Chapter 38

Lin Hongna never expected to hear news about the Gu family again, especially not that Gu Shi’an had returned from the army and become the deputy director of the county’s police station!

That wasn’t how it happened in her past life!

She clearly remembered that Gu Shi’an had returned from his injury with his right arm in a cast. After three months of recovery, he started working at a steel mill as a technician.

A good army officer turned into a factory worker, earning a meager salary and living a miserable life.

After that, Lin Hongna’s own miserable life began…

Shaking her head, Lin Hongna tried to shake off those bitter memories. But deep down, she felt uneasy, as if everything had changed in this new life.

When she thought about how Lin Yao was comfortably living as the wife of an official in the county, while she was here in the countryside, working like a farm woman, sweating under the harsh sun, her heart sank. People who didn’t live in the countryside had no idea how tiring and dirty farm work was, how they had to work through all kinds of weather, with rough hands and exposed skin. Lin Hongna had been blessed with fair skin, but even then, living in the countryside for a lifetime had made her skin rougher than other women’s.

The Lin family cousins all inherited their grandmother’s beautiful skin, and Lin Yao was even more impressive, surpassing her in every way. With a slender figure and flawless skin, she had a face like a peach blossom, and a faint smile that radiated light, every expression captivating and mesmerizing.

Lin Hongna wasn’t as striking. Compared to Lin Yao, her pride lay in her large chest and shapely figure.

Recently, however, her chest seemed to be sagging, which drove her crazy. To make matters worse, her fingernails, worn down from hard labor, had become cracked and yellowed. Her hands were covered in stubborn dirt that was hard to wash off, and her face had developed sun spots.

If this continued, she’d be no different from the rough, sun-weathered women in the countryside!

Lin Hongna had schemed to push Lin Yao into the fire pit of the Gu family, not so she could enjoy a good life.

She lowered her gaze, her eyes swirling with dark thoughts that seemed ready to spill out.

Where had things gone wrong?

Lin Hongna wracked her brain but couldn’t figure it out. Lin Daguo and his wife had remained unchanged, as indifferent as ever.

Li Aifeng, aside from working, spent her time at home bickering loudly with Lin Daguo, then grabbing a stool to join a group of village gossipers under the big banyan tree at the village entrance. They discussed everything from family matters to who was gossiping about their relatives, like a woman in her twenties still unmarried or a new mother being treated differently because she had a son while her sister-in-law had a daughter.

Where there was gossip, there was Li Aifeng.

Ever since Lin Daguo was caught by his wife after meeting his lover, he had spent even less time at home, preferring to leave early in the morning to play cards in the town. He didn’t have much money, but in those days, even a little was worth something. Lin Daguo would lose whatever change he had, then come home asking Lin Hongna for money to buy liquor. Drunk, he would return home and take out his frustrations by scratching Li Aifeng’s face.

Yes, their daily life was chaotic, like a dog chasing a mouse, but it kept them occupied.

Back in the courtyard, the summer was almost over, and the Gu family had gotten busy.

Gu Shidong stayed home doing his homework, while Zhang Cuilan, Lin Yao, and Gu Chunmei harvested vegetables from the garden. They gathered the eggplants, cucumbers, beans, and loofah they had grown all summer, drying them for the winter.

Lin Yao, feeling a craving for fresh fruits, found that Gu Shi’an had opened up a small patch of land near the vegetable garden, setting up bamboo trellises for grape vines and planting sweet melons in the corner.

Deputy Director Gu watered the plants and weeded daily, applying fertilizer every few days. After more than a month, the grapes had grown in bunches, sweet and juicy.

The melons were also delicious, and Lin Yao ate them every morning and afternoon, savoring the sweetness to the point where she forgot to eat her meals.

Zhang Cuilan, seeing this, muttered about Lin Yao only eating fruit and no food, it was no wonder she wasn’t gaining weight.

The Gu family heard her but smiled and said nothing. After all, it was someone else’s fault that Lin Yao was like this.

One evening, with a cool breeze blowing, Lin Yao, who had slept the whole day, spent the afternoon washing and drying the kitchenware. She set everything in the cupboard to dry.

The sounds of clinking dishes filled the air as Gu Shidong set up a small table under the shade, humming while working on his homework.

Lin Yao, having finished washing the bottles, sat nearby eating grapes, watching him.

That little rascal, so clever yet sneaky, had been studying in the yard in the morning but barely flipped a few pages of his book before running off.

Zhang Cuilan had gone out to look for him and found him sneaking away with Hu Tou from courtyard next door to collect coal pieces from a passing coal truck.

In Yunshui County, coal trucks made several trips daily. The roads were rough, and many small pieces of coal fell off the trucks. The city children would grab baskets and pick up the pieces.

A good basket could sell for 30 cents, and poor-quality coal was kept for home use.

The mother dragged her son home, but he stubbornly argued that he was collecting coal to save money for his school fees and support himself.

Lin Yao couldn’t help but laugh at his innocence. A ten-year-old boy spending all day collecting broken coal pieces could maybe sell a basket for 30 cents if he was lucky, but if not, he wouldn’t earn a single penny.

He’d barely make anything in the long run!

