RIRW – Chapter 85

Some Chapters are password protected, please use - rirw2025c to unlock these chapters. This is to top theft of translations.

The colleagues in the newspaper office all noticed that something was off with Shen Yiming. Ever since he arrived that afternoon, his face had been filled with an unceasing smile. While he was always cheerful, today was different—his expression clearly showed that something good had happened.

Sister Chu couldn’t help but ask, “Yiming, you’re in a great mood today! What’s the good news?”

Shen Yiming grinned, “My partner agreed to marry me next year.”

“Oh, now that’s wonderful news!” Sister Chu beamed. She had met Zuo Dan the other day and thought the two were a great match. Although the young woman was from the countryside, she had a demeanor and beauty that rivaled any city girl.

Moreover, she seemed well-mannered and composed, without a trace of shyness.

As for concerns about food rations… Shen Yiming’s salary was decent, and he could certainly support a family.

The rest of the office chimed in, demanding wedding candies and asking about the wedding date. “National Day would be perfect! We could all join in on the celebration.”

Shen Yiming, still glowing with happiness, replied, “We still need to discuss it—I’ll go with whatever she wants.”

As long as Zuo Dan agreed to marry him, he was willing to let her decide everything else.

Seeing his attitude, the others shook their heads and sighed. “Ah, even heroes fall before beautiful women. Look at him, completely under control!”

Shen Yiming remained in high spirits throughout the afternoon.

However, something happened later that made his colleagues sympathize with him.

Chief Editor Wang publicly announced that Li Wanshan had been promoted to editor-in-chief.

Although Li Wanshan had joined the office six months before Shen Yiming, his performance had been mediocre. Not terrible, but average at best—completely overshadowed by Shen Yiming’s brilliance. The two had similar experience levels, yet Shen Yiming hadn’t been promoted. Everyone figured he must be feeling down—his love life was smooth, but his career had hit a roadblock. His emotions must be complicated.

But Shen Yiming acted as if nothing had happened and even congratulated Li Wanshan.

“A broad-minded man,” his colleagues thought.

That evening, still riding the high of his engagement, Shen Yiming returned to his small dormitory. He was too excited to read, so he simply lay on his bed, eyes closed, reliving the memories of the night before…

Before long, his breathing grew heavier.

“Yiming! Comrade Shen Yiming, are you in?”

Outside, Uncle Zhang called out. “Comrade Yiming, someone’s looking for you—says he’s your brother, Xu Xiaoqiang.”

Shen Yiming opened his eyes, the emotions within them instantly extinguished. He took a deep breath and stood up. “Uncle Zhang, I’ll be right out.”

At the entrance, Xu Xiaoqiang was pacing anxiously. When he spotted Shen Yiming, he immediately spoke up.

“Brother, you’re finally here! Why is your hair wet?”

“I just washed my face with cold water. I was napping. What’s wrong?”

“Brother, I heard that the house your mom left behind is about to be given away! That woman, Du Juan, went to the housing bureau to inquire about the paperwork. Isn’t that your mom’s house? How does she have the nerve to even think about taking it?”

Xu Xiaoqiang was indignant. His aunt had worked with Shen Yiming’s mother, so he was familiar with the family’s history. A stepmother who refused to raise a child yet wanted to take his birth mother’s property—how shameless!

But Shen Yiming showed little reaction to the news. He was more surprised than angry. He had allowed them to stay in the house, simply because he had been too busy fulfilling the conditions for his marriage with Dandan to deal with it. He hadn’t expected them to make a move on the house so soon.

That house had originally been assigned to his mother by her workplace. Since she had received it before marriage and had barely lived there before passing away, the property deed had always remained with his maternal grandmother. Legally, Wei Guohua—the father—did have the right to stay there.

But emotionally, Shen Yiming refused to let his mother’s legacy fall into the hands of that family.

Wei Guohua had remarried just months after his mother’s passing. A man like that didn’t deserve anything of hers.

“Xiaoqiang, thanks for telling me. Keep an eye on things for me—I’ll take care of it as soon as possible.”

