Chapter 2

The family compound where Wen Nuan lived was in a main location, with a street of supply and sales stores right outside the gate.

Although she had been here for some time, she hadn’t gone out very often.

In particular, she rarely went out in the mornings, as this was when she would encounter many neighbors heading off to work.

Almost everyone in the compound knew about “Wen Nuan’s” unwillingness to go to the countryside to become an educated youth and her scheming marriage to Gu Qinghan. Many people felt that Wen Nuan was not worthy of Gu Qinghan.

In this era, most people were hardworking and simple, and they looked down upon those who, like “Wen Nuan”, was sly and refused to work.

Gu Qinghan had a good reputation in the family compound. A few years earlier, at a young age, he had already attained the rank of sergeant. His military allowances, combined with various other benefits, totaled nearly eighty or ninety yuan.

Moreover, he was tall and handsome, which made him quite popular among the women with daughters in the compound.

Many people in the compound hoped to marry their daughters off to Gu Qinghan.

However, no one expected that “Wen Nuan” would get there first.

“Wen Nuan’s” family valued sons over daughters.

She had two older sisters who had married off early, and she had a younger brother. At that time, she and her brother were both of the right age to be sent to the countryside. According to the family’s policy of only allowing one child to remain at home, “Wen Nuan” had long suspected that her parents, who valued sons over daughters, would choose to send her away.

“Wen Nuan”, being lazy and unwilling to go to the countryside, thought it would be better to get married instead.

Originally, “Wen Nuan” was quite beautiful, and during her school years, many people fought over her, jealous of one another. Many second-rate men were aware of her intentions and expressed their desire to marry her.

When Mother Wen learned that she wanted to escape the countryside by getting married, she intended to marry her off to Huang Mazi from the next street and even secretly accepted one hundred yuan from him.

However, “Wen Nuan” was not a fool; she certainly would not marry just anyone. If she was going to get married, she wanted to find someone reliable, someone she could depend on and who wouldn’t require her to work.

Moreover, “Wen Nuan” was quite particular about looks; her partner had to be good-looking, and Huang Mazi was not up to her standards.

Thus, the tall and handsome Gu Qinghan, with his high military allowances, became her “prey.” Knowing that Gu Qinghan was a soldier with only a couple of days for family visits, “Wen Nuan” directly jumped into the river in front of him.

Gu Qinghan was an upright and kind-hearted soldier. He wouldn’t just ignore someone jumping into the river; even if he saw someone fall, he would immediately rush to help them up.

So, the moment Gu Qinghan pulled her out of the water, “Wen Nuan” deliberately tore her clothes and clung to him—refusing to let go.

In this era, reputation was of utmost importance, and since there was quite a crowd watching, “Wen Nuan” began to cry, shouting that her innocence was lost and that she would have no face to live in this world anymore.

Meanwhile, Mother Wen realized that her daughter had latched onto the most promising man in the area, Gu Qinghan, and she no longer cared about Huang Mazi.

The next day, she took “Wen Nuan” to the Gu family to confront him, threatening Gu Qinghan to marry Wen Nuan.

The situation escalated quite a bit, and after thinking it over for an entire night, Gu Qinghan finally decided to marry “Wen Nuan”.

Due to the rushed circumstances, the two of them hurriedly completed the political review and immediately obtained their marriage certificate, distributing some wedding candies to the neighbors as if they were hosting a banquet.

After their marriage, the two of them were like strangers.

Once Gu Qinghan returned to the army, he wrote her letters. Although they were short and consisted of only a few sentences, “Wen Nuan” ignored them completely, never responding and never taking the initiative to write back.

The only time she contacted him was to send a telegram asking Gu Qinghan for money.

Gu Qinghan had not treated her poorly financially; knowing that her relationship with her mother-in-law, Zhao Wuzhu, was not harmonious, he split his allowances and sent her a separate portion.

