Chapter 4

Gu Qinghan looked at the 6 short words on the telegram and was momentarily lost in confusion.

On the other end, Zheng Wei curiously leaned forward to take a look and teased, “Is it a telegram from your wife?”

Gu Qinghan didn’t respond; he merely restored his expression to the previous indifference. He slightly raised his eyebrows, which was considered a silent acknowledgment.

Zheng Wei chuckled and continued to tease, “It’s been several months since you last went home, right? Your wife just gave birth not long ago; she must be missing you.”

When Gu Qinghan got married, he had expedited the paperwork, and it had taken only two days for the political review to be approved.

As a result, everyone unanimously believed that Gu Qinghan and his wife must be very affectionate, or else they wouldn’t have been in such a rush to get married.

It had been almost half a year since he last saw her. Even during the time when his wife gave birth, he happened to be on a mission and couldn’t return home.

Gu Qinghan folded the telegram and tucked it into the pocket of his military uniform.

He then asked: “Before we set off for Northern Military District, is there a two-day leave?”

Zheng Wei nodded. “Yes, but it’s limited to two days. If you decide to bring your family along, you’ll need to submit a request to the base in advance.”

Gu Qinghan wasn’t planning to bring Wen Nuan and the child with him.

Although he had very little contact with Wen Nuan since their marriage, Gu Qinghan could roughly guess that she wouldn’t follow him to the military.

Especially not to Northern Military District, which turned into a frozen wasteland as soon as winter arrived.

When they got married, he had asked her if she wanted to follow him to the military, but Wen Nuan had almost immediately said no without a moment’s thought. She had insisted that he should not bring it up again, saying she wanted to stay in the city.

Gu Qinghan shook off his thoughts and replied in a calm tone, “No need. I’ll just go home to take a look.”

—o—o—o—

Wen Nuan had thought carefully before sending the telegram to Gu Qinghan.

The first reason was to prevent any unexpected events from occurring before he left for the Northern Military District, which would make it impossible for her to follow him.

Secondly, Gu Qinghan was a soldier, and his thoughts were more meticulous and cautious than those of ordinary people.

Although they were husband and wife, they really felt like strangers to each other.

They had been married for so long, yet the two of them had only met three times in total.

Each meeting lasted only a few hours, and their conversations combined barely amounted to ten sentences.

If she were to suddenly propose following him to the Northern Military District, it would certainly raise his suspicions.

In this sensitive era, if Gu Qinghan suspected her of being a spy, there would be no way to clear her name, not even if she jumped into the Yellow River.

Therefore, she needed to prepare herself before considering following him.

After leaving the post office, Wen Nuan stopped by the supply and marketing cooperative to buy fabric and cotton for the child’s padded jacket.

Since she was thinking about going to the Northern Military District with Gu Qinghan, she used up more than a catty’s worth of cotton coupons in one go, hoping to ensure that the child wouldn’t catch a cold in the icy, wintry conditions of the Northern Military District.

During this time, most people made their own clothes, and she had never done it before. So she had just asked someone for help, and after using more than a catty of cotton to make the child’s padded jacket, not much was left.

She hadn’t even figured out her own jacket yet.

She still needed to find a way to get more coupons.

As Wen Nuan carried the fabric and cotton, she thought about how to approach Gu Qinghan about joining him in the military when he returned, while also wondering if she could find some more fabric and cotton coupons.

Since it took quite a bit of time to queue at the post office to send the telegram, she arrived home in the evening.

At this hour, it was the time when every family was cooking. The family compound was a large concave courtyard, but the buildings were all low-rise, one or two stories high.

As Wen Nuan walked in, she heard the familiar sounds of children being scolded, the raucous noise of singing and playing with sticks, and the clattering of cooking pans, all filled with the rich atmosphere of everyday life in that era.

Inside, Zhao Wuzhu brought a plate of sweet potato leaves out of the kitchen. Upon seeing her son Gu Qingsong sprawled across the wooden sofa, she couldn’t help but scold him, “All you know how to do is wait to eat. Why don’t you come to help out? Did I owe you something in my past life? You’re all just a bunch of debt collectors!”

Gu Qingsong lazily stretched and yawned. “I just got back, didn’t I? I’ve been working all day and I am dead tired. Can’t I make you work a little harder?”

Gu Qingsong walked over to the table, sat down, and took the chopsticks that Zhao Wuzhu handed him, immediately beginning to help himself to the food.

Zhao Wuzhu tapped his hand with her chopsticks and asked, “All you think about is eating. Where’s that lazy one?”

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingsong immediately knew his mother was referring to Wen Nuan as the lazy one. He shrugged and said, “I didn’t see her. She wasn’t around when I got home.”

Since Wen Nuan had just given birth not long ago, the baby would cry at irregular intervals. She often served herself food and ate in her room.

As a result, they didn’t frequently have meals together, and their relationship felt so distant that they seemed like strangers.

Hearing this, Zhao Wuzhu simply sat down as well. “By the way, why did you come back so late tonight? Did you meet with Meizhi?”

At the mention of Lin Meizhi, Gu Qingsong perked up instantly, straightening his back.

He smiled and said, “Yeah, didn’t you tell me to marry Meizhi earlier this morning? I went to find her in the evening. But…”

Zhao Wuzhu perked up her ears, waiting for Gu Qingsong to continue. “You, child, why do you only say half and not the whole thing?”

Gu Qingsong deliberately paused for a moment, then glanced at Zhao Wuzhu’s expression. In a feigned serious tone, he said, “Well, Meizhi’s family said they want to increase the bride price.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuzhu immediately became displeased. “What? Isn’t 100 yuan enough? Are they marrying off a daughter or selling her? Do they really think their daughter is made of gold? I don’t think Lin Meizhi is a good person; how can she suddenly change her mind after saying it was all settled?”

