Chapter 024

Zhenzhen stood in front of the washbasin, yawning as she turned on the tap to brush her teeth.
After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she reached for the white dry towel hanging beside her and wiped away the remaining water droplets.

She returned to her bedroom and sat down in front of the mirror. Carefully, she applied snow cream to her face, then combed and braided her hair.

Tying a ribbon to the end of her freshly braided hair, she got up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

She rinsed some rice and set a pot of porridge on the stove to cook first.

Then she gathered a handful of chives, half a carrot, a piece of tofu, and two eggs.

The fire in the stove was burning strong.

Wearing an apron, Zhenzhen stood by the table. She cracked the two eggs into a large bowl and beat them, then crumbled the tofu into the bowl to make a soft tofu mixture. She chopped the carrot and chives finely, added them to the bowl, sprinkled in some salt, and mixed everything thoroughly.

Next, she added a bit of flour to bind the mixture into a batter.

Once the batter was ready, she heated a flat pan and brushed a thin layer of oil onto it. When the oil was hot, she spooned the batter into the pan, shaping it into small round cakes. She flipped them to cook until both sides were golden brown.

One by one, the savory pancakes came out of the pan and were neatly arranged on a large plate.

Zhenzhen lifted the plate and took a deep sniff. The aroma of the vegetables made her eyes crinkle and her lips curl in satisfaction. Carrying the plate, she stepped out.

After morning training, Shi Huaiming returned, washed up, and joined Zhenzhen at the table.

The golden, fluffy, and fragrant chive-tofu breakfast pancakes, paired with a bowl of steaming hot rice porridge, made for a warm and simple meal. Sitting across from each other at the table, they shared a moment that felt like a peaceful, everyday portrait of life.

After breakfast, Shi Huaiming went off to class, while Zhenzhen stayed home to read.

She pulled out Youth Song and opened it, planning to pick up where she left off the day before.

But when she flipped to her bookmark, the first thing she saw was the many handwritten notes Shi Huaiming had added for her.

Seeing the annotations filling the previously blank spaces, she couldn’t help but smile.

With the help of his notes and explanations, she continued reading.

This time, she read more smoothly and understood the content more easily.

Zhenzhen had always enjoyed listening to stories.

Now, reading one for herself and following its threads, her heart became entangled with the fate of the protagonist. She was completely drawn in, eager to know what would happen next.

When the story reached a particularly sad part, she couldn’t help but grow emotional, lifting a hand to wipe away her tears.

So engrossed was she in the story that she forgot the time. When she finally checked the clock, she realized it was already noon.

There wasn’t enough time to cook, so she quickly put down the book, grabbed some ration tickets, and headed to the canteen for lunch.

Just as she stepped outside, she ran into Wu Dafeng. She smiled and greeted her, “Hi, sister-in-law.”

But Wu Dafeng’s face lacked its usual warmth, and her tone was curt. “So you still remember I’m your sister-in-law.”

Zhenzhen felt awkward at the tone.

She knew Wu Dafeng harbored some dissatisfaction toward her, but she didn’t know how to explain. So she kept smiling and avoided the topic, instead saying, “I’m off to get lunch at the canteen.”

Wu Dafeng shook her head and sighed. “Now you don’t even cook anymore. Hopeless.”

Zhenzhen’s smile began to falter, but Wu Dafeng went on, “You can’t compare yourself to Li Shuang. She gave He Shuo a son, and now she’s pregnant with another. You haven’t even conceived one yet. Aren’t you anxious? If you can’t have kids and can’t take care of your man, what are you even doing? How do you expect to go on like this…”

Compared to criticisms about how she looked in skirts, this hurt much more deeply.

Zhenzhen bit her lip and lowered her head. When she looked up again, she forced a smile and simply said, “Sister-in-law, I’ll be going now.”

With that, she walked off without lingering for more conversation.

On the way to the canteen, she kept her head down.

Her chest felt tight, and even after a few deep breaths, she still couldn’t shake it.

After she got her food, someone suddenly tapped her on the back. Startled, she snapped out of her thoughts.