However, “Wen Nuan” was the type to support her younger brother and even took pride in providing for her family.

Many times, whenever Gu Qinghan sent money and tickets, “Wen Nuan” would immediately take them back to her family.

As a result, she currently had very little money and no tickets. In that era, being short on both was truly a hardship.

She had also been thinking of getting some cotton and fabric to make a couple of winter clothes for her daughter.

The child had been born in May, and at that time, they hadn’t prepared any winter clothing. Moreover, the summers in the south were long, and it was not necessarily cold even in December.

However, winter would soon arrive, and she definitely needed to start preparing.

A child as young as hers couldn’t afford to catch a cold.

But thinking about how little money and how few tickets she had left gave her a headache.

Wen Nuan carried her daughter through the side gate of the family compound, wanting to avoid the gossiping neighbors.

The little one on her back was well-behaved, having just woken up and not fussing much.

Although she had been here for a month, it was extremely inconvenient to take the baby out due to her young age, so she had only ventured out shopping once or twice. As a result, she was not very familiar with the streets in this area.

However, the streets of the 1970s were not too complicated. There were several state-owned factories nearby, so there was a steady flow of people, making daily life relatively convenient.

There were not many vehicles on the streets, and bicycles were also scarce. Instead, groups of people dressed in blue or black work uniforms walked together.

Wen Nuan planned to head to the state-run restaurant on the next street to have some wontons, as there were fewer acquaintances there, and she wouldn’t have to worry about people constantly gossiping about her.

Every time she went out, the people in the family compound liked to play with her child. While it didn’t bother her much, Wen Nuan couldn’t stand them pinching her baby’s cheeks without washing their hands. Each time, after being pinched and poked, her child’s face ended up smudged with dirt and grime.

The state-run restaurant was not far away, and since everyone was in a hurry to get to work, there were not many people having breakfast inside.

The buildings of that era were characterized by a distinct red aesthetic, with eye-catching red slogans plastered all over the walls.

Just as Wen Nuan was about to step into the restaurant, a familiar voice called out from behind her, “Xiao Nuan!”

Wen Nuan had just been contemplating whether to visit the supply and marketing cooperative for some fabric after breakfast when she became lost in thought, failing to hear the call from behind her.

Just as she was about to step into the restaurant, a hand landed on her shoulder.

“You girl, why aren’t you responding?” Mother Wen said as she firmly pressed down on Wen Nuan’s shoulder, a flicker of anger crossing her face, though she refrained from showing it since they were outside.

Wen Nuan felt the weight of a hand on the strap of her baby carrier, and her steps halted instinctively. She shifted her body slightly to avoid any discomfort to her daughter on her back.

When she saw Mother Wen’s familiar face, a bad thought suddenly crossed her mind.

The original person had not always been proactive in providing financial support to her family. Generally, it was Mother Wen or her younger brother who would come to the family courtyard to find her.

In fact, the money Gu Qinghan sent her was not sent every month, but it was enough for her as she was taking care of a small child on her own.

Unfortunately, the original person had been taught since childhood to support her family and help her younger brother. Therefore, whenever she had money, her first thought was to send it back to her family.

Furthermore, when the original person had been able to marry Gu Qinghan, Mother Wen had contributed quite a bit of “ideas” to the arrangement. Therefore, every time Mother Wen came over, she would say, “If it weren’t for me, how could you have married Gu Qinghan back then?”

As a result, the original person had been brainwashed into believing that it was all thanks to Mother Wen.

Last month, Mother Wen had come to find the original person, saying that her younger brother had found a partner and was preparing to discuss marriage. She needed fabric to make new clothes and also required a gift of money. The original person had given all her money and fabric tickets to Mother Wen.

That was why she was so “poor” now.

When faced with Mother Wen, Wen Nuan responded indifferently, “Didn’t hear you.”

Seeing her furrowed brow, Mother Wen assumed she had not fully woken up and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you up so early today?”

