[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981":3,"chapter-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-189":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","That Year, the Flowers Bloomed in 1981",{"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},2294607,4489,"Chapter 189: Mother, Come With Me!","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-189",189,"\u003Cp>“Don’t burn them, don’t burn them—this is an offense against heaven and earth!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan threw the clothes she’d brought back onto the stove’s mouth; the family rushed to pull them away, but Jiang Xiaoyan moved swiftly, igniting a corner of each garment—almost none remained intact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if only half a sleeve burned, the garment was no longer wearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching their brand-new clothes turn black and charred, the elderly who rarely bought clothes even in a year couldn’t bear it—they erupted in angry curses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Jiang Xiaoyan paid them no mind; she turned and went straight to her mother’s kang, scooped her up, and slung her onto her back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you doing? You ungrateful little bitch—after a few days of school, you’ve forgotten your roots!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I shouldn’t have let you go to school. Look around Hebin Township—how many girls have made it to university? How much money did we spend on your education? How did you turn out so ungrateful?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lao Han, as the patriarch, had his temper too—he stepped forward to block Jiang Xiaoyan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though Jiang Xiaoyan’s admission to university had brought village cadres to their door, making Jiang Lao Han finally understand the weight of a college student.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Jiang Lao Han’s heart, even if she became an imperial concubine, she still had to acknowledge him as her grandfather—what was a mere jinshi degree?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before Jiang Lao Han could finish speaking, Jiang Xiaoyan, bent low with her mother on her back, lifted her head—her cold gaze froze Jiang Lao Han mid-sentence; his whole “unfilial and deserving death” tirade choked back inside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had never seen Jiang Xiaoyan look like this before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or rather, this Jiang Xiaoyan was no longer the worthless granddaughter he once knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan had always been accustomed to enduring abuse without resistance—taking beatings without striking back, enduring insults without retorting, just hoping her family would let her go to school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To get into junior high, senior high, and later retake the exam, even when kicked into the courtyard in winter and forced to stand barefoot in snow for hours, she never dared utter a word, never dared meet his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, Jiang Xiaoyan’s cold, sharp gaze made Jiang Lao Han feel as if he were staring at a “white-eyed wolf.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A white-eyed wolf is still a wolf—how many bites could his old bones and joints survive?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mother is sick—I’m being filial now. Are you going to stop me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The icy words struck Jiang Lao Han’s ears, finally making him realize: this damned girl was about to turn on him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【I can’t let her turn on me.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lao Han snapped back to his senses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since Jiang Xiaoyan got into university, the Jiang family’s status in the village had clearly risen; though Jiang Lao Han refused to admit it aloud, he knew full well it was thanks to the girl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Put your mother down—I’ll go buy her paracetamol. Don’t take her out and shame the Jiang family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t have any money, Grandpa!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll just owe it—do you think I won’t pay?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lao Han snatched his cap and rushed out the door; at nearly sixty, he ran faster than most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Xiao Yan, put me down!” Chen Jinhua whispered from Jiang Xiaoyan’s back. “If you carry me out, your father and grandfather will be utterly shamed in the village.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua wasn’t just talking nonsense—she’d lain on the kang for days, and now, on the very day her daughter returned from Beijing, she was being carried out—people would gossip endlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Jiang Xiaoyan shook her head. “Mother, you’re too ill—I’m taking you to the county hospital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Child, the county hospital is dozens of li away! Can you carry her there?” Uncle San cried. “Go find your father—he’ll take your mother to the hospital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be fair, Uncle San’s suggestion preserved the Jiang family’s face while still satisfying Jiang Xiaoyan’s wish to take Chen Jinhua to the hospital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In those days, rural folks often let illnesses run their course—skip medicine for two days, save money; if they survived, fine; if not, those with means went to the hospital, those without went to the grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No shame in that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan seemed persuaded by Uncle San; she set Chen Jinhua back on the kang and tucked the quilt around her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mother, wait a moment—I’ll go get someone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, your father should be helping at Old Men’s house in West Village—they promised to pay before the New Year. Once they pay, he’ll take me to the hospital. Don’t blame your father.