Because of Wen Nuan, Zhao Wuzhu had initially been quite satisfied with Gu Qingsong’s choice of partner.

In terms of personality and family background, Lin Meizhi was slightly better than Wen Nuan.

Wen Nuan was unruly and aggressive, while Lin Meizhi had a gentle temperament. Wen Nuan had never worked, lazing around at home and living as if she were a complete wastrel.

Lin Meizhi, on the other hand, was different. She had a respectable job as an employee at the supply and marketing cooperative, a position that everyone fought tooth and nail to get. Just the mention of it brought a sense of pride to her face.

Ever since Gu Qingsong started dating her, Lin Meizhi had never needed to queue up for groceries or anything of the sort.

However, despite Zhao Wuzhu being satisfied with the match, when the bride’s family suddenly asked for an increase in the bride price, it stirred a bit of frustration in her heart.

The original agreement was for a bride price of one hundred yuan, which was already considered quite generous in the entire neighborhood.

Gu Qingsong had long anticipated his mother’s reaction and confidently explained, “Isn’t it all because of big brother?”

“Rubbish! What does this have to do with your big brother?” Zhao Wuzhu raised her hand and gave Gu Qingsong a knock on the head. She glared at him fiercely and then asked, “How much more is the Lin family asking for?”

Gu Qingsong rubbed his aching head, shrank his neck, and muttered, “They said 200 yuan.”

“200?!” Zhao Wuzhu shot up from her seat, raising her voice in anger. “Why don’t they just go rob someone?!”

“Mom, listen to me first, don’t get angry so quickly!” Gu Qingsong knew his mother had always been fond of him, and there had never been a time when she truly got into a heated argument with him.

Gu Qingsong pressed Zhao Wuzhu back into the chair and said with frustration, “This really does have to do with Big Brother. Isn’t it because when he married my sister-in-law, we gave the Wen family a bride price of 120 yuan?

After that, Meizhi’s family somehow heard about it and said their daughter is better than sister-in-law in every way. They insisted that the bride price can’t be lower than what we gave to big brother’s wife, or else Meizhi would be seen as inferior once she’s married into our family, and she’d have a hard time later.”

After hearing Gu Qingsong’s explanation, the tension on Zhao Wuzhu’s face finally eased a little.

The Lin family’s reasoning, though blunt, wasn’t entirely wrong. Lin Meizhi was indeed better than Wen Nuan in many ways. Aside from not being as strikingly attractive as Wen Nuan, she was, in truth, an excellent match.

Zhao Wuzhu let out a long sigh and said, “This really is your big brother’s fault. He was blind as a bat, spending so much money to marry a troublemaker!”

Gu Qingsong rubbed his nose and asked in a muffled voice, “Mommy, then what do you think we should do? Do you think we could manage the two hundred…?”

“That’s two hundred yuan, not two cents! Do you really think your mother is a miracle worker? We have three idle people at home, and you’re only earning that little salary. Even if your big brother works his fingers to the bone, I still can’t scrape together two hundred!” Zhao Wuzhu was just as frustrated. The marriage was practically settled, and she had been eagerly waiting to have a good wife come into the family to help take care of things.

Though in the eyes of outsiders, Gu Qinghan’s stipend alone was enough to feed the entire family, the reality was more complicated. With two idle members in the family—herself and Wen Nuan, neither of whom had jobs—along with a young child who, while not yet needing food, still contributed to the family’s burden, even Gu Qinghan’s hard work couldn’t sustain the family on commodity grains every day.

Moreover, Zhao Wuzhu would sometimes take money back to her own family, and the money Gu Qinghan sent her each month was barely enough to get by.

After thinking it over, Zhao Wuzhu glanced at Gu Qingsong. She had always doted on this son, and knowing that he had started dating Lin Meizhi, she felt a sense of pride. Now that they were finally discussing marriage, she couldn’t bear to let this issue hold things back.

Zhao Wuzhu glanced at Gu Qingsong and asked, “Is she really the only one for you? There are plenty of suitable women in the family compound, and any one of them wouldn’t cost even a hundred!”

Gu Qingsong let out a frustrated sigh and retorted, “Mom, how can you say that? No one can compare to Meizhi! They’re not even good enough to carry her shoes!”

“Such ambition!” Zhao Wuzhu scoffed, seeing her son completely smitten. She then said, “Alright then, didn’t you mention your big brother got promoted to deputy commander? Tomorrow, send him a telegram, tell him his mother urgently needs money.”

She snorted and continued, “Don’t think I don’t know—your big brother has been secretly sending money to that lazy one. Now that we have an emergency, what does that good-for-nothing need so much money for? She doesn’t work, just sits at home with that worthless child, and it’s infuriating to even look at her.”

Before Wen Nuan even stepped through the door, she overheard her mother-in-law’s complaints.

Wen Nuan took a deep breath. If it weren’t for the fact that she had her daughter strapped to her back at that moment, she would have cursed out loud.

Zhao Wuzhu’s own money wasn’t enough, and now she was scheming to cut off Wen Nuan’s financial support from Gu Qinghan too?

No way. She had to join the army. She “had” to follow Gu Qinghan.

Even if she couldn’t take full control of the family’s finances, at least she wouldn’t be constantly worried about someone trying to manipulate the little bit of money she had.

The next day, Wen Nuan waited anxiously for Gu Qinghan’s reply. But when she went to the post office to check, there was nothing.

Wen Nuan, unwilling to give up, sent another telegram to Gu Qinghan.

On the third day, when she went to the post office again, she was notified that a sum of money had been transferred from the military—an amount of 180 yuan.

Wen Nuan who was carrying her daughter stared at the remittance slip, she couldn’t help but be a bit stunned.

‘What was Gu Qinghan trying to say with this?’