Chapter 15

The old principal was very gratified to see her reaction and smiled, saying, “As long as it helps, that’s good.”

He turned to Han Zecheng and said, “Zecheng, Teacher Su is a good comrade. You must treat her well in the future.”

Han Zecheng naturally agreed.

Then the old principal looked at Su Ruo and said, “Teacher Su, Zecheng has always been cold on the outside but warm inside. You two must live a good life together.”

He was also worried that once Su Ruo got into university, the two might be separated.

After all, he had seen too many such cases.

But he couldn’t say much, so he only hinted at it with a few words.

Su Ruo blushed slightly.

It felt too strange.

Although she knew the old principal meant well, she felt too embarrassed to reply and just lowered her head and pretended to be shy.

Han Zecheng glanced at her, then turned back to the principal and changed the subject.

Later, Su Ruo filled out her resignation form. After a brief chat between Han Zecheng and the principal, the two of them left.

They didn’t leave immediately after exiting the office. Han Zecheng accompanied her to the staff office, where everyone was surprised and happy to see Su Ruo. When they heard she was resigning, they were reluctant to let her go.

Su Ruo didn’t say much. She just smiled and gave out the pastries she brought, and in turn, everyone warmly introduced themselves in front of Han Zecheng, while Su Ruo quietly memorized their names.

Teacher Zheng was also in the office.

He hadn’t said much during the entire time. Only when Su Ruo was about to leave did he bring out a notebook, and, trying to sound casual and like a normal colleague, handed it to her, saying, “Teacher Su, since you’re taking the college entrance exam, my family sent me a ‘Math, Physics, and Chemistry Self-Study Series’ from Shanghai. I’m also preparing for the exam, so I can’t bear to give the book away, but since we’ve worked together for so many years, I copied down some key points for you. Take it and study.”

The office quieted down.

Su Ruo noticed that beneath Zheng Shuoqiang’s attempt at a casual demeanor, he was actually quite nervous. Whether or not the notebook was truly precious didn’t matter—what she could see was that this Teacher Zheng was not a frivolous person. Plus, just now she overheard other teachers talking and they didn’t seem to know she was taking the college entrance exam. Yet, not only did he know, he even copied a book for her. Clearly, their relationship in the past must have been quite good.

She gave him a smile and reached out to accept it.

She had only just lifted the cover when she saw the densely packed writing inside—it filled more than half the notebook.

This… to copy so much in just a few days, did he copy the entire book?

Su Ruo felt like it was burning her hands, but this clearly wasn’t the time to refuse.

So she sincerely thanked him.

Once back in the car, she opened the notebook again.

It was thick, with neat handwriting and incredibly detailed content… Seeing this made Su Ruo feel uneasy.

She turned to glance at the books the old principal had given her, and that calmed her heart a bit. Perhaps she was just well-liked—these principals and colleagues were good people.

Thinking back to her former classmates and teachers, they had all been kind to her too.

She had originally wondered how she managed to survive five years constantly facing people like Han Zecheng’s mother, who disliked her so much.

But after this trip to the school, she suddenly realized she must have spent very little time at the Han household—most of it was at school. Judging by how the teachers and students treated her, her life probably wasn’t as miserable as she’d imagined.

Holding the notebook in her hands, Su Ruo became lost in thought.

Han Zecheng glanced sideways at her, jealousy practically bursting from his chest. The notebook especially annoyed him, but he couldn’t say a single word.

What could he say?

He could only hold it in.

…..

By the time they returned from the commune’s elementary school, it was already late. Many people working in the fields had come home. Han Zecheng then took Su Ruo and Han Guo around the village to visit a few of his paternal uncles and cousins to say goodbye.

Su Ruo kept up the act of having a sore throat and didn’t speak much. She simply followed Han Zecheng and greeted people when needed.

His uncles and cousins were all very enthusiastic. They brought out food and gifts from home, telling Han Zecheng and Su Ruo that the Han family village was their roots, and they should come back to visit whenever they could.

By the time they had finished visiting those houses, the sky had already darkened. Su Ruo was planning to pack up some things once they returned home, but before she could sit down, villagers began arriving one after another.

It turned out they had heard Su Ruo would be leaving with Han Zecheng to join the military life, and had come to say goodbye.

They didn’t want Su Ruo to leave.

After all, which household didn’t have kids going to school?

Having a teacher from the village at school meant someone could look out for their kids. If they had any questions, they could ask her. Although Su Ruo looked very refined and beautiful, which made her seem distant, she was actually very kind and unpretentious. So both the students and parents liked her a lot.

None of the villagers came empty-handed. Some brought a couple of eggs, others a string of cured meat, some offered dried wild vegetables from their own yard, and some even brought bird eggs or wild game caught by the kids in the mountains.

During such materially poor times, when many families still struggled to get enough to eat, these seemingly modest items were actually precious—rare treats they wouldn’t normally eat themselves.

