◎ First update ◎ 

Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen, dressed in cotton-padded jackets, returned home. Song Chunhua was eagerly waiting at the gate when they arrived. 

“Hurry inside and warm yourself by the fire!” 

In the Liang family’s main room, nine people were sitting around comfortably. The pork rib soup was hot, and one sip of it warmed up the body. There were two meat dishes and three vegetable dishes on the table, making for a very hearty meal. 

Liang Baoling sat next to her third sister. She hadn’t seen her sister for a long time and she missed her very much. 

Everyone else in the room was talking, especially her two brothers-in-law and second brother who were drinking with their father, and no one paid attention to her. 

“Sister, you’ve really become a broadcaster?” 

“Yes, I’m currently working as a broadcaster at the factory.” 

“Wow, that’s impressive!” Liang Baoling’s school also had a broadcaster, and she wanted to be one too, but the teacher said her Mandarin wasn’t standard enough. 

“Look at you showing off.” Song Chunhua was happy that her daughter was doing well, but she didn’t forget to remind her, “Be careful when working outside. Do your job well and get along with others. Discuss everything that needs to be discussed carefully, and make sure everyone reaches a mutual agreement.” 

She was worried that her daughter would be looked down upon because she came from the country. 

“I know, I know, Mother, don’t worry.” 

“Don’t be like your second brother, who runs out all day and no one knows where he goes.” 

Liang Baoying also agreed, “Baozhen, ask Baojun when you have time. Every time we ask him, he says he found a job in town. He has brought back a lot of good things these days, and he even gave me a scarf. I’m worried that he has been cheated.” 

Second brother? Liang Baozhen remembered that he was also generous last time he visted her. She silently kept this in mind. 

“Sister, how is my brother-in-law doing lately?” Liang Baozhen secretly leaned close to her elder sister and asked, worried that others would hear. 

“Nothing, but he has been wanting to confirm with you in person whether it is really possible to resume the college entrance examination.” 

After dinner, while washing the dishes, Song Jianguo found an opportunity to talk to Liang Baozhen.

 

“Baozhen, tell me the truth, can the college entrance examination really be resumed next year?” 

A few days ago, another educated youth from the neighboring team returned to the city, which made the other educated youths anxious. 

Watching Song Jianguo’s struggle, Liang Baozhen thought of Aunt Zhang’s son Zhou Qingdang, who had also returned to the city. It was indeed not easy for the educated youth. 

She looked at Song Jianguo with a firm gaze. “Really, brother-in-law, you should prepare well. The college entrance examination may really be resumed next year.” 

To make it more convincing, she deliberately made it vague. “I heard about this from a neighbor who has relatives in the Education Bureau. She accidentally slipped it at the time and told me not to tell anyone.” 

“I see. Anyway, it’s fine as long as there is such a possibility. I’m just afraid that there is no chance at all!” 

Song Jianguo has worked hard for many years, and now his eyes are full of hope again. 

*** 

With nine hundred yuan scraped together from the family, Zhou Qingdang became one of the few educated youths returning to the city.

However, the nine hundred yuan not only emptied the family’s assets but also left the Zhou family with a debt of two hundred yuan. Zhou Qingdang felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavy. 

He works very hard in the towel factory. Naturally, he is more skilled after five years in the countryside. The workshop director has said that he should be able to become a regular employee in another two months. By then, he should save more money every month and try to pay off his debts within two years. 

After finishing his night shift, he took the bus to go home. 

The towel factory is quite far from Crescent Alley, and you have to take bus number five to and from the factory, which costs two cents each time. 

He thought it would be nice to have a bicycle, but he had no bicycle ticket or money. 

Bus number five passes by three state-owned factories: the Municipal Towel Factory, the Municipal Match Factory, and the Municipal Tractor Factory. It is always very crowded. After Zhou Qingdang returned to the city, it took him a while to adapt before he could squeeze onto the bus smoothly. 

As long as you manage to get on the bus, you don’t have to worry about the rest—people will push you in from behind. 

“Sister Hua.” In the crowded bus, Zhou Qingdang greeted his neighbor, who was a ticket seller, but Liu Nianhua couldn’t pay much attention. She just nodded hurriedly and pushed around to collect the money. 

