Jiang Hongmei's Grievance

Zhao Qiancheng glared furiously, raised the pipe in his hand, and pointed it through the air at his wife several times. Gritting his teeth, he warned, "I'm warning you—don't go doing anything so shameful and infuriating!

"As for Jiang Hongmei, I will never let her cross our family's threshold. If you dare pull any tricks behind my back, pack up your bedding and get out immediately. Do you hear me?"

"Got it, got it!"

Seeing her man lose his temper, Qin Fengying immediately lowered her head like a quail and did not dare say another word. Zhao Qiancheng shot her a dark look, and seeing that she had settled down considerably, he did not press the matter further.

He then turned back to his son. "Tomorrow, I'll go into town and ask your uncle to help make inquiries. See whether there are any suitable candidates at his work unit."

Hope immediately rose in Zhao Jianguo's heart, and he quickly answered, "Mm!"

"Good."

Zhao Qiancheng smiled and patted his son's arm. "It's getting late. Go back to your room and sleep! You still have work tomorrow."

"Mm!" Zhao Jianguo rose to his feet and said, "You and Mom should turn in early too."

Then he returned to his own large bedroom. Though the Zhao Household had many people, they were unlike the other village families, with a whole household crammed onto one kang, sleeping piled atop one another, unable even to turn over.

Other than Zhao Qiancheng and his wife, everyone in the family had a room of their own. They also had a separate kitchen, main hall, storage room, and unused pigsty and cowshed.

All of this was thanks to Zhao Jianguo's deceased grandparents, as well as his uncle in town, Zhao Manjiang. Back then, they had seized an opportunity to follow others in reporting several big landlords in town, unexpectedly receiving a gold bar and several sacks of grain in return.

From then on, the Zhao Household quietly struck it rich. The educated Zhao brothers secretly disposed of the gold bar and pulled some strings. With the two elders' contributions and their own efforts, they each secured jobs as a production team leader and a textile factory worker.

Later, they even sent all seven children in the family to school. But aside from the two Zhao elders and themselves, only Zhao Jianguo knew about this.

The reason was simple. Though Zhao Manjiang was the most accomplished man in the Zhao Household, he had fathered four daughters, while Zhao Jianguo was the undisputed eldest grandson of the Zhao family.

He hoped that when Zhao Jianguo prospered in the future, he would look after his sisters, so that if the girls suffered grievances after marriage, they would have somewhere to turn. He also did not want to reach the end of his hundred years with no one to send him off.

It was rather laughable. He was clearly an educated man of the new era, yet he still clung to such feudal notions deep in his bones. If country folk were not mostly like this, his behavior probably would not have gone over well either.

Still, from then on, the Zhao Household's fortunes had sailed smoothly with the wind at their backs. Within a few years, Zhao Manjiang married a shop assistant from a well-connected family in town. With the help of her parents, he rose like a soaring roc and became the director of a production workshop.

As for Zhao Qiancheng, though he had merely married Qin Fengying, a village girl from the neighboring village, her elder brother served in the Militia Company. Her whole family stood united, and more importantly, they treated him with wholehearted sincerity. Everyone in the area saw it, so naturally they gave him some face. Later, when he became the brigade secretary, the Qin Household had put in no small amount of effort.

Moreover, although his elder brother had gone to town and claimed that the old house would be kept for retirement, it had actually been given to him. In Zhao Qiancheng's small household, both he and his eldest son Zhao Jianguo could earn full work points, while even Qin Fengying and eldest daughter Zhao Xiufen could earn seven or eight work points.

As for his younger son, Zhao Jiaming, he was already thirteen this year. Since last year, he had been attending the primary school in town. Zhao Qiancheng did not expect him to earn work points; he only hoped the boy would study hard and secure a good job later.

In any case, he and his wife were cadres, so their child would never lack food or clothes. Thus, the Zhao Household's circumstances ranked among the very best nearby.

That was also why Zhao Jianguo had always wanted to find a girl from a good family. The Zhao Household had struggled so hard to rise—how could they marry back into village families again? How many generations of effort would it take before they could truly leave all this behind?

He had once thought things through clearly enough, but ever since Jiang Hongmei answered the call and went to the countryside at Red Flag Commune, his head had started burning hot. No matter how good the conditions of the girls Zhao Manjiang introduced were, he would not spare them a second glance.

Zhao Manjiang and Zhao Qiancheng tried persuading him several times, all to no avail. Thinking that the girl came from the capital and, judging by her tone, had some connections at home, she had to be better than their old Zhao family somehow. So they compromised.

Who would have thought the boy would stir up this fuss again today? Still, coming to his senses was a good thing no matter what. Jiang Hongmei had never been the Zhao Household's first choice for a daughter-in-law. It was just that no one knew whether, after waking up this time, he would change his mind again.

Zhao Qiancheng watched his eldest son leave, then urged his youngest son, Zhao Jiaming, to go rest. "Hurry up. You have to get up early for school tomorrow!"

"Oh!"

Zhao Jiaming stood and held out his hand to him. "Dad, give me some money."

Zhao Qiancheng glared at him. "Didn't I just give you twenty cents a few days ago?"

