Reborn Little Wife

Winter Dawn

The Zhu elderly couple was overjoyed by her return and kept praising her.The sow's body had become extremely swollen and looked lethargic today – clearly the delivery was imminent.The sow was moved to the storage room adjacent to the kitchen.Zhong Ling efficiently cleared a large space and spread clean straw.The whole family carefully tended to it – piglet delivery was a major household event.For ordinary families, this served as an income-generating project.Though each piglet could only fetch five or six yuan after weaning, having ten would mean over fifty yuan.Regular workers only earned about thirty yuan monthly, and sows could deliver twice a year.

Zhong Ling stayed up most of night tending it alone, only calling her in-laws when labor began.Fortunately, the Zhu family's white sow performed exceptionally well, delivering twelve piglets to everyone's delight.

"Ma, Pa, should I prepare some food for her?" Zhong Ling wanted to reward the**.

"No, sows shouldn't eat immediately after delivery. Make warm saltwater – not too hot." Zhu Chunlai, the skilled breeder, instructed.

"Understood." Zhong Ling hurried to light the stove.

The odor was overwhelming, but she wasn't pampered.She meticulously cleaned the temporary pen, caring for the sow like a pregnant woman.Thanks to proper care, the sow produced ample milk and piglets thrived.

"Ma, how many were born?" Zhu Baoqin entered carrying her daughter – a grubby toddler.Zhu Baoqin worked at the village distillery, usually dumping her child here.She used to find this irritating.

"Hua Hua's here!" Zhong Ling pulled the girl over, wiping drool from her mouth.Hua Hua was barely two and still babbled.

"Why'd you bring the child again?" Feng Zhen glanced at her daughter before entering the house.Zhong Ling carried the child into her mother-in-law's room.

"You should've married Dazhuzi – his family's capable. But you chose the Ding boy."Zhu Baoqin's love marriage to orphan Ding Rong meant hardship – both toiled at the distillery with no time for childcare.

"Ma..."

"Enough! The child's here now." The patriarch's pipe rapped the kang bedframe, silencing them.

"Let Jiejie leave Hua Hua with me – she'll keep me company." Zhong Ling found the girl increasingly adorable.

"Really? Perfect!" Zhu Baoqin's enthusiasm surprised everyone – she'd clearly planned this.

"Don't regret it when Hua Hua calls me Mama." Zhong Ling teased.

"Foster care won't change blood ties." Feng Zhen still resented her daughter's marriage.

"Hua Hua will remember, right?" Zhong Ling asked the toddler.

"Right!" The girl parroted without understanding, making everyone laugh.

"Any letters from Gangzi?" Zhu Baoqin's question made Zhong Ling's heart lurch.

"Too soon – maybe next week." Feng Zhen offered Hua Hua melon seeds.

"Where's Ding Rong?" Zhu Chunlai interrogated his daughter.

"Doing carpentry work. Won't return for dinner." Ding Rong avoided his disapproving in-laws.

"Wanna see new house!"

"Behave!" The toddler loved the brightly painted newlywed quarters but was f*******n entry.

"It's fine – let's play in the west room." Zhong Ling whisked her away.

Once alone, Zhu Baoqin whispered: "How's the new daughter-in-law?"

"Who else matches my son?!" Feng Zhen preened.

"Details!"

"Efficient, hardworking, sweet-tempered, beautiful – born homemaker. She reorganizes everything better than me."

"Does Gangzi fancy her? Did you ask?"

"His eyes popped removing the veil! Who knew my stoic son could melt?"

"Half the wedding guests came to gawk at our 'luxury bride'."

"Lin Mei would've drawn no crowds."

"Enough!" The pipe cracked like gunshot – dangerous talk of dowries and ex-flames.

"Did you know she tends the sow like a nursing mother? Massages its udders, bathes piglets..." Zhu Baoqin gaped.

"Xiao Ling pursues perfection." Zhu Chunlai interjected.

"Will her standards care for my child properly?"

"Better than you!" He glared. "Pay your sister-in-law child support if dumping your daughter here!"

"You're raising her anyway – why pay? Who knew I'd birth a girl..."

"We don't owe you childcare!" Feng Zhen protested through obligation.

"Fine – five yuan monthly to***"

Zhong Ling's heart ached watching Hua Hua timidly explore.The toddler's frayed jacket bore snot stains, cheeks chapped like dried potatoes.Tomorrow she'd buy cloth at the township store for new clothes.

