Chapter 11
“Third Brother, thank you so much for your help this time. Otherwise, how would we have met such a good doctor like Director Lin?” Fang Xiaomei said softly.
“It was nothing. I’m just glad Xiujuan is alright. But you, you must have been terrified, right?” Old Niu the Third looked at Fang Xiaomei with eyes full of concern.
He was 1.65 meters tall and weighed at least 180 catties, with triangular eyes, a large nose, and a fierce look about him. His face was pitted and rough.
Ye Qingzhi closed her eyes. It was like watching an ugly orange winking and making faces. It was blinding.
Fang Xiaomei was no better. At almost fifty, she still had a coquettish expression, looking at Old Niu with eyes full of adoration.
She put on a delicate, high-pitched voice. “I was truly scared to death. Haibo’s father passed away early. It’s not easy for a single woman to raise a child, not to mention, the baby in Xiujuan’s belly is my eldest grandson. If something had really happened, I would have been heartbroken.”
Old Niu gently patted her back and comforted her in a soft voice, “But everything is fine now, isn’t it? Come on, I’ll take you to the department store. Didn’t you say your skin was dry last time? I’ll buy you some vanishing cream.”
Fang Xiaomei frowned and shook her head. “No need. I’m an old woman. What do I need vanishing cream for?”
“Who says? You’re not old at all. In my eyes, you’ll always be eighteen,” Old Niu said, looking at her with deep affection.
Ye Qingzhi covered her mouth. She couldn’t take it anymore; she was about to throw up. What a pair of clowns.
She had only been playing along, hoping to see some drama between Wei Youliang and Fang Xiaomei. She hadn’t expected these two to be such a perfect match.
“Are you alright?” He Qiming asked with concern, seeing that she looked a bit pale.
Ye Qingzhi shook her head. She was just nauseated by those two old lovebirds.
After they had walked away, she saw the confusion in He Qiming’s eyes and explained with a light laugh how Fang Xiaomei had tried to marry her off to Old Niu, only to be turned against her own plan.
“That Old Niu just now? He’s old enough to be your grandfather,” He Qiming said angrily.
“Not quite, but…” Thinking of Old Niu’s appearance and how Fang Xiaomei could still look at him with adoration and deep affection, Ye Qingzhi was truly impressed.
With skills like that, it was no wonder Wei Youliang was so infatuated with her.
It seemed Old Niu had already been hooked by Fang Xiaomei. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before she left Wei Youliang.
“They’re gone now. Shall we continue our walk in the park?” He Qiming asked.
“Alright. Have you told your children about us?” Ye Qingzhi turned to look at him.
“I have. Yangyang is very happy to be getting a mother, and Jingyan didn’t object. Qingzhi, I have to go back to the base in a couple of days. I’d like to meet your two children tomorrow. What do they like?” He Qiming felt a little nervous at the thought of meeting her two sons.
“Let’s meet at the same place as the other day. I’ll bring the two boys up the mountain. You can take them to catch pheasants or raid birds’ nests. They’ve never had a father, really, and I’ve always been worried about them getting into trouble, so I’ve kept them on a tight leash. They’ve never done any of that before,” she said after a moment’s thought.
Boys were boys. Take them to chase chickens and dogs, climb trees, and raid nests, and they would warm up in no time.
As for He Qiming’s two children, the younger one was fine. He longed for a mother’s love, so as long as she was good to him, it would be alright. The older one might be more difficult, but from what He Qiming had said, he at least wasn’t opposed to having a stepmother.
In any case, they would get to know each other first. If they could communicate, they would get along well. If he was completely resistant, she wouldn’t waste her time trying to win him over.
“Alright. Then let’s meet my two boys the day after tomorrow. Still at Niutou Ridge?” He Qiming asked.
Ye Qingzhi shook her head. “The day after tomorrow, in the morning, I’ll go to the mountain behind your house to pick wild vegetables.”
The mountain behind Dayang Village was gentler than Niutou Ridge. Niutou Ridge was too steep, and He Jingyang was too young. Even if He Qiming carried him, she was still worried he might fall.