Still, scolding was one thing. He pulled five ten-cent notes from his pocket and handed them over. "Get lost, get lost, you little spendthrift!"

Zhao Jiaming bared his teeth in a grin, snatched the money into his hand, and ran off. Zhao Qiancheng turned to look at his eldest daughter, only to see the same wolfish gleam in her eyes. Helpless, he could only hand her ten cents as well. She pursed her lips, but happily accepted it and got up to leave the main hall.

Zhao Qiancheng sighed softly and pressed his hand over his wallet in pain. This family spent money more fiercely than the next.

The moment Zhao Jianguo entered his room, his thoughts became a mess. Jiang Hongmei's tear-blurred eyes kept appearing before him, and his reluctance surged up once more like a tide.

Irritation instantly filled his heart. He felt he was being cheap. Today, right in front of Niu Chunhua and the others, she had said Gu Yu was her fiancé, yet here he was, still unable to let go. What kind of man was that!?

But then again, he was unwilling to simply give up on someone he had loved for three whole years. Zhao Jianguo suddenly sat upright and ran both hands through his messy short hair.

He truly could not understand it. He always felt that Jiang Hongmei was either blind or stupid. Otherwise, why would she reject an ambitious young man with such a bright future as him, only to cling to some ruined reform-through-labor case?

Zhao Jianguo stared viciously out the window. At that moment, he hated Gu Yu and the ungrateful Jiang Hongmei to the core. He swore in his heart that he would make them regret the humiliation they had brought him today.

While he was plotting revenge against the two of them, the Educated Youth Station was equally lively. Because of Jiang Hongmei, everyone started arguing again.

"Enough, enough! Everyone's tired. Hurry up, wash up, and sleep! We still have work tomorrow!"

"Why should we let it go again? Huang Qimei, if you want to play the good person, don't treat us like sacrifices!"

Song Yichen, one of the educated youths, glared angrily at the short-haired girl who had spoken, then turned an unfriendly face toward Jiang Hongmei, whose eye rims were red. He demanded loudly, "It's pitch-black outside, and none of us have even eaten yet. Tell us, what do you think we should do?"

"Exactly." Wang Wenwen, leaning against the wall, scoffed and shouted, "We already said we could fix the roof ourselves, but you insisted on finding Gu Yu to come help. I really don't understand it. Can the roof Gu Yu fixed be eaten as food?"

Wang Wenwen was both furious and baffled. She truly could not understand why, today, everything about Jiang Hongmei rubbed her the wrong way. She had not disliked her this much before.

"Who knows?"

Lu Xiaoyue took over, coldly eyeing the person involved, who was huddled in the corner and crying pitifully. She sneered, "The key is, when Gu Yu refused to come, she would not let it go. She insisted on dragging Zhao Jianguo along to persuade him again.

"Well, what a sight. Once they left, they vanished without a trace. Our roof was already repaired, yet they were nowhere to be seen.

"Everyone was tired and hungry, and we were afraid something had happened to her, so we searched everywhere. And what did we find? She was hiding by the river, gazing at the stars. How delightful, wasn't it!?"

Hearing her friend say such things about her, Jiang Hongmei felt wronged and choked up. "I... I was in a bad mood, so..."

"Because you were in a bad mood, we deserved to go hungry!?"

The hot-tempered Li Jiaojiao roared, "What sins did we commit to be assigned to the same Educated Youth Station as you? You never handle proper business. All you know is how to flirt with men everywhere.

"Fine, let that be. But why should everyone suffer along with you? Are you our father or our mother?"

Jiang Hongmei felt even more aggrieved. "Y-You can't say that about me! I didn't do it on purpose. Besides, it's only cooking one meal.

"If I didn't return on time, then something must have delayed me. Couldn't you have just cooked a meal yourselves first!? Why did you have to wait for me?

"Now look at this. You couldn't eat, so you throw all the blame onto me. What can I even say? Today, because I went to find someone to fix the roof for everyone, I suffered such huge grievances. Who am I supposed to complain to?"

The more Jiang Hongmei spoke, the sadder she became. She truly could not understand it. Before this, everyone had clearly been so reasonable and understanding. Why were they all acting as if possessed today, targeting her one after another?

She had wanted to help Gu Yu and let him blend in with everyone. That way, during his period of reform, life could be a little easier for him. But not only had he failed to appreciate it, he had even let that Shen Jianan bully her.

And that damned Zhao Jianguo! Whenever Jiang Hongmei thought of how he had left her on the mountain path in broad daylight to be bullied by others, then called her a "pig brain," her liver ached with rage.

It seemed his former consideration and gentleness had all been an act. A country bumpkin was still a country bumpkin—no matter how handsome his skin, it could not hide the coarseness in his bones.

As for the people at this Educated Youth Station, they were even more outrageous! When she and Zhao Jianguo left, everyone had known and agreed.

When the roof was finished and she still had not returned, then she must have been delayed by something! They could have made do and cooked a meal first, and she could make it up to them afterward. Wouldn't that have been fine?

But every one of them was petty and calculating. They insisted on finding her and making her cook. Then, because that delayed them, they turned around and blamed her. Wasn't that sick? It was not as if she had held a knife to their throats and forced them to look for her!

