Chapter 27

The news of the Old Lu family’s division spread through Lujiacun as if it had wings. During the day, the gossiping women in the village, having nothing else to do, gathered together to talk about the Old Lu family’s business.

Whenever they saw someone from the family, they would burst into loud laughter, as if they were high on energy.

Because of this, the elderly Lu couple, who used to love going out, now stayed at home with gloomy faces all day long.

Old Lu was okay; he was just sitting in the house, puffing on cigarettes out of frustration. But Mother Lu was different. She had always been a bit of a troublemaker, and now, stuck at home because of the family division, she couldn’t go out.

To make matters worse, her two daughters-in-law acted as if they hadn’t seen her, just walking around the house.

The thought of this made Mother Lu angry, but with the family division, everyone had closed their doors and was living their own lives, so she couldn’t find any outlet for her anger.

One day, after having lunch, Mother Lu was lying down in her room, just like before, when something strange happened in the room of Sister Chen Meilan. For some reason, after eating, the child, Xiao Mianhua, lay down on the heated bed and suddenly started having stomach trouble, throwing up and having diarrhea. Sister Chen Meilan was frantic, especially since Lu Dashan wasn’t home. She quickly ran out to ask the neighbor, Jiang Chunzao, for help.

Jiang Chunzao was at home, washing beans and planning to cook some stir-fried sour beans with meat for dinner when she was startled by Sister Chen Meilan’s frantic entrance.

After hearing what was going on, Jiang Chunzao and Sister Chen Meilan quickly decided that Jiang Chunzao would go out to find the village’s barefoot doctor, and Sister Chen Meilan would stay home to watch over Xiao Mianhua.

Jiang Chunzao rushed out into the village. It was a hot summer day, and after just a few steps, her face was burning from the heat. But no matter how hot it was, she had to find the doctor. Xiao Mianhua was still at home, suffering.

Luckily, her two children were still napping, so Jiang Chunzao didn’t have to worry about them.

The village’s barefoot doctor, Lu Rongjun, was the younger brother of the village chief, Han Rongfa. The two brothers were well-known, one being a scholar and the other a warrior, both having made something of themselves.

When Jiang Chunzao arrived at the door, the Han family was just finishing lunch. Han Rongjun had just seen a patient, and his cornmeal bun was still warm when he heard some noise at the door.

Han Rongfa’s wife looked out and was surprised to see the famous village beauty, Jiang Chunzao, at their house. She thought it was odd but warmly invited her inside.

Jiang Chunzao quickly explained what was happening with Xiao Mianhua, and Han Rongjun, upon hearing this, immediately grabbed his medical kit and rushed out with Jiang Chunzao.

They quickly jogged to the Old Lu family’s home, where Xiao Mianhua was lying on the heated bed, her face pale from vomiting, unable to be woken up. Sister Chen Meilan was crying uncontrollably, and Lu Dashan, who had rushed home, was also frantic. Even Old Lu and Mother Lu were there, but to Jiang Chunzao’s surprise, the couple known for their love of gossip, Lu Ershan and his wife, had locked themselves inside their room, seemingly unaware of what was going on.

But that wasn’t the time to worry about them. Han Rongjun glanced at Xiao Mianhua’s pale face, examined her carefully, and frowned.

“The child has food poisoning.”

As soon as Han Rongjun said this, everyone in the Old Lu family was stunned. What? Food poisoning? How could a healthy child suddenly have food poisoning?

Mother Lu, glancing at the sobbing Sister Chen Meilan beside her, snapped angrily: “Well, well, after the family division, you treat my Mianhua like this? Tell me, what did you feed my Mianhua to make her get food poisoning?”

Sister Chen Meilan, confused, wiped her tears and said: “What could I have given her? Since the division, every morning I’ve been boiling eggs for Mianhua and leaving a cornmeal bun for her breakfast. Then, I’d come back at noon to cook lunch for the child. What else could she have eaten at home?”

Lu Dashan, who was also nearby, chimed in: “That’s right, Mother. I leave with Meilan in the morning and return at noon with her. Meilan didn’t give the child anything bad to eat, did she?”

Old Lu took a couple of puffs of his cigarette and, in a hoarse voice, suggested:

“Could it be that, in this hot summer, Mianhua drank too much cold water to cool off, and that upset her stomach?”

After giving Mianhua an injection, Han Rongjun shook his head at Old Lu’s suggestion: “Brother, that’s not right. From the symptoms the child is showing, it’s clear that she ate something unclean, which caused this.”

Ate something unclean?