“Alright. We’ll go to my aunt’s house the day after tomorrow. They live at the foot of the mountain, in a separate house. We can have a meal together. Afterwards, you can take the children up the mountain from the back door, take a detour, and come down through Qianxi Village. No one will find out.” Before returning to the base, He Qiming wanted the family to have a meal together.
After settling the meeting arrangements, He Qiming told her about his family situation.
Before he got married, He Qiming used to send thirty yuan home every month. After he married, his ex-wife, Xu Baoli, felt that the money should be managed by her. She caused a scene, and in the end, she and Yang Fuzhen each got fifteen yuan.
Xu Baoli had always felt that the He family was taking advantage of them. So, after she got pregnant, she used the baby in her belly to cry, make a fuss, and threaten suicide, forcing the He family to split the household.
“So… you’ve already split from your parents?” Ye Qingzhi asked in surprise.
The past two days, they had mostly talked about amusing anecdotes and daily trifles to understand each other’s personalities. Ye Qingzhi hadn’t known that He Qiming had already split from his family.
Her face remained calm, but she couldn’t help but feel a secret joy.
Few daughters-in-law wanted to live with their in-laws, especially someone like Ye Qingzhi from a future era, who preferred to have less interaction with them.
One person plants the tree, and another enjoys the shade. In the eyes of the He family, Xu Baoli was a troublemaker. But in Ye Qingzhi’s eyes, she was an absolute saint.
“Yes. By the time I found out, they had already signed the separation papers,” He Qiming nodded.
He Qiming had an older brother, making him the second son. Below him were two younger sisters and a younger brother. The third and fourth sisters were already married, and the fifth brother had gotten married the year before last and had a child who was just over a year old.
“My older brother has three children, and my younger brother’s child is still small. I’ve already split from the family, so it wouldn’t be right to leave my two children with my parents. Fortunately, I’ve been promoted and can have my family join me at the base. So, after we get married, I hope you and the children can come to my base as soon as possible,” He Qiming said seriously.
For people of this era, leaving their hometown for a strange city was a terrifying thought. But for Ye Qingzhi, it was a wonderful thing.
First, she wasn’t afraid of leaving her hometown.
Second, she didn’t want to pretend anymore.
And the most important point: she really, really didn’t want to farm anymore.
The original owner was a quiet, hardworking, and extremely resilient woman. Ye Qingzhi herself was a bit lazy, loved to gossip, occasionally experimented with cooking, enjoyed doing handicrafts, gardening, drinking tea, and reading. In short, she was a completely different person from the original owner.
If she could leave her hometown, she could slowly revert to her true nature and gradually reveal her own talents.
Speaking of farming, it was now June. It had been forty days since Wei Jiancheng “died.” In another two months, it would be the hundred-day mark, which would be mid-August, right in the middle of the busy farming season.
It was like a bolt from the blue striking her.
That scumbag Wei Jiancheng, that bastard. If he had to die, couldn’t he have picked a better time?
“What’s wrong?” Seeing her lower her eyes and fall silent, He Qiming quickly said, “It’s alright if you don’t want to go right away. We can wait until next year.”
“No, that’s not it. I was just thinking about how to arrange things at home.” Next year? Absolutely not. She didn’t want to farm for another single day.
“After the hundred-day mourning period, it will be the busy farming season. I have to help with the harvest in the village. And since I’ve worked for a year, I need to get my share of the grain. There’s also the house and the private plot. I need to figure out what to do with them,” she told him her plans.
What she didn’t tell him was that she wanted to sell the house. Otherwise, leaving it behind would just benefit Wei Youliang.
The two of them walked side by side, and before they knew it, they had circled the park twice. He Qiming remembered Old Niu saying he would buy vanishing cream for Fang Xiaomei. He looked at Ye Qingzhi’s face. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but it seemed even fairer and more tender than two days ago. Perhaps this was what the books called natural beauty—no matter the wind or sun, her skin was still so good.
