That night, the two children slept separately, and of course, neither of them had dinner.

The next morning, early at dawn, while the two kids were still in their dreams, they heard their father’s voice from outside: “Song Donghai, Song Xiling, come out and assemble!”

One was fast, the other slow. The two kids came out one after the other from their rooms.

“Attention, at ease, I’ll ask you—do you have strength?” Song Qingshan asked in return.

The voice of Lu Dan was loud: “Report, leader, I have plenty of strength. Even if others have misunderstood or wronged me, I still have strength.”

Gou Dan, who had always been timid and weak, also said: “Yes, I also have plenty of strength! And I think, a little girl, she surely didn’t do it on purpose. She can correct her mistake, and I have plenty of strength to teach her.”

They were having a verbal sparring from a distance, each with a good reason.

“Since you have plenty of strength, let’s go. Today, we’ll train together,” said Song Qingshan.

Each child received a cold steamed bun.

They were still in a bit of a mood, competing with each other, stuffing the buns into their mouths.

Watching the two of them run out of the courtyard, Li Chengze wanted to follow, but Song Qingshan turned around and said, “Help your mom with the chores at home. You’re not coming with us. Today, I’m going to train these two little brats to death.”

Li Chengze, frightened, stuck out his tongue and turned back to the kitchen to help Su Xiangwan.

Like all military units, the engineering corps also had a training ground.

Song Qingshan drove all the way, passing the reservoir without stopping, and continued toward Xiling Mountain.

On New Year’s Eve, every unit had the day off. Even those who didn’t have the day off were resting.

Except for the important posts, the area was deserted, a desolate atmosphere.

The engineering corps’ training ground was deep in Xiling Mountain, surrounded by forests.

The wind blew through the dry branches, and in the winter, the sound was eerily like ghostly wails, a howling noise.

But that wasn’t all. Song Qinshan first gave the two children a weighted pack, the kind used for march training, and had them carry it.

Lu Dan was barely able to carry it, but Gou Dan couldn’t lift it at all.

“This is a 35-kilogram devil training pack. I’ll carry it later. You two, each carry 15 kilograms. Now, let’s go,” said Song Qinshan.

In the empty valley, unsure if there were wild animals or ghosts, the two children trembled in fear. But since they were still angry, they followed behind Song Qinshan, beginning their brisk march.

The mountain was much deeper than the two kids had imagined.

After walking for a while, there was still more to go.

An hour later, Gou Dan couldn’t take it anymore and needed a break to catch his breath and drink some water.

But when he opened the military water bottle, there was no water. He licked it and exclaimed, “Dad, the water in the bottle seems to be frozen.”

Song Qinshan, walking in front, grunted and said, “Here, take mine.”

Gou Dan took it and drank a sip, surprised: “Dad, your water is still warm.”

Of course, Song Qinshan wouldn’t say that in order for his two sons to be educated and still have hot water to drink, he had tightly strapped a bottle of warm water to his waist.

This way, the water wouldn’t cool down or freeze, and it wouldn’t harm their bodies when they drank it.

Lu Dan, feeling stronger than Gou Dan, noticed that there was a large mountain blocking the path and felt pleased, thinking that they had finally reached their destination.

But unexpectedly, Song Qingshan led them up a few steps to a spot halfway up the mountain, where spring water was flowing from the ground.

This area was a deep gorge.

They crossed the gorge by stepping on stones, passing through a narrow passage, and after about five minutes, they emerged into a wide space with another range of mountains ahead.

The soil here seemed different, and aside from some low shrubs and weeds, there were no trees.

Pointing to the distant peaks, Song Qingshan said, “From here, it would take me four hours to reach the destination. If either of you wants to give up now, I’ll take you back. But if you don’t want to quit, we’ll walk for four more hours.”

This was expected. Gou Dan didn’t want to lose, and Lu Dan even less so.

The two brothers exchanged a look: “Let’s go, who’s afraid of who?”

The four-hour brisk march began, the two brothers stumbling and trying to keep up with their father’s long strides.

At home, Su Xiangwan was stewing a big pot of pig’s feet.

Six pig’s feet were stewed in one pot.

First, they were boiled thoroughly, then caramelized sugar, soy sauce, and other spices like Sichuan peppercorns and star anise were added to the water.

Afterward, they were simmered on a coal stove, with two blocks of coal heating up the pot slowly.

She was busy, bringing her son Li Chengze and little Zhi Zhi along, planning to head out for a stroll.

As the saying goes, “Don’t worry about the 27th or 28th, the 30th still has a market to rush to.” This market was in the county seat of Qing Shui.

On this day, whatever your family has, you bring out to display, and if your family lacks something, you should bring something to trade.

Fireworks and firecrackers were not by ticket, but could be bought directly with money, though you had to fight for them.

Families with many children had their kids up early, queuing in front of several supply and marketing cooperatives, trying to grab fireworks.

As for the food factories, the meat processing plants, woolen mills, and match factories—all of them cleared out their last stock today.

Once the stalls were set up, they quickly became overcrowded.

Su Xiangwan, with Li Chengze carrying Zhi Zhi, was caught in the dense crowd in the county center, moving with the flow of people.

