Chapter 111: The New Educated Youth
Hu Ying’s looks and figure were far too ordinary—not at all Li Changsheng’s type.
But since he could marry two wives and still had another chance, he didn’t oppose his parents’ decision. Under the identity of Li Changmao, he married Hu Ying.
Because he disliked her, “Li Changmao” left Hu Ying in the Jiefang Brigade to work with his parents every day and to look after the household.
Meanwhile, Li Changsheng himself longed to marry someone beautiful, someone he truly liked.
Su Qianqian seemed like she had been arranged for him by fate!
In Shuangfeng County, Su Qianqian was nearly harassed by some street thugs—it was Li Changsheng who saved her.
He had been there on a business trip, and at first sight of the delicate, pretty Su Qianqian, he fell in love.
After several encounters, he learned that she was an educated youth from afar, and her family was gone—she was all alone. Li Changsheng was overjoyed!
He showered her with attention—sending her money, letters, and gifts—winning her heart with ease.
After marrying her, because he wanted to enjoy a carefree two-person world with her, he refused to let Su Qianqian work. At the same time, to avoid exposing his true identity in front of both women, he arranged for Su Qianqian to live in the single dorm room allocated to him at the factory.
Each week, he spent four or five days with Su Qianqian and only two days back at the Jiefang Brigade with Hu Ying.
From the moment Du Xiujuan agreed to let him marry Su Qianqian, she had already decided to cut off all of Su Qianqian’s ties with her old friends, isolating her on a “lonely island.” That way, even if the truth was revealed one day, she would have nowhere to run. As for the villagers, Du Xiujuan naturally had her ways of deceiving them.
When Su Qianqian became pregnant, her health was poor. Li Changsheng couldn’t take care of her alone, so he had to send her back to the village.
After she returned, Li Changsheng also began coming back more often—leading to his sudden exposure.
Li Changsheng, unwilling to accept his downfall, desperately wanted to know where their plan had failed.
“Qianqian, how did you manage to contact your friends?”
Su Qianqian only looked at him with disgust.
“It was Xiaoli. That silly girl thought you were some kind of great man. She often came to me with snide remarks, always trying to break us up so she’d have a chance to marry you instead! I begged her for help—she bought the envelopes for me, and she mailed the letters. Looking back, I guess I saved her life too. Now we’re even!”
Li Changsheng looked painfully at both her and Hu Ying.
“I treated you both well… couldn’t you—”
“Shut up!” Su Qianqian interrupted, nausea rising again. “Tomorrow, we go file for divorce. And you’ll compensate me three hundred yuan. Maybe—just maybe—I’ll plead with your parents on your behalf.”
Though he doubted she’d ever plead for him, Li Changsheng could only nod.
Things had blown up beyond repair.
Hu Ying felt both sickened and heartbroken. Her husband had never truly existed; her marriage had been nothing but a cruel joke!
Su Qianqian, at least, still had the chance to escape. But Hu Ying, a girl of Lushan County, would perhaps live under this shadow her entire life.
“I want five hundred! I have two children to raise.”
Three days later, Mu Lantu and his companions boarded the train back to Shuangfeng County.
Though it had only been three days, they felt as if three months had passed. When the train finally departed, they all let out a long sigh of relief.
Du Xiujuan, the main culprit, was sentenced to ten years of reform through labor.
Li Changsheng, as the direct beneficiary, received three years of reform through labor, had to return 3,000 yuan to the state, compensate Su Qianqian 400 yuan, and compensate Hu Ying 600 yuan. Both women were free to end their marriages with him at any time.
Before leaving, accompanied by Lu Manman and Aunt Chunhua, Su Qianqian went to the hospital to have the child aborted.
From the 400 yuan she received from the Li family, she gave each of the six companions 20 yuan, begging them to keep her secret. If anyone asked, they were only to say her husband had died in an accident and the child had miscarried.
After all, once she went into confinement, the matter of the child couldn’t be hidden.
None of them wanted to accept the money.
But to reassure her, Aunt Chunhua insisted they take it, promising that they’d look out for her more in the future anyway.
Su Qianqian’s return to the Dongfanghong Brigade caused a huge stir.
She kept a low profile, hiding at the educated youth station for a month. Since she never showed her face, the villagers had no one to gossip about. Eventually, the incident faded from their attention.
By June, the weather was truly warm. Sunlight felt cozy on the skin.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang carried four baskets of laundry to the river—clothes from the day before, plus bed sheets, quilt covers, and pillowcases.
A group of older women had arrived earlier, pounding their clothes on rocks and chatting endlessly.
The two young men found a quiet spot upstream.
“Hey, great beauty, what do you think if I study psychology in the future?”
Xu Huazhang smiled faintly, dazzling as ever.
“Why the sudden interest in that?”
Mu Lantu wet the clothes, rubbed them with soap, and slowly scrubbed as he replied with keen interest:
“Don’t you think micro-expressions and body language are fascinating?”
[Ding! You washed a piece of clothing. Points +50.]
“If you want to study it, then do it,” Xu Huazhang mused. “But books on that subject may be hard to find.”
Mu Lantu was easygoing.
“It’s just an idea. If I can study it, great. If not, I’ll study something else.”
He did have a collection of books stored away, but probably none on psychology.
Xu Huazhang silently made a note of it.
