Chapter 20 – The Female Supporting Character in the Confession Book

Because there were guests, and this guest might even be the future son-in-law, after having his brainwashed the whole night, Zhang Xiuying made a bowl of dumpling soup for everyone in the morning.

Inside, she had added the tomato sauce made during autumn, along with eggs, wood ear mushrooms, dried potatoes, and cabbage leaves. After taking a sip, Wen Xin felt warmth spread through his entire body. Recently, Wen Xin had developed a liking for spicy food, so he added a spoonful of chili into his bowl. Instantly, the dumpling soup changed its flavor, becoming tangy and spicy, which was very appetizing.

Gu Xiuping had not had dumpling soup for a long time. If it weren’t for reminding himself that he was at his future father-in-law’s house, and it was his first time visiting, he would have definitely drunk two more bowls.

Although he didn’t manage to drink two more bowls, he did eat two more corn buns, and his stomach felt comfortably full. After the meal, Gu Xiuping sent Wen Xin to work, and he drove back to the camp.

Before leaving yesterday, Gu Xiuping had already asked for leave from the political commissar. Now, he returned and drove the car into the commissar’s yard to return it, only to be called into the house by the commissar’s security guard for a talk.

Gu Xiuping had requested leave to visit his girlfriend. Since he hadn’t returned the previous night, the political commissar, worried that he might make a mistake, had kept a close eye on him.

The political commissar and Gu Xiuping’s father were old acquaintances. In addition to appreciating Gu Xiuping as a subordinate, the commissar also had a bit of a protective feeling towards him as a family friend.

After Gu Xiuping swore to the political commissar that he hadn’t done anything to harm the young lady, he was finally allowed to leave.

As the first time visiting his future father-in-law’s house and staying over, although it was due to the weather, Gu Xiuping had undoubtedly reached the peak of being an overzealous son-in-law. Because he had been a bit too proud, he had ended up getting into a few more sparring sessions.

——

At the Provincial Capital Military District, Lin Jianzhang and Luo Manzhen had another argument.

After the National Day holiday, their arguments increased day by day. Lin Jianzhang couldn’t even say a word to another woman without Luo Manzhen suspecting him. Other military wives in the family compound, who had spoken to Lin Jianzhang a little more, had earned the jealousy of Luo Manzhen.

After being sarcastically criticized by her, Luo Manzhen’s reputation in the family compound began to decline. As a result, Lin Jianzhang also found it harder to fit in with the other men. 

Luo Manzhen’s paranoia exhausted Lin Jianzhang, making going home feel like a torment. As he returned home later and later, Luo Manzhen grew increasingly dissatisfied with him.

After another argument, Luo Manzhen stormed into the room and slammed the door shut. Lin Jianzhang sat on the chair in the living room, his head hanging low, a look of complete dejection on his face.

He suddenly thought that if, back then, when he had asked for leave to go home and found Luo Manzhen still entangled in his life, he had been more decisive—if he had simply thrown her out of the door to show his stance and then sincerely gone to the Wen family to apologize—then perhaps everything would have turned out differently.

If he had married Wen Xin, who was so graceful, well-mannered, and cultured, she surely wouldn’t have doubted him over unfounded things, nor would she have argued with him every day. When he came home, he would have had a bowl of hot soup like the other comrades, right?

Lin Jianzhang deeply regretted it.

Luo Manzhen was also secretly regretting her actions. She felt she had been rash. In her past life, she had only seen Lin Jianzhang’s image on TV and never truly understood his married life. She had only seen his polished exterior. In reality, this man was just like the impression he had left on her when they married in her past life. He was clueless about romance, a dullard, and now added with a hint of male chauvinism—he lacked grace.

It was truly disheartening.

Luo Manzhen then thought of Sun Haowen. Actually, despite his constant infidelity, with mistresses popping up everywhere, Sun Haowen had still treated her fairly well. He gave her plenty of pocket money each month, and whenever she wanted something or to go somewhere, he would fulfill her wishes. Unlike now, when two days ago, she couldn’t even get meat for a hot pot meal. All she had was cabbage and radishes.

Her stomach rumbled twice. Luo Manzhen got out of bed and went to the kitchen to cook some noodles. While preparing the noodles, she thought about Lin Jianzhang’s future achievements in business, and she decided to make him a bowl as well.

