Chapter 2

Wu Guizhi’s face darkened even more when she heard those words.

With a loud smack, she slammed a wooden mallet down hard on the clothes on the washboard and said angrily, “What do you mean real or fake? She only casually mentioned a few words to the brigade secretary during a home visit, and you think she’s going to take the exam? She’s a military wife! Our second son is already a deputy regiment commander in the army — what’s she need a university degree for? And if she goes to study, who’s going to take care of the household? Who’s going to look after Guozi?”

“Besides, she’s already teaching at the commune school. Isn’t that already a secure, iron rice bowl job? What more does she need a university for?”

The crowd around her fell silent at her outburst.

They all thought to themselves — how can that be the same?

Getting into university meant you could return to the city.

Just look at those educated youths — every one of them was fighting like mad for a chance to go back.

And not just them — even the local girls would consider it a big achievement if they could marry into town and escape farm work.

Still, no one could blame Aunt Wu’s family for refusing to let her go. That Teacher Su was delicate and tender-looking, so fair and lovely. She’d lived in the countryside all these years, yet her skin was still as pale and smooth as a freshly peeled egg. Just one glance from her could leave a person dazed. If it weren’t for Han family’s second son being a high-ranking officer in the army, men from miles around would’ve been eyeing her, stirring up all kinds of trouble.

If she did get into university and went back to the city — with Han Er in the army — how could life stay peaceful?

But of course, no one dared say these thoughts aloud.

A skinny old woman chimed in to echo Wu Guizhi, “That’s true, Dongzi’s grandma. Your second son is doing well, and your second daughter-in-law already has a steady job. There’s really no need for her to go chasing some university dream. Even if she gets in and returns to the city, it may not be better than what she has now.”

“But Aunt Wu, maybe keep an eye out. What if she secretly registered and really intends to take the exam? That’d be a mess.”

At that, another woman jumped in, “Hey, did you hear? In the neighboring village, Liu Shugen’s third daughter-in-law wants to take the college exam, and now she’s fighting for a divorce with Liu Laosan. The whole Liu family is in an uproar!”

“Sigh, how many of those returning educated youths in the past couple of years haven’t left behind husbands and children?”

“Really, you never truly know someone’s heart. She looked so gentle and well-behaved before — now she’s back in the city and just turns her back on everyone. Doesn’t want her husband or child anymore. So cruel.”

“Pfft, I say this was obvious from the beginning. They should never have married those educated youths in the first place.”

Another woman cut in, “Those educated youths from the city — sure, they look nice and delicate, but what else is good about them? Can’t carry things on their shoulders, can’t lift with their hands. Marrying one is like bringing home an ancestor to worship. And even so, their hearts were never truly here. The moment they get a chance to return to the city, they drop everything — even their kids — and run. Tsk tsk…”

The crowd began gossiping in full swing, sharing stories about the educated youths over the past few years.

Wu Guizhi didn’t join in again.

Her chest was tight with frustration.

Even though a few women noticed her bad mood and tried to flatter her — saying things like, “Your second son is outstanding. If your daughter-in-law isn’t stupid, she won’t think about leaving. And even if she does leave, your son can find someone even better” — none of it eased her mood in the slightest.

She pounded the washing mallet harder, the sound crackling like firecrackers.

The truth was, she had never been happy about her second son marrying Su Ruo without her approval. It had always been a thorn in her heart.

,,

After finishing the laundry for the entire family, Wu Guizhi carried the wooden bucket back home from the riverside.

Her house sat at the eastern end of Hanjia Village.

It was the best house in the whole village — the only one made of blue bricks and roof tiles.

Five rooms in the front, five in the back.

In the old days, only landlords could afford such a house.

Wu Guizhi’s family had three sons: the eldest, Han Jiasong; the second, Han Zecheng; and the third, Han Jialin.

But both Wu Guizhi and her husband, Han Heping, were on their second marriages, and though there weren’t many children, the family tree was a bit tangled.

None of the sons shared both the same mother and father.

The eldest, Han Jiasong, was Han Heping’s son with his late first wife.

The second, Han Zecheng, was Wu Guizhi’s son with her first husband, Han Hehuai.

Han Hehuai was also from Hanjia Village — a cousin of Han Heping. Not long after their wedding, Han Hehuai enlisted in the army to fight in the war. Wu Guizhi gave birth to Han Zecheng shortly after and, upon hearing rumors that her husband had died in battle, left the baby with her mother-in-law and remarried Han Heping.

