Chapter 12: Wisdom

Chen Xiaomi called from behind: “Sister-in-law, wait for me, I’m coming with you.”

Seeing her mother and aunt leave, Chen Zitong blinked her big eyes, staring fixedly at her father’s liver-colored face.

Chen Gaoyuan thought for a moment and told his younger daughter: “Don’t tell your sister about this.”

Chen Zitong pouted: “Dad, warning me alone won’t help—Aunt and Mom will definitely stir up trouble behind your back.”

Just wait and see if they don’t.

This is a perfect chance to embellish, sow discord, and meddle.”

Outside, Chen Gaoyuan looked impressive, but whenever family matters arose, he felt a headache brewing—no one in the house was easy to manage.

As for what his wife and sisters truly thought, Chen Gaoyuan knew perfectly well—they simply wanted to completely sever their eldest daughter’s thoughts of Li Heng.

…

Across the street, the Old Li household.

Thinking about how she and her husband had eaten meat every day for several days at the Chen household, Tian Rune began to feel sorry for her children. She grabbed a kitchen knife, climbed onto the stove, and planned to slice off some cured pork for dinner, stir-frying it with garlic greens and tofu to improve the two siblings’ meager diet.

But when she looked up, hmm? She noticed something was off—the pork leg and belly pork had switched places.

And why was the belly pork shorter by a chunk?

Tian Rune was an extremely meticulous person; over the years, she’d never miscalculated how much rice was in the bin, how long the thread was, or how many cabbage heads were in the field.

Especially this cured pork—the few items in the house that could be sold for cash—was practically her lifeline; how could she possibly forget its condition?

Her gaze drifted back and forth between the two pieces of pork, then she switched the knife from her right hand to her left, and used her right thumb to press against the cross-section of the belly pork.

As expected, after wiping away the soot, a fresh, white cut surface appeared beneath.

Staring blankly at the shortened belly pork, Tian Rune suddenly felt a tightness in her chest. She climbed down from the stove, smeared some soot back onto the pork, and restored it to its original appearance.

In the backyard, Tian Rune quietly asked Li Jianguo, who was watering the ox: “Jianguo, did you touch the cured pork?”

“What cured pork?”

Li Jianguo turned around, then realized and asked urgently: “Has our cured pork been stolen?”

Tian Rune shook her head and recounted everything she had just discovered.

After listening, Li Jianguo fell silent.

After a long while, he said sadly: “Er Bao must be starving.”

Tian Rune held the same view.

The couple never suspected theft—because if it were a thief, they wouldn’t have taken just a chunk; they’d have stolen entire pieces.

Dinner was unexpectedly lavish: leek river shrimp and double-fried tofu.

And a flat bowl of cured pork ribs.

Heh! These were all Li Heng’s favorites. He ladled a bowl of rice, piled on a few bites of shrimp and tofu, and buried his face in eating voraciously.

Since they were family, no need for formality—just eat however you’re comfortable. He devoured two huge bowls of sweet potato rice, stuffing his belly until it was full to bursting.

This was the most satisfying meal he’d had since his rebirth; he patted his round, solid belly, feeling thoroughly content.

Unfortunately, the only downside was the sweet potato rice—he’d truly eaten it to nausea, hated it, and wished it could be replaced with white rice.

After enduring over twenty days of hardship, he now understood the truth: he didn’t need to face the sea—just daily white rice and meat, and it would feel like spring had arrived.

After dinner, his second sister mysteriously pulled out a pack of five-spice sunflower seeds—ten fen a packet. She glanced at her brother once, didn’t call him, and sat on the threshold, cracking them herself.

To be honest, if Li Heng hadn’t behaved well lately, she wouldn’t have even glanced his way—she was used to hoarding snacks for herself.

At that moment, Tian Rune suddenly asked Li Jianguo: “Jianguo, did you drink sweet rice wine? Why are two bowls missing?”

Two bowls missing?

Didn’t his second sister only steal one bowl last night? When did she sneak another?

Li Heng instinctively glanced at his second sister.

Sensing his gaze, Li Lan turned her head away expressionlessly, but her right hand kept moving, shoving seeds into her mouth.

Her upper and lower lips pressed together—pia!—a sunflower seed shell flew onto the floor.

Pia! Another shell landed neatly on the ground.

Seeing this look from Manzi, Li Jianguo understood everything—he knew his wife was knocking on the mountain to warn Er Bao not to eat more sweet rice wine, fearing a recurrence of her stomach illness.

Li Jianguo smiled and replied: “I just couldn’t control myself—I ate a bit too much.”

One matter unresolved, Tian Rune brought up another: “The twenty yuan under the pillow is gone—did you take it?”

Hearing this, Li Heng’s gaze dropped to his second sister’s palm, to the five-spice sunflower seeds.

Li Lan ignored him, turned her head further away, and cracked seeds as if nothing had happened.

Li Jianguo’s peripheral vision swept over his second daughter, then added: “This morning, while tidying the bed, I found twenty yuan on the floor. I picked it up, but got caught up in helping Grandma Chun and forgot to tell you.”

Saying this, he pulled two ten-yuan notes from his inner pocket and handed them to his wife.

Tian Rune took the money, slipped it into her pocket, then said to her husband: “We just ate—let me walk with you. You shouldn’t sit too long.”

“Alright, yes.”

The deeply affectionate couple walked off together along the road.

Li Heng didn’t stay as an eyesore—he wisely went upstairs to his private room and continued writing “To Live.”

Just six hundred words left to reach forty thousand—today, he must finish.

After their evening walk, seeing no one in the main room, Tian Rune immediately entered her bedroom and checked under the pillow.

As expected, two large red bills lay plainly on the sheet.

The bills were worn, with blue ballpoint pen markings—clearly passed through many hands.

Bending to pick them up, Tian Rune told her husband who followed her in: “A few days ago, she mentioned wanting to buy a set of clothes—it costs sixteen yuan.”

“I thought they’d both be starting school soon and needed a lot of money, so I didn’t agree.”

Here, she paused, tears suddenly welling in her eyes: “Er Bao once confided in me—how all the girls in her class dressed beautifully, but she was the worst-dressed…”

She couldn’t continue speaking; her heart ached painfully, and she buried her face against her husband’s shoulder, sobbing.

Li Jianguo wrapped his left arm around his wife and gently patted her back. As he comforted her, he too couldn’t hold back—his eyes grew damp.

At this moment, his heart was filled with bitter anguish and guilt—he cursed himself for being useless.

He had not only failed his beautiful wife, turning her into a weathered, sunburnt woman from endless toil, but also failed his three children—making them eat poorly, dress poorly, and suffer alongside him.

ps: The rural segment is ending; the groundwork is nearly complete. A new journey begins soon. (Please follow for updates—Sunday trial push coming; follow count determines this novel’s fate. Please help, great masters.)

(End of Chapter)