RIRW – Chapter 26

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After Grandma Zuo calmed down, she took the bowl and went back inside. She had originally planned to leave the meat in the bowl for Third Son and Eldest Son to eat, but now, she suddenly thought it would be better if she ate it herself.

They were all ungrateful wretches. How well had she treated them in the past? Now that they had gained some power, they were starting to defy her. And as for Second Son…

Grandma Zuo thought back to the events of the past, and combined with what had happened today, she felt that her life had been a complete failure. None of the sons she raised were obedient, and none understood her hardships. They were all ungrateful wretches.

It was only that child… If that child weren’t her granddaughter, she might actually like her.

Inside the house, Zuo Dacheng and his wife, Li Hui, both looked at Zuo Dan, their feelings complicated. They didn’t know how to start the conversation. They still hadn’t figured out what had gone wrong with the earlier incident. They couldn’t understand why things had escalated so quickly, and they hadn’t fully processed it yet.

Zuo Dan didn’t care about any of that. After eating and drinking her fill, she wiped her mouth and began indignantly, “If my eldest uncle had given the meat to Grandma earlier, would we have lost a piece of meat today? Dad, not to criticize you, but my eldest uncle is unfilial to Grandma. You should cut ties with him from now on. Keep your distance, so he’ll realize his mistake. Only then will he start to be filial to Grandma. Don’t help him do wrong. And as for his position as the team leader… A person who’s unfilial shouldn’t be a leader. Isn’t that harming the people?”

She spoke with a righteous air, which left Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui speechless. They didn’t feel they should argue. A child who was filial was a good thing.

The couple pondered, thinking about how they should interact with the first branch in the future. The first branch had become too much. They were unfilial to the elderly and had no affection for the family. They couldn’t continue like they had in the past.

Zuo Dan was very satisfied with their reaction. She turned to Li Hui and said, “Mom, now that Grandma has spoken, you shouldn’t let Grandma be taken advantage of anymore. I think Grandma did the right thing. The three mountains weighing down on the poor farmers have been removed, and our family shouldn’t have to carry that burden forever.”

Zuo Dan had also noticed that, as far as the Zuo Hongjun side was concerned, the only thing they had really done wrong was losing that team leader position all those years ago. Other than that, Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui didn’t owe them anything. The only thing that had kept them attached was the respect for Grandma Zuo and the so-called family ties.

Now that Grandma had spoken, Zuo Dan didn’t believe Zuo Dacheng and his wife would remain unchanged.

As for Grandma Zuo, Zuo Dan wasn’t worried that she would continue to pressure Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui. The Zuo Hongjun couple had split the family, and that had embedded a thorn in Grandma Zuo’s heart. She occasionally used it to poke at her, and with Grandma’s strong-willed nature, how could she possibly continue to treat the first branch the same way as before?

The elderly were like children. Once you understood their temperament, it was easy to make them listen to you.

Li Hui gave Zuo Dacheng a complex look. As a mother, how could she not want to keep the good things for her own child? All these years, Grandma Zuo and Xu Fengxia had held her back, and she had been unable to do anything about it. Now that the family had split, she too wanted to work like Ma Dajie—do more work, earn money, gain work points, and improve their family’s life.

Since Grandma Zuo had spoken, there was no need for her to continue enduring like in the past. She had to protect her own family.

Although she thought this way, she still didn’t dare make a decision. This was the Zuo family, and she was not fully accepted here. In this household, she couldn’t take charge. Zuo Dacheng treated her well, but there were still things she had to listen to him about. After all, it was Zuo Dacheng who had given her a new life in the first place.

Perhaps sensing his wife’s feelings, Zuo Dacheng sighed and said, “Alright, since the family has split, we’ll live our own lives from now on. This time, my elder brother and sister-in-law really went too far.”