It took more than twenty minutes to get home. Zhou Qingdang, who was feeling bored on the bus, watched Liu Nianhua, the only familiar face he knew on the bus. He saw Liu Nianhua struggling to move among the passengers, asking people where they were going, collecting money, and handling the passengers. 

Liu Nianhua had just started her new job and wasn’t very skilled yet, but she was serious about her work and took care of everything one by one. Although her movements were a little slow, she did not make any mistakes. 

When they reached a stop, she would shout at the top of her lungs, “Xinhua Road, get off quickly if you’re getting off, and if not, make way.” 

She had practiced shouting like this for a while. 

After all, when she was there on her first day at work, her shouting was completely drowned out, and no one heard it at all. 

In the end, it was Zhou Qingdang who shouted for her. 

“Sister Hua, I’ll head out first.” When the bus arrived at Crescent Alley, most of the people were gone. Zhou Qingdang walked to the door. “Xiaolong and Xiaohu are at my house. Don’t worry, my mother likes them very much.” 

“Okay, thank you, Comrade Zhou Qingdang. Please tell Xiaolong and Xiaohu that I will be back half an hour late from work today.” 

“Okay.” 

Since Liu Nianhua had to go to work, there was no one to take care of the two children at home. Zhang Rong felt sorry for the three of them, and since the two homes lived close to each other and she had nothing to do, she let Liu Nianhua leave the children at her home. 

The two children have lunch at Zhang Rong’s house every day. 

This helped Liu Nianhua a lot. Because of that she took out half of her own food and oil and also prepared to give Aunt Zhang five yuan a month. 

Through this, the relationship between the two families grew closer. 

When Zhou Qingdang returned home, Zhang Rong and Zhou Jun were having dinner with Xiaolong and Xiaohu. Seeing her son coming back, Zhang Rong brought out the dishes that had been prepared on the stove. 

Zhang Rong saw that her son was working hard after returning home and was concentrating on making money to pay off the debts. However, he is not young anymore; he was already twenty-six this year; if not for the five years spent in the countryside, he might have had several children by now. 

Zhang Rong has been asking a matchmaker to find a suitable match for her son recently. “Qingdang, I’ve talked to your Aunt Mei and asked her to help you find a suitable match. She has actually found a girl. You should meet her this Sunday.” 

Zhou Qingdang was surprised when he heard this. “Mother, given our situation, let’s not rush into marriage yet; let’s pay back the money first.” 

Xiaolong and Xiaohu listened intently, their ears perked up. Children are always curious about big events like matchmaking and marriage. 

“Keep eating your meal.” Zhou Qingdang glanced at the kids, who looked genuinely curious. 

“You’re almost twenty-seven! Aren’t you in a hurry? If you wait any longer, no girl will want to marry you.” 

“Mother, why are you in such a hurry? Let’s eat first.” 

*** 

It was a rest day today, so Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie were not in a hurry to come back. After dinner, the family talked for a while. It was a rare occasion for the son-in-law to come back, so Liang Zhigao and Xu Shengjie walked in the fields and talked about this year’s harvest. 

Song Chunhua prepared a big bag of things for her daughter and son-in-law to take back to her husband’s house. Most of them were dried vegetables that were dried at home, just in time for winter meals: dried eggplants, dried tofu, tomato sauce in infusion bottles, and a bunch of mountain products. 

“Mother, why are you preparing so much?” Liang Baozhen’s eyes widened slightly. This bag was indeed too big and too eye-catching. 

“What do you know?” Song Chunhua saw that the two had brought back a lot of things today and secretly thought it was not good. The Xu family was kind and didn’t care, but in the eyes of others, they might discredit their daughter and say that she’s taking things from her husband’s family back to her parents home. It could tarnish her reputation. 

“When you go back later, make sure to carry the things around the courtyard so people can see.” 

Liang Baozhen handed the bag to Xu Shengjie and tried to explain, “It’s so big, it will definitely be noticed.” 

“You’re too young to understand. Do you know how your aunt and I quarreled before? She brought up something from twenty years ago, saying that I took things from the Liang family back to our Song family. Bah! When your grandma was still alive, she asked me to bring back some wild fruits picked from the mountains. They were sweet, and she went around making a fuss about it and ruined my reputation.” 

“Some people can slander you with just a few words.” Song Chunhua put away the things, looked at the sky, and urged the two to go back to the city. “Hurry up, it’s getting dark early now; don’t waste time.” 

“Got it, Mother. We’re leaving now. We’ll come back to see you later.” 

