Chapter 12: Third Brother Ji and His Wife 

Widow Ji was concerned about Ning Xin’s matter. So on the day she returned to the Yangguang Production Team, after Third Brother Ji and his wife finished their work and ate dinner, she told them about Ning Xin.

“Third Brother, Third Brother’s wife, there’ve been a lot of things going on at home these days. We’ve been running back and forth between home and the hospital. You probably don’t know clearly about your sister-in-law’s situation, so I’m telling you now.”

Third Brother Ji and his wife Hong Cuiyun were already very curious about this matter. But since Widow Ji took Second Brother Ji’s couple to the military hospital, they couldn’t ask for details. Now that they were back and Widow Ji brought it up herself, they quickly asked in unison, “Mom, tell us, how is Eldest Sister-in-law?”

That’s what they asked, but they didn’t actually care about Ning Xin. They just wanted to know what was going on.

Widow Ji told them everything that had happened recently, except for the 2,000 yuan compensation money, which was her eldest grandson’s last guarantee. “…So in a few days, I’ll take your nephew to the capital. They’ll provide food and housing. According to that old doctor, they’ll even provide rice and flour. That way, I won’t have to worry about your sister-in-law not having milk. I’ll cook porridge and mush for your nephew.”

In the current tough times, even in the better years before, being able to eat porridge and mush meant a family was not poor. So Widow Ji was truly satisfied and grateful for Professor Yang’s arrangement.

“While I’m not home, you must take good care of things here. Although we don’t know when your sister-in-law will wake up, in a few years, if your nephew grows up a bit and your sister-in-law still hasn’t woken up, I’ll bring your nephew back to visit you.” As for the next few years, Widow Ji had no plans to return. Her grandson was just born, and she didn’t dare take the train alone. A newborn was fragile. If anything happened on the train, it could cost her life.

Second Brother Ji and his wife already knew about this. Hearing what Widow Ji said, neither of them objected.

Second Brother Ji said, “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll take care of things at home. Once we get the grain, I’ll mail you some rice, so my nephew can eat better.”

Zhang Caihua added, “Yes, mom, take care of yourself out there. If anything happens, write to us.”

Third Brother Ji and his wife quickly echoed, “Yes, mom, don’t worry about things at home. You must take care of yourself.”

“Mom, if living in the capital isn’t comfortable, come back. Even if we’re only eating wild vegetable soup at home, there’s always a share for you.”

Widow Ji felt comforted hearing the words from her two sons and daughters-in-law.

In the rural areas during this time, there wasn’t much entertainment, and everyone went to bed early. But going to bed didn’t mean you could fall asleep. Just like now, Third Brother Ji and his wife were lying in bed and started talking.

Hong Cuiyun nudged Third Brother Ji’s leg with her foot, “Head of the house, mom is taking the nephew to the capital, can’t she take our son along too?”

“What would she take our son for?” Third Brother Ji was confused, “Didn’t you hear what mom said? She’s going to the capital and won’t be back for years. Our son is only four years old. If he goes along, mom still has to take care of him. How would she manage on her own? And can you bear being apart from our son for years?”

He knew his wife well. She treated their son like the apple of her eye. If they were apart for even a short while, she’d be missing him constantly. Could she really be at ease if he was gone for several years?

Of course, she couldn’t bear it. But, “Mom is our son’s biological grandma. What’s there not to be at ease about? Besides, if our son stays with us at home, all he eats is wild vegetable soup and sweet potato porridge. If he goes to the capital with mom, he can eat rice and white flour. I know the difference.”

Hearing his wife say this, Third Brother Ji sat up straight on the bed like a carp flipping in water, “Do you think I have a good chance of going with mom to the capital too?” He also wanted to eat rice and white flour in the capital.

Hong Cuiyun rolled her eyes at her man, “You’re dreaming.” That was impossible. If he went, what would happen to the fieldwork? Without earning work points, where would their income come from? Even Hong Cuiyun herself wouldn’t dare to think about that.