“And you? What major will you choose?” Mu Lantu asked.
“Finance and trade?” Xu Huazhang looked at him, eyes meaningful.
Mu Lantu glanced away.
“Sounds good.”
Xu Huazhang smirked.
“I’ll wash the sheets.”
“You can wash all of it.” Mu Lantu tossed the laundry aside, giving up.
Xu Huazhang chuckled indulgently. He had said before leaving home that he would do the washing, but the little rascal insisted on tagging along.
“Alright, I’ll wash everything.”
Meanwhile, Mu Lantu picked up a branch, tied a string to it, and fastened a piece of dried pork on the end.
Excited, Wangcai the dog came running to watch.
“Fishing?” Xu Huazhang asked.
“Not fish. Crawfish.” Mu Lantu looked around for a stone to sit on.
Xu Huazhang spotted one under a tree and carried it over.
“Will it work?”
“Of course. Crawfish are dumb.”
Sure enough, before he’d even finished speaking, Mu Lantu felt a tug on the stick. Lifting it, he revealed a bright red crawfish gripping the pork tightly with its claw.
Wangcai jumped with excitement.
“Woof!”
Xu Huazhang’s smile widened. He suspected Mu Lantu had laced the pork with spiritual spring water.
While Xu Huazhang washed clothes, he watched the makeshift rod rising and falling. To keep him entertained, Mu Lantu even made him a second “rod.”
Xu Huazhang couldn’t help laughing silently. In all his lifetimes, this was the first time he’d used such a crude fishing tool.
Together they caught five or six jin of crawfish.
“Half with garlic, half spicy?” Mu Lantu suggested.
“Sounds good.” Xu Huazhang loved shrimp in any flavor.
They carried their rods and the basket of crawfish back through the “market.”
“Oh my, Youth Mu, where’d you get all those crawfish?” one of the women doing laundry called out, smelling the brine.
“Here, caught with this rod.”
Another woman looked envious. That many crawfish could fill a big pan.
“You’ve got skills! The kids here try all the time but never catch that many.”
“I’m just a beginner,” Mu Lantu said humbly. “Beginners usually have better luck.”
The women nodded—that was an old saying, and it rang true.
Passing by Miao Jiaze and Du Xuewen’s yard, the two men were inside—one washing clothes, the other chopping firewood.
They had been living in their new house for over a month now, enjoying life.
“What are you two eating for lunch?” Mu Lantu asked, leaning on the gate.
Xu Huazhang shook his head helplessly and went home first to hang the laundry.
Miao Jiaze rolled his eyes while Du Xuewen laughed. Last time Mu Lantu asked them that, it was because he didn’t want to slaughter and pluck a chicken himself, nor did he want Xu Huazhang to do it.
Neither of them liked butchering chickens either—even if the meat had been delicious.
“Just say it—what do you want us to do this time?” Miao Jiaze said with a crooked grin.
Mu Lantu set the basket inside and rubbed his chin.
“We’re having garlic crawfish and spicy crawfish for lunch.”
“We’ll handle it! We’ll clean them, alright?” Miao Jiaze said quickly, fighting back drool as he snatched up the basket.
“Make sure to scrub them clean with a brush and remove the intestinal veins,” Mu Lantu reminded.
“Got it, got it! Now off you go—don’t delay us from preparing the crawfish!”
Back at his own home, Mu Lantu called out:
“Huazhang? Huazhang?”
“In the back.”
He found Xu Huazhang picking red peppers in the garden.
“So many ripe already?”
He went to help, but Xu Huazhang warned,
“Careful, they’ll sting your hands. Baby, go pull some scallions instead.”
Mu Lantu reluctantly obeyed. Of course he knew peppers could burn the skin—did Huazhang think he was a child?
Passing the strawberry patch, he spotted several bright red berries. Quickly, before Wangcai could snatch them, he picked them himself.
Xu Huazhang chuckled silently. His baby was becoming more childish—and more adorable—by the day.
Wangcai whimpered in protest.
“Woof?”
“Tomorrow, if there are more ripe ones, they’ll be yours,” Mu Lantu consoled.
Xu Huazhang picked a few scallions and two eggplants.
“Baby, want anything else?”
Mu Lantu wrinkled his nose.
“Eggplants are hard to stir-fry. Better to dry them as eggplant chips.”
“Alright.” Xu Huazhang wasn’t picky. He also picked some cucumbers—perfect for smashing into a salad in summer.
Soon after, Du Xuewen brought over the cleaned crawfish along with a dish of chili-pickled stir-fried eggs.
Mu Lantu cooked garlic crawfish and spicy crawfish, then sent each household a bowl.
Miao Jiaze and Du Xuewen ate with endless praise.
“Now this is real living. Thank goodness we moved out,” Du Xuewen whispered.
Miao Jiaze couldn’t speak—his mouth was too full—so he only nodded vigorously. Back when they lived with the other educated youth, whether they wanted to cook something nice themselves or Mu Lantu brought them food, it had always been inconvenient.
Now, life was far more enjoyable! Mu Lantu was generous with his seasoning—even sucking on just the crawfish shells was delicious.
After lunch, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang lay down for their usual nap.
It felt like they had just fallen asleep when a commotion erupted next door.
“What? More new educated youth are coming to our brigade?”
