August 1972.

It was a night in late August. Although the weather was still hot, the hottest time had passed. The windows were open, and the evening breeze blew in. Coupled with the fan, it felt a little cool.

Su Ruo was slowly packing her things in her little room.

In a few days she will go to Qingdao University in the provincial capital to study, and will live in school most of the time in the future.

Thinking of this, she felt particularly refreshed and enjoyed packing up her things.

She had already packed her clothes and other things, and was now slowly tidying up her desk.

She opened the drawer and took out the diaries, photo albums and other things inside one by one, to see which ones to take away and which ones to seal and lock up.

She was packing things one by one, and suddenly pulled out a photo frame from the innermost part of the drawer.

She held the photo frame and her eyes froze when she saw the photo inside.

It was a black and white photo of a young couple holding a little girl.

The young wife was very beautiful, with two thick black braids, an oval face, a turned-up nose, big eyes, and a happy and sweet smile.

That was her biological mother.

Su Ruo actually didn't remember her very well, but her appearance was very familiar to her... because she looked at least 70% like her mother.

It's just that she is younger and looks more immature.

"Ruoruo, are you asleep?"

Su Ruo was staring at the photo in a daze when a woman's gentle voice came from outside the door, accompanied by a knock on the door.

She quickly put the photo frame back into the drawer and closed it, then turned around and said, "I'm not asleep yet, Aunt Lin, come in."

The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged woman with a pretty face walked in, holding a bowl of something in her hand. She put it on Su Ruo's desk with a smile and said, "Ruo Ruo, these are the rice dumplings made by your sister. Try them while they're still hot to see how they taste."

Su Ruo took a look and saw a bowl of rice wine dumplings. The dumplings were small and had grains of lees floating on them, dotted with osmanthus flowers.

Not to mention the taste, it's pleasing to the eye just by looking at it.

This is also Su Ruo’s favorite dessert.

The woman looked at Su Ruo looking at the rice dumplings and said, "It's so late now. You should go to bed early after eating. There are still several days to go. There's no rush to pack up."

This woman's name is Lin Wanhua, and she is Su Ruo's stepmother.

Su Ruo's father is Su Jianzhou, and he is the vice principal of Nancheng Technical School.

Her mother died of illness when she was three years old. It is said that her father was busy with work at that time, so in order to find someone to take care of her, he arranged a blind date with the widowed Lin Wanhua. He found that Lin Wanhua was gentle and well-behaved and treated her well. In addition, Lin Wanhua had a daughter two years older than her with her ex-husband. The little girl was well-educated, well-behaved, polite and sensible. At that time, her father felt that Lin Wanhua's character could also be reflected from the child's upbringing, so he remarried Lin Wanhua soon.

Not long after they got married, they had another son, Su Zhen, who is fourteen years old this year.

Because her mother passed away too early, Su Ruo doesn't have many memories of her biological mother except for the photo just taken. However, Lin Wanhua has been very caring towards her over the years, which is also very nice.

The "your sister" that Lin Wanhua mentioned is the daughter she had with her ex-husband. Her original name was Gu Jia, but after she married Su Jianzhou, her name was changed to Su Jia.

"Thank you Aunt Lin."

Su Ruo smiled.

She saw her eyes fell on an inkstone in a gift box on the table. It was a famous inkstone, very valuable, and was originally a collection of her father.

Su Ruo smiled and explained, "In fact, the luggage has been almost packed. I just need to confirm the gifts for Grandpa Yuan, Uncle Yuan and Aunt Yuan. Don't forget to give it up. This Duan inkstone is what my father specifically asked me to give to Grandpa Yuan."

"There's also Yuan Chengyang's, right?"

Lin Wanhua withdrew her gaze and teased Su Ru with a smile.

Su Ruo smiled but said nothing.

The Grandpa Yuan she mentioned used to be the principal of the Nancheng Technical School. He was her father Su Jianzhou's mentor and was the one who promoted him.

The Yuan family used to live in the technical school compound.

Su Ruo grew up with Yuan Chengyang, the son of the Yuan family. Later, when Grandpa Yuan retired and Uncle Yuan was transferred to the provincial capital for work, the two families separated.

However, Yuan Chengyang has liked Su Ruo since childhood, and the Yuan family also likes Su Ruo and treats her very well. Sometimes Su Ruo feels that she seems to be more comfortable in the Yuan family than in her own home. So two years ago, the Yuan family proposed to Su Jianzhou, and Su Jianzhou decided to arrange the marriage between Su Ruo and Yuan Chengyang, and Su Ruo did not object.

This time when Su Ruo goes to Qingdao University to study, she will definitely visit the Yuan family.

But she didn't want to tell Lin Wanhua about Yuan Chengyang. She lowered her head, reached out to pick up the spoon, stirred the rice dumplings, and said with a smile, "Jia Jie is really talented in cooking. It was obviously grandma who taught me, but I don't know why, I can never make the same taste when I make it myself, while Aunt Lin and Jia Jie can make it. Dad said that I really don't deserve to be grandma's granddaughter. I'm not even as good as Jia Jie. I'm really useless."

Lin Wanhua's smile froze.

