That day, when his grandmother had shouted at his mother, Lu Dan had been with his grandfather, building the field embankment.

If he had been in the fields, he would have protected his mother, flipping over his grandmother if necessary.

For this reason, Lu Dan was still blaming himself.

His boyish strength, his tender words, could melt anyone’s heart.

Su Xiangwan thought to herself, “No, no, I’m going to fall in love with this little guy.”

Men? Who cares.

Who was Song Qingshan? Just go away.

With these two little “gods” in my life, I’m living enough for this lifetime.

Finally, the men from the family and the relatives all left.

The room fell quiet.

“Who said the loan voucher was mine? I didn’t do it,” Song Laosan’s voice could be heard disputing in the hall.

Song Lao Er, sitting in a military posture on a chair, responded, “The loan voucher from the credit union is not easy to get, and everyone else in this house hardly goes out to the market. Just you—you’ve been living in the Hongxing Commune.”

“Maybe it was Qingyu. After all, Qingyu is educated, and she might want to frame the eldest daughter-in-law,” Fang Baoyu quickly tried to divert the conversation.

Song Qingyu became anxious: “Third sister-in-law, this isn’t how you bully people. I’m already a widow. How could I possibly bully the eldest daughter-in-law?”

“All of you are bullying the eldest daughter-in-law. I just kept quiet for the sake of family harmony, pretending to be blind,” Old Man Song groaned heavily and said, “Fine, I’ve made myself suffer. I hope one day, seeing how hard I’ve worked, you’ll finally leave me in peace.”

“Let Su Xiangwan leave. If she leaves, our family will be happy and peaceful, and no one will argue anymore!” Old Lady Song shouted loudly.

“Do you know that the eldest daughter-in-law’s family is part of the ‘black five categories’? If you send her back, wouldn’t she be living in a cow shed with her family?” Song Tingxiu retorted to his mother.

Su Xiangwan’s family was from a remote corner of the Su family, with three sisters and one brother.

Her father had once been drafted by the Nationalist Army before liberation to serve as a military doctor.

For this reason, in 1966, he was labeled a counter-revolutionary.

Su Xiangwan’s father passed away at that time, and her mother, a sensible woman, divided all the family assets among the three daughters and severed ties with them through a letter.

Now, Su Xiangwan’s brother and mother were still in the most impoverished and remote area of Qingshui County, undergoing forced labor.

However, Su Xiangwan didn’t know this, because at the time when the revolutionary committee visited her family, it happened that Song Tingxiu was there, and he was the one who handled the matter.

To spare Su Xiangwan the worry, he only told her that her family had disowned her.

Of course, Su Xiangwan, being naïve, believed everything Song Tingxiu said and never bothered to investigate, so she truly thought that her mother had abandoned her.

Meanwhile, Song Tingxiu was the one who insisted on keeping Su Xiangwan around.

…

“Do you think I hit her? Ask anyone in the village. She wrote me a letter, she hits the children, and every day she either tries to hang herself or jump into the river. It’s her who’s causing all the trouble, not me!” Old Lady Song said, clutching her chest in anger.

“She even once dumped a basket of dung on my head and used my money to go on a spending spree. I’m worried people will think I’m mistreating my daughter-in-law, so I said nothing.”

Song Laosan added fuel to the fire: “Second brother, it was when the eldest daughter-in-law went to Dongfeng City that Big Brother died. We should send her away. Let her go back to her family.”

“How is the plane crash related to the eldest daughter-in-law?” Song Tingxiu(Second Brother), already irritated by his mother’s complaints, now directed his anger toward his younger brother.

Song Fu shouted, “My father always said that a man should never engage in important tasks while being involved with a woman, or it brings bad luck.”

Fang Baoyu quickly covered his mouth: “What are you talking about, child?”

It was clear that this was a saying often heard at home, and the child had memorized it.

Song Tingxiu, being a soldier with a hot temper, kicked Song Fu hard, making him cry.

This matter was finally settled.

“Alright, since I’ve come, and you all have so many grievances with the eldest daughter-in-law, let’s split the family up,” Song Tingxiu said decisively, standing up. “Mom, tally up the current savings, and let’s divide them another day.”

Everyone who had been complaining just moments ago now panicked.

“Second brother, what do you mean by splitting the family? How can you say that?” Fang Baoyu exclaimed.

They didn’t want to do any of the hard work at home, but what if one day Fang Baoyu’s father, the manager, got dismissed?

Would they be forced to work in the fields?

And as for Song Qingyu, a widow with a child—without the support of her two older brothers, how could she find a good husband?

How could she live the comfortable life she had at her maternal home?

Thus, the people who had been blaming Su Xiangwan all changed their tone: “We shouldn’t split the family. We’ll apologize to the eldest daughter-in-law and treat her better from now on.”

“Just Lu Dan and Gou Dan, they’re just like are own sons. Fine, tomorrow I’ll buy them some oil rings to eat. Ah, it’s been so long since I’ve had oil rings,” Song Laosan quickly said, trying to put out the fire.

The dim yellow moonlight shone on the courtyard, and the candlelight flickered.

Lu Dan sat on the kang edge, quietly listening to the conversation inside the hall.

