Back To The 80s-Chapter 97 - 96: Compensation Fund_1
Li Juan was sitting in the middle of the yard as though all her bones had been removed, slouched in a puddle without tears or calls, entirely like a lost soul. The other military wives who had come out at the sound were also stunned into silence.
Zheng Chunhua was crying on the ground, slapping it and shouting, "My poor son...why did he leave us like this...what will become of our Juan..." Li’s third son remained silent, tears running down his cheeks.
With red-rimmed eyes, Guo Huaqiang said, "Little sister, come inside, please." A soldier stepped forward to help Zheng Chunhua up.
Xiaobei felt as if something were lodged in her throat, causing her chest to ache with the pressure. After several attempts at gripping the railing, she managed to stand up, clumsily running over to kneel next to Li Juan. Touching Li Juan’s shoulder, she held her hand.
Finally snapping out of their shocked stupor, the other military wives surrounded them, wiping at their own tears. Bawling, Li Juan gripped Xiaobei’s hand tightly as if it were a lifeline and said, "This can’t be real... right? It must not be true... He was okay when he left... how could this be... how could this happen..."
Tears coursed down Xiaobei’s own face uncontrollably, leaving her unable to form any words.
Wen Dong had been killed by inadvertently stepping on a land mine, and his body couldn’t be transported back to the country. All that was returned were his personal belongings and a letter.
Li Juan refused to hold a memorial service or a funeral, staunchly believing that Wen Dong was still alive and refusing to accept that he was gone.
Due to Wen Dong’s tragic sacrifice, Xiaobei and the other military wives lived in trepidation, and the entire military family compound was cast under a shroud of gloom.
On August 6th, Xiaobei looked at the calendar and felt like crying again. Tomorrow was the start of the fall season, and she needed to plant the Chinese cabbage. But Lu Zhanguo had still not returned.
Xiaobei walked around the vegetable field, deciding to remove the climbing bean and cucumber trellises to make more room for radishes and cabbage. Perhaps Lu Zhanguo will be back by the time she’s harvesting the seedlings.
Uprooting the bean trellis was strenuous work. After half a day, Xiaobei had only managed to remove one. How was she ever going to finish all of them?
Spotting her, two soldiers from the cooking team who were also getting ready to plant cabbages ran over. "Big sister, let us help you prepare the field," they offered enthusiastically.
Xiaobei didn’t play coy with them. She might be inexperienced, but she was also physically exhausted. Young men like them made quick work of it, helping her remove the trellises and till the soil in no time.
Wiping the sweat off his face, one soldier advised, "Big sister, let the soil air out for today. Tomorrow, just rake it into a smooth surface and you can start planting the cabbage."
Xiaobei nodded immediately. "Thank you so much! I’ll treat you to some good food at my house later."
The two soldiers bashfully said their goodbyes. Xiaobei, her lips jutting out and eyes red, looked at the tilled soil. Lu Zhanguo, you didn’t keep your promise.
Xiaobei plucked the old yard-long beans from the trellis, thinking of spreading them out to dry. She could peel the beans over the winter and steam them into bean buns.
Just as she was entering the compound carrying a bundle of yard-long beans, she heard Li Juan’s cries and accusations. Li Hao and Liu Cuicui were standing at the entrance of Li Juan’s house.
Suddenly, Li Juan threw two cans outdoors from her house, yelling, "Take your broken cans and leave! What kind of person are you? Your brother-in-law just died, and here you are, wanting to take his compensation money. Did a dog eat your conscience?"
Li Hao stood his ground, his throat stubbornly at Li Juan. "What good will that money do in your hands? If you use it to remarry and spend it all on some other man, wouldn’t it be better to give it to me, your own brother?"
From inside the house, Li Juan, her eyes swollen and red, suddenly barged out. "You’re disgusting! Even if I had to give my money away, I’d give it to a beggar before giving it to you. You’re not even human. Get out!"
Framed, Li Hao angrily turned to face Li’s third son. "Look at this fine daughter you’ve raised, hoarding all her money and refusing to share it with her own family. What is she up to, planning to pamper some other man with it?"
With tears streaming down her face, Li Juan was shouting in rage. "Li Hao, do you consider yourself a person? You’re worse than an animal. Have you ever heard of anyone treating their sister so horribly? Get out!"
The usually meek Li’s third son suddenly yelled back, "Enough! Your brother’s right. You’re sitting on a mountain of money. What are you planning to do with it all?"
A chill ran through Li Juan’s heart as she realized that all they cared about was getting their hands on the money. "There’s no money for you here. Even if you killed me, I wouldn’t give you a single dime. As of now, I’m part of the Wen family. Even if it means begging, I’ll do it far away from your doorstep."
Li Hao pointed an accusing finger at Li Juan and said to Li’s third son, "Look at this, your white-eyed wolf of a daughter can’t wait to flatter them and become their real daughter. She doesn’t even want to take care of her own parents."
The usually silent Zheng Chunhua pointed at Li Juan and scolded her, "Have you no shame? Throwing us aside to become another family’s daughter. Are your father and I already dead to you? How can you be so low?"
Xiaobei was taken aback. How could anyone torment their daughter like this? But she said nothing, not wanting to interfere in others’ family matters. Heart heavy, she silently returned to her apartment with the beans. Seeing Xiangmin standing by the stairs, looking thrilled by the commotion, Xiaobei couldn’t help but think that she was lower than Li Juan.
Downstairs, Li Juan let out a bitter laugh. "If you all want to make a fuss, go right ahead. But remember, once you’re done, I won’t acknowledge you as my parents anymore, and you won’t have a daughter like me either." With that, she turned around and went back inside, slamming the door behind her with a loud bang.
Left outside, Li’s third son, and the others looked at each other, their mouths agape. Zheng Chunhua grumbled, "Seems like she’s going to die on that hill. There’ll come a day when she won’t be able to find her way back home, no matter how hard she cries. Watch." The group then stormed out of the compound, leaving in a huff.
Early the next morning, Xiaobei set about planting her cabbage and radish seeds. Without a rake of her own, she had to borrow one.
As she was descending the stairs, she spotted a fellow military wife called Wang Ping carrying a rake. "Wang Ping, are you going to plant your cabbage?" she called out.
Wang Ping stopped walking and explained, "Big sis, my family has already finished planting. I was just returning the rake to the Communications Group’s cooking team."
Seeing an opportunity, Xiaobei asked, "Can I borrow your rake? After I’m done using it, I can return it to the Communications Group’s cooking team."
"Sure, do you need my help?" Wang Ping offered enthusiastically.
"No need, it’s not that much. I just need to rake the soil and I will be done." Xiaobei waved her hand, took the rake, and set off to her vegetable field.
Once in the field, Xiaobei studied the other neighbors’ tilled soil, quickly grasping the trick to it.
She combed through the soil meticulously with the rake, flattening it afterwards. Then, she created furrows and sowed the seeds, all the while feeling grateful for buying extra when she first got them. If she had only bought as many as Li Fengmei had suggested, she would definitely be short now.
After sowing the seeds, she went over to her neighbors’ fields again. It seemed as if she needed to sprinkle some soil over the seeds. She quickly returned to her field, where she used the rake to cover the seeds with a layer of soil. It wasn’t as difficult as she thought. Lu Zhanguo, won’t you praise me when you return?
Looking at her field which was now identical to others’, Xiaobei felt quite self-satisfied. She returned the rake and headed home.
She spent the entire next day going to town and sending out the translation manuscripts that she had completed to the city. She even included a note specifying her change of address.
