Chapter 43.1

The sky darkened, and a cold wind blew outside.

The shabby house could not block out the cold wind, which swept in and almost extinguished the fire in the stove.

Standing by the stove was a middle-aged woman who looked somewhat like Ruan Mingfu.

She had a mature charm, dressed in a ragged floral coat, her hair neatly arranged. Despite the ruinous surroundings, she appeared content.

When Father Ruan came in, the cold wind from outside rushed in with him, causing everyone to shiver and almost snuff out the fire in the stove.

“Close the door quickly.”

“Okay!”

At his wife’s command, he barely had time to put down his things before closing the rickety door.

Once the flames in the stove flickered back to life, Mrs. Ruan let out a sigh of relief.

Father Ruan set the package down. “Wife, our daughter has sent us a letter.”

“What’s the big deal?”

Despite her words, Mrs. Ruan added some firewood to the stove before coming over.

“Let me see.”

Father Ruan picked up the letter and gestured for Mrs. Ruan to come closer.

She gave him a sideways glance.

“She’s not our biological daughter. Why are you so eager to see her letter?”

“Look at what you’re saying,” Father Ruan said seriously. “We came here by chance, and it’s a kind of fate. Since we’ve taken on someone else’s body, we should take good care of her.”

Mrs. Ruan did not respond, accepting the point.

It was strange. The couple, who had no illnesses or misfortunes and had been sleeping soundly, suddenly woke up to find themselves transported back fifty or sixty years. However, as people used to managing a big household, they quickly calmed down.

“Wife,” Father Ruan opened the letter. “Do you think we’ve swapped places with the Ruan family parents?”

Mrs. Ruan nodded. “It’s a possibility.”

She had a nagging feeling that something was amiss.

Otherwise, how could the Ruan couple look so much like them?

Father Ruan looked at the letter, his eyes filled with excitement. “Wife, our daughter… our daughter is here too.”

Before Mrs. Ruan could react, he pointed at a character in the letter with enthusiasm.

“Look.”

Mrs. Ruan read it.

“…It really is.”

When Ruan Mingfu was a child, Father Ruan taught her how to write characters. However, when it came to the character for “cool” (凉), she had a habit of writing the radical for “water” (水) with three dots instead of two. Despite many corrections, she never changed it.

Mrs. Ruan had been quite upset and even scolded her for it.

Gradually, it became a habit, and she let it go.

“Are there any other letters?”

As soon as he asked, Father Ruan took out all the letters written by Ruan Mingfu from the drawer.

He spread them out on the table, examining each one.

Finally, he found the same character “cool” in a letter sent last October. Comparing them, he was both surprised and delighted.

“Wife, it really is our daughter.”

In contrast to Father Ruan’s excitement, Mrs. Ruan remained quite calm.

“Oh.”

“Great, our troublesome daughter is here too.”

Father Ruan paced around, muttering to himself.

“I wonder if our daughter can adapt to this place.”

“The daughter of the Ruan family seems to have been sent to the countryside. How could our daughter endure such hardship?”

“I’ve heard that being an educated youth is tough. They face exclusion and bullying…”

The more he thought about it, the more anxious Father Ruan became.

“Our daughter is delicate and soft. Wouldn’t she be bullied?”

“Wife, say something.”

Mrs. Ruan: “…”

Say what?

Her mind was completely occupied with the phrase “our daughter.”

“…With her temper, it would be a miracle if she didn’t bully others.”

Despite the agony, Father Ruan ignored her comment, his mind filled with thoughts of how to deal with their daughter being bullied.

“I wish we could leave this hellhole right now.”

Mrs. Ruan: “…”

Daughter slave… there is really no hope.

Father Ruan was largely responsible for shaping their daughter’s current disposition.

After fidgeting for a while, he finally calmed down and resumed reading the letter from their daughter.

Then, he exploded in anger. “That damned son of a bitch, I’m going to break his legs!”

Father Ruan’s temper flared up again, even more intensely this time. He muttered curses incessantly.

Mrs. Ruan rolled her eyes and took the letter to see what was written.

She too became furious.

“I’m going to break Ruan Mingfu’s legs!”

Upon hearing this, Father Ruan looked at Mrs. Ruan.

“What are you staring at?” Mrs. Ruan, easily enraged, lashed out indiscriminately. “No matter how you plead this time, it won’t help. I must teach her a lesson.”

Their troublesome daughter was now marrying someone. Mrs. Ruan was exasperated.

Mrs. Ruan counted with her fingers and became even angrier.

Eighteen!

Marrying off at just eighteen years old.

They didn’t even know who the other party was, their surname, or given name. And she dares to marry?!

If the other party isn’t a good person, wouldn’t their troublesome daughter be dismantled and sold for parts?!

Mrs. Ruan was so furious it gave her a headache.

“Enough! Stop pacing around. You’re giving me a headache,” she pointed at Father Ruan angrily. “It’s all your fault for spoiling her to the point where she doesn’t know her own limits! Now she dares to get married, and tomorrow she might bring a child here calling you Grandpa!”

