Chapter 7: Returning to Her Parental Home

It was only during breakfast that Gu Wennuan learned that Zhou Siyue and the brigade leader had spent the previous night searching for someone.

"You have no idea, but by the time they found educated youth Shen, she was mentally unstable. She kept hiding in a cave, rambling about ghosts, and when they were carrying her down, she fell and broke her leg." Zhou Siyue expressed his deep frustration with the woman who had run off into the mountains in the middle of the night; he couldn't understand how he hadn't noticed her erratic state before.

Hu Ailian knew this Shen character well; she used to constantly fawn over her, though she had been quiet these past few days. Hu felt an unexplainable unease regarding the girl—she was strange, as if she knew many private details about Hu’s family despite Hu never having mentioned them. It was truly chilling.

Gu Wennuan realized then who had been following her yesterday. It turned out that the person who had tried to eliminate her had ultimately harmed herself—a case of reaping what one sows. If she dared to stir up trouble again, Gu Wennuan would not be so lenient.

After finishing her meal, Gu Wennuan returned to her room to prepare her skin-whitening cream. Having eaten sparingly recently and spent time in the mountains, she seemed to have slimmed down a bit.

After working all morning, she finished the cream infused with spirit spring water. She applied a layer to her face, waited twenty minutes to wash it off, and then went to check on the pig head she had braised the day before. "Yes, this is exactly the right flavor."

Carrying a water canteen, she headed to the fields to find Zhou Chenyu, running into a young woman who had married into their village from her own maiden village, Poplar Brigade.

"Wennuan, why haven't you taken any meat to your big brother's house?"

"I haven't had a spare moment to see how they're doing," Gu Wennuan replied. It had been five years since she had last visited her brother’s family.

Her older brother had protected her since childhood. After their parents passed away, he had gone out to scrape together a living, ensuring she never went hungry. Since the time she had insisted on marrying Zhou Sinian, her brother had tried to stop her for the sake of her own happiness. The original owner, harboring resentment and believing herself to be an official's wife, had disdained associating with her "mud-legged" brother and had cut off contact.

Yet, her brother had always kept her in his heart, sending her rice every year after the harvest. She felt she owed it to him to repay that kindness on behalf of the original owner. She needed to find time to visit; at the very least, this brother had treated her with genuine love.

"Oh, just asking," the woman said. Li Xiaohua was only looking to mock her—with her husband away, what was her life any different from being a widow?

After Li Xiaohua left, Gu Wennuan went to find Mother Zhou in the fields.

"Wennuan, what are you doing here?" Hu Ailian set down her hoe and took the canteen.

"Mother, I brought you all some water and apples. Don't be stingy with them; I'll buy more when I go to town next."

"You should save them for Yu-bao; it doesn't matter if we eat them or not."

"I saved some for Yu-bao already. I'm going home to cook—I'm stir-frying the pig head meat with chili for lunch."

"Fine, everything you make is delicious."

Ever since they started eating Gu Wennuan’s cooking, they had been full of energy during the day and no longer suffered from aches and pains at night. Now, the whole family had lost their appetite for Hu Ailian’s own cooking.

Other workers watched the Zhou family enjoying their large, red apples, wishing they could snatch one for themselves, but they lacked such a capable daughter-in-law.

***

Li Xiaohua returned to Poplar Brigade and saw Liu Lili walking toward her.

"Sister Lili, where are you headed?"

"Your Brother Zhuzi is watching the water in the fields; I'm bringing him some food."

Li Xiaohua glanced at the steamed buns in the basket. "You're only eating that? I saw your sister braising a lot of meat today—didn't she give you any?"

"Nuannuan doesn't have it easy either. Any allowance Sinian sends back should be used to add some nourishment to their household. Enough of that, I'm off to the fields."

