Zhao Yinshuang was 42 years old.

She gave birth to Su Xiangwan at the age of 15, so the age difference between them was so large that they didn’t seem like mother and daughter, but more like sisters.

The original body had always gotten along well with Zhao Yinshuang, and as soon as Su Xiangwan saw her, she immediately felt the warmth of maternal love.

Su Xiangwan remembered that in the original story, it was mentioned that Zhao Yinshuang would likely die in Haixi in the next year or two, allegedly killed by her later husband.

The man’s name contained the character “Xi”, which made Su Xiangwan remember him very clearly.

She had heard that Zhao Yinshuang and Ma Xijun weren’t married yet, which relieved a heavy weight from her heart. But just then, a commotion broke out outside.

“Ma Xijun, what are you trying to do?” This was Zhao Guonian’s voice. “Don’t hit anyone!”

“I’m hitting you, you lazy, good-for-nothing woman who only eats porridge and makes soft noises, always avoiding responsibility,” Ma Xijun shouted angrily. “Tell me, did you steal my beans?”

As soon as Zhao Yinshuang heard this, she rushed out: “Ma Xijun, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean what am I doing?” Ma Xijun replied. “The brigade is inspecting livestock grain, and half a bag of my gray beans is missing. It must have been stolen by Zhao Guonian. Smell him, doesn’t he reek of bean porridge?”

“No, Zhao Guonian didn’t steal them, I can vouch for that,” Zhao Yinshuang said.

Ma Xijun continued cursing, still shoving Zhao Guonian: “It’s you! Hurry up and come with me, I’ll report you to the brigade and have them send you to the Twelve Brigade for labor reform.”

The Twelve Brigade was the harshest and most strictly controlled brigade in the entire Baiyang Farm.

It was said that once someone was sent to that brigade, it was hard to survive.

Zhao Guonian knew a young intellectual named Gu Nan who had originally been in this brigade, but after making a mistake, Ma Xijun had reported him, sending him to the Twelve Brigade.

As soon as Zhao Guonian heard about the Twelve Brigade, he struggled free: “Ma Xijun, can you please be reasonable? Stop making trouble. You’ve already reported Gu Nan, why are you reporting me too? Do you have such hatred for educated people?”

“The Twelve Brigade? Ma Xijun, are you crazy? No one would dare go to the Twelve Brigade, stop making a scene! I’m begging you, please, okay?” Zhao Yinshuang stepped in to stop him.

Ma Xijun kept cursing, but Su Xiangwan couldn’t hold herself back anymore. “Ma Xijun, aren’t you the team leader of the big cart team here?”

“Who are you?” Ma Xijun stopped pushing and asked.

Su Xiangwan replied, “No one stole your livestock beans, you ate them all yourself, and that’s why the horses you’re driving are starving. Reporting to the brigade is useless. Take a look outside by the supply and marketing cooperative.

Look at that iron thing parked there, it has four wheels, and when it runs, it’s ten times faster than your horse cart. I’ll drive it to the town later and report you to the township head.

I’ll tell him that you’ve been stealing livestock beans, eating yourself fat, while the horses are starving. Let’s see if the township head will still let you be the big cart team leader tomorrow.”

“You’re talking nonsense, I never stole livestock grain!” Ma Xijun shouted.

Su Xiangwan grabbed a kitchen knife, chopped it, and split a cabbage in half: “Then how about you and Zhao Guonian weigh yourselves? Let’s see who’s heavier. If Zhao Guonian had really stolen your beans, do you think he’d be as skinny as a bean sprout?”

Many people in the labor reform farm had gathered around to watch.

In fact, everyone knew that Ma Xijun had been stealing livestock beans to eat, but since the workers were simple and honest, no one had reported him.

Su Xiangwan’s comment made many people laugh: “Ma Xijun, look at your build, and then look at Zhao Guonian’s. Who looks like they’re starving, and who looks like they’ve had enough to eat? Stop making trouble and go back to the livestock pen to sleep.”

Ma Xijun ran to the supply and marketing cooperative, looked around, and finally saw a large iron vehicle he had never seen before.

