Several kids were eating so much that they could barely sit still, and the whole family had just come back from the reservoir.

However, as soon as they came out, Song Qingshan suddenly hit the brakes.

At the entrance to the dam stood a person. It was nighttime, so it was hard to see clearly, but the figure looked tall and imposing.

Su Xiangwan asked, “Who is that?”

Song Qingshan replied, “My uncle.”

Song Qingshan’s maternal uncle, Cao Jinwang, had retired from the military and was now in his fifties.

He had three sons and a daughter and maintained close ties with the Song family matriarch.

For Song Qingshan, it was no big deal, but whenever Song Tingxiu returned home, Cao Jinwang and his sons would always visit the Song family as guests to show support for their nephew.

He had probably just finished work in the county and was waiting for the ferry at the dock to go home.

Su Xiangwan had already met Song Qingshan’s uncle when she first came into this world.

That was when Song Tingxiu came home for the first time, and his uncle had visited the Song family.

It could be said that Song Qingshan’s uncle, Cao Jinwang, wielded significant power in the entire Qingshui County because he was in charge of the Revolutionary Committee.

His authority surpassed even that of the county magistrate and the party secretary.

Back when Fang Jinhuan was alive, he had been one of Cao Jinwang’s most capable subordinates.

After Fang Jinhuan passed away, Cao Jinwang had been saddened for quite a while.

However, Cao Jinwang didn’t know that Fang Jinhuan’s death had something to do with Song Qingshan.

When Song Qingshan got out of the car, the two of them chatted warmly.

Su Xiangwan, listening from the open car window, heard that Cao Jinwang seemed to be trying to set up a match for Song Tingxiu.

But Song Tingxiu wasn’t interested, so Cao Jinwang was asking Song Qingshan to persuade him.

Of course, Su Xiangwan knew that Song Tingxiu silently harbored feelings for Su Xianghong.

However, Xianghong was still young, and Song Tingxiu, being both stubbornly filial and overly dutiful, handed all his salary over to the family matriarch.

She wasn’t keen on him for that reason.

Song Qingshan exchanged a few words with his uncle and then said goodbye.

Cao Jinwang turned around and saw three little heads peeking out of the car window. “Goodbye, Uncle!”

He stared at them for a moment and said, “Ludan is getting more and more handsome these days.”

Lu Dan pointed at himself and said, “Uncle, I’m actually Song Donghai. This is my brother, Song Chengze. He’s my dad’s foster son.”

The older brother was so good-looking that even their uncle mistook them for each other.

Lu Dan and Gou Dan were quite pleased with themselves and turned to look at Li Chengze.

The young man had been eating well lately and had a rosy complexion, his features delicate and refined, almost like a little girl.

But Li Chengze didn’t like people calling him handsome. To scare his two younger brothers, he deliberately made a funny face at them.

When they got home, Li Chengze, following closely behind Su Xiangwan, confessed everything about his dealings with Liu Minli.

In his opinion, Liu Minli was simply a kind-hearted woman who had felt sorry for him and wanted to help.

As for himself, he was happy to earn a bit of money. What was wrong with that?

“If you need money, you can come to me. I’ll give it to you. From now on, don’t run off to the cultural troupe right after school. Do you understand?” Su Xiangwan was combing Zizizi’s hair as she spoke.

Li Chengze didn’t see it that way. “Studying is easy for me. Besides, I’m not your child. I want to earn my own money to spend. I don’t need you to support me.”

“You need to prioritize your studies. Don’t waste your time on all sorts of trivial matters. No matter how confident you are, you have to admit that it will drain your energy, right?” Su Xiangwan reminded the proud and arrogant little peacock.

Li Chengze stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking indifferent. “I can handle first-year coursework with my eyes closed.”

“You’re eleven years old and still in the first year of middle school, and you think you’re impressive?” Su Xiangwan said. “Qian Xuesen was already in college by the time he was seventeen. That’s how he was able to help create the atomic bomb and satellite. And what are you doing?”

