Chapter 106

It was the cured sausage, that cured sausage! Xu Maofang’s stomach began to hurt with a searing pain, and she couldn’t even stand steady.

“Tingyu, Tingyu! My stomach hurts…”

Xu Maofang clutched her abdomen and screamed in fear.

Xie Tingyu furrowed his brow but didn’t move an inch. He couldn’t tell if Xu Maofang’s pain was real or faked.

Sweat beaded on Xu Maofang’s forehead.

“My stomach really hurts, I’m not lying to you… My baby… please save my baby.”

Xie Tingyu saw that her face was indeed ghastly pale. He quickly pushed the door open and said to the Director of Women’s Affairs outside:

“Aunt Fang’s stomach hurts. I’ll go call a car. Can you look after her?”

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Mbl Pkalnvsa sq Esxld’p Gqqykap awpble kdvs vbl bswpl kd y rydkn yde nyaakle bla sd bla cynj. Mbl vos xld iwknjzu awpble Dw Yysqydt vs vbl bsprkvyz.

Gqvla y nbysvkn lxlatldnu assx plppksd, Dw Yysqydt zyu sd vbl bsprkvyz cle, bla qynl ryzl.

Mbl esnvsa oasvl vbl xleknyz alnsae yde pyke:

“Ebyv eke usw lyv oasdt?”

Mbl esnvsa pyke nszezu, “Ublxknyz pwcpvydnlp yqqlnv qlvyz elhlzsrxldv. Zswa raltdydnu kp bktbzu zkjlzu vs alpwzv kd elqsaxkvu. Fwatknyz ycsavksd kp alnsxxldele.”

Ls, Dw Yysqydt nswzed’v clzklhl kv. Tso nswze bla cycu cl elqsaxle?

Rv bye clld olzz-clbyhle qsa vblpl vball xsdvbp. Rv oswzed’v cl sjyu!

Dw Yysqydt vktbvzu nzwvnble vbl nsze cleekdt.

Xie Tingyu left only after confirming she was stable. Before leaving, he looked at Xu Maofang.

“Seriously consider my suggestion.”

Xu Maofang was shocked and angry when she heard this. Far from being grateful to Xie Tingyu for taking her to the hospital, she hated him intensely. Why did he only tell her about this now, letting her eat so many poisonous sausages in vain?

Xu Maofang’s hatred also extended to her daughter, who made the sausages.

She called Zhou Dongmei over.

Zhou Dongmei had clearly been confronted by Xie Tingyu’s people. As soon as she entered the ward, she threw herself onto her mother’s bedside, saying emotionally:

“Mom, this time you can’t abandon me…”

She clearly didn’t know the reason for Xu Maofang’s hospitalization and only focused on accusing Xie Tingyu.

“Xie Tingyu is threatening me with Cousin’s miscarriage. He said Cousin miscarried because she ate my sausage and is preparing to sue me with a lawyer.”

“How can Cousin’s miscarriage be blamed on me? If he sues me, my reputation will be ruined—”

It was a pity to throw away the unsold sausages. Zhou Dongmei added preservatives to save costs and be greedy. How could she have known that Zhou Jiahui would miscarry after eating them?

But Zhou Dongmei knew her hands were not clean, so she didn’t dare let Xie Tingyu sue her.

Xu Maofang, who had just come out of the emergency room, had a ringing in her head. Her head ached, her stomach ached, and her daughter was constantly crying and whimpering in her ear.

The noise made Xu Maofang’s brain feel like it was exploding, and her stomach hurt terribly.

“You, you stop crying. You’re making my stomach hurt. Help me call, call the doctor—”

Zhou Dongmei was stunned. At a time like this, her mother actually complained that she was noisy.

“Mom, please beg Dad to control Xie Tingyu. After being siblings for more than ten years, how can he be so heartless?”

In her extreme pain, Xu Maofang slapped her daughter across the face.

“Quickly, find, find the doctor!”

The emergency room was in a frenzy once again.

*

Grandma Xie learned about her daughter-in-law’s miscarriage. Even though she didn’t like this daughter-in-law, she frowned now.

“She doesn’t look at herself, getting pregnant at her age and still causing trouble.”

