[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rising-in-1979":3,"chapter-rising-in-1979-rising-in-1979-chapter-231":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rising in 1979",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260939,4412,"Chapter 231: Good News: I Have a Daughter-in-Law! Bad News: I Have Two!","rising-in-1979-chapter-231",231,"\u003Cp>After her son left, Xu Shufen felt a hollow emptiness in her heart; staying in Yanjing no longer held any appeal, but luckily her daughter was there. Xiao Hong, not a formal employee, could take leave more freely, and today she had specifically taken the day off to take her mother and grandmother around the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before leaving, her eldest son had given her a hundred yuan in pocket money and some grain coupons, urging her to treat her parents to something nice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of respect for the simple reverence the elderly held for the Great Leader, Xiao Hong took them to visit the Great Leader’s former residence (Fengze Garden, Juxiang Shuwu) in Haizi, which had opened for public tours on May 1st this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Xu Shufen preferred staying at home rather than sightseeing, so she could answer her son’s phone calls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With no one at home, no one would know if someone called looking for her son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She especially loved answering calls from young girls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Wei Ming was only nineteen and she herself was under forty, her heart was already burning with the desire to hold a grandchild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in Gouzitun village, several of Wei Ming’s childhood classmates were already married with children—no marriage certificate? So what? They could always get one later when the time came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen had already been to Dongfang Xintiandi with her daughter and seen the two girls on the posters: Gong Yu and Zhu Lin—she had seen them before!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had briefly encountered them one after another at the south gate of Peking University; in person, they were even more beautiful than their posters—Gong Yu gentle, Zhu Lin poised—but their ages weren’t quite right. Still, if her son truly liked them, she wouldn’t object.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her youth, she had seen many child brides—older girls knew how to care for people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the overseas apartment, Xu Shufen’s favorite place to go was the Sihe Academy on Beichi Zi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wanted to help her son tidy up this new home, and also buy some seeds to plant cabbage and radishes in the courtyard—her son understood life so well, he’d even left a patch of ground unplanted with bricks, specifically for growing things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d heard that city vegetables were rationed; in winter, people had to fight for them, and sometimes still couldn’t get any—so she must prepare early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day after her son left, Xu Shufen bought radish seeds herself, ready to plant them for her son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her daughter had plans for sightseeing, so she had to first help Xiao Hong complete them; only after her mother and daughter rested at noon could she slip away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet when she arrived at the Sihe Academy, Xu Shufen found the lock missing—she was startled, wondering if the house had been burglarized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She gave the door a gentle push—it wouldn’t open—so it must have been locked from the inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen didn’t force it; she was just an ordinary rural woman and wouldn’t stand a chance against a real thief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she hid around the corner to observe quietly, and didn’t wait long before the door opened and a beautiful girl stepped out—Xu Shufen recognized her at once: this was Gong Yu, the girl from Shanghai!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen didn’t for a moment think she was a thief; she calmly locked the door and pulled a key from the lock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She has a key to this place too!” Xu Shufen’s face broke into a smile. You little rascal, hiding something this big from your old mother!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her eyes, if her son had given Gong Yu the key to this house, their relationship couldn’t possibly be ordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Gong Yu left in the opposite direction, Xu Shufen immediately entered the Sihe Academy and saw no obvious changes inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, Gong Yu had come only to leave a letter for Wei Ming, placed on the desk beneath a book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew Wei Ming had already left Beijing, and the Shanghai Film Studio had contacted her too, inviting her back to Shanghai to audition for a supporting female role in “July Burning Fire.