At the same time, she took two yuan out of her pocket. “From now on, you’ll get two yuan as monthly allowance, but you can’t spend it recklessly. If you do, I’ll spank you.”

“I’m not your son. If you dare hit me, I’ll call the police,” Li Chengze said.

He noticed Su Xiangwan struggling to comb Zhizi’s hair and turned to fetch some water to help soften it.

With the water, her soft hair was much easier to comb.

Su Xiangwan raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead, call the police. If I get taken away, let’s see who’ll cook for you all.”

Li Chengze had started earning money from Liu Minli mainly to have some pocket money to buy snacks for the three younger kids.

He didn’t care much for himself.

Although he was arguing stubbornly now, deep down, he had already taken her advice to heart.

Taking the two yuan, he pouted initially because Su Xiangwan didn’t understand him.

But Zhizi, with her pouty red lips, suddenly grabbed the comb from Su Xiangwan’s hand and pointed it at him. “Biubiu, bad brother!”

The outwardly defiant Li Chengze thought to himself, I only went to draw posters and earn money so I could buy you soda.

But the little girl didn’t care about his good intentions.

She continued to pretend the comb was a gun and made machine-gun sounds, going “dada-da-da.”

The little blonde-haired girl wasn’t cute at all.

Yet, looking at her standing so confidently with the comb, Li Chengze’s previously pouting mouth curled up into a smile.

As his father had once said, a man should never complain, no matter how hard things get.

Protecting one’s family and homeland is a man’s responsibility.

With his backpack on, the boy headed off to school.

But as he reached the school gates, he saw a beautiful woman waiting for him.

Li Chengze, being resourceful, didn’t walk through the main gate.

Instead, he climbed over the wall and slipped into the school.

He had to listen to Aunt Su and cut ties with that woman.

Meanwhile, Su Xiangwan was going door-to-door in the county, advocating for women, the elderly, and the vulnerable, mediating family disputes, and handling all sorts of trivial domestic issues.

These things seemed small but significant. Many young girls who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock were too scared to visit health clinics for abortions.

They would write anonymously to the Women’s Federation, and Su Xiangwan would visit them to counsel them.

She encouraged them to be brave or offered small subsidies—milk powder, eggs, and so on.

She also handled cases of abused elderly people.

When necessary, she scolded the children, threatened to call the police, and insisted they show proper respect to their parents.

Su Xiangwan never held back. Whether it was scolding, praising, or even taking action, she did whatever was necessary.

Gradually, she even started to enjoy the work.

In the county, every woman knew that the women’s director was truly formidable.

Now, she was preparing to establish a few more kindergartens in the county.

On the one hand, this would create job opportunities for women; on the other, it would ensure that the children in the county had access to education.

This is exactly the kind of work the Women’s Federation is supposed to do.

But, as the saying goes, “The tree wants to stand still, but the wind won’t stop.” Even though she didn’t seek out Liu Minli, one day, Liu Minli came looking for her.

And Su Xiangwan had thought that as the head of the performing arts troupe, Liu Minli would be a gentle woman. Unexpectedly, she showed up aggressive and fierce.

That evening, Su Xiangwan had just gotten off work and returned home. She was making dinner for her hungry, impatient children when a sudden burst of crying came from outside.

“Sister Li, Sister Li, I can’t take it anymore. I really can’t bear it any longer!” The sharp wailing pierced Su Xiangwan’s ears.

Immediately after, a woman seemed to enter Li Yifan’s courtyard.

Out of curiosity and the desire for gossip, the three kids waiting for their meal eagerly climbed onto the big apricot tree to peek at the commotion next door.

“Chengze is living with the daughter of a man who was a military doctor for the Kuomintang. And I could obviously take care of Chengze, but she won’t let him see me,” the woman’s loud voice said.

From next door, Li Yifan seemed to be trying to calm her down. “You’re an artist. Just focus on your work as an artist. Why worry about other people’s children?”

“But Chengze’s mother was my good friend. I have to take responsibility for him. The kid is good at drawing—I asked him to make some posters for us, and she refused,” Liu Minli said.