Gou Dan squatted on the ground, poking at the floorboard gaps.

“Hey, Gou Dan, there’s no money in the ground, hurry up and dig it. I saw it, a ten yuan bill,” Su Xiangwan suddenly said.

Gou Dan’s face lit up: “Where, where, mom? I’ll dig it right away!”

“Mom means there’s no money in the ground. What are you digging for? Be careful not to ruin the soil,” Lu Dan suddenly chuckled.

Gou Dan blushed and stood up. “Mom’s tricking me.”

Su Xiangwan took the opportunity to kiss his sweaty forehead, smiling without saying a word.

Gou Dan touched his face in disbelief and said, “Brother, mom kissed me, kissed me.” He was so proud he had to show off.

Su Xiangwan turned and broke the remaining half of the oil ring from yesterday, giving half to each child.

As she watched them tear into it, she pointed at Gou Dan’s nose and said, “From now on, if you don’t squat down everywhere and sit properly like your brother, I’ll kiss you every day, alright?”

Gou Dan nodded vigorously, glanced at Lu Dan, and suddenly pointed at his brother, laughing: “Brother doesn’t look like he’s working hard.”

“Not working hard” was a local saying in Qinzhou, meaning feeling jealous or uncomfortable.

Su Xiangwan, thinking about how these two children would one day become enemies, didn’t want to show favoritism.

Since she had kissed one little troublemaker, she decided to kiss the other obedient one too. But just as she was about to, Lu Dan suddenly pulled away, blushing and avoiding her.

Ah, silly boy, acting as if I care about him. Forget it, I won’t bother with him.

Just as Su Xiangwan lay down, the little one quietly crept over.

“Mom, what was my dead dad like? Can you tell me about him?” Gou Dan asked.

Su Xiangwan struggled to recall, but she still couldn’t remember.

All that was in the original mind were images of Song Tingxiu.

The two of them had once gone to Dongfeng City together, squeezed on a train.

He bought her big white rabbit milk candies, biscuits, and milk powder in a big enamel mug.

Oh my, Su Xiangwan rubbed her forehead, thinking to herself, how could the original person not focus at all—only thinking with the heart, not the body.

She’d at least slept a few times and had three children, yet she couldn’t even remember what that man looked like?

This was why Su Xiangwan only had the description of Song Laoer (Song Tingxiu) from the original book to go on.

It said that he was meticulous yet rough when he was young, had a sense of humor, was introverted, and most importantly, was very skilled with his hands and exceptionally intelligent.

Of course, being the father of the male protagonist, he had to be an even more outstanding figure.

He would eventually become a key player in the reform era of the People’s Republic of China, one of the first generation to ride the wave of change, someone who would be in the newspapers every day as the country modernized.

But how could the original person not even remember what he looked like?

In the following days, whether it was Song Qingyu, Fang Baoyu, or Old Lady Song, all of them were incredibly kind to the three children, like a gentle breeze.

Of course, they had done the same when Song Tingxiu came back for a family visit last year, treating the children well in every possible way.

However, once Song Tingxiu left, things went back to normal.

Su Xiangwan spent her days cooling herself off, fanning herself, and enjoying the sour soup with oil that Qingyu brought her.

She happily thought, can you all not split the family just because you don’t want to?

Not long after, Song Old Lady and Fang Baoyu were whispering to each other.

“Mom, the insurance money from Big Brother is still here, right? You didn’t give it to my sister-in-law again, did you?” Fang Baoyu asked.

She and Old Lady Song’s eldest daughter, Song Dahua, were involved in a marriage exchange.

Song Dahua was Fang Baoyu’s eldest sister-in-law, and that woman was very capable, especially at swindling money from the old lady.

Old Lady Song confidently replied, “The 500 yuan? I’ve been holding it close every day. It’s safe, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, the family won’t split. Even if Su Xiangwan wants to split the family, the money’s in my hands. How I deal with her is up to me.”

“Was the insurance money deposited in Big Brother’s account? Since he’s gone, why not put it in my account?” Fang Baoyu, in fact, wanted to grab the money.

Old Lady Song waved her hand, “Your account? What’s that for? Don’t worry, the money I save will belong to Fuwazi in the future. But for now, you two don’t even think about the money.”

The eldest daughter-in-law was annoying, but at least she could be controlled.

As for the third daughter-in-law, she was lazy and greedy, always using underhanded ways to dig for money.

If it weren’t for her being the daughter of the warehouse keeper and giving the old lady a grandchild, Old Lady Song would have just kept spitting at her.

The old lady was adamant that the money should be in the account of the eldest son who had passed away, where it would be safe.

Of course, she kept the passbook close.

But alas, can a passbook really keep the money safe?

As it happened, Su Xiangwan was holding little Zhi Zhi at the village head when Song Jianguo came back from the Red Star Commune, driving a tractor.

He called out from a distance: “Xiangwan, Xiangwan, Comrade Zhao said you need to go to the town. There’s a registered letter for you in the county; you should go pick it up.”

Oh, the passbook has arrived?

Su Xiangwan smiled widely: “Okay, thank you, Jianguo.”

Tomorrow, the family would split.