◎ First update ◎ 

This was the first time Liu Nianhua received a salary. It was different from waiting for Zhou Guoping to give him ten yuan per month for living expenses. The feeling was much better, and every bill was very precious. 

For her, the money seemed to still carry the scent of ink— that’s the smell of money. 

There were six bills in total. She looked at them over and over again and finally carefully wrapped them in a handkerchief and put them in her bag. She planned to visit the supply and marketing cooperative after work to buy some things. Since she had a day off tomorrow, she intended to buy some pastries to take to her parents home, explain the situation about her divorce, and express her gratitude for Liang Baozhen and her husband’s help by giving them an enamel basin with a pair of mandarin ducks on a red background. 

She knocked on the Xu family’s door, and it was Xu Shengwei who opened it. 

“Xiaowei, where’s your sister-in-law?” 

“She’s inside.” Xu Shengjie, who had just returned from playing, eagerly passed on the news to the neighbor, “They’re arguing.” 

“Ah?” Liu Nianhua was a little surprised. The Xu family was very nice, so why did they suddenly quarrel? She suddenly hesitated, wondering whether she should go in and give the gift now. 

“Sister Hua, you’re here?” Liang Baozhen patted Xiaowei’s head and asked him to go back inside.

 

“Baozhen, I’m here to give this enamel basin. Today was my first payday, and without your help, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten the job back. You must accept this basin.” Liu Nianhua handed over the red enamel basin. 

The basin has a red rim and a white body. There are two mandarin ducks on the bottom of the basin. Liang Baozhen took the basin and thanked her. She was really happy for Liu Nianhua. “Thank you, Sister Hua. I won’t be polite then. Hopefully, you’ll earn even more in the future.” 

“Thank you for your good wishes!” Liu Nianhua remembered what Xiaowei had just said. At this moment, she also heard the noisy sounds coming from the house and asked with concern, “What’s going on in your family? Why are you quarreling?” 

Speaking of this, Liang Baozhen got angry again. Liang Zhiqing’s family still wanted to stay at her house. She had already told them firmly to leave but Fang Yuehe and Liang Zhiqing raised their voices and accused her of being disrespectful… 

“It’s nothing, just some relatives visiting. I’ll tell you more about it later.” 

Family matters were indeed hard to talk about. After sending Liu Nianhua away and carrying the enamel basin back into the house, Liang Baozhen heard Fang Yuehe’s sharp voice, “Xiao Jie, I’m not saying anything, but you and Baozhen have been married for half a year, and she haven’t gotten pregnant yet. Baozhen’s belly is really disappointing. Auntie has a prescription here. Let Baozhen take it, and I guarantee she’ll get pregnant right away!” 

It was the first time Liang Baozhen had heard someone speak to her this way, and her face turned red, partly from embarrassment and partly from anger. Even her own mother never questioned her about such matters, so what right did Fang Yuehe have to do so? 

Rushing into the house, Liang Baozhen saw that everyone in the family looked displeased. 

“What are you all talking about?” 

Xu Shengjie’s face turned dark. Even if these three people were Liang family relatives, it was too much. “This is our family matter; you’re meddling too much.” 

Even Zhou Yun couldn’t hold back anymore. She couldn’t tolerate such humiliating comments. “You’re Baozhen’s uncle and aunt. How can you say such things? This is unacceptable! Our family doesn’t want it!” 

Zhou Yun, who was always amiable, rarely got angry. With a stern look and heavy breathing, she said, “We’ve treated you well, and this is how you repay us? Xiao Jie and Baozhen’s plans for having children are their own business and have nothing to do with you.” 

If Baozhen were labeled as infertile by the couple, once the news got out, Baozhen would be criticized so much! 

Although she didn’t care, since they had only been married for half a year, what was the big deal? But how could a woman stand such insults? Cheng Caili and Lu Yuan, a couple in the courtyard, had been married for several years without having children. Many people said behind her back that Cheng Caili was an old hen that could not lay eggs. Just hearing such remarks would be devastating for anyone. 

Fortunately, Cheng Caili had a tough temper and chased people away with a kitchen knife. As a result, no one dared to speak about it openly anymore. 

If Baozhen took the medicine, wouldn’t that confirm she can’t get pregnant? 

“Grandma Zhou, why do you say that? We are all doing this for the good of your Xu family! Don’t you want to have a grandson? It’s been half a year and she’s still not pregnant. Doesn’t that mean there’s something wrong with Baozhen’s body? I said before that she’s too thin, her hips are small, and she only focuses on studying. How can she be fit for bearing children? Yet you still chose her…” Fang Yuehe felt that this family was really blind. Why didn’t they know how to be picky! 

Liang Zhiqing is the eldest in the Liang family. He has always been the one who educates his younger brothers and sisters. After the Liang family’s grandfather and mother passed away, he became the head of the family. He felt that the younger generation should not talk back, and even his in-laws should respect him. 

“Grandma Zhou, Yuehe is doing this for your family’s good. My third brother’s family didn’t raise their daughter well. She’s been married for so long and still hasn’t had a child. How is that acceptable? If this were in our village, she would have been scolded long ago.” 

“Brother-in-law, although I am not Baozhen’s biological brother, I am still her cousin. We are brothers now. My parents are doing this for your own good. You also want to have a baby sooner, right?” 

“Get out.” Xu Shengjie’s eyes gradually turned cold as he listened to their filthy words. He stared at the three people with his dark eyes, then stood up and threw all their luggage out. If he hadn’t taken into consideration that they were members of the Liang family, he would have really wanted to throw them out as well. 