Jiang Chunzao, standing to the side, was puzzled. Although the third branch of the family was the first to split off from the Old Lu family, she had known Sister Chen Meilan for many years. Sister Chen Meilan was always neat and efficient with her work, and her house was tidy. It was true that the Old Lu family didn’t always have the best food, but it didn’t seem like something that would cause food poisoning, especially when the breakfast was prepared by the clean and careful Sister Chen Meilan herself—just a simple breakfast of boiled eggs and cornmeal buns. How could that upset her stomach?

Jiang Chunzao thought hard, but couldn’t make sense of it. Just as she was racking her brain, Xiao Mianhua, who had just been injected, started to come to. As soon as the Old Lu family saw that she had woken up, they hurried to her side to check how she was doing.

Xiao Mianhua, seeing everyone’s concerned faces, suddenly burst into tears. Sister Chen Meilan was startled, worried that the child might still be feeling unwell. She quickly asked: “Mianhua, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt? Mom’s here.” 

“Dad’s here too, Mianhua. Tell Dad, what’s going on? Did you eat something unclean?”

Xiao Mianhua’s tears were welling up in her eyes as she answered: 

“Mom, my stomach hurts. My egg and cornmeal bun were taken by my second aunt, and I had nothing to eat, so I ate the white cornmeal bun my second aunt gave me.”

At that moment, Liu Hongyan, who had been eavesdropping behind the door, froze. 

The Old Lu family reacted in unison: This damned Liu Hongyan!

—

“Liu Hongyan! You bastard! Even a child’s breakfast, you couldn’t leave alone? I’m going to settle this with you!” 

The usually mild-mannered Sister Chen Meilan screamed in fury, kicking open the door to Liu Hongyan’s room. Liu Hongyan, who had been sneaking around like a rat, was startled when the door flew open, and she barely managed a nervous smile. 

“Big Sister, what are you doing here in the middle of the afternoon? I was just about to take a nap.” 

Nap? You’re napping my foot! 

Sister Chen Meilan shot her an angry glare, stomping over and slapping Liu Hongyan twice hard across the face. Liu Hongyan’s eyes went dizzy, and her face immediately swelled up. Just at that moment, Mother Lu remembered her unborn grandson, and while patting her thigh, she shouted: “Eldest daughter-in-law, what are you doing? The second daughter-in-law is still pregnant, and this little Mianhua is fine! Why are you hurting her? You’ve caused trouble for my little grandson! You eat in my house, live in my house, and now you dare hurt my little grandson? You really have some nerve!”

With Mother Lu supporting her, Liu Hongyan began to wail even louder. “You won’t forgive me? Go ahead and see what you can do!” 

Old Lady Lu’s words only made Sister Chen Meilan angrier. She slapped Liu Hongyan a few more times, then wiped away her tears and turned to Jiang Chunzao with fiery eyes:  “Third Sister-in-law, I’ve had enough of this! Tonight, I’m staying at your house. This afternoon, I’ll go to the village chief and buy back the old family land where my grandparents’ house used to be. Even if I have to sell everything I have, I’ll build a new house. I won’t live in this Old Lu family compound anymore!”

After saying that, Sister Chen Meilan dragged a stunned Jiang Chunzao into the back room, slamming the door behind them. 

The rest of the Old Lu family stood in the yard, speechless and exchanging looks. After a long pause, Lu Rongjun awkwardly scratched his nose and left the Old Lu house.

Meanwhile, Old Lady Lu continued to shout in the yard, cursing and screaming everything unpleasant she could think of. Finally, even Lu Dashan, the normally good-natured one, couldn’t stand it any longer. He looked at Mother Lu in disappointment and said: “Mom, today I just want to ask you one thing—do you really see Mianhua as just a worthless little girl in your eyes?”

Mother Lu, who had been cursing loudly just moments before, was speechless.

Father Lu, with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot, fiercely glared at both the Old Lady Lu and the crying Liu Hongyan before snarling: “Go ahead, make your racket. You two will ruin this family sooner or later!”

The Old Lady Lu and Liu Hongyan: “…”

---

The green train finally clattered to a stop at the military base after a long journey. Amid the bustling crowd, Lu Lin, dressed in military uniform, carried two large bags as he disembarked from the train.

A guard, waiting at the train station, immediately ran over from the jeep and stood in front of Lu Lin, saluting: “Captain, good to see you! How’s your wife and the kids?”

Smiling cheerfully, the guard, Xiao Zhao, looked up at Lu Lin. However, Lu Lin merely raised his dark eyes and stared blankly at him, prompting Xiao Zhao to quickly shut his mouth.

Ugh, the Squad Leader is still so cold.

The jeep bumped along the mountain roads for over an hour before finally reaching the military base before dark. As Lu Lin stepped out of the car, holding his bags, Fang Man, who had been waiting at the base entrance for several days, ran out from a corner, tears in her eyes.