Jiang Hongmei felt incomparably wronged, while the people at the Educated Youth Station were nearly driven mad by her. They did not even know how to describe this woman's selfishness.

She had done something wrong, yet not only did she refuse to repent, she even turned around and bit them instead. She claimed that they had worried something happened to her and searched everywhere only because they did not want to cook. What kind of logic was that? How could there be such a shameless person in the world?

"Since you think we're so terrible and that we bullied you, then tomorrow we'll go find the secretary and have him assign you somewhere else. How about that?"

Li Jiaojiao shouted, the veins at her temples standing out one by one as though displaying her fury. "This little temple of ours can't accommodate an educated young lady of such grand vision!"

After saying that, she gave Jiang Hongmei no chance to retort. She dragged Lu Xiaoyue and the others out of the room, and all of them crowded into the two rooms next door to gnaw on raw sweet potatoes. Jiang Hongmei alone remained sitting there stupidly, tears streaming down her face.

After a long while, someone came over in the darkness. Jiang Hongmei hurriedly stopped crying, thinking they had come to comfort her. But instead, they merely pulled the door shut and turned away.

Through the door panel, she vaguely heard someone say, "She's finally stopped wailing like at a funeral. She was driving everyone to death."

Jiang Hongmei's little mouth crumpled, and she threw herself back onto the bedding, bursting into loud sobs again. Only after crying herself exhausted did she fall into a deep sleep on an empty stomach.

When Gu Yu returned to the small courtyard under the cover of night, Shen Jianan was already lying on the earthen kang, snoring in his sleep. Judging by the way he looked, he had probably been worn out from hoeing weeds today.

With smiling eyes, Gu Yu stepped forward and bent down to pull over the quilt from the corner of the kang, gently covering him with it. Only then did he go wash up in the yard. Before long, he came back into the room wearing only a sleeveless undershirt, swiftly blew out the lamp, and climbed onto the kang.

In his sleep, the boy sensed that familiar presence and unconsciously nestled closer. Gu Yu chuckled helplessly, reached out to pat the little one on the head, then slowly closed his eyes and drifted into dreams with him.

Bright moonlight filtered through the window and quietly draped over the two of them, making their faces seem all the more like polished jade, cool and handsome...

At first light, the work whistle sounded. Shen Jianan irritably kicked the quilt caught between his legs, then rubbed his eyes and sat up from the kang. Seeing no one beside him, he opened his mouth and called, "Brother Gu!?"

Before his words had even fallen, Gu Yu's reply came from outside. "I'm in the kitchen. Hurry up, wash up, and let's go."

"Oh."

Shen Jianan answered and hurriedly dressed. He jumped off the kang and ran outside to brush his teeth and wash his face. Gu Yu had already come out of the kitchen carrying two sweet potatoes, washing them clean by the spring before standing nearby to wait for him.

"Just a second!"

Shen Jianan quickly scrubbed his face, washed and wrung out the towel, and casually hung it on the rack beside him. He then took the purple-skinned sweet potato Gu Yu handed him and bit into it. Sweet and crisp—not bad!

The boy's eyes curved into crescents. "Let's go, Brother Gu."

With that, he held up the fist-sized sweet potato and ran out while eating. His slightly long hair bounced up and down with every movement, making him look rather adorable.

"Slow down. There's still time."

Gu Yu called out a reminder and quickly followed. By the time they reached the fields, quite a few villagers had already begun working. Shen Jianan rummaged through his pockets and found four fruit candies. While no one was looking, he slipped two each to brigade leader Zhao Gang and record keeper Zhao Hongjun.

Then, amid their stunned looks, he said with a smile, "For the kids at home to sweeten their mouths."

After that, he pulled Gu Yu over and stood at the edge of the field, looking at them eagerly. For a moment, the two men did not understand what the boy wanted. Gu Yu was the one who caught his little scheme. He awkwardly glanced around before quietly reminding them, "Brigade Leader, Record Keeper, it's time to assign work."

Only then did Zhao Hongjun and Zhao Gang understand what the little educated youth was scheming for. Still, it was no big matter. After considering it, the two assigned him and Gu Yu to the same spot. Shen Jianan's brows immediately lifted in delight. After thanking them repeatedly, he and Gu Yu shouldered their tools and ran off.

But when they happily reached their assigned plot, they discovered that Lu Xiaoyue, Li Jiaojiao, and the others from the Educated Youth Station had been assigned to the upper ridge, while Jiang Hongmei was staring eagerly at the two of them.

Shen Jianan's face fell at once, like March weather changing without warning. Gu Yu amusedly patted his head. "Don't make trouble. Hurry up and work."

With that, he walked alone toward the other side, putting some distance between himself and the boy. He swung his hoe and began tilling the ground. Seeing his manner, Shen Jianan knew he did not want to bother with her, so he said nothing more. He stepped forward a few paces and briskly began working too.

But while they did not want trouble, Jiang Hongmei had no such awareness. Now that she had seen Gu Yu, she no longer wanted to hoe weeds at all. All she wanted was to have a proper talk with him about yesterday and ease the resentment filling her heart.