At dinner, Zhong Ling served pickled cabbage and scrambled eggs.She'd secured permission to make Hua Hua white rice – now steaming before wide toddler eyes."Eat up." Zhu Chunlai placed the bowl down, adding golden eggs.The child's ravenous joy misted Zhong Ling's eyes.

Though Hua Hua was to stay, Feng Zhen postponed it: "Wait till we're less busy with piglets."Zhu Baoqin left content – two days meant nothing now that childcare was secured.

Two days later, Zhong Ling hitched a ride to the township cooperative.She returned with cotton batting, fabric for quilted clothes, red coat material, floral drool bibs, candy, liquor for Zhu Chunlai, and – miraculously – a winter-caught river carp.The pièce de résistance: a navy wool scarf for Feng Zhen.

Though troubled by the spending spree, Feng Zhen held her tongue – everything was for family.

That evening, Zhong Ling suggested inviting the Dings for fish stew.She prepared it the Northeastern way: lard-fried fish simmered in soybean paste broth with vermicelli.Steamed buns warmed above the pot as she shredded winter cabbage.

The aroma drew them in before sunset. "Smells heavenly!" Zhu Baoqin exclaimed.Ding Rong mirrored his daughter's shyness – burly frame contrasting delicate movements.

"Don't hold her – Gangzi wrote!" Feng Zhen announced.

Zhong Ling froze.

"Your husband's letter! Your brother-in-law intercepted the postman."

"Read it!" The illiterate parents demanded.

"Let Xiao Ling read privately first."

Amid teasing, Zhong Ling fled crimson-cheeked to her room.

The elegant penmanship surprised her – this wasn't a peasant's scrawl.Formal greetings to family, passing mention of her "household efforts", zero intimacy.Her nails bit palms – had their wedding night meant nothing? Then realization dawned:To this reserved soldier, she remained a stranger. Their story was unwritten.

By bedtime, she'd charted her campaign – brick by brick, she'd build their bridge.

The aroma of braised carp and stir-fried greens swirled through the smoke-stained kitchen.Zhu Chunlai’s leathery face cracked into a rare smile as he surveyed the feast – a minor miracle in their threadbare farmhouse.His daughter Zhu Baoqin elbowed her husband, both marveling at how Zhong Ling’s delicate hands could wrest such magic from their meager pantry.

“Try the fish, Dad,” Zhong Ling urged softly, her knuckles whitening against her faded apron.The old man’s calloused fingers hovered like a crane hunting prey before seizing the choicest morsel.Twelve pairs of eyes tracked the morsel’s journey – Feng Zhen clutching her arthritic knees, Zhu Baoqin’s toddler smearing rice across the cracked table, even the mangy dog by the hearth lifting its head.

“Hmm.” Zhu Chunlai’s verdict rumbled from deep within, vibrating the tin teacup in his grip.Zhong Ling’s throat tightened. Three days she’d plotted this meal – traded her jade hairpin for fresh ginger, bartered mending services for that precious drop of sesame oil.

“Good.” The single word unleashed chaos.Feng Zhen cackled, slapping the dirt-packed floor. “Hear that? The old turtle actually praised someone!”Zhu Baoqin’s husband snorted rice across the table, earning a swat from his wife.

“Xiao Ling,” Feng Zhen wheezed, wiping tears, “you’ve tamed a demon with your cooking!”The compliment burned hotter than the stove’s embers. Zhong Ling bowed her head, hiding the flush creeping up her neck.If only Mother could see me now, she thought bitterly. The scholar’s daughter reduced to chasing a peasant’s approval.

“The letter!” Zhu Baoqin’s shrill demand sliced through the merriment.All eyes swung to Zhong Ling like sunflowers seeking light. She fought the urge to retreat into the shadows.

“Gangzi…” Her voice faltered. The lies tasted of ash. “He… arrived safely. Says not to worry.”Feng Zhen’s hopeful smile withered. “Nothing else?”Zhong Ling’s fingernails bit crescent moons into her palms. He didn’t even ask about you, she ached to scream. Just cold military formalities.

“He wants us healthy.” The words curdled on her tongue.The silence that followed echoed louder than New Year’s firecrackers. Even the dog slunk away.

“Write back,” Zhu Chunlai grunted. “Tell him… about the sow.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “And…”“I quit the distillery!” Zhu Baoqin’s declaration shattered the awkward pause.

Feng Zhen’s slap rang out like a gunshot. “Fool girl! Throwing away wages for pride?”“That lecher Wang demanded favors!” Zhu Baoqin roared, jabbing her chopsticks like daggers. “Shall I spread my legs for rice coupons next?”