Su Ruo was deeply moved by these simple gifts.

The initial repulsion she felt toward the place, brought on by Wu Guizhi, finally disappeared.

After the villagers left, she fiddled with the gifts and murmured softly, “It really doesn’t seem as bad here as I first thought. If I could remember everything, maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible after all.”

Earlier, seeing the notebook, encountering Wu Guizhi again, and hearing them repeatedly mention “divorce” had made her instinctively reject those lost five years.

She felt like they must have been a nightmare.

She had even thought maybe heaven was kind to her—letting her skip those years entirely.

But now, after going to school and interacting with the villagers, she started thinking—maybe it wasn’t that bad after all.

Han Zecheng heard her but said nothing.

Amid the rising cooking smoke, the village exuded a rustic charm worth holding on to.

Even in his own memories, there were things here worth cherishing and missing.

….

That night’s dinner was lavish.

There was a pot of braised pork and tofu gleaming with oil, bright red chili-fried tender tofu, and several home-grown vegetables.

This time, there was no division between big and small tables—Han Heping invited everyone to eat at the big table together.

After all, it was a farewell dinner for Han Zecheng and Su Ruo.

The children ate happily, having more bowls of rice than usual. But among the adults, apart from the jubilant Han Jialin and Wu Jiaoyan, everyone else was quiet—faces sullen or stiff, eating silently.

Han Heping tried to make some conversation, but being a reserved person, he didn’t say much beyond asking Han Zecheng and Han Guo to eat more vegetables.

Wu Guizhi wore a stiff expression and didn’t say a word the entire time.

But after dinner, once Sister-in-law Liu Xiumei had cleared the dishes, Wu Guizhi brought up another matter.

She said to Han Zecheng, “Zecheng, I’ve thought it over. I was a bit hasty and talkative before, but I meant well. Please be understanding.”

“I’ve given it more thought. If you want your wife to accompany you to the army, then let her. But you’ll be busy with training, and she has to study for the college entrance exam. How will you two have time to take care of Guozi? If she really does pass and ends up going somewhere for school, then there’ll be even less time. So, why don’t you leave Guozi here? I’ll look after him for you.”

Su Ruo frowned, but before she could say anything, Han Guo jumped up and shouted, “I’m not staying behind!”

Wu Guizhi’s face darkened as she snapped, “You’re just a child—what are you making a fuss about? Your father is busy with work, your mother has to study. If you go to the army base, what are you going to do—live like a wild child?”

Han Guo pouted, then turned and threw his arms around Su Ruo. “Mama, I don’t want to stay. I don’t need anyone to take care of me—I can take care of myself!”

Su Ruo didn’t say anything, so he turned back and glared furiously at Wu Guizhi. “Take care of me? You mean making me wash dishes, sweep the floor, and do chores all day? Not letting me eat properly, only giving me thin porridge and coarse buns? Snatching away the things my mom bought for me, hitting me with a feather duster? Even the hired hands at a landlord’s home weren’t treated this badly. I have a mom and dad—why should I be your servant?”

Su Ruo: “……”

She truly hadn’t expected that this mother-in-law of hers treated her son like this on a regular basis.

Her face darkened, and fury began to rise inside her—not just at Wu Guizhi, but at herself too. How could she let someone treat her son like this?

Wu Guizhi’s face turned red in an instant.

From her point of view, she genuinely didn’t believe she had mistreated Han Guo.

Asking him to do chores—what rural child didn’t do chores?

And Han Guo was particularly mischievous, always causing chaos—breaking bowls one day, smashing windows the next. How could she not use the feather duster on him?

As for feeding him only thin porridge and coarse buns—there was another reason for that.

Truthfully, the conditions in the village were tough. Every family ate like that. If they weren’t going hungry, it was already something to be grateful for.

Then there was Su Ruo—with all that money and ration coupons in her hands, she never batted an eye when spending on Han Guo. The boy had an endless supply of sweets, fruits, and malted milk. She even brought back meat buns, fried dough sticks, and tea eggs from school every so often.

Compared to Laosan’s son Laibao, he was practically living like a little prince.

In this situation, whenever there was something good at home, how could she not favor Laibao?

And the eldest son wasn’t even her biological child. She couldn’t just give everything to Laibao and ignore the eldest’s children, so anything good was split—one portion for Laibao, one portion shared among the eldest’s kids.

On top of that, whenever she saw Su Ruo buy something for Han Guo, she would insist Su Ruo split it with the children from the eldest and third households. After all, the family wasn’t split yet—sneaking food privately was absolutely unacceptable!

Wu Guizhi didn’t think she had done anything wrong.

She just hadn’t expected this little grandson of hers to hold such a grudge.

And those eyes he was glaring at her with—what kind of look was that?

Wu Guizhi was so furious she shouted at Han Guo, “You ungrateful little brat—!”