao, she couldn't leave the boundaries of Yang City, so she never saw her second brother again. She only learned from the book's plot that he was completely out of touch during his first two years in the south but suddenly returned once after Zhao Wan Qiu suffered a stroke, even hiring a caregiver for her.
After that, he alone covered their parents' medical expenses and the caregiver's wages.
Of course, by then he had become a successful boss in the south.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Shu Wen Ming rested his hands behind his head. "Shu Jin Yue, you little airhead. Keep staring and I'll dig your eyes out… Ouch, Dad! Why did you hit me? Whose real father are you anyway?"
"Stop your nonsense. I told you to find a craftsman to build a kang days ago, and there's still no news." The kang in the children's room next door was old and not warm enough. With Jin Yue's frail health, Shu Li Nong had sent a telegram right away asking him to find a craftsman, yet there had been no word for days.
Shu Wen Ming pouted, "Xiao Cao… Shu Jin Yue coming back just makes the already cramped house even worse."
If the Shu Jin Yue from her previous life had heard such words, she would have been brought to tears of anger. But the current Shu Jin Yue nodded in agreement, "You're right, it is quite crowded. How about you go stay with a friend for a few days, Second Brother? Surely you have at least one friend willing to put you up? You wouldn't tell me you don't have a single friend who'd let you crash for a night or two, would you?"
Shu Wen Ming was so angry he wanted to hit her. The room erupted into laughter and teasing, just as the eldest son and his wife came through the door.
"It's freezing outside. The newspaper says this is the coldest winter Yang City has ever seen." Shu Wen Yan rubbed his hands together and climbed onto the kang. Behind him was a woman in her mid-thirties carrying a string bag.
"Mom, Dad, these are fish my father caught in the frozen river. He insisted I bring a couple for you to try. Since Jin Yue is back too, how about we make some fish soup? I also brought some wood ear mushrooms I picked up in the northeast—we can stew them with chicken another day." She even pulled a ginseng root as thick as her little finger from her pocket. "I gave a fellow villager a ride and he gave this to me, said it's wild mountain ginseng. I don't know much about it, but it seems like good stuff. It'll be perfect to help Jin Yue regain her strength."
The old couple politely declined at first but happily accepted in the end. "You must have a few days off this time? You should go visit your father—he misses you a lot."
Liu Hui Fang's profession was quite unusual, especially for a woman—she was a truck driver.
She spent half of each month driving outside the province, a smaller portion within the province, and only a handful of days at home. The old couple felt for her, braving the elements day in and day out. Whenever she brought back canned goods, brown sugar, or malted milk from her trips, they couldn't bear to take them. If they couldn't refuse, they'd split everything evenly—half for her father, half for themselves.
"Sister-in-law."
"Hey, Jin Yue, you've been through so much." Liu Hui Fang warmed her hands before cupping Jin Yue's face. "Your face is so thin, it's smaller than my palm. You need to build yourself up."
Shu Jin Yue quite liked this sister-in-law. She was warm, generous, loved to joke around, and treated her and Shu Wen Yun equally. Unlike others, she never used her nickname. When she was little, Jin Yue even felt Liu Hui Fang was more like an older sister than a sister-in-law. It's a shame though…
On the other side, Shu Li Nong still wore a stern face toward his eldest son, not even bothering to ask about him. Instead, he asked his daughter-in-law where she'd been driving, how many days she'd been on the road, and if everything went smoothly. As they chatted, dumplings were served.
Zhao Wan Qiu was quite skilled in the kitchen, and her dumplings were exceptional—each one plump and white like little ears, with chewy wrappers and juicy, tender fillings. Dipped in a bit of aromatic vinegar, and for the men, paired with garlic, they were absolutely delicious!
Shu Jin Yue devoured over twenty in one go, astonishing her siblings: "Xiao Cao Bao, don't eat so much you make yourself sick. We'll end up paying medical bills."
"Who would've thought? Jin Yue is so small but has such a big appetite."
