Chapter 97: The Pretty Military Wife of the Seventies 20

After spring arrived, the family compound became even livelier.

Sister-in-law Zhan arrived, bringing her daughter with her.

She said she had come to check on Zhan Hao so she could report back to her parents-in-law.

Bringing Niuniu along, Sister-in-law Zhan was no longer as desperate to find a job as she had been when Su Huandan first met her.

“I can stay at home for at most another three years. My mother-in-law said she’ll retire in three years. When the time comes, she’ll take over the household chores and let me go to work. Over the past few years, Niuniu’s health has improved significantly. Although she still gets sick easily in the winter, it’s not like before when she had to spend half the year in the hospital. In three years, I can leave her with my mother-in-law and focus on my work with peace of mind,” Sister-in-law Zhan said, feeling rather embarrassed about the matter.

She had been quite afraid of being stuck at home forever. Her daughter’s health was poor, and she hadn’t managed to get pregnant with a second child or give birth to a son yet. Although her parents-in-law and her husband hadn’t said anything, she was anxious herself.

When a person gets anxious, they tend to overthink, and things are more likely to go wrong.

The family had been pressuring her to stay home and care for her daughter partly to help her suppress that restless anxiety.

At first, she hadn’t understood, but after seeing her daughter’s health improve and knowing her mother-in-law was about to retire, she finally had something to look forward to. Her anxiety slowly subsided.

Fortunately, her own family felt the same way as her in-laws; they kept her in check and didn’t let her cause a scene. If her own family hadn’t been supportive and had egged her on instead, life probably wouldn’t be going this smoothly.

“I came here this time because my mother-in-law mentioned something. You two should discuss it. Once she retires, do you want to send Lele back for her to look after? If Lele wasn’t still nursing, I would have wanted to take him back with me this time. Would you really be worried with me raising him?” Sister-in-law Zhan’s words made Zhan Hongjun turn his head and curl his lip.

In Zhan Hongjun’s heart, he felt it was fine for his mother to raise his son. His mother’s knowledge and upbringing were far superior to his sister-in-law’s. If he really let his sister-in-law raise the child, it would be better for the two of them to work harder and raise him themselves.

“We’ll send him back when the time comes. Once my mom retires, we’ll make a trip back. For these next two years, we won’t take any home leave,” Zhan Hongjun said. He couldn’t afford to take leave anyway. Now that the Special Forces had been established, he might not even have time to visit family in the future.

He felt an increasing sense of guilt toward his aging parents and his wife.

“Then it’s settled. Father-in-law said that if you can’t take leave, don’t force it. If it comes to that, I can come and pick up my sister-in-law myself,” Sister-in-law Zhan understood why the old man had given such instructions. It likely had to do with her brother-in-law’s line of work.

The military had no shortage of classified units.

Su Huandan stroked Niuniu’s hair; it was very dry.

Although the child had been nourished with Spiritual Spring Water before, she hadn’t been completely restored. It was good that she came this time; after another half-month of treatment, her health would be fully recovered.

Once Sister-in-law Zhan arrived, Zhan Hongjun moved into the dorms.

Even though the house had two bedrooms, there was no elder living with them. It wouldn’t be right for a brother-in-law and sister-in-law to live under the same roof¹ alone.

Even with two extra people in the house, Su Huandan’s life continued smoothly.

However, the lives of their neighbors on both sides and across the way were becoming exceptionally miserable.

At Sister-in-law Niu’s house, Brother Niu’s brothers had directly delivered their bedridden, paralyzed parents. They dumped them at the military gate, said they were Brother Niu’s father and mother, and then ran off.

What could be done?

Sister-in-law Niu was so disgusted that she fell ill.

The house was already small. With two more elderly people moving in, Sister-in-law Niu’s second and third children were forced to move out of the military compound.

They moved in with Sister-in-law Niu’s eldest son. He had a staff dormitory with four-person rooms, but because the other three occupants had married and moved out, the two children finally had a place to stay.

Sister-in-law Niu asked Brother Niu to take leave and take the parents back, but this time Brother Niu refused. He insisted he would rather get a divorce than stop caring for his parents, which infuriated Sister-in-law Niu.

“If I were Sister-in-law Niu next door, I really would get a divorce. But don’t you dare repeat this to your Hongjun; this is just between us sisters-in-law. Those two paralyzed old folks gave Brother Niu the gift of life