That night, little A-She refused to eat, and though the family dismissed it as a trivial matter, the child—already weak and malnourished—succumbed to hunger and fever within days.

Her death wasn’t due to a lack of food but rather the psychological trauma inflicted by Jin Huan.

Looking at her own daughter, Su Xiangwan felt a surge of protective rage.

If her girl ever suffered such a fate, she wouldn’t hesitate to take a knife to someone like Jin Huan.

Later that day, Su Xiangwan joined the village women in the fields.

Seeing her, Xiong Dan’s mother beamed. “Xiangwan, are you taking the plow today or being the mule?”

Su Xiangwan smiled and replied, “Let’s team up. I’ll take the plow, and you can be the mule.”

Xiong Dan’s mother was one of the few larger, sturdier women in the village—big appetite, big heart, and big strength.

Everyone liked working with her.

In this era, with a shortage of livestock, people often had to act as mules, pulling plows themselves.

While agricultural production enthusiasm was high, the methods were so outdated it felt like humanity had regressed to primitive farming.

“Do you really think this way of farming is sustainable?” Su Xiangwan asked as she hitched up the plow.

Xiong Dan’s mother shrugged. “Why not? I’ve got the strength, and as long as we work hard, our kids won’t go hungry.”

“But your A-She died of fever, and A-Li starved. Now you’re left with just Xiong Dan and Xi Dan. Don’t you want a better way to keep them fed?” Su Xiangwan pressed.

“That’s why we work like mules—so they can eat their fill,” she replied earnestly.

“It’s not about how much effort we put in. It’s that so much of it is wasted. Farming like this just isn’t efficient.”

Having grown up in a family steeped in advanced scientific fields, Su Xiangwan knew well how to improve crop yields.

Her past life in a leading biotechnology company had equipped her with techniques for intercropping, companion planting, and boosting production.

Moreover, she knew exactly where surplus grain could be found in this decade, knowledge she could use to prevent children from going hungry.

She hadn’t planned to stand out in the 1960s.

Yet seeing women like Xiong Dan’s mother, thinking of A-She and A-Li, and recalling people like Jin Huan, a sense of justice stirred within her.

She wanted to help these children, to keep them from starving.

But with her questionable background in an era where standing out could be dangerous, it wasn’t easy to act, even as she watched people suffer.

That helplessness weighed on her deeply.

After the work assignments were finished, it was time to head to work, but at that moment, Su Xiangwan saw that Xiao Jingu and Song Fu had also appeared in the village square.

The two mischievous boys were wearing green military caps, each with a red five-pointed star sewn on them.

Their expressions were so arrogant and inflated, as though they were about to fly to the sky.

In fact, this was a particularly ridiculous time.

Look at this: Songfu was eight years old this year, and Jingu was only six. Just because they were wearing military hats, even adults walking past them were being extra careful.

“Mom, don’t look anymore, let’s head to the fields,” said Lu Dan, tugging at Su Xiangwan’s hand. “We’ll beat them up, it’s no big deal. Gou Dan and I don’t care about it.”

Songfu, with a proud look, walked over, showing off his hat.

He even had to say, “Aunt, this hat was bought for us by my cousin in Beijing. When the ‘Revolutionary End’ group comes back, you’ll see how I deal with Lu Dan and Gou Dan.”

Pointing to the red star on his hat, Songfu deliberately added, “You’d better take a good look. This is a red star. No one can touch me.”

He seemed to treat the red star like a golden shield of protection.

Unexpectedly, Su Xiangwan grabbed Songfu and said, “What did you use to hit Gou Dan?”

Songfu twisted and struggled, pointing to the hat on his head. “I used my hat to hit him. Aunt, what do you want to do?”

Su Xiangwan pulled down his pants and slapped his bottom twice. “What do you think you’re doing? I’ll teach you what your father and mother didn’t. This red star is stained with the blood of revolutionary martyrs, and you use it to hit your brother? You’re insulting the leader and the army.”

“Su Xiangwan, you took so much advantage when the family split, and now you’re hitting a child?” Fang Baoyu shouted.

Su Xiangwan slapped Songfu again, this slap so loud it echoed. “I’m his aunt. He doesn’t understand, so I have to teach him. Look at how dirty he’s made the red star. This is a red star, dyed in the blood of martyrs. How can you carelessly dirty it?”

She slapped him twice more and said, “I’m hitting you.”

Fang Baoyu wanted to step forward, but Su Xiangwan grabbed Songfu’s hat and ripped it off his head. “Everyone, look at the blood on this hat. This is a soldier’s hat. Songfu doesn’t understand, and Fang Baoyu always lets him get away with it. What do you think, should Fang Baoyu be taught a lesson by the community?”

“I dare you to teach me!” Fang Baoyu snapped.

Zhao Guodong added, “Forget it, Xiangwan. It’s best not to encourage such behavior in the village.”

Su Xiangwan straightened the hat and placed it back on Songfu’s head. “If no one encourages this behavior, then fine. But if anyone dares to bully my children with it, I not only dare to hit your children, I will also hit the adults.”

Fang Baoyu stood in the crowd, deflated, staring at Su Xiangwan but didn’t dare say anything.

“Don’t tolerate your own children bullying others,” Su Xiangwan said as she grabbed the mother of the troublesome boy and walked out of the village square.

