And so, under the loving gazes of her father and mother, Jiang Qingli climbed onto an ox cart with a bundle wrapped in coarse cloth and twenty eggs in her arms, then headed back to the military family compound.
The eggs had been carefully separated with layers of straw, and they still carried the warmth of the hens that had laid them.
In these times of scarce supplies, when even meals depended on ration coupons, it was no easy feat for her parents, especially under their circumstances of re-education, to save up twenty eggs.
The moment Jiang Qingli arrived at the military family compound, she heard hushed conversations drifting from inside.
“My goodness, did you hear? That daughter-in-law from the Shen Family was taken away by her parents early this morning. Who knows whether she’s dead or alive by now!”
“Serves her right if she’s dead. Ever since she got here, all she’s done is mooch food and drinks. She even makes her little sister-in-law cook for her. Absolutely shameless.”
“That’s nothing. Yesterday I saw that fat woman toss her underwear to little Shen Xiaohua and make the poor girl wash it. Honestly!”
“Sigh, Shen Li already has such a hard life, and then he ended up with a wife like that. What a tragedy…”
Listening to their gossip, Jiang Qingli’s lips twitched.
Three months ago, Jiang Changjiang had received notice that he was being sent away for re-education. Not wanting to drag his daughter down with him, he and his wife had somehow managed to find her a soldier husband.
That man was none other than the Male Lead, Shen Li.
As for this marriage, the original owner had been unwilling from the start.
The Shen Family’s circumstances were enough to discourage anyone. Shen Li’s father had trouble with his legs, his mother had been bedridden for years, and the entire household depended on Shen Li’s meager monthly salary of eighty yuan.
What the original owner found even harder to accept was the fact that Shen Li also had a nine year old younger sister to support. In her eyes, the girl was nothing more than a burdensome tagalong.
As for Shen Li himself, this was how he was described in the novel:
Deputy Company Commander of the Reconnaissance Company of the Langshi Field Army Division, holding the rank of Captain.
As the youngest company commander in the unit, he was renowned throughout the regiment for his exceptional military abilities and mine-clearing expertise. He had repeatedly relied on his experience to avert dangerous emergencies and had been awarded a Second Class Merit citation.
In 1974, border conflicts broke out. While protecting his comrades, he was shot in the right arm and seriously injured. After recovering, his physical condition no longer allowed him to continue high intensity mine-clearing operations, so he was transferred to the People’s Armed Forces Department of Anping County as an assistant officer. His rank was retained, and he was placed in charge of the “May Seventh Livestock Farm” under the department’s supervision.
Of course, in the original owner’s eyes, Shen Li was merely a crippled little soldier who had offended his superiors and been exiled to the countryside. She had no idea that he would eventually return to the field army and rise to fame in a single campaign.
But that was a story for another time.
Whenever the original owner thought about marrying such a “cripple,” she felt deeply wronged.
Had she not been terrified of following her father into re-education and working in the fields, she never would have agreed to the marriage.
On their wedding night, the moment she saw the vicious scar on Shen Li’s face, she screamed and drove him out of the bridal room.
Shen Li had never had time to date while serving in the field army, and after his transfer, his injury made prospective brides unwilling to marry him. As a result, he was nearly thirty years old and still unmarried.
Seeing their son finally marry at such an age, Shen Li’s parents had indulged their daughter-in-law in every possible way.
Yet the original owner not only failed to appreciate their kindness, she became even more arrogant and overbearing. She barked orders at her parents-in-law all day long, and whenever she felt displeased, she would beat and scold young Shen Xiaohua.
At their shabby rural wedding banquet, she had even covered her nose in front of the entire village, complaining about the “rotting stench” coming from her father-in-law and crying to return to the city.
Little did she know that the husband she despised as a cripple had once been a battle hero feared by his enemies.
Shen Li had been the last person transferred into the area. By then, there were no vacancies left in the military family compound. Fortunately, his former company commander remembered their old friendship and specially approved an unused storage room for the newlyweds.
