Back To The 80s-Chapter 506 - 518: History_1

Although they both share the surname Ma, he was a third-generation peasant, and Ou Xiangnan was just like Ma Xuerong, belonging to the "black fifth category."

Ou Xiangnan was three years older than Ma Chengwen and far more shrewd. He instigated Ma Chengwen to inform on Ma Xuerong, accusing her of misconduct. She was already of a low-status background, engaged in chaotic relations between men and women, and now was pregnant - a serious issue indeed.

In this era when people distorted truth and facts, many took advantage of the chaos for personal gains.

Such was the character of Ma Chengwen. He had hated Ma Xuerong all along, and now, on seeing the sense in Ou Tiannan’s accusations, he felt justified in exposing her. He brought to light the man behind her, wanting to see just how special he was, thereby avenging his own humiliations.

Unexpectedly, Ma Xuerong turned out to be too resilient to break, staying silent despite various methods of torture. In the end, she almost went insane and even tried to jump into the Yellow River.

Later, when Jin Jiadong returned and cried on the banks of the Yellow River, Ma Chengwen realized that the man was from Jin Family, a perfectly legitimate revolutionary descendant. Panicked, he hid for a while, fearing reprisals.

Ma Chengwen took a long time to understand how Ma Xuerong had escaped and jumped into the Yellow River. He eventually realized that the night guard had been Ou Tiannan. Ou Tiannan had deliberately let her escape, using Ma Chengwen as a pawn all the while.

At the age of eighteen, Ma Chengwen’s biological parents took him home and then sent him to the army in T City. He initially thought things were about to change, but his future was unexpectedly affected because of Lu Zhanguo.

Ou Tiannan sat opposite Ma Chengwen, staring at his indistinct face clouded with reminiscence, knowing he was thinking back to those dark times.

And who was he to want to forget those parts of history?

Ou Tiannan was a year older than Ma Xuerong. They grew up together and could be said to have been childhood sweethearts. That shy little girl somehow blossomed into a beautiful woman, as stunning as a ruffled pomegranate flower swaying in the wind. Ma Xuerong appeared gentle and calm, yet her character was defiant and strong!

He loved her from a very young age, but Ma Xuerong always treated him as a distant cousin.

He secretly had helped Ma Xuerong fend off the thugs who try to climb the wall under darkness. When he learned that Ma Xuerong was pregnant, he was shocked, suspecting it was the doing of some rogue. Ou Tiannan was jealous to the point of madness, when he saw how Ma Xuerong protected the man and the baby in her womb rather than surrender, even ready to die. If he couldn’t have her, he would destroy her.

Ou Tiannan repeatedly poisoned Ma Xuerong’s meals with abortion-inducing herbal drugs, but she would always throw the food away as soon as she smelled something off, preferring to eat wild grass instead.

In the end, when Ma Xuerong went mad, Ou Tiannan, again, felt pity for her. When Zhuang Shuxian came begging him to let Ma Xuerong go, he agreed and secretly followed her out of the city.

By then, Ma Xuerong was as frightened as a startled bird and ran towards the Yellow River when she noticed someone following her.

Ou Tiannan was afraid to follow too closely for fear that she would jump into the river, so he kept his distance. To his surprise, by the time he reached the river bank, Ma Xuerong had disappeared, leaving only a pair of shoes behind.

Looking out at the open bank of the Yellow River, he could find no probable hiding place, so he assumed that she had jumped into the river.

Ou Tiannan sat on the riverbank and wept. If Ma Xuerong was alive, he would not force her to do anything she didn’t wish to.

During the winter lunar month, Ou Tiannan went to steal wood on the mountain and found an unconscious Ma Xuerong at the foot of the cliff. Thinking it was a chance given by heaven, he carried her home and saved her. When Ma Xuerong woke up after being feverish for several days and had forgotten all her past, Ou Tiannan was overjoyed. He thought that if she had forgotten, then he would have a chance. Hence, he gave Ma Xuerong a new name, Ou Ruoshui - insinuating that out of the three thousand weak waters, he would only take a ladle to drink.

Ou Tiannan and his third brother came out of their memories almost simultaneously.

Lighting a cigarette, his third brother sneered at Ou Tiannan, "I don’t think we have a chance for cooperation."

"I really don’t want to cooperate with you, but unfortunately, you need me," Ou Tiannan calmly said.

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the third brother looked at the ceiling and murmured, "I really don’t know what I could possibly need you for. You’re not even as familiar with the provincial city as I am."

Ou Tiannan raised an eyebrow, "Unfortunately, you have no money. How could you even compete with a woman?"

The third brother’s expression froze. He looked at Ou Tiannan, acknowledging that he indeed lacked business skills.

Ou Tiannan chuckled and said, "Even a woman is hard for you to deal with, and you still want to do business? Do you think doing business is all about following her around? Is winning her business, ’winning’?"

"If I cooperate with you, what do you want?" the third brother asked abruptly.

"Ma Xuerong." said Ou Tiannan, swallowing the three words.

"Agreed!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

........

Gu Xiaobei was helping Wen Xiuqing plant tomatoes. They had bought ready-made seedlings and would make a support structure once they grew a little larger after a few days.

Xiaopang and Mo Wang were also quite mischievous. Xiaopang couldn’t help but pull out the freshly planted seedlings, and Mo Wang insisted on helping with watering using the watering can.

Wen Xiuqing laughed and said, "Xiaopang, if you keep pulling them out, we won’t have any tomatoes to eat later."

Stopping his actions, Xiaopang curiously examined the seedlings before trying to take over the watering task.

Mo Wang could only yield the watering can to his sister. Their dad had been rather strict lately, and if he was caught bullying his sister or trying to snatch things from her, he’d be made to stand at the door as punishment.

Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but complain, "Zhanguo is spoiling Xiaopang too much, if he continues this, she might become a little tyrant."

As Wen Xiuqing helped Xiaopang water the seedlings, she said, "That’s okay, she can be indulged a little in small matters as long as we’re disciplined about the big things. Do you see that our Xiaopang is very polite, right?"

"In autumn, we’ll send her to kindergarten, by then she’ll have teachers instructing her. It will be different," said Gu Xiaobei with a smile.

Wen Xiuqing was taken aback, "She will only be three years old in autumn, why should she go to kindergarten so early? It should be at least when she turns five."

Initially, Gu Xiaobei thought that Wen Xiuqing was enlightened and would support sending the children to kindergarten. He was surprised to hear her opposition and asked, "Why can’t she go at three?"

"Mo Wang can hardly speak clearly yet. If another child hits him in school, he won’t be able to tell us. Besides, the food in school is all cooked together. How can it be nutritious? It’s better to stay at home until he is five. Your father’s health has improved now, and I don’t need someone specific to look after them. I can take care of both of them and also cook," Wen Xiuqing strongly opposed the idea of sending the children to school when they were so young, as they would be easily bullied.

Gu Xiaobei looked at Bai Xiaolan, who was watching Doudou under the grape trellis. "My older sister-in-law will give birth in autumn, you’ll be too busy by then," he said.

Wen Xiuqing waved her hand dismissively, "When that happens, there will always be a solution. Either way, I do not support the idea of Xiaopang and Mo Wang going to school so early."

Gu Xiaobei stuck out his tongue and stopped arguing.