She looked at her bright smile, slender neck, delicate profile, and loose black hair, which made her look particularly charming against her fair skin. She lowered her eyes and saw her slender fingers holding a spoon, which were whiter and more translucent than white porcelain. The depression in her heart flashed away.

She has been very good to her stepdaughter over the years.

In terms of food, clothing, shelter and transportation, the care he provides is even better than that given to his own daughter.

No matter what happens, she always asks her daughter to give in to her.

But if they are not your biological children, then they are not your biological children.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep it warm.

He is very deep-minded at such a young age. He looks innocent, but he is actually cunning and vicious.

When she married Su Jianzhou, her daughter Jiajia was still young. Originally, he treated Jiajia as his own daughter. However, Su Ruo was very young, but she had already mastered the art of sowing discord. She kept reminding Su Jianzhou and her grandparents that Jiajia was not Su's biological daughter.

So Su Jianzhou and her grandparents didn't like Jia Jia very much later on.

Su Jianzhou seems okay on the surface, but when it comes to crucial matters, all the resources and benefits are given to Su Ruo, leaving Jia Jia with nothing.

For example, when Jia Jia wanted to go to college, Su Jianzhou didn't have any connections to help her find a place to study, so he let her stay in a technical school. But when Su Ruo graduated from high school, he used his connections to send Su Ruo to Qingdao University, a nationally renowned university in the provincial capital.

There is also the marriage with the Yuan family.

Yuan Chengyang is five years older than Su Ruo. It is obvious that Jia Jia is closer in age to Yuan Chengyang, and she has also hinted to Su Jianzhou that Jia Jia has always liked Yuan Chengyang, but he still betrothed Su Ruo, who was only sixteen years old at the time, to Yuan Chengyang. Because of this, Jia Jia cried for almost half a year.

When Lin Wanhua thought about this, she felt both hateful and aggrieved.

He also felt distressed and guilty towards his daughter Su Jia.

"Aunt Lin?"

Lin Wanhua came to her senses when she heard Su Ruo's call. Seeing that she was looking up at her with a probing look in her eyes, her heart tightened. She smiled and said softly, "If you like it, eat it quickly and go to bed early after eating."

After saying that, she reached out and touched Su Ruo's head, saying, "In the blink of an eye, you have grown up so much. Time flies so fast. You will live there after you go to the provincial capital. Aunt Lin is also reluctant to let you go."

Hearing her say this, Su Ruo smiled and said, "Then you, Dad, Jiajie, and Azhen should come to see me often. I will go to the provincial capital to get familiar with it first, and then I can be the local boss and take you out to play. Qingdao University also has a very famous cherry blossom road, I think Jiajie will definitely like it."

Lin Wanhua:......

Isn't this just showing off?

She didn't want to talk to Su Ruo anymore.

It's like this every time. She comes with the heart of a loving mother, but in the end she is so angry with this girl that she leaves.

With a stiff face, she spoke a few more words to her stepdaughter and left. Su Ruo watched Lin Wanhua go out and pouted when she saw the door closed. She looked smart and cute.

However, after being interrupted by Lin Wanhua, she didn't want to pack anything anymore. There were still several days left, so she decided to come back tomorrow. She simply changed her clothes and lay on the bed to think about things. While thinking, she slowly fell asleep without realizing it.

******

October 1977, Hanjia Village.

Early morning is the busiest time at the Linzi Lake at the end of Hanjia Village.

Many women in the village would gather here to wash clothes for the whole family, young and old. While pounding the clothes, they would make a "crackling" sound while chatting about gossip.

"Dongzi's grandmother, I heard that your second son's wife is sick, and the school even hired someone to substitute for her. How is she now?"

A skinny old lady picked up the clothes from her hands, put them on the stone slab, and turned her head to ask a round-faced old lady next to her.

The round-faced old lady called Dongzi's grandma was chatting with others, but the smile on her face disappeared when she heard the question.

The surrounding noises also quieted down, and everyone pricked up their ears to hear what the round-faced old lady would say. Even the movement of pounding the clothes with their hands slowed down, and the "pa pa" sound became quieter.

This round-faced old lady is called Wu Guizhi. She is the daughter-in-law of Han Heping, the old man at the east end of the village.

Because her eldest grandson's nickname was Dongzi, everyone in the village was used to calling her Dongzi's grandmother.

The skinny old lady was asking about Wu Guizhi's second daughter-in-law, whose name was Su Ruo. She was an educated youth who had been sent to the countryside from the city and was now working as a teacher in the commune primary school.

The smile on Wu Guizhi's face disappeared, her eyes changed, and even her facial features changed from originally blessed to somewhat mean.

She said, "What kind of illness can it be? It's just a headache from being caught in the rain. It will be fine after resting for two days."

His tone was cold, and it was obvious that he didn't want to say more about his second daughter-in-law.

But Wu Guizhi's indifference could not dispel everyone's gossiping desire.

The more she looked like this, the more itchy it made people feel.

The skinny old woman pretended not to see her expression and continued to droop her face. Her small eyes, which had drooped due to her age, were full of gossip and asked, "Dongzi's grandmother, speaking of your second son's wife, I heard that she also went to the brigade secretary a few days ago and said that she wanted to apply for the entrance exam to that university. Dongzi's grandmother, is this true? Will your family release her?"