“For the sake of her being a daughter-in-law of the Xie family, Tingyu, take some nourishing supplements to your Aunt Fang on my behalf. I won’t go. If she is willing to admit her mistake, then bring her back.”

Grandma Xie lost all interest in visiting Xu Maofang when she knew the grandchild was gone.

She didn’t know yet that Xu Maofang had miscarried because she ate Zhou Dongmei’s sausages. If she did know, her expression would probably be more complex, sighing: Karma is a bitch, and the cycle of retribution is relentless.

However, since it was a child of the Xie family that was lost, Grandma Xie’s heart would probably ache even more severely.

Xie Tingyu accepted the task: “Okay, I’ll go see her.”

As for bringing her back, that was out of the question. Bringing Xu Maofang back would likely cause chaos and trouble at home again. Xie Tingyu was unwilling to bring this trouble back home.

Xie Tingyu went to the small flat to see Xu Maofang.

After the miscarriage, Xu Maofang’s complexion was a bit sallow. After all, she was no longer young, and a miscarriage was very damaging.

Zhou Dongmei had been cautiously waiting on her. She now knew that her mother had miscarried because of the sausages, and she also hoped her mother could save her, so she dared not be careless in the slightest.

But when in her life had she ever waited on someone?

So, Zhou Dongmei was so exhausted during this time that the flesh she had gained on her face quickly melted away.

It was clear that Xu Maofang really hated her daughter.

Xie Tingyu brought up the topic again: “Are you really unwilling to divorce my dad?”

“If there’s still no news before Monday, I will have the lawyer contact Zhou Jiahui. These are the nourishing supplements Grandma asked me to give you, Aunt Fang. Eat slowly.”

After Xie Tingyu left, Xu Maofang angrily threw the supplements onto the floor.

Zhou Dongmei had been so uneasy she couldn’t sleep or eat well. The lawyer Xie Tingyu hired would come to remind her every few days that if Zhou Jiahui really sued her, she would be sentenced to at least two years, and with the lawyer’s help, she could possibly serve five years in jail.

Zhou Dongmei pleaded with Xu Maofang: “Mom, divorce him! What benefits have you gotten from being in the Xie family for so many years? If you divorce, I’ll support you. I’m only eighteen, I don’t want to go to jail.”

Xu Maofang still didn’t budge. The child in her womb was gone, and she was getting old. How could she still enjoy the life of a rich wife after a divorce?

Her biggest reliance was Xie Jun; how could she possibly divorce him?

Zhou Dongmei gritted her teeth, “Fine, let Zhou Jiahui sue.”

“Mom, you haven’t forgotten, have you? You also helped make the sausages. Maybe you even poured the preservative in yourself!”

…

In December, a heavy snow fell in the capital.

On the eighteenth, a major meeting was held by the central government, attended by over two hundred committee members. It was the first time that the focus of the entire Party’s work was proposed to shift to economic construction.

The whole country was in an uproar. From central leaders to ordinary citizens, everyone was discussing this meeting.

Ye Qingshui’s dorm had a heated discussion.

Yu Shi read the newspaper, explaining each point: “Setting things right, investigating and clarifying major historical issues of right and wrong.”

Ren Yingying said happily, “Does this mean that from now on, no one will be labeled anymore, and there will be no discrimination based on one’s background!”

Ye Qingshui looked at her in surprise, not understanding why she was so excited.

Ren Yingying then explained that she came from Hushi (Shanghai), and her family’s ancestors had some ancestral land, so they were classified as landlords. If she hadn’t gotten into Jingda, her hometown might not even have allowed her to attend college. Speaking of the ancestral land, it was dirt cheap, all yellow mud and sand, not even birds cared to poop there, and it wasn’t good for growing grain.

For that land, their poor family was actually treated as landlords! This was simply outrageous.

Ye Qingshui asked Ren Yingying, “Where is your family’s land?”

“Pudong, have you heard of it?”

Ye Qingshui’s breathing hitched: “I know! How many acres?”

Ren Yingying thought for a moment, “I think it was fifty acres.”

Ye Qingshui felt like she was having trouble breathing. If she weren’t already considered a well-to-do person who had seen the world, holding several thousand yuan in her hands, she might have been unable to resist her jealousy.

