Chapter 4
As luck would have it, she ran into an oxcart from Qianxi Village on her way back. There was an empty spot, so they gave Ye Qingzhi a ride.
She had barely settled in when an older woman asked, “Which family are you from in Houxi Village?”
“You’re Wei Youliang’s daughter-in-law, right? I heard something happened to Jiancheng. Is it true?” a woman next to her asked, looking at Ye Qingzhi with doubt.
That’s how it was in the countryside. Even a broken bowl could become the talk of the town, let alone a major event like a death. Qianxi Village and Houxi Village weren’t far apart, separated only by a small creek, so they had heard the news yesterday afternoon.
Everyone’s gazes, some subtle and some overt, fell on Ye Qingzhi. Seeing her red, swollen eyes and haggard expression, they were filled with sympathy.
“Little sister, try to look on the bright side. I heard your man was gone for five or six years. Alive or dead, it’s not much different. You’re still young. You can find someone else to marry. The living have to go on,” the first woman said comfortingly.
Hearing this, Ye Qingzhi seemed to recall something, and her face filled with a mixture of resentment and forbearance.
This expression wasn’t right. The women exchanged glances, sensing there was a story here, and immediately pressed Ye Qingzhi to tell them what was wrong.
As if she couldn’t hold it in any longer, Ye Qingzhi broke down and cried, intermittently revealing the story of how Wei Jiancheng had found another woman and given all his wages to her.
“Our second son was just a month old when he left. He only sent money back for the first four months, and then there was no news at all. My own family is far away, my mother-in-law is gone, and my father-in-law is unreliable. I’ve been struggling to support this family all by myself with two young children. And him? He was out there finding another woman! Sob, sob… Even if he didn’t care about me, our two sons are still his. He didn’t even care about his own children!” Ye Qingzhi cried out in pain.
The women hadn’t expected this hidden story, but it wasn’t surprising. Wei Jiancheng had been gone for six years and had a salary; how could he possibly have kept it in his pants?
“Little sister, stop crying. Men are all like that,” the other woman comforted her.
Ye Qingzhi sobbed as she listened to their words of comfort, nodding from time to time. With these women spreading the news, she was sure it would soon be known throughout all the nearby villages.
When she returned to her own village, Ye Qingzhi ran into some old men and women who weren’t working. She maintained her heartbroken appearance, hesitating as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t. Under their questioning, she finally told them the truth and was met with a chorus of comforting words.
After Ye Qingzhi left, the group immediately began to gossip.
“I knew there was something wrong. Who leaves for five or six years and doesn’t send any money back? See? I knew he had another woman,” Old Mrs. Wu said with an I-told-you-so expression.
“I suspected something was wrong long ago, too. I even mentioned it to Qingzhi, but she got angry. They say if you don’t listen to your elders, you’ll suffer for it. Well, isn’t she suffering now? If she had listened to me and gotten ahold of Jiancheng’s salary, it wouldn’t have all gone to that vixen outside,” Old Mrs. Li said with a mix of regret and smugness.
“So all of Jiancheng’s money went to that other woman? Does that mean Qingzhi gets nothing?” Old Mrs. Zhang asked, puzzled.
Old Mrs. Wu glanced at her. “Goes without saying. And Fang Xiaomei was hoping to get a share of the inheritance. Who knew it would all go to an outsider?”
Old Mrs. Li nodded. “The most pitiful one is Jiancheng’s wife. Raising two children all by herself, only to have a no-good man. I saw her eyes were all swollen from crying. Sigh, what a pity.”
Old Mrs. Zhang’s eyes darted around. “I used to think Jiancheng’s wife would never remarry. But with things as they are, she definitely won’t stay a widow for him. She’s not that old, and though she’s a bit thin, she has good features. I’ll find a suitable match for her.”
The other two women didn’t respond, but they were also hatching their own plans. If they successfully arranged a match, they would not only receive a matchmaker’s gift but also get to eat several good meals.
By the time work ended that morning, everyone knew that Wei Jiancheng had found another woman and given all his wages to her.
When Wei Youliang and Fang Xiaomei heard the news, they rushed to find Ye Qingzhi.
“Jiancheng’s wife, we made that call together this morning. How come I didn’t hear anything about Jiancheng having another woman?” Wei Youliang looked at Ye Qingzhi suspiciously, thinking she was making it all up to tarnish Jiancheng’s name so she could find another man.
