At this point, Goudan and Ludan were both eating their meals.

Goudan had finished his food and was tapping the empty bowl with two chopsticks.

Ludan had his ears perked up like a rabbit, obviously listening intently.

Song Qingshan wiped his mouth and said, “Alright, we’ll talk about the rest later. Let’s discuss it tonight.”

After that, he put down his bowl, grabbed the sickle, and went out.

At the same time, in the old house, hearing the news that Song Tingxiu would soon be discharged, the old lady song was devastated.

She didn’t say anything, but quickly sent Song Laosan to the county town to ask her son-in-law, Fang Gaodi, her second son-in-law, Zhao Yuanshan, and her second daughter, Song Erhua, as well as her brother, Cao Jinduo, to inquire about the news and verify if it was true.

Song Laosan made his way to the county town in the afternoon, hitching a ride on the commune’s tractor.

When he returned in the evening, he shared the news he had gathered with the old lady, and that’s when she learned that not only had Qingshan lost his job, but the news of Tingxiu being discharged from the army was also true.

This was around six or seven years ago, during the height of the revolutionary movement, which swept through the whole country, turning everything red.

The movement even reached the military, and Song Tingxiu was probably discharged due to the influence of rumors.

Of course, by then, Song Laosan had managed to find a job at the Qing Shui Gorge Reservoir, where he could earn fifty yuan a month.

This was quite a rare and valuable opportunity.

“Just five hundred yuan, Mom. My brother-in-law has made arrangements with the people at the reservoir. For just five hundred yuan, I can get a job as a supervisor there. You might not know what a supervisor does, but let me put it this way: it’s someone who carries a whip and gets the soldiers to work. He’s like an officer,” Song Laosan explained.

It reminded her of the five hundred yuan that came as a condolence payment when Song Qingshan heroically sacrificed himself.

Now, five hundred yuan felt like a small fortune.

Although a job that paid fifty yuan a month was tempting, the old lady was reluctant to take five hundred yuan from her savings.

After all, her two sons were out of work, and she needed to save money for herself and her husband’s coffin, as well as support Song Fu in college.

Occasionally, she also needed to help Qingyu.

How could she afford to spend it all at once?

“How about this, Mom? We can sell my older brother’s collection of radios and flashlights to raise the money. Those should fetch at least five hundred yuan, right?” Song Laosan suggested.

The old lady song was also thinking along these lines and said, “I’m not sure if your brother will agree, though.”

“He and my second brother were raised on your blood and milk. Why wouldn’t he agree?” Song Laosan said confidently.

At that moment, Song Qingshan entered holding a sickle and a large chunk of meat. “Here, Mom, this is the meat from Xiangwan,” he said.

It was a big, fatty piece of cured meat, and the old man thought she would be happy to see it, so he tried to cheer her up. “Xiangwan is such a sensible kid now. If you all stop making a fuss, life will surely improve.”

The old lady looked at the meat, but in her heart, she thought: If the family hadn’t been split, this meat would have been in the old house, and everyone would have been able to eat it.

Now, she had to take it from Su Xiangwan.

How could she be happy about that?

Of course, when the old lady first thought about the things her son had brought back, she felt a bit guilty, wondering if it was unfair to the eldest son. But now, she felt like she hadn’t been unfair to him at all.

Those things should be sold to help Old Man Song III get a job.

Tonight, Su Xiangwan had originally planned to make cornmeal sticks, but Gou Dan was carrying a basket of beans and was insisting on having bean stew with rice.

It was the season for harvesting beans, and the children were helping the adults by picking beans.

After work, the children would hand in the beans to the production team, and each child would earn two work points.

However, Zhao Guodong hadn’t collected Gou Dan’s beans but had secretly recorded two work points for him.

Gou Dan, who already liked Zhao Guodong, kept praising him. “Mom, I think Zhao Guodong would make a better dad than Song Qingshan, really.”

Su Xiangwan pointed at his nose and said, “If you say that again, I won’t make bean stew for you.”

