Chapter 34

The sky was dark and heavy, with a hint of warmth in the air.

Tian Mi pulled her head back from peering outside and asked her husband uncertainly, “Does it feel warmer today than yesterday?”

Since they were seeing her mother-in-law off, the young couple had woken up early.

Having served in the north for a few years, Lou Luhui was in the habit of checking the sky first thing in the morning. Hearing her question, he turned around, closed the door, and wrapped his arm around his wife, guiding her back inside. “Don’t get chilled.”

The temperature difference between indoors and outdoors in the north was drastic, and Tian Tian, wearing just a thin jacket outside, could easily catch a cold.

Once he’d brought her back in, Lou Luhui frowned and said, “It’ll probably snow today.”

“Huh? You can tell?” It was only four in the morning, and the sky was still pitch black. She couldn’t see anything at all.

As they talked, they both entered the washroom, where Lou Luhui squeezed toothpaste onto their toothbrushes. “After living here a while, it becomes second nature. You can roughly gauge it by the look of the sky and the temperature. Like today, for instance. The temperature rose a bit, which is a clear sign of upcoming snow.”

“So… can Mom still leave on time?”

Lou Luhui nodded. “She’ll make it. Barring any surprises, it should start snowing in the afternoon or evening.”

Her train ticket was for 11 a.m. They’d factored in any unexpected delays and planned to leave by 6 a.m., which should be sufficient.

With snow looming in their minds, after a quick breakfast, they each set off with a task.

Lou Luhui dropped his wife off at Brigade Commander Wang’s house and headed to the base to pick up the car.

“What are you doing here? Have you had breakfast?” Zhong Yuxiu was holding a bowl of food, looking a bit surprised to see her daughter-in-law.

After greeting Commander Wang and Aunt Mei Tian Mi replied, “I’ve already eaten. I’ll go with Lou Luhui later to see you off at the train station.”

“No need, it’s awfully cold out. Mei Zi mentioned it might even snow today, so it’s fine if Hui Hui just takes me,” Zhong Yuxiu said, touched but also quick to wave her hands in polite refusal. The weather was freezing, and her daughter-in-law looked delicate. She didn’t want her to risk catching a cold.

Hearing this, Tian Mi just smiled sweetly, looking ever so obedient.

But when the car finally set off, she climbed in neatly, leaving everyone at a loss on whether to laugh or cry, at the same time they were deeply moved by her dedication as a daughter-in-law.

When Zhong Yuxiu arrived, she had lots of bags, and she was leaving with no less.

There were two large packages in total, full of gifts prepared by the sisters from the Tian family and from Ruan Mei. Though most of it was dried mushrooms and other preserved foods, Zhong Yuxiu was delighted with the ingredients, happily declaring that once they ran out, she’d have her son and daughter-in-law mail her more.

They set out at 5:30 in the morning.

The trip went smoothly, and when they reached the train station, they arrived over half an hour earlier than planned.

The train was cooperative too, with only a minor delay of about ten minutes.

It was as if they had the blessings of some benevolent spirits…

There were hugs, and farewells.

Then, the familiar sound of the steam locomotive blared as it gave a hearty whistle.

Tian Mi held her husband’s arm with one hand and waved goodbye vigorously with the other to her mother-in-law, who had stuck her head out and whose eyes were already reddened. She waved until her mother-in-law’s figure was out of sight.

Parting always carried a tinge of sadness. Even though she’d only spent a few days with her mother-in-law, Tian Mi felt a pang in her heart—let alone what her husband must have felt as her son.

She didn’t say anything, only stood quietly by her husband on the still-rugged and shabby Hongchun platform, silently watching the now-invisible train recede into the distance.

Lou Luhui didn’t stay silent for too long. After a minute or two, he returned to himself, took her hand, and said in his deep voice, “Let’s go back.”