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua was barely able to speak, yet still urged Jiang Xiaoyan not to resent Jiang Yougui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A mother knows her child best—though ill, she’d watched Jiang Xiaoyan’s reaction closely, and it startled her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This daughter had only been in Beijing for half a year, yet she was no longer the timid, fearful girl she’d been—her decisiveness now rivaled her own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua was proud. Why had she gone to Beijing to see Jiang Xiaoyan? Wasn’t it because she feared her quiet, honest daughter would be bullied or looked down upon in the big city?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Chen Jinhua couldn’t read, if anyone dared mistreat her daughter, she’d take the case all the way to the golden throne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Heh, this daughter takes after me.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan stepped outside—but didn’t head to West Village. Instead, she went straight to the village chief’s house at the eastern end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uncle Man Cang, are you home?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh! It’s Xiao Yan back! Come in, sit down—look at you, a college student, so stylish!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Man Cang looked up and nearly didn’t recognize Jiang Xiaoyan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan had once been a short-term team leader at Pengcheng’s Seventh Factory; living close to the source, she’d worn brand-new clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Jiang Xiaoyan didn’t enter the house—she hurriedly said, “Uncle Man Cang, I can’t come in—my mother’s sick. Can you lend me the village’s mule cart? I need to take her to the county hospital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the 1980s, communes became townships, brigades became villages—but rural folks still called the village committee “the brigade.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course I can! Even a tractor’s fine,” Jiang Man Cang immediately agreed, then lowered his voice. “I know your mother’s sick, and I want to help—but Xiao Yan, you understand: if your family doesn’t give the go-ahead, helping you’ll just earn me blame.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand, I understand—thank you, Uncle Man Cang. I’ll pay for the tractor’s fuel.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What fuel? You’re insulting your uncle!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Man Cang chuckled in mock scolding, then bellowed into the house: “Zhu! Stop standing there—go start the tractor! If it doesn’t fire up in twenty minutes, I’ll kick your ass!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Man Cang’s son rushed out—starting a tractor in winter meant pouring hot water and warming the oil—it was exhausting work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As dusk fell, Chen Jinhua was finally coaxed onto the tractor, and it rumbled “tut-tut-tut” toward the county.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan refused everyone’s offers to accompany them; the tractor’s cab held the village chief and Zhu, so mother and daughter could lie half-reclined in the bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tractor jolted along toward the county; only now could the two speak privately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mother, you’re not short on money—why let your illness get this bad? If I hadn’t come home… what would you have done?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wanted to save a few yuan—maybe it’d get better on its own.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You promised to come to Beijing to see me—I waited and waited, but you never came.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan wasn’t stupid—she fixed Chen Jinhua with a piercing look. “Tell me—where’s your money? Who did you give it to?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua couldn’t evade Jiang Xiaoyan’s gaze—she stammered, “Did you see that pile of bricks and tiles at the east end of the village?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s our new homestead plot. Your father’s saving to build your brother a house—he’s already bought all the materials.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told him it wasn’t urgent, but your brother kept getting turned down for marriage proposals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua, perhaps holding back half a year’s grievances, now poured them all out to Jiang Xiaoyan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Jiang Xiaoyan went to Beijing, her younger brother Jiang Xiaoning got a job at the flour mill, becoming a salaried worker—and Jiang Yougui began seeking a bride for him, begging everyone he knew to arrange a match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after several failed attempts, Jiang Xiaoning grew stubborn—he claimed the families looked down on them because the Jiangs were poor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the bicycle Jiang Xiaoyan had bought through Jin Peng arrived home; Jiang Xiaoning seized it, claiming, “It gives me face—I’ll find a wife easier.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua, loving her son, said nothing—still carried her pole and walked to market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With her daughter in university, her son employed, and the village granting them a homestead plot, Chen Jinhua felt their future still held promise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan nodded silently—her mother still favored her son: money went first to build a house, then to find a bride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaoyan felt a pang of Weiqu —she’d waited and hoped in Beijing, yet still lost to her brother’s whim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, she was just a girl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Chen Jinhua’s next words turned Jiang Xiaoyan’s Weiqu  into deep sorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I actually hid half the money—I was supposed to come see you last month, but your father found it and took it. We had a huge fight—neighbors came to mediate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told your father: why must I, a woman, always carry the burden? Doesn’t the Jiang family have any responsibility?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But your father said Xiaoning is my son too—building him a new house, my money is family money. Sigh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was exhausted and furious—when I came back from market, it snowed, and I collapsed. How else could my body have become so frail?