It had four tires, and when it ran, it was as powerful as a tractor. It looked quite imposing.

His arrogance waned.

Originally, he had wanted to keep causing trouble for Zhao Guonian, but when he saw the vehicle, he was scared and backed off. He left with his tail between his legs, heading back to the livestock pen to sleep.

His family didn’t even have any oil.

Su Xiangwan first fried the fat into oil in the pan.

After frying it into crispy oil residue, she began to stir-fry the cabbage.

Once the cabbage softened, she added potatoes, waiting until the potatoes were almost soft before adding hand-rolled noodles that were about an inch wide.

This combination of ingredients was known as “killing pig soup” or “cadre’s countryside dish.”

This dish was something the villagers would only eat when cadres came.

The aroma wafted throughout the labor reform team, drawing all the children to gather around to watch.

Lu Dan and Gou Dan didn’t know where they ran off to, but when Su Xiangwan saw so many children outside, she took the opportunity to ask, “Have you ever had meat?”

“Only during the New Year, but it was mutton. We don’t feed pigs here,” one of the children shyly replied.

“Han people or minorities?” Su Xiangwan asked.

The children pointed to a tall boy with a high nose bridge and said, “He’s the only minority. We’re all outsiders.”

Su Xiangwan gave the tall boy a piece of candy and specifically reminded him to ask his mother first.

Only if she agreed could he eat it.

She then gave each of the children gathered outside a piece of the fried oil residue.

It was July, and for these children, eating meat once a year during the New Year was a rare luxury.

A whole meat pound was divided among several people, and each person barely got a bite.

The children all tasted the oil and exclaimed how delicious it was before running off, excited.

Su Xiangwan then grabbed her mother’s only large enamel jar and dumped all the vegetables in.

After that, she started boiling water for the soup.

At that moment, Liu Zaiye appeared at the window.

If you wanted to talk about good-looking, it was this scumbag.

His white shirt had probably been worn for two days, not as clean as Song Qingshan’s. It had a hint of sweat around the collar, and he was awkwardly licking his lips.

“Su Xiangwan, you definitely want your mom and brother to leave here, right?” he asked.

“Yes, what’s wrong?” Su Xiangwan looked even prouder than usual, “But what does that have to do with you? Liu Zaiye, my family’s Dazhan doesn’t care about these things, why should you?”

“Dashan? Who’s that?”

“My dog,” Su Xiangwan replied.

Liu Zaiye wanted to jump up and hit someone.

After all, they had just called him a dog, and he figured it was time for him to leave.

However, after turning around to leave, he came back again. “I’ll tell you, the village chief and the town mayor here are not easy to deal with. If you want them to let your mom and your brother go, you’ll need to beg me. I, Liu Zaiye, am sitting in the jeep, waiting for you to beg me.”

“Then hurry up. Take your time, and wait for me to beg you,” Su Xiangwan replied as she saw the pot boiling and quickly dropped the noodles into it.

“Sister, Sister!” A boy came running from the alley, with Lu Dan draped over his neck, and Gou Dan was right behind him.

The boy, bareheaded, ran so fast that when he reached the door, he didn’t stop in time.

Lu Dan only saw the door beam and didn’t have enough time to dodge. With a loud “bang,” his forehead hit the door.

“Sister, it’s really you!” Su Fufu threw Lu Dan aside and suddenly ran over. He picked up Su Xiangwan from the stove with a strong force, saying, “See? When I left, I still needed you to carry me. Now, I can carry you!”

Su Xiangwan was startled and cried out, “Ah!” as the young man lifted her.

Su Fufu was really such a handsome young man!

That night, a small kang (a traditional heated platform bed) was packed with children.

Su Xiangwan casually asked about the situation in Baiyang Town.

According to Zhao Yinshuang, the township head was surnamed Xie and was a local.

He was strict when it came to labor and production but was honest and good-hearted. Despite the harsh environment, he treated the labor reform prisoners well.

Su Fufu and Zhao Yinshuang didn’t dare return to Qingshui County yet, still concerned that their backgrounds might cause trouble for the Su family’s three sisters.