"Enough, you two. Jin Yue has suffered these past three years. While you were living comfortably in the city, she was starving and doing farm work. Look at her hands—she suffered in your place, especially you, Wen Yun." Shu Li Nong set down his chopsticks and looked sternly at his three children.
The three siblings were deeply moved. Everyone knew that back then, it should have been Wen Yun who went to the countryside, not the youngest, Jin Yue.
"Let's not dwell on the past. As long as you remember Jin Yue's sacrifices for this family, that's enough. The reason I called you back for this family meeting today is to discuss Jin Yue's future arrangements."
Shu Wen Yun stood up. "Jin Yue, I'm sorry. I promised you'd only be away for a year at most, but plans never keep up with changes. Liu Dong's family didn't keep their word…"
It turned out that when Shu Wen Yun was seeing that guy, he secretly sold the factory job that should have been hers to someone else, calculating that Wen Yun would bring a ready-made job with her when she married him. This infuriated Shu Li Nong, who immediately went to confront them. Harsh words were exchanged, and once spoken, they couldn't be taken back.
"Sis, did you break up with Liu Dong?"
"Just last month. I should have done it sooner. That bastard—I'll beat him up every time I see him."
"That's not right. Liu Dong's father works at the neighborhood committee. They say a local official is more powerful than the emperor. We'll need favors for winter vegetable reserves or reference letters in the future. Second Brother, you should know when to stop." Shu Wen Yan took a sip of sorghum liquor, smacking his lips.
"Come on, I don't believe we can't buy winter vegetables without him. At worst, I'll buy them from the grocery store."
"That's not right. Did you know his third aunt's husband works in the district, and his third aunt's brother-in-law is a leader in the Light Industry Bureau? Do you think everyone in this alley is like our family, with no officials in three generations, the mud still fresh on our legs…" He rattled off the official connections of other families as if reciting a ledger.
Even Liu Hui Fang couldn't stand it. "Shu Wen Yan, are you done? Not everyone is as obsessed with officials as you are."
Shu Li Nong also glared at him, exercising his old teacher's ability to summarize: "I called everyone back today for two reasons. First, your sister is back, so our family can reunite. Second, it's about Jin Yue's blind date."
"Jin Yue is going on a blind date?"
"If it works out and it solves her job problem, Jin Yue won't have to return to the countryside."
"With whom?"
Shu Li Nong coughed heavily and straightened his back. "The son of Director Xu from the Machinery Factory."
"Wow!" Shu Wen Yan leaped off the kang and paced back and forth, hands behind his back. "That Director Xu? The one who just returned to work, Xu Ping?"
Shu Wen Ming was also surprised. "They only have one son, Xu Si Qi. He was a few grades below me at Third Middle School."
Shu Jin Yue quietly observed Shu Wen Yun and noticed her eyes flicker when she heard Xu Si Qi's name. This confirmed her suspicion: her sister knew who he was. No wonder in her past life, Wen Yun had volunteered to accompany her, dressing more meticulously than Jin Yue herself, the one actually going on the date. She even stayed behind to exchange contact information, claiming she needed to apologize on Jin Yue's behalf for saying something hurtful.
Shu Wen Yun had taken the job that should have been hers. Knowing that marriage was her only chance to return to the city, she still tried to steal her blind date… How had Jin Yue not seen it in her past life?
Even if he was the male lead, was Xu Si Qi really that good, worth defying their parents and brother to snatch him away?
In her past life, Shu Li Nong and Shu Wen Ming had strongly opposed her marriage to Xu Si Qi. Shu Li Nong even cut ties with her, disgusted by her betrayal of her sister.
If it's really that good, then… she would have to meet him. Just a man, Shu Jin Yue thought. She couldn't possibly suffer the same silent loss twice in two lifetimes, regardless of whether he was the male lead or not.
Suddenly, Liu Hui Fang interjected, "I'm not saying our Jin Yue isn't good enough. I'm just curious—with the Xu family's social standing, why would they consider a match with our family?"
At that, Shu Jin Yue noticed Shu Wen Yun casting a nervous glance at her mother.