Zhang Cuilan didn’t engage with him further, waiting for Gu Shi’an to return from work to deal with the troublemaker.

Gu Shi’an had been waiting for his mother to speak. His younger brother, Dongzi, was smart but wasted his talents.

When it came to Lin Yao, Gu Shi’an would become soft, but for anyone else, especially his younger brother, he was strict and unyielding.

Though Dongzi hadn’t fully matured, he was still treated like a young man by his older brother, who had high expectations for him.

A true man should have the qualities of a man and couldn’t be indulged with nonsense.

When Gu Shidong saw his older brother, he immediately stood straight, trying to act serious.

He couldn’t help but wonder how his brother would punish him. Would it be standing or a beating?

Standing was easy for him, and a beating wouldn’t hurt much; he’d bounce back quickly.

Gu Shi’an raised an eyebrow, knowing exactly what his brother was thinking. He pulled a willow branch from the firewood pile.

Gu Shidong walked over, automatically sticking out his bottom, ready to be punished.

To his surprise, Gu Shi’an didn’t strike him but instead smiled.

Lin Yao, peeking from the east room, felt a chill in her heart. Something was not right.

Recently, Lin Yao had figured out a thing or two about Gu Shi’an’s temperament.

He rarely smiled and often had a stern face for eight out of ten days. However, a stern face didn’t mean he was in a bad mood. In fact, the more cheerful he was, the less expression he had on his face.

But right now, his mouth was smiling, though his eyes showed no warmth.

Lin Yao was sure that brat Dongzi had met his match.

As expected, Gu Shi’an shook the willow branch in his hand and said slowly, “Starting tomorrow, you’ll join me for morning exercises.”

Gu Shidong: !!!

Oh my God, Big Brother is serious!

The brat regretted it deeply, his mind filled with tears.

The next morning, before dawn, he was dragged out of the house by his older brother. Shouting slogans, he ran laps in the alley. Whenever he wasn’t behaving, his brother would use the willow branch to whip his backside.

The blows weren’t too hard, but they still stung enough to make him grimace in pain.

After the morning’s workout, Gu Shidong collapsed on the steps and couldn’t get up. Gu Chunmei tried but couldn’t get him to move.

When Lin Yao called him for breakfast, the brat stayed still, pretending to be dead.

Gu Shi’an approached with the willow branch in hand, and immediately, the boy jumped up, quickly washing his hands and diving into his meal.

Inside the house, Gu Mancang watched this silently. The Gu family was a typical family with a strict mother and a kind father. With three children and Lin Yao in the house, they were all dear to Gu Mancang’s heart. He wasn’t comfortable seeing any of them get hit.

After a moment of silence, Gu Mancang finally spoke to Zhang Cuilan, “Cuilan, Dongzi is still a child, maybe we should…”

Before he could finish, Zhang Cuilan interrupted, scolding him sharply.

“Child, my foot! That brat will be eleven next year. He eats more than a pig at every meal—what child eats like that? A soft-hearted father ruins his son. Don’t meddle in family matters! I’ve told you to raise the kids, but not one of them has turned out right. It’s all your fault! A jade will never become beautiful without being carved. If you really want what’s best for that brat, keep your mouth shut! Otherwise, sleep on the floor!”

Gu Mancang didn’t want to sleep on the floor, so he obediently kept quiet.

Zhang Cuilan snorted and rolled over, continuing her peaceful sleep.

For breakfast that day, there was half a basket of steamed cornbread and a pot of shepherd’s purse porridge. The Gu family had also specially prepared a few pieces of tangy, crunchy radish pickles, which tasted great with the porridge.

After breakfast, everyone went about their day.

Lin Yao fed the two gray rabbits and happily gazed at the pregnant female rabbit. She imagined the spicy rabbit meat and braised rabbit meat she’d enjoy in the future. She planned to ask Gu Shi’an to build a small nest for the unborn bunnies when he returned.

Rabbits breed quickly, and they could have a litter every month or two.

As the weather grew colder, she looked forward to roasting rabbit meat with one hand while cuddling up with the handsome Deputy Director Gu. Her little life was shaping up to be too beautiful.

The more she thought about it, the happier she became. Humming a little tune, she sat in the house knitting a sweater. The simple, peaceful life, filled with beautiful expectations, made her feel as though the calm sea was rippling with waves, and her mood lifted.

She spent the whole morning knitting. By noon, Gu Chunmei returned, and Lin Yao went out with her for a stroll.

At the cinema, a new movie poster had been put up. It was said that a new film was screening.

Lin Yao glanced at it casually. The film was Heroic Sons and Daughters, a classic that had been remade several times.

However, Lin Yao wasn’t too interested. She had seen countless films in her previous life, and she preferred napping at home to watching movies.

Gu Chunmei, on the other hand, was quite interested and planned to wait for Da Tou Brother to finish work so they could watch it together.

The past few days had been busy at home, and the person in question hadn’t disturbed her at all.

Lin Yao was satisfied with the behavior of the Deputy Director Gu. The couple spent their afternoon nap in sync with their biological clocks.

At one in the afternoon, Gu Shi’an woke up on time. The moment he opened his eyes, he felt something was wrong. Looking down, he saw Lin Yao sound asleep, clinging to him like an octopus.