The night sky was dotted with stars, and the dayti heat had dissipated, leaving a cool breeze. Apart from the occasional frog croak, it was silent all around.
Zhang Guofu stepped out of the main house, stood in the courtyard, and looked up at the sky.
Huang Cuilan eagerly awaited the familiar sound of approaching footsteps, but after a while, she realized he hadn’t entered the house. She hesitated, then took a palm fan and stepped out of the room.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw her husband looking up at the sky. She gazed at the sky in confusion and moved closer to Zhang Guofu, standing beside him and using the fan to ward off mosquitoes.
"Tomorrow will be a sunny day."
Zhang Guofu nodded, "Yes, it will be good weather."
"The team’s wheat is in storage, and I see the neighboring teams are busy with their harvests too. This year, your work unit won’t have to worry about a grain shortage."
Zhang Guofu heard the concern for his work in her words. Watching her frowning slightly as she chased the mosquitoes away for him, he felt warmth in his heart.
Under the moonlight, Huang Cuilan’s face reminded him of when she had just married into the family. The familiar courtyard, the familiar atmosphere, and tonight, his father’s words made him thoughtful.
"What’s wrong?"
Zhang Guofu looked at his wife pushing his right hand and shook his head.
Huang Cuilan, following his gaze, quickly withdrew her hand and rubbed it against her pants leg, as if to rub away a trace of awkwardness.
Noticing this, Zhang Guofu’s eyes darkened, and he swiftly grabbed her right hand.
His hands felt the calluses that had accumulated on her palm since their marriage, and the scar on the back of her hand from cutting a bone when she had just entered the family. Even the small scars, though unseen, he rembered clearly—they were wounds sustained for this family, for him.
"The father of my children? You... you..."
Listening to her voice full of surprise and fear, Zhang Guofu looked up at her face and smiled comfortingly, "Did you just cut your hair? It looks nice. It’s getting late, let’s rest early."
Upon hearing this, Huang Cuilan’s eyes shone brightly in the dark, and she nodded repeatedly, "Okay. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat sothing before sleeping? Why do I feel you’re getting thinner?..."
Seeing her excitent spilling out in words, Zhang Guofu chuckled softly and didn’t reply to her, instead, he hugged her and went back to the room. How could he be hungry just after eating? He didn’t bother to counter her words.
Just as his father said, teach your wife behind closed doors. As long as the person in front of him still loved him and this family, he believed that his efforts would eventually change his wife’s mind.
In the East Wing bedroom, after a mont of passion, Zhang Guofu gently touched the top of his wife’s head, not rembering how long it had been since he had held her like this.
"The money you gave last ti, I still have it. Household expenses are small, and this year I’ve saved up all the school fees for the kids. When you’re in the provincial city, don’t be reluctant to spend."
Zhang Guofu lightly patted her, "Okay."
Huang Cuilan knew her man was a silent type; she laughed it off.
But the taciturn man understood her ssage clearly. His wife was telling him she hadn’t supported her own family. He had no objection to supporting his father-in-law, as long as their own household remained stable.
However, Zhang Guofu didn’t intend to explain these thoughts to his wife. He was too aware of her mindset. If he ntioned this, she would imdiately relapse into old ways like running a dye house.
Xiao Wu had brought back a lot of ga this ti. As her bedmate, how could he not understand her longing gaze at the string of at hanging in the storeroom that his mother had?
If it were his, he would certainly agree to send so at to his father-in-law. Whether his father-in-law would give it to his brother-in-law was not his concern. But this was his brother’s filial gift to their parents. Absolutely not!
Especially that brother-in-law, who even now, worked unstably in the local supply and marketing cooperative. These matters he hadn’t planned on sharing with his parents or siblings. As long as he was around, nobody would use his younger brother Xiao Wu as an excuse.
Thinking of this, Zhang Guofu sighed to himself. It seed he always took his frustration out on his wife regarding so people and events. He knew it was wrong but couldn’t help feeling angry.
"Will you co back this Mid-Autumn Festival? My father wants our family to have a al at his place."
"Okay."
Huang Cuilan looked up at him excitedly, "Then I should inform my father. My oldest brother and second brother will be back that day. That’s great. What should we bring as a gift?"
Zhang Guofu paused while patting his wife’s hand and continued lightly, laughing, "What do you think would be appropriate?"
Huang Cuilan cautiously observed his expression, then softly asked, "Today, I saw there was plenty of tiger wine at father’s place. Can I take so for my father? Not much, just half a jin will do."
Zhang Guofu silently looked at her for a mont, then shook his head. He didn’t intend to ask for his own father’s wine. That was his brother’s show of filial piety, and he would have to be really unfilial to take food from his father’s mouth.
Huang Cuilan sighed in disappointnt.
Seeing this, Zhang Guofu was furious. Her father was a father; was his father not? He said quietly, "My father has at most two jins of it, I can’t ask."
When Huang Cuilan noticed his displeasure, she quickly smiled, "Then forget it. Let’s decide on sothing else to bring. This ti Xiao Wu and the others brought us a lot of pastries, though it’s a pity our daughter put them away; otherwise, they’d make a fine gift."
Zhang Guofu was reluctant to bla his daughter. She was his little darling. Rembering what Mai Miao had whispered in his ear when he ca back, he laughed, "Let the kids have those. There’s still ti before the Mid-Autumn Festival; we don’t have to rush with gifts. Later, we’ll buy so pastries from the supply and marketing cooperative to make a set of four gifts."
Huang Cuilan considered saying that for festival gifts, her parents had always been given two sets of fabric with two bottles of wine and pastries. But she knew better than to express it out loud. Now, the family depended solely on the father’s salary, and she couldn’t afford to splurge.
Zhang Guofu, of course, thought of this too. He tried to advise gently, "For festival gifts, you can follow the norm with the younger sisters and the second brother’s wife, just about the sa."
Huang Cuilan lowered her eyelids and nodded, but deep down, she disagreed. So words she had no intention of saying to her man. Pastries ca in various types, and what good stuff could the county’s supply and marketing cooperative provide? It was both expensive and costly, and when the father of her children left, she would have more words with their daughter.
Zhang Guofu noticed, his eyes flickering. Thinking about the three little girls at ho today and how only his own daughter was wearing clothes washed until they turned white, he recalled the new clothes he saw on his brother-in-law’s children last month.
He fell silent for a mont, then softly said, "When it’s Mid-Autumn Festival, I’ll bring gifts back from the provincial city."
"Alright."
Zhang Guofu pressed his temples and looked at the wife in his arms, sighing quietly. Teaching behind closed doors—how should he teach? If he spoke too harshly, he feared she’d be upset; too softly, and she’d not take it seriously.
"Now the children are grown. As parents, we can no longer satisfy their material needs. Now that their uncle and aunt are giving things to them, don’t interfere. I feel uneasy seeing it. If you want to be filial to your father-in-law, I agree, but you can’t force the children—especially since Mai Miao’s fabric is all on her cousin’s back; do you think you should be filial to your niece?"
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