“Big Brother Lu, you’re finally back. I waited so long for you.”

Fang Man looked pitiful, her eyes brimming with affection as she gazed at Lu Lin.

To say that Fang Man’s life had been tough recently would be an understatement. After she had a falling out with her sister-in-law, Sister Fang, Sister Fang packed her bags and took her son, Mingming, back to her parents’ home.

Captain Fang asked for leave to go to his wife’s parents’ home to fetch her, only to be met with a torrent of abuse from his mother-in-law, who accused him of treating her daughter like a treasure until she was sixteen, and then sending her off to be a beast of burden for the Fang family.

“Don’t even get me started on your damn mother, let’s talk about your damn sister. She’s twenty years old, an old maid, still relying on her older brother’s family for food and drink. She can’t even wash her own clothes and expects my daughter to do it! Bah! Is she some sort of fairy who descended from the heavens? What, does she think my daughter will serve her for the rest of her life?”

“Go eat crap!” 

Captain Fang, thoroughly scolded by his mother-in-law, returned home with a grim face. When he saw that Fang Man still hadn’t left, and that she had made the house a mess, he was furious. He immediately scolded her and told her to leave.

Fang Man, now kicked out, had no choice but to go stay in the school dormitory. However, her relationships with her coworkers had always been bad, and after just a few days, her roommates got so fed up with her that they isolated her completely.

Feeling wronged, Fang Man waited for her “Big Brother Lu” to return. However, as soon as Lu Lin saw her, he delivered an emotional blow that left her stunned.

According to an eyewitness account from the guard Xiao Zhao, that day, Fang Man was gazing at Lu Lin with a soft and affectionate look. Lu Lin, however, didn’t even lift an eyebrow. He coldly asked: “Who are you?”

Fang Man: !!!

Perhaps it was the emotional blow from Lu Lin’s indifference that completely shattered Fang Man’s thick-skinned facade. She burst into tears, covered her face, and ran away.

Lu Lin, as if nothing had happened, nonchalantly grabbed his bag and walked into the military base, leaving Xiao Zhao gaping in disbelief behind him.

—

That evening, the meal at the third household of the Lu family was particularly lavish: a plate of stir-fried sour beans and pork, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, spicy crayfish, and a pot of rich millet porridge. When Jiang Chunzao brought the freshly baked flatbread to the table, Sister Chen Meilan and Mianhua’s mother were both too nervous to even pick up their chopsticks.

Sister Chen Meilan, fidgeting anxiously, began rubbing her hands together.

“Third Sister-in-law, the food looks delicious, but Mianhua and I can just have some cornbread. Let the good food go to the children,” Sister Chen Meilan said, her voice full of hesitation.

“Sister-in-law, you’ve come all the way here, don’t be polite. Mianhua is still sick and needs nourishing food. This millet porridge and scrambled eggs with tomatoes are light and perfect for her. Mianhua, eat up and have more,” Jiang Chunzao said with a smile, warmly inviting them to eat.

Since the family split, only Jiang Chunzao’s mother and the three of them had been living in the house. Today, Sister Chen Meilan and little Mianhua came to visit, and the excitement of the children, Shitou and Xiaomoli, was evident on their flushed faces.

Sister Chen Meilan and her daughter were moved by the hospitality. Mianhua, feeling hungry, ate with gusto, and the two of them dug into their meals.

It was a satisfying meal for little Mianhua, and when she went to bed that evening, she still smiled, humming contentedly. Sister Chen Meilan, after washing her feet, looked at her daughter with mixed emotions. She was happy, yet heartbroken. Mianhua had such a tough life; in the old Lu family, she had never tasted anything good, and she had lived such a hard life.

But today, things were different. The village head had said that the land where her parents’ old house stood would be sold to the big house, and tomorrow, she would go back to her family to borrow money. She was determined to build her own house—even if she had to sell everything to do it.

The next day, Sister Chen Meilan returned to her family with Mianhua. Her parents, knowing how badly their daughter and granddaughter had been living, gave all the money they had to her. Sister Chen Meilan came back, her eyes red with emotion.

Back at the old Lu family, the villagers knew about Liu Hongyan’s disgraceful actions. Whenever she went out, they spat and cursed at her. Even Lu Ershan and Lu Mutou’s reputation was tarnished, and Lu Ershan was so furious that he beat Liu Hongyan at home.

Liu Hongyan had been punished, and Mother Lu was not feeling much better. Her husband ignored her, and her eldest son, who used to be so obedient, no longer treated her with respect.

The little old woman felt very resentful. After sulking at home for several days, Mother Lu could no longer hold it in.

When she finally stepped out to take a walk in the village, she saw that the foundation for Sister Chen Meilan’s new house had already been laid…