Chapter 54: Envy and Jealousy (Part 2)

Like his father, Mu Zhuo was easy to order around. As soon as he heard his mother’s words, he shot up like a rocket. “Do you need something done? I’ll do it!”

Liu Shuangcui replied, “What needs to be done? Everything’s already finished. Come eat!”

Mu Mian followed right after her big brother, and as she did, she even let out a couple of ‘cluck cluck’ sounds.

No eggs had been laid, but she could at least imitate the sound.

The key point was—she sounded just like a real hen, making Comrade Liu Shuangcui laugh out loud. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think our old hen had gotten out.”

Mu Mian lifted her chin and clucked twice more in response to Liu Shuangcui.

The old hen hadn’t run out, but your daughter had arrived!

Zhao Meihua chuckled, “Teasing your mother again.”

Liu Shuangcui shook her head, “She acts like she’ll never grow up.”

While the adults laughed, Shiyi was completely dumbfounded.

The dog tilted its head up, looking at its owner with big, puzzled eyes.

It probably couldn’t understand how its human, who was clearly its owner, suddenly sounded like a hen.

Mu Fugui burst into laughter. “Stupid dog!”

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Shiyi barked twice at him.

Mu Fugui clicked his tongue. “Wow, got quite the temper.”

Shiyi barked again, “Woof woof!”

Mu Fugui surrendered, “Alright, alright, not stupid, not stupid. You’re really smart.”

Mu Mian, knowing her dog well, remarked, “Shiyi is probably just hungry.”

Liu Shuangcui had already started eating. “Even the dog knows when it’s hungry, but you lot just let the food sit on the table without eating.”

Mu Fugui waved her off, “Eat, eat, eat, who’s not eating?! Zhuo boy, hurry up and eat. After that, let’s go. You ride today, I’ll sit in the back and take it easy.”

Mu Zhuo agreed, “Got it!”

Mu Mian wasn’t going out, so she scooped some food for Shiyi first.

—

Once the father and son had left, Mu Mian stayed home. She helped the old lady tidy up the house and then went to the river to wash some dirty clothes.

Noticing that the large water vat was half empty, she carried two buckets of water back to fill it up.

After all that work, she finally sat down inside to focus on her picture books.

She hadn’t been writing articles for a while. Some of the magazines she had submitted to had already shut down.

The ones that remained had also reduced their circulation and raised their submission standards.

Right now, Mu Mian was focusing on picture books instead. She still needed to make money, so she planned to finish her work and submit it after some time.

She had learned from Nie Sihui two years ago that Nie Sihui had a friend at the Hushi Pictorial Publishing House. Through her, Mu Mian had also gained some insight into the industry.

For instance, over the past year, the publishing house hadn’t been affected too much. The impact had only been on a few individuals.

They were still accepting submissions, but the review process had become more stringent.

For Mu Mian, who had already published three or four books, this wasn’t a big issue.

—

The house was quiet.

Mu Mian had just written the opening lines when she suddenly heard the voices of the twin sisters from the front yard.

She stretched her neck and looked outside, noticing several other little kids following behind them.

The twin sisters caught sight of her cousin through the window slit and immediately hopped excitedly. “Sister Mian!”

Mu Mian leaned against the window and asked, “What are you all up to?”

Xiao Miao, like an excited little puppy, sprinted into Mu Mian’s room with her short legs. “We came to play with you!”

Every single one of the little kids following her rushed inside too.

“Sister Mian!”

“Sister Mian, what are you doing?”

“Sister Mian~”

…

…

Mu Mian was pretty, always cheerful, easy to talk to, and strong enough to lift little kids into the air.

To these little rascals, their Sister Mian was the most amazing big kid in the entire brigade!

The kind who was super, super powerful—even the adults couldn’t compare!

Because of this, Mu Mian’s house was always filled with kids.

She had already gotten used to it. After all, kids as young as one or two and as old as three or four years older than her had all called her ‘big sister’ before.

It was a normal occurrence. Nothing surprising.

She looked at the little Xiao Miao in front of her and straightened the girl’s slightly messy braids. “Are you really here just to play?”

Xiao Miao grinned widely, showing her baby teeth. “Hehe, it’s actually because Wangwang wants candy. He made me come ask when Big Brother Zhuo and Sister Sihui are getting married.”

For these little ones, New Year celebrations and weddings in the brigade were the best events.

During these times, the adults were always generous, handing out candies. If they were close, they might even give them a few cents as lucky money.

Mu Mian laughed. “That’s still a bit far off—at least a month away.”

The little ones widened their eyes as if they had just heard something unbelievable.

Xiao Miao asked, “That long? Why does it take so long?”

Mu Mian replied, “Long? This is actually quite fast!”

Xiaomiaomiao pouted, “Sister Mian, you’re lying! How is this fast? My dad said he and my mom got married in less than a week!”

Mu Mian said, “Your parents had a special situation.”

At that time, her little aunt had nowhere else to go, so of course, she had to get married quickly.

Xiao Miao tilted her little head and asked, “What special situation?”

Before Mu Mian could answer, the little boy named Wangwang looked puzzled and asked Xiao Mai, “Your parents got married so fast, why didn’t we get any wedding candies?”

Xiao Miao chimed in, “Yeah, why not?”

Xiao Mai, who truly had the demeanor of an older sister—despite being only twenty minutes older than Xiao Miao—spoke with the maturity of someone two years older, “Because we weren’t born yet.”