If the meat hadn’t been sent to the eldest brother’s family earlier, he would’ve definitely sent them two pieces today. They were family, and they all lived together. It wasn’t right to hide the good things. But since he had already sent the meat, Zuo Dacheng felt he had done enough. But now, his sister-in-law had come to cause a scene again. She had caused trouble when they hadn’t split, and now that they had, she was still causing trouble. It seemed like she wanted to keep the family in turmoil.

Dandan was right, that burden had to be removed.

He felt that this might have been a thought he had long held in his heart. Before the family split, it had been suppressed. But now that they had split, and Grandma no longer pressured him to endure, this thought had begun to take root and sprout.

When Zuo Dacheng spoke, Li Hui’s mood shifted. It felt as though something heavy inside her chest had disappeared, and she felt much lighter. From now on, she no longer had to tolerate Xu Fengxia in this house, and she wouldn’t have to be controlled by Grandma Zuo anymore. The family had split, and they could live their own lives. From now on, she could live as she pleased.

The next morning, when Zuo Dan woke up to have breakfast, she found an extra egg on her plate.

Li Hui said, “We used to save the eggs to exchange for money, but we won’t do that anymore. We’ll keep them for ourselves to eat.”

Although the family had split, the old hen in the house still laid eggs, which were divided equally. Li Hui picked up the eggs, but she hesitated to eat them. Without Grandma Zuo’s approval, she still didn’t dare to touch what had once been considered public property.

After thinking it over last night, Li Hui decided to enjoy life more—eat, drink, and live well. However, since they only collected eggs every three days, there weren’t enough for all three of them, so she left the egg for Zuo Dan.

Zuo Dan hadn’t expected such a change in Li Hui after the commotion yesterday.

The meals at home were more refined than usual. Though they were still simple, consisting of vegetables and pickled food, Li Hui had arranged everything beautifully, and the vegetables even glistened with a sheen of oil.

This was something they could never have imagined before!

It seemed that even her thrifty mother had a hidden desire for small pleasures, which had just been suppressed all these years.

Zuo Dan was naturally pleased to see this. She was someone who enjoyed life, after all. If Li Hui continued to improve their living standards, she would directly benefit.

So, she said to Li Hui, who seemed a bit awkward, “Mom, I think today’s meal is especially good. It would be great if we could have meals like this every day.”

Li Hui’s eyes sparkled. “Really? When I was frying the vegetables, I added three extra drops of oil.”

“No wonder it tastes so good! Mom, you should add a little more next time. And this boiled egg, it would taste even better if it were steamed. The flavor would be amazing.”

Li Hui’s eyes brightened, as though she was recalling a memory. “If we could add some sesame oil, it would taste even better.”

Zuo Dan turned to Zuo Dacheng. “Dad, I think next time we should go to the county and buy some sesame oil. My mom’s cooking skills shouldn’t be wasted.”

Li Hui responded, “That’s too expensive.” Even though life wasn’t as miserable as it once was, they still couldn’t waste money recklessly.

“Mom, why are you worried? With Dad’s skills, he can easily buy some sesame oil. Right, Dad?” Zuo Dan said, smacking her lips. She was already thinking about sesame oil eggs.

Zuo Dacheng was incredibly proud to hear this. Indeed, it was just some sesame oil, and of course, he could afford it. “Next time, I’ll have someone bring some back.”

Zuo Dacheng had increasingly come to appreciate the benefits of the split. Before, he had to hand over all his earnings and ask Grandma Zuo for permission to buy anything. Now, with the split, he could buy whatever he wanted. He just needed to work harder and maybe do some carpentry on the side, and in the future, they might even be able to enjoy a more refined meal from time to time.

“We won’t exchange our fine grain this year either,” Zuo Dacheng added as he thought about it. “I heard from Uncle Shuisheng yesterday that they’re organizing a grain exchange, but I think we should just keep ours for the holidays and festivals. I’ll take on some carpentry work. At least I can earn something.”