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t care whether it was lead or supporting—she was a newcomer, anything to act, and this role, a pitiful dancer, was quite challenging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she wrote a letter explaining the situation, informing Wei Ming she’d returned to Shanghai, so he wouldn’t panic when he came back and couldn’t find her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hadn’t expected Aunt Shufen to discover it—Xu Shufen had feared her son only knew how to write and earn money, ignoring his personal life; now she was completely at ease, humming a Sichuan-Chongqing folk song as she finished planting vegetables, then returned to the overseas apartment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back home, restless as ever, Xu Shufen began tidying her son’s room. Normally, when Wei Ming was home, she never entered his bedroom or study to avoid disturbing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming knew his mother would enter his room, so he’d hidden all of Linjie’s clothes and towels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even contraceptive supplies were tucked deep in the wardrobe—unless his mother deliberately searched for evidence of his crimes, she’d never find them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he forgot about one magical place: under the bed. Anything missing at home always turned up there—it was a vast treasure trove, and a thorough cleaning always revealed many surprises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because it was hard to clean, no one ever bothered with it more than once a year—yet Xu Shufen wasn’t afraid of hard work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She swept under the bed and spotted dirt, so she tied a stick to her broom to reach deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then one sweep unearthed an unopened rubber product. At first, Xu Shufen didn’t recognize it—though rural women’s committee heads distributed such items, none came with this packaging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when she opened it did her eyes nearly pop out: a mother’s first realization that her son had a sex life—her feelings were complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mixed joy and worry: joy that her son had the ability and desire, worry that wearing this thing made grandkids impossible!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen immediately thought of Gong Yu—she’d have to ask her daughter: how old was Gong Yu exactly? How many years older than her son? Shouldn’t they consider meeting the parents?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, this small item had fallen under the bed during Meilinda’s last visit—unrelated to Gong Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen worked even harder, and soon found another surprise: she swept out a work badge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mom, you’re awake?” Wei Hong finished her nap and saw her mother staring blankly in her brother’s room. “What’s that you’re holding?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“N-nothing!” Xu Shufen quickly stuffed the badge into her pocket, her expression unnatural, pretending to clean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the badge had no photo, it bore a unit and a name: “Zhu Lin!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen immediately linked Zhu Lin with the contraceptive item.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So was her son’s girlfriend the Zhu girl from Beijing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what about Gong Yu having the Sihe Academy key? Could Zhu Lin have a key too!?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or were both of them…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Xu Shufen imagined that possibility, her joy vanished—how could this child behave so recklessly? What if people found out!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She remembered how in her childhood village, a landlord had taken two wives—then the landlord was executed, and the younger wife was remarried to a poor peasant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen’s mind was in chaos. Yesterday, watching the News Broadcast, she’d heard the new marriage law was being revised—hopefully it would relax on this point: if someone wanted to marry two, let him marry two; just fine him more to help those who couldn’t find wives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But men over thirty-seven couldn’t—her husband Wei Jiefang was thirty-eight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A mother was infinitely lenient toward her son, but her husband must be held strictly accountable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mom, stop working, let’s go out,” Wei Hong called. She and her grandmother had already dressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go out again?” Xu Shufen sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong: “Let’s stroll down Wangfujing, and maybe visit my brother’s Sihe Academy too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen thought: I just came back from there—but seeing her mother’s eagerness, she didn’t dampen her spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, let’s go.” She swept the area under the bed clean, then returned Zhu Lin’s badge to its original spot beneath the bed—this thing was too hot to hold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this outing, Wei Hong used her salary to buy her grandmother a proper new outfit, including shoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she’d soon meet Mei Wenhua’s parents—Mei’s family was well-off; her grandmother couldn’t be outdone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, they went to the Sihe Academy. Wei Hong stared at the vegetable patch in astonishment: “Who watered the garden?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen teased: “Maybe the Snail Girl did it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her mother saw through it: “Shufen, you did this, didn’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, Mom, you didn’t rest at noon?” Wei Hong felt guilty, insisting they must treat her mother to a restaurant meal today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen poked her forehead: “Why are you just like your brother, always eating out? Don’t you think your mother’s cooking is worse than a restaurant’s?