Third Brother Ji weakly lay back down. On second thought, that was true.

“No, this won’t do…” Hong Cuiyun continued, “I’ll go back to my mom’s house tomorrow.”

“Then go early, don’t delay going to the fields.” Third Brother Ji didn’t care about her.

Why was Hong Cuiyun going back home? Of course, to discuss with her mom.

Hong Cuiyun’s family was in the neighboring Hongjia Production Team. Just from the name, you could tell that most families in the team had the surname Hong. Going back up the line, they were very likely from the same large clan.

The next morning, before even eating breakfast, while the rest of the Ji family was still asleep, Hong Cuiyun had already gotten up and headed for her mom’s house.

By the time the Ji family was eating breakfast and didn’t see Hong Cuiyun, Widow Ji asked, “Third Brother, where’s your wife? Not coming out to eat breakfast?”

Third Brother Ji casually said, “She left early this morning for my mother-in-law’s house. She said there’s nothing in our home to help the body recover, so she went to see if her mom has some brown sugar. If she does, she’ll bring some back to help the nephew recover.”

Widow Ji rolled her eyes. That third daughter-in-law of hers often brought things back from her mom’s house, but whatever she brought back, she always hid for herself. Still, Widow Ji didn’t say anything. Her daughter-in-law going back to her mom’s house to bring things back had nothing to do with her as a mother-in-law. It wasn’t like she told her to go.

While the Ji family was eating breakfast, Hong Cuiyun had already arrived at the Hong family.

Seeing their daughter arrive, the two elders of the Hong family and their three unmarried daughters weren’t surprised. After all, this daughter came home to slack off every few days.

Still, Old Lady Hong’s words weren’t very kind, “Why are you here again?”

Old Man Hong was known throughout the team as someone with no male heirs. In that era, if a family had no sons, they were laughed at by others. The Hong family was exactly that.

The two elders of the Hong family had four daughters. It was only because Old Lady Hong’s body was damaged when giving birth to the fourth daughter that she couldn’t give birth again. Otherwise, she definitely would’ve kept going until she had a son to carry on the family line.

Among the four daughters of the Hong family, only the eldest daughter, Hong Cuiyun, received any affection from the two elders. The other three daughters had names like “Pandi^[1]Hoping for a Brother,” “Zhaodi^[2]Bringing a Brother,” or “Laidi^[3]Coming for a Brother.”

So in the minds of the Hong elders, only Hong Cuiyun was considered a daughter. The rest were just girls.

Still, even though that was the case, the Hong elders weren’t as bad to the other daughters as some families were.

“If I don’t come by often, people in the village might think we’ve cut ties and start mocking us again for having no sons.” Hong Cuiyun spoke bluntly. “Let’s be clear, it’s all thanks to my cleverness that I married into the Ji family with a soldier. That shut people’s mouths about us having no sons.”

Old Lady Hong’s mouth twitched. Her eldest daughter brought this up every time she came over, and she was sick of hearing it. But it was true. In this area, having a soldier in the family was rare. After her eldest daughter married into the Ji family, people stopped mocking them as much because they respected her son-in-law’s older brother, who was a military officer. Whether they still talked behind their backs was unclear, but at least no one mocked them to their faces anymore.

“Go ahead, what are you here to take this time? I’m telling you, every household has nothing good right now. The good stuff at home has already been taken away by you.” Old Lady Hong said this, while in her heart, she worried whether the brown sugar she just got a few days ago was hidden well enough, in case her debt-collector daughter spotted it.

Hong Cuiyun snorted, “I’m here to talk to you. Yesterday afternoon, my mother-in-law came back and told us about my eldest sister-in-law…” She told her everything that Widow Ji had said. “Mom, do you think when she goes to the capital, she can take my son with her too? Eating wild vegetables here isn’t as good as eating rice and white flour in the capital.”