Chapter 4

At dawn, smoke curled from chimney to chimney as Jiang Qiuyue slung a basket on her back. Aunt Niu from next door saw her and immediately asked, “Qiuyue, are you heading to town again?”

The original Jiang Qiuyue went to town on the first of every month to collect money. She never said what for, but everyone knew.

Jiang Qiuyue smiled and nodded. Aunt Niu lived beside the Lin family and had often advised the original Jiang Qiuyue to be more cautious, but she never listened, instead blaming Aunt Niu for meddling.

Watching Jiang Qiuyue’s retreating figure, Aunt Niu shook her head and told her husband, “Qiuyue hasn’t changed at all. I thought she was clearer-headed yesterday, but now she’s off to get money from the Lins again. She’s foolish. Wang Chunhua never treated Lin Dazhu like her own son, let alone Qiuyue and her children.”

“Just cook your meal; other people’s business doesn’t concern us. You’ve advised her plenty before—did she listen?” Niu Dali washed his face as his stomach grumbled.

Aunt Niu sighed helplessly and went on with breakfast preparations. She wasn’t like Wang Chunhua, the cruel mother-in-law who only knew how to make life hard for her daughter-in-law.

By now, Jiang Qiuyue had already left the village.

It took an hour to walk from Peach Blossom Village to town, and after only ten minutes, Jiang Qiuyue was already tired.

She didn’t blame herself; it was the original’s poor health.

As she paused to rest, the rumble of a tractor came from behind. She hurriedly waved. “You Ren, are you heading into town?”

The tractor’s trailer was empty. When Wang Youren confirmed he was, Jiang Qiuyue asked if she could hitch a ride.

“Of course, sister-in-law. You’re going to town, right?” Wang Youren was curious. He’d seen Jiang Qiuyue before and had offered rides, but she always declined without even a glance.

The tractor belonged to the village. If it was on the way, he’d always give villagers a lift, especially the older women who praised him—good word brought him more matchmaking prospects.

“Hold on tight, sister-in-law. I’m off!” Wang Youren shouted.

Though bumpy, riding was much easier than walking. In twenty minutes, they reached town.

Jiang Qiuyue asked when he planned to return.

“Probably around one in the afternoon,” Wang Youren replied.

“Can I wait here for you? I want to fill my basket and carry it myself. It’s exhausting just thinking about it. I’ll give you some egg cakes when you come back!”

Seeing the sparkle in her eyes, Wang Youren scratched his head in surprise. “Sure, but come early—I might get back ahead of schedule.” He thought to himself that Lin’s wife was unusually talkative today, but her smile was quite charming.

First, Jiang Qiuyue collected a registered letter, then exchanged it for money and ration tickets.

In this era, twenty yuan was a fortune. Most rural families couldn’t earn that much in three months.

Before heading to the supply and marketing cooperative, Jiang Qiuyue stopped at the state-run restaurant and ordered a bowl of shredded pork noodles for twenty cents.

Since it was state-run, the ingredients were generous—a hearty bowl of noodles bathed in bone broth sprinkled with scallions. The rich aroma awakened her taste buds after a sleepless night. She ate with great satisfaction.

By the time she arrived at the cooperative around 9:30 a.m., the modest space of about a hundred square meters offered only basic daily necessities—pitifully few items.

She had planned ahead. With summer heat, cloth shoes suffocated her feet, so she spent two yuan fifty on a pair of sandals. For cooking, she bought one yuan’s worth of soybean oil at seventy-eight cents per jin. Ten jin each of rice and flour cost two yuan ninety. She wanted meat but arrived too late; only lean meat and some bones remained. Two jin of meat and two jin of marrow bones cost two yuan. Salt, soy sauce, and other small items totaled another two yuan.

Filling her basket cost ten yuan forty cents. Adding the twenty cents for noodles, she had spent over half her twenty yuan.

Money was easy to spend. Thankfully, she had the foresight to write to her husband for extra living expenses; otherwise, how could she maintain her health, she thought.

