1958
In the blink of an eye, it was already January of the following year. Hongxing Elementary School had given the students their winter break.
The New Year was approaching, but this year’s harvest had been poor, and the Meng family’s meals had become even worse. Even Chen Rou had slimmed down noticeably.
Just as Meng Wen anxiously worried whether he and his sister would still be able to attend school after the holiday, Meng Qiufeng and Wang Cuilian began preparing for the wedding.
Ever since Meng Zhu’s fall half a year ago, it was as though she had suddenly become enlightened. Within days, she had learned to talk and walk, and Wang Cuilian proudly bragged everywhere about how clever Meng Zhu was.
Wang Cuilian bought a stack of red paper to cut festive window decorations for the wedding.
The room was freezing cold, so she deliberately moved a small table into the courtyard to work there, while Chen Rou helped beside her.
Meng Zhu sat obediently nearby, quietly playing with her little hand drum.
Chen Rou absentmindedly held a pair of scissors and accidentally sliced her fingertip.
“Ah…” she let out a soft cry and quickly sucked the bleeding finger into her mouth.
Meng Zhu frowned in distress. “Mama, blow on it.”
Chen Rou lovingly stroked her daughter’s cheek.
Wang Cuilian immediately tossed the scissors aside. “How could you be so careless? Let Mom take a look.”
Chen Rou knitted her brows gloomily and extended her finger with a forced smile. “Mom, I’m fine now. It’s already stopped bleeding.”
“You’re about to get married. Why are you so distracted?” Wang Cuilian straightened her expression. “What’s wrong? Tell Mom.”
Chen Rou’s eyes reddened as she hesitated.
“Mom…”
Wang Cuilian grew anxious. “Just say it already! Don’t leave me worrying like this.”
“Mom… after Brother Qiufeng and I get married, I don’t want to have any more children. Giving birth to Zhuzhu was too painful. Even now, thinking about it still scares me.”
Wang Cuilian instantly relaxed.
“Oh, is that all? You scared me for nothing. Fine, we won’t have any more. One precious Zhuzhu is enough.”
“But… will Brother Qiufeng be unhappy about it?” Chen Rou bit her lip, still afraid Meng Qiufeng might secretly resent her for it.
Although she believed Meng Qiufeng was utterly devoted to her, most people believed the more children a family had, the better. And she could tell that Meng Qiufeng really wanted to have another child with her.
“He dares be unhappy? Being able to marry you is a blessing he earned over eight lifetimes!” Wang Cuilian snapped her brows upward.
Then she glanced toward the doorway and saw Meng Qiufeng standing there.
“Qiufeng, come here. Mom wants to ask you something.”
Meng Qiufeng stepped over the threshold carrying a gray wild rabbit in his hand.
He had heard everything just now.
Pretending nothing had happened, he crouched in front of Meng Zhu and dangled the rabbit by its ears.
“Zhuzhu, do you like this little rabbit?”
Meng Zhu’s eyes instantly lit up as she nodded enthusiastically with wide watery eyes.
“I like it!”
“I’ll make a rabbit cage later. How about you raise it yourself?” Meng Qiufeng held her little hand, his rough fingertips brushing against the back of it.
Looking at Meng Zhu, who resembled Chen Rou so much, his heart practically melted.
“Okay!” Meng Zhu happily accepted the rabbit and squatted on the ground to play with it.
Wang Cuilian watched Meng Qiufeng with satisfaction.
“Qiufeng, you heard what Xiao Rou and I were discussing just now. What do you think?”
“I’ll listen to Xiao Rou.” Meng Qiufeng gazed at Chen Rou with deep affection.
Wang Cuilian smiled.
“You already have two children anyway. There’s no need to keep having more. Childbirth is exhausting. Even if you don’t feel sorry for her, I do! From now on, just treat Zhuzhu as your own daughter. Once Zhuzhu grows up successful, are you afraid she won’t be filial to you?”
Meng Qiufeng nodded firmly.
“Mom is right.”
Chen Rou smiled softly and patted Meng Zhu’s head.
“Zhuzhu, call him Daddy.”
