On the day Luo Cailing went to training, Gu Mingyue accompanied her to the Women's Federation training venue.

The courtyard was crowded with women who had come to register, chatting in twos and threes.

Seeing Gu Mingyue follow her in, someone asked with a smile, "Comrade, are you here for training too? You don't look like someone who does manual labor."

Gu Mingyue smiled and waved her hand: "I came with a friend. She's here for training, so I'll just come and take a look and leave."

After Luo Cailing followed the person in charge inside, Gu Mingyue peeked through the crack in the door and saw her find a corner seat to sit down.

The older woman next to her even struck up a conversation with her to make sure everything was alright before leaving.

Thinking that Lu Lin's soap was almost gone, she turned and walked towards the supply and marketing cooperative.

There weren't many people in the supply and marketing cooperative. Gu Mingyue had just asked Zhao Xiulan to pack two boxes of soap when she heard footsteps at the door.

Turning around, they saw Zhou Haiyan, who had given them the cold shoulder in the Women's Federation office earlier.

Zhao Xiulan, oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, continued packing soap into a paper bag while smiling and calling out, "Da Ya, what brings you here to buy things today?"

The moment Zhou Haiyan uttered the word "Da Ya," her face darkened instantly. She stared intently at Gu Mingyue, a cold smirk playing on her lips.

"Who are you calling 'Da Ya'!" Zhou Haiyan suddenly raised her voice, her face turning pale and then blue, her fingers gripping the cloth bag turning white. "I haven't used that name for a long time. Now I'm called Zhou Haiyan!"

Zhao Xiulan was startled by her reaction, and the scale in her hand wobbled. She quickly put down the things and smiled apologetically, "Oh dear, look at my memory! I was so busy talking that I forgot you changed your name a long time ago. I was just too quick to speak. Haiyan, please don't take it to heart."

These words eased Zhou Haiyan's tense shoulders a little, but she still snorted irritably: "From now on, don't mention my old name in front of outsiders. I have nothing to do with those days anymore."

As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously swept over Gu Mingyue. Seeing that the other woman was looking down at the soap in her hands and not looking in their direction, the embarrassment on her face faded slightly.

He turned and strode to the other side of the counter, pointing to the soy sauce on the shelf: "Give me a bottle of soy sauce, the saltiest kind."

Zhao Xiulan quickly agreed, deftly picking up the oil jug and scooping soy sauce into the jar, all the while muttering, "I'll remember, I'll remember. From now on, I'll definitely call you Haiyan. I promise I won't make a mistake."

Gu Mingyue glanced at the two of them, said nothing more, and quietly left the supply and marketing cooperative with her things.

It seemed that Zhou Haiyan recognized her, and upon hearing Zhao Xiulan's familiar address, she knew that they weren't strangers. Her previous contemptuous confidence immediately dissipated.

Gu Mingyue ignored her expression, took the soap Zhao Xiulan handed her, paid for it, and prepared to leave.

Just as she reached the door, Zhou Haiyan stopped her: "Gu Mingyue, right? I thought Platoon Leader Lu's wife was something special, but it turns out she comes to a place like this to buy things."

Gu Mingyue looked up at her and said calmly, "The supply and marketing cooperative is a place for everyone to buy things. What's so strange about me coming here? But Comrade Zhou, instead of going to work, you're blocking my way. Is there something you want?"

Zhou Haiyan was speechless for a moment after being asked that question; she opened her mouth but couldn't say a word.

Gu Mingyue stopped arguing with her, turned and walked past her out of the supply and marketing cooperative, still able to hear Zhou Haiyan's heavy snorting behind her.

She shook her head, finding it all rather amusing; there was no point in trying to find a sense of existence by living someone else's life.

Later she realized that no wonder Zhou Haiyan's face turned so pale instantly; it turned out that "Da Ya" was a past she didn't want to touch.

Zhou Haiyan was treated as a financial burden by her parents since she was a child, and all the good things in the family were reserved for her younger brother.

She not only had to do manual labor, but she didn't even have a proper name.

The nickname "Da Ya" stuck with her for over a decade.

Later, after she got married, when she was changing her household registration, she gritted her teeth and repeatedly applied to the police station before she was finally able to change Zhou Daya's name to Zhou Haiyan.

She thought she could completely sever ties with the past, but Zhao Xiulan's unintentional address reopened the wounds hidden deep in her heart.

Gu Mingyue glanced back at the supply and marketing cooperative. Zhou Haiyan was standing in front of the counter with her back to her, her shoulders taut, clearly still upset about the way she was addressed.

Without thinking further, Gu Mingyue carried the soap and walked towards the family compound.

As I passed by the alley entrance, I saw Luo Cailing's mother-in-law, Aunt Li, standing at the intersection, looking around. She must have been waiting for Cailing to finish her training.

She quickened her pace to meet her, smiling as she spoke to Aunt Li: "Auntie, I just came back from town. Cailing is getting training at the factory, and she seems to be adapting quite well."

Aunt Li was relieved and went home after hearing this.

The following afternoon, Zhao Xiulan packed up her stall at the supply and marketing cooperative and specially brought a bag of freshly dried peanuts from home, taking a detour to Zhou Haiyan's courtyard gate.

She peeked through the crack in the door and saw Zhou Haiyan sitting in the yard picking vegetables, so she smiled and called out, "Haiyan, are you home?"

When Zhou Haiyan looked up and saw it was her, she paused in her actions, didn't say anything, but moved aside to let her in.

Zhao Xiulan walked into the yard carrying peanuts and put the bag on the table: "These are peanuts that my husband planted on the hillside a while ago. They've just been dried and are crisp and crunchy. I packed a bag for you to try."

Seeing that Zhou Haiyan still didn't say anything, she rubbed her hands together and said sincerely, "Yesterday at the supply and marketing cooperative, I was confused and didn't realize that you had changed your name. I just called you by your old name, which made you unhappy. I came here today to apologize to you."

Looking at the peanuts on the table, the shells still warm from the sun, Zhou Haiyan's unease gradually dissipated.

She put down the vegetables in her hand, picked up a peanut, peeled it, and popped it into her mouth: "Never mind, I know you didn't do it on purpose."

He paused, then added, "Just be more careful in the future."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiulan immediately burst into laughter: "Hey, I promise I'll pay attention! I'll remember this from now on, you're Zhou Haiyan!"

After leaving Zhou Haiyan's house, Zhao Xiulan didn't go straight back to the supply and marketing cooperative. Instead, she turned a corner and headed towards Gu Mingyue's house.

When I pushed open the courtyard gate, Gu Mingyue was watering the vegetables in the yard. She smiled and waved the oil paper package in her hand: "Mingyue, these are freshly dried peanuts. I packed some for you to try."

Gu Mingyue put down the pot and went to greet her, taking the oil paper package. The peanuts inside still smelled of warm sunshine.

The two sat on small stools in the courtyard. Zhao Xiulan was shelling peanuts when she suddenly brought up Zhou Haiyan.

“I called her by the wrong name yesterday, it was really my fault. We grew up together since we were little, we came from the same village, and back in our hometown we always called her Daya.”

Gu Mingyue was somewhat surprised, only then realizing that the two had this connection.

"So you two must have a good relationship?" she asked.

Zhao Xiulan sighed: "She was good before, but later her family favored boys over girls and always made her suffer. Her personality gradually changed, and she didn't like to get close to people. After she married into the family, she changed her name and was even more unwilling to mention her hometown. In my confused state, I forgot about the taboo."