Father Ruan imagined that scene and nearly laughed out loud.

Seeing Mrs. Ruan’s fierce glare, he quickly covered his mouth.

“You and your daughter really leave me at a loss for words…”

Mrs. Ruan’s headache worsened.

She knew it.

With a troublesome daughter around, she could never expect peace.

Father Ruan, though a bit guilty, was still furious after seeing the letters on the table.

“Damn it, that filthy kid, don’t let me find out who he is.”

“I’ll break his legs for sure!”

Calming down, the disgruntled couple sat at their rickety small table. “We need to leave quickly. We can’t stay here any longer.”

Aside from their troublesome daughter, this place was also undesirable.

It was already so cold in early October. If it reached the depths of winter with such living conditions, they’d freeze to death.

Last winter, the Ruan couple nearly lost their lives enduring the cold.

Even so, Father Ruan’s health had deteriorated, and he had been coughing constantly. It was only after Mrs. Ruan’s arrival and her medicinal diet that his cough improved.

“Alright, let’s see what she sent us.”

Mrs. Ruan opened the package.

Since it had reached them, the contents of the package had already been checked, and there were signs of having been rummaged through. Mrs. Ruan was somewhat disappointed.

She pulled out the top item: a military overcoat.

Though old and worn, it was still thick and practical for the weather.

Mrs. Ruan’s eyes showed satisfaction.

Their troublesome daughter still had some sense.

Besides the military coat, there were several cans of food, and at the very bottom, a thin cotton quilt. Perhaps because it was thin, it arrived smoothly.

“Quick, put these things away.”

Father Ruan efficiently put everything in its place.

“With these, we can endure the winter better,” Father Ruan said, almost in tears. “Our daughter must have suffered a lot…”

Otherwise, why would she think to send us these things?

Mrs. Ruan rolled her eyes.

In her peripheral vision, she noticed something else in the opened envelope. She took it out and found an additional letter.

On the envelope, the words “Father-in-law and Mother-in-law” were written in a strong, decisive hand.

This was likely sent by the new son-in-law.

The writing matched the person.

Mrs. Ruan’s anger subsided a bit.

She opened the letter.

After a brief greeting, it provided personal information about Xie Yanzhao… Mrs. Ruan’s anger diminished even further.

He was quite polite.

After finishing the letter, Mrs. Ruan’s final traces of anger faded.

Comparing it with Ruan Mingfu’s letter, her dissatisfaction grew.

If it weren’t for Xie Yanzhao’s letter, she wouldn’t have known about their troublesome daughter’s situation after being sent to the countryside.

Although Ruan Mingfu’s letter didn’t mention it, Mrs. Ruan certainly didn’t believe their troublesome daughter was worried about them. She likely didn’t think of them at all when she wrote it.

It must be said, a biological mother knows her child best.

Looking at the end of the letter, where it asked comrades to take care of them and offered assistance from that comrade…

Since the other party had taken care of them even in their arrangements, Mrs. Ruan could no longer stay angry.

She sighed.

Their troublesome daughter was indeed lucky to have found such an outstanding and reliable person.

“Alright,” Mrs. Ruan said, looking at Father Ruan, who was crouched in the corner, both angry and distressed. “Calm down with your misplaced paternal love. Our daughter is doing fine.”

She handed over the letter written by Xie Yanzhao.

“Your daughter isn’t suffering.”

At first, Father Ruan was puzzled, but upon reading the contents of the letter, his anger flared up again.

“That shameless old man!”

His daughter is only eighteen years old. Before coming here, she was only twenty-two, and she married a man who is twenty-eight. If he had been born a couple of years earlier, he could have been on the same level as this man.

Father Ruan was both angry and heartbroken. His daughter was suffering…

Mrs. Ruan: “…”

What a nerve!

She was too lazy to deal with Father Ruan and brought out the soup she had been cooking.

“Come and drink this!”

“Oh.”

Father Ruan instantly composed himself, walked over, and drank the soup.

They had been sent to the farm, and it was bad enough that they had poor food and living conditions, but they also had to work. The middle-aged person who had lived in the neighboring house had died last winter from overexertion.

Mrs. Ruan definitely didn’t want Father Ruan to end up like that.

Even though supplies were scarce here, she still went to great lengths to collect ingredients and secretly nourish Father Ruan’s health.

“Drink up.”

The clay pot contained just enough soup for two bowls.

Perhaps because of the strong aroma, to avoid attracting the attention of Zhou Paopi, they drank quickly from the edges of the bowls.

After drinking, to avoid detection, Father Ruan even went so far as to clean up the evidence.

Mrs. Ruan had never felt so stifled in her life and sighed deeply.

“When will these days end?”

Even eating had to be done in secret, and it was unbearably uncomfortable.

“Soon.”

Father Ruan searched his mind for information about this era. “At most, we just have to endure for another three years.”

This statement left the couple in silence.