She leapt three feet into the air!
There, on her slip, was a big number seven!
Tian Youfu clapped his hands: “Good! In a few days when the sow gives birth, we’ll go buy a few more pigs. Then we’ll be all set.”
This meeting was a complete success.
Wang Ying, holding her winning slip, happily went back to show Xu Shuang, who also thought it was great — after all, winning something is always a gain.
Raising pigs wasn’t hard work, and come year-end, it meant an extra meal with meat.
Wang Ying was overjoyed and began preparing to get busy.
First, she took Qian Juhua to visit Cheng Shufen. Lately, Cheng Shufen had already gotten in touch with Old Lady Xu, and the two of them had been teaching and learning embroidery every few days, living a fulfilling life.
Now Wang Ying brought her more good news, which made Cheng Shufen’s eyes well up with tears.
Ever since the snow began to melt, she had been dreading the arrival of spring. She knew being sent to the countryside wasn’t for enjoying life. Labor and discrimination were to be expected.
But once again, Wang Ying was helping her—bringing her a glimmer of hope that she wouldn’t be humiliated.
Although raising pigs wasn’t easy work either, just being able to live with a shred of dignity was already the greatest comfort.
Qian Juhua, rare for her, seemed a bit uneasy in front of Cheng Shufen. Wang Ying figured it was probably because Qian Juhua had no experience interacting normally with people.
She used to be stubborn and was never close with most women in the brigade. After her divorce, she had no friends left in the village. So now, working with Cheng Shufen, Qian Juhua wasn’t trying to act high and mighty—she simply didn’t know how to talk to people nicely.
But this wasn’t a big problem. Cheng Shufen had a gentle nature and quickly got a conversation going with Qian Juhua.
Both were unfortunate women—Qian Juhua had three daughters, and Cheng Shufen also essentially had one daughter. They immediately had lots in common to talk about.
Wang Ying introduced the two to each other, and Qian Juhua even chose a dilapidated house closest to Cheng Shufen’s to live in. They became neighbors—not too close, but not far either.
Qian Juhua now just waited for the brigade to come build a pigsty so she could start raising pigs.
Meanwhile, Cheng Shufen needed to get busy planting sweet potatoes.
Life suddenly got back on track, making winter feel like it had been a long time ago.
A few days later, Xu Shuang also finished tidying up at home and was ready to return to work.
Around that time, Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan finally returned from the health clinic!
During the few days they spent recovering at the clinic, their already meager savings took another hit. Both their injuries required medication, and the spending added up quickly.
Their originally sufficient savings of over forty yuan dropped to just twenty in no time!
As soon as Wang Yongshun felt slightly better, he insisted on being discharged to recover at home.
He only had twenty yuan left!
And he still didn’t know what was happening with Wang Yaozong.
When the couple returned, people in the brigade all spat in disgust. What bad luck it was to be in the same brigade as this family.
The first thing Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan did after returning was to drag their still-ailing bodies to the commune to ask about Wang Yaozong.
School was about to start, and Wang Yaozong was supposed to go back soon. This had to be resolved quickly.
But after running back and forth twice, they still didn’t get a clear answer.
Of course, Wang Yaozong had been arrested, but the Revolutionary Committee said his case still required investigation. No matter how much Wang Yongshun pleaded, saying he’d paid compensation and the brigade had forgiven him, the Revolutionary Committee had just two words: not released!
Wang Yongshun was on the verge of going mad. His son was arrested—if he missed school, how could he ever become a worker in the city?
He tried everything—offering cigarettes, saying kind words, pushing for days—and finally got Wang Yaozong’s result.
He would be criticized and had to write a self-criticism.
More importantly, since Wang Yaozong had harmed the collective, the Revolutionary Committee ordered the brigade to withdraw his high school recommendation letter.
In other words, at a crucial moment when he was just six months away from graduating high school, Wang Yaozong was suddenly cut off.
Forget the diploma—this would even be recorded in his file.
Back then, a clean family background was very important. With a stain in his record, Wang Yaozong would never be accepted into any state-owned position again.
Even temporary brigade work would no longer be offered to his family.
When they heard the final verdict, Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan were devastated, like being struck by lightning.
They never imagined that stealing a few chickens would destroy their son’s future!
It was just a few chickens!
Li Chunjuan broke down crying and knelt in front of the Revolutionary Committee, banging her head on the ground, but it was useless.
The officials said if it weren’t for the fact that Wang Yaozong was still young and a first-time offender, the matter would not have ended so lightly.
At the very least, he would’ve been paraded through the streets as punishment.
But Wang Yongshun would have preferred that—better a public shaming than losing the diploma and tainting his son’s record!
Wang Yongshun seemed to age ten years overnight. Li Chunjuan didn’t fare much better.