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jinhua chattered on, as if unloading half a year’s grievances—but as she spoke, she felt her daughter cling tightly to her, just like when she was a child, seeking comfort after being scolded by grandparents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mother, when you’re better, come with me! Let’s go to Beijing, set up a little home, open a small noodle shop—you roll the dough, I boil the water.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “tut-tut-tut-tut” of the tractor drowned out Jiang Xiaoyan’s whispered plea—she didn’t know if Chen Jinhua had heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye heard about Chen Jinhua’s hospitalization two days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His aunt Li Mingxiang and her family came to visit, and while checking on his cousin Zhao Meiwen’s studies over dinner, mentioned a college student who’d carried his mother to the county hospital—apparently from County No. 2 High.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were only a few college students from County No. 2 High—Li Ye naturally went to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His grandmother Wu Juying, kind-hearted, immediately slaughtered a chicken, boiled broth, and prepared some wheat milk powder, sending Li Juan with Li Ye to deliver them—and ask if any care was needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, hospitals then were nothing like they’d be decades later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the future, two family members taking turns to stay overnight felt exhausting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But back then, most patients had no family to stay with—nurses cared for them alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hospital with thirty medical staff could easily manage over a hundred patients.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not like the future, where over a hundred staff cared for a hundred patients—and family presence was mandatory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The siblings arrived at the county hospital and, from afar, saw Jiang Xiaoyan scolding her brother at the ward door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You didn’t show up for three days—I thought Mother raised a useless son!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sis, I have to work! I just got off shift—I brought you and Mother steamed buns—cabbage and pork filling.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hah—disappear for days, then show up with a few buns?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan sneered—she understood perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were checking if she had money—if she did, the family wouldn’t bother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan had money; she didn’t care about ten or twenty yuan—but she despised Jiang Xiaoning’s attitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can’t you see your mother’s sick? Don’t you know to buy her medicine? Are you blind or heartless?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t have money! The whole family spent it all on building a house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t have money?” Jiang Xiaoyan narrowed her eyes and coldly pointed at Jiang Xiaoning’s pant pocket. “Hand me your cigarettes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>「.」\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoning grew nervous but still reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette pack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan sneered. “Da Qianmen? One pack of these could buy how many paracetamol tablets? When I came home, our mother was burning up like a coal—your conscience must’ve been eaten by dogs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoning wanted to retort, but half a year ago, he had already lost the historic showdown to Jiang Xiaoyan. How could he possibly stand against his sister now, with her dual pressure of bloodline and aura?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leave the buns and the bicycle, and go back yourself!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, so I’m leaving? Wait—why are you keeping the bicycle?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoning set down the basket filled with over a dozen buns, then turned around and realized something was wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Keep the bicycle?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just came to deliver food—why do I have to leave the bicycle?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dared not argue with Jiang Xiaoyan, so he muttered, “How am I supposed to get back without the bicycle? It’s over forty li!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan stormed over and yanked the bicycle key straight out of her brother’s pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve walked this road from the county to home for three years. Today, you walk it too—find out what it feels like when a person is pushed to the brink.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>「.」\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoning stared blankly at his sister, then slowly his eyes turned red, his neck flushed, and his fists clenched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He, Jiang Xiaoning, was a man—how could he submit to a woman’s domination?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to explode, to fight, to rebel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just then, Li Juan and Li Ye walked up, carrying a pot of chicken soup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Juan looked at Jiang Xiaoning, his hair standing on end, and asked strangely, “Are you planning to assault a state cadre?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>「.」\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoning glanced at Li Juan, then at his sister Jiang Xiaoyan, her brows furrowed in cold anger. The male pride he had mustered instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Xiaoyan was his sister, yes—but she’d passed the college entrance exam and was now a state cadre serving the people. Who in this day and age dared lay a hand on a state cadre?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not—I just wanted to ask, Sister, the bike’s a bit dirty—should I wipe it down?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2394,"2026-06-20T05:04:59.129Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","45e8098e63e7889152961c3f4f787c6e527c3c71c82df8c8f247f6d467001d82","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-190","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-188",884,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthat-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-cover.jpg"]