Xu Xiaoqiang thumped his chest. “Don’t worry! If they try to process any paperwork, we’ll stall it as long as we can.”

Meanwhile, Du Juan was trying to convince Wei Guohua about the house.

Since the property was in his name, she couldn’t do anything without his approval. But she was confident he would agree—after all, Xiaohong and Xiaojun were his biological children.

As expected, Wei Guohua didn’t immediately refuse. Instead, he hesitated.

This tube-shaped apartment building wasn’t very spacious. There was only this one room, barely over ten square meters. For an average working-class couple, having such a place to live was already something to be grateful for. But for someone like Wei Guohua, who had been used to living in the provincial government’s housing, suddenly moving into such a small space was far from comfortable.

Especially now that his children had all been sent to the countryside and he no longer trusted Du Juan as much as before, his days had been far from happy.

Now, Du Juan had suggested using this house in exchange for urban residency permits so the children could return to the city and find jobs. The idea tempted Wei Guohua.

“Old Wei, we’re not getting any younger. We can’t just leave the children in the countryside forever. Even if I made mistakes in the past, Xiaojun and Xiaohong are still your biological children. We raised them ourselves. How can you bear to see them suffering in the countryside? If they come back and find jobs, they’ll be able to support you in the future. Isn’t that the whole point of having children—to provide for you in old age?”

“Can we really exchange it for residency permits?” Wei Guohua asked. Ever since he lost his government position, he hadn’t felt at ease. Before, he thought it wasn’t a big deal for the children to be sent to the countryside. But now, with no job, and Du Juan drifting away from him, he felt it was best to have his children by his side to take care of him.

“We can. I asked Aijun to help make arrangements. There’s an elderly person in his family who has the permits, and as long as we give them the house, they’ll give the job positions to our children.”

“They don’t need the jobs for their own kids?”

“They would, but their eldest son needs a house to get married. Without a house, the marriage won’t happen. The two younger ones have been sent to the countryside, so they have to prioritize the eldest…” Du Juan trailed off at this point, looking a bit embarrassed, worried that Wei Guohua might overthink things. After all, their family’s situation was quite similar. Fortunately, they were giving up the house to bring their two children back.

Wei Guohua indeed thought of his own family’s situation and felt a bit uneasy, but he didn’t dwell on it too much. “Alright, go make the arrangements.”

Moving elsewhere might not be a bad thing. If they could find a bigger place, it would be even better. And if Xiaojun and Xiaohong both got jobs, they could earn money and support the family.

Although Wei Guohua and Du Juan had slightly different perspectives, their goal was the same—use the house to exchange for two jobs and bring their children back to the city.

After returning to the village, Zuo Dan threw herself back into work the very next day, full of energy.

After the autumn harvest, the workload in the fields lightened significantly. The whole village felt more relaxed, and even the educated youth seemed to have regained some of their vitality.

Xu Fengxia had started spreading the news—her daughter, Zuo Huan, was getting married to Yang Wenxin, a teacher at the commune’s elementary school.

Everyone in the village already knew about Zuo Huan and Yang Wenxin’s relationship. But they also knew that Yang Wenxin had never been particularly enthusiastic about her. If he were serious, the commune wasn’t far from the village, yet he rarely visited Zuo Huan. Clearly, he had never really treated her as a proper fiancée.

And yet, in the blink of an eye, they were getting married. The villagers couldn’t help but feel that fate was unpredictable.

Zuo Dan only heard about Zuo Huan’s marriage in passing and didn’t give it much thought. She had already guessed this outcome. Yang Wenxin desperately wanted to return to the city, and he was willing to do anything to make it happen—marrying a young village girl was hardly a sacrifice.

However, the news of Yang Wenxin and Zuo Huan’s upcoming marriage stirred some emotions among the educated youth.

The male educated youths started wondering if they should also find a local village girl to marry—someone who could take care of them and give them some stability in the village. The female educated youths, on the other hand, started thinking that maybe marrying a local man wouldn’t be such a bad idea, as it would save them from endless farm labor.