She turned to find Li Shuang standing beside her.

Li Shuang was also holding her lunch box. “What were you thinking about? I called you twice and you didn’t even hear me.”

Zhenzhen smiled. “Nothing really. I just wasn’t paying attention.”

The two of them carried their lunch boxes out of the canteen and walked home together.

Li Shuang glanced at her again. “Got something on your mind? Tell me. Did Shi Huaiming upset you?”

Zhenzhen shook her head, looked at Li Shuang for a moment, then said, “After I started wearing skirts, Sister-in-law Dafeng keeps saying I don’t look good. I got tired of hearing it, so I’ve been avoiding her these past few days. Now she’s upset with me.”

Li Shuang looked intrigued. “Did you two argue? Don’t fight with her—you won’t win.”

Zhenzhen shook her head again. “No argument. We just don’t seem to be able to talk anymore. I greeted her earlier, and she scolded me again. I couldn’t help but wonder… maybe I really am becoming less and less like a good woman.”

At that, Li Shuang chuckled. “And what exactly is a ‘good woman’?”

Zhenzhen thought for a moment. “A good woman is someone who takes good care of her husband and children, and keeps the household running smoothly.”

Li Shuang gave a short laugh. “Marriage is a partnership. The home is built by both people. Kids, too—they’re the responsibility of both parents. It’s not all on the woman.”

Then, as if something occurred to her, she turned to Zhenzhen again. “Did she say you can’t have children?”

Zhenzhen nodded slightly, surprised that Li Shuang guessed so accurately. “Yes.”

Li Shuang dismissed it casually. “Why do you care what she says? Shi Huaiming isn’t her husband. You don’t need to listen to her.”

Zhenzhen sighed. “But in the countryside, people still think that way. A woman is supposed to find a man at the right age, get married, have kids, raise them, and keep the household in order. If she does that, everyone calls her a good woman.”

Li Shuang snorted. “And what good are those compliments? Why care about what they say? So what if you don’t have kids after getting married? What if you don’t want them? Look at your Shi Huaiming—he doesn’t care what people say about him.

“If Wu Dafeng brings it up again, and you don’t feel like telling her the truth, then just say Shi Huaiming’s the one with the problem. After all, he’s the one who refuses to sleep with you—let him take the blame.

“Why is it always the woman’s fault if there are no children? Why can’t it be the man who’s not up to it?”

When Li Shuang said that, Zhenzhen couldn’t help but blush and laugh.

She had been feeling a little down earlier, but after that laugh, she immediately felt much better.

Talking with Li Shuang all the way home, Zhenzhen’s mood had completely lightened up.

She placed the food on the dining table, then went into her room, sat down, and opened her book to continue reading from where she had left off.

She hadn’t even finished reading a full line when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Zhenzhen got up to open it and saw a mailman in a light blue uniform standing outside.

She greeted him, and he handed her a letter before turning to leave.

Zhenzhen took the letter inside. Just as she placed it on the writing desk, Shi Huaiming came back from class.

Zhenzhen came out of her room, and the two sat down to eat dinner together.

After the meal, back in the room, Zhenzhen handed the letter to Shi Huaiming and said, “It looks like it’s from home.”

Shi Huaiming glanced at the envelope and replied, “You read it.”

Zhenzhen knew he was using this as an opportunity to help her practice.

She didn’t say anything, just nodded, and carefully tore open the envelope.

She took out the letter, slowly unfolded it, and scanned through it briefly.

Just from skimming, she noticed there were several characters she didn’t recognize.

Shi Huaiming, aware of her limited reading ability, told her, “Just like reading a book—if you come across a word you don’t know, try to guess its meaning from the context. As long as it’s roughly accurate, that’s good enough. If it’s really too hard, I’ll help.”

Zhenzhen nodded again, then, with a mix of guesswork and help from Shi Huaiming, began reading aloud:

“Huaiming, Zhenzhen, everything at home has been going well lately. The crops in the fields are growing nicely, and the bean sprouts are selling okay too. My health isn’t a major issue, and I’ve been feeling much better lately. We don’t lack money at home, and life in the city isn’t easy—keep the money for yourselves, don’t shortchange yourselves. Especially you, Huaiming, don’t let Zhenzhen suffer. Zhenzhen’s been in the city for a while now—has there been any movement in her belly yet? I’m waiting to hold…”

At this part, Zhenzhen’s voice softened.