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong linked arms with her mother: “It’s too late to go home and cook now—let’s just find something nearby. We won’t eat at a fancy place, okay? And I just got paid—I’m treating you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they walked, they crossed Beiyanhe Street and spotted a small shop called “Yuebin Restaurant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The place was tiny, with only four tables, a blackboard listing dishes and prices—reasonably priced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The owner smiled warmly: “We just opened today—please come in. Today’s staple food is free, just bring your grain coupons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d thought of this promotion after reading newspaper reports about Dongfang Xintiandi’s incentives, but she’d overestimated—soon after Wei Hong and the others sat down, customers filled all four tables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Wei Hong asked: “Just opened? You’re not state-run?” Owner Liu Guixian laughed: “No, we’re private—this shop is our own home.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A neighbor who knew the owner added: “Liu Da’s cooking is unmatched—I’ve been waiting for you two to open a restaurant!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong had eaten at many restaurants with her brother, but this was her first time at a private eatery—she found it novel, so she ordered the owner’s signature dish, garlic-minced pork knuckle, fried tofu, and sweet-and-sour spare ribs—three dishes, three bowls of rice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As her brother said: if you’re not eating meat, why eat out?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong tasted the fried tofu—compared to what she’d eaten at Peking University, even that had been excellent, but the owner’s version was superior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen, after tasting the garlic-minced pork knuckle, was equally impressed. She’d never seen such preparation—it had a truly unique flavor, no wonder it cost so much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d briefly wondered: if she could run a restaurant, why couldn’t she?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen believed that wherever her husband was, wherever her son was, wherever her daughter was—that was home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it seemed her children would settle in Beijing; as for her husband Wei, he clearly couldn’t stay in the village—she’d likely have to follow them all to Beijing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, Beijing’s quality of life far surpassed the countryside—she loved having a TV for entertainment, a fan to cool her, a fridge to store vegetables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she had to find something to do—she was still under forty, not ready to just eat and wait to die. So when she heard this was a private shop, the thought flashed: “I could do this too!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after tasting all three dishes, she realized she still had a gap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the owner wasn’t so busy, Xu Shufen struck up a conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister, where did you learn your cooking?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sister Liu was polite and smiled: “I used to work as a maid—cooked every day, year after year, that’s how I learned.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maid?” The word was unfamiliar to Xu Shufen—she assumed it meant household cook. She asked again: “Could you often cook meat dishes like this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes—the employer’s favorite dishes were mine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Shufen understood. In past years, when had she ever had a chance to cook meat? Only during New Year’s could she experiment with meat dishes—naturally, she was weaker in this area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when cooking, she had to measure oil carefully. Take this fried tofu—she could make it too, but the difference lay in the oil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if it came to making delicious vegetarian dishes with minimal oil, she still had some authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the meal, the three returned to the overseas apartment, just as Xu Yunyun rode up on a bicycle—a small Feige model.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong exclaimed: “Yunyun, where did you get the bike? When did you learn to ride? Why didn’t Wenhua come to pick you up today?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The grandmother chuckled: “You’re firing questions like a machine gun—how can she answer?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yunyun spoke calmly: “Wenhua had something today, so he let me come back alone. This is his bike—he lent it to me. He started teaching me yesterday.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a girl raised in the mountains, she rarely rode a bicycle, but Yunyun had talent—she learned in two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She quickly dismounted and let Wei Hong try—it was true, Xiao Hong had already learned to ride, but they’d never had a bike at home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My brother said he’d buy me a bike if I got into college—I should’ve made him deliver it before he left.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yunyun said: “Are you working tomorrow? I’ll ride you there on the bike.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Hong: “Didn’t Cultural Brother see you off again? What’s he so busy with?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yunyun replied: “He’s trying to find a restaurant that can reliably supply us with cheap, tasty staff meals—that’s what he’s busy with.