Song Laosan hadn’t reacted yet when the old lady, furious, suddenly sat up and yelled, “Qingshan, what do you mean by saying your big sister might go and make matchboxes?!”

Song Qingshan quickly patted his mother’s shoulder and said, “Mom, just go back to sleep. You’re my mother; if there’s any problem, I won’t blame you, I’ll only deal with Laosan.”

As he spoke, he suddenly clenched his fists.

After all, he worked in infrastructure, and his hands were big and rough. When he squeezed, the bones cracked and creaked.

Song Laosan didn’t say anything. Seeing his older brother’s fist about to come down, he immediately turned around and ran.

The old lady was afraid of nothing except for causing trouble for her children’s work.

She regretted stealing and hated her actions.

After thinking it over, she decided to take Qingyu and go back to her maternal home in Caogangzhuang to visit relatives.

Song Qingshan left the old house and first took a stroll around the village office.

Currently, the village office was only occupied by Zhao Guodong.

After entering, Song Qingshan didn’t say much. The two exchanged a few words, and seeing Zhao Guodong was writing poetry, Song Qingshan asked for his permission and took a look at his manuscript.

As Su Xiangwan had said, young people from the city were full of energy, ideals, and a bit of naivety—qualities that the womenfolk admired.

However, many of Zhao’s poems contained metaphors and allusions, clearly showing his dissatisfaction with the current state of society, his own struggles, and confusion.

He intended to use poetry to express his feelings.

It was normal for poets to have complaints.

“How is it, Song Tuan? Can you give me some advice? What do you think my manuscript is lacking?” Zhao Guodong asked straightforwardly.

Song Qingshan was a bit surprised. “Do you know me?”

Zhao Guodong quickly replied, “I saw you once when you reported work to my father. Back then, you were a deputy commander, and now you should be the commander, right?”

It made sense; he was the son of a leader.

Song Qingshan said, “Your poetry is good, but clearly, what we lack in this era is infrastructure and food. You can keep writing poetry, but try not to publish it. Keep it for later, when the situation calms down. What do you think?”

Zhao Guodong had once enjoyed publishing his poems, but after a poet was arrested for publishing his work, Zhao became a bit fearful.

He was worried that his metaphors and allusions might be misinterpreted and cause trouble for his father. So, he had stopped publishing.

After this, the two found a lot to talk about and continued chatting.

After leaving the village office, Song Qingshan headed home.

As soon as he entered, he heard the children’s voices, full of rising and falling tones, as they were reciting poetry.

“Before my bed, the moonlight is bright, I suspect it’s frost on the ground. I raise my head to gaze at the moon, and lower it to think of home.” Lu Dan was reciting.

Gou Dan, on the other hand, asked, “Mom, is frost on the ground tasty? What’s moonlight?”

When Song Qingshan entered, the dog didn’t bark, so Su Xiangwan hadn’t noticed him.

Only when he came in did she look up.

“Was it Zhao Guodong who taught you this?” Song Qingshan asked right away.

Su Xiangwan nodded, and both Lu Dan and Gou Dan immediately followed, nodding enthusiastically and saying, “Yes!”

Seeing that there was hot water in the pot, Song Qingshan washed his face and feet.

As he looked down, he saw a pair of woolen slippers crocheted from wool.

Lu Dan and Gou Dan noticed that their mother had taken away the large characters written with a fire stick on paper, and they were eager to show off their new slippers.

The soles of the slippers were made from the worn-out rubber soles of Song Qingshan’s old shoes, one for each child.

They could wear them as soon as they got off the kang (a heated platform), and even after washing their feet, they wouldn’t be afraid of stepping on the cold ground.

They were extremely comfortable.

“Have you studied?” Lu Dan asked with great enthusiasm. “If not, we welcome Dad to study with us.”

Song Qingshan didn’t respond.

“Mom, he probably, like my third uncle, only went to school for three days and can’t recognize any big characters,” Gou Dan said boastfully, pointing to the character for bed. “Do you recognize this? It’s ‘kang’—‘Kang before the bright moonlight.’”

Born in the north, the children had never seen a bed and mistakenly thought of the kang as a bed.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Your father, he joined the army at thirteen and went to military school. He can recognize more characters than Mom,” Su Xiangwan said, poking Gou Dan’s forehead. “If he were willing to give more money, I’d send you both to school, and you wouldn’t need to learn such simple knowledge from Zhao Guodong, right?”

Gou Dan didn’t care, “Mom only knows thirty characters, and I only know thirty, I’m not learning any more.” He was so loyal to his mother.

Song Qingshan pulled out 20 yuan from his pocket and placed it in front of Su Xiangwan. “Apart from the money needed for the tractor’s fuel, the rest of my salary is for you.”

…

“Stop seeing Zhao. The kids will be sent to school at the beginning of the year,” Song Qingshan whispered when the children weren’t paying attention.

He was worried she might follow Zhao Guodong’s lead and acquire so much knowledge that she could go to university.

Su Xiangwan had already heard that his salary was about 80 yuan. Now, she understood. He had given her 50, keeping 30 for himself. Today, he was trying to smooth things over after the trouble with his mother.

“So, you think Zhao can help me become the village party secretary? The village party secretary gets ten jin of flour and ten jin of oil per year. Even though the work points are the same, at least the position is high and has some prestige in the village. I must become the party secretary,” Su Xiangwan said.

She was a time traveler and would eventually have to confess her identity to Song Qingshan, but this wasn’t the right moment. For now, she would continue to play dumb and provide a more down-to-earth reason for wanting the position.

Song Qingshan thought she was just teasing him, pitting the two rivals against each other.

As for Zhao Guodong, if he couldn’t accomplish what he had set out to do, he would never catch up to the elegance of someone like Zhao Guodong.