Then she turned her attention to the child on Wen Nuan’s back, playfully teasing, “Tsk tsk tsk, why has this little girl gotten chubby again? Look at those chubby cheeks! Oh dear, you need to wean her off milk quickly. Why is she drinking so much? Otherwise, there won’t be enough milk for her younger brother! As soon as her father returns from the army, you should quickly have another baby!”

The little one, not knowing if she understood Mother Wen’s words, suddenly let out a loud “ah ah” and slapped Mother Wen’s arm a couple of times.

The little one’s strength was certainly not much, so it didn’t hurt when she hit someone.

But the little one had just been sucking on her fingers, and now all her saliva was smeared on Mother Wen’s arm. Mother Wen, feeling disgusted, exclaimed, “What a little girl! Why is your hand all wet with saliva?!”

Wen Nuan thought to herself, Good job.

Noticing that there was also dirt on Mother Wen’s hand, she turned her body slightly, not wanting her to touch the child anymore.

Then she asked, “Why did you come over here so early?”

“Isn’t it because I came to find you?” When it came to this matter, Mother Wen stopped paying attention to the child and immediately wore a sorrowful expression. “Oh, Xiao Nuan, I really didn’t want to come here. But you know, your younger brother is dating now, and your father injured his leg not long ago. Now your brother is about to discuss marriage, but they are asking for two hundred yuan right off the bat. What are we going to do about that?”

Initially, Mother Wen had accepted one hundred yuan from Huang Mazi, intending to secretly “sell” Wen Nuan, but she hadn’t anticipated that Wen Nuan would end up with Gu Qinghan.

After Mother Wen rejected Huang Mazi, she immediately turned around and demanded a 120 yuan bride price from Gu Qinghan.

At that time, this was considered an outrageous amount.

However, Mother Wen argued that since Huang Mazi could afford one hundred yuan, Gu Qinghan, who was already a company commander, certainly wouldn’t be unable to pay 120 yuan.

In the end, Gu Qinghan reluctantly complied.

As a result, Mother Wen always believed that Gu Qinghan was wealthy and had a lot of money.

“Xiao Nuan?”

Mother Wen waited for Wen Nuan to speak. After all, it had been more than a month since she had gotten any money from her, and today, even if it meant losing face, she was determined to ask for some cash.

Moreover, she knew Wen Nuan’s personality; although she was lazy and unreasonable, she was still very fond of her younger brother.

Thinking this, Mother Wen decided to rub the corners of her eyes with her fingers, trying to squeeze out a tear or two.

Wen Nuan lifted her eyelids and coldly said, “I don’t have any money.”

Before Mother Wen could even squeeze out a tear, her brows furrowed first. “How is that possible? Isn’t your Gu Qinghan a deputy regiment commander now? And doesn’t he send money back every month?”

Then Mother Wen looked up at the restaurant sign. “Besides, aren’t you just about to eat out? How could you possibly be out of money?”

Hearing Mother Wen’s words, Wen Nuan let out a cold laugh. She had been observing closely; it was likely that Mother Wen had specifically come to find her.

Wen Nuan decided to cry out first, raising her voice in a tragic wail, “Mom, I really don’t have any money! The money from the child’s father isn’t just for me! I’ve already given you all my money and fabric tickets. Where else would I have money? Winter is about to come, and the child doesn’t even have a decent winter coat! You didn’t leave me a single fabric ticket or cotton ticket before; how is the child supposed to get through the winter?”

Wen Nuan knew that dealing with someone like Mother Wen couldn’t be done forcefully; if there was any pulling and tugging that hurt the child, it would be a loss for her.

Not giving Mother Wen a chance to speak, she continued to play the victim. “Mom, as the child’s grandmother, you can’t just stand by and let her go through winter without a winter coat, can you? I can endure the cold, but if the child gets cold, her father will blame me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the daughter on Wen Nuan’s back seemed to understand something and immediately began to cry out loudly.