Meng Zhu looked up at Meng Qiufeng, her eyes curving into little crescents as she smiled.
“Daddy.”
Meng Qiufeng answered excitedly and lifted her high over his head.
“Ah! Daddy’s good daughter!”
Hearing the commotion, Meng Hong dropped the tiny pencil stub she was using—it was barely the length of a thumb—and ran to the window to peek outside.
Meng Wen hurriedly covered her eyes, not wanting her to see the painful scene in the courtyard.
Meng Hong forcefully pulled his hand away and gritted her teeth.
“I already saw it. Covering my eyes won’t help. He smiles so happily at her, but whenever he sees us his face droops like we’re strangers. Anyone who didn’t know better would think we were adopted! Once I succeed in life, don’t expect me to be filial to that bastard!”
Having witnessed her biological father abandoning his own children for a woman, Meng Hong had already learned to restrain her temper and no longer dared openly provoke Meng Qiufeng.
Meng Wen stared coldly at the smiling Meng Qiufeng.
The three people outside looked exactly like a real family of three.
At that moment, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua walked in from outside with the children.
Today, early in the morning, Xu Chunhua had taken her husband and children back to her parents’ house.
They had eaten a delicious meal there: braised arrowhead root with pork, pig trotter soup, and spicy stir-fried pork offal.
As a result, Xu Chunhua was in an exceptionally good mood. Even when she saw the people she hated most in the courtyard, her expression didn’t sour.
“Mom, cutting window decorations?” Xu Chunhua walked over carrying Meng Yu.
Meng Yu and Meng Zhu’s eyes met briefly.
Even though they lived in the same courtyard, the two children rarely interacted.
Meng Yu merely glanced at Meng Zhu indifferently before looking away.
Meng Zhu pressed her lips together tightly.
Third Uncle and Third Aunt’s family had always been unfriendly toward her and her mother.
She hated them too.
For once, Wang Cuilian answered in a pleasant mood.
“In two days it’ll be Xiao Rou and Qiufeng’s wedding. Of course I need to cut some decorations.”
Xu Chunhua curled her lips and rolled her pretty peach blossom eyes upward.
“Does our family even have money for a wedding?”
“As long as the family gathers together to celebrate, I’ll already be satisfied. That alone counts as a wedding,” Chen Rou replied with a lowered smile, hiding the disgust in her eyes.
This Xu Chunhua truly was her natural enemy.
Wang Cuilian smiled approvingly before changing the subject.
“I asked you to borrow a bicycle from your parents’ house and ride into town to notify that dead girl Meng Qiucan. What did she say?”
Xu Chunjing had given the old bicycle discarded by his father-in-law back to the Xu family, thinking it would make it easier for his aging parents to travel into town.
In this era, bicycles were rare treasures. The news that the Xu family owned one had spread through several nearby villages.
After lunch at the Xu household, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua left the children with Xu Qiang and Liu Yezi for half a day before riding the bicycle into the county town together.
They bought many things and also informed Meng Qiucan about Chen Rou and Meng Qiufeng’s upcoming marriage.
Meng Qiucan loved nothing more than seeing Chen Rou miserable.
She would definitely show up on the wedding day.
Xu Chunhua answered, “Qiucan said she’ll come.”
“That’s more like it.”
After returning to their room with the children, Xu Chunhua and Meng Qiushi quickly sent Meng Wei and Meng Qing outside.
The space belonged to Xiao Yu alone and had nothing to do with the other children. They had no intention of letting anyone else know about it.
Children would eventually grow up and start families of their own. No matter how close siblings were when young, adulthood would inevitably bring selfish desires.
If Xiao Yu’s space were discovered, it could bring disaster upon her.
They loved all their children equally, but in their eyes, the best way to protect Xiao Yu was to ensure the other three children never learned about the space.
As for Meng Che, he was still too young to remember things clearly. Once he grew older, they would need to be more careful around him too.
“Sweet daughter, help Daddy take out the things we bought today,” Meng Qiushi whispered, leaning close to Meng Yu.
Meng Yu leaned her neck back slightly before taking out the day’s purchases.