Jiang Qiuyue had wanted to buy skincare products since the original’s skin was dry from sun and wind, but the town’s cooperative didn’t have any.

The clerk said the city might have some, but snow cream was scarce and not always available.

Hearing this, Jiang Qiuyue gave up on buying it herself and decided to wait for her husband’s money before mentioning snow cream.

At noon, she bought five large meat buns at the state restaurant, ate two herself, and gave one to Wang Youren when she saw him.

She planned to shop here regularly. Without offering favors, no one would want to give her rides every time.

Each meat bun was fifteen cents, generously filled. Wang Youren swallowed his saliva but declined, “Sister-in-law, the tractor isn’t mine. When I meet villagers, I give them a lift. You gave me egg cakes, but take the meat bun home for your family.”

“I already brought some for Beibei and Nannan.” Jiang Qiuyue said as she jumped onto the tractor. “If you don’t eat it, I’ll feel bad asking you again. Don’t be so polite. Next time you go to town, just call me.”

She felt she had gained something. Otherwise, carrying a twenty- to thirty-jin basket an hour home would have been exhausting.

People should be kind to themselves; if you can spend money, don’t wear yourself out.

Using Lin Dazhu’s money didn’t embarrass her; she had borne two of his children, after all. Besides, she gave the buns to the two kids.

Wang Youren watched Jiang Qiuyue settle in and thought she was generous. He had never had a meat bun before, so he planned to take some vegetables home to share with his parents.

When Jiang Qiuyue arrived home, the Lin family had already eaten lunch and gone back to work.

Lin Beibei and Lin Nannan sat on the doorstep, their eyes red. Jiang Qiuyue immediately sensed something was wrong. She pulled the two children inside, asking what had happened.

Upon seeing their mother, Lin Beibei couldn’t hold back tears. Big teardrops fell like peas. “Mom, why did you come back so late? Auntie and Granny didn’t let Nannan and me eat lunch. They even pushed us, and my pants got torn.”

Lin Nannan tightly gripped his brother’s hand, head lowered.

Jiang Qiuyue saw the scraped knee and frowned. She thought to hurry. She had only left sweet potatoes for the two children and hadn’t expected to catch a ride on the tractor, which made her miss lunch.

Wiping Lin Beibei’s tears, she planned how to confront Wang Chunhua and the others, then took out the meat buns. “Stop crying, or you’ll look like little kittens. I bought these meat buns just for you. Eat up.”

Seeing the buns, Lin Beibei instantly stopped crying. “These… are for us to eat?”

“Yes, especially for you,” Jiang Qiuyue said.

Lin Beibei had never tasted meat buns but heard from other village children that they were the most delicious food in the world. She eagerly took a bite. “So good!”

Watching the two children devour the food, Jiang Qiuyue made a mental note against the Lin family.

She unpacked her purchases and put them away. Yesterday, she had decided to cook for herself and not eat with the Lin family. Even if Lin Fugui refused to divide the household, her money was hers alone. It was what she deserved for helping Lin Dazhu care for the children.

After boiling water and washing with the soap she bought, Jiang Qiuyue finally felt truly alive.

She led the two children to bathe. Lin Beibei was shy and insisted on washing himself, so she let him.

The three washed clean, bedding was washed too. Sitting under the eaves, Jiang Qiuyue took a deep breath. “This is life.”

After his bath, Lin Beibei immediately dragged his sister out to find friends and brag about the meat bun.

This was overheard by Qian Li, who loudly confirmed with Lin Beibei several times, then ran to the fields to complain to her mother-in-law. The two of them, carrying Lin Dabao, hurried home.

As they entered the yard, Wang Chunhua shouted at Jiang Qiuyue, “Jiang Qiuyue, did you spend my money?”

“My money?” Jiang Qiuyue fanned herself and laughed.

“Yes, the money Dazhu sent back is mine!” Wang Chunhua held out her hand. “Give me the money now.”

“No money. I spent it all,” Jiang Qiuyue replied.

“What?” Wang Chunhua thought she misheard. She held back her temper yesterday because of this twenty yuan. “Say that again if you dare.”