Li Yifan spoke earnestly, “Kids should be studying. He’s only eleven or twelve—what kind of posters do you expect him to make?”

The performing arts troupe mainly produced stage plays, and the posters weren’t exactly child-appropriate.

“Sister Li, you’re being unreasonable. Back then, your father was a subordinate of Commander Li. Now, the last bloodline of your family is living with someone considered a ‘landlord class enemy,’ and you still have the nerve to speak so dismissively?” Liu Minli’s voice was grating.

Li Yifan said, “Comrade Liu, watch your attitude. Who’s a ‘landlord class enemy’? Everyone in this compound has a heart fully devoted to the revolution.”

“Sister Li, I don’t like hearing that. Are you really unaware of Su Xiangwan’s background, or are you just pretending not to know?”

The argument between the two grew increasingly heated.

Moreover, Liu Minli seemed completely unafraid of Li Yifan and even sounded condescending.

“I’ve reviewed Su Xiangwan’s records thoroughly, Comrade Liu. Don’t think that just because your brother is doing well in the provincial capital, you can boss me around here,” Li Yifan said, her hair practically standing on end in her anger.

She raised her voice, “You’re scaring the children. Do you realize that?”

Little Zhizi, who had been playing next door every day recently, wasn’t scared at all.

She pretended her finger was a gun, aiming at Liu Minli while muttering, “Bad auntie, go away! Bad auntie, go away!”

Liu Minli, already spoiled and temperamental, had an especially unpleasant voice when she raised it. “Gu Bei said you’re like an emotionless owl. I didn’t believe it, but now I see it’s true.”

Li Yifan had heard before that her husband, Gu Bei, called her an owl behind her back, but she hadn’t believed it.

Though their time together was limited, she always thought their relationship was strong.

However, she later found Gu Bei’s nickname for her written in Gu Nan’s diary.

This discovery had deeply troubled her recently.

The love and marriage she thought she had, and the man she loved, seemed unrecognizable.

Now, Liu Minli’s words hit her like a hammer.

She took a step back, holding Zhizi, retreating two more steps before stopping.

Meanwhile, Su Xiangwan, unable to hold back any longer, picked up a kitchen knife and prepared to head out.

“Mom, let it go,” Li Chengze said.

He understood the importance of social status, and he had heard Song Qingshan mention that Su Xiangwan’s household records had been altered.

If she confronted anyone now, it would only cause trouble for herself.

For the first time, he realized Liu Minli might not be as gentle and kind as she appeared.

Worried that Su Xiangwan would suffer, he tried to stop her.

But Su Xiangwan turned and headed next door. “Who’s out here spouting nonsense and slandering me?”

A female comrade in a military-green uniform stood there.

She had a great figure, bright almond-shaped eyes, and a beauty mark at the corner of her lips—what people called a “tear mole” or “beauty mark.”

Liu Minli had actually known Su Xiangwan for a long time—not personally, but from secretly observing her many times.

She knew Su Xiangwan was raising Li Chengze and that Song Tingxiu had helped alter her records in the past.

“Your father was a military doctor for the Kuomintang…”

Before Liu Minli could finish her sentence, she felt something being rubbed against her face.

Su Xiangwan was rubbing her face furiously with something, pressing her features into an unrecognizable mess.

“You’re saying my father was a Kuomintang military doctor? Do you have proof?”

Records back then weren’t as systematic and regulated as they would be in the future.

At the county public security office, a match and a light flick of a burner by Song Tingxiu had erased Su Xiangwan’s original records, replacing them with new ones.

Unless a major revolutionary force came knocking with direct coercion, Su Xiangwan wouldn’t reveal a thing.

Su Xiangwan could endure many things, but using her background against her was crossing the line.

“And you,” she said, continuing to rub Liu Minli’s face, “look at what you had my son draw!”

Liu Minli struggled to breathe, finally escaping to the apricot tree to gasp for air. “Su Xiangwan, you’re nothing but a shrew!”