Gou Dan pouted, thought for a moment, and gave in to the temptation of food. “Alright, hurry up and cook. Before we finish eating, I’ll still consider Song Qingshan as my dad.”

But after finishing his meal, his thoughts were still on Zhao Guodong. Hmph!

Su Xiangwan, seeing the kids in the old house eyeing the food, had just sliced a large piece of cured meat and sent it to Old Man Song.

After all, Old Man Song was the only one in the old house who treated her well.

When her son brought back meat, it would be ungrateful not to share some.

In rural areas, not doing so would be seen as dishonoring her ancestors.

She cut a bone-in piece, threw the bones into the pot to make soup, and then poured the soup over the soaked beans.

After they were almost done cooking, she added the cornmeal and let it all stew together. The meal was now ready.

While the food was quietly simmering in the pot, bubbling away, Su Xiangwan still had to clean the stove again.

In the north, the lack of vegetation and the dry climate meant that dust was everywhere. After being outside for a while, everything had to be wiped clean or else the house would smell like dirt.

“Mom, Mom, Dad just took Grandma to the old house again,” said Lu Dan, holding a stick. “Grandma and Dad are planning to sell Dad’s radio and flashlight to help Song Laosan get a job.”

In the original story, all these things had belonged to the old house.

Su Xiangwan’s heart skipped a beat. “What did your dad say?”

What she feared most was that Song Qingshan, despite his filial appearance, might secretly support the old house behind her back.

If that happened, she would have no choice but to divorce him and take the three kids with her.

Lu Dan replied, “Dad didn’t say anything, just that it was good for Song Laosan to have a job. He even asked Grandma who arranged the job for Song Laosan.”

The child clenched his teeth and finally said, “Mom, don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m really angry. Those things clearly belong to my dad. Why should they be used to help Third Uncle? Third Uncle used to swing a shoulder pole and almost hit you. We shouldn’t give them meat or make things easy for the old house.”

At this point, a faint burnt smell wafted from the pot.

Su Xiangwan quickly opened the lid, and the pot of cornmeal, beans, and cured meat had finished cooking.

She served a bowl for each of the two children.

They ate so happily that they couldn’t even speak, just focused on digging into their food.

That evening, Song Qingshan came back after finishing his meal at the old house.

From the smell on him, Su Xiangwan guessed that the old lady must have fried him an egg at least.

However, she smiled and didn’t say anything, just led the two kids to the bed and tucked them in to sleep.

As for the kids, just like the previous few days, once they got on the bed, one lay on the left, the other on the right, and both snuggled up against Song Qingshan, acting like two little guards.

The autumn heat was oppressive; it was hot for just one person, let alone two energetic little troublemakers.

Song Qingshan sighed, “Hey, can you two move a little farther away from me?”

Lu Dan, always reasonable, responded, “My mom is hot too. I want to sleep next to you.”

Gou Dan, being straightforward, was already snoring loudly, but still mumbled, “No one better make fun of my mom. She needs a good rest tonight.”

Song Qingshan felt helpless.

He couldn’t exactly tell the kids, “I need to speak to your mom privately, but I’m not trying to do anything with her.”

The kids were fiercely protective of Su Xiangwan, almost like little wolves guarding their mother.

He knew even if he tried to explain, they wouldn’t understand.

They probably thought that if he got close to Su Xiangwan, it was for something bad, like Song Laosan did.

After a while, when Song Qingshan thought the kids had fallen asleep, he moved slightly, but suddenly Gou Dan said, “Can’t you act more like Comrade Zhao? He’s not like you.”

So, did Comrade Zhao come over?

Song Qingshan’s brow twitched, but he didn’t respond.

Su Xiangwan, who had been lying by the window with her child, was listening and couldn’t help but laugh.

She got up quietly, planning to add more hay for the animals.

Just as she finished and was about to take a moment for herself, she turned around and found Song Qingshan standing outside with his arms crossed.

In the moonlight, Su Xiangwan thought, “Wow.”

