◎ Second update ◎ 

Before leaving, Song Jianguo gave more than ten yuan to his wife. Additionally, Song Chunhua had him sign a letter of guarantee, stating that he must return within a year to pick up his family and send half of his salary from the factory home every month for Baoying and Mengmeng. 

She couldn’t tie someone down for life, but she had to leave some security for her daughter. If Song Jianguo really turned against her in the future, she would go to her workplace with the letter of guarantee signed and stamped by him and make a scene! 

By then, she wouldn’t care about her son-in-law’s face and would just tear apart any pretense! Nobody would have an easy time! 

However, she still held out a glimmer of hope. Since her daughter trusted her son-in-law so much, she hoped he would have some conscience and not forget his wife when he went to the city. With no other option, she held on to this hope. 

Liang Baozhen felt sad when looking at her niece Mengmeng. No matter what, children are the most pitiful. 

Mengmeng, who was about to turn five this year, knew something significant had happened at home. However, she was confused and didn’t understand why her father was gone. Her mother said her father was going to the city and would come back later. 

“Third Aunt.” Mengmeng put her arms around Liang Baozhen tightly. “My father has gone to the city, and you are also in the city. Can I go to the city too?” 

Liang Baozhen touched her niece’s soft hair, “Sure, you can come whenever you want.” 

“Yes!” Mengmeng was the happiest in the entire family. 

When she was about to go back to the city, Liang Baoying saw her off at the village entrance while holding her daughter Mengmeng. Mengmeng shouted goodbye to her. Her eldest sister just smiled and told her to go back and work hard and not to worry about them. 

*** 

On her way back to the city, Liang Baozhen was waiting for the bus. Unexpectedly she ran into an acquaintance. 

Dong Jiayan, wearing clothes full of patches, came towards her. She was stunned when she saw her. 

The two had never seen each other since they got married. At the beginning, Dong Jiayan was very proud of herself in the department store, thinking that she could buy whatever she wanted. But now… 

“Liang Baozhen.” Dong Jiayan lowered her voice a lot after looking down at the coarse cloth on her body.

Liang Baozhen didn’t intend to pay attention to her, and didn’t even want to glance at her, although she was quite curious about Dong Jiayan’s simple and plain outfit. 

“Liang Baozhen, are you laughing at me in your heart?” 

Dong Jiayan stopped her and glared at Liang Baozhen with resentment. She was sure that Liang was enjoying this moment. Now that Chen Siming was in trouble, she had gone from being the envied wife of the purchasing director to a laughingstock. Her own husband is being sent for reform, which is truly humiliating. 

She didn’t even dare to go back to Damei Village for fear of being laughed at and looked down upon, but the person she least wanted to be looked down upon was Liang Baozhen! 

“If you hadn’t shown up today, I would have almost forgotten who you are.” Liang Baozhen’s eyes were calm, and her voice was indifferent. After saying this, she walked around Dong Jiayan and left. 

This person had actually ignored her all this time! Dong Jiayan was upset. She watched Liang Baozhen leave and tightened her grip on the suitcase in her hand. 

Today, she is going to the farm where Chen Siming is undergoing labor reform to accompany him. 

However, it wasn’t out of deep affection. Ever since Chen Siming was sent down to the countryside for reform, she had no status in the Chen family, no job, and no money. Guo Mingli only gave her five yuan a month and often looked down on her. 

Dong Jiayan thought carefully about it. Instead of suffering in the Chen family, it would be better to gain her in-law’s and elder brother’s respect and also to gain a good reputation. She decided to take the initiative to care for Chen Siming. No matter what, Chen Siming would eventually return to his family. In the future, the Chen family would remember that she stood by him during his lowest point and that would help her secure her place in the family. 

As soon as she proposed this idea, Guo Mingli became gentle and kind to her and kept saying that Siming had married the right wife! 

The bus arrived, and she had to take it to the train station. Tonight, she would take a train to the farm.

*** 

There has been a lot going on at home recently. By the time Liang Baozhen returned to the courtyard, it was already evening. After sitting on the bus for a long time, she felt uncomfortable. With the arrival of summer, the smell in the bus became stronger and stronger. The smell of various things and the sweat of many people filled the closed bus which made her feel uncomfortable.

When she was about to get off the bus, she felt nauseous. When she reached Crescent Alley, she ran into Liu Nianhua’s youngest son, Zhou Hu, who was jumping and running out. 

Zhou Hu was a chubby little boy with a cute round face and was very likable. When he saw Liang Baozhen, he called her “Aunt Baozhen.” 

What was a child doing out alone at this late hour? 

“Xiao Hu, where are you going? Where’s your mother and brother?” 

“I’m going… to find Shitou from the next street. My mother and brother are at Aunt Zhang’s house.”

“Okay, walk slower and come back soon.” 

“Got it.” 

Liang Baozhen walked all the way to Crescent Alley, where she saw Xu Shengjie waiting at the alley entrance with Xiaowei and Xiaoya. 

“Sister-in-law!” Xu Shengwei has sharp eyes and a loud voice. He started yelling when he saw Liang Baozhen from afar. 

By this time, there were already quite a few people wandering around outside, enjoying the cool breeze after dinner. 