Ye Qingzhi looked at them with a numb expression, her voice low. “After you left, I felt I couldn’t just give up. I begged Comrade Lin to find the number for Jiancheng’s friend and called again. That’s when I found out he’d been with someone else for years. No wonder he rarely wrote or sent money. And he said he was saving up to buy a house… it was all a lie.”
Seeing Ye Qingzhi crying like this, Wei Youliang’s suspicions were dispelled. He knew his son better than she did—he was a selfish person, perfectly capable of doing such a thing.
“Even so, you didn’t have to let everyone know. Jiancheng is already dead. Aren’t you just dragging his name through the mud?” Wei Youliang said unhappily.
Although the family was split, they were still father and son. If Wei Jiancheng’s reputation was ruined, he, as the father, would also be affected.
Ye Qingzhi looked at Wei Youliang with a sneer. “They say like father, like son. I didn’t believe it before, but I do now. The father chooses a woman over his son, and the son does the same. Wei Jiancheng is truly your flesh and blood. He learned all the bad things from you and none of the good.”
These words made Wei Youliang’s head spin with anger. “I am your elder! Is that any way to speak to an elder?”
Ye Qingzhi snorted coldly. “I don’t want to see you right now. Get out.”
She picked up a broom and began sweeping in their direction, forcing them out the gate. Then she immediately slammed it shut, not bothering with them any longer.
Fang Xiaomei, recovering from her shock, pounded on the gate. “Jiancheng’s wife! Did that woman take all of Jiancheng’s salary and belongings? Do you know who she is? We can’t let an outsider get away with it! We have to get that money and those things back!”
Hearing no response from inside, Fang Xiaomei frowned and was about to knock again when Wei Youliang grabbed her arm.
“That’s enough. We don’t even know where that woman is. Even if we did, we couldn’t get it back. Are we going to the Northwest? Or are you comfortable sending Haibo? The people there are rough, and she’s on her home turf. Forget it.” Wei Youliang noticed many villagers hiding and watching the commotion, so he quickly pulled Fang Xiaomei away.
Back at their house, the more Fang Xiaomei thought about it, the more unwilling she was to let it go. She felt like she had been cheated.
“Ma, stop thinking about it. Let’s eat first,” said Wei Haibo’s wife, Lin Xiujuan.
Fang Xiaomei looked at Lin Xiujuan’s swollen belly and slammed her hand on the table. “The inheritance is gone, but the house is still there. The place we’re living in now is too small. We have to make Ye Qingzhi switch houses with us.”
The house Fang Xiaomei was living in was the old Wei family house, while Ye Qingzhi’s was the new one.
When they had split the family, Wei Youliang had wanted to give the old house to Wei Jiancheng and keep the new one for themselves. But Wei Jiancheng’s maternal uncles and Ye Qingzhi’s family had disagreed. Coupled with the village elders siding with Wei Jiancheng, Wei Youliang’s plan had failed.
Although the house was given to Wei Jiancheng, Fang Xiaomei had moved most of the furniture and belongings out. It was no exaggeration to say that the original owner didn’t even have a pot lid to cook with at first.
Now that Wei Jiancheng was dead, Fang Xiaomei was eyeing the house again.
“Ma, do you have a plan?” Wei Haibo asked immediately.
Who would want to live in a small house when they could have a big one? The new house even had a plot of land in the backyard, big enough to grow vegetables for the whole family.
“If Ye Qingzhi remarries, can she still live in the Wei family’s house?” Fang Xiaomei said with a malicious grin.
“Ma, you want to marry off sister-in-law?” Wei Haibo looked at her in surprise.
Lin Xiujuan’s eyes lit up. “Ma, do you have someone in mind?”
“Old Niu the Third from town,” Fang Xiaomei said with a triumphant smile.
Wei Haibo was stunned. Old Niu the Third? He was almost sixty and had already buried two wives. He was hardly a good match.
“Will sister-in-law agree?” Wei Haibo asked doubtfully.
“What’s not to like about Old Niu? He’s a butcher, a formal worker. Not only does he get a monthly salary, but he can also eat meat every day. It’s not easy for Ye Qingzhi to raise two children. Marrying Old Niu would help her raise them,” Fang Xiaomei said, feigning concern for Ye Qingzhi.
“A butcher?” Only then did Lin Xiujuan realize who Fang Xiaomei was talking about. She shuddered at the thought of Old Niu’s appearance, but then her face lit up with excitement. “If we introduce him to a wife, he’ll have to give us some meat as a thank you, right?”
