Seeing how relaxed the two children looked, Song Qinghuan couldn’t help but smile as well.
When she went to the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw that the butcher stall still had some large marrow bones and lean meat, so she bought some. The big bones didn’t require meat ration coupons since there was barely any meat on them. As for fatty meat, ribs, and pork offal—they had all sold out early.
Pork offal didn’t require ration coupons either, but there was no way to buy it. Anyone with connections had already reserved it long ago. Everyone knew what was valuable—nothing good ever got left behind.
Only pig’s blood, marrow bones, and some lean meat remained. Song Qinghuan bought a bit of each. One jin of pork cost one jin’s worth of meat coupons and eighty cents. Marrow bones were twenty cents per jin, pig’s blood ten cents per jin—those two didn’t require coupons, so she bought extra.
She also picked up some star anise. Each person was limited to two liang. She bought only a little; spices were expensive, but the quantity limit made it manageable.
By the time she returned to Liujiagou, the village was just getting off work. A large crowd was drifting home when someone shouted that Song Qinghuan was back.
Gu Ding’an and Li Yulan rushed out immediately. The two of them had received Song Qinghuan’s telegram the previous afternoon, but they hadn’t truly relaxed until they saw her with their own eyes.
“You fell into the river yesterday—how’s your body now?” Li Yulan asked. She cared about her grandchildren, but she cared about her daughter-in-law too.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Song Qinghuan replied. The heavy stone that had been pressing on her heart was finally gone, and she felt lighter. She hadn’t fallen ill at all—probably thanks to that bowl of porridge.
“That’s good. That’s good.” Li Yulan finally felt at ease.
Gu Ding’an finished checking on his grandson and granddaughter. His eyes reddened, but he didn’t want anyone to notice, so he followed behind Li Yulan in silence.
“Dad, we’re fine. You don’t need to blame yourself,” Song Qinghuan said gently. She had lived with the two elders for over two years now. Her father-in-law was mild-tempered, while Li Yulan was the one who ran the household. The Gu family did many things the opposite way from other families.
With her worries settled, Li Yulan lifted her eyelids and swept a sharp gaze across the crowd of villagers who had just gotten off work. She glanced at Song Qinghuan, squeezed her hand, then raised her voice sharply.
“Third Uncle Liu!”
Song Qinghuan froze for a moment, then smiled.
She was truly grateful to have such a fiercely protective mother-in-law. Li Yulan genuinely cared for her.
Li Yulan charged in one direction, gripping the door bolt Song Qinghuan had brought back, heading straight toward Third Uncle Liu’s house.
Third Uncle Liu’s eldest son, Liu Tiegen, hadn’t gone to work today. In fact, ever since Song Qinghuan fell into the river yesterday, he hadn’t shown up at all.
Today, Liu Tiegen hid at home like a quail. When he heard Li Yulan’s sharp, piercing voice at the gate, he immediately shrank back.
Who was Li Yulan? She was someone who had tricked and killed Japanese soldiers back in the day!
Because of that alone, everyone in the brigade—men and women, young and old—respected her.
Now that she’d come knocking, Third Uncle Liu’s face looked ugly, but he still held his tongue. His wife, Liu Tiegen’s mother, kept apologizing nonstop.
Life in the Liu household was hard. Half their mud-brick house had collapsed, and they were waiting for spring to rebuild so their two sons could have a chance at marriage.
“Bring your eldest son out,” Li Yulan said, planting herself at the gate with the door bolt in hand. Behind her stood villagers who had come to watch the spectacle.
Most of them shared the Liu surname, all descended from the same ancestors.
..
“Gu family, your daughter-in-law’s fine, so there’s really no need to make trouble for the Liu family.”
“Exactly. Your daughter-in-law’s fine, and your grandchildren are back too—double happiness! Stirring things up now doesn’t look good. For my sake, just let it go.”
Li Yulan sneered and pointed the door bolt at the first speaker, eyebrows raised. She spat on the ground.
“If I push you into the river and then haul you back out, you won’t hold it against me—deal?”
“And you—what ‘face’ do you have?” she snapped at the second man. “When I was tricking and killing Japanese soldiers, you were probably hiding somewhere shaking! You dare talk about face? If I were you, I’d piss and take a good look at myself!”
The crowd burst into laughter. The two men flushed red and muttered weakly, “We were just trying to help…”
Most of the villagers were there purely for the drama. Everyone knew Li Yulan’s temperament.
Li Yulan turned her head toward Third Uncle Liu and let out a cold laugh.
“I’ll tell you this right now—my daughter-in-law didn’t report this to the police out of respect for everyone being from the same village. But if you don’t hand Liu Tiegen over and let me deal with him properly today, I’ll personally go to the police station and see how long you can keep your precious son tied to your belt!”
The muscles in Third Uncle Liu’s dark face twitched. He ducked into the house and dragged out Liu Tiegen, who had been hiding inside.
“Dad! She’ll beat me to death! She’ll beat me to death!” Liu Tiegen screamed.
He didn’t dare look at Li Yulan. She was the fiercest woman in the village—she even earned more work points than most men. Naturally, she was stronger than most men too.
That day, he’d seen Song Qinghuan alone by the river and had gotten ideas. But nothing had happened, right?
Song Qinghuan had gone down to the countryside in ’63. She was an educated youth from the city. He’d once overheard the brigade leader say something—her family must have run into trouble, otherwise she wouldn’t have come without even resettlement funds.
Back then, plenty of people tried to arrange marriages for her. A city girl, good-looking, reportedly a high school graduate—young men often wandered past her place.
But after she married Gu Qingyan, fewer people dared to covet her.
That day, he’d only had a fleeting thought. He really hadn’t meant anything serious—just a bit of teasing. Who knew she’d end up in the river?
But he couldn’t say that. If he did, who knew how the villagers would react—but this ferocious woman in front of him would definitely beat him to death on the spot.
“Auntie, Auntie—you watched me grow up! I really didn’t mean it!” Liu Tiegen sobbed, snot streaming down his face.
Li Yulan didn’t even look at him. She raised the door bolt and brought it down.
This matter was being handled within the village precisely to vent this rage.
And also to define the nature of the incident. Under no circumstances could it be tied to anything improper between a man and a woman. Women already had it hard enough in this world. Even if Liu Tiegen were handed over to the police, as the villagers said—since her daughter-in-law was fine—how many years of labor reform would he really get?
Only her daughter-in-law and one child knew what had happened. When she’d been pulled from the river, she’d said Liu Tiegen pushed her, then passed out.
But in the end, most people in the village bore the Liu surname—and that child did too. She wasn’t about to gamble on it.
Better to let Liu Tiegen lie in bed for three months.
Let the whole village know—keep your eyes off her daughter-in-law. The stares from village men and women alike could drive a person to death.
Soon, Liu Tiegen’s screams echoed through the Liu family courtyard. The onlookers winced, baring their teeth, as if each strike of the door bolt were landing on them as well.