Chapter 1: A Soldier Husband at Home?

On the barren hillside behind the village, Wang Ziru, panting heavily, “hu-hu-hu” as she cut grass, finally filled a full basket with green grass.

She turned her head and looked at the skinny black cow still grazing on the slope.

She couldn’t understand how she, a well-respected obstetrician and gynecologist, was transferred to a sister hospital to assist with deliveries, only to encounter a chain collision on the way.

And now, when she opened her eyes this morning, she was back in the 1980s? “And there’s a soldier husband who hasn’t come home in five years?!”

“Third wife of the Zhai family! What are you still doing here? Your son fell into the pond!”

An auntie ran over with a panicked expression, shouting to Wang Ziru on the slope.

Wang Ziru, who was trying to rest in the damp grass, massaging her aching back and rubbing her frostbitten cheeks, froze: “Auntie, what are you saying? Who, whose son?”

The auntie stomped her feet in anger: “You silly goose! Your Bao’er fell into the village pond, Ergouzi and the others are helping to pull him out!”

“It’s the beginning of spring, even if your son doesn’t die, he’ll lose a layer of skin. Hurry back!”

Below the slope was a piece of farmland that villagers had privately cultivated. Several village women were working in the field, weeding, and they pointed at Wang Ziru and laughed and scolded her.

Wang Ziru was shocked.

It was only then that she learned something from the original owner’s memories: she had a four-year-old son!

When she woke up this morning, she was in a daze for half a day, only knowing that she was the third wife of the Zhai family. Her husband had been in the army for five years and hadn’t returned home. At noon, she ate half a cornbread and was chased out by the old lady of the house to graze cattle and cut grass on the hillside behind the village.

Several village women pointed fingers and scolded the third wife of the Zhai family for being a heartless woman, no wonder her husband didn’t want her!

Wang Ziru suddenly came to her senses, her face turning pale.

The grass-cutting knife in her hand “clanged” to the ground, and she threw the basket aside, running towards the village pond like a madman.

Because she wasn’t familiar with the terrain, she kept falling down the slope.

When she reached the village pond, a skinny child was lying on the grass beside the pond, barely alive. Several village children were gathered around, chattering.

A sturdy man stood beside him, drenched and his lips turning blue, clearly having just pulled the child out of the pond.

“Bao’er, how is he?!” Wang Ziru rushed over, looking at the child lying motionless on the ground, the deep maternal love in her memory made her tears flow instantly, she cried out loud.

“Third wife of the Zhai family, you should be more open-minded…” The man who rescued the child hesitated to speak.

But he couldn’t help but sympathize with the mother and son. This child was unlucky, why did he have to die on such a day, he was a frozen ghost at the beginning of spring.

Wang Ziru quickly wiped away her tears and used her finger to probe the child’s breath, it was weak.

“He can be saved!” Wang Ziru said excitedly.

In the spring, the cold wind still blew bitterly, the poor child was lying on the damp grass.

“Third wife, take the child back, he’s not going to make it.” A villager said beside her.

Wang Ziru quickly pressed on the child’s chest, doing artificial respiration, “I must save my child! He’ll be fine!”

At this moment, the child’s grandmother also ran over, panting.

Seeing this scene, she immediately flew into a rage, pointing at the third wife and cursing: “You useless thing! You don’t know how to take the child with you when you graze cattle and cut grass, look what you’ve done!”

Liu Xiulan cursed Wang Ziru loudly, trying to snatch the child away, “Don’t let the child die outside, it’s unlucky!”

How could Wang Ziru let her, she grabbed Liu Xiulan and cried out, “What are you doing! The child is still alive!”

Then, she pushed her mother-in-law away with a palm, Liu Xiulan was pushed down in public, falling on her bottom in the grass by the pond.

Wang Ziru didn’t care about anything else, she quickly bent down and did artificial respiration for the child.

Amidst the old lady’s harsh scolding, the surrounding villagers watched nervously, not daring to breathe.

“You silly goose, what do you know, you want to kill my grandson!” Liu Xiulan took advantage of the situation and sat on the ground, cursing relentlessly.

“I’m his mother, how could I harm him!” Wang Ziru retorted while doing artificial respiration.

Just when everyone was so nervous that their hearts were about to jump out of their throats, the child suddenly coughed up a mouthful of water, his breathing eased, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

Wang Ziru cried with joy, “Bao’er, you’re awake!”

“Mommy, Bao’er is scared…”

The child shivered, slowly curling his thin body into a ball.

“Mommy is here! Bao’er don’t be afraid!” Wang Ziru quickly took off her cotton jacket and wrapped it around the child, then picked him up and ran home.

The mother and son finally returned to the Zhai family’s courtyard in the east half of the village. Wang Ziru carried the child back to the room and placed him on a small stool in front of the bed, “Bao’er, be good, sit here for a while, Mommy will make a fire for you.”

Bao’er’s little face was already frozen, his snot running down his mouth.

In the spring, the temperature outside was below five degrees, and he had been in the pond for a few minutes, Bao’er was already numb from the cold.

Wang Ziru put the child in the room and turned around to rush out, walking to the firewood pile next to the cowshed to get some firewood.

She needed to immediately build a big fire to warm the child up, so that he could warm up quickly.

Just as she reached the firewood pile and was about to reach out to grab some firewood, Wang Ziru’s mother-in-law, as if she had anticipated that she would go to get firewood, rushed over and stopped her.

“You silly goose, what are you getting firewood for? Change Bao’er’s clothes, wrap him in a quilt, he’ll be warm, what fire are you burning, firewood is not cheap!”

“The child is frozen like that, his lips are purple, how can he not be warmed by the fire?” Wang Ziru said anxiously.

“Humph, you and this child are just burdens to our Zhai family, you’ve been eating for years and still aren’t satisfied? This pile of firewood was cut back from the mountains by the eldest and second sons in the twelfth lunar month! You dare to touch it?” Liu Xiulan pointed at Wang Ziru’s nose, her saliva spraying on her face.

Wang Ziru was so angry that she trembled: “Bao’er almost died, the most important thing now is to warm him up.”

“I said no, then no!” Liu Xiulan wouldn’t budge.

Wang Ziru was so angry that she wanted to beat the old lady, in a moment of anger, she turned around and pushed the old lady aside, grabbed the firewood and went into the house to build a fire to warm the child.

“You silly goose! You wasteful woman! You’re rebelling, you dare to hit your mother-in-law! I’ll see how I deal with you, you bad thing!”

The old lady was pushed again by her third daughter-in-law, this time she was caught off guard, she actually dared to hit her mother-in-law!

In the courtyard, the old lady wailed, cursing Wang Ziru incessantly.

The old lady thought about how half the village had seen her being pushed down by the third daughter-in-law at the village pond, she immediately turned around, grabbed a stick from the firewood pile, and rushed into the main room.

“I’ll beat you to death today for the third son! You dare to hit me, the old lady…”