Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

"Rat-a-tat-tat..."

The tractor, billowing gray smoke, gradually disappeared from Xinghuo Commune.

Li Yunlan wiped away the hot tears in her eyes, and as she watched the distance between herself and Xinghuo Commune gradually widen, her feelings were particularly complicated.

Back then, she was eager to marry Wang Yuanchao, even getting pregnant before marriage, which forced her mother to agree to let her marry into Xinghuo Commune.

At the time, she thought that after marrying Wang Yuanchao, she would be able to eat commercial grain, because Wang Yuanchao was an employee of a work unit and not an agricultural household, so he had a quota of commercial grain every month.

Another point is that Wang Yuanchao's job guaranteed a stable income regardless of drought or flood, which was much better than that of farmers who toiled in the fields for a living at that time.

At that time, she wanted to escape the countryside, and Wang Yuanchao was her best choice.

However, her ideals were far from reality. Marrying into the Wang family meant she could have access to government-subsidized grain rations, but she also had to do a lot of housework: washing clothes, cooking, serving tea and water, taking care of her mother-in-law, and doing odd jobs in her spare time to make a living.

Although Wang Yuanchao was an employee of a state-owned enterprise with a guaranteed salary regardless of the circumstances, he would hand over most of his salary to Feng Cuilan as soon as he received it, and keep a small portion for himself to buy cigarettes.

When she had a headache, fever, or a cold and was short of money, she would have to ask Wang Yuanchao or Feng Cuilan for some money to get medicine from the commune clinic. She had to be humble and ask for it back. After she finally managed to earn some money from odd jobs, she would have to pay it back.

From that time on, Li Yunlan had considered divorce.

But considering that she had been so eager to marry far away, and that she had even gotten pregnant with Wang Yuanchao's child to force her family to agree, she ultimately had to suppress the thought of divorce.

Later, after Qianqian was born, the deed was done, and thinking about divorce was pointless.

So, washing clothes, cooking, serving tea and water, doing odd jobs to earn money, and taking care of children became her entire life in the short term.

However, her concessions and forbearance did not earn her the approval of Wang Yuanchao and Feng Cuilan. Instead, because she gave birth to a daughter, she was often subjected to Wang Yuanchao's disdain and Feng Cuilan's veiled insults.

Until her last visit to her parents' home, Feng Cuilan tried to take her things for herself...

"Mother, am I very foolish?"

Inside the tractor's trailer, watching the bare trees on both sides of the road recede into the distance, Li Yunlan looked at Huang Zhifang and suddenly asked a question.

"How can you say that about yourself? Nobody has eyes in the future or can predict the future. Before you married Wang Yuanchao, how could you know what he was like, or what his mother was like?"

Huang Zhifang offered words of comfort.

These days, if you find someone you like, you'll usually get married very quickly.

If the two families live close by, you can also find out what kind of people your partner's family is through other people.

However, Guapigou Village and Xinghuo Commune are more than 100 miles apart. When the matchmaker said he wanted to introduce a man to Li Yunlan, he said that the man was a handsome young man, tall, and a salesman in a state-owned grocery store.

A stable job, a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood, and a fixed monthly ration of grain...

With such favorable conditions, any girl would be captivated, let alone Li Yunlan, who comes from a farming family.

Back then, my family was poor. We often didn't have enough to eat, but it was definitely not as good as marrying a man who worked in a state-owned enterprise.

Later, Wang Yuanchao also visited Xiangyang Commune, met Li Yunlan several times, and went shopping in Qinghe County.

A tall, handsome young man working for a state-owned enterprise—this is undoubtedly the kind of man many girls from rural backgrounds who aspire to marry into wealth and status would love to have.

Back then, Li Yunlan was short-sighted and didn't think too much about it. In order to marry Wang Yuanchao, who had such good conditions, she got pregnant first and forced her family to agree to her marrying far away.

At the time, Huang Zhifang disagreed, and Li Yunshi also disagreed.

Even Li Yunshan, who was idle at the time, disagreed.

Huang Zhifang was worried that Li Yunlan would be bullied by her husband's family after marrying far away, and that her own family would not be able to help her. Li Yunshi and Li Yunshan had similar thoughts to Huang Zhifang.

However, Li Yunlan insisted on marrying him and was pregnant with Wang Yuanchao's child, so her family had no choice but to agree.

To ensure Li Yunlan's dignity and confidence in marrying far away, her family borrowed money to have a set of thirty-six legs made as part of her dowry.

Normally, these thirty-six legs should be prepared by the man.

But as Huang Zhifang said, no one has eyes in the front and back, and no one can predict the future.

Little did they know that a few years after Li Yunlan married far away, she would end up being abused by Wang Yuanchao and Feng Cuilan.

If I had known this would happen, I should have tied Li Yunlan up, taken her to the clinic, and had her abort the child. I wouldn't have let her marry a bastard like Wang Yuanchao.

However, these are all hindsight biases; we should look forward.

Although Li Yunlan was divorced, Huang Zhifang did not say anything harsh to her.