Li Hui nodded. They had enough grain at home. In the past, they had to subsidize the first branch, but now they didn’t need to. She and Dacheng had enough work points, and the grain they received was enough. Zuo Dan had earned some work points as well, so they had enough grain to last until tomorrow.

Zuo Dan had heard about the grain exchange from Uncle Mu Gen. She hadn’t expected the production team to act so quickly.

She wasn’t sure if it would affect other production teams, but no matter what, after her third uncle came back today, she needed to quickly get him to collect the second batch of grain. They had to earn a bit more before the exchange.

When they went out after breakfast, they ran into the Zuo Hongjun family.

Perhaps because of the events from yesterday, Zuo Hongjun felt uneasy and resented Zuo Dacheng and his wife. So when they met, they acted as though they didn’t see each other and didn’t greet anyone.

Seeing this, Zuo Dacheng felt that Zuo Hongjun hadn’t repented yet. He frowned and didn’t say a word, carrying his hoe and shovel as he went out.

Zuo Dan followed behind him, secretly applauding her eldest uncle, Zuo Hongjun. The more he acted this way, the more distant Zuo Dacheng and his wife would grow from him. It was impossible for them to go back to the way things were before. She didn’t think it was unkind to cause a rift between the brothers. She wasn’t the original owner and didn’t care about blood ties or family affection. As long as someone made her life difficult, she wouldn’t live peacefully with them. If necessary, she would make their lives difficult.

In the morning, when Zuo Shuisheng announced the grain exchange to everyone, he explained that, unlike previous informal exchanges, this time the grain would be exchanged through the commune. Thanks to Comrade Shen Yiming’s efforts, the commune had agreed to exchange one pound of fine grain for one and a half pounds of coarse grain.

This was an extra liang of grain compared to before. Though it didn’t seem like much, this extra liang could provide enough for one person’s meal. If they exchanged a lot of grain, this would be a big advantage.

Everyone listened and smiled, excitedly discussing the grain exchange.

Zuo Shuisheng banged a gong to quiet the crowd, then had Shen Yiming explain the exchange procedure. They couldn’t all rush to the commune at once.

Zuo Dan then saw Shen Yiming, looking very official, walk over to the old team leader. He was wearing patched clothes with whitewashed cuffs, but apart from his neatly combed hair, he looked just like a young local man. If he weren’t a sent-down youth, people might think he was just another young man from Zuojiatun.

Shen Yiming spoke in the local dialect, first delivering an inspirational speech, emphasizing that this exchange was the result of the commune’s leadership and their care for the people. The leaders had put in a lot of effort to ensure that everyone wouldn’t go hungry, and he expressed their gratitude. He then instructed the men in each household to bring the fine grain to the warehouse after work to be registered, and once the coarse grain arrived, they could pick it up according to the list. Of course, since this process was complicated, the coarse grain might arrive a few days later.

At this point, his attire and accent worked to his advantage. Instinctively, people saw him as trustworthy and reliable, and his arrangements received full support from everyone present.

With the leader here and Shen Yiming watching, the grain wouldn’t go missing. There was still plenty of coarse grain at home, no need to rush eating it. It would be given eventually, sooner or later.

Zuo Dan quickly grasped what was happening.

Wow, this skill of pulling off a swindle was even more impressive than hers. She had only tricked Li Chenliang, but Shen Yiming had managed to deceive everyone.

The talk about a complicated process was just an excuse. What did the delay matter? It was clearly a scheme to make some extra money by shifting the fine grain around, then exchanging it back for coarse grain. All that extra profit? It was all going into the commune’s coffers. No wonder the commune was so generous, agreeing to give an extra liang of coarse grain.

Clever. Collaborating with the commune to deceive the people—at this point, the honest, hard-working farmers wouldn’t think twice. Zuo Dan realized that if she hadn’t lived through a future filled with all kinds of strange scams, she might not have thought much of it either. Moreover, she was convinced this grain exchange wasn’t just happening in Zuojiatun. It was likely happening across the entire commune.