After Liu Lili left, Li Xiaohua went home in a foul mood. Why should she have to bring everything good back to her maiden family while she herself could barely eat a bite and still had to endure complaints from her in-laws? Why did Gu Wennuan deserve a better life than her? Consumed by a twisted jealousy, Li Xiaohua carried the meat she had received yesterday back to her parents' home.

Gu Wennuan led Yu-bao home, gave him some candies to play with in the courtyard, and started cooking. As she lifted the lid of the pot, the aroma of meat wafted out of the kitchen.

"Pah, little hussy, stewing meat every single day—who knows where that money comes from!" Old Mother Wang next door swallowed hard as she smelled the fragrance, completely forgetting that she had been able to eat meat herself only thanks to Gu Wennuan.

When Gu Wennuan finished cooking, she heard the door open and saw her mother-in-law and the others returning.

"Dinner is ready. Wash your hands and eat."

"Sister-in-law, what are you making? It smells so good." Zhou Siyue had eaten more meat in these past few days than in the previous twenty years.

"You glutton, eat your fill and earn more work points this afternoon!"

"Mother, I earn full work points every day!"

"Just eat."

At the table, Gu Wennuan glanced at Hu Ailian, struggling for a long time to bring up the idea of visiting her maiden home. She could have just gone without asking, but since she wanted to integrate into this family, she had to discuss things and avoid creating friction.

"What is it, Wennuan? Is something wrong? You've been staring at me."

Gu Wennuan collected her thoughts. "I want to go back to my maiden home tomorrow. I haven't been back to see my brother in the five years since I married in. I want to take some meat back to them."

Hu Ailian knew that Gu Tiezhu was a brother who doted on his sister. Back then, when Gu Wennuan insisted on marrying Sinian, her brother had tried to stop her out of fear she wouldn't be happy, which led to a rift between the siblings. Yet, he had still sent them twenty catties of rice every year. Under their circumstances, that amount of rice was clearly taken from their own meager rations.

"Tomorrow, take that bag of rice and flour from the house, and bring plenty of pork. It hasn't been easy for your brother to raise you."

"I understand, thank you, Mother."

After cleaning the kitchen, Gu Wennuan returned to her room and entered her space. Seeing that the crops were ready for harvest again, she packed fifty catties of rice, fifty catties of flour, two chickens, ten catties of fat meat, and five catties of apples. After organizing everything, she read some medical books for a while before going to sleep.

Early the next morning, after preparing breakfast, Gu Wennuan slung a basket over her shoulder and set off for Poplar Brigade. Passing the village entrance, she ran into some villagers heading to work.

"Sinian’s wife, where are you off to?"

"Auntie, I'm heading back to my maiden home."

"You're carrying quite a lot of good things there."

"It's nothing, just bringing some rice for my brother. I'll be off now."

After she left, the group began to gossip. "Didn't she break off ties with her brother back then? They're back in touch now?"

"Her brother was so good to her; back when there was a heavy snow, he carried her while begging for food, and if there was a bite to eat, he gave it to her. I suppose this ingrate has finally found her conscience."

"Haven't you noticed? Gu Wennuan has lost weight, and her skin is fairer."

"Now that you mention it, she has. She’s actually quite a beauty; she was just too fat before."

"Don't you remember? Her mother was a famous beauty in all the surrounding villages. How could Gu Wennuan be any less?"

"Stop chatting and get to work!"

Gu Wennuan took a small path to Poplar Brigade. Passing through a grove of trees, she emerged with her basket filled with grain—if it weren't for her strength, she wouldn't have been able to carry it all. She had specifically set aside some treats for children, candies and canned goods; she heard her brother's child was already seven and a mischievous little rascal.

Relying on her memories, she found her home, but stood at the door, afraid to knock. Her worst argument with her brother had been over Zhou Sinian, leading to the severing of their relationship. Thinking about it now, she felt nothing but regret—to have discarded such a wonderful brother for the sake of a man. She raised her hand, then lowered it, and retreated a few steps, peering into the courtyard.