Chapter 74: Change — Not the Same as Before

If this had been in the past, Wang Chunling would have been completely silenced by Li Jinhua’s words.

She was educated, knowledgeable, well-mannered, and had been raised with the traditional values of respecting elders and caring for the young deeply ingrained in her. But more than that, she had always been like a soft persimmon—easily squeezed. Because of her lower status, marrying Zhou Zhijian had placed her at a natural disadvantage.

Whenever Li Jinhua yelled or scolded her before, she couldn’t even say a single word in her own defense.

But today… was different. Because the one involved was Chu Yue.

The same Chu Yue who had saved her and her daughter’s lives the very first time they met—a life-saving benefactor. A stranger who, even with no real ties to her, had cared for her and shown her kindness.

That day, Chu Yue saw her old high school textbooks, and with just a few casual words before leaving, stirred up a storm in her heart.

Even though she had kept those textbooks, she had forgotten who she used to be back when she was in school.

Back then, she wasn’t this timid or submissive. She didn’t tolerate things just to keep the peace.

She wanted to study, get into university, find a job, and become someone useful to society. She had dreams—and the confidence to chase them.

That version of herself had been buried deep in her soul, and it was only when Chu Yue reminded her that she finally remembered.

“Mom! I’m not blindly siding with Chu Yue, and I’m not turning my back on you—I’m standing up for the truth!”

This was the first time Wang Chunling had ever spoken to Li Jinhua in such a loud voice.

Still fuming, Li Jinhua temporarily forgot about arguing with Chu Yue and turned her rage toward Wang Chunling instead.

“Fine! Then go ahead and tell me—what is the truth? You educated people are all the same, always throwing around big words like ‘truth’! If you can’t explain it clearly, then get out! Don’t come back to this house!”

Even faced with such a threat, Wang Chunling did not back down.

She looked behind her.

When she walked in earlier, she wasn’t alone. Behind her were Zheng Yue’e and a young soldier in uniform.

Wang Chunling pulled the young soldier forward and said:

“Mom, this young man was the night guard on duty the night before last. He saw what happened with those chickens you say went missing.”

The young soldier immediately chimed in:

“The night before last, while I was on sentry duty around 1 a.m., I saw two chickens fly out of the compound gate and run into the woods behind the hill.”

That hill and the one where Chu Yue had gathered wild goods were completely different locations.

Wang Chunling continued:

“Mom, I’ve reminded you many times—you have to keep the chickens penned up. Stop letting them run loose! Zhijian also told you the chicken coop gate has to be shut at night. If you free-range them, they’ll go missing. But you just never listen. You never shut the door. That night, the chickens ran away on their own. It had nothing to do with Chu Yue. Those chickens were hers—not yours!”

Zheng Yue’e added from the side:

“Old woman, you’d better wise up. Learn from your daughter-in-law and stop being so unreasonable. I happened to walk past the gate earlier and saw you in the yard—I knew exactly what you were scheming. Don’t think we’re all blind. You just saw that Commander Lu wasn’t home, and with only Chu Yue and the baby there, you thought you could take advantage of them!”

With that, everything became clear.

Zheng Yue’e had passed by by chance and spotted Li Jinhua sneaking around, and seeing Chu Yue’s husband wasn’t home, with only little Lu Yuanbao there, she immediately ran off to tip off Wang Chunling.

Though flustered at first, Wang Chunling kept her cool. She knew that without facts and reason, she’d never be able to hold back Li Jinhua. So she went to find the sentry—and really did uncover the truth. Then brought him with her.

Now, everyone was surrounding Li Jinhua.

Finally, Song Hongmei spoke up and said:

“Li Jinhua, you’re lucky to have such a reasonable daughter-in-law. Go home with her. But if you keep causing trouble, I’ll call the Inspection Team and have them investigate this properly!”

As soon as Li Jinhua heard the words “Inspection Team,” her knees buckled slightly.

She had lived through the chaos of past political movements and knew how serious things could get. Now, with no allies and completely isolated, she could only swallow her pride and grit her teeth.

“Tch! Fine, you got lucky this time!”

Before leaving, Li Jinhua didn’t forget to glare at Chu Yue and spit on the ground in front of her.

With the matter resolved, Song Hongmei and the young soldier left to attend to their own duties.

Wang Chunling apologized to Chu Yue once more.
“I’m sorry, Sister Chu. I really owe you an apology. You’ve been so good to me, and yet I…”
Unknowingly, her eyes turned red.

Chu Yue replied in a low voice, “This has nothing to do with you. Li Jinhua is Li Jinhua, and you are you — don’t confuse the two. But you stood up for me today. When you go back, she’s definitely going to make things difficult for you.”

Wang Chunling gave a bitter smile. “Even without today’s incident, she’s always disliked me anyway. It’s fine. At most, she’ll just say some harsh and bitter things — I’ll pretend I didn’t hear them.”

She had a newborn at home, so she didn’t stay long. After exchanging a few more words with Chu Yue, she left.

Before she left—

Chu Yue went back into the house, grabbed a handful of pine nuts, and filled Wang Chunling’s hands with them. She also gave some to Zheng Yue’e.

Zheng Yue’e’s eyes lit up. Being from the northeast, she knew how precious these were.

“Pine nuts?! These aren’t easy to harvest. Chu Yue, did you gather these yourself or buy them?”

“Picked them myself. Sister Yue’e, thank you for helping out today. Take them home and enjoy them with your family.”

“Then I won’t be polite.” Zheng Yue’e smiled happily, stuffing the pine nuts into her pocket to bring home to her children, Tiedan and Tieniu.

As she was leaving, she suddenly thought of something and said,
“Chu Yue, Chunling seems a bit different now. She looks… brighter, more spirited.”

Chu Yue had noticed that too. Something in Wang Chunling had changed — subtly, but significantly.

With that, the courtyard finally emptied out and peace returned.

Chu Yue closed the door and looked at Lu Yuanbao, who was still tightly hugging the wild chicken. She couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Yuanbao, let it go already. If you keep holding on like that, the chicken won’t be stolen, but you might just strangle it to death.”

Lu Yuanbao blushed from the teasing and quickly let go.

He set the chicken down on the ground and couldn’t resist giving its raised tail feathers a gentle pat. As soon as the wild chicken touched the ground, it let out a few clucks and ran wildly around the courtyard, savoring its regained freedom.

Chu Yue reached into the nesting box, pulled out a still-warm egg, and smiled at Lu Yuanbao.

“Yuanbao was so brave today. For lunch, you get a reward — one egg. Do you want it scrambled or made into custard?”

“…Custard! With rice — it’s delicious.”

“Alright, custard it is — just the way you like it.”

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In the days that followed, peace settled over the compound again.
Chu Yue didn’t go up the mountain but stayed home organizing supplies. She also finished preparing the little illustrated “prescription” figures to give to Pei Hanchuan.

Before she knew it, the week had passed, and market day had arrived once more.

With the year’s end approaching, the weather had turned colder, and the festive spirit of the upcoming New Year was growing stronger by the day.