Xiao Miao, full of curiosity, asked, “Then where were we?”

Xiao Mai didn’t know the answer to that.

The little ones all turned to look at Mu Mian.

Mu Mian: “………………”

There was no way she could explain the origins of life to a bunch of little kids in this era.

She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a few candies, handing them over. “Same rule as always, one piece per person. If you can dig up some worms, you get another one.”

For the past year or two, her old hens’ extra meals had all depended on these little kids.

Wangwang was the first to respond. “I’ll dig! Sister Mian, I promise to find a lot!”

Mu Mian patted his little buzz cut. “I believe in you!”

The little kids immediately ran off with their heads held high as if they had been given an important mission.

Only Xiao Mai stayed behind, eyeing the picture books on Mu Mian’s table. “Sister Mian, can I keep reading?”

Mu Mian picked her up and placed her on the chair beside her. “Go ahead, just don’t damage them.”

Xiao Miao, realizing her sister hadn’t followed along, ran back and asked, “Sister, why aren’t you coming?”

Xiao Mai put on an expression of ‘I’m already a big kid and don’t want to play with you little ones’ as she said, “I want to read. You go play with them.”

Xiao Miao made a face of disdain. “What’s so great about books? Those words look like little bugs.”

The old lady passing by saw her little granddaughter frowning. “How will you go to school in the future?”

Xiao Miao waved her little hand, looking extremely pleased with her own cleverness. “I’ll just let my sister go to school for me!”

The old lady laughed so hard she could barely stand. “Oh dear, we’ve got a little fool in the family.”

Xiao Miao stomped her foot in protest. “I’m not a fool! Dad says I’m the smartest of all!”

After saying that, she ran off to join her little friends.

Mu Mian brought another chair over and sat beside Xiao Mai.

With the noisy little kids gone, the house instantly became much quieter.

Xiao Mai didn’t know how to read, but she was thoroughly enjoying the pictures, sitting there seriously absorbed.

As the two sisters sat side by side…

At Hongxing Commune.

After Mu Zhuo arrived at the post office, he first called the military reception office.

While the on-duty soldier went to call Wen Zhan, Mu Zhuo also arranged for his report to be expedited.

Expedited reports cost more, but they were much faster.

By the time everything was settled, the call from the other side had just come through.

Before Wen Zhan could even speak, Mu Zhuo started talking excitedly, “Old Wen, you haven’t used those ration tickets your family sent you, have you?”

After fighting side by side for four or five years, facing life and death together countless times, the two of them were as close as brothers and spoke casually with each other.

Wen Zhan asked, “No, why? You need them?”

Mu Zhuo said, “Yes, yes! I do! When are you taking leave? Can you come in August? I’ll meet you in the provincial capital!”

Wen Zhan replied, “Probably early August.”

Mu Zhuo said, “Then that should be just in time.”

Wen Zhan was confused. “What do you mean by ‘just in time’? The ration tickets won’t expire.”

Inside the reception office…

Wen Zhan was just making a casual remark, but the next second, Mu Zhuo’s voice suddenly went up a pitch, carrying a smugness that made it clear—‘You finally asked the right question!’

Wen Zhan knew this tone too well. Every time Mu Zhuo talked about his sister, he had this exact same smugness in his voice.

Just as Wen Zhan thought he was about to hear another “my little sister,” he suddenly heard Mu Zhuo say, “Ration tickets don’t expire, but good wedding dates are limited.”

Wen Zhan fell silent for two seconds before he could respond.

Before he could say anything, Mu Zhuo went on enthusiastically, “I already sent in my marriage report. Keep an eye on it for me, and don’t forget about the tickets! When you get married, I’ll return the favor and make sure you have everything you need!”

Wen Zhan, who had absolutely no thoughts of marriage, simply replied, “No need. Who’s your partner?”

Mu Zhuo, still with that ‘you finally asked the right question’ tone, said, “A former educated youth from our brigade. All thanks to my little sister! Let me tell you, my little sister…”

Mu Zhuo then launched into a long-winded explanation, successfully racking up a phone bill of five yuan.

He didn’t feel bad about it at all and cheerfully paid the bill.

Meanwhile, in Ningzhang City…

When Dong Chai heard that Mu Zhuo had called, he arrived at the reception office a moment later.

By the time he got there, Wen Zhan had just hung up the phone.

Dong Chai immediately leaned in. “What did Old Mu call about?”

Wen Zhan answered directly, “He sent in a marriage report and asked us to keep an eye on it. Oh, and he also wants to exchange some ration tickets.”

Dong Chai was completely caught off guard. “What?! He just got back home, and he already has a partner?!”

Wen Zhan summed it up neatly, “His sister set him up.”

Then, he repeated everything Mu Zhuo had rambled on about.

Dong Chai was filled with admiration, envy, and jealousy. “Where the hell did he get such an amazing little sister?!”

When he was in the army, that little girl eagerly sent him all sorts of things. At such a young age, she could earn money and even embroider words, clearly keeping her big brother close to her heart.

Now that he was back home, she swiftly found him a great match.

Why didn’t he have such a smart and thoughtful little sister?

Dong Chai sighed longingly. “Old Wen, tell me, do you think if I ask my parents to have another child now, it would be too late?”

Wen Zhan: “……”

If his memory served him right, Uncle Dong and Aunt Dong were already in their fifties.