◎ Second update ◎ 

Liang Baozhen had not yet finished her confinement period, but since there’s a problem at her parents’ home and her sister need some support, she decided to go with them. Zhou Yun tried to persuade her, but couldn’t stop her. She only reminded her to be careful when going out. 

“I know, Grandma. I just fed Shanshan, and she’s asleep now. I won’t be gone for long. I’ll be back soon.” 

The three members of the Liang family set out to the soda factory where Song Jianguo worked. It was almost lunchtime. Liang Baoying had borrowed a phone from the commune yesterday to contact Song Jianguo. The two agreed to meet in front of a supply and marketing cooperative a few hundred meters from the soda factory gate. 

Song Jianguo, who had returned to the city more than a year ago, appeared in blue work clothes with a white towel draped over his shoulders. When he saw Liang Baojun and Liang Baozhen with his wife, he was obviously surprised. 

Liang Baozhen hadn’t seen her brother-in-law for a long time. Looking at the man in front of her, he was indeed much more energetic than when he was in the village and was full of the confidence and composure of a worker in a large state-owned factory. 

It’s no surprise he’s like this. Being a worker in a state-owned factory is one of the most respected jobs these days. Who wouldn’t feel confident? 

Walking down the street in his work uniform, Song Jianguo indeed felt like he could hold his head up high. 

“Baozhen and Baojun are here too. Come on, I’ll treat you to dinner at the state-owned restaurant.” Song Jianguo was very generous and walked side by side with Liang Baoying. 

“Do you feel sick riding the bus?” 

The bus had a strong smell, and Song Jianguo knew that Liang Baoying had never liked it. 

Liang Baoying shook her head and glanced at Song Jianguo, feeling unsure inside. 

Sitting in the state-owned restaurant, Song Jianguo took out the food tickets and a handful of money from his pocket and asked his brother-in-law and sister-in-law to order the dishes; after all, he was the one treating them. 

Four bowls of plain noodles sat on the table, each costing three taels of grain tickets and twelve cents. There were also eight steamed buns, each costing two cents and requiring food tickets.  

The family members who once lived together each picked up their chopsticks and began eating their noodles. 

Liang Baojun ate the fastest. He finished his noodles in a few mouthfuls and was the first to speak. He asked directly, “Brother-in-law, when are you going to pick up my sister and Mengmeng?” 

Song Jianguo was drinking soup from a porcelain bowl. He was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Then he put the bowl down and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. “Baojun, I’m also worried about this. I really want to bring your sister and Mengmeng to the city.” 

“Then what are you waiting for?” 

“Brother-in-law, you said you would bring them back within a year,” Liang Baozhen reminded him. 

“Yes, but my house is small, and there are many people living there, so it’s a bit difficult. I was hoping to get a factory dormitory for workers soon so I can bring my family over, but I haven’t had my turn in half a year.” 

After Song Jianguo became a regular worker at the soda factory, he submitted an application for a house in the factory’s family quarters. However, there were too many people and too few houses in the factory, so he waited but never got the chance. 

Liang Baojun and Liang Baozhen exchanged glances, unsure if this was an excuse or a genuine problem. “So if you never get a house allocated to you, will you just not bring them back?” 

Liang Baoying was also worried. As time went on, it seemed that everything became uncertain. A few days ago, her mother, Song Chunhua, asked her to urge Jianguo again. 

She glanced at Song Jianguo. He really seemed to have changed. Recently, Liang Baoying had met a woman from the next village in the commune who had jumped into a well after her educated youth husband secretly returned to the city. The woman was in a daze and seemed not to hear anyone calling her. 

“Of course not,” Song Jianguo didn’t want to delay things either. 

“If you really can’t bring them back, then a divorce is fine. Just cover Mengmeng’s living expenses until she turns eighteen, and after that, you and my sister will owe each other nothing,” Liang Baozhen suggested to see how Song Jianguo would react. “Don’t delay this out. Whether my sister lives on her own or remarries with Mengmeng, you won’t have a say in it.” 

If he showed even a hint of interest in this suggestion, they would know whether he was serious about bringing them back or just making excuses. 

As soon as Song Jianguo heard the suggestion of Baoying remarrying with Mengmeng, his expression changed. “Baozhen, what are you talking about? Baoying is my wife, and Mengmeng is my daughter. How could she remarry?” 

Liang Baoying was also surprised when her sister suggestion this. She hadn’t considered it at all. 

She glanced at Baozhen and saw her wink. The two sisters finally had a tacit understanding, so Liang Baoying shared the earlier incident where someone had come to propose. 

Especially the man’s lustful eyes that made her uncomfortable. 

“Is there such a thing?” When Song Jianguo heard that a second-rate man came to propose to his wife, he immediately became angry, and his dark face turned red with anger. 

“That’s right! You didn’t even think about how will my sister live in the countryside after getting divorced? There are so many rumors outside, and many people are watching her. There are even several widowers who come to our house to propose marriage and try to make advances.” 

Song Jianguo knew that divorced women had a hard life, but before hearing these words, he never thought about it. He always believed that the Liang family could protect Baoying, and he never expected anyone to be so brazen as to approach her. 

“Baoying, don’t worry. I’ll talk to my mother when I get home today. No matter what, you are my wife, and Mengmeng is my daughter. We still have to stay together as a family.” 

“Okay.” Liang Baoying felt relieved after hearing these words. 

Song Jianguo had to go to work in the afternoon. When he got home from work in the evening, he saw his eldest brother, third brother, and their families all getting along happily at the dinner table. He suddenly felt uneasy. 

