“Grandma!” Du Nianchu tugged at Zhao Mingxiang’s sleeve and pointed to her left cheek. “That wicked Su Qing slapped me, too. Boo-hoo, it hurts so much.”
“Who’s Su Qing?” Zhao Mingxiang asked in confusion. “How dare she hit you?”
“She’s Dad Zhou’s country bumpkin wife—the one who’s plain, dark, and fat.” Du Nianchu burst into tears. “Boo-hoo, Grandma, you have to get revenge for me!”
Zhao Mingxiang asked Han Mei angrily, “Zhou Huaijin’s wife hit Nianchu?”
“Yes.” Han Mei told her mother everything: how she’d run into Su Qing at the department store during the day, and how Su Qing had beaten Luo Wei.
Zhao Mingxiang was livid. “That Su Qing stole your chance at a good marriage back then, and now she’s bullying Nianchu. Does she think there’s no one in the Han family to stand up to her?”
“Typical country bumpkin. She hits anyone she sees. Did she crawl out of a henhouse thinking she was a fighting cock?”
“Mom, I’ve already sent Brother Huaijin a telegram. He loves Nianchu so much, he’ll never let that woman get away with it,” Han Mei said.
Only then did some of Zhao Mingxiang’s anger subside.
She glanced at Han Mei. “It’s just as well that woman came. When Zhou Huaijin gets back, have him divorce her and marry you.”
“If that woman hadn’t schemed against Zhou Huaijin back then, your child would be about Nianchu’s age now.”
Han Mei looked at Du Nianchu, her eyes reddening.
……
Feng Yunce left Su Qing’s house and went straight home.
Jia Wangchuan still wasn’t back.
Feng Yunce cooked herself a bowl of noodles. After eating, she sat in the main room weaving bamboo baskets. She’d learned how to make them from an old woman in Huaxizi Village when she’d gone to the countryside with her father.
She’d already woven three. She planned to make a few more and sell them at the market next time she went.
At nine that night, Jia Wangchuan came home to a cold, empty kitchen.
He asked Feng Yunce frostily, “Why didn’t you make me dinner?”
“How was I supposed to know whether you’d be home to eat?” Feng Yunce replied without looking up, her hands never stopping.
Jia Wangchuan was at a loss for words. “I’m hungry. Go make me something now.”
“The rice is in the jar, and the vegetables are in the kitchen. Make it yourself if you want to eat.”
“You… How did you become like this?” Jia Wangchuan frowned at Feng Yunce.
From the moment he’d walked in, she hadn’t looked at him once.
Before, he’d always come home to a hot meal. Now she was telling him to cook for himself.
Feng Yunce’s hands paused for a moment, then she went back to weaving.
Seeing how arrogantly Han Mei had treated Su Qing today had made everything click for her.
Su Qing was so beautiful, yet Colonel Zhou was still carrying on with Han Mei.
She was nothing special to look at, and Jia Wangchuan was still carrying on with Luo Wei.
It proved one thing: a man will think anything outside his home is a treasure—even a lump of dog shit—if he hasn’t had it before.
She’d figured it out. From now on, she would live only for herself.
She’d work hard to save money and stop caring about Jia Wangchuan.
If Jia Wangchuan liked Luo Wei, then fine. When he wanted a divorce, she’d divorce him.
For now, she’d treat this place as an inn and Jia Wangchuan as a roommate. He could go to hell for all she cared.
“I’m talking to you. Did you hear me?” When Feng Yunce ignored him, Jia Wangchuan kicked her foot.
Feng Yunce looked up at him and said calmly, “Let’s get divorced.”
“What did you say?” Jia Wangchuan stared at her in shock.
Feng Yunce was actually asking him for a divorce?
What right did she have to ask him for one?
“I said,” Feng Yunce repeated, “let’s get divorced. You like Luo Wei, don’t you? Once you divorce me, you can marry her.”
Then she lowered her head and went back to weaving.
To her, the basket in her hands was worth more than Jia Wangchuan.
Jia Wangchuan took a guilty half-step back. After a long pause, he said, “You’re impossible.” Then he slammed the door behind him and left.
