Chapter 22

Early in the morning, Gu Qijiao was awakened by the crowing of roosters from a nearby villager’s house.

When she opened her eyes, she found that the quilt next to her was empty. After she got up, she discovered that Zheng Yunsheng had gotten up early to cook.

Genius has just dawned.

When Zheng Yunsheng saw her leave, he immediately poured water for her to wash her face and said:

“Get up, wash your face and brush your teeth quickly, then you can have breakfast.”

Is this the beginning of the performance?

Gu Qijiao silently took the washbasin from Zheng Yunsheng’s hand.

She carried the washbasin, walked to the courtyard wall, placed the basin on the millstone in the corner, then took out the cup and toothbrush and began to brush her teeth.

By the time she finished washing her face, Zheng Yunsheng’s breakfast had already been served on the table.

The steamed buns are served with the stewed pumpkin porridge.

After breakfast, Gu Qijiao went to feed the chickens, while Zheng Yunsheng was still responsible for washing the dishes.

Once the two of them finish their housework, it’s time to go to work.

A whistle sounded outside, signaling the start of work.

Gu Qijiao was also preparing to go to work today, but she didn’t dare to do work that was too tiring, as she had fallen seriously ill not long ago in her previous life.

She planned to go to the county town for a physical check-up in a few days.

To go to the county town, you have to take a ox cart to the town, then go back in the town and take a bus to the county town.

It was the busy farming season in the commune, and ox carts did not go to the town. Gu Qijiao did not want to walk the dozens of miles.

We can only wait until the busy farming season is over.

When Zheng Yunsheng saw Gu Qijiao wearing an old straw hat, he knew that she was planning to go to work today.

“Jiaojiao, don’t go to work today. My mom sent us a package. It might arrive today. You should wait at home, in case there’s no one at home to receive it when the postman arrives.”

This conversation had happened in the previous life. As soon as Zheng Yunsheng mentioned it, Gu Qijiao remembered it.

In her previous life, when she and Zheng Yunsheng had been married for only two days, a package was sent to her from his home. That day, Zheng Yunsheng asked Gu Qijiao to stay at home and wait to receive it.

After hearing what Zheng Yunsheng said, Gu Qijiao could only take off her straw hat, sit under the locust tree in the yard and watch Zheng Yunsheng leave.

At that time, postmen rode bicycles, crossed the dense mountain roads, and delivered parcels and letters door to door in the mountains.

Gu Qijiao was bored in the yard, so she found the amaranth seeds her mother brought yesterday and germinated them.

Now, just after the summer solstice, this season is suitable for planting amaranth. The vegetable fields have sufficient sunlight, high temperatures, and fast growth.

And it is now very durable.

To germinate amaranth, soak the seeds in cold water for 24 hours and scrub them frequently during the soaking period.

Gu Qijiao brought out the wooden basin for foot bathing from the house, fetched a bucket of water from the backyard, and soaked the amaranth seeds.

After soaking for about half an hour, she began to scrub.

The purpose of scrubbing is to allow the hibernating seeds to absorb water better.

After rubbing for about ten minutes, Gu Qijiao stopped, but the seeds had to continue soaking in water and rubbed twice more at noon and in the evening.

Wait until tomorrow morning, then you can take it out and drain the water, wrap it in breathable gauze, cover it with a wet towel, and place it in a warm place to wait for it to sprout.

Once the germination is successful, the seeds can be sown in the ground.

After Gu Qijiao finished doing all this, the postman rode his bicycle, stopped at the gate of the yard and knocked on the door of Gu Qijiao’s house.

The door was not closed. The postman knocked politely and stuck his head into the yard.

“Excuse me, Zheng Yunsheng, Zheng Zhiqing, is this the one?”

The postman was from a nearby village. He often came to this area to deliver things, and he was familiar with everyone in the village, from the villagers to the educated youth.

It’s just that Zheng Zhiqing had just gotten married, and the postman wasn’t sure, so he asked first.

“Yes, here I come.” Gu Qijiao responded while walking towards the gate of the yard.

The postman saw her and asked, “Excuse me, are you Zheng Zhiqing?”

“I am his lover.” Gu Qijiao took over the postman’s words.

Obviously, after hearing what Gu Qijiao said, the postman glanced at her with a very inquiring look.

Of course Gu Qijiao knew what the postman was trying to find out. After all, her reputation for bed climbing was well-known in the surrounding villages.

She didn’t care and took the package from the postman generously and said thank you to him.