Parting with family is never easy. Even though her own departure from Chaoyang Village hadn’t involved deep family ties, as an in-law, Tian Mi still cried when she left. She could only imagine how much harder it must be for her husband, who had clearly grown up in a warm, loving family, deeply connected to his loved ones.

As they walked hand in hand to the car parked on the road, their fingers gloved, Tian Mi pursed her lips under her scarf. “Next year, when you get leave^[1]Days off work again, I’ll go with you to Beijing.”

Hearing this, Lou Luhui smiled and opened the car door, helping her into the passenger seat. “Alright, then I’ll take you to eat roast duck—the most authentic place I can find.”

She couldn’t help but laugh, playing along. “In that case, I’m having a whole duck to myself.”

“Haha… Sure, it’s all yours.”

…

By two in the afternoon, when they were still about half an hour from the base, snowflakes finally began to fall.

With no wind, the snow quickly thickened, changing from a gentle flurry to a steady cascade.

Though Tian Mi had seen snow a few times since moving north, sitting in the car now, she couldn’t help but feel awestruck at the sheer intensity.

“Don’t worry, we’re only about twenty minutes from home. We won’t get stranded,” Lou Luhui reassured her as he noticed her staring blankly out the window, thinking she might be worried about getting stuck on the road.

Tian Mi turned back to him, smiling. “I’m not worried. I’ve just never seen snow like this in the South; it’s pouring down like a waterfall. How long will it last?”

“No way to tell, but at this rate, it could go on for a day and night, maybe even several days,” he said, then, sensing she might worry, added something to lighten the mood. “In fact, people around here would be thrilled to see snow this heavy.”

Tian Mi looked puzzled. “With this much snow, even if it only lasts a day, it’ll probably be knee-deep. What’s there to be happy about?”

“Because of the ‘Yan’er Bao^[2]烟儿炮 – Couldn’t find a direct English translation for this so I used pinyin. Each word is: 烟[Yan] – smoke/vapor, 儿[er/r/ren] – child/son/suffix, 炮[bao/pao] – dry … Continue reading  ’ that comes after,” he said with a grin.

Before she could ask, he explained the term.

It turns out that after a heavy snowfall, strong winds would often blow for several days. At that time, with snow and wind raging across the land and temperatures plummeting, the farm workers, students, and even the soldiers on his base would all have to stay home and rest. It was a rare break from the daily grind, so everyone would be in high spirits.

“…Lately, the farm’s been working hard on a water project. It’s tough work, so this snow will at least give them a few days’ rest,” he said.

Time flew by as they chatted casually. She’d barely finished listening to two interesting stories from the nearby village when Tian Mi spotted the base, faintly visible through the vast white snow.

She sighed in relief, flashing her husband a bright smile.

They’d made it home safely.

And just before the snow piled up too high for driving.

“I’m so glad you two made it back. I was worried you’d get stuck out there.” Tian Yu had been anxiously peeking out the door every few minutes since two o’clock, even though she knew her brother-in-law could find somewhere safe if they couldn’t make it back.

Lou Luhui had to return the car and handle some work at the regiment, so he dropped Tian Mi off at her sister’s place as she’d requested.

The distance from the corner to her sister’s house was less than a minute, but Tian Mi was already covered in snow by the time she reached the door.

Standing at the entrance, she held out her hands, closed her eyes, and let her sister brush the snow off, not sparing even her head and face.

“What’s going on with Chen Zhao?” As soon as Tian Mi walked in, she saw little Chen Zhao, who was usually so cheerful, slouched over the table, looking miserable.

Upon seeing her, Chen Zhao’s eyes filled with tears, and he pleaded, “Auntie…”

“What happened to you?” Tian Mi asked.

Tian Yu scolded, “Don’t bother with him. Who knows where he’s been playing, but he’s covered in lice. I’m planning to shave his head. He’s so small, yet he already cares about his looks.”

At the mention of lice, Tian Mi’s maternal instinct vanished instantly. She swiftly moved to the farthest seat from the little guy, whose dejected eyes tracked her. 

