Translated by Serena Love

Proofread by Soupysuspicions

Edited by Ladyhotcomb

Chapter 24

After a while, the nurse came back, carrying a bundle of letters from the duty room. There were eight letters in total.

One envelope was white, with delicate, feminine handwriting. It was clearly written by a woman. Before the nurse could even read it, the chief snatched it away.

Jiang Jianjun opened the letters one by one, and a sweet, lovely atmosphere belonging to his girl wafted out. He carefully read each line, staring at them for a long time.

Jiang Jianjun glanced at the calendar again, his heroic brows furrowed. This day...just so happened to be the start of preparations for a military exercise in the G Military Region.

Three months, Lanxiang.

...

Zhao Lanxiang returned to the He family home, hands full with a ten yuan note and some sugar ration tickets, feeling quite satisfied.

Passing through the county town, she stopped to see Liang Tiezhu and ordered ten pounds of flour, ten pounds of sticky rice, and a sack of mountain goods.

Tiezhu quickly quoted the price, “Four yuan and eight cents.”

Zhao Lanxiang handed him six yuan. “I plan to keep buying from you in the future, so I don’t want you working too cheaply. Keep the change.”

How could Liang Tiezhu dare keep her extra money? “If Brother found out, he’d beat me later.”

Zhao Lanxiang asked suspiciously, “What does your brother have to do with this?”

Liang Tiezhu looked at her directly, a teasing glint in his eyes.

Zhao Lanxiang turned her head away. She didn’t expect this kid to be so perceptive. Even dense He Songbai could see right through her.

She suddenly coughed. “Keep this to yourself, or your brother Bai will be angry.”

Liang Tiezhu nodded loyally.

With her order placed, Zhao Lanxiang returned to the village at ease. Though she’d worked all day, she was back early. That afternoon, she napped before going to work on time.

Pushing her debris cart, she was surprised to see a young man working for Zhou Jiazhen.

He blushed as she approached. “I...I happened to be passing by and saw you didn’t come, so I came to help.”

Zhao Lanxiang glanced at the nearly cleared rubble piles, then at Zhou Jiazhen.

“Thank you, comrade. You can go back to your work now!” Zhou Jiazhen told him.

“All the work’s done before I arrive - how convenient,” Zhao Lanxiang remarked.

Zhou Jiazhen hummed. “Isn’t the He family’s second son always helping you? How’s he doing, is his injury better?” She sighed then continued, “I’m so used to him helping, my bones have gotten lazy. If you hadn’t been here today, my waist would’ve been bent in two.”

Smiling, Zhao Lanxiang said, “Then today we really must thank Comrade Wu’s warm kindness. Otherwise you’d be exhausted. Looking back, we must thank him for his kind generosity.”

She touched her face, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Zhou Jiazhen awkwardly pushed the cart to collect rocks. After filling it, she hurried across the field, her face flushed red as she twisted toward Zhao Lanxiang angrily.

“I haven’t even thanked He’s second child yet. Thank him for his hard work for me!”

Zhou Jiazhen finished ranting before explaining in a small voice, “Wasn’t I reading ‘How Steel is Made’ a while ago? He saw it and was excited to share his own experiences since he’d read it too. We chatted a bit.”

Zhao Lanxiang said respectfully, “It’s a good book. You should communicate more, discuss it together to really benefit.”

Zhou Jiazhen replied, “Then I’ll discuss it with you.”

Zhao Lanxiang waved her hand dismissively, “I haven’t finished reading it yet. Trying to discuss it with someone who hasn’t read it is like playing piano for cattle. Only people like Comrade Wu who have read extensively can keep up with your thoughts.”

Zhou Jiazhen pinched Zhao Lanxiang fiercely again before huffing away angrily, pushing the rock-filled cart.

After her work was done, Zhao Lanxiang didn’t make dinner that night. Though little He Sanya was disappointed, big sister He smiled, wolfing down the sweet potato rice as if her bowl contained mountain and sea treasures. Zhao Lanxiang also relished the sweet potato brown rice meal. Though it lacked oil or sauce, her stomach, used to richer fare lately, accepted it gratefully. After all, the brown grains were high in fiber, good for digestion.

...

In the middle of the night, Zhao Lanxiang awoke with a start to a bleak cry. Agitated, she crawled out of bed.

Carrying a kerosene lamp, she followed the voice to the grandmother’s room.

A slim beam of light leaked into the black room, and the old woman wailed on the bed. Her sunken eyes were covered in a gloomy fog, looking unbearably miserable in the dim light.

Grandma lifted her hazy, tear-filled eyes and screamed, “Get out!”

Zhao Lanxiang quickly retreated but left the lamp on the table.

She asked from outside the door, “Grandma, what’s wrong?”

The grandmother ignored her.

Zhao Lanxiang had only exchanged a few words with this grandmother since living with the He family. The old woman didn’t want to acknowledge this stranger. For the first time, holding onto the idea of meeting the grandmother she’d never known in the past, she took a bowl of rice to her room but Sister He had quickly stopped her.

Sometimes, Zhao Lanxiang would see the old grandmother when the He family’s brother and sisters brought her outside to enjoy the warmth of the sun. Whenever the grandmother looked at Zhao Lanxiang, a stranger, her eyes were indifferent.