He was only wearing a white tank top, and his muscular arms were glistening.

She wondered what his abs looked like, whether they were as perfect as the models from later generations, the kind that would make her want to keep staring at them while eating takeout.

His arms naturally folded behind his back, and his posture reminded her less of a soldier and more of those senior officials.

“Su Xiangwan, I’m starting to think your head was kicked by a donkey,” he said directly.

Su Xiangwan immediately retorted, “Your head was kicked by a donkey.”

“Don’t you want to know why my mom called me back?” Song Qingshan asked.

Su Xiangwan replied, “She probably wants money to help Lao San get a job. What else could it be?”

She was clear about it. She didn’t know how he agreed, but as long as he had his attitude, she had hers. If he annoyed her, she could just leave and see how he’d handle it. Su Xiangwan felt completely at ease.

“You’ve been here for so many days, and I’m starting to wonder if you’ve forgotten what you said and did when you were in Dongfeng City, or if you’ve had a change of mind,” Song Qingshan said thoughtfully.

Su Xiangwan stood there for a moment and suddenly recalled something very embarrassing.

This was a matter so awkward it had been buried deep in her mind until now. Looking into his eyes, she remembered.

It was about the night Song Qingshan and her original self had spent together.

To summarize, when they were in Dongfeng City, Song Qingshan had been very enthusiastic, taking her sightseeing, enjoying good food and drink.

One day, they ended up in bed together, and after they were done, the original self had asked, “Since I’ve slept with you, you should agree to divorce me, right?”

Military marriages are protected by law, and unless the soldier requests the divorce, the marriage can’t be dissolved.

The original self knew this and came up with a terribly foolish idea.

She agreed to sleep with him once and then asked him to agree to divorce her.

At that time, Song Qingshan was completely stunned, because the original self calmly said, “I want to be with you, but I can’t. My heart belongs to Tingxiu; I think he’s better than you.”

Because Song Qingshan refused to agree, the original self even cursed him in front of his colleagues, calling him a donkey.

Song Qingshan had agreed to divorce her, but then the plane crash happened.

So, he believed her head had been kicked by a donkey.

It was reasonable; if he thought she was normal, that would be unreasonable.

And Zhi Zhi had indeed been the result of a breakup.

“Don’t worry, even if you really ask for a divorce, I’ll make sure you have enough property before we talk about it,” Song Qingshan said sincerely, handing her a Longines watch. “Here, your watch. You only got with me for this watch. Go ahead, wear it.”

After evaluating her behavior over the past few days, Su Xiangwan realized she was more virtuous than the original self.

She wasn’t bad at all, but she had been playing too virtuous.

Since that was the case, she figured she might as well play it up longer and see what happened.

“I’m just a rural woman. I have no use for it. What’s the point of wearing it? If not, just put it on the windowsill,” she said calmly.

“Are you really planning to live with me?” Song Qingshan asked again.

Su Xiangwan proudly lifted her head. “Didn’t you say you were going to give me a satisfactory family? As the head of the family, if you want to reorganize it, that would be a joke. I’m waiting for you to give me a satisfactory division of property. How could I not live with you seriously?”

She realized it was a bit mean, knowing that Song Qingshan was filial, and yet she was forcing him to take meat from his elderly mother.

Just as Song Qingshan was about to respond, his face suddenly changed. A soldier’s quick reflexes kicked in as he jumped onto the wall in one smooth motion. Under the moonlight, Su Xiangwan watched, her mouth wide open, as he climbed up.

“Who’s there? What do you want?” he said in a low voice.

In the darkness, a scared voice replied, “Bro, let go, let go, it’s me, bro.”

In an instant, Song Qingshan thought of spies from Su Country, Japanese ronin, and Taiwanese agents.

As the focus of their work shifted to Qingshui County, spies that had been hiding since before the founding of the Republic, and those parachuted in from various countries, would surely gather here to gather intelligence and target key personnel in their operations.

But unexpectedly, it was Song Laosan.

Without even thinking, Song Qingshan threw out a punch.