As she poured the water, she accidentally burned herself on the edge of the pot. She thought again about the days in the future when there would be a maid preparing three meals a day for her, so she wouldn’t have to do anything herself. Tears almost welled up in her eyes.

She regretted again, remembering that Sun Haowen had already been sent for re-education. She could only encourage herself to hang on.

Just a little longer, in two more years, when Lin Jianzhang went into business, she would be able to return to her old life.

Lin Jianzhang seemed not to notice the redness in Luo Manzhen’s eyes. The two of them silently finished a bowl of noodles that didn’t taste good. Lin Jianzhang said nothing, grabbed his coat, and walked out.

The cold wind blew in, and outside, the world was covered in snow, the cold biting enough to make one shiver. The snow in the corridor had already been swept clean by the soldiers, and some playful soldiers had even built snowmen by the roadside.

Lin Jianzhang silently returned to the barracks. His face grew darker each day, and sometimes he even lost his temper with his comrades. Tolerating it once or twice was possible, but after it happened frequently, no one would want to keep being the punching bag for someone else. Lin Jianzhang was isolated.

The instructor had spoken to Lin Jianzhang and the others, but it hadn’t had much effect. It became a vicious cycle, and Lin Jianzhang no longer had the former confidence he once had.

Wen Xin didn’t know about Lin Jianzhang’s predicament. Her relationship with Gu Xiuping had been growing stronger.

The days grew shorter in winter, and the training hours became much shorter as well. Sometimes, when it snowed heavily, they would have political lessons instead of training. The political lessons were always handled by the instructor, and Gu Xiuping would manage to find some time each week to visit Wen Xin and spend time with her.

The whole unit knew about Wen Xin’s new relationship with a nearby stationed soldier.

Minister Zhang had also interacted with Gu Xiuping a couple of times, and they were somewhat acquainted. He expressed his full support for Wen Xin being with him, even joking that when they got married, they should definitely give a large red envelope.

Gei Wei knew that she was seeing Gu Xiuping and was happy for her. She offered many blessings but didn’t mention any concerns. As someone with experience, Gei Wei understood that the first few months of a new relationship were when one was most likely to lose their mind. No matter how good a friend, there were words that were best left unsaid.

After December, as the Spring Festival approached, it was time to deliver the pigs. Wen Yuejun got up early with his two sons to take the pigs to the village’s pig farm.

The pig farm was crowded both inside and outside. The counters sat on stools, counting the pigs, while two people were responsible for weighing them.

At this time of year, half of the pigs had to be handed over. The Wen family’s pigs were well taken care of and weighed 180 pounds. According to the regulations, they could get 80 pounds of meat.

Wen Yuejun didn’t want the meat ticket but exchanged everything for the meat. The slaughtering began early in the morning and hadn’t stopped yet. Wen Yuejun collected the 80 pounds of meat and placed it in a wicker basket. Remembering that his daughter loved bone broth, he even spent a few extra cents to buy a few large bones. He carried it all back alone, unwilling to let the Wen family brothers help. He didn’t feel comfortable with them carrying it.

Zhang Xiuying waited eagerly at home. When she saw the meat in the wicker basket, she was overjoyed. She went to the kitchen, where she had already prepared the spices, such as Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves, and cinnamon. She sautéed them until they turned yellow, then scooped them out and had Wen Xin grind them into powder. She mixed the powdered spices with some roasted salt and rubbed it onto the pork. To prevent it from spoiling, Zhang Xiuying also rubbed a layer of white wine over the meat.

Once the meat had been seasoned, Wen Yuejun strung it up and hung it from the kitchen rafters.

Not all the meat was made into bacon. Zhang Xiuying left four pounds of fresh meat, cutting a small piece to try herself, while the rest of the larger chunks were placed in the snow outside to freeze.

In the northern winter, the outdoors was like a giant natural refrigerator. Anything left outside wouldn’t spoil.

There were still some leftover spices from Wen Xin’s grinding. Zhang Xiuying stir-fried two handfuls of rice and ground it into rice flour, then mixed it with the leftover spices and white wine paste, rubbing it onto sliced meat to marinate for making steamed pork with rice flour.

She also cracked large bones and simmered them in a pot on high heat for two hours, making a big bowl of soup with potatoes and cabbage.