“It’s still early. Shall we go to the department store?” he asked.
It just so happened that Ye Qingzhi wanted to buy some toothpaste. The tooth powder the original owner had bought was almost gone. She also needed to buy toothbrushes for the two children. They had been using willow twigs, which she felt didn’t clean well.
She herself had bought a toothbrush on her second day here, when she went to the commune. As for the original owner’s toothbrush, which was practically bald, she had already thrown it away.
At the department store, Ye Qingzhi bought the toothbrushes and toothpaste. As for anything else, she didn’t have any ration tickets, so she couldn’t buy anything. It was better not to look.
“Wait, you’re leaving already?” He Qiming stopped her.
“Yes. I don’t have any tickets. I can’t buy anything even if I have money,” she nodded.
With a rural household registration, an adult received four feet of cloth ration tickets a year, and a child received two. But the work-points the original owner earned were not enough to feed the three of them, so every year, the cloth tickets were traded for grain, as were the other tickets.
“I have some.” He Qiming had known he was going to the city with her, so he had brought all his tickets. “Qingzhi, we’re already a couple. According to Auntie Ye and my aunt, we should make a private arrangement first. Since this is your second marriage, I’ll give you the betrothal gift and bride price.”
If he put it that way, then she could accept it with a clear conscience.
Seeing her expression soften, He Qiming took out the money and tickets. “The bride price is eighty-eight yuan. The betrothal gifts should be cigarettes, alcohol, white sugar, and meat. You don’t smoke or drink, and it’s inconvenient to carry meat, so I’ll buy you some other food instead. And some cloth. You can make some thick clothes for yourself and the children. My base is in the Northwest, and it gets cold there in the winter.”
“How many cloth and cotton tickets do you have?” she asked.
She knew it was cold in the Northwest. Adults could endure it, but children couldn’t. Especially with four children moving to a new place, they would be prone to not acclimatizing well. If they caught a cold on top of that, it would be terrible.
“I gave some to my family before, so I don’t have much left, about a dozen feet. But don’t worry, when I get back to the base, I’ll borrow some from my comrades and mail them to you,” He Qiming said with some regret.
He hadn’t planned on remarrying, so he had given all his cloth tickets to his family. The dozen or so feet he had were given to him by Yang Fuzhen this morning.
“Let’s make clothes for the four children first. I’m not in a hurry.” There were still over two months to go. Ye Qingzhi really wasn’t in a hurry. If worst came to worst, she could just buy ready-made clothes.
“Alright. The cotton isn’t urgent. They grow cotton near my base. When the new cotton is harvested, I’ll get some and mail it back,” he nodded.
After buying the cloth, He Qiming also bought her a pair of shoes, as well as brown sugar, rock sugar, peanuts, and melon seeds.
“That’s enough, that’s enough. We can’t carry any more,” Ye Qingzhi said, stopping him.
It was getting late. The two of them had a bowl of noodles at a noodle shop and prepared to take the bus home.
At Dayang Village, Ye Qingzhi shouldered her basket and got off the bus before He Qiming. She glanced back at him, then lowered her head and walked home.
Not far away, He Yongyao saw her and thought her back looked familiar. He was about to chase after her to get a better look when he was stopped by Uncle Qiu from the same village.
“Yongyao, what are you doing here again?”
“Just walking around. Where are you coming from, Uncle Qiu?” He Yongyao was anxious, but he couldn’t just leave an elder.
“I’m coming from the commune. I happen to have some business with your dad, so let’s go to your place together,” Uncle Qiu said with a smile, his hands behind his back.
He Yongyao looked up, but the familiar-looking figure had already disappeared. He felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.
“Yongyao, let’s go,” Uncle Qiu called from ahead.
“Coming.” As He Yongyao turned, he saw He Qiming and greeted him with a smile. “Qiming, are you coming from the commune too?”
“No, I went to the city today.” Thinking of how Ye Qingzhi had accepted his betrothal gift and bride price, and that they were now engaged, He Qiming couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.