“What are you all doing?” Liang Baozhen sat down on the stone steps next to Xu Shengjie. 

“Arm wrestling!” Xu Shengya had just been defeated. 

Today, the eldest brother came back from overtime work and went out to the entrance of the alley in the evening to wait for sister-in-law. Xiaowei and Xiaoya accompanied him. On a whim, they wanted to compete with the eldest brother. 

The two took turns to fight, and the result was predictable: a miserable defeat! 

“Don’t you know to go easy on them?” Liang Baozhen rolled her eyes at the man, thinking that he was really boring. Why was he competing with two children? 

But Xu Shengjie was quite proud. “There’s no such thing as going easy in a match. Whoever should win will win, and whoever should lose will lose.” 

During his time in the army, he took part in many military competitions, both big and small. Everyone relied on their true abilities and never yielded or gave up. 

“Still coming?” Xu Shengjie looked at the two small defeated opponents while resting his elbows on the stone steps. His lean arms, which were currently showing, were obviously strong. 

“You’re a bully!” Xu Shengwei was ready to go find reinforcements. He just couldn’t believe it. If one person couldn’t defeat his big brother, then surely a group of people could. There were many kids in the courtyard, and they could take turns. 

One, two, three, four… A group of kids from the courtyard lined up, and all of them were defeated. When Xu Shengjie was in the army, he often encountered soldiers competing in arm wrestling. He knew his limits, so he didn’t use all his strength to play with these kids. 

“Oh, Xu Shengwei, your older brother is too strong.” 

“Not good, not good, we need to find someone to beat your brother!” 

Xu Shengya looked around. There were quite a few people strolling around at the entrance of the alley; some were rolling hoops, some were chasing and playing, and some adults were gossiping. Grandma Zhou Yun was also nearby, and it was unknown what she was talking about with Aunt Li. 

Liang Baozhen watched from the side for a while and felt that Xu Shengjie was such a bad guy. How could he be so interested in bullying children? She kept cheering for the children, but the gap between the children and Xu Shengjie was too big. 

“Sister-in-law! Let sister-in-law go.” Xu Shengya tilted her head and felt that she had come up with a good idea. 

“That’s a good idea!” Xiaowei and Binzi also joined in the fun. They loved watching a couple ‘fight’! 

Liang Baozhen: “…Why was I suddenly called out?” 

But she was eager to try. She had a fair amount of strength, neither too strong nor too weak. Although she was not as strong as her mother, Song Chunhua, she was not weak either. She folded her shirt sleeves up twice, wanting to see how strong Xu Shengjie was. 

“Really coming?” Xu Shengjie smiled this time, looking at his wife as if she was going to have a big fight. She was very aggressive, with her sleeves folded up, revealing a piece of white jade arm, which dazzled his eyes. 

“Of course! You just want to bully kids, right?” Liang Baozhen gestured with her right hand, placed it on the stone steps first, and nodded her chin at Xu Shengjie, “Come on.” 

Liang Baozhen was beaming with joy at the moment, and her whole body was very lively. With a faint smile on the corners of her mouth, she resembled a jasmine flower in early summer—pure white and blooming with a faint fragrance. 

Xu Shengjie reached out his hand and clasped hands with Liang Baozhen. 

“Sister-in-law! Come on! Sister-in-law! Come on!” 

Xu Shengwei was already excited. He jumped twice on the spot and started cheering for his sister-in-law. He was hoping that someone would beat his elder brother. 

The other children were not willing to be left behind and started cheering. Liang Baozhen was suddenly surrounded by a group of children and felt a little guilty. Were they getting too worked up? 

Liang Baozhen tightened her grip and listened to Xiaowei’s “start.” She held Xu Shengjie’s hand and pushed to the left. She gradually increased her strength, her little face wrinkled, and she didn’t hold back at all. But Xu Shengjie’s arm was as hard as a century-old tree, with a solid foundation, steady and powerful, and could not be shaken at all. 

Xu Shengjie was quite relaxed. He had trained with weights during his time in the military, which had built his physical strength. Looking at Liang Baozhen, who was frowning and exerting strength, her eyes were like crescent moons, her cheeks seemed to turn red, and a thin layer of sweat seeped out of her forehead, but she still hadn’t given up. 

Her fair and tender hands kept bending to the left. She was stronger than most kids, but she couldn’t win. 

“Oh~~” Xu Shengwei was so disappointed, wondering why no one could manage to beat his elder brother. “Hey!!!” 

In a flash, he saw his eldest brother’s hand being pressed to the other side by his sister-in-law. 

Ah, brother lost? 

“Wow! Big brother lost, big brother lost!” 

“Sister-in-law is so awesome!” 

The group of children was excited. No matter who won, since Xu Shengjie lost, they were happy too, as if they had contributed to the victory. 

Liang Baozhen took her hand back, but she was not happy. She stared at Xu Shengjie with her almond-shaped eyes, and her cheeks puffed up. “Why did you let me?” 

She didn’t want such a victory. 

Xu Shengjie smiled. “How could I win against you?” 

The sky is big, the earth is big, but my wife is the greatest! 

The author has something to say:  

Xu Shengjie: My level of self-awareness is off the charts today!  💪