Fang Xiaomei nodded in approval. “Xiujuan is smart. That’s my other motive.”
“But will Old Niu agree?” Wei Haibo asked again.
“Why wouldn’t he? Ye Qingzhi may come with two burdens, but she’s only twenty-five and good-looking. Especially her skin… I don’t know how, but even though she works in the fields every day, it’s like the sun only shines on others and not her. She’s as fair as tofu. Old Niu would be lucky to marry such a young and tender wife. He’ll be laughing in his sleep,” Fang Xiaomei said, confident that Old Niu would be willing. As for Ye Qingzhi, they would have to come up with a plan.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go find Old Niu right now,” Wei Haibo said, getting up to leave.
Fang Xiaomei quickly pulled him back and glared at him. “What’s the rush? Wei Jiancheng just died. If I, the stepmother, immediately start matchmaking for his wife, what will people say?”
She had to be married off, preferably far away with those two little burdens. But they couldn’t be the ones to arrange it.
An idea struck Fang Xiaomei. She beckoned to Lin Xiujuan and told her to ask her brother, Lin Xiufeng, to sound out Old Niu. As for Ye Qingzhi, Lin Xiujuan would be the one to persuade her.
Ye Qingzhi was unaware that Fang Xiaomei’s family was plotting against her. She tidied up the house a bit, cooked a meal, and when the two children still hadn’t returned, she grew worried and decided to go up the mountain to look for them.
It was the fifth month of the lunar calendar. The mountain was lush and green, and the grass was tall. Wei Anmin and his brother were not tall, which made finding them more difficult.
She searched all the usual spots for cutting pig feed but couldn’t find them. Panicked, Ye Qingzhi began to call their names as she walked.
“Anmin! Anjie! Where are you?”
After more than ten minutes, she found the two brothers in a mountain hollow. Ye Qingzhi ran over and hugged them tightly. “Why did you come so far? There are wild animals on the mountain. Don’t go so far next time. And you can’t go into tall grass like this. What if there’s a poisonous snake?”
She brushed the grass clippings off their clothes and, seeing the scratches on their arms, asked with a heartache, “Did someone bully you? Did they not let you cut pig feed in the closer spots?”
The two boys remained silent, and Ye Qingzhi knew she had guessed correctly.
Although Wei Jiancheng wasn’t home, he was at least alive and a worker, so the villagers hadn’t bullied them much.
Now that he was dead and there was no man in the house, the adults wouldn’t change their tune so quickly, but the children were different. The very next day, they were already bullying the two fatherless boys.
“Ma, it’s okay. We just wanted to cut more pig feed today,” Wei Anmin said, holding his mother’s hand, worried she would get angry and harm her health.
Ye Qingzhi hugged the two children and asked in a low voice, “Anmin, Anjie, if Mama finds you a stepfather, would you agree?”
Although she didn’t have anyone in mind yet, she wanted to give them a heads-up. What if a suitable person came along?
In the countryside, it was truly difficult for a family without a man, and without support from in-laws or one’s own family, to survive.
The two brothers were silent. Ye Qingzhi ruffled their hair. “I’m just asking. Come on, let’s go home.”
On the third day after receiving the letter, and Ye Qingzhi’s third day in this world, the production brigade notified her to report for work.
May was the time for grain planting—rice, corn, sweet potatoes, and beans. It was the busiest time of the year besides the autumn harvest. The two days off she got were only because her husband had died.
She woke up at four-thirty in the morning, had a simple bite to eat, and headed to the fields with a hoe on her shoulder.
After only an hour of work, Ye Qingzhi’s back was aching. Looking at the vast fields, the thought of having to do this kind of work for at least a dozen more years made her feel hopeless.
Perhaps it was a side effect of the transmigration, but her body hadn’t fully recovered. When she stood up, her vision went black. If not for the hoe supporting her, she would have fainted.
“Qingzhi, are you alright?” Auntie Ye looked back and saw Ye Qingzhi looking like she was about to collapse.
Ye Qingzhi forced a smile and shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Auntie Ye whispered in her ear, “Don’t be so honest. Slack off when you can. Look at Old Mrs. Li’s family over there. They haven’t even finished one row in half a day.”
“Thank you, Auntie. I understand,” Ye Qingzhi nodded and said sincerely.
Finally, the workday ended. Ye Qingzhi forced herself to go home, and as soon as she closed the door, she couldn’t help but cry.