In those years, a few old sayings circulated in Hushi: “I’d rather have a bed in Puxi than a house in Pudong,” and “Don’t marry a man from Pudong.” Separated by the Huangpu River, the west side was considered city folks, and the east side was rural. The people who said these things couldn’t have imagined how quickly Pudong would develop later.

The saying goes: Look at Pengcheng in the 1980s, and look at Pudong in the 1990s. The Pudong New Area, represented by Lujiazui, would become one of the world’s top ten financial centers.

At this moment, Ye Qingshui’s gaze toward Ren Yingying changed. Fifty acres of land in Pudong—what an incredibly wealthy and beautiful girl.

Xie Tingyu’s quadrangle courtyard in the capital was already considered a small fortune, but compared to Ren Yingying, it was nothing.

Fortunately, Yu Shi didn’t pay attention to these details and continued to read: “Implementing the new decision of Reform and Opening Up, starting a new process of rural reform…”

Yu Shi murmured, “The times are changing.”

Ye Qingshui smiled: “Yes.”

Whether one would be eliminated by the era or catch the wave and become the first generation of wealth in China would start from today.

“Before, everyone lived the same poor life. Now, the country can’t bear to see people going hungry and cold, so they’re starting to encourage the economy, and even the land will be divided up for the farmers!”

Pan Lijuan and Ren Yingying were both from the countryside. After reading the newspaper, they hurriedly wrote letters home to share the good news with their families.

Ye Qingshui also wrote a letter to her Uncle Ye in the village.

She had been waiting for this day for she didn’t know how long. Ye Qingshui mentioned the issue of “dividing land among households” in her letter and reminded Uncle Ye to talk to the village committee to see if he could contract the hilltop for individual economic development.

At the same time, she wrote to Qian Xiangdong to remind him about the Reform and Opening Up. The trade of goods would be free, and he no longer had to stick to selling eggs in that small patch of land in Hongqi County. Ye Qingshui also suggested he try his luck in Yangcheng (Guangzhou).

After writing the letters, Ye Qingshui felt invigorated.

When she returned home, she hugged her sons and kissed them both. She turned to Zhang Hongying and said, “Sister Ying, I plan to open a cured sausage factory. Do you know any other sisters? I need two who are diligent, dependable, and can endure hardship.”

Zhang Hongying was so scared her soul scattered when she heard she was going to open a factory.

“Qingshui, how can ordinary folks like us open a factory? Factories must be opened by work units or collectives.”

Ye Qingshui pulled out the newspaper and showed it to Zhang Hongying. With Ye Qingshui’s detailed explanation, even Zhang Hongying, who only had a primary school education, could understand the basic text in the newspaper. She read it over and over, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.

“Can we really open one now?”

Ye Qingshui nodded firmly.

“You just focus on finding the staff. Their wages and benefits will not be lacking.”

The word “factory” sounded incredibly magical and grand, but when Zhang Hongying found two helpers, and Ye Qingshui took them to inspect the “factory,” Zhang Hongying almost burst out laughing.

It was just a small flat house!

Ye Qingshui shrugged without embarrassment, “A fat man isn’t built in one bite. When we have money, we’ll definitely buy a production line and build a grand factory.”

Amidst Ye Qingshui’s endless visions, Zhang Hongying laughed so hard she couldn’t straighten her back.

“There will be employee welfare housing, a library, a nursery, and a primary school behind the factory building? Qingshui, Qingshui, you’re thinking too far ahead. Let’s just buy the knives first!”

Zhang Hongying felt like she was dreaming. The one-bedroom apartment they were allocated in the military compound was earned by her husband’s dedication. Now, only famous, large factories could allocate housing to workers, and only after they reached a certain age.

Ordinary people wanting an allocated house? Dream on!

Ye Qingshui didn’t think it was hard to achieve. The inability to allocate houses now didn’t mean they couldn’t later. Just relying on her craft cautiously, she could earn three to four hundred yuan a month.

Now, daring to earn money and following the national policy, would she still worry about not having a house?

Ye Qingshui took out the money and calmly bought all the cutlery. The “Cured Sausage Factory” equipment was all ready. After handling the paperwork tomorrow, they could legitimately sell cured sausages.

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Sansukini: Wow! We’re almost finish. I have two novels that’s almost done and I’m not sure which novel to translate next.

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