Chapter 12

Outside, thunder roared as the rain poured, and chaos broke out in the Gu family courtyard.

On a rainy day, the eldest son, drenched in misty rain, returned home silently. Zhang Cuilan was both surprised and delighted. She quickly pulled him inside, sent the youngest son to wake Gu Mancang, and wiped her hands on her apron while muttering nonstop.

Gu Chunmei was overjoyed to see her elder brother and clapped her hands as she went to the kitchen to prepare sweet fermented rice with eggs.

Lin Yao hurried to assist. Running into her newlywed husband so suddenly, she felt completely unprepared. Well, no use overthinking it—she decided to take things as they came.

“You’re something else, child! The rain outside is so heavy. Why didn’t you call home and ask your dad to pick you up from the station? What? You didn’t want to tire him out? Your dad’s as tough as leather; what’s there to tire him out? None of you ever stop worrying me. Look at you, all soaked. Go change your clothes and take a hot shower, or you’ll catch a cold.”

Gu Shi’an had grown up listening to his mother’s nagging and was long used to it. Resigned, he headed to change clothes, though he thought it unnecessary. His military uniform was replaced daily, and he bathed regularly in the army. Besides, he had come in wearing a raincoat and had already cleaned up after entering the house.

But Zhang Cuilan wasn’t one to tolerate her son’s habits. She scolded him soundly and even smacked him with a small broom. “You stinky boy, not listening again! You want to stink your old mother to death by not showering?”

Gu Mancang, used to going to bed early, was snoring away in his room until Gu Shidong woke him up with the news of the eldest son’s return.

The sleepy father shook off his drowsiness and eagerly got up to see his son. The moment he entered, he saw his wife hitting their son with a broom.

Gu Mancang rushed to mediate. “Cuilan, what are you doing? Why are you hitting the kid? We don’t beat children in this house! If you’re upset, hit me twice instead.”

From the doorway, Gu Shidong chimed in, spreading his arms in front of Gu Shi’an. “Mom, don’t hit Big Brother! I’ll take the punishment for him!”

Zhang Cuilan froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, though exasperated. “Oh, so now the lot of you are playing the virtuous father and filial brother. Guess that leaves me as the villain in this family!”

With a cold sneer, she sent both father and son trembling.

Listening from behind the door, Lin Yao sighed and decided to intervene. Bringing in the sweet fermented rice with eggs, she said, “Auntie, there’s a loose roof tile in the kitchen, and rainwater is leaking in. Shouldn’t you check it out?”

“What? When did that happen? It was fine yesterday!”

“Just now. Sister Chunmei placed a basin under it.”

“A basin alone won’t solve the problem. A loose tile is no small matter. I’d better go take a look.”

At that moment, a low rumble of thunder echoed above the courtyard. Zhang Cuilan quickly lost interest in dealing with the three men and hurried to the kitchen.

As soon as she left, Gu Shidong exhaled in relief, rubbing his face as he sidled up to Lin Yao. “Sister-in-law, you’re amazing! Just a few words, and my mom left. If you hadn’t come, my butt would’ve been in for it.”

Gu Mancang chuckled sheepishly. “Yao Yao has a good head on her shoulders. Our future grandkids will be just as smart.”

Lin Yao: “!!!”

Uncle Mancang, if you can’t say the right thing, just keep quiet, okay?

Embarrassed beyond words, Lin Yao could only manage an awkward laugh. She set the sweet fermented rice with eggs on the table and urged Gu Shi’an to “eat it while it’s hot.”

Gu Shi’an glanced at the bowl. It was filled to the brim, with four or five eggs floating in the sweet, fragrant soup. The reddish hue of the fermented rice was beautifully vibrant. Clearly, care had been taken in preparing it.

He gave a slight nod and thanked Lin Yao. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Lin Yao waved her hand like a wooden rattle. “It’s not hard, it’s not hard. Just eat while it’s hot.”

The sooner he started eating, the sooner she could leave.

Gu Shidong grinned mischievously. “Sister-in-law is worried Big Brother might go hungry.”

Lin Yao shot the cheeky boy a glare. Little rascal! Don’t spout nonsense if you don’t know what you’re talking about!

However, Gu Shi’an misinterpreted the situation. His stern expression softened, and when he smiled, it made Lin Yao’s heart skip a beat.

What are you smiling about?

Did this man think she was trying to please him on purpose?

Her thoughts spiraled. Gu Shi’an was twenty-eight, still in the prime of his youth. They had already held a wedding, and in the eyes of the older generation, a wedding made them a proper couple.

And proper couples shared a bed.

The Gu family’s house was fully occupied, so with Gu Shi’an’s return, wouldn’t they have to share a room tonight? And consummate their marriage?

The idea startled Lin Yao, and she snuck a glance at him again. Now out of his military uniform, he wore a clean white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing strong, well-defined arms. His face was handsome in a proper and upright way.

Gu Shi’an was undoubtedly one of the most eligible bachelors in the courtyard. If not for his grandfather arranging an early engagement, plenty of girls would have gone out of their way to win him over. Lin Yao wouldn’t have stumbled into marrying into the Gu family by accident.

She admitted he was attractive, but she really wasn’t ready to share a bed with him yet!

The sweet fermented rice with eggs was especially nourishing, perfect for warming up after a cold, rainy day.

Several years ago, when Gu Mancang was still a third-tier worker earning just over thirty yuan a month, and all three Gu siblings were in school, the family relied on the couple’s combined fifty-yuan monthly income.

