As Ji Xia spoke, she pushed Chen Jing towards the door, saying, "Let's go, let's go, it's getting dark."
Amidst their chatter, the two rushed out of the room, followed by Ji Xia's excited screams.
Secretary Ji sighed, turned to Ji Zhijun and said, "Go and coax your son. Tomorrow, find a way to bring your woman back. Go to sleep."
Ji Zhijun hesitated, frowning: "Didn't we say the grain would be distributed tomorrow?"
"Look at the weather outside, is it even possible to distribute the grain?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dark sky suddenly flashed, a bolt of lightning ripped across the horizon, and a muffled rumble of winter thunder echoed from afar.
The two children inside started crying again. While comforting them, Ji's mother loudly called on Ji Zhijun to make formula.
"It's estimated to rain tomorrow, how are we going to distribute the grain? You should try to bring the people back, otherwise your voice will become hoarse from crying."
Ji Zhijun responded and quickly went to make the milk powder. Only then did Secretary Ji frown and look at the dark courtyard. Ji Xia had seen someone off a long time ago and hadn't returned.
He stared intently at the doorway. Inside, the dim oil lamp flickered gently in the night breeze. Ji Xia returned with a smile on her lips.
When Secretary Ji saw Ji Xia's swollen lips and reddened eyes, he felt a throbbing pain in his head.
He took a deep breath and looked at his daughter with concern for a long time, until Ji Xia casually called him "Dad," before he whispered, "Don't let yourself suffer before marriage."
Secretary Ji turned and left. Ji Xia blushed, thinking that her father would scold her, but he let her off easily.
As expected, it rained the next day. Although it was just a drizzle, the rain carried a chill that caused the temperature to drop to a few degrees. Winter had arrived.
With the midterm exams approaching, Ji Xia didn't dare to slack off. As soon as the rooster crowed, she put on her raincoat, sat on the back of Chen Jing's bicycle, and braved the rain to return to the city.
As she passed the village entrance, she unexpectedly saw a familiar figure.
Liu Pianran carried a basket on her back, wore a raincoat and rain boots, and walked out with uneven steps.
In just two months, she looked much more haggard. Not only was her pretty face thinner, but it was also much darker, and she no longer had her former radiance.
Ji Xia was surprised to see Liu Pianran: "Is this Liu Pianran? She looks much darker, and she was running outside in the rain?"
Chen Jing glanced at her from afar and chuckled, "It would be strange if she didn't run away. She goes to the black market whenever she has free time. I heard from Monkey that she often complains to men that the Lin family is like a landlord's wife in the old society, making her work on an empty stomach every day."
Ji Xia thought about her whole life, and looked at Liu Pianran with a mocking gaze. In this life, she finally got to taste the bitterness of being a submissive wife.
Not long after Ji Xia left, Ji Zhijun also went to Xiapo Brigade with a handful of noodles and a pound of fatty meat.
When he arrived at the Zhang family's house, Zhang's mother was in the kitchen peeling sweet potatoes while cursing at Zhang Qing beside her.
Seeing Ji Zhijun, Granny Zhang was pleasantly surprised and quickly stood up: "Son-in-law? Son-in-law is here? You've come to pick up Ah Hong?"
She gave Zhang Qing a push and said, "Quick, go wake your sister up."
Zhang Qing dawdled for quite a while before finally coming out, and said hesitantly, "My sister is still angry. She won't get up and wants you to go back first?"
Ji Zhijun was talking with Old Man Zhang and Old Woman Zhang when he heard this and frowned as he glanced at Old Man Zhang.
"She's still angry? What's she angry about?"
"She said that you have to agree to give up your job to me before she will go back with you."
As Zhang Qing spoke confidently, she winked at her parents.
Ji Zhijun stared at Zhang Qing's thin face with cold eyes for a long time, then suddenly sneered: "Is that so? I'll ask her and let her tell me herself."
As he was about to walk into the house, Zhang Qing quickly stretched out his arms to block her way: "You can't go in, that's my room, you can't go in."
Blocked by his sister-in-law, Zhang Zhijun couldn't afford to confront her, so he quickly took a few steps back and suddenly shouted inside, "Zhang Hong, come out and say something. Is what your sister said true?"
The room was as quiet as still water, without a single response.
Ji Zhijun called out twice, but received no response. He glanced at Zhang Qing with a gloomy expression and asked, "Is Zhang Hong really inside?"
Zhang Qing was terrified by Ji Zhijun's murderous gaze, but thinking of her work, she suppressed her fear and whispered, "Of course it's true. She's been home these past two days and has been wandering around the village every day. She's probably tired, so she got up late."
Ji Zhijun snorted coldly and suddenly raised his voice: "Zhang Hong, if you have something to say, come out and talk it out face to face. Today, are you coming back with me, or are you going to the Civil Affairs Bureau with me to get a divorce? You choose one."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing's face darkened, but Old Man Zhang jumped up in fright, fearing that the Ji family's son-in-law was gone. He hurriedly shouted at his daughter, "What are you all standing there for? Pull her out!"
“Zhijun, don’t worry. Last night, Ahong said she couldn’t bear to leave the child and was planning to go back today.”
"Yes, she told us last night that she went back early this morning, so why isn't she up yet?"
As Granny Zhang spoke, she tried to peek into the house, but Zhang Qing quickly stopped her, only to be pulled aside by her mother.
While the relationship exists, there's a sixty yuan a year; once the relationship ends, the kinship is over. The elderly couple still understands the complexities of this relationship.
Zhang Qing was unwilling to give up and wanted to persist, but Ji Zhijun sensed something was wrong.
Since Zhang Hong already agreed on the terms with her parents last night and is going home today, why isn't she getting out of bed yet?
While Granny Zhang and her daughter were struggling, he rushed into the room.
After groping around in the dark room for a while, he finally found a motionless person on the dark bed.
A bad feeling rose in Ji Zhijun's heart, and he quickly stepped forward: "Ah Hong, Ah Hong—"
Reaching out to touch it, the quilt was thin and damp, cold and devoid of warmth. Then, touching Zhang Hong's forehead, it felt as hot as a roasted shrimp.
No matter how much he called out and tried to move her, Zhang Hong remained motionless and unconscious.
Without saying a word, Ji Zhijun lifted the quilt and picked her up, only to find that the straw under Zhang Hong was wet.
He had a bad feeling in his heart, picked up the person and turned to rush out. Once outside, he said to Granny Zhang and Old Man Zhang with a cold face, "She just finished her postpartum period and her body has not fully recovered. You actually made her sleep on wet blankets and wet grass. You are simply inhuman."
He said this as he carried the unconscious person out.
Two hours later, Zhang Hong, who had received urgent fever-reducing treatment at the clinic, was sent to the commune hospital. After a thorough examination, the doctor scolded Ji Zhijun, blaming him for bringing her in too late, saying she was almost driven mad by the fever.
Ji Zhijun arranged for Zhang Hong to be hospitalized, then went back to the Ji family compound to call Zhang Lan over and asked her to take care of Zhang Hong. Only then did he ask someone to deliver a message to Secretary Ji of the Nanshan Brigade.
Ji Zhijun carried Zhang Hong away in a hurry. Old Man Zhang scolded Zhang Pozi and Zhang Qing and her daughter before sending them into the city to have a look.
Upon hearing that they were going to the city, Zhang Bao also pestered and fussed, saying, "I want to go to the city too! I want to go to the city too!"
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