The postman was dazzled by Gu Qijiao’s smile. He thought to himself, how could this woman be as despicable as the rumors say? Such a beautiful woman, does she need to climb into bed with a man?

Moreover, she looked so well-educated and well-mannered, completely different from the fierce and unrestrained image that was spread outside. It turned out that the rumors were not credible.

After the postman left, Gu Qijiao took the package back to the house. After thinking about it, she decided to open the package.

She knew that the package contained some daily necessities.

After all, she and Zheng Yunsheng are still husband and wife. Zheng Yunsheng eats at her house and lives in her house. There is no reason why she cannot touch Zheng Yunsheng’s things.

Gu Qijiao would never do anything that would put her at a disadvantage.

There were a lot of things in the package, and on top was a letter that read: “From Mr. and Mrs. Zheng Yunsheng and Gu Qijiao.”

This letter was written by Gu Qijiao’s parents-in-law for the couple to read.

Gu Qijiao had read the content of the letter in her previous life. It said that mom and dad were busy with work, the journey to the countryside was long, and they were sorry that they didn’t have time to come.

In addition, he told Zheng Yunsheng which items in the package were for the new daughter-in-law, and asked him to be good to her and live a good life with her, and to wait until the New Year to go back and see these things.

Gu Qijiao remembers it all.

Although Gu Qijiao and Zheng Yunsheng didn’t get along well in her previous life, her parents-in-law were really nice people and treated her as well as their own daughter.

Zheng Yunsheng’s father is the director of a paper mill and his mother is an accountant at a state-owned restaurant.

The old couple are both cultured people, but they don’t have the arrogance of cultured people. Instead, they are very easy-going.

He always spoke softly to Gu Qijiao, the country daughter-in-law.

At present, Zheng Yunsheng’s parents did not know that Gu Qijiao married Zheng Yunsheng by climbing into his bed. Later, when Wang Sufen spread the news, they did not blame Gu Qijiao after they knew about it.

Gu Qijiao’s mother-in-law saw that Gu Qijiao was upset because of the incident, so she advised her every day, saying that the past was over.

Having read the letter and roughly remembering its contents, Gu Qijiao did not open it and put it aside.

She checked the contents of the package and found a pile of tickets, including tickets for fried dough sticks, cakes, soap, grain, cloth, cotton, and so on.

There are also two coupons for purchasing light bulbs.

Zheng Yunsheng’s parents had no idea that the place their son was sent to was so remote that it didn’t even have electricity.

Zheng Yunsheng never mentioned the hard life in the countryside to his parents. He always told them good news but not bad news.

For example, when he married Gu Qijiao, Zheng Yunsheng only told his parents that he was going to get married in the countryside. He did not mention a word about being forced into bed.

So Zheng Yunsheng’s parents were not worried about his marriage at all, they just felt a little regretful that they were not present at their son’s wedding.

However, they trusted the people Zheng Yunsheng chose, because Zheng Yunsheng had been steady since he was a child, and his parents never interfered with Zheng Yunsheng’s decisions on major matters.

After knowing that Zheng Yunsheng was going to get married, the old couple were quite happy.

I have been saving various receipts for the past six months, waiting to send them to the couple as wedding gifts when they get married.

They also don’t know when the educated youth’s sent-down work in the countryside will end. It would be good if their son could get married in the countryside and bring his child and wife back to the city in a few years.

What’s more interesting is that among the tickets they sent, there were two manure tickets. One of these tickets could be exchanged for five loads of cow dung from the manure management station!

It can be seen that Zheng Yunsheng’s parents must have put a lot of thought into preparing this package.

Such parents-in-law are rare in the world. Whenever Gu Qijiao thinks of them, she still feels a bit of warmth in her heart.

It was a pity that she was not destined to be with them and they could no longer be a family in this life.

Gu Qijiao put all the tickets in the drawer under the desk and locked it with a small lock.

In addition to the tickets, there were some food left, including malted milk, brown sugar, White Elephant candy, and a box of vanishing cream.

Gu Qijiao put all these things into the cabinet.

After putting away all the things, Gu Qijiao picked up the woven bag used to pack the packages and prepared to put it in the utility room next to her.

Just as she picked up the woven bag from the side of the desk, Gu Qijiao saw a brand new book with a red human head silhouette printed on it on the desk.

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Before she saw this book, Gu Qijiao couldn’t remember which one it was. Now that she has seen it, the buds of memory immediately revived in her heart.

A voice appeared in Gu Qijiao’s mind: That’s it!

This was the book she had discovered that contained Bai Xiaoou’s photo.