"...You're right. It's better to fight for your future than to just be angry. But having that resolve is what counts. Just don't push yourself too hard."
Wen Xiu gently patted the back of Zhang Minzhen's hand, neither refuting nor agreeing with her. 'She knew life was hard for a woman, and even harder for one raising a child alone. Her daughter's idea was a good one, and it wasn't a bad thing to have that fire in her belly to keep her going. But actually achieving it would be incredibly difficult.' Still, her daughter's life was already hard enough. Wen Xiu had no desire to discourage her further.
Zhang Minzhen nodded, a fire of indignation kindling within her as she secretly made a resolution. 'After the divorce, I have to live an even better life than before. I'll show everyone that I can live perfectly well without the Gu Family, even if I lose my job.'
"So, what are your plans for the future?"
As Wen Xiu spoke, she walked over to the small vegetable patch and picked three bright red tomatoes. Recalling that Gu Nuan Nuan liked celery, she saw it was growing well and bent down to pinch off a small handful. "You know you're welcome to stay with us for as long as you like," she said, "but you're a daughter, and Nuannuan's surname is Gu. By old village custom, daughters don't inherit family property. So, while it's fine for you to stay here for a short time, if it's too long, your sisters-in-law will surely misunderstand. That could lead to huge arguments, maybe even turn you into enemies. That's not something your father and I want to see."
Zhang Minzhen looked down. "I never planned on staying here long-term."
Wen Xiu paused for a moment. "It's not that I want you to leave."
"I know. Don't worry, Mom. I'm not that ungrateful."
"This divorce is the Gu Family's fault, so there's no reason for you to walk away empty-handed. Unfortunately, your mother-in-law had all the houses in town built connected to each other, so I doubt you'll be able to claim one of them. The house in Lihua Village, on the other hand... The Gu Family aren't originally from there, so it's not their ancestral home, and it's currently registered in both your and your husband's names. Plus, your salary has been used to pay the mortgage on their new house all these years, and they're the ones in the wrong here... So, in my opinion, it'd be much easier to just ask for the Lihua Village house."
Zhang Minzhen nodded. "Nuannuan and I talked about this on the way here, and we came to the same conclusion. The Lihua Village house is the most realistic option. As it happens, some of her classmates live in Lihua Village, so she won't have to go to school by herself."
When they reached the well, Zhang Minzhen started to put down her bag to help Wen Xiu wash the vegetables, but her mother waved her off. "I've got it."
Wen Xiu deftly drew water from the well, washed the vegetables in a few swift motions, and carried them into the kitchen. Zhang Minzhen then put down her bag and went to start the fire. As Wen Xiu mulled over her daughter's words, her hands never stopped moving. She chopped the tomatoes, placed them in a bowl with a small spoonful of salt, then plucked the leaves from the celery and diced the stalks as finely as scallions.
Once the wok was hot and the moisture on the bottom had evaporated, Wen Xiu expertly added a bit of oil. She tossed in the chopped tomatoes, stir-frying them for a moment before adding water. While the water came to a boil, she scooped out half a small bowl of flour, mixed it with water to form small dough drops, and took out six eggs.
As soon as the water boiled, Wen Xiu added the dough drops, gave them a gentle stir, and then cracked the eggs one by one into the wok. She watched them cook and set in the roiling water before finally adding the diced celery. After turning off the heat, she seasoned it with vinegar and pepper. The dough drop soup was ready.
Wen Xiu didn't ladle out the soup right away. She tasted it first, nodded in satisfaction, and then went on, "Even if Nuannuan has company on her way to school, Lihua Village is still pretty far. For one, I'm afraid it'll be too much for a child. For another, I worry about you, a single woman with a child, living out there alone. People will inevitably see you as easy targets and try to bully you. Why don't you think about getting the Lihua Village house, selling it, and then buying a place in town? Or you could just come back here to Zhang Family Village, get a plot of land, and build your own house. Your father and I agree that coming back here to build would be the best option. You'd be close to us, and we could help look after you. What do you say?"
"I'd be willing to, but I'm afraid it's not possible. Mom, you've only ever heard of successful people from the countryside buying a house in town to get urban household registration. Who's ever heard of someone going out of their way to buy a house in a village to become a rural resident again? Nuannuan and I have no other choice."
Zhang Minzhen shook her head in resignation. "The Gu Family's house in Lihua Village was already dilapidated. If it had been easy to sell, Gu Lihui's mother wouldn't have forced me to use my dowry to buy it in the first place. It's been vacant and unmaintained for years. I'm afraid it's probably in even worse shape now. It might not even be habitable."
"In the end, she was just after your dowry money all along." Wen Xiu was still indignant whenever she recalled it. But then she had to admit her daughter was right, and her expression fell. "I was thinking that if you got the Lihua Village house and sold it... your father and I have a bit of money saved up. We could have chipped in to help you buy a place in town—it wouldn't need to be big, just enough for you and your daughter. Or, failing that, coming back to the village to build a house would have been a great option..."
"I've lived in Lihua Village before. The village leaders there were decent people, and it was a good community."
Zhang Minzhen calmly laid out her reasoning for Wen Xiu. "Besides, buying a house in town isn't realistic. It's too expensive. A single tiny room there costs enough to build three or four rooms in the countryside. Building our own house would be cheaper, but that's a non-starter. How could we possibly get a building plot approved in town these days?"
"I'd be willing to come back here and build, but what about Nuannuan's commute to school? The village has an elementary school, sure, but what about middle school later on? Besides, how can the village school compare to the one in town? So, after weighing all the pros and cons, I still think Lihua Village is our best option."
"..."
Wen Xiu fell silent for a long time before saying sadly, "Ai, I suppose that's the only way for now. It's all my fault. Your father and I just aren't capable enough."
"Mom, don't think that way. Even if you and Dad really did offer to help me financially, I couldn't accept it. You're both already so good to me—so good that my sisters-in-law are already secretly resentful. If they found out you were giving me money, wouldn't it just stir up more trouble in the family?"
Zhang Minzhen gave a bitter smile, and Wen Xiu's brow furrowed. The two women looked at each other, a wave of helplessness washing over them. 'In the end,' they both thought, 'it all comes down to money. If they had money, all of these problems would disappear.'
Every family has its own share of troubles. Zhang Minzhen knew that besides her parents, only her eldest brother truly treated her well, like a proper little sister. But the age gap between them was too large; they had never been playmates, and so they weren't especially close.
As for her other two brothers, the less said, the better. Ever since childhood, they had resented their parents for favoring her. There was no brotherly affection to speak of; they had secretly bullied her behind their parents' backs and had snatched food from her hands more times than she could count.
'She had hidden all of this from her parents, afraid the truth would break their hearts.'