They were pushed along, and before long, they arrived at the meat processing plant’s stall.

This stall, selling meat, didn’t require tickets today, and it was crowded with people.

Due to the back door, Fang Baoyu also entered the meat processing plant.

One hand holding money, the other handing out meat, and because she was relatively good-looking, many men were pushing to get close to her.

Meanwhile, Song Fu and Chen Xiaoli were playing in the back, accompanying their parents who were at work.

“Aunt Su, look at that little girl. She keeps eyeing us,” Li Chengze said.

Su Xiangwan glanced inside and saw that indeed, Chen Xiaoli had been staring at her.

It was probably because Su Xiangwan was the first one to confront her, so she was wary of her, rolling her eyes repeatedly.

However, she was very nice to Fang Baoyu, always offering her candy or a sip of water. But poor little Song Fu was left standing there, ignored by everyone.

He didn’t even have a coat to wear, shivering from the cold, constantly stomping his feet to stay warm.

At that moment, there was a sudden uproar in front of the meat stall.

“Fang Baoyu, you lazy good-for-nothing! You used to always persuade me, either stealing from my older brother or deceiving my second brother, causing all this trouble and anger, and in the end, I ended up in prison. And now, you’ve run off with someone else! Today, I won’t say much, just give me my son back, or we’ll settle this with blood—I’ll kill you and that bastard!”

A commotion broke out in the crowd.

Li Chengze jumped the highest, peeking inside and laughing, “Aunt Su, it’s Old Song, he’s holding a knife and demanding his son!”

Song Laosan was clearly out of his mind, carrying a knife through the crowded market on New Year’s Eve, shouting and scaring people off.

“You useless, lazy man! You do nothing all year except sleep! You used to have two brothers to give you some money, but now you’re a pathetic failure. I’m giving you my son, and what will you do? Hurry up and leave!” Fang Baoyu’s voice was loud, mercilessly mocking Song Laosan.

Chen Jianguo stood up and said, “Everyone, call the police! This Song Laosan is the brother of Song Tingxiu, the deputy head of the police station. He’s threatening people with a knife on New Year’s Eve. Someone, call him here to arrest this guy!”

Song Laosan’s face turned red with rage. “Want to arrest me? Take a look at my kitchen knife first! You little shit! You’re a crooked woman and a lame man!”

People stepped back, and someone shouted, “Report it! Report it! There’s a murder threat!”

“Old Three!” At that moment, Su Xiangwan pushed through the crowd and shouted, “I told you to buy a kitchen knife—where the hell have you been?”

Before Song Laosan could react, Su Xiangwan slapped him on the back: “Useless fool! Since Baoyu already left with someone, and you want the kid, why the hell are you shouting and waving my kitchen knife around here causing trouble?”

With that, she snatched the knife out of his hand.

Song Laosan suddenly remembered why he was there. Spitting, he yelled, “Fang Baoyu, I don’t care what you do, just give me my son back.”

Fang Baoyu screamed and mocked him, “Come on, do it if you can! Who’s afraid of you? Don’t think just because Su Xiangwan is the Women’s Federation Director, she’s so great. Your family can bully the people with your power, but we’re just regular folks. Now it’s socialism. If you, as a cadre, bully ordinary people, that’s like being a thug. Watch out, I’ll report you.”

This woman, after marrying an accountant, had changed. She was now quick with insults and even knew how to speak in political terms.

“Oh, really? Then let me ask you,” Su Xiangwan retorted calmly, “Do you and Chen Jianguo have a marriage certificate? Are you two cohabiting?”

Song Laosan had been in jail, and Fang Baoyu had run away.

Where would they get a marriage certificate?

She stammered, “Song Laosan is in prison. I don’t respect him. I made my own decisions and remarried. No one has the right to interfere with me.”

“If you’ve married Chen Jianguo, then you’re committing bigamy because your marriage with Laosan hasn’t been dissolved. If you haven’t married him, then you’re committing illegal cohabitation. And you’ve taken the child with you to live with your partner. This severely damages the reputation of the women of Qing Shui County. Fang Baoyu, you tell me, is it bigamy or illegal cohabitation?”

Su Xiangwan spoke with reason, composed and unhurried—truly a woman of authority.

To explain this, it all started when Fang Baoyu was truly in the wrong.

She hadn’t even spoken yet, when Chen Jianguo suddenly stood up with his cane and said, “Director Su, you’d better not talk nonsense. I have nothing to do with Fang Baoyu. Don’t you dare defame my reputation by calling us lovers!”

Su Xiangwan boldly raised her voice and replied, “Then what about you two sharing a meal and sleeping in the same bed? What’s that? Lying together on the bed, reciting the quotations?”

“Chen Jianguo, don’t treat everyone like fools. You and Fang Baoyu have been living together for over a year. Are you saying that everyone is blind?”

Hearing that his sister-in-law was helping out, Song Laosan immediately jumped up: “Right, right! I’m going to report you both for illegal cohabitation to the Revolutionary Committee. You’re messing around!”

In the repressive era, those caught in such relationships would be publicly denounced and ridiculed.

Everyone started shouting at Chen Jianguo and Fang Baoyu, criticizing them for their behavior.

Some even whistled and cheered, stirring up the crowd.