The Gu family, with five mouths to feed, school fees, books, and all kinds of expenses, struggled to make ends meet.

Back then, simply having enough to eat was a luxury.

During one bitterly cold winter, when the wind felt like ice knives on the face, Zhang Cuilan returned from feeding pigs and fell in the snow. She caught a severe cold and, while recuperating, craved a bowl of sweet fermented rice with eggs.

But the family was so poor they couldn’t even afford eggs, let alone sugar.

It wasn’t until her brother brought over a gift of five or six eggs that her wish was fulfilled.

It works just fine with eggs even without brown sugar.

After school, Gu Shi’an went to the county’s grain station to carry sacks of grain. Each sack earned two cents, but he refused the money, asking instead for two liang of brown sugar coupons. Day after day, he carried heavy sacks, his shoulders rubbed raw and bleeding, until after a week, he had saved enough to exchange for a single thin coupon for brown sugar.

That very evening, Zhang Cuilan drank a steaming bowl of fermented rice with brown sugar and egg.

She didn’t drink it alone. The Gu family of five, eyes red, shared that single bowl of fermented rice with red sugar and egg until it was all gone.

The next year, at 18 years old, Gu Shi’an graduated high school and joined the army. From then on, every year he returned home, he would have a bowl of fermented rice with brown sugar and egg.

As the aroma of brown sugar rose from the porcelain bowl on the table, Gu Shi’an stepped into the house, carrying the chill of wind and rain. His body was damp and cold. The scalding brown sugar water warmed his body, driving away the dampness. He felt a cozy heat radiate through him, filling him with comfort.

The fermented rice and egg were sweet. Gu Shi’an ate it in big bites, almost one egg per mouthful. In no time, the large bowl of steaming dessert was empty.

Gu Shi’an’s face relaxed as he was about to say something to Lin Yao.

But before he could, the young woman across from him suddenly stood up, glared at him with a huff, and dashed off like a startled rabbit. To anyone watching, it would have seemed like Gu Shi’an had done something improper.

Gu Shidong, seeing his sister-in-law run off, grew upset. He had been getting along well with her recently. With his arms crossed and face flushed, he complained to his brother, “Brother, this is your fault! Why are you always so stern? You scared my sister-in-law away. Just wait, you’ll be sleeping on the floor tonight.”

Gu Mancang also frowned and said, “He’s got a point. A grown man shouldn’t look so intimidating all the time. Anzi, you should be gentler with your wife. Yao Yao’s a good girl. She’s been buying treats and fabric for the family since she came. She’s genuinely good to us. And here you are, scaring her. No wonder your mom hit you.”

A baffled Gu Shi’an, wrongly accused, thought to himself: “…”

It wasn’t that he intentionally looked stern—it was a habit from training recruits in the army.

*

That night, a fierce storm arrived with strong winds and heavy rain, making it impossible for passersby to keep their eyes open.

The muddy water in the courtyard reached ankle-deep. Zhang Cuilan went to the kitchen to check and found that the recent storms had loosened a few roof tiles, allowing small drops of rain to leak through.

Zhang Cuilan slipped on her shoes, waded through the muddy water back to the house, washed her hands and face, then made herself a bowl of lotus root starch. Sitting on the bed, she dried her hair with a towel.

Gu Mancang lit some mugwort in the corner of the room to keep mosquitoes away.

Zhang Cuilan mentioned the leaky tiles in the kitchen and told Gu Mancang to find time to climb up with a ladder to fix them.

Although Gu Mancang was a fitter, he had worked as a mason in his youth in the countryside to make ends meet. Even now, as an older man, he was skilled at mixing mortar and laying bricks.

Gu Mancang agreed with a nod.

After drying her hair, Zhang Cuilan handed him a bowl of lotus root starch and said, “This lotus root starch is really sweet. It’s even better than malted milk. Yao Yao specially bought it to nourish our health. Don’t waste her kind gesture.”

Thinking of the egg cakes his daughter-in-law had bought, Gu Mancang’s dark, shiny face lit up with a smile. “Yao Yao’s a good girl. Anzi is lucky to have her.”

Zhang Cuilan nodded. “Exactly. We’re fortunate Yao Yao married into our family. If it were Lin Hongna from the Lin family, we wouldn’t have a moment’s peace. She’s a troublemaker, always stirring things up wherever she goes. Anyway, enough gossip. I’ll go to the side room to set things up. Anzi can sleep in Dongzi’s room tonight.”

Scratching his head in confusion, Gu Mancang asked, “Anzi just got back. Why not let the young couple spend time together? Why make him sleep in Dongzi’s room?”

Zhang Cuilan pursed her lips. “You wouldn’t understand with that wooden head of yours.”

As a mother-in-law, she’d be happy for the two kids to share a room, but it depended on whether Yao Yao was willing.

Yao Yao might always smile softly and appear easygoing, but in truth, she was a stubborn little mule, just like her mother. Once she made up her mind, not even a team of oxen could change it.

Yes, Yao Yao had married into the Gu family, but Zhang Cuilan could tell that Anzi hadn’t yet won her heart. Forget winning her over—he hadn’t even gotten close.

And here her husband was, dreaming about the two of them consummating their marriage.

Wishful thinking!

So, on Gu Shi’an’s first night home, Zhang Cuilan sent him to sleep with his younger brother.