After the adults left, the children at home also woke up. Lin Ruxia quickly took them to wash up, reminding them not to dirty their clothes. Since the family had split yesterday, the children’s clothes had been washed by Liubao and Qibao, whereas before, it had always been the second sister-in-law’s job. Lin Ruxia hadn’t washed her own clothes yet—she had gone to town early yesterday, and the previous two nights they had eaten very late.
“Where are your old clothes?” Lin Ruxia asked after seeing that Sibao and the others had finished washing up. She handed them their new shoes one by one.
“In the room!” they replied.
Lin Ruxia planned to throw those clothes away. They were an eyesore anyway, and since she had nothing better to do, she could take them out when she went to dump the trash—and also check out the farmstead at the end of the village.
There was a garbage pit about two to three hundred meters from the farmstead. At this time, there wasn’t much trash, but after the landlords had been overthrown, many of their belongings had been destroyed and discarded there.
There had been two landlords in the village, both living at the far end, and they were rivals—one male landlord and one female landlord.
After their homes were raided, the male landlord’s family either died or fled, leaving the house abandoned. As for the female landlord, most of her family died too, but since she had treated the villagers kindly, they didn’t make things too hard for her despite the struggle sessions. Still, she became a lonely old woman and passed away two years ago, her death only discovered days later.
Later, educated youths sent down to the countryside converted the male landlord’s house into their dormitory, clearing out many useless items and throwing them into the garbage pit. The male landlord had been stingy, so his house wasn’t even as large as the female landlord’s estate.
Not far from the garbage pit was a cowshed that had once belonged to the male landlord. He used to own four or five cows and charged villagers high fees to borrow them, taking every opportunity to profit. Because of this, the villagers disliked him. Now, that cowshed housed people who had been sent down, all at the village’s edge.
Lin Ruxia told the children to finish breakfast and bring out their old clothes in a broken basin before heading out. She herself took her own two sets of clothes to the river to wash. The village was built along the river, with another village across the water and mountains behind it.
As she walked toward the river, she noticed people staring at her along the way. It felt strange. Did I put my clothes on wrong? she wondered, glancing at herself—but everything seemed normal. She shrugged it off and kept walking.
By the time she reached the riverbank, many people were already washing clothes. She found a spot upstream and began scrubbing.
“Well, would you look at that—the sun must be rising from the west today! The soldier’s wife is actually washing clothes herself?” a middle-aged woman with graying hair remarked loudly.
Everyone at the river turned to look at Lin Ruxia. Her scalp tingled under their gaze. She forced a polite reply, “Sister Zhigang, you’re washing clothes too?”
That woman was actually Aunt Li from next door. Though only two years older than Lin Ruxia, she already looked like she was in her forties or fifties—a testament to how harsh life had been.
“I come every day. Unlike you, living comfortably under your mother-in-law’s care!” Aunt Li said, clearly envious. “You even eat meat every day!”
Only then did Lin Ruxia realize—this woman was jealous of the meat they had eaten last night. Good grief, what kind of life is this? Eating meat gets you resented? She chose to remain silent.
“Why aren’t you talking? The smell of your meat last night kept my kids up half the night! You should’ve shared some—neighbors are closer than distant relatives. No wonder your own family never visits you…” Aunt Li rambled on.
Lin Ruxia finally snapped. “Who do you think you are? My parent? Why should I give you anything? If you want good food, go ask the supply cooperative why they don’t give you any! What others have is none of your business. Do you know why you’ve aged so quickly? Maybe it’s because you’re always coveting what belongs to others—heaven couldn’t stand it!”
Her sharp retort stunned Aunt Li and silenced everyone else. Lin Ruxia quickly finished washing and left.
Not far away, Sanya was also washing clothes in a corner. Ever since the family split, she had wanted to go to school. After much persuasion, her parents finally agreed—on the condition that she would take over washing the family’s clothes and persist until September, when they would send her to school.
Seeing Lin Ruxia argue like that shocked Sanya. In her previous life, this aunt had been aloof and indifferent—even the drowning deaths of Dabao and Erbao hadn’t stirred her. She had only shown happiness when leaving to follow her husband to the capital and rarely returned afterward. Even when writing letters about her younger brother, she ignored them. Later, she divorced and died not long after.
Sanya felt a flicker of hope. Even Third Aunt has changed… maybe my rebirth can change my fate too.
After Lin Ruxia left, the villagers began gossiping again.
“Why has the third son’s wife changed so much? She used to ignore everyone, now she’s talking back!”
“Probably because of the family split.”
“Let’s see if she can still act so high and mighty now.”
“I’m telling you, Zhicheng married the wrong woman. All she does is dress up—ignores her parents, neglects her children. She’ll regret it one day!”
“I heard she bought over two hundred jin of goods in town yesterday!”
“I heard it was four hundred!”
“And all meat!”
“No, I saw the kids wearing new clothes today!”
“Where did she get so many ration coupons? Could she be doing illegal trading?”
“Impossible. She barely leaves the house—how could she?”
“I heard her mother-in-law gave her half of Zhicheng’s allowance. She doesn’t even need to support the kids. She could save five or six hundred a year!”
“So much? If I’d known, I would’ve had my daughter marry Zhicheng!”
…
Meanwhile, Lin Ruxia knew nothing of this and didn’t care. After returning home, she hung the clothes to dry and saw that the children had finished all the breakfast. The house was empty.
After resting briefly, she took the basin of old clothes and headed toward the garbage pit.
“Zhicheng’s wife, where are you going?” a group of elderly women sitting under a tree asked. One of them was Zhicheng’s grandmother, who spent her days chatting and knew everything happening in the village.
“Good morning, grandmas!” Lin Ruxia greeted politely. “I’m going to dump some trash.”
After she left, the old women began talking.
“Wasn’t that your great-grandchildren’s clothes she was carrying? She’s not going to throw them away, is she?”
“That’s what it looked like.”
“Oh dear! Throwing away clothes in this cold weather—what will the children wear?”
Zhicheng’s grandmother grew anxious. “How can I not worry? They’re still so young, and their mother doesn’t care!”
“Don’t worry too much. Children have their own fate,” someone said, though not entirely sincerely.
“Still, that’s wasteful. Cloth coupons are so rare—she should be told off!”
At that moment, a little boy overheard and ran off to the hills.
“Wubao! Bad news—your mom is throwing away your clothes!” he shouted.
“What?” the children gathered around.
“Yeah, she said they’re too dirty. Don’t touch me—Mom said not to dirty the new clothes!” Wubao said, brushing others away.
“Wow, you’re wearing new clothes! No wonder you don’t want the old ones!” a naked four-year-old said eagerly. “Can I have them?”
“Me too!” another child added.
“But my mom is throwing them away…” Wubao hesitated.
Many children in the village didn’t even have clothes until they were four or five. Some wore adults’ clothes, others stayed under blankets. So a group of them rushed toward the garbage pit, hoping to pick something up.
Sibao and the others didn’t stop them—they themselves didn’t understand why their mother wanted to throw the clothes away.
By then, Lin Ruxia had already reached the garbage pit. There wasn’t much trash—just some broken glass and sharp stones. Without hesitation, she tossed the clothes in and left.