"This is Lin Changhai, a math teacher at Haicheng No. 2 Primary School."
This is Li Pengfei, a Russian language teacher at Haicheng Middle School.
Ruan Wenbin introduced Ruan Miaomiao with great enthusiasm, and the two people being introduced politely stood up to greet Ruan Miaomiao.
The two men were both good-looking, with the kind of square faces that are popular in this era, and their jobs sounded good too; it seemed like there was nothing wrong with them.
However, Ruan Miaomiao's sense of unease only intensified.
She noticed that when Li Pengfei sat back down on the sofa, his body and legs were facing Lin Changhai. Psychologically speaking, this meant that Li Pengfei was quite dependent on Lin Changhai in the room.
"Miaomiao, come on, come on and put on the new down jacket Mom bought for you. Mom asked someone to bring it back for you from Hong Kong. I heard it's lightweight and warm. Try it on!"
Before Ruan Miaomiao could figure anything out, Chen Juan carefully picked up a piece of clothing and beckoned Ruan Miaomiao to go upstairs.
When she returned after trying on the clothes, Lin Changhai and Li Pengfei had already left.
After all, tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve, and every household is busy preparing for the New Year. Even Chen Juan is pulling Ruan Miaomiao to put up couplets.
Ruan Minqiang was overjoyed that his daughter had come home for the New Year. He immediately put on an apron, rolled up his sleeves, and went into the kitchen to prepare various kinds of meatballs for his daughter...
While Ruan Jia was happily preparing for the New Year, at a farm in Qian Province, the Zhou family and Shen Qingming all looked pale.
Although the Revolutionary Committee is about to be abolished, it is no longer as powerful as it used to be.
However, targeting Zhou Tiemin's family and Shen Qingming would be an easy task.
What's more, this family has offended Zhou Jingyun, a big shot who is well-known even to the provincial party committee secretary.
The farm allocated to the family was more like a mine than a farm, mainly producing coal.
As the targets of this campaign, Zhou Tiemin and his sons, along with his son-in-law Shen Qingming, who had only registered their marriage but hadn't yet held a wedding banquet, were all assigned to work underground digging coal.
As someone with memories of the future, Shen Qingming was all too aware of the dangers of working in a coal mine.
He made a scene, refusing to go down into the mine, but instead received a severe beating.
After being beaten a few times, Shen Qingming obediently followed the Zhou family men down into the mine.
Every time Shen Qingming went down into the coal mine, he felt as if he had entered a completely different world.
All around were hard rocks and black coal seams, the air was filled with the distinctive smell of coal dust, and the light was dim, with only the sparse glow of the miners' lamps worn on their heads.
Following behind the Zhou family men, Shen Qingming carried tools as he walked through the winding mine tunnels. The further he walked, the more confused he became: Was the glorious self in his dream really real?
Could it be a dream I made up because I can't bear the hardship?
Back when he was a sent-down youth, Shen Qingming felt that life was hard.
However, once he actually got to the coal mine, Shen Qingming realized what a hard life truly meant.
At this moment, he regretted it. He regretted that he shouldn't have coveted Zhou Shuhua's few eggs and gotten involved in the Zhou family's affairs.
If he hadn't been greedy for a few eggs, he wouldn't have gotten involved with Zhou Shuhua, wouldn't have done such a shameful thing, and wouldn't have been forced to get a marriage certificate with Zhou Shuhua.
Nowadays, they would never be sent to this coal mine.
However, what he regretted even more was his behavior in front of Ruan Miaomiao.
I was such a fake back then!
She's clearly a kept man, yet she pretends to care about dignity and love.
Are dignity and love really that important compared to having enough to eat?
The Ruan family's life of luxury was so lucrative, how could he have missed out...?
But no matter how much he regrets it, he can never go back to the way things were.
Not only did he have to go down into the mine every day, but when he dragged his tired body back to the surface, he was also forced by the Zhou family to take care of Zhou Shuhua, who was paralyzed from the waist down.
Who told him to be Zhou Shuhua's legally married husband?
A marriage certificate brought Shen Qingming to the mine, but it also bound him.
Looking at Zhou Shuhua, who was pale and thin, slumped on the haystack like a skeleton, and had soiled her pants waiting for him to clean her up, Shen Qingming couldn't help but question himself:
I can't believe I'm willing to live off someone like that, but I wouldn't even accept being financially supported by Ruan Miaomiao. Thinking about it, I'm really pathetic!
"Oh, so scholars can do chores like wiping poop and pee too..."
Zhou Shuhua noticed that Shen Qingming's eyes were full of disgust and disdain when he looked at her, so she immediately returned the look of disdain.
Back then, Zhou Shuhua was one of the few girls in the surrounding villages, besides the educated youth, who had attended high school, and one of the few girls in the village who were pampered by their families.
However, all of this was ruined because of Shen Qingming.
When Zhou Shuhua first heard that this person was from Haicheng and was an intellectual, she automatically put a filter on him, thinking that someone from Haicheng must be some kind of important figure.
Little did they know that a child from a prominent family in Haicheng did indeed come to their Jianshan Brigade for rural work. However, the person was not Shen Qingming, but rather Ruan Miaomiao, whom she had been targeting.
Shen Qingming, on the other hand, is nothing but an ingrate who wants to live off women everywhere.
Since she became paralyzed from the waist down and her family forced Shen Qingming to get a marriage certificate with her, she increasingly felt that Shen Qingming was not worthy of her sacrifices: apart from his good looks, he was good for nothing.
Now, his face is covered in coal dust, and you can't see any trace of his former handsomeness.
Even this one advantage was gone. The more Zhou Shuhua looked at Shen Qingming, the more disgusted she felt: It's all this man's fault. If this man hadn't misled her, why would she have targeted Ruan Miaomiao?
If she hadn't targeted Ruan Miaomiao, she wouldn't have reaped what she sowed, her family wouldn't have caused trouble for Ruan Miaomiao, and her family wouldn't have ended up being criticized and sent to labor camps because Ruan Miaomiao offended Zhou Jingyun.
It wasn't just Zhou Shuhua who thought this way; the entire Zhou family thought the same.
Therefore, even though the Zhou family hated Zhou Shuhua, they hated Shen Qingming even more and often beat him to vent their anger.
Shen Qingming's life here was worse than death. Now, he was being looked down upon by a bedridden good-for-nothing. He was furious and threw the cloth he had just used to wipe Zhou Shuhua's dirty face at her.
Suddenly covered in feces, Zhou Shuhua instinctively gagged, shouting at the top of her lungs as she did so:
"Dad, Mom, Shen Qingming is bullying me!"
Zhou Tiemin would beat up Shen Qingming even if he was in the wrong, so now that he has a legitimate reason, why would he give up?
Rushing in, Zhou Tiemin's stone-like fist landed on Shen Qingming.
Shen Qingming, who was lying on the ground curled up in a ball after being beaten, looked at Zhou Tiemin, who was still swinging his fists, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes. A thought formed in his mind...
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