Even Wei Xiaojun and Wei Xiaohong were tempted by the idea.

If it were before, they would have never considered getting married so casually. But now, life had become unbearable.

So, the two of them went to discuss it with Zuo Dan.

Although they were slightly older than Zuo Dan—by about a year—they didn’t see themselves as older siblings at all. In fact, they relied on Zuo Dan quite a bit, so naturally, they wanted to hear her opinion on this matter.

At that moment, Zuo Dan was in the office working. When she heard their thoughts, she nearly threw her account book at their heads.

With the way these two were, no matter if they married someone from the village or were married off to a villager, it would be a disaster for the other person.

So, Zuo Dan began lecturing them earnestly. “Actually, while I was in the city this time, I ran into your mother.”

Hearing this, Wei Xiaojun and Wei Xiaohong immediately perked up, staring at Zuo Dan expectantly.

Zuo Dan sighed. “At the time, I was with Yiming buying mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Your mother was there too, buying mooncakes for a visit. I told her about your situation in the village—that you guys were eating nothing but coarse black bread every day. I asked her how she could still have the appetite to eat mooncakes.”

Wei Xiaohong asked anxiously, “And what did she say?”

“What could she say? It’s not like we have a good relationship. But she did say she was in a hurry to visit someone, and she seemed quite anxious about not having bought mooncakes in time.”

Wei Xiaojun and Wei Xiaohong: “…”

Wei Xiaohong fumed, “Fine! I’ll just get married here in the countryside! I’ll never go back!”

Wei Xiaojun added, “Yeah, I’ve made up my mind too!”

Zuo Dan was exasperated. “How can you both be so spineless? If your mother treats you like this, that’s all the more reason for you to work harder! Don’t even think about marrying a villager—that’ll just trap you here forever. You need to work harder, improve yourselves, and never forget the suffering you’ve endured here. Remember exactly who put you in this situation! Then, when you return to the city one day, live a good life and make them regret ever treating you this way!”

Zuo Dan spoke so passionately that the two siblings’ hearts started pounding. They couldn’t help but imagine a future where they returned to the city in glory, making their cold-hearted parents and selfish sister regret everything. When that day came, they would make sure not to care about them at all.

Wei Xiaohong wiped her tears. “I must fight to return to the city. I won’t get married. I have to go back. I want them to regret this.”

Wei Xiaojun hesitated for a moment. As a man, he didn’t see marriage as much of a loss for him, but after hearing Wei Xiaohong say that, he slowly dismissed the thought. “Then I won’t get married either.”

“Good! That’s the spirit! Stay determined—I have confidence in you two!” Zuo Dan gave them great encouragement.

After Wei Xiaohong and Wei Xiaojun left, Zuo Dan went to discuss the situation with Zuo Shuisheng.

Young men and women were free to date, but if they did so with ulterior motives, that was a problem. From what Zuo Dan had observed, since she and Shen Yiming had a stable relationship, many young people in the village were influenced by it. They all started thinking about their futures in the most optimistic way.

Zuo Shuisheng had already noticed this trend, but he figured that since these city youths couldn’t leave the village anyway, he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Hearing Zuo Dan’s concerns about potential policy changes and the issues that could arise when the educated youths eventually left, Zuo Shuisheng took the matter more seriously. “Dandan, will these city kids really be able to go back? It’s been years, and not many have returned.”

“It’s hard to say for sure. But we have to be prepared. We share the same surname, so we can’t let our own people be taken advantage of.” Zuo Dan had heard stories of an “educated youth divorce wave” when they returned to the city. She didn’t want similar problems happening in their village. Divorce would be the best-case scenario—what if someone ended up waiting in vain for their spouse for a lifetime?

“But how do we prevent this? If they want to date, I can’t just step in and stop them,” Zuo Shuisheng said, troubled. The city youths, while not great at farm work, carried themselves differently from the rural folks, easily catching the eyes of naive young men and women in the village. Even their own parents couldn’t control them.