Jiang Qiuyue stood up and spoke slowly and clearly, “I said I spent all the money! Didn’t I say yesterday that I wouldn’t eat with you all anymore? That means I have to buy rice and flour myself.”

Qian Li’s chest tightened hearing all the money was gone. She had been waiting to exchange it for eggs for Dabao. “Twenty yuan total, how could you have spent it all? Sister-in-law, our parents raised our big brother for so many years. This is the money he sent as filial support. Even if you’re angry at your birth mother, you shouldn’t be greedy for this money. Otherwise, you won’t be able to explain yourself to big brother.”

“Look at what you’re saying—our parents also raised the second brother for more than twenty years. Tell me, how much money has the second brother used to support them?” Jiang Qiuyue waved her fan and thought about how those two had pushed the children at lunch. She wouldn’t let it go easily. “Why is it okay for Dazhu to give money but not the second brother?”

“You’re talking nonsense!” Qian Li had no argument and turned to seek her mother-in-law’s help.

“Oh, the second sister-in-law even knows idioms now,” Jiang Qiuyue sneered. “If you want money, I don’t have a cent. How about this: since I married Dazhu, I’ve paid six years of living expenses. I’ll give second sister-in-law a discount—you’ve been here four years, so just pay for four more. After that, we can share expenses together.”

Qian Li’s little stash was meant for herself and her natal family; she wasn’t about to hand it over.

Seeing Qian Li frown, Jiang Qiuyue looked at her mother-in-law. “Mom, I remember the second brother recently earned two yuan helping build a new house. I saw second sister-in-law wanted to keep it for her family and refused to give it to you.”

“Two yuan?” Wang Chunhua’s eyes widened. “Qian Li, didn’t you say Erzhu didn’t earn money, just a few eggs?”

“Mom, don’t listen to sister-in-law’s nonsense. It’s not true…”

“Mom, just ask the neighbors in the next village. Second sister-in-law, it’s not that I want to keep your secrets, but you’ve gone too far. How can you have money and not support your parents? Now that the household isn’t divided, you should give it to Mom,” Jiang Qiuyue continued to add fuel to the fire. “And two years ago at Mid-Autumn Festival, second sister-in-law kept the eggs meant for Dabao and secretly sent them to her family. Mom, you didn’t know about this, did you?”

Wang Chunhua really didn’t know. She wanted to confront someone, but Qian Li stopped her, and she realized Qian Li had lied.

Having bottled up anger for two days, she slapped Qian Li immediately.

Qian Li felt no guilt. The in-laws had taken sister-in-law’s twenty yuan and had plenty of money; why pick on her small savings?

After the slap, Qian Li felt deeply wronged. “Mom, sister-in-law is stirring up trouble!”

“Jiang Qiuyue’s no good. You’re betraying us too!” Wang Chunhua grabbed Qian Li’s hair. “No wonder Dabao was so skinny two years ago—you gave his food to your family.”

She dragged Qian Li toward the room. “If you don’t hand over the money today, you’re done with me!”

The more Wang Chunhua thought about it, the angrier she grew. She slapped Qian Li twice more. Lin Dabao sat crying loudly on the floor.

Two years ago, Dabao was only one. What he ate or didn’t eat, he couldn’t remember himself. Qian Li had only occasionally kept an egg or two.

Having painstakingly saved over twenty yuan, she refused to hand it over. She stood stubbornly at the door, refusing to come inside despite Wang Chunhua’s pulling.

When the Lin men returned, they found Qian Li crying hoarsely on the floor and Wang Chunhua cursing beside her.

Lin Erzhu hurried over to ask what happened. Jiang Qiuyue immediately spoke, “Second brother, you and your wife are so unfilial. You earned money but lied to Mom and Dad saying you didn’t. Now the truth’s out, and Mom is angry with you both!”

She shook her head and sighed. “Dad, I really feel sorry for you. Second brother is your own son.”

Lin Fugui, nearly bursting with anger, thought Jiang Qiuyue was mocking him.