After hanging up the phone, Bai Chen reluctantly crawled out of bed and knocked on Commander Zhang's door. Li Xianxue, the bank's vice president, was Li Xue's younger brother and Commander Zhang's brother-in-law. If Shen Ying hadn't been urging him so much, he wouldn't have come to ask for help.

Commander Zhang didn't connect the dots and realized that money was what Shen Ying needed, nor did Bai Chen mention it. He was even teased about whether he had found a wife and was busy sending betrothal gifts, but he stammered and couldn't give a clear answer.

Li Xianxue happened to be having dinner at his sister's house when he heard about his request, and immediately agreed. The two of them drove Zhang Tuanzhang's jeep to the bank to withdraw the money. The whole trip took only about ten minutes.

"This car is really nice. Brother Xian, could you give me a ride somewhere?"

Bai Chen was used to being in the army, and since his parents were city dwellers, they rarely went to the countryside. But knowing how troublesome waiting for and taking the bus was, he figured he'd rather sleep a little longer than waste that time.

Li Xianxue nodded politely and agreed. He asked many people before he finally found out how to get to Shenjiazhuang.

......

Seeing that the man, Shen Daniu, and Shen Jianguo were helping to unload the bricks and tiles they had bought, and that they couldn't be of much help, Jiang Yu picked up a book she had bought and started reading. Shen Niannian knew that her mother was good at telling stories, so she kept pestering her to listen to one.

One after another, until she heard someone outside hawking glutinous rice, Jiang Yu seemed to remember something, put down her book and asked:

"Niannian, would you like to eat glutinous rice cake?"

Hearing there was food, Chen Niannian immediately perked up. She tilted her round little head back, her eyes full of anticipation.

Is it even tastier than mung bean cake?

He had never eaten these so-called pastries before, but after his mother got out of bed after a few days, he was able to enjoy all sorts of delicious food. Just thinking about the sweet aroma of mung bean cake made his mouth water.

I think everything is fine.

Everyone has their own favorite flavors, and she prefers glutinous rice cake to mung bean cake.

Shen Niannian nodded frantically. Since his mother said they all tasted pretty much the same, he really wanted to try them.

Jiang Yu tucked some change into her pocket and followed the sound to find the vendor selling glutinous rice. As the sound faded into the distance, she chased after him all the way to the edge of the village, bought five jin (2.5 kg), and spent less than a yuan in total.

Carrying the heavy load of rice, I happily walked back when a voice called out to me:

"Hello, comrade."

Bai Chen was jostled around in the car the whole way, almost falling off his backside. Li Xianxue only dropped him off at the village entrance before driving away.

The swirling dust before his eyes blinded him. Staring fixedly at the desolate landscape, Bai Chen felt a sense of desolation he had never experienced before.

Five minutes later, he finally mustered the courage to walk forward. All around him were low, dilapidated houses, and he had to watch his step from time to time on the dirt road, which was full of potholes and seemed to stretch on forever.

Bai Chen was unaware that in the dead of winter, almost no one in the village went out. He walked a long way without seeing a single person, and dared not knock on anyone's door, his heart trembling.

Upon seeing a woman appear, he jogged up to her and asked for directions.

Jiang Yu stopped and looked at the man not far away. He was dressed very fashionably and looked like he was from the city. She thought he must be lost.

"Hello, is this Shenjiazhuang?"

There wasn't even a stone tablet at the entrance of the village, and he was worried that he might get lost and not be able to find his way back. Seeing the woman nod, he felt relieved.

I must say, this woman is truly beautiful, with fair skin. Her demeanor and attire don't suggest she's from the village; she looks more like a sent-down youth.

So why doesn't Shen Ying find a woman like that? With his own qualities, he should be able to win her over easily.

"Do you know where Shen Ying's family lives?"

Jiang Yu had no idea what he was planning. When she heard that he was looking for a man, she quickly said that she knew him and could lead the way.

At this moment, she didn't know that Bai Chen had come to deliver money, nor did Bai Chen know about her relationship with Shen Ying.

To learn more about this woman, Bai Chen chatted with her casually. Seeing her talking so confidently, he couldn't help but lower his voice and ask:

"Comrade, are you one of the young intellectuals who came to the countryside here?"

Just as Jiang Yu was about to explain that she was Shen Ying's lover, Bai Chen interrupted her.

"Do you know if Shen Ying's wife is true? I heard she's a shrew from Shen Family Village, a real tiger."

Jiang Yu's face darkened. Had the original owner's reputation spread all the way to the city? At this rate, in a few years, she'd definitely become a household name.

But... does this man not know the consequences of judging others so casually? Or has the last bit of goodwill he had for someone he doesn't even know has completely vanished?

Seeing that she remained silent, Bai Chen continued to chatter on:

"That's true. You're just a young girl from the city, it's normal that you don't know these things. You've been here for a few years, you should be going back soon, right?"

Jiang Yu was exasperated. This person was so noisy. How could she get him to shut up?

When she arrived at her doorstep, the truck unloading the goods was just about to leave. Shen Ying gave the money from last night to the manufacturer to cover the costs, and was wondering whether she should go to the military region to find Bai Chen again when she saw the man appear in front of her house.

"I'm so glad to finally see you."

Bai Chen was like a pilgrimage team going to the West to worship Buddha. After going through hardships, he finally found Shen Ying. He had no way to express his suffering!

Seemingly thinking of that 'young educated youth,' he turned to the woman with an exceptionally bright smile, repeatedly expressing his gratitude.

“Shen Ying, you have no idea, if I hadn’t met this educated youth comrade, I would have been lost.”

Bai Chen recounted her hardships, while the man's mind was filled with thoughts of his fellow educated youth—where were they now?

The woman walked straight into the house, and a little boy was calling out "Mom!" He lived in Bengbu.

"Who...who is she?"

After reading something from Shen Ying's eyes, Bai Chen felt he should just rot in the field at the edge of the village. He also realized why she always seemed so indifferent. He had thought she was just a beautiful, aloof girl, but who knew she'd been saying all those bad things to his face? He was really brave!

"Shen Ying, I considered you a good brother, but I never expected you to dare to play me."

Realizing the true nature of the problem, Bai Chen, elbowing the man, attempted a sneak attack, but the man easily dodged it. If he hadn't constantly talked about that woman in the army, how could such an embarrassing situation have occurred?

Moreover, this woman didn't seem to be like he described at all. Suddenly it dawned on him: the two of them had been together for so many years, not only had they not divorced, but they even had three children. Wasn't that a clear example?

He pulled out three thousand yuan in cash from his pocket and handed it to Shen Ying, suppressing his resentment towards his comrade-in-arms.

"Here, take this and buy your wife some good food to nourish her. Pregnancy is a time when emotions are most important. And don't always speak ill of others, lest people misunderstand."

Shen Ying was taken aback. He didn't seem to have said anything about women outside. At most, some of his good brothers saw the report he sent to the army and he would explain a few words.

Also, what about the pregnancy? Did that woman tell him? But he hasn't touched her for many years, so what's going on?