The dinner that evening was incredibly sumptuous—such a feast was only available during the New Year.

On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the village began distributing the grain. The harvest was good this year, and their family had many strong laborers, so they were able to receive over 800 pounds of grain, which would be enough to feed the entire family for the whole year.

On the way home with the grain, the Wen family’s faces were all lit up with smiles.

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the two pigs from the village’s pig farm were also slaughtered. The meat was distributed based on the number of people in the household, with one pound of meat per person. The Wen family, with seven members, received seven pounds of meat. Since Wen Yuejun had a good relationship with the leader of the meat distribution team, the meat given to his family was the pig’s hind leg—perfect for making dumplings.

In addition, some pine nuts from the red pine forest, which had been harvested earlier in the winter, were also distributed. The Wen family received seven pounds of pine nuts. Zhang Xiuying fried half of them for eating, while the rest were placed in a bag and hung up in the kitchen for snacks throughout the year.

The roasted pine nuts smelled incredibly fragrant. Wen Xin grabbed a handful and stuffed them into her cotton coat pockets, occasionally pulling them out to nibble on a few, like a little hamster.

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, after finishing the last report of the year, Wen Xin was on holiday. The holiday lasted from the twenty-fifth of the twelfth month until the eighth day of the first lunar month of the new year.

With such a long break, Wen Xin wasn’t sure how to spend it. The day after the holiday started, Wen Xin slept until she woke up naturally. By the time she woke up, it was already ten in the morning.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Military Unit also started their holiday. Gu Xiuping, carrying the New Year gifts given to him by the Military Unit, was puffing and panting on his way to the Wen family’s house.

It was the middle of winter, and Wen Baogen insisted on having fish, but at this time of year, the Chan River had frozen over, so where could they find fish? Liu Guixiang and Second Uncle Wen were both at a loss and could only send Wen Pandi to the edge of the Chan River to try and find a solution.

Wen Pandi couldn’t think of any way to help! She just sat by the river, dazed. From a distance, she saw a tall man in a military coat walking toward her. Wen Pandi’s heart leapt with joy. She quickly stood up, brushed off the dust and grass from her clothes, fixed her hair that had been blown by the wind, and walked toward the man.

As she walked, she regretted not wearing the pink floral cover-up today.

“Brother-in-law~” Wen Pandi called out with a voice full of affection.

Gu Xiuping, who had been walking with his head down, was suddenly startled by the call of “Brother-in-law.” shivering in surprise. He thought to himself: “This ‘Brother-in-law’ sounds so sweet and lingering; it must be because I, as the brother-in-law, have been inappropriate and there’s some unspeakable ambiguity with the sister-in-law. Tsk… really, the world has gone downhill, and people’s morals are getting worse.”

Gu Xiuping didn’t stop his steps, and in fact, he quickened his pace.

Seeing that Gu Xiuping was walking faster, Wen Pandi, unable to keep her dignity, ran after him and called out in a sweet voice: “Brother-in-law, I called you, why are you walking so fast?”

Her voice was so sweet it made Gu Xiuping shudder once again. He was momentarily stunned. He wasn’t even married yet, and Wen Xin didn’t have a little sister—how had he suddenly become a “brother-in-law” in the sister-in-law literature?

Was she trying to scam him?

Finally, Gu Xiuping turned his gaze to Wen Pandi. She looked shy, and ever since meeting him at Wen Xin’s house last time, she had dreamed of him every night.

But since that time, Wen Pandi hadn’t seen him again. Today’s unexpected encounter was truly a pleasant surprise.

Young as she was, learning such a thing as “scamming” was disappointing. Gu Xiuping sighed in disappointment and said: “Young lady, who are you? I don’t know you, and my girlfriend doesn’t have a little sister. You’ve got the wrong person for a scam.”

After saying this, Gu Xiuping threw the things he was carrying over his shoulder and took off running at the pace of someone who’d just been chased for five kilometers, looking as though a ghost was after him.

Wen Pandi watched him sprinting away, her sadness overflowing, and she cried out loudly, tears streaming down her face.

Gu Xiuping ran all the way to the Wen family’s house, set down his things, and grabbed Wen Xin’s hand. He looked at her and said: “Xin Xin, I’ve got to tell you, I was just on my way here and got scammed by a girl. She was all sticky and called me ‘Brother-in-law.’ It really scared me.”