They truly couldn’t understand—just some chickens, and now their whole family had fallen into ruin?
When Wang Yaozong was finally released, after being locked up for several days, his first reaction was to lash out violently at Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan.
He had never suffered like this, never experienced such hardship, or felt so much fear.
He started throwing punches while crying: “Are you even my parents? Why didn’t you come save me! I waited so many days!”
His fear of being abandoned by his parents while inside had grown into intense anger.
The more terrified he had been, the harder he acted now.
Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan both took a few hits. Li Chunjuan cried out like her heart was being torn, hugging him tightly and wailing. Wang Yongshun was weeping too, his heart completely broken.
He had always been hard to satisfy, placing high hopes on his son.
Now his son’s future was ruined, and the entire family had become rats scorned by the brigade.
The road ahead seemed like only the hardest one was left: they’d have to live like everyone else, toiling with their backs to the sky and faces to the earth.
Wang Yongshun brought Wang Yaozong back home.
Little did he know, Wang Yaozong had already been completely terrified after being locked up for those few days. Once he got home, he curled up inside the house and didn’t even step out the door.
At that moment, Tian Youfu delivered even worse news.
With spring plowing approaching and the orchard needing attention, both Wang Yongshun and Wang Yaozong were assigned to carry manure.
Tian Youfu said, “You didn’t think that chicken-stealing incident would just blow over, did you?”
Now that their names were marked at the Revolutionary Committee, their whole family was labeled as backward elements of the brigade, and the only work they could do was the filthiest and hardest labor.
They would have to carry manure at least until autumn.
Wang Yongshun felt like dying—he had never imagined things could get even worse!
As for Wang Yaozong, after losing the chance to continue school, he no longer had the right to be willful. Carrying manure was an unavoidable task.
Holding the last 20 yuan left in the household, Wang Yongshun realized their financial situation was no better than most, maybe even worse than some families who were doing well.
After carrying manure for two days, Wang Yongshun finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Wife, go find Lingling tomorrow. Tell her everything that’s happened with us and ask her to help out. Best would be if her husband could speak to the Revolutionary Committee on our behalf. We’re a military family, after all—maybe they can show us some leniency.”
After thinking it over, Wang Yongshun set his hopes on Wang Lingling.
There was no relying on Wang Ying and her husband, and Wang Pingping had no say in anything because of her infertility.
After weighing his options, the only person he could turn to was Wang Lingling, the military wife.
“If she’s unwilling, just remind her that her husband has a promising future in the army. He wouldn’t want to hear that his in-laws have been involved in something disgraceful, right?”
Wang Yongshun knew Wang Lingling probably wouldn’t be happy about it, but he was determined to pressure her into solving the problem.
After all, he had raised Wang Lingling for 18 years—wasn’t it only right that she contribute something back to the family?
Li Chunjuan agreed immediately. At this point, they had no other choice.
Winter passed, and the thawing stream began to flow gently again. It was also time for Xu Shuang to return to work after his leave.
Wang Ying couldn’t help but recall how the state-run restaurant had been closed when they last went to check on it. She felt an inexplicable sense of unease—it just felt like that beady-eyed Xie Yuejin was up to no good.
To dare close the restaurant entirely—this man clearly had guts.
Xu Shuang was already mentally prepared and offered comfort to Wang Ying: “We already talked about this before. I took leave, and the internal affairs of the restaurant weren’t my responsibility. It can’t be pinned on me.”
Wang Ying thought it over—he was right.
Xu Shuang’s leave was well known throughout the brigade, and there was written proof from before he left. No matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t at fault.
“Still, be cautious,” she warned.
Open threats are easy to avoid—hidden ones are not. Neither of them had any idea what Xie Yuejin had been up to all winter.
Xu Shuang replied, “Don’t worry.”
He wasn’t a fool. Xie Yuejin had worked under him for years and had never managed to grab power or catch him out on anything.
This time would be no different.
When Xu Shuang arrived at the restaurant, he was surprised to find it neat and bustling with activity.
The tables and chairs had been wiped spotless. The back kitchen and service window were lined with a variety of marinated dishes, buns, and dumplings. Even the staff leaned lazily on the counters, looking no different from usual.
Xu Shuang remained calm. As soon as he walked in, he saw Xie Yuejin and a leader—who rarely visited the shop—both there.
Xie Yuejin greeted him naturally: “Brother Xu, you’re here?”
The leader, on the other hand, twitched the corner of his mouth, clearly not too enthusiastic.
“Ah, Xu Shuang, just in time—we’re discussing something, and you can give us your input.”
“I think Yuejin’s skills are quite good. He’s done well over the winter. I’m considering applying for him to be certified as a junior chef. You can put in the recommendation—he just needs to pass the assessment.”