Sister He was quickly woken up by Zhao Lanxiang. She hurried to her grandmother’s room, hugging the old woman and gently rubbing her fragile back. In the darkness, her actions couldn’t be seen clearly. But the grandmother cried sadly, holding her granddaughter’s hand tightly. “Has your brother left us?” she asked in a shaky voice.

Sister He brought a lamp over, using its faint light to gesture reassurances to her grandmother. “No, no. Don’t worry, he is safe.”

“But has he gone away?” the old woman asked again, sadly wiping her tears.

Seeing the heartbreaking scene became too much for Zhao Lanxiang, so she went to wake up He Songbai. He had been sleeping for several days since getting injured.

Waking up in the middle of the night to a woman sitting by his bed, He Songbai’s heart pounded hard until he realized it was just Zhao Lanxiang waking him up. Running his fingers through his messy hair, his voice was low and barely audible, with a hint of desperation. “What’s wrong?”

“Your grandma became extremely upset, crying terribly. We can’t calm her down,” Zhao Lanxiang explained. “She hasn’t seen you for three days and thinks something bad happened to you. Go see her.”

Hearing this, He Songbai immediately sat up, trying to remove the wooden boards attached to his injured limbs. But Zhao Lanxiang stopped him. “Don’t be so hasty. If she sees you limping painfully towards her, won’t that show how badly you’re hurt?”

Choking back his first reaction, He Songbai simply got up unsteadily and made his way to his grandmother’s room.

When the old woman saw her grandson with his hands and feet bound in wood, she touched his hand, foot, and head before bursting into heartbroken wails. “Oh, my poor Bai...”

He Songbai could only hug her close, silently comforting her.

After her sobs slowed down, he said helplessly, “My limbs are just restrained, not broken. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

Gradually the grandmother’s tears stopped, though she occasionally made pitiful mumbling sounds even while sleeping.

“I warned you before that we shouldn’t hide this from her,” He Songbai said, a hint of resignation in his voice. “But you didn’t believe me.”

Sister He glared at her brother and gestured fiercely,

"Sleep."

With a helpless shrug, He Songbai went back to his room, not surprised to find Zhao Lanxiang still there waiting for him. He tapped lightly on the door frame. “You should go back and sleep now.”

Zhao Lanxiang suddenly brought up something that happened earlier in the day. “Cutting the Peach Blossom branch, he sells them to buy himself wine...what an odd password?”

He Songbai replied lightly, “What’s so strange about it? Did you encounter someone else today?”

“No. He didn’t say anything, just led me inside directly,” Zhao Lanxiang said.

She muttered to herself, “Cutting the Peach Blossom branch, he sells them to buy himself wine, ah.”

Pondering it, she continued, “Saying that I’m crazy, others just laugh at me; I laugh at others for the Truth they cannot see. The emperors’ mausoleums are nowhere to be found; With no flowers, no wine, the land’d been turned into farms! Tsk tsk...”

“Did your grandma teach you all of these impractical poems?” Zhao Lanxiang asked thoughtfully, “Your well-educated grandmother taught you how to write. I’ve seen her show such kindness toward you, but why none for me?”

This was something Zhao Lanxiang had wanted to ask for a while.

He Songbai’s lips twitched as he said casually, “You’re not my wife yet, but you’re already concerned about how my grandma treats you?”

Zhao Lanxiang pinched him angrily.

After a moment’s thought, He Songbai said, “She is kind, but her life has been very bitter, and resentment still lingers in her heart. If you truly care, don’t blame her. In truth, she distrusts everyone except us.”

Seeing Zhao Lanxiang’s eyes filled with curiosity, her posture that of someone eager for late-night gossip, He Songbai felt a headache coming on.

He pulled the woman to her feet and hurried her to the door. “Go back to your room and sleep!”

---

Author's note: The full poem is like this.

In the Peach Blossom Village

There is a Peach Blossom Cottage.

The Peach Blossom Cottage is where

The Peach Blossom Fairy

Dwells and keeps himself merry!

The Peach Blossom Fairy did plant

Many a Peach Blossom tree fine.

Cutting the Peach Blossom branch,

He sells them to buy himself wine.

He only sits in front of the flowers when sober,

Drunk, he is still found beneath the flowers in slumber.

Half-asleep, half-awake, when each new day is here –

The flowers fall, the flowers blossom, year after year.

I will not bow to the carriages passing by,

O In the flowers and wine, of old age let me die!

Their horses and carriages those in power treasure;

The flowers and wine give the poor their simple pleasure.

Comparing the poor with the rich and in power high –

They are on the ground and I am high up in the sky.

Comparing the horses and carriages with the poor –

They have to gallop while I move in leisure more.

Saying that I’m crazy, others just laugh at me;

I laugh at others for the Truth they cannot see.

The emperors’ mausoleums are nowhere to be found;

With no flowers, no wine, the land’d been turned into farms!

---

[T/N: "Song of the Peach Blossom Cottage" is an ancient poem created by Tang Yin, a painter, writer, and poet in the Ming Dynasty.

Don't ask me what it means. I'm already vomiting blood trying to translate it to English. (╥﹏╥)]

—

Pure: I decided to use the official translation of the poem since it made more sense, this is the link where I copied the poem from - https://chinesepoetryinenglishverse.blogspot.com/2015/01/song-of-peach-blossom-cottage.html  

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