Whether it was her imagination or not, she felt her scalp itch as soon as she sat down.

With her thick, waist-length hair, which she was very proud of, Tian Mi definitely didn’t want to end up shaving it off. Thinking this, she picked up her chair and moved even farther away.

Chen Zhao’s sadness deepened.

When Lou Luhui and Chen Gang returned, snow-covered from head to toe, night had fully settled in.

Hearing the commotion at the door, the two women went to greet them.

Tian Mi tiptoed to brush the snow off her husband’s back where he couldn’t reach. “Let’s have dinner at Jie’s house tonight; everything’s ready.”

Lou Luhui had no objections. He’d often come over to Lao Chen’s place for a meal in the past, and now they were actually family.

Dinner was a big bowl of dumpling soup—just what they needed on a cold day to warm up and soothe the stomach.

After the first bowl, with the warmth spreading through their bodies, the two men slowed down their pace.

Resources were tight in the army; even the brigade commander was careful with coal. For young men like them, it was mostly a matter of braving the cold. When they got too chilly, they either gulped down hot water or went outside to run a few laps.

Each day was physically demanding, so by the time they clocked out, they were starving, both from hunger and the cold.

With their hunger now eased, they ate at a slower pace, chatting as they went.

Although Tian Mi kept chatting with her sister, she kept an ear on her husband and brother-in-law’s conversation.

She overheard that in a few days, they’d be visiting the nearby villages, where all sorts of issues seemed to crop up after heavy snowfalls.

“Resources are still so scarce. Even with all our efforts, the best we can manage is to get our soldiers about eighty percent full, and that’s still not enough…” As the Political Commissar in charge of logistics, Chen Gang had to handle logistics, making sure not only that the soldiers were fed but also that they occasionally provided relief to nearby villagers struggling through hard times.

“You see, we’ve accumulated quite a stack of coal tickets, but there’s nowhere to buy coal, and no money to buy it. If only we could get a bigger budget, we could purchase supplies from the south…” Chen Gang muttered, more to vent than anything else.

These were tough times all around.

Thanks to Commander Wang’s flexible leadership, they’d built structures to raise chickens and pigs for extra food and encouraged the soldiers to be resourceful in finding food. Even so, their best efforts only provided enough to leave everyone slightly short of full, and they still had to help the nearby villagers now and then.

Lou Luhui stayed silent, but he agreed with Lao Chen’s words in his heart. 

At the end of the day, it came down to a lack of funds. With a bit more money, they could buy supplies from the southern cities, making the next three to four months much more manageable.

Finishing the last bite in his bowl, he set down his chopsticks and finally spoke up. “Complaining won’t change things. Once this snow stops, I’ll lead a team up the mountain. We’ll do what we can to solve the immediate problems. If the soldiers are well-fed, they’ll have more strength to withstand the cold.”

Chen Gang sighed lightly. “…That’s true.” Going up the mountain in heavy snow isn’t easy; it’s always life-threatening.

After dinner, the young couple wrapped up in coats, taking advantage of the warmth from the meal as they walked home through the thick snow.

Neither spoke on the way, but they never let go of each other’s hand.

When they arrived home, the room wasn’t heated yet, so it wasn’t much warmer than outside.

“I’ll go heat the kang first,” Lou Luhui said, taking off his bulky coat and heading to the kitchen.

Tian Mi followed him in, though she kept her coat on and brought a small stool to sit on, curling up like a little silkworm.

“There’s going to be smoke in a bit. It’s choking; why don’t you wait in the bedroom?” Seeing his wife stick close to him, Lou Luhui felt a surge of happiness, especially since today was only their second day as a married couple — the peak of newlywed bliss.

Tian Mi rested her chin on her hand, watching him work, and shook her head at his suggestion. “It’s not too choking. If it gets bad, I’ll leave.”

Her mind was occupied. Hearing her husband’s conversation with her brother-in-law at dinner had reminded her of the gold she’d hidden in a box.