He had been tolerant before, but it was for the Liang family’s sake. Now that these people were slandering Baozhen, he was not going to tolerate it any longer. 

“Oh, how can you be like this!” Fang Yuehe didn’t expect Xu Shengjie to suddenly turn hostile. She was thinking of doing a big favor for the Xu family. After Liang Baozhen took the medicine and gave birth to the child, wouldn’t it be her family’s greatest contribution? With this contribution, it shouldn’t be difficult to arrange a job in the city, right? “We are Baozhen’s uncle and aunt!” 

“We don’t care if you’re her uncle or aunt. This is the Xu family, and how dare you mistreat my granddaughter-in-law like this?” Zhou Yun simply threw the medicine bag on the table out. It rolled several meters on the ground with a thud and finally flew far away and landed in the corner of the wall. 

Liang Zhiqing and Liang Baogang wanted to argue a few more words, but they felt timid when they saw Xu Shengjie’s fierce eyes. That strong body and those solid and powerful fists were no joke. 

He was a retired soldier after all! 

Standing at the door, Liang Zhiqing was furious, “Baozhen, if you really drive your uncle’s family out today, I wonder how your father will live in the village in the future? He raised a good daughter, but you treated your uncle’s family like this! No matter how you justify it, you have no right!” 

“Baozhen, how can you be like this now? The bus back to the village has already left, and you’re kicking us out in this freezing cold? Do you want to freeze us to death?” 

“You!” Liang Baozhen was furious after listening to Liang Zhiqing’s threatening words. Seeing that Xu Shengjie was leaning forward with his fists clenched and was about to attack, she hurriedly stopped him. She didn’t want her husband to be branded as someone who beat up a member of the Liang family. 

Zhou Yun had never encountered such unreasonable relatives before, and she was so angry that she was breathing heavily. It was indeed freezing cold outside, and they couldn’t just kick them out, or else what if someone died? But letting them stay inside felt humiliating! 

“Uncle and aunt, how did you get into the city this time? Did you get a letter of introduction from the team leader?” Liang Baozhen watched Fang Yuehe packing her luggage with a sharp gaze. When she saw the letter of introduction, she suddenly remembered something. It was impossible for the team leader to give them a letter of introduction that would last more than one day because these three people had no legitimate reason to stay overnight in the city. 

As for coming to her place, that was impossible as well. If they were coming here, the team leader would have certainly informed her parents first and asked what was going on. 

She figured they must have found an excuse to go into the city to buy things and quickly headed to her place to avoid being questioned by the patrol team. 

“Of course, the letter of introduction was written personally by the team leader himself!” Fang Yuehe waved the letter confidently. 

“But it only covered up until yesterday, didn’t it? You were supposed to be back in the village by then. Since you’re still in the city now, it means your letter of introduction is no longer valid.” 

Fang Yuehe was obviously flustered when she heard this. She quickly hid the letter behind her back, swallowed hard, and tried to calm her voice. “What are you talking about? We received a letter good for two days… no, three days!” 

Seeing their expressions, Xu Shengjie knew what was going on. He exchanged a glance with his wife and smiled, “Uncle, aunt, you are right. We cannot let you live on the streets in this freezing cold weather…” 

Listening to his niece’s husband, Liang Zhiqing nodded repeatedly. This man was sensible and knew his place. He then scowled at Liang Baozhen, “Baozhen, it’s not like I need to tell you this, your part of the family, and yet you don’t know how to help your own family. You should listen to your husband more in the future.” 

Xu Shengjie didn’t let him finish his words. “I’ll show you a good place, with tiles and walls, which can shelter you from the wind and rain, and also provide food.” 

“Huh?” Liang Baogang asked curiously, “Where’s that?” 

“The Vagrant’s Detention Center.” 

***

Xu Shengjie mercilessly notified the patrol team to come to his house for inspection. The date on Fang Yuehe’s letter of introduction clearly stated it was for entering and leaving the city on the same day. Now that it was the second day, they were considered vagrants. 

Liang Zhiqing and the other two cried and wailed, but it didn’t change their fate of being taken to the detention center for interrogation and reeducation. 

Before leaving, Liang Zhiqing yelled at Liang Baozhen, “Baozhen, is this how you treat us?” 

Liang Baozhen echoed his words back, “Uncle, I’m listening to my husband. He said to send you to the detention center, and I couldn’t persuade him otherwise.” 

*** 

“Baozhen, that was a clever move.” Zhou Yun breathed a sigh of relief and felt that she had finally calmed down. 

“I was just trying to trick them, but they gave themselves away.” Liang Baozhen breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to ask someone to pass a message back to her parents to prevent her uncle’s family from making a false report. 

“After being caught and sent to the detention center, they’ll probably stay there for two or three days for questioning and education. Then the patrol team will contact the Honqi Commune to have someone sign them out and send them back,” Xu Shengjie explained, knowing the process thanks to a comrade in the patrol team. 

“The commune cadres will be furious.” Liang Baozhen could already imagine how her uncle’s family would be criticized when they returned. This was a major event that would affect the reputation of the commune. “And the team leader would definitely not give them a letter of introduction anymore. They would never be able to enter the city again.” 

Xu Shengwei and Xu Shengya, who had been ordered to stay in the room felt pleased when they heard what the adults said and rushed out, “Great! They finally left!” 

The author has something to say: 

I’m sending you away~