Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Asking for Grain, Xu Huaizhi

Gu Qinghuan parked her bicycle to the side and immediately started banging on the door.

A crowd of gossiping village women followed behind her, eager to watch the drama unfold.

Liu Guifang was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Her eldest son was coming home to eat that night, and she’d found a few wild eggs while gathering firewood earlier. She was just about to make scrambled eggs with sauce.

“Eldest, how come you’re back so early?” she called out as she went to open the door. But when she saw it was Gu Qinghuan standing there, her smile froze on her face. Glancing at the crowd of people behind her, she had a sinking feeling.

“Second daughter-in-law, what brings you here?” Liu Guifang forced a smile.

Gu Qinghuan replied earnestly, “Mom, I’m here to pick up our share of grain. I brought the bike, so I can take it back myself—no need for you to send it over.”

Liu Guifang nearly jumped with anger. “What grain? Your grain is at the educated youth compound, not here.”

“Didn’t you tell Auntie Wang and the others that you’d give our family three hundred jin of grain after the split? Don’t trouble yourself, I’ll just take it myself. I knew you couldn’t possibly be so heartless as to throw Huai’an and the two kids out and ignore them.”

Gu Qinghuan deliberately put her on a pedestal, making it hard for her to back out. If Liu Guifang refused to give the grain, she’d lose face in front of everyone. If she agreed, she’d have to part with three hundred jin—either way, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

Liu Guifang shot a glare at Wang Xiaohua in the crowd, wishing she could slap herself for her loose tongue. That morning, while chatting to show off her generosity, she’d bragged about giving three hundred jin of grain—when in reality, she hadn’t planned to give a single grain.

She’d thought Gu Qinghuan, who usually kept to herself and didn’t mix with the villagers, wouldn’t hear the gossip. Who’d have thought the boast she’d made in the morning would come back to bite her by evening?

If she refused, she’d lose face in front of the crowd behind Gu Qinghuan. If she agreed, three hundred jin—even of coarse grain—was still a lot, and she hated to part with it.

A minute of awkward silence passed.

“Don’t just stand at the door, come in and let’s talk,” Liu Guifang said, reaching to pull Gu Qinghuan into the courtyard. Once inside her own turf, she’d have the upper hand.

But Gu Qinghuan shook her head. “No need, Mom. There are three mouths at home who haven’t eaten all day. I need to get back and cook. Just weigh out the grain for me and I’ll be on my way.”

So Liu Guifang really did care about her reputation. Good—everyone had a weakness. Maybe she really could get three hundred jin of grain for free and make Liu Guifang feel the pain.

Liu Guifang glared at Gu Qinghuan, seething. This little wretch—she’d thought Gu Qinghuan would be easy to deal with, but she hadn’t expected her to have tricks up her sleeve.

Just then, Xu Huaizhi arrived home.

He was a good-looking man—the proper male lead of the novel, after all. Not only was he handsome, but he also had a skilled job at the steel factory, making him the most eligible young man in the village.

The main characters of the novel “The Delicate Wife of the Seventies” were Xu Huaizhi and his wife Lin Xiaomeng.

Lin Xiaomeng was among the first batch of educated youth sent down to the countryside. With no hope of returning to the city and getting older by the day, she married the eldest son of the village party secretary, Xu Huaizhi, a steel factory technician.

In her previous life, she’d abandoned her husband and children, only to be deceived out of her money and affections, and died miserably on the streets. Meanwhile, the husband she’d left behind, Xu Huaizhi, found success in middle age, went into business, and became a wealthy man.

In the book, Lin Xiaomeng is reborn. Having seen the world’s splendor, she realizes her original husband was the best choice, and decides to be a good wife and mother, supporting her husband and raising their son to reach the pinnacle of life together.

She uses her “golden finger” luck-space to siphon luck from others, ultimately achieving her own success.

Dabao and Beibei are important sources of her luck, and all those who stand in her way are just stepping stones for her rise.

In the book, Xu Huaizhi is written as a paragon of virtue—but who knows if that’s true or not.

Thinking of this, Gu Qinghuan pinched her thigh hard, forcing out two tears to hang on her cheeks.

“Mom, please just give us the grain. At least let us get through this winter,” Gu Qinghuan said, her acting skills drawing Xu Huaizhi’s attention.

After hearing what had happened, Xu Huaizhi sighed. His parents had gone too far. Even if his second brother hadn’t achieved much, he’d worked hard and sent all his earnings home. Now, just because he was sick, they were going to let him fend for himself?

Winter was coming. If they didn’t give any grain, weren’t they just sending the whole family to their deaths?

But… was it really reliable for Dad to find a wife for Second Brother? This woman looked even prettier than a city girl, but with her crying like that, could she really take care of people?

Regardless, he spoke up: “Mom, weigh out the grain for my sister-in-law. I’ll supervise it myself. Give them the good grain—the kids are growing, and Second Brother can’t work. How do you expect a woman to support a family of four on her own?”

Xu Huaizhi knew full well what his mother was like, but he had his own life to live and couldn’t look after his second brother and the two kids. It was better to split the family—he could always help out more in the future.

In the countryside, most families lived with the eldest son, and Liu Guifang was no exception. When her eldest son spoke up, she had to give him face, even if she grumbled under her breath: “Those two little bastards, eating my good grain…”

Gu Qinghuan heard her.

Crazy old woman. I only planned to take three hundred jin, but since you can’t keep your mouth clean, don’t blame me for what happens next.

Once inside, while they were arguing over which grains to give, Gu Qinghuan quietly slipped her hand into the grain store and secretly transferred a bit of every type of grain into her own space—several hundred jin in total.

Because the storehouse was large and full, it wasn’t obvious anything was missing.

She’d figured out that anything her fingers touched, she could choose to put into her space.

This old woman—she had so much grain at home, yet she couldn’t spare any for a sick man and two starving kids, letting them waste away to skin and bones. Wasn’t she afraid of being struck by lightning?

Thanks to Xu Huaizhi’s insistence, Liu Guifang had no choice but to weigh out one hundred jin each of millet, wheat, and corn for Gu Qinghuan.

Except for the corn, the millet and wheat were both fine grains—not bad at all.

Once the grain was weighed, Xu Huaizhi even offered to help carry it back to the old house.

Gu Qinghuan was delighted. With Xu Huaizhi involved, everything was above board—no one could question her about the grain in the future.

She carried a hundred jin of corn herself, while the remaining two hundred jin went on Xu Huaizhi’s bicycle.

The crowd, having seen enough excitement, gradually dispersed, but the incident gave the villagers plenty to gossip about.

There really had been a lot of drama in the Xu family lately.

Gu Qinghuan pushed her bike home, and as she neared the house, she saw two small figures waiting anxiously at the door.

When the two children saw her coming, their dull eyes instantly lit up. They rushed over to help her push the bike.

They didn’t say a word, but one stood on each side, gripping the sacks of grain tied to the back of the bike and pushing with all their might.

Gu Qinghuan hadn’t expected that after being so timid and wary last night, today they’d dare to come help her. She couldn’t help but smile.

Xu Huaizhi watched this scene from behind, thoughtful. It seemed this new sister-in-law wasn’t so bad after all. The two kids, usually so guarded, had actually come out on their own to help her push the bike."