However, when they heard that Su Xiangwan was now the head of the Women’s Federation in Qingshui County, Zhao Yinshuang became interested. “So, does this mean the situation in Qingshui County is a little better now?”

“Both the county chief and the secretary focus on production and the economy. Besides, the man who used to be the harshest on us, Cao Jinwang, has already been arrested and executed by the province, so you don’t need to worry about that,” Su Xiangwan reassured.

Zhao Yinshuang held the soft little Zhizhi tightly.

The small kang, only about a meter wide, was already unbearably hot from the summer and crowded, making it hard to breathe. “So, should we return? But what if the township head refuses to release our household registration?”

She was worried about her own household registration.

Su Xiangwan said, “Mom, I’ll figure something out.”

“By the way, isn’t there a young intellectual named Gu Nan here? I heard you arguing earlier, and she was sent to the Twelve Brigade. What happened with that?” Su Xiangwan suddenly remembered her cousin, Su Xiaonan, and asked.

Zhao Yinshuang remained silent, but Su Fufu spoke up from the next room. “We can’t blame Ma Xijun for this. Gu Nan really brought it upon herself, honestly.”

It turned out that after Su Xiaonan arrived at Baiyang Farm, she didn’t follow the example of the other labor reform prisoners who worked hard to earn their redemption. Instead, she tried all sorts of tricks to get extra rations and perks.

The first time she went to the market, she somehow managed to strike a deal with a local. Carrots that should have cost three cents a pound were sold to her for just one dime for ten pounds.

Of course, though the local didn’t do the math right, after being tricked, he got upset.

At that point, Gu Nan found Ma Xijun and gave him a pound of carrots, asking him to chase the local away.

Additionally, because she was good at writing slogans, the township put her to work doing cultural outreach in the teams.

But, instead of using the fine flour for painting slogans as she had claimed, she secretly used it to make pancakes for herself.

The township head had allocated twenty pounds of fine flour for her each month.

While this was a decent amount, one day Ma Xijun caught her. Instead of using the flour for the slogans, she had been making pancakes.

Ma Xijun was the first to notice this issue.

Using this as leverage, he tried to blackmail Gu Nan into having an affair with him.

Gu Nan, a young girl, how could she possibly get involved with a man in his forties, almost fifty?

In a fit of anger, Ma Xijun reported her.

As a result, the township decided to send her to the Twelve Brigade.

“Actually, Gu Nan was just playing small tricks, making small mistakes. But when everyone is poor, she’s still trying to take shortcuts. Plus, Ma Xijun is ruthless and malicious. It’s said that he had even beaten a family member to death before. Gu Nan still chose to provoke him, and while we wanted to help, we couldn’t do much,” Su Fufu sighed.

Su Xiangwan closed her eyes and only said, “She brought it upon herself.”

In this world, some people like to deceive others, using small tricks to make life a little easier for themselves.

But as the old saying goes: “Suffering is a blessing.”

Unfortunately, Su Xiaonan probably wouldn’t understand this for a long time.

And when she fell to the lowest level of society and still couldn’t grasp this lesson—if she didn’t learn to be humble, work honestly, and earn her future through labor—then she deserved to keep making small gains at the cost of much bigger losses.

On the other kang, several children crowded together with Su Fufu, making so much noise that they refused to sleep.

Su Xiangwan had to call out several times before they finally settled down.

Liu Zaiye leaned against his jeep under the bright moonlight, which shone as brightly as daylight. He sat alone, smoking, lost in thought about how to move Zhao Yinshuang and her son’s household registration out of here.

The crops in Haixi didn’t grow well.

As the locals would say, “In winter, even the manure freezes dry; in summer, the mosquitoes grow bigger than the wheat.”

Every once in a while, a mosquito would bite Liu Zaiye, leaving big welts all over his body and face. Slapping himself, he killed several of them, each one bursting with blood.

In the distance, wolves howled. Lying in the cramped seat, without any mosquitoes, Liu Zaiye suddenly slapped himself again. “Liu Zaiye, you really deserve a beating.”

He was clearly part of Song Qingshan’s family, so why was he bothering with these things?

However, when he sat up and placed his hand on the steering wheel, he paused for a moment, then lay back down again.