Only the third son, Han Jialin, was born from Wu Guizhi and Han Heping together.

That’s why the middle characters in the sons’ names were all different.

At this point, all three sons were married.

The “educated youth” the villagers had been talking about earlier — Su Ruo — was Wu Guizhi’s second daughter-in-law, married to Han Zecheng.

But Han Zecheng was in the army and rarely came home.

The Han family’s house had two rows — front and back — each with five rooms.

In the front row, aside from the central sitting room, one side housed Wu Guizhi and her husband, while the other two rooms were for Su Ruo and her four-year-old son, Han Guo.

The back row was shared between the eldest and youngest sons’ families, two rooms each.

Now, back to Wu Guizhi.

By the time she finished washing all the laundry, it was already late. When she returned home, everyone was either at work or school. The house was empty and silent, except for the pigs in the pen squealing — clearly hungry.

She dropped the laundry in the courtyard and went inside to get some rice bran for the pigs.

Before that, she cast a glance at Su Ruo’s tightly shut door, and her mouth curled into a deep frown.

Then she scooped out the rice bran, mixed it with water, and went to feed the pigs — all the while cursing bitterly under her breath.

“Raising pigs, at least you can sell them for meat. This one’s like worshiping a damned ancestor. Pigs are starving and squealing like mad, and she won’t even poke her head out once.”

The more she scolded, the more stifled she felt inside. She forcefully set the feed bucket aside and went outside to hang clothes.

She felt that her dislike for this second daughter-in-law wasn’t just prejudice.

After all, it was her second son who had gone against her wishes to marry her. And after marrying her, not only was she not obedient and filial, her personality was downright annoying.

Wasn’t it exactly like what the villagers said? Marrying her was like bringing home an ancestor to worship.

Take the past two days for example. It was understandable if she said she was at school teaching, but she had taken leave yesterday and stayed home all day, lying around without even stepping out of her room. Forget washing clothes or cooking—she wouldn’t even come out to clear dishes, sweep the floor, or feed the pigs.

She had not the slightest awareness or tact expected of a daughter-in-law.

Still, although Wu Guizhi was unhappy, she couldn’t voice it out loud.

The commune elementary school had actually allocated two rooms to Su Ruo.

Su Ruo had wanted to move there with her son, Han Guo, but Wu Guizhi disagreed. She felt it was inappropriate for a young, attractive wife to live alone without her husband. So she used the excuse that Han Guo was too young and needed care to stop her from moving.

What’s more, before getting married, her second son used to send her ten yuan a month. After marrying, he increased it to twenty, then twenty-five yuan a month, and made it clear to her not to make things difficult for Su Ruo.

Wu Guizhi knew her second son’s temper. If things got too ugly, he might just take Su Ruo and the child with him to the army base… Her second son had a bad temper—if he really decided to do that, there would be no stopping him. So she had no choice but to swallow her anger.

Besides, although Su Ruo and Han Guo ate and lived in the house, Su Ruo also handed over ten yuan from her own salary every month.

Usually, she also washed her own and her child’s clothes.

Technically, the Han family hadn’t divided up yet, so the second son and daughter-in-law turning over their salaries was expected—that was the rule in every household!

But the second son had the nerve to use this to threaten her, even demanding she stop making things hard for his wife and stay out of her personal affairs!

Wu Guizhi didn’t know how many times she’d fumed over this in silence—it was infuriating.

Yet no matter how angry she was, she could only keep it bottled up.

That made her even more displeased with Su Ruo.

She had raised her son so painstakingly, only to have him treat another woman like a queen.

And even so, Su Ruo didn’t seem to care much about her second son.

Otherwise, why would she still be thinking about taking that university entrance exam?

As Wu Guizhi furiously stewed over these thoughts, she finished hanging the clothes.

She knocked on her aching lower back, bent down to pick up the wooden bucket, and was just about to head back into the house when she saw a green military vehicle driving up the main road.

She was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. In this village, the only person who would drive a military vehicle back was her second son.

Sure enough, the car stopped right outside the Han family’s bamboo fence.

The door opened, and out stepped a tall, upright, and strikingly handsome young man in military uniform.

It was indeed her second son.

Wu Guizhi immediately wanted to run out to greet him, but just as she took a step, she stopped.

He was her son—he came home, so what? Why should she go out to greet him?

He was getting spoiled!

And he just had to come back at this moment—who knew if it was because of that woman?

These thoughts made her feel even more upset. She picked the water bucket back up and turned around to go into the house.