Zuo Dan thought for a moment. “We can do what Shen Yiming and I did. If they want to marry, they have to meet the family first, so we know where they live. That way, if they return to the city later, at least we’ll know where to find them. And marriage must be legally registered—this way, we won’t have to worry about them just disappearing one day.”

Zuo Shuisheng felt this was a good idea. If they had a marriage certificate and had met the family, then it would be a proper marriage just like in the village. If anything happened in the future, it wouldn’t be as much of a loss.

“Dandan, if you were a boy, I’d have you take over my role. You’re more capable than your father,” Zuo Shuisheng said.

Zuo Dan laughed. “That’s because my dad taught me well. And you were the one who picked my dad, so he’s definitely not lacking either.”

Zuo Shuisheng burst into laughter.

Soon, he held a meeting with the village elders. His message was clear: anyone planning to marry an educated youth had to register the marriage and meet the family. If they didn’t follow this rule, they shouldn’t come crying to the village later if things went wrong.

“If they’re truly sincere about marrying into your family, would they really refuse to meet the parents? Look at Shen Yiming—before he left, he took Zuo Dan to meet his family. Even after returning to the city, he came back to visit Zuo Dacheng and his wife. That’s sincerity.”

With this comparison, the villagers started taking it seriously. They all went home to tell their sons and daughters: If you want to date, fine—but you need to get married legally and meet the family. Otherwise, forget it.

With this rule in place, many educated youths with ulterior motives backed out. Getting officially married? Meeting the parents? Forget it. If they brought their rural spouse home, their family might even disown them.

While the educated youths’ plans were being disrupted, Yang Wenxin found himself being pushed by Xu Fengxia to register his marriage. He had originally convinced Zuo Huan to hold a simple wedding without officially registering, reasoning that plenty of rural couples did that. But now, with the village’s new rule requiring marriage certificates for educated youths, Xu Fengxia refused to let their family be looked down on and insisted he register the marriage.

Yang Wenxin had no choice but to grit his teeth and go through with it.

On the day of the wedding, Xu Fengxia begrudgingly invited the Zuo family. On one hand, it would look bad if she didn’t invite the elders to her daughter’s wedding. On the other, Yang Wenxin’s return to the city depended on the Zuo family putting in a good word with Shen Yiming.

Grandma Zuo, still bitter about Xu Fengxia ruining her business opportunity, refused to attend the wedding. She simply gave Zuo Huan a one-yuan gift and didn’t even show up. Zuo Chengcai was busy with work in the county and didn’t return. Only Zuo Dacheng and Zuo Dan attended, both as village officials and to help with the wedding.

Of course, the wedding wasn’t their main focus. Zuo Dan mainly wanted to take advantage of the trip to the commune to call Shen Yiming and inform him that the couple he had once brushed off had actually gone through with the marriage. She figured he should at least know.

Getting in touch with Shen Yiming was easy—his office phone was right on his desk, so he had a high chance of answering.

However, when the call went through, Sister Chu answered instead.

“Comrade Yiming took a leave of absence today. He didn’t say what for. But don’t worry—it’s nothing bad. He seemed to be in a really good mood,” Sister Chu said, then added with a chuckle, “Actually, he’s been in a good mood for days. Dandan, do you two have some happy news?”

Zuo Dan immediately knew what she meant—it had to be about their engagement. Shen Yiming was still thinking about it? She couldn’t help but smile. “Sister Chu, don’t tease me. If you’re curious, ask Yiming yourself. He’ll definitely tell you everything.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you,” Sister Chu laughed. “Do you need me to pass on a message?”

“Not really. I was just at the commune and thought I’d call him. Sister Chu, I’ll call again on Wednesday. Could you let him know?”

“Of course! I’ll make sure to tell him.”

After hanging up, Zuo Dan felt a little disappointed. She had finally gotten the chance to call, but he wasn’t there. What was he busy with? If he wasn’t focused on getting a promotion or a raise, why was he taking leave?