She felt truly wronged. She had been inexplicably thrown into the 1960s. Forget eating well, even eating her fill was difficult. She couldn’t sleep well, there was no toilet, no electric lights, and now she had to do high-intensity farm work. She had never done manual labor in her life!
“Mama, dinner’s ready. Come out and eat,” Wei Anmin called from outside.
Ye Qingzhi sniffled. No matter what, a miserable life was better than a good death. What else could she do, die?
“Coming,” Ye Qingzhi cleared her throat and waited a moment before coming out of the room.
Wei Anmin and Wei Anjie could tell at a glance that she had been crying. They had already heard from others about Wei Jiancheng having another woman, so it was normal for their mother to cry in private.
Remembering how his mother had suddenly mentioned remarrying yesterday, Wei Anmin pressed his lips together and said solemnly, “Mama, if you find someone good, you should remarry. Don’t worry about me and my brother.”
Ye Qingzhi was stunned for a moment, then realized. The two boys had been a bit quiet since yesterday. She had thought it was because they didn’t want her to remarry, but it turned out they were afraid she would leave them behind.
“Nonsense. Even if I remarry, I’m taking you with me. My first condition for remarrying is that he must accept you,” Ye Qingzhi said with a serious expression.
Wei Anjie’s eyes lit up. He ran to Ye Qingzhi’s side and asked, “Mama, you’ll take us with you?”
“Of course. I’ll take you wherever I go. What’s wrong? Did someone say something to you?” Ye Qingzhi’s face darkened.
The two boys shook their heads, their expressions visibly brightening.
A few more days passed. Although she had learned to slack off, Ye Qingzhi still felt like she was on the verge of collapse.
She really wished those people who always talked about wanting to go back home and farm could experience this. It was not work for humans. It was too hard.
“Sister-in-law, are you alright? You look pale,” Lin Xiujuan said, appearing beside Ye Qingzhi at some point.
“I’m fine.” Ye Qingzhi glanced at her, not wanting to bother with her.
Lin Xiujuan was Fang Xiaomei’s daughter-in-law; she couldn’t be any good. And the way her eyes darted around, she was clearly up to something.
Lin Xiujuan chattered on for a while, but seeing that Ye Qingzhi was ignoring her, she got straight to the point. “Sister-in-law, now that big brother is gone, have you thought about remarrying?”
Knew it. She was up to no good. Trying to play matchmaker for her? What kind of good person could Fang Xiaomei’s family possibly introduce?
“Who did you say? Old Niu the Third?” Ye Qingzhi asked through gritted teeth.
She knew Fang Xiaomei wouldn’t introduce anyone decent, but she hadn’t expected her to be so inhuman.
The man was almost sixty, old enough to be her grandfather. How could she even think of it?
“That’s right. Old Niu is a butcher, a formal worker. Not only does he get a monthly salary, but he can also eat meat every day. Sister-in-law, your family hasn’t had meat in a long time, right? Even if you don’t think for yourself, think about Anmin and the others. The two boys are as skinny as little chicks. Doesn’t your heart ache for them?” Lin Xiujuan said with a look of deep concern.
Ye Qingzhi suppressed her anger. An idea suddenly struck her. She said with a dejected expression, “Jiancheng just passed. Even though he found someone else, I haven’t gotten over him yet. I have no thoughts of remarrying for now.”
Seeing that Lin Xiujuan was about to persuade her further, Ye Qingzhi said casually, “I’ve heard about Old Niu’s requirements for a wife. Actually, your mother-in-law is a better fit. Thirty to fifty years old, decent-looking, and knows how to cook. Isn’t that describing Auntie Fang?”
Lin Xiujuan stared at Ye Qingzhi in shock. “Sister-in-law, what are you saying? Father-in-law is still alive.”
“He’s not your real father-in-law.” Ye Qingzhi gave her a look that said, you don’t understand, and pulled her closer to whisper, “If your mother-in-law could get with Jiancheng’s dad, why can’t she get with Old Niu? You’re trying to set Old Niu up with someone because you want some meat as a reward, right? If your mother-in-law marries him, will you and Haibo ever have to worry about meat again? Even if you don’t get the good cuts, there will definitely be plenty of offal. Xiujuan, you understand the difference between one full meal and being full every day, don’t you?”
Lin Xiujuan looked as if a whole new world had opened up to her. She pressed her lips together, stomped her foot, and turned to find Wei Haibo.