“Alright, take it slow on the road, Xiao Xu. You keep an eye on Baozhen.” 

“Yes, Mother.” 

Liang Baojun sent his sister and brother-in-law to the village entrance. Liang Baoling followed behind and asked her sister to bring a small wooden box for Xiaoya. 

Liang Zhigao has good craftsmanship and made her a wooden pencil case that looks pretty good. 

“Sister, you have to make it clear that this is a gift from me to her.” 

Liang Baojun chuckled and tugged at his younger sister’s braid. “Did you make this?” 

“Since Father made it, it’s like I made it!” Liang Baoling said righteously, with her hands on her hips. 

“Alright, alright, I didn’t expect that you would be so thick-skinned at such a young age. I don’t know who you took it from…” Liang Baojun pinched his sister’s face twice but was slapped away by Liang Baoling. 

“I take after you!” Liang Baoling made a face at her second brother. 

“Brother, tell me, what are you actually doing now?” Liang Baozhen finally found an opportunity to ask. 

But Liang Baojun was prepared and used the winery incident as an excuse. You know Hao Ming. He is a very honest person, and he’s paying me according to the market price.” 

“Do we have so many iron thorns on the mountain?” 

“How big do you think this mountain is? You’ve never been inside. Stop worrying about these things and go back.” 

Liang Baojun sent his sister away and looked at his brother-in-law. The two exchanged a few words and then parted ways as they watched the bus arrive. 

*** 

After several hours of a bumpy ride, Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie finally returned to the courtyard as it was beginning to get dark. 

The things Song Chunhua prepared were heavy, and Xu Shengjie carried the bags all the way. As soon as Liang Baozhen walked into the courtyard, she heard Aunt Luo’s voice. 

“Zhou Yun is getting old and confused. I think that country girl was just here to just take advantage. Today she and Xiao Xu went back to her parents home. I saw it with my own eyes. They brought a lot of stuff. Tsk tsk, tell me, who moves so many things to their parents home? Aren’t they afraid of emptying out the old Xu family one day!” 

Luo Hongmei had finished her dinner and was chatting in the yard while several people around her were knitting. 

The weather was cold, and Qian Jingjing was knitting a sweater for her daughter. She had been busy since the beginning of autumn and was now in the final parts. Hearing this, she looked up and said, “Aunt Luo, you are exaggerating. It’s not like they’re moving everything. Isn’t this Aunt Zhou’s kindness?” 

“Xiao Qian, you don’t understand. It’s a blessing for a country girl to marry into the city. She’ll definitely take whatever she can get. Maybe one day she’ll even bring her whole family to beg for money.” 

Liang Baozhen never expected her mother’s concern to come true so quickly. 

Luo Hongmei is an elderly woman in the courtyard who likes to gossip constantly. Xu Shengjie knows a thing or two about her, but she seldom provokes their family. Unexpectedly, she tends to slander others behind their backs. 

Looking at the big bags in his hand, Xu Shengjie continued walking forward with it. 

“Aunt Luo, Aunt Li, Sister Qian, you’re all here.” 

“Oh, Xiao Xu, Xiao Liang, you’re back?” 

“You must be tired from going back to your mother’s house. Go back to your room and rest.” Luo Hongmei looked at the two people who suddenly appeared with an awkward expression on her face. 

Xu Shengjie pushed the bags forward, and the rustling sound attracted everyone’s attention. 

Qian Jingjing asked curiously, “Xiao Xu, what are you carrying? It’s so big! Is it something distributed by the factory?” 

Xu Shengjie glanced at Luo Hongmei, “Oh, this? My mother-in-law gave it to me. It’s a big bag full of food and daily necessities. She had us bring back a lot of dried vegetables and, knowing that my grandma is not in good health, she also prepared some dried medicinal herbs.” 

“Your mother-in-law is very kind-hearted. She gave so much.” 

Qian Jingjing looked at Luo Hongmei and saw that her face turned pale and blue, and the corners of her mouth curved up. 

Luo Hongmei saw Xu Shengjie’s expression and realized he had overheard her. She muttered a few words and quickly changed the subject of their conversation.

“I don’t know who the rotten thief is that stole our vegetables, but I’ll give them a good beating if I catch them!” 

Liang Baozhen looked at Xu Shengjie returning with things and felt like he was suddenly showing off.