After arriving there, the original owner could no longer torment Shen Li’s family, so she turned her attention to the other military families in the compound.
She was lazy and refused to cook. Every day she carried a large bowl while wandering from house to house, following the smell of food and lifting pot lids right around mealtime.
The 1970s were an era of shortages, and every family was tightening their belts just to survive. Yet the original owner showed not the slightest restraint. Every time she found food, she ate her fill without a care for the hardships of others.
Some lower ranking officers struggled to feed their families on meager allowances. After being raided by her a few times, even their children had to go hungry.
At first, everyone tolerated her out of respect for Shen Li, who was always willing to help others.
But the original owner only grew bolder.
Just a few days earlier, Zhang Xiuniang, a military wife who was about to give birth, had finally saved up a hen she intended to use as nourishment after delivery. The original owner had secretly stolen it and cooked it into soup.
Only when the family came knocking at the door did Shen Li realize just how much trouble his wife had caused.
To clean up the mess she had made, Shen Li withdrew the savings he had accumulated over many years from the bank. He bought rice, flour, cooking oil, and other necessities, then personally went door to door throughout the compound, apologizing to every affected family.
The incident caused a huge uproar. Soon, everyone in the compound, young and old alike, avoided the original owner on sight.
Having lost her source of free meals, how could she possibly endure such a “grievance”?
On a dark and windy night, she slammed her head into the brick wall of the storage room, bringing her absurd life to an end.
Good heavens, what kind of disaster was this?!
Jiang Qingli cursed inwardly. If she wanted to establish herself in this compound, the first thing she needed to do was reverse everyone’s impression of the “vicious daughter-in-law.”
Taking a deep breath, she silently repeated the word “eggplant” ten times to herself and forcibly squeezed out a radiant smile before pushing open the compound gate and calling loudly,
“Everyone, I’m back! I brought some chi…”
Before she could finish speaking, a series of whooshing sounds rang out. The military wives who had been chatting in the courtyard instantly transformed into dozens of fleeing shadows.
A moment later came a chorus of doors slamming shut.
In the blink of an eye, the lively courtyard was completely deserted. Only a few withered leaves remained, spinning sadly in the wind.
“…cken eggs.”
Jiang Qingli stood there holding up her basket of eggs, her smile frozen on her face. In the end, she could only force a bitter smile and carry the basket toward the place her memories called “home.”
She truly had become someone hated by people and shunned by dogs.
Dragging her heavy legs along, Jiang Qingli continued toward her “home.”
Calling it a home was giving the place far too much credit.
Other military families had been assigned proper two or three room houses, but because Shen Li had arrived last, all he received was a converted storage shed.
A faded yellow curtain separated the stove from the bed. There was barely enough room to turn around without knocking over the jars of oil and salt.
A few days earlier, her mother-in-law Liu Xiaohe had worried that she didn’t know how to cook and had specifically asked Shen Xiaohua to come help.
Not only had the original owner failed to appreciate the gesture, she had actually suspected her young sister-in-law of spying on her and beaten the little girl with a broom until her body was covered in bruises.
Thinking of that, Jiang Qingli could not help sighing.
The moment she pushed open the door, a foul mixture of sour rot and urine odor rushed out through the crack.
What greeted her was even worse than what she remembered.
The tiny room of barely ten square meters looked more like a garbage dump than a living space. It was difficult to find even a spot to place her feet.
Trash littered the floor everywhere. Wilted blackened vegetable leaves and moldy melon seed shells were scattered about while several flies buzzed overhead.
Unwashed clothes had been thrown all over the place. The blue striped bedsheet on the single bed had long since turned yellow from sweat stains, and the bedding had been rolled into a greasy looking lump.
Worst of all was the urine bucket in the corner. Yellow stains coated its sides, and the reeking smell mixed with mold, drilling straight into her nose and making her head ache.
If someone lit a cigarette in here, the foul air would probably smother the flame itself.
Good Lord, wasn’t this joke a little too much?