By the time Zhao Tian and Yun Hao returned, Meng Yunhan was close to running out of topics for small talk. She heaved a sigh of relief at their return.
Once they left the head of the village's house, Meng Yunhan asked quietly, "Did you hit him?" But if Zhao Tian had been hit, he would've reacted long ago, right? He couldn't possibly look the way he did if he had been assaulted, right?
Yun Hao glanced elsewhere and continued walking, "No." He didn't hit him to death.
Meng Yunhan was unaware of Yun Hao's added clarification, but nonetheless mumbled, "He tried to take advantage of me previously."
Yun Hao knew full well that if it weren't for Zhao Tian, he wouldn't have ended up marrying her.
"I'll discipline him next time," he concluded.
In these past few days, Meng Yunhan had grown accustomed Yun Hao's indifference.
If he could avoid speaking, he would. In reality, such a man was suitable for daily life. Although he appeared cold, he accomplished more than those who talked a lot.
He would cook breakfast with her, tidy up the room, organize the bedding. He was meticulous about everything.
"Okay." Meng Yunhan smiled radiantly.
The two continued their New Year's greetings.
"Isn't this little Yunhan? You got married and didn't come back to visit the educated youth site?"
Meng Yunhan looked at the woman in front of her, sorting through her memory. It seemed that this person didn't exist in her past.
"I've been a little busy these few days." Meng Yunhan politely responded, unable to recall the woman, but didn't want to make the situation awkward.
"Little Yunhan, is this your man?" The woman glanced at Yun Hao, whom she recognized. She didn't think highly of Meng Yunhan— all delicate and petite. As the youngest of the educated youths, everyone treated her exceptionally well. When the village school needed a teacher last year, people didn't expect Meng Yunhan to take the position.
No one knew when Meng Yunhan hooked up with this man. Otherwise, how could an educated youth like her, tainted as she was, have become a teacher? The woman, Wang Minfang, was very dissatisfied.
Minfang, a high school graduate, was still doing fieldwork while Yunhan, a middle school graduate, had become a teacher. How could she swallow this bitter pill?
"Yes, this is my man." Meng Yunhan formally introduced Yun Hao to Wang Minfang.
Upon hearing her say the last few words, there was a slight upward twist to Yun Hao's lips. It was barely noticeable. Yet if someone who was close to him noticed it, they would be surprised. When did their captain ever show any other expressions?
"Hello, I am Yunhan's friend, Wang Minfang." Wang Minfang knew Yun Hao was a cadre in the army.
Even though she detested Meng Yunhan, there was still social etiquette to observe. If only she could return to the city, that would be great.
She'd had enough of this place.
These days, there weren't many girls left in the educated youth station. Everyone else either returned to the city or got married.
She also wanted to return to the city, but without connections, it was exceedingly difficult to do so.
Upon hearing the name Wang Minfang, Meng Yunhan's memory flooded back instantly. She finally remembered.
Wang Minfang, the one who instigated her decision to force a miscarriage back then. The Yun family treated her poorly and Yun Hao always maintained a cold demeanor. She couldn't find a hint of warmth in the Yun family. She was young and naive then, thinking that returning to the city would free her from living under the scrutiny of the Yun family. She believed that returning to the city would improve her life, but was that really the case?
Yun Hao didn't even look at Wang Minfang.
"It's getting late."
Meng Yunhan knew what Yun Hao meant: It's getting late, and it was time to go home.
Couldn't this man say a few more words?
"We should go home. I'll come to visit you at the Educated Youth residence in the future." With that, Meng Yunhan grabbed Yun Hao's sleeve and started walking towards home.
Wang Minfang was left alone, her little face puffing up in anger, resembling a bloated frog.
On the way home, neither of them spoke.
Meng Yunhan kept thinking about Wang Minfang.
In this life, she had to stay away from that Wang Minfang. She seemed to resent others' happiness. To put it in modern parlance, she suffered from envy. Such a disease needed treatment.
Seeing that Meng Yunhan was not talking, Yun Hao, too, did not know what to say. So neither of them spoke on reaching home.
Yun's parents looked at each other. Why did the initially joyful couple return like this?
Did they quarrel?
Yun's father shook his head. How was he supposed to know?
"Third child, tomorrow is the second day of the new year time for the bride's homecoming. Do you think Hanhan should go?" Yun's father asked. He remembered Meng Yunhan didn't inform her family when they got married. Tomorrow was the day for a newlywed to visit her parents. Should they let their new daughter-in-law take their son home?
Meng Yunhan thought about her harsh elder brothers.
After their parents' accident, they were afraid of being sent to the countryside, so they sent her, a junior high graduate, instead.
"No need. My parents are dead. Only my elder brothers are left at home, and they don't want me back." Meng Yunhan's words were subtle, but Yun's parents understood instantly.
So that's how it is, so that's how it is.
Seeing the frail maiden sent to the countryside, now they knew the reason behind it.
"Third child, take Hanhan back to the room to rest." Yun's mother pitied Meng Yunhan. Her parents were dead. No wonder she cried so hard that day.
Indeed, people tend to sympathize with the weak.
Yun Hao noticed something off about Meng Yunhan. He held her smooth little hand with his warm, big one and led her to their bridal chamber.
"Hanhan ...."
"Yun Hao, Yun Hao." Meng Yunhan remembered the adoring parents she once had. After their accident, there was a slot for someone in their family to go to the countryside. Her selfish brothers, however, pushed her, a fifteen-year-old girl who had never done farm labor, out.
Later, with the addition of their wives, they very conveniently forgot about their sister from the same mother. In her past life, after miscarrying, she did eventually get accepted into a university. However, it wasn't the city university where she originally resided. Nevertheless, she worked hard, and even after graduation, she took some detours, spent years proving herself, and finally achieved something. That's when those two brothers came to her door with their wives and children.
She didn't want to recollect her past life's affairs. She just wanted to live a good life in this one.
"Don't cry." Yun Hao felt her teardrops rolling down, hot and big.
Looking at him, Meng Yunhan asserted, "Yun Hao, you must be nice to me in this lifetime."
"Okay." Yun Hao answered quickly, pulling his petite wife into his embrace.
Meng Yunhan hugged Yun Hao back. Anyone would think they were deeply in love just by looking at them.
But that was not the case.
In this life, Meng Yunhan just wanted to live a good life, and give birth to the child she owed from the past life. And to have a child, she needed the child's father, of course.
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