“Looks like I’ll have to send Third Uncle to collect grain from other communes. We can’t compete with the commune for food,” Zuo Dan muttered to herself, thoroughly cursing Shen Yiming in her mind. When she glanced over at Li Chenliang, she saw him rolling his eyes in disgust.

After work, Zuo Shuisheng called Zuo Dan over.

When everyone else had left, Zuo Shuisheng said, “Dandan, you’ll still need to register the grain collection this time. Yiming wants to teach others how to keep accounts so that next time we collect grain, it won’t be as chaotic as before. Since you’re the most educated young person in the village, aside from Xiaocong, you learn quickly and have a sharp mind. It’s a good opportunity for you to assist Yiming with this.”

Zuo Dan hadn’t expected to be involved in this matter.

Was she willing to do this job? Of course, she was. Who would prefer working the fields when they could wield a pen? So Zuo Dan nodded, “Don’t worry, Old Team Leader. I’ll make sure the task gets done.”

When they reached the fields to work, Zuo Dan overheard people discussing the grain exchange, wondering how much grain each household would exchange. Would they exchange it all or keep some for themselves?

“Why keep it? This time we can exchange an extra liang. Who knows if there’ll be such a good deal next time.”

“Then exchange it all!”

By noon, Zuo Chengcai, who had been missing for a day, finally returned home.

In just a day, he looked unshaven, his eyes dark with panda-like circles and bloodshot veins. But despite his haggard appearance, his eyes shone brightly, and he looked energized, as if he had been on a high.

Zuo Chengcai was eating with Grandmother Zuo. When Zuo Dan saw him return, she brought over some braised pork from yesterday for him to eat.

Seeing Zuo Dan, Zuo Chengcai’s lips trembled, as if he was dying to say something.

Zuo Dan said, “Uncle, it’s just some braised pork, nothing special. Don’t get too excited. Eat first, and then we can talk.” She didn’t want him to get too worked up and say too much.

Zuo Chengcai nodded and eagerly watched Zuo Dan as she left.

Grandmother Zuo seemed to understand his feelings. “Dandan’s been really thoughtful lately, knows how to care for people. Even though you weren’t home, she saved you some meat. Ah…” She sighed with a touch of regret in her voice.

Zuo Chengcai wasn’t interested in hearing Grandmother Zuo talk. He quickly finished his meal and hurried to the small grove.

When he saw Zuo Dan, he took out a receipt and the remaining money. “I didn’t sleep all night, visited three production teams, and gathered it all up. I sent it all to the county overnight. Everything’s done, 200 jin of grain cost exactly 30 yuan. I paid a yuan for delivery to the county. There’s 9 yuan left here. I’ve already sent everything to the post office. We should get news in a few days.”

Zuo Dan was impressed by Zuo Chengcai’s dedication. He hadn’t slept all night just to get the job done. His efficiency was so impressive that if he had these skills in the future, he could easily work anywhere.

Zuo Dan took the money and pulled out one yuan to keep for herself. “According to what we agreed, these 8 yuan are for you, Uncle.”

“But I still have 40 cents left…” Zuo Chengcai thought carefully and realized he had only earned 7.6 yuan.

“This is a bonus. Since you worked so hard and didn’t sleep a wink to get this done, this 40 cents is for you to buy a pack of cigarettes,” Zuo Dan said generously.

This was the first time Zuo Chengcai had received a reward for doing a good job. It was a new experience for him. Over the years, working in the production team, he had only been scolded and never praised. Now, working alongside his niece, he had done well, and she rewarded him. It felt like a boost, making him feel like he could do even better.

“Dandan, are we still collecting grain?” he asked, looking at her eagerly.

Zuo Dan said, “Uncle, you should rest first. I’ll let you know after work this afternoon. Health is the foundation of everything. You need to rest. Even if we don’t collect more, don’t worry. There will be plenty of opportunities to earn money in the future.” She decided that Zuo Chengcai was a good worker and needed to be kept on long-term.