He’s the second child in the Song family and was originally the best student in the family. His eldest brother, Song Jianmin, dropped out of school early and went to work in a towel factory. When the policy of going to the countryside to receive re-education through labor came out, the eldest brother had a job, and the third brother was only thirteen years old. Naturally, this responsibility fell on Song Jianguo, who was in high school and of the right age. 

Moreover, as the second son, he was the most likely to be overlooked by their parents. So his parents signed him up to go to the countryside without discussing it with him. When he left, he had only completed half a semester of his second year of high school. 

Now his eldest brother is a third-level worker in the towel factory, and the third brother is a second-level worker in the tractor factory. Both of them are married. The eldest brother’s wife is a female worker in the towel factory, and the third brother’s wife does not have a job, but her family conditions are not bad. Both families have two children. 

“Baobao, have some egg custard.” 

The four children had a chance to eat egg custard every two or three days. Song Jianguo saw that his nephews and nieces were all fat and white. They didn’t have egg custard at every meal, but they could have it frequently, and they wore new clothes, which were much prettier than Mengmeng’s; they were all made from new fabric. 

After dinner, Song Jianguo found his mother, Qin Yuxiu, to discuss things privately. 

Who knew that Qin Yuxiu would speak first? She has been busy looking for a match recently, and it is not good for her second son to remain single. 

“Jianguo, listen to your mother’s advice and find someone again as soon as possible. Last time I asked your Aunt Xiujuan to help you find a match, but you were not happy about it. This time I found someone with good conditions, a girl with a formal job, and I heard she’s good-looking…” 

“Mother, I want to bring Baoying and Mengmeng back. What do I need a match for?” 

“Jianguo, let me be honest. A countryside wife isn’t good enough for you. You finally got divorced and returned to the city. Why would you want to bring them back? You’re still sending money every month, right? I didn’t stop you; our family has already done more than enough. Ten or so yuan a month—can they even earn that in the countryside?” Every time Qin Yuxiu thought about her son marrying a countryside woman, she felt embarrassed. In the apartment building, they would be the subject of ridicule. 

Looking around, who doesn’t marry someone from the city? On the first and third floor of the apartment building, there were two families whose sons went to the countryside, and now they are divorced and back in the city. After the divorce, they broke off all ties, and she haven’t heard of anyone wanting to bring their countryside wife and child back. 

If it was grandson, it might be acceptable, but it was a granddaughter. 

“Mother, I promised Baoying that I would bring them both here in the city.” Song Jianguo looked embarrassed. He knew his parents attitude. They looked down on Baoying, but he couldn’t do such a cruel thing. 

“Look at how we live! If you bring your wife and child back, we won’t even have enough to eat.” Qin Yuxiu saw her son was being stubborn, so she said, “If you really want to bring them back, find a place to live by yourself.” 

Song Jianguo sighed and was thinking about how to solve the house problem. He held his forehead with his hand and thought of someone. A worker he wanted to make friends with was the cousin of the deputy director of the soda factory. Ever since he accidentally heard about the relationship between that man and the deputy director, Song Jianguo would talk with him from time to time and help out. As time went by, they became familiar with each other. 

Thinking about the issue of housing allocation, Song Jianguo decided to save up some cigarette and alcohol tickets so that he could go to his house and try his luck. 

*** 

After the three members of the Liang family separated from Song Jianguo, Liang Baozhen sent her eldest sister and second brother off on the bus. The two were in a hurry to go home. Before leaving, she prepared two kilograms of pastries and three feet of cloth for the family to take back and waved goodbye to the two. 

Having spent quite some time out, Liang Baozhen hurried back to the courtyard. When she reached the door and didn’t hear the sound of her child crying, she breathed a sigh of relief. 

It had been more than three hours since she left, and her only worry was that the child would suddenly wake up and cry. 

“Shanshan is still asleep.” Zhou Yun was knitting for the child in the living room under the bright light outside. The child would be seven or eight months old when winter came, so she had to knit a sweater in advance. This time she bought expensive wool yarn, which was similar to the sweaters sold in department stores. It felt very comfortable to the touch, and not prickly. Children have delicate skin, so everything needs to be taken care of. 

In the past, their family was poor, and they had to wear all kinds of coarse cloth clothes. Now that conditions are better, they naturally need to pay more attention. 

“Okay, I’ll go in and take a look.” 

“How’s your eldest sister’s situation?” Zhou Yun had a rough idea of what happened.  

“My brother-in-law said he would find a way to bring them to the city as soon as possible this time.” 

“That’s good.” Zhou Yun didn’t think much of Song Jianguo’s approach of pretending to be divorced to return to the city, but she also knew that the educated youth had it tough. If he could bring his wife and child back, it would at least show he had some conscience. “Then you two sisters can visit each other often, and it will be much more convenient for you to meet.” 

“That’s right. It only takes half an hour for the bus to get here. It’s much faster than going back to the village.” 

Liang Baozhen walked back to the bedroom and saw her daughter lying in bed, already awake and staring at the ceiling. 

“Oh, Shanshan is awake?” Liang Baozhen walked over quickly, sat next to her, and touched her little face. “She didn’t cry today; how strange.” 

Shanshan just woke up. She opened her eyes and looked around. When she saw her mother coming back, she seemed to have recognized her. She opened her mouth to reveal a big smile, and her bare gums could be seen. She made some sounds, and her little hands and feet moved, as if they wanted to reach up. 

“Are you hungry? Do you want some milk?” Liang Baozhen picked up her daughter and set her down. When she saw Shanshan open her mouth and make some incomprehensible sounds, she realized her daughter was hungry. “You’re quite eager, aren’t you?” 

Shanshan showed her mother that she was really hungry by drinking the milk with great enthusiasm! 

The author has something to say: 

Shanshan is also working hard to drink her milk today. 🥰🥰🥰