**Chapter 44**

  The more Old Zhou thought about it, the more something felt off. He decided to go straight to the police station to find Daniu.

  Daniu was surprised to see Old Zhou, but after hearing what he had to say, she felt touched. In fact, Daniu had already noticed the Liang family’s intentions. She had been to Shuangmiao vilge twice to handle some minor business, and each time she ran into that Liang Wen, who kept spouting nonsense. During her second visit, she overheard the vilgers’ gossip and realized what the Liang family was up to. However, Daniu didn’t pay much attention to it. The Liang family could only resort to petty tricks—they wouldn’t dare do anything truly malicious.

  Still, she appreciated the Zhou family for coming to warn her.

  “Thank you, Uncle Zhou. I’m aware of the situation now, and I’ll be on guard,” Daniu said.

  “Good. They’re spreading rumors, so you need to be careful. Tomorrow, I’ll go to Shuangmiao vilge. Their vilge chief is somewhat reted to me, so I’ll talk to him and make sure he keeps things in check. We can’t let thid alone,” Old Zhou said, feeling that the Liang family was being too underhanded. In these times, a person’s reputation was extremely important. If rumors spread too much, it could even affect their children’s chances of finding a partner in the future.

  Daniu smiled and thanked him, “Thank you for looking out for me, Uncle Zhou. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

  After returning home, Daniu thought about it and decided to tell her parents. Upon hearing this, Ma Hongmei was furious, while Song Yuncheng frowned and said, “Daughter, you can’t take this lightly. Even though there’s no truth to it, gossip can ruin your reputation. I’ve seen it happen before—sometimes, even a few words can drown a person.”

  Daniu nodded, “I’ll be careful. Since no one has said anything to my face, it’s hard for me to address it directly. If I make a big deal out of it, it might just spread even more.” This was why she hadn’t taken action when she first heard the rumors. Sometimes, if you ignore things, they eventually fade away.

  “It’s still better to be cautious,” Song Yuncheng said, furrowing his brow. He felt they couldn’t just let this go, but seeing that his daughter wasn’t too concerned, he didn’t press further.

  Meanwhile, Ma Hongmei spent the whole evening grumbling, her opinion of the Zheng and Liang families hitting rock bottom. She even felt a sense of relief, “Thank goodness we didn’t get involved with their family. It would’ve been a nightmare.”

  Daniu didn’t pay much attention to the matter, but her family’s impression of the Zhou family improved significantly. Ma Hongmei became even more enthusiastic about Dali’s upcoming marriage. Since Dali wasn’t home, she decided to renovate the house. She had the walls painted white three times, making them spotless, and hired a carpenter to make new furniture. She even went to Yingchun to choose the styles herself. The kang cabinet was made in the test design, with colorful gss doors—each piece of gss costing over one yuan. She also bought a rge mirror to hang on the wall, and three chests were pced neatly against the west wall of the kang, making the room look bright and spacious.

  Finally, she decided to move the sewing machine into the new room. Seeing her reluctance, Daniu said, “The sewing machine can be used wherever it is. It doesn’t have to be moved here.”

  Ma Hongmei shook her head. “It’s not the same. It’s more convenient to have it in your own room.”

  Daniu smiled, “How about I save up some industrial coupons and buy you another one?”

  Ma Hongmei gred at her. "Do you have too much money?"

  Daniu stuck out her tongue and ughed, “I just thought you seemed reluctant to part with it.”

  “It’s not that I’m reluctant. I heard Yingchun is good at needlework, so she’ll handle the sewing tasks in the future. It’s more convenient to have it here,” Ma Hongmei said, smiling. “That girl grew up in the commune. Besides her mother, no one in her family has ever worked in the fields. I think she’s more suited to indoor work.”

  Daniu chuckled, “Our family doesn’t have many people who can work in the fields either.”

  Ma Hongmei wasn’t discouraged. “It’s fine. Most of our family earns wages. I can handle the fields.”

  While Dali’s wedding preparations were moving along steadily, Dakui sent a letter saying he had submitted a marriage report and pnned to get married on May 1st.

  Hearing this, Ma Hongmei grew anxious. “That silly child didn’t send the letter earlier. Now we can’t make it in time.”

  "Mom, my brother said he doesn’t have any leave and can’t come back, but he’ll be able to take some time off during the New Year and bring his wife home then."

  "I think he should have let us know earlier about his marriage. If he had, your dad and I might have been able to go there. But now they’ve done it and gotten married without us even meeting her. It’s all so rushed," Ma Hongmei grumbled, growing more upset by the minute.

  "That little rascal is just trying to annoy me." Earlier, Dakui had said his girlfriend was still studying and that they’d get married next year. She had thought it would work out perfectly—one son getting married this year, the other next year, and both daughters-in-w settling in smoothly. She had pnned to have Dali’s wedding sorted within the year so the two brothers could marry one after the other. Now, Dali’s wedding was on track, but Dakui had thrown a wrench in the pns by moving his wedding up.