Meanwhile, Song Laosan was preparing to go to the reservoir to work, and the old lady, who had been waiting for him, went out to the main road to wait for Song Qingshan.

She wanted to know what kind of job he had found.

If he couldn’t find one, she figured he could just work as a villager, but there was something important to do back at the old house.

The chimneys were all blocked, and Song Qingshan, known for his skills in bricklaying, was much better at it than others.

Of course, the old house needed a full renovation. Rebuilding the kilns and firing bricks and tiles was Song Qingshan’s specialty.

Old lady Song chatted with Qingyu, and Qingyu, who had always felt that her sister-in-law had changed, couldn’t help but comment, “Mom, don’t fight with my sister-in-law anymore. She’s not like she used to be. Now I feel like she’s got the demeanor of my eldest sister.”

“Her? She can’t even read a few words. How could she be like your eldest sister?” The old lady chuckled. “Your eldest sister, despite her background, is smart and learns things quickly. She can write well and even author excellent essays. Su Xiangwan can’t even compare to her.”

Old Lady Song always viewed her eldest daughter as her ideal—bright and talented in many ways.

By the time the moon had risen, the old lady had yet to see her son come back.

Just as she returned to the old house, she saw Songfu entering, carrying a half-bag of pastries. “Grandma, Grandma, this was bought for us by my uncle.”

“Then you should eat it,” the old lady said. “Why didn’t you call your uncle to come too?”

“I called him, but uncle said he was afraid you’d scold him, so he didn’t dare come,” Songfu replied.

Old lady Song, Qingyu, and Fang Baoyu all froze, especially Fang Baoyu, who screamed, “Uncle is so ridiculous. A coward, hiding away like that. Why would he tell the child about it?”

Even though the old lady knew her son had brought back some pastries, she was angry and couldn’t eat.

She muttered as she chewed her medicine, “No, Qingshan is such a weakling. He’s in love with Su Xiangwan, and I can’t let myself be driven mad by this. I’ll wait for my second son to return. I want to see what Su Xiangwan will do, and where her husband will hide.”

For this reason, she was determined to keep going.

The man only brought back half a bag of pastries. Lu Dan immediately became a spy. “He gave half to Songfu. I saw it, Mom.”

Song Qingshan, hands in his pockets, sat on the bed. “Everyone eat a little.”

“I’m not eating,” said Gou Dan.

“I’m not eating either,” Lu Dan said.

“If you’re not eating, then I’ll take it back to Songfu and Jingu. Let them have some strength to beat you up,” Su Xiangwan said, biting into a piece of the red sugar-filled pastry.

It was just an ordinary pastry, but in this era, it was a luxury.

Lu Dan and Gou Dan exchanged looks and immediately rushed over, fighting to grab the pastries.

Each took a piece and fed it to Little Zhizhi, who opened his red mouth wide, clapping his hands and calling, “Mom!”

“Who hit Gou Dan?” Suddenly, Song Qingshan’s voice became firm.

Su Xiangwan replied, “Who else, the one who gave the pastries just now.”

“Why didn’t you fight back?” This pair of parents had an unusually consistent attitude.

Gou Dan quickly responded, “Alright, the next time I see Songfu, I’ll definitely beat him up.” His mouth was full of pastry crumbs, making him look extremely formidable.

Song Qingshan watched for a while, then brought out two big handfuls of candy, unwrapped one for each child, and put them in their mouths.

He specifically said, “Not that I’m being petty, but from now on, Songfu will not get another candy from me for the rest of the year.”

Gou Dan and Lu Dan didn’t care much about their ‘generous’ father.

Song Qingshan stood with his hands on his waist for a moment, then went out to fetch water, washing his face and feet.

But despite looking very active and eager, like a hamster moving into a new home and wanting to bring everything with him, he was actually quite cautious.

Since the weather was still hot, he called Lu Dan outside to help him pour water and stood by the well to give himself a cold shower.

As men do, he closed the yard and was only wearing a pair of big shorts.

The children stood on the steps, pouring water over his head.

The water flowed down his muscular back in streams, showcasing his physique.

No wonder he was in the army building infrastructure—his body was in great shape, with straight long legs that looked almost like a model’s.

Even the simple cloth underpants couldn’t hide the impressive physique.

What was it they called it?

The “Captain America” butt?

However, the real question was about his size and whether it could still stand strong.

After all, Su Xiangwan had never been in a relationship before and only heard about these things from her friends.

According to them, the bigger the better. Romance novels also often said, “Big, big, big, and satisfying.” So, before gradually building a romantic life, it seemed very necessary to understand the details about this. Right?

Gou Dan had always worn open-crotch pants, but Su Xiangwan had sewn them up after she arrived.

The boy was now envious and muttering from the window, “This person actually has underwear, Mom, he has underwear!”

Su Xiangwan was holding Zhizhi, who had a milk candy in his mouth. The little one clung to the window, happily calling out “Dad.”

Song Qingshan wiped his face, looked up, and saw Su Xiangwan peeking at him from the window.

He picked up a water bucket, and then—strangely—went around to the back to continue washing.

This man… was he afraid she was a tiger, ready to eat him up?

That night, after she had already gone to bed, he slipped an envelope under her pillow. “Five hundred yuan, just as compensation for the unfairness of the family division. Take it.”

Su Xiangwan suddenly sat up. “Song Qingshan, where did this money come from? Did you steal it, or embezzle it?”

After a long pause, the man still didn’t say a word.