She was an ordinary person, and carrying dozens of pounds of gold without feeling tempted would be impossible.

What was the concept of tens of thousands in the seventies? Tian Mi had once roughly calculated it out of curiosity.

Tens of thousands now could be the equivalent of millions in the future. If she used the money to buy some old, small properties in Beijing or Shanghai, the future value was unimaginable.

But… that was just a thought.

First, she didn’t dare to go around buying property in these times. Not only would she struggle to explain the source of the gold, but if anything went wrong, her ability to breathe underwater might also be exposed.

Tian Mi never underestimated the power of the authorities, nor did she overestimate her own intelligence.

Second, her conscience and her years of education made it impossible to claim the gold as her own.

She knew that this wealth had been seized by Liu Shu and countless others like him, robbing it from others.

Technically, it was stolen goods and should be surrendered.

But given the current times, the question of who to turn it over to and whether it would be used appropriately was something she was struggling with.

Besides, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

At the very least, the authorities could ensure that outsiders wouldn’t investigate her, especially Liu Xiangdong, that scumbag.

She was always worried that the original novel’s male lead might have a protagonist’s halo. If he somehow discovered she had donated the gold, even an idiot would realize that the gold hidden in his family’s fish pond had been taken by her. Tian Mi wasn’t looking to make trouble for herself.

But how should she tell her husband and brother-in-law about this gold?

“What are you thinking about? You didn’t even hear me calling you.” Noticing the smoke in the kitchen, Lou Luhui cracked the window a little and tried to get his wife to leave.

After calling her a couple of times and seeing her still lost in thought with her chin propped up, he could only sigh and lead her out of the kitchen.

Tian Mi snapped out of it, laughing in embarrassment. “Is it ready?”

Lou Luhui leaned down and gave her nose a light peck. “Almost. You go to the bedroom, and soon the bed will be warm.” He added, “Keep your coat on for now; wait until the bed is warm to take it off.”

Thinking about the gold in the box, Tian Mi didn’t argue this time.

Back in the bedroom, Tian Mi took out the woven rattan box she’d brought from her old home and placed it on the ground.

Opening it, she found an old jacket inside. She untied the string on the jacket, lifted a corner, and was greeted by a bright, gleaming yellow.

In the past, one catties was 16 taels. A small gold bar weighing one tael was roughly 31 grams, while a large bar weighing 10 taels was around 310 grams.

Tian Mi carefully took out the gold bars one by one, lining them up on the ground. Each time she picked one up, she felt herself acting like a noble person. How much was all this worth? She had to calculate carefully.

Hmm… thirty large bars, and three hundred and twenty small bars, totaling 38.44 jin. Adding it all up… her heart ached. She had underestimated it before; at today’s gold prices, there was close to a million yuan here.

…Sss… that’s a lot of money~ah!

Tian Mi squatted down and counted it all over again, treasuring every piece to make sure the count was correct, but her little face scrunched up.

Flesh… flesh hurts^[3]Spending a lot of money is equated to feeling like you’ve cut a piece of your own flesh which hurts like hell. So that’s Tian Mi’s meaning here..

After a while of painful reluctance, she sighed. It wasn’t hers to begin with, but still, she wouldn’t even have the chance to admire it anymore.

A few minutes later, Lou Luhui opened the bedroom door, momentarily blinded by the flash of gold in front of him.

He stood in the doorway, frozen for quite a while before looking at his wife and hesitantly asking, “This… is all gold?”

Tian Mi nodded. “Yes, 38.44 catties.”

Hearing this, Lou Luhui’s mouth twitched. Gold could be measured by the catty? He’d always thought it was by grams.

“Why lay it out like this?” He was nearly dazzled. Walking into his own room, he didn’t even know where to step.

The Lou family wasn’t exactly poor, but even with all they had accumulated from Lou Zhan’s generation onward, bringing out dozens of catties of gold all at once was still a bit much.

