"Ooh, making dumplings, Mom? Who's here?"
As she spoke, a young woman opened the door and walked in.
She wore makeup and clothes that were quite fashionable for the era, dressed in a strikingly glamorous way. It clashed badly with this dusty, vast, desolate little county on the plateau.
She was someone Wang Yan knew, though she had always appeared only as his brother-in-law's wife, so Wang Yan had never really had much to do with her.
"Oh, you must be the new college graduate?"
Wang Yan was making dumplings with Zhang Qinqin. He smiled and greeted her. "Hello."
The director introduced her, "This is my eldest daughter, Bai Shao."
"There's also an older brother named Bai Chun. He's in the army. There are five of us in the family."
Bai Shao smiled brightly, and her words were no less warm. This Bai Shao was much more pleasing to the eye than the one Wang Yan had known before.
Wang Yan said, "That's nice. The more people there are, the livelier it gets."
"It was fine when we were little, but once we grew up, no one was ever around anymore. Even if we wanted things to be lively, they couldn't be." Bai Shao asked, "What about you? How many people are in your family? From the sound of it, it seems like there aren't..."
"Bai Shao!" The director interrupted, glaring at her eldest daughter. "The dumplings are almost done. Go boil some water. What are you asking around for?"
This place was too small, and a college graduate like Wang Yan was something of a rarity. Naturally, his family circumstances were no secret. Whenever anyone mentioned them, they could not help sighing, lamenting Wang Yan's ill-fated life while also calling the boy foolish.
He was all alone, yet instead