B5SB -Chapter 13 1959

It was now 1959.

“Little sister, look at this character. How do you read it?” Gu Meng asked seriously, holding Gu Yihan’s first-grade textbook.

Gu Yihan glanced at it and said, “This character is read as tian. It means ‘field,’ as in farming.”

Looking at how earnest Gu Meng was, Gu Yihan knew that she had changed.

Ever since the day their cheap parents had quarreled, Gu Yihan had noticed the change in Gu Meng. She had hidden the jealousy and resentment in her eyes.

She had taken the initiative to ask for Gu Yihan’s unused elementary school textbooks and asked if Gu Yihan could teach her to read. She said that their parents would never allow her to attend school.

Gu Yihan had agreed. She was the beneficiary in this family, so it was normal for others to feel envious or jealous.

All she could do was help Gu Meng without harming her own interests. As for how Gu Meng would walk her path in the future, that was her own choice.

The drought was becoming more and more obvious. From the beginning of the year until now, not a single drop of rain had fallen.

Grandpa Gu, along with Gu Aiguo and Gu Aidang, went back and forth between the river and the fields every day, watering the crops, hoping to harvest more.

At noon, the whole family returned home to rest.

Grandma Gu said, “Eldest daughter-in-law, go cook. Make some sweet potato porridge and wild vegetable corn buns for lunch.”

Wang Ni replied, “Got it, Mother.”

Gu Yihan was really worried that their family eating their fill every day might stand out too much.

“Grandma, we eat until we’re full every day, while other families aren’t. Will people come to borrow grain from us?”

Grandma Gu chuckled and said, “Most people in Gu Family Village share the same surname. When the commune wanted us to set up a communal canteen back then…”

“Your Uncle Baoqing, the team leader, didn’t go along with it. So our village still has surplus grain. Under normal circumstances, people won’t starve to death.”

“Besides, when the country was first founded, land was distributed to households. Those years had good harvests, and our village never had to sell grain,” Grandma Gu said leisurely.

Gu Yihan was dumbfounded.

No wonder. She remembered that there had been communal canteens in 1958.

But Gu Family Village hadn’t made much of a move. She had even thought it was because this was a parallel world with a different trajectory.

“Then why did you still have everyone dig wild vegetables every day at first?” Gu Yihan asked in confusion.

Great-Aunt whispered in her ear, “First, it was to guard against your eldest aunt and your mother. Second, we were truly scared of starving and worried that the grain wouldn’t be enough. Even now that we can eat our fill, we still mix dried wild vegetables into the steamed buns. We haven’t used much grain.”

Grandma Gu looked at her granddaughter, who was staring at her with big, admiring eyes, and felt very pleased.

People said she was biased.

But in such a big family, only this little granddaughter listened carefully to everything she said and never brushed her off.

Gu Aidang said, “Big brother, you go home first. I’ll go wash up at the river.”

Gu Aiguo replied, “Alright. If you come back late, I’ll have Mother save you some food.”

On his way to bathe, Gu Aidang ran into Widow Zhao. They exchanged ambiguous glances.

Widow Zhao followed him at a neither-too-far-nor-too-close distance until they reached a spot behind a hill where no one could see them.

Gu Aidang pulled her into his arms. “Hurry, let me kiss you. I haven’t seen you in so long. I’ve missed you to death.”

Widow Zhao hugged him tightly. “Why are you so impatient? Be careful someone might see.”

While anxiously kissing her neck, Gu Aidang said, “Everyone’s gone home to eat at this time. There’s no one around. Hurry, give it to me. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Don’t rush, don’t rush,” Widow Zhao called out coquettishly on purpose.

Soon, waves of moans came from behind the hill. After their tryst ended—

“Aidang, when are you going to marry me?” Widow Zhao asked anxiously. Her mother-in-law disliked her for being “husband-killing” and had driven her out. Alone, she couldn’t earn many work points. She needed a man who could support her.

While fixing his clothes, Gu Aidang said, “Why are you in such a hurry? When you give me a big, chubby son, that’s when I’ll marry you.”

What Gu Aidang was thinking was: She had been married to that short-lived man for years without getting pregnant. She had been with him for almost two years as well, and still hadn’t conceived. How could she possibly get pregnant now?