  "Mom, since my brother has already sent the letter, it means it’s settled. When they come back for New Year, you can still help them with the wedding. It’s not too te," Daniu said, thinking that her brother must have had some reason for getting married earlier than pnned.

  As it turned out, Daniu’s guess was close to the mark. The reason was that Dakui had been seriously injured. His stomach had been cut open, and his intestines had spilled out. He had nearly died and was in a coma for three days. The marriage report had been submitted by his girlfriend, who had already prepared it and kept it in his drawer. They had pnned to submit it after Dali’s wedding was settled, but no one expected this accident to happen.

  When Dakui’s girlfriend saw his condition, she didn’t back down. Instead, she decided to submit the marriage report so she could officially take care of him. By the time Dakui woke up, the report had already been approved.

  Dakui didn’t say much about it. He didn’t try to push her away or say anything about not wanting to burden her. After all, she had already made such a big decision for him, so it would have been hypocritical for him to say anything superfluous. Instead, he focused on recovering so he could live a good life with his wife.

  Whether it was due to his strong constitution or the spiritual water Daniu had given him during the New Year, which had boosted his health, Dakui managed to pull through. Even the doctors who operated on him called it a miracle. In those days, medical resources were scarce, and his body had suffered multiple injuries, his internal organs were infected, and he lost too much blood. The doctors had been pessimistic about his chances, but Da Kui survived, slowly recovering despite his weakened state.

  By May Day, he was just able to take a few steps. In the hospital room, with his superiors and comrades as witnesses, he and his girlfriend got married. Even their marriage certificate was arranged by his superiors.

  "This is a package from your family. Take a look," the superior said, as a young soldier brought in a rge parcel. After handing it over, the superior left, leaving the newlyweds alone.

  "That’s a huge package. Let’s open it and see what’s inside," Dakui said while lying in bed, his face still pale.

  "Okay," replied Zhou Yaqiong, Dakui’s wife—yes, she also shared the surname Zhou.

  Zhou Yaqiong struggled to open the package. Inside, the first thing she saw was a quilt that had been tightly packed. As she unfolded it and pced it on the adjacent hospital bed, several items fell out. There was a piece of woolen fabric in a rare shade of rose red, a small roll of pure cotton fabric with a floral pattern, and a small bundle wrapped in the floral fabric.

  Inside the bundle was a stack of various coupons, all essential for setting up a household. There was also a separate package containing a small box. When she opened it, she found a ginseng root inside. As a pharmacist, Zhou Yaqiong was familiar with traditional Chinese medicine, and she could tell from the root’s shape and size that it was at least a hundred years old.

  "Dakui, look at this!" Zhou Yaqiong excimed in surprise, showing him the ginseng.

  Da Kui gave a bitter smile. "My family must have guessed something happened to me."

  "But this ginseng is so precious!" she said, marveling at its quality. It was the kind of rare item that money couldn’t easily buy.

  "Don’t worry about it. There’s plenty of this stuff in the mountains back home. My sister is especially good at finding ginseng," Da Kui said nonchantly. He knew his sister had an even older and more valuable ginseng root in her possession. Though he wasn’t an expert in medicine, he could tell how precious it was. She had shown it to him once, but it was meant for life-saving situations and wasn’t something to be used lightly.

  "There’s also a letter. Let me see it," Dakui said.

  Zhou Yaqiong noticed the envelope and handed it to him. As Dakui read it, his eyes began to redden. The letter was from his father, asking about his condition and whether he had been injured. His father urged him to let the family know if anything had happened so they could at least be aware of his situation. The tter part of the letter was written by his mother, with his father acting as the scribe. She expressed her concern for his health, interspersing her words with affectionate scolding. She also mentioned that since his wedding had been so rushed, they hadn’t been able to prepare much. She told him not to let down his wife and expined that she couldn’t come to see him. Since Dali had recently gotten engaged, the family had started saving up some coupons, but since Dakui had married first, they decided to send him the coupons they had saved, telling him to use them and not worry about sending anything back home. They would save up again for Dali’s wedding.

  The letter was filled with words of advice and care, and it moved Dakui to tears. He knew his father would have guessed what had happened. After all, no one knows a son better than his father.

  "Yaqiong, take out the ginseng. There’s another yer underneath," Dakui said after reading the letter.

  Zhou Yaqiong lifted the ginseng and found another yer below. Inside, she saw an envelope and a watch. It was a women’s watch, and though she didn’t recognize the brand, it was beautiful—a simple design with a leather strap and a delicate cross-shaped flower in the center of the dial.

  "This is from my sister. It’s not a new watch—she bought it secondhand from a pawnshop," Da Kui expined.

  Even though it was secondhand, Zhou Yaqiong didn’t mind. In fact, she was delighted. The watch looked even more elegant than a new one.

  "Don’t think of it as just a secondhand item. My sister has a great eye for these things," Dakui said a little boastfully.