Feng Yunce’s expression didn’t change. She simply sped up her hands.
……
After the children had fallen asleep, Su Qing went into her workshop.
She took out the bottles and jars she’d brought to make skincare products, sat down at the table, and set to work.
Before she’d transmigrated into the novel, Su Qing had created her own skincare brand, which had earned a good reputation and sold well.
After arriving in this world, she’d been dazed for a few days, then quickly took stock of her situation. She wanted to return to her old business, but she had no capital.
The Zhou family had found formal jobs for everyone in the Su family except her. Before they left, she’d asked her mother for money. Her mother had tossed her ten yuan, saying it was all she had, then walked away without looking back.
Su Qing didn’t want to do manual labor, so she took that ten yuan and spent three yuan on fabric scraps at a tailor’s shop in town. She also bought a needle and thread at the supply cooperative. Back home, she stayed up by lamplight making hair ornaments by hand, then sold them at the county hospital and in factory family compounds.
Once she’d earned her first bit of capital, she bought raw materials and started making skincare products.
She already had regular customers from selling her hair ornaments, so she marketed the skincare products to them first.
Later, she also partnered with the Friendship Store and the supply cooperative.
Her products cost more than ordinary Snow Cream, but they worked better.
In any era, women who cared about their appearance were willing to spend a lot on their faces.
Before coming here, she’d contacted all her business partners. She would send them skincare products regularly, and they would remit the money to her.
Now that she’d decided to stay in Beicheng, she would have to open up the market there, selling her skincare products to the people of Beicheng—and eventually throughout the country and the world.
By the time she was done, dawn was nearly breaking.
Su Qing looked at the few bottles of skincare products she’d just made, lined up on the table.
Once it was light, she would take them to the supply cooperative and find Feng Yunce. She’d ask Feng Yunce to introduce her to the cooperative’s leadership so she could discuss whether they might sell her products there.
When Zhou Yunzhou and Zhou Wantang woke up, they saw that their mother was still asleep.
The two little ones held hands and tiptoed downstairs.
“Tangtang, let’s go to school by ourselves and let Mom sleep a little longer,” Zhou Yunzhou whispered to his sister.
“Mm-hmm.” Zhou Wantang nodded her little head.
The siblings set off for school hand in hand.
Han Mei was taking Du Nianchu to school when she saw Zhou Yunzhou and Zhou Wantang heading there by themselves.
She cursed Su Qing inwardly. That lazy woman was sleeping in at home and making the children go to school alone.
Zhou Huaijin was hardworking and ambitious. When he came back and saw how lazy Su Qing was, he would surely despise her.
Du Nianchu turned to Zhou Yunzhou and Zhou Wantang and said smugly, “When my Dad Zhou comes back, he’ll definitely beat you!”
“Come on, Nianchu. Don’t bother with uncultured country bumpkins.” Han Mei pulled Du Nianchu into the school.
“Older Brother, is the ‘Dad Zhou’ Du Nianchu mentioned our dad?” Zhou Wantang asked softly.
Zhou Yunzhou’s little face turned stern. “We don’t have a dad.”
Zhou Wantang fell silent.
……
When Su Qing woke up and saw the children weren’t there, she knew they’d already gone to school.
Back in Huaxizi Village, they’d gone to school by themselves, too.
At first, she’d been a little worried.
But she’d noticed that all the children in the village went to school on their own, without the adults bothering to accompany them.
She’d followed her two children for a few days and seen that they didn’t look around as they walked to school. After that, she’d let them go by themselves and stopped worrying about it.
“Brother Zhou, Doctor Han sent you a telegram.”
Zhou Huaijin was looking over a battle plan when Jiang Weidong handed him the telegram.
When he saw what it said, Zhou Huaijin’s face darkened.
Jiang Weidong, standing beside him, didn’t dare breathe too loudly.
Brother Zhou’s wife was really fierce. She’d only just arrived, and she’d already beaten Doctor Han’s precious daughter.
Zhou Huaijin looked at Jiang Weidong, his expression heavy. “Go take care of something for me. If she wants to cause trouble, teach her a lesson she won’t forget.”