Chapter 19

Han Dashuan curled his lip and teased Li Xigou,
“If you were even half as good-looking as Yan, you wouldn’t have any trouble finding a wife.”

Li Xigou was displeased. “Is it my fault I was born ugly? Blame my mother—she’s the one who made me look like this.”

“Hurry up and get to work. Earn more work points so you can marry a wife.”

After saying that, Han Dashuan hefted his hoe and went back to work.

Although Shen Yan kept a cold expression, warmth quietly stirred in his heart.

Under the blazing sun, the two sisters-in-law came home and immediately shared the good news with Mother Shen.

“Mother, look! I have money now!”

Ever since Qi Zhiyun had married into the Shen family, she’d had almost no chance to earn her own money.

And with her poor health, she had long given up on the idea of supporting herself.

“Oh my! Where did this money come from?”

Mother Shen was pleasantly surprised.

In the past, even 2,000 yuan wouldn’t have made the Shen family bat an eye.

But nowadays, times were hard—even 20 yuan was life-saving money.

“My younger sister-in-law found me some work—making clothes.”

Qi Zhiyun looked gratefully at Gu Keqing, smiling as she spoke.

“Making clothes?”

Mother Shen didn’t quite understand. “There are plenty of women in the brigade who can sew. Why were you the one to earn money?”

“Mother, haven’t you noticed what the two of us are wearing today?”

Gu Keqing spun playfully in front of them, her skirt swaying.

“Oh, right! I forgot to ask—where did you get such a beautiful dress?”

Mother Shen reached out to touch the fabric with a trace of heartache. “It must have been expensive, right?”

“Not expensive, Mother. I used the money I earned from selling soap to buy it at the supply and marketing cooperative—it was only a few yuan.”

Gu Keqing lied without batting an eye.

“You have such a good eye, younger sister-in-law. You bought this dress and then used candy to attract the aunts and ladies to come look—only then was I able to earn money.”

Qi Zhiyun bit her lip shyly, her voice tinged with excitement.

“Oh, come on! We’re family—no need to be so polite. Sister-in-law, if we keep doing well with this sewing business, maybe one day, if things change, we could even open a factory!”

Gu Keqing gave Qi Zhiyun’s hand an encouraging pat.

“Really?!”

A flicker of joy passed through Mother Shen’s eyes before they reddened. “If only in the future… sigh…”

Seeing her mother-in-law’s sadness, Gu Keqing felt a pang in her chest.

From a life of privilege as the revered wife of a commander… to becoming a rural woman enduring hardship—Mother Shen had suffered far too much.

“Mother, believe me—things will get better.”

Gu Keqing stepped forward and hugged her in comfort.

“I believe you. Ever since you came to the Shen family, everything has been turning for the better. You’re our family’s lucky star.”

Mother Shen wiped her tears and hugged her back.

“Yes, younger sister-in-law, we all believe in you!”

Qi Zhiyun put down her basket and lunch box and joined the embrace.

Tears welled in the eyes of all three women.

“Come on, you two haven’t eaten yet—sit down and have something.”

Mother Shen dried her eyes and went into the kitchen.

Gu Keqing and Qi Zhiyun exchanged a knowing smile.

She knew that this elder sister-in-law was truly grateful to her.

People are not made of wood—how could they remain unmoved?

With sincerity, it was impossible not to touch someone’s heart.

As long as Qi Zhiyun firmly stood by her side…
Then dealing with Qi Zhilán—who had the powerful protagonist’s aura—would be that much easier.

After lunch, the sisters-in-law cleaned up the dishes and returned to their own rooms.

Since Qi Zhiyun still needed to study the dress pattern carefully, she didn’t come out all afternoon.

Before she had been transported into the novel, Gu Keqing had always taken a nap after lunch.

She first went into her space to enjoy a luxurious rose essential oil bath, then applied a thick layer of after-sun lotion before coming out to sleep.

But lying in bed, she couldn’t fall asleep, instead thinking about what she would sell tomorrow at the black market.

There were so many good things in her space—she couldn’t just sell soap.

At one yuan per bar, it would take her until the Year of the Monkey to afford a house in the provincial capital.

She needed to think of something else to sell.

As she thought, she drifted off to sleep.

On the other side, Qi Zhilán, who was working herself to exhaustion for work points, kept glancing up at the sky.

Inwardly, she cursed: Why isn’t it dark yet?!

“I’m starving—I can’t go on!”

Sun Lili cried out, slumping to the ground with a miserable expression.

At noon, the educated youths hadn’t gone back to their quarters.

Each had simply brought along a pancake or a steamed cornbread from breakfast and come straight to the fields.

“I’m not working anymore either—I have no energy left. I really want to eat meat.”

Xia Ye smacked her lips and muttered, “I heard an aunt over there say that Gu Keqing brings Shen Yan lunch with meat every day. I wonder where she gets all that money.”

“She can sew clothes.”

Lin Shulan sighed with envy.

“That’s Qi Zhiyun who can sew—she can’t. She doesn’t even work in the fields, just hands out candy. She sees us here sweating and doesn’t even give us a few pieces.”

Sun Lili huffed, kicking the dirt.

“Didn’t you just eat her candy and pastries yesterday? You even had two pieces—already forgotten?”

Wang Zishan said coolly.

“None of your business! She was the one willing to give them to me—nobody forced her!”

Sun Lili snapped back.

“Enough! I still have some pastries in my cabinet. I’ll take them out for everyone tonight.”

Whenever Gu Keqing’s name came up, Qi Zhilán would get angry.

She just couldn’t understand—why did everything seem to go in her favor this time around?

“But… what Xia Ye just said might make sense. Where did Gu Keqing’s money come from? Could it be from some man on the side?”

Qi Zhilán’s only goal now was to ruin Gu Keqing’s reputation, so she deliberately slandered her in front of the educated youths to make everyone dislike her, and in turn, make herself look better.

“Comrade Qi, please be careful with your words. Shen Yan has some standing in the brigade. If he finds out you’ve been talking about his wife like that, do you think it will end well for you?”

Wang Zishan’s tone was icy.

“I’m just saying. My mouth is my own—I can say what I want! Besides, there’s no one else here.”

Qi Zhilán glared at her. “You make it sound like you and Gu Keqing are so close. She doesn’t even know you’re defending her.”

“I’m not defending anyone—I’m just speaking objectively. An educated youth’s reputation is important. I don’t want the villagers to see us as a bunch of gossips.”

Wang Zishan countered bluntly.

She didn’t believe Gu Keqing was the kind of messy woman they claimed she was. On the contrary, she thought the ones in front of her were the real troublemakers.

“Hmph! I can’t be bothered with you.”

Qi Zhilán tossed down her sickle and stormed off.

Xia Ye hurried to catch up. “Wait for me—I still want to eat meat.”

The mention of meat reminded Sun Lili of the “big job” they were planning for that night in the back hills, so she stopped working too, patted the dust off herself, and ran after them.

“Comrade Wang, what do you think they’re up to? They look awfully sneaky.”