Ultimately, Li Yunlan was still a piece of her own flesh and blood, and divorce was a pitiful thing, so she wouldn't blame her anymore.

On the contrary, Huang Zhifang was genuinely happy that Li Yunlan could return to her side after the divorce.

So what if I got divorced?

Divorce is not illegal, and it doesn't mean her daughter is bad.

On the contrary, it was because her daughter was too good that the Wang family couldn't handle her kindness.

Moreover, Li Yunlan is still young, only twenty-five years old. After the divorce, she can easily find a man who cares for her and start a new family.

"But I'm making my family worry," Li Yunlan said.

She was the one who insisted on marrying far away, but she was bullied by her husband's family. It was her own family who traveled a long way at night to support her, and she felt bad about it.

"Your third brother worried your mother and your eldest brother for several years, but now he's turned over a new leaf. Yunlan, you have to look forward and never look back."

Huang Zhifang said with a gentle smile.

"Look forward, don't look back!"

Li Yunlan kept Huang Zhifang's words in mind. She tilted her head and rested it on Huang Zhifang's shoulder, then fell silent.

The cold wind from Siberia whistled past my ears, and the winter wilderness receded behind me on both sides.

Qianqian was held tightly in Li Yunmei's arms, and the little girl was wrapped up tightly in a cotton coat.

"Auntie, does that mean I'll be living at my uncle's house from now on?"

"Yes, do you like living at your uncle's house?"

Li Yunmei affectionately patted Qianqian's little head.

"I love it! I love living at my uncle's house so much. I get to eat meat every day, and I don't get scolded for being a money-loser. Plus, I have my older cousins ​​and my sister DouDou to play with."

Qianqian said happily.

Li Yunlan was stunned for a moment after hearing her daughter Qianqian's innocent words, then a relieved smile appeared on her face.

Yes, so be it. In Wang Yuanchao's house, she's still considered a barren hen by Feng Cuilan, and Qianqian is a money-losing burden.

Since she was not well-liked in the Wang family and is now divorced, she is even more determined to live a wonderful life and raise and educate Qianqian well.

She remembered when Qianqian was just born. As soon as the baby was brought out of the delivery room, Feng Cuilan hurriedly asked the nurse if it was a boy or a girl. When she heard the nurse say it was a girl, Feng Cuilan turned away with a look of disgust and didn't even bother to hold the baby.

Although Wang Yuanchao took the child from the nurse, she could tell that he was holding her with great difficulty. If Feng Cuilan hadn't been holding Qianqian, Wang Yuanchao wouldn't have even bothered to hold her.

Later, when she returned home to recuperate after giving birth, Feng Cuilan did not take good care of her because she had given birth to a daughter, which caused her to develop postpartum illnesses.

Later, when she returned to her parents' home, her mother and elder brother found out and found an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor to prescribe medicine for her and regulate her body, which cured her postpartum illness.

At that time, seeing how much her mother and elder brother felt sorry for her, and thinking about how Wang Yuanchao and Feng Cuilan treated her in a way that was completely different from what her mother and elder brother had done, she held her child and cried on the bus on the day she returned to Xinghuo Commune from her parents' home.

She felt terrible at that time.

She knew that neither Wang Yuanchao nor Feng Cuilan had ever truly regarded her as a member of the Wang family; she was merely a tool for Wang Yuanchao to bear sons and carry on the family line.

But she didn't dare to divorce Wang Yuanchao, because it was her own choice to marry far away, and her mother and elder brother had both tried to dissuade her.

The path you choose to walk, you must finish it, even if you have to crawl on your knees.

She lived like this for several years, enduring it all.

Just a few days ago, Feng Cuilan tried to keep the malted milk powder her mother had given her, as well as the scarf her second sister had knitted for her. She also stole the money her third brother had given her while she was away from home. The conflict erupted, and she and Feng Cuilan got into a fight.

When Wang Yuanchao came home from get off work, he saw her fighting with Feng Cuilan, so he came over to help Feng Cuilan fight her too.

In the chaos, Feng Cuilan threw something at her, and her head was broken.

If it weren't for the kind-hearted neighbor, Aunt Ma, who took her to the commune clinic, she might have ended up with the Wang family.

Later on, she would call her parents' home.

Before making the call, she hesitated because Xinghuo Commune was more than a hundred miles away from her parents' home, and it was freezing cold now. Would her parents' family come?

However, to her surprise, her family not only came, but also traveled hundreds of miles through the night to arrive.

Moreover, her older brother even called over all the young hunters in the village to support her.

Not only did her mother and second sister slap Feng Cuilan across the face, but her third brother also threw her into the latrine.

It turns out that the warmth of home doesn't disappear just because she married far away.

When she needs it, her family will be there for her, sheltering her from the wind and rain, and helping her overcome all obstacles.

Therefore, no matter what hardships she encounters in the future, Li Yunlan knows that her family—her mother, eldest brother, second sister, third brother…—are all by her side and will lend a helping hand when she needs it.

Because she is worthy of being loved.

However, she looked around but couldn't find her third brother, Li Yunshan.

"Mother, where is Third Brother?"