Chapter 41: How the Aunts Gather Information

Hearing her say this, Li Yurong felt it made sense.

In these times, it’s easier for a divorced woman with a daughter to remarry; once the daughter is grown, she can get married and help with chores at home, taking care of younger siblings.

But having a son is troublesome; after raising him, you still have to find a wife for him.

When looking for a second marriage, people usually prefer those without children first, then those with daughters, and only lastly those with sons or multiple children.

“Let’s go back; ignore her.”

There was still work to do in the fields that afternoon. Originally, Li Yurong had planned to go with her daughter-in-law to pick the cowpeas, but just as they were about to leave, Zhang Tingyuan snatched the hoe away.

“Mom, I’m going with Weiwei to pick them; you go to the next village to gather some information.”

“What’s going on? Is Weiwei’s biological mother coming?”

“I don’t know; it’s been so many days. It should be soon. Just keep an eye on things so you don’t miss any signs.”

Li Yurong thought picking cowpeas wasn’t hard work, so she agreed.

She grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and stuffed them into her pouch, filling both pockets of her clothes, then took her grandson and headed out the door.

They chatted and laughed as they walked towards Linjia Village.

“Old Li, have you finished your work?”

Li Yurong smiled and said, “Not yet. I originally planned to go pick cowpeas with my daughter-in-law today, but my son said he would go, and since I had nothing else to do, I just took Jianguo for a stroll.”

“Oh, your son’s injury is healed? He can work again?”

“Yes, he’s fine. It wasn’t that serious; those rumors were exaggerated.”

The other person chuckled, “I said, how could he come back to wait for death? Your son is a soldier; as long as he’s alive, they can’t not treat him. If he were to die, it would be in the hospital, not brought home to wait for death.”

Li Yurong: “…” You really know how to talk.

“Ah, look at my mouth; I can’t express myself properly. I didn’t mean it like that; don’t be angry. Your son and daughter-in-law are quite filial.”

Li Yurong’s expression improved a bit, “Of course.”

“You’re really fortunate.”

Hearing this, Li Yurong’s face was filled with smiles.

The other person suddenly changed the subject, “By the way, I heard your eldest daughter-in-law has returned?”

Li Yurong’s smile froze, and she tossed away the sunflower seed shell, “Hmph, my family doesn’t have an eldest daughter-in-law. My eldest son is gone, and so is his wife; I only have my eldest grandson.”

The other person became excited and quietly asked, “Your family really doesn’t acknowledge Shufen anymore?”

Li Yurong replied unhappily, “Isn’t that obvious? She stole money from our family and ran away. It angered my husband so much that he moved her household registration away. How can she still be considered family?”

“Oh, her household registration has been moved away; then that doesn’t count.”

“Exactly.” Li Yurong didn’t want to talk about Zhou Shufen anymore, saying, “Let’s not discuss her. I have something to do, so I’ll be leaving now. We can talk later.”

“Ah, then you go ahead.”

Actually, everyone was quite free.

It’s strange; with the same amount of land, when everyone worked collectively, all the laborers in the village worked hard every day, and there was always work to do. Throughout the year, no one was ever idle or without work points.

Now, however, with the land divided among families, the total land in the village isn’t much more or less, and everyone has become idle instead.

Li Yurong took her grandson to Linjia Village to chat, and whenever she saw someone, she would grab a handful of sunflower seeds to give them.

The other person would smile and pretend to refuse, but once they couldn’t push back any longer, they would accept and then chat happily with her.

As the saying goes, “Those who accept will be soft-spoken.” After eating her sunflower seeds, how could they not answer her questions?

Lin Wangsheng and his wife were clearly gathering information.

“They really sneaked into the city to make a phone call. I heard Bihua complaining about the long-distance call being expensive, so they probably are coming, but she didn’t say which day.”

“Oh, is anyone going to their house or to Lin Yaozu’s school to find out?”

The other person shook their head, “No, my grandson is in the same class as him. If someone were looking for my grandson, he would tell me, so don’t worry.”

Hearing this, Li Yurong took out another handful of sunflower seeds. “Then please keep an eye out for me. If that family comes looking for them, or if Lin Yaozu suddenly doesn’t go to school one day, and they go out, you must tell me right away. I’ll buy you two packs of chocolate to thank you.”

The old woman chatting with her smiled widely.

“Sure, no problem. Just for those two packs of chocolate, my grandson will keep a close watch for you.”

Li Yurong politely exchanged a few more words before continuing to chat with others in Linjia Village.

You can’t put all your eggs in one basket; what if someone misses something?

Weiwei had said that Ye Bingyu might take their family of three to live in the city.

If they really left their poor relatives in the hometown behind, where would you go to find them?

Meanwhile, Zhang Tingyuan and Lin Bingwei also arrived at the field carrying baskets and hoes.

The cowpeas needed to be planted along the edges of fields with trees so that the vines could climb up the tree trunks in the future.

When they reached the spot, just as Zhang Tingyuan was about to swing the hoe, Lin Bingwei snatched it away.

“You just scatter the seeds and fertilizer; I’ll do the digging.”

“Hey, how can… cough, cough, cough…”

Seeing the glare Lin Bingwei gave him, he swallowed his words back down.

“Alright, you dig.”

Lin Bingwei dug a few times while he scattered the seeds and wood ash.

The wood ash was mixed with a bit of fertilizer; just a handful was enough for the cowpeas to grow.

Zhang Tingyuan watched her swing the hoe, muttering, “I told you it’s fine, but you didn’t believe me. This isn’t heavy labor; it’s no big deal.”

Lin Bingwei replied, “If you keep whining, I’ll send you back.”

Zhang Tingyuan: “…”

Seeing her work so skillfully and decisively, he had to admit she was better at farming than he was.

Looking at her like this, he felt a bit uncomfortable.

During those years at the Lin family, she had endured so much hardship.

“I’ll strive to come back after I graduate,” he suddenly said.

Lin Bingwei dug into the ground and curiously looked up, “What?”

Zhang Tingyuan said, “A few years ago, I got into a university recommended by the military district, but I haven’t finished my cultural courses yet, so I haven’t received my diploma. Once I graduate, I’ll strive to come back.”

She had seen him participating in exams before.

“Oh, how many years until you graduate?”

“I’ll graduate next year.”

So he got accepted in the first year of the reopening.

Lin Bingwei smiled and said, “It’s fine; you don’t need to change your future plans for me.”

Zhang Tingyuan was taken aback, “Huh?”

Lin Bingwei paused, “What’s wrong?”

Zhang Tingyuan was somewhat surprised, “Don’t you want me to come back for you?”

“Not that. I just don’t want my presence to affect your plans. Although we are husband and wife, we are also two independent individuals. You have your dreams, and I have mine; there’s no need to give up your dreams for someone else. Of course, it would be best if we could have both.”

Zhang Tingyuan didn’t expect her to be so open-minded, but his mother was much more open-minded.

She said this, but he truly couldn’t bear to part with her.