Lou Luhui was curious; he knew Tian Tian’s family background well enough to know they wouldn’t normally have this much gold.

But since his wife had brought it out, she must be planning to tell him the gold’s origin, so he didn’t rush her. He just carefully stepped over the gold scattered on the floor and squatted beside her.

As painful as it was, Tian Mi knew that this money was dirty, so she bit her lip, gathering her resolve, and said, “Can we give this money to the army?”

She only knew that individuals could donate to the army in later years, with specific agencies managing it, but at this time, she wasn’t sure.

Lou Luhui thought he’d misheard. As he stood up, he scooped his wife onto a stool and, after a moment’s silence, asked, “Did you say you want to donate all this gold? Why? Thirty-some catties just like that? Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It’s 38.44 catties” Tian Mi corrected. Every gram was worth dozens! And of course, it hurt; it hurt terribly! But Hui Hui, this is dirty money!

Lou Luhui’s mouth twitched again. “Alright, 38.44 catties. So why give such a huge sum to the army? Because of what I said to Lao Chen earlier tonight?”

Since she’d decided to turn over the gold, Tian Mi had already thought through her reasons and now calmly explained them to her husband.

Most of what she said was true, like how the gold was ill-gotten wealth from the Liu family, how it had been hidden in their fish pond, and how the Liu family intended to use it to save Liu Shu.

The only lie was about how she had discovered the gold: “…You know, since Liu Xiangdong has been pressuring me, I figured they must have done plenty of shady things. If I could find any leverage on them, maybe I could finally resolve everything. It hadn’t even been two days of following them around when Liu Shu got into trouble. I overheard their plan to use the gold to negotiate his release. Knowing where it came from, I couldn’t stand the thought of someone like Liu Shu escaping justice, so before they retrieved the gold, I… retrieved it myself. I always planned to turn it over, but not back home, where the Liu family might find out. Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse; I didn’t want to cause trouble for myself or my family, so I brought it here. I would’ve nearly forgotten about it if you hadn’t mentioned needing funds tonight… So, does the army accept donations from citizens now? Do I get some kind of recognition? Maybe a ‘bravery award’ or something?”

After listening to his wife’s account, even though Lou Luhui noticed a few small gaps in her story, he didn’t press her for more details. Just as she could maintain warmth in the coldest water, this was her little secret; if she didn’t want to share, he wouldn’t push.

At that moment, as he looked at his young wife, Lou Luhui honestly didn’t know how to react.

Should he reprimand her for recklessly following dangerous people, or warn her against grabbing gold right from under the noses of people like the Lius? If she hadn’t managed to take the gold and had been discovered instead, he didn’t even want to think about whether he’d ever see her again.

The thought tightened his chest, and he instinctively pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. Resting his chin on her slender shoulder for a while, he finally managed to organize his chaotic thoughts and asked in disbelief, “So, you just carried dozens of catties of gold, calmly taking buses and trains, and got here just like that?”

Any normal person with this much gold would be guarding it with their life.

But his wife? Not only did she not worry, but even he—a soldier with top-notch skills in every area—had traveled with her for a few days without once realizing there was anything valuable in that box. Even when it seemed heavy, he’d only had a fleeting suspicion before brushing it aside.

Thinking back, Lou Luhui could only laugh, both frustrated and amused.

Tian Mi responded matter-of-factly, “If I acted overly cautious, wouldn’t that just tell everyone my box was valuable and make them want to steal it? Acting as if it was filled with junk was the best way to avoid attention.”

Lou Luhui was at a loss for words, thinking, well, sure, that reasoning was sound, but how many people in the world could actually manage to do that?

“Hey, answer me! Don’t just zone out. So, do you think we can give this to the army?”

“…Yes, there’s no reason not to.”

“That’s good! I’m suddenly a bit curious—hehe, Hui Hui, what do you think Brigade Commander Wang’s reaction will be?”

“Cough, cough… it’s not good to gossip about senior officials.”

“You’re not curious?”

“…Curious.”