Earlier, she had been sleeping soundly in her grandmother’s arms when her mother suddenly rushed in and carried her away. Her father had been waiting nearby in a small grove with a pile of supplies at his feet.
Ever since Meng Yu warned them that three years of famine would begin next year, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua had completely believed her and started stockpiling supplies.
Meng Qiushi sorted through the items and only took out the stationery and one bag of milk powder, packing everything else into a bamboo basket he had woven the previous night.
He had discovered one miraculous property of the space:
Eggs never spoiled inside it, no matter how long they were stored.
Which meant any food placed inside the space would remain fresh forever.
At this point, the space already contained over a dozen baskets filled with eggs and duck eggs. Sometimes Meng Qiushi deliberately left some behind for the hens and ducks to hatch.
Thanks to the couple’s relentless efforts, their family could now practically eat meat whenever they wanted.
Xu Chunhua hid the milk powder inside the cabinet.
“Milk powder is too hard to buy. One bag only lasts five days. We might as well buy a female goat so we can drink goat milk every day.”
The milk powder was nutritious, so every night Xu Chunhua prepared a bowl for each family member—neither the adults nor the children were neglected.
In this era, when families usually reserved all good things exclusively for children, Meng Yu felt her parents’ thinking was unusually progressive.
Meng Qiushi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“I’ll think of a way to buy a young female goat in a while.”
Since his wife had brought it up, he naturally had to do his best to make it happen.
Xu Chunhua split the stationery into two portions:
One for Meng Wei and Meng Qing.
The other for Meng Wen and Meng Hong.
Some time ago, Meng Wen had even borrowed the tiny leftover pencil stubs from Meng Wei and Meng Qing. Thinking of that, Xu Chunhua had bought extra school supplies while passing the supply cooperative.
She wasn’t blindly soft-hearted.
She helped people only if they were worth helping.
If someone were ungrateful, she wouldn’t waste her kindness on them.
After tucking the stationery into her clothes, Xu Chunhua patted her chest to make sure nothing looked suspicious before heading outside.
She walked directly toward the western room where Meng Wen and Meng Hong stayed.
The eldest branch had two connected rooms, making Meng Wen and Meng Hong the only children in the family who didn’t sleep beside their parents.
But once Chen Rou married into the family, the siblings might eventually be driven out to sleep in the woodshed.
Xu Chunhua shook her head, cutting off the unpleasant thought.
Inside, Meng Wen and Meng Hong were bent over their desk doing homework.
Xu Chunhua pulled the stationery from her clothes and slapped it onto the table.
“Here. Study hard. If you run out of supplies again, tell me.”
Meng Wen and Meng Hong lowered their heads to look at the stationery on the table, then lifted their eyes to Xu Chunhua’s smiling face. Both of them immediately felt their eyes sting with tears.
“Third Aunt, thank you. Once I become successful in the future, I’ll definitely repay your kindness,” Meng Wen said as he raised a hand to wipe away the tears falling from his face.
Xu Chunhua rubbed their heads gently.
“Studying hard is the greatest repayment you can give me. I’m leaving now. Just say your little aunt bought these supplies for you, understand?”
“Got it.”
The family still hadn’t split up yet. If Wang Cuilian discovered that the third branch had private money hidden away, she would definitely cause trouble.
Wang Cuilian already knew they were secretly keeping private savings. But there was a huge difference between suspecting it and actually finding proof.
As long as she hadn’t caught them, she could only pretend not to know. Without evidence, it wasn’t easy for her to demand the money.
But if she ever found out for certain, Wang Cuilian would rack her brains trying to seize every cent for herself.
The second branch’s past experience was a perfect example.
Once, Wang Yun had secretly saved some private money and used it to buy Meng Liu a small flower hairpin.
After cleverly tricking Wang Yun into admitting she had bought it herself, Wang Cuilian immediately confiscated all of Wang Yun’s hidden savings.
When Wang Yun tried to resist, Wang Cuilian shut her down with a single sentence:
“As long as the family hasn’t split up, everyone’s money belongs to the communal family fund.”