In their marriage, harmony was key. With the police dog guarding the door, Song Qingshan knew that any trouble would stay in their own household, and Zhao Guodong wouldn’t be able to interfere.

He then said, “My eldest sister is also a cadre. It’s great to be a female cadre. However, break things off with Zhao Guodong. When it’s time to elect the village secretary, as long as you have a good reason, I’ll help you.”

“I don’t know many characters, just these few. It was Zhao, the cadre, who taught me. You see, I’ve only learned about twenty characters in total, and I taught them all to your son. You should teach me how to read and do some math. If you’re willing to teach me, I’ll break things off with Zhao Guodong,” Su Xiangwan said, taking the opportunity to smoothly make a deal.

Song Qingshan saw that the older two children hadn’t gone to sleep yet. The two of them were huddled together in the corner of the kang, whispering something. Normally, he didn’t joke around, but this time, he couldn’t help but make a light-hearted comment: “I’m just a simple person, not cultured enough to reach that high level of sophistication. Are you really willing to let me teach you?”

“Whether it’s a black cat or a white cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat. Zhao Guodong speaks in lofty terms, always saying things I don’t understand. After all, I’m a working-class person. Although I envy the elegance of the high class, I still find the simple life more comfortable,” Su Xiangwan replied. “So don’t be polite. From now on, you teach me to read and write, and I’ll teach the kids. How about that?”

Her words were sharp and clear. Yesterday, she had been all talk and criticism, nearly leaving Song Qingshan out of breath. But today, her praise felt unexpectedly pleasant to him.

In just a few words, Su Xiangwan had made it clear that there was no romantic involvement with Zhao Guodong.

Song Qingshan didn’t say anything but smiled.

Su Xiangwan stared at him for a moment. People say that handsome men are good-looking, but she didn’t know why she still preferred Song Qingshan. His face was stern, like an iceberg, but when he smiled, it was warm and comforting.

As usual, once he lay down, he fell asleep instantly.

The next day, before going to the regiment, Song Qingshan made a detour to the county’s Xinhua Bookstore.

The bookstore had been chaotic recently due to the unrest in the county. Many classic books had been destroyed, but elementary school textbooks were still available.

From his memory, Su Xiangwan had only attended two years of primary school. She barely knew how to write, so he chose textbooks from first to third grade. He planned to test her knowledge and help her catch up on her education.

When he arrived at the regiment, the clerk, Xiao Wu, came in and greeted him. “Hello, Commander!”

He opened the thick letter from the provincial capital, which contained the files of Tao Hongwu and Zhao Guodong. From the contents, Zhao Guodong came from a good family, with a father who wanted to cultivate him for a political career, and his grandfather had made significant contributions during the Liberation War, so he couldn’t be problematic.

As for Tao Hongwu, he had applied for a transfer to a locomotive factory to help his younger brother, and there seemed to be no issue with him either.

However, Song Qingshan still had doubts about his wife.

That evening, when he returned home with the textbooks, Su Xiangwan had just finished her work and was feeding food to the big mountain, the dog, with the two kids.

Song Qingshan put the books in a bag, washed his hands, and began helping Su Xiangwan prepare dinner. The family had been getting more white flour lately thanks to the flashlight trade, so tonight, Su Xiangwan decided to make noodles with the fine white flour.

Since the old house had poor food, Donkey Egg and Dog Egg had never eaten noodles made from fine white flour. After the family split, they ate fine noodles almost every night, which made the two kids spoiled.

Later, as they lay down on the kang, the two boys began to boast.

Donkey Egg said, “Dog Egg, guess what? Today, Xiedan said she was looking forward to the New Year because there would be white noodles to eat. I told her I’m already tired of white noodles because we eat them every day.”

Dog Egg replied, “Bro, you’re the one who’s tired of them. I think white noodles are nothing. Even the oil dregs are starting to get boring.”

“If you’re really tired of it, from tomorrow on, we’ll have sour soup with corn and millet, and you’ll stop complaining,” Su Xiangwan said sternly. “Close your eyes and go to sleep now.”

The two boys immediately curled up next to the dog and pretended to snore.

Song Qingshan took the books out of the bag and laid them out. He was preparing to teach Su Xiangwan, but he also needed to ask her some questions.

“First question, Su Xiangwan, I want to ask you, why do you want to be the village secretary? You must understand, it’s not an easy job and it’s hard to get elected. If you’re thinking that I’m competing with Zhao Guodong for it, that won’t happen,” Song Qingshan said.

Su Xiangwan walked over to the edge of the kang, touched Dog Egg’s little face, and said, “I just want no child in the village to go hungry. That’s not wrong, is it?”

Well, that was certainly not wrong. As a mother, no one would want their child to go hungry.

Song Qingshan looked at her intently and asked, “Then why do you want to learn to read?”

Su Xiangwan was a bit fiery. The first time they met, she had found Song Qingshan unattractive and had almost run away with her three kids as soon as the tractor started.

But now, looking at him, he was truly handsome. Even though his army uniform was a little worn, his strong muscles were evident, and despite his rough appearance and intense expression, his smile was warm and comforting.

She had heard from her experienced friends that men with well-defined muscles who shake a bit when standing were like electric motors—full of energy and strength.

So, despite everything, she was willing to consider him and even wanted to cultivate their relationship into a real marriage, if he was truly a good match.

Of course, these thoughts were just in her mind.

What she said out loud were all compliments.

“You have culture, and I don’t. I just want to learn a little bit so I can keep up with you. Isn’t that simple?” Su Xiangwan continued, showering him with compliments.

Song Qingshan stared at Su Xiangwan for a long time and then suddenly said, “You’re not trying to use the same tricks from when we were in Dongfeng City, are you?”