She turned to glance at Shi Huaiming, but he didn’t show any particular reaction.

So she quickly turned her gaze back to the letter and finished reading the last few lines.

When she was done, Shi Huaiming asked, “Do you want to try writing a reply? Leave blanks for the words you don’t know—I’ll fill them in.”

Zhenzhen thought that should be doable and nodded. “I’ll give it a try.”

Shi Huaiming didn’t hand her official letter paper and a fountain pen right away.

Instead, he said, “Draft it on your own notebook first. Once it’s ready, you can copy it over.”

Zhenzhen nodded again, picked up a pencil, and opened her notebook.

As she thought over her wording, she began to write:

“Mother, Big Brother, and Sister-in-law, this is Zhenzhen. Since coming here, I’ve been learning to write from Third Brother. This letter is from me. Please don’t worry, I’m doing well here with Third Brother. He treats me very well and hasn’t let me suffer. I’ve also made many new friends here—they’re all very nice to me, and I’m very happy…”

Of course, Zhenzhen didn’t write out everything she had in her mind—some characters she simply didn’t know how to write.

She left blanks for the ones she didn’t know and planned to let Shi Huaiming fill them in later.

After writing about daily matters, she hadn’t yet touched on the pregnancy topic.

Holding her pencil, she hesitated for a moment, thinking back to what Li Shuang had said earlier.

Then, lowering her eyes and composing herself for a moment, she slowly added:

“Third Brother’s health hasn’t been so good, so we can’t have children just yet. We’ll wait until he’s feeling better before we try…”

After finishing, Zhenzhen reviewed what she had written.

Feeling it was fine, she handed the notebook to Shi Huaiming. “I left blanks for the words I didn’t know.”

Shi Huaiming acknowledged this and took her notebook. As he read through her letter, he began filling in the missing characters as she had requested.

But when he got to the part about not being able to have children, he paused.

“…”

His health wasn’t good? So they couldn’t have children?

He underwent rigorous physical training every day—how could his health be an issue?

Suddenly, he recalled the night Zhenzhen got drunk at the Western restaurant and slurred while lying on his back, asking him if he was impotent.

He slowly turned his head to look at Zhenzhen, wondering—did she really think he hadn’t touched her because he was… incapable?

It wasn’t clear what he was thinking.

Zhenzhen, feeling uneasy under his gaze, quickly explained, “It’s just an excuse… just something to tell them—otherwise, Mother would keep pestering us…”

Shi Huaiming didn’t say anything about what he was thinking.

After a moment, he looked away and lowered his pen to the blank space. “What do I fill in here?”

Zhenzhen leaned over to look—it was the part addressed to Shi Danling and Shi Xingguo. She said, “Oh, fill in the characters for ‘hardworking’ (勤奋).”

Shi Huaiming filled in the characters, then handed the notebook back to her, along with proper letter paper and a fountain pen.

Zhenzhen took the materials, looked at Shi Huaiming, and asked, “Nothing needs to be changed?”

Shi Huaiming replied, “A letter is just saying what you want to say—no need to change it.”

Since there was nothing to change, Zhenzhen uncapped the pen and carefully copied her draft onto the letter paper.

Once she was done, she blew on the ink to dry it, tore off the page, folded it up, and slipped it into a new envelope.

After sealing the envelope, Shi Huaiming taught her how to write the recipient’s address and name, as well as the sender’s address and name—all of which needed to be precise and properly formatted.

Zhenzhen followed his instructions, first drafting everything in her notebook.

After confirming it was correct, she neatly transferred the information to the envelope and affixed a stamp.

When everything was finished, Zhenzhen looked at the envelope and couldn’t help but smile. “Mother and Sister-in-law are definitely going to be surprised and amazed.”

Shi Huaiming echoed her sentiment, “They definitely will.”