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Xu Shufen’s heart stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a certain mountain hollow in Yimeng Mountain, Linyi, Shandong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming arrived in Linyi yesterday, but most of the crew had already entered the mountains and set up a base camp there, living and eating inside the mountains with no plans to come down anytime soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he spent a night, then went up the mountain the next day with the staff left behind, and only found the crew in the afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn, besides the male lead Li Baotian, who perfectly matched Wei Ming’s image of a male lead, all the other crew members looked just the same—like local farmers from wartime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming first met Zhang Yimou, who then led him to the camp tent where Wei Jiefang was resting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang only gets called in for scenes with the ox; otherwise, he can do whatever he wants. Last night he stayed up all night chatting with Zhang Yimou about family history; Zhang Yimou was still energetic the next day, but Old Wei was drained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yimou said: “Wei Writer, you chat with Uncle Jiefang. I’ll come get you when it’s time for meals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he stepped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What did you talk about with Old Zhang? You two hit it off so well?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang chuckled: “Last night I opened up to Little Zhang. I never expected our backgrounds were so similar.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your backgrounds? Similar?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang: “Yeah, you didn’t know? He’s got an uncle who went to Taiwan, and his father chose to stay and serve the new China. His uncle was also from Huangpu—just a junior member of the 12th class. His second uncle was from the 15th class.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming vaguely remembered Zhang Yimou had an uncle in Taiwan, which was why his family background was poor—but he didn’t know these details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since both Old Wei and Old Zhang joined the crew because of Wei Ming, they naturally felt closer. But Zhang Yimou was too quiet and reserved—just kept his head down and worked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Wei kept drinking with him, confessed some family details, and only then did Old Zhang open up—and Old Wei realized: it was astonishingly similar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang added: “My grandfather was from Baoding Military Academy. Little Zhang’s grandfather was from Yenching University—technically also one of your Peking University guys. Both were elite schools. After returning home, his grandfather tried to suppress bandits but failed, so he sent all three of his sons to Huangpu Military Academy—just like my grandfather, who was determined to serve the country and pushed your great-uncle into Huangpu. It’s the same spirit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming: “But you didn’t tell him my grandfather is now in Hong Kong, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not stupid—I’d never say that,” Old Wei whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming nodded: “I recently received a letter from Grandpa. I wrote back too—I told him Xiao Hong got top score in the province’s science exam.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you mention I was invited to act in this film as a special talent?” Old Wei asked casually, then stood up and let out a loud “Ow!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? What did Xiao Hong rank?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First—number one in the whole province,” Wei Ming said seriously. “Admissions officers from Tsinghua and Peking University came to our house fighting over her. Provincial newspapers and county officials came to visit. People from nearby villages gathered around our house just to gawk.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Wei Jiefang’s face lit up with ecstatic joy—but then, as he laughed, he pounded his chest and cried out in anguish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wu Tianming has ruined me!” Wei Jiefang lamented bitterly—he’d missed such a crucial moment!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming knew he’d react this way, so he comforted him: “It’s fine. There’s still the college entrance banquet—we’ll throw a big one and invite everyone from the village.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When does Xiao Hong start school?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“End of August.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang pounded the bedframe in frustration: “This film shoots until end of September—I’ll miss the banquet too!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clutched his chest, heart aching to the core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It really did look that way—Wei Ming chuckled: “How about we hold the banquet during the New Year instead?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking about having to delay this bragging opportunity by half a year, Old Wei lost his appetite entirely. He sat silently, watching Wei Ming discuss the script with Wu Tianming, Li Baotian, and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn, I should’ve never taken this film—sacrificing the big for the small!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until midnight, when all the staff had fallen asleep, Old Wei suddenly sat up and woke his son: “You said Xiao Hong’s school will have a holiday on October 1st, right? What if we hold the banquet then?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(Guaranteed two-in-one; today’s a bit light, I’ll make up tomorrow)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",3014,"2026-06-19T16:30:58.707Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8965514e3e1acdb060b3f01a577507ee223731ae883a944337fc61cd1fc49073","rising-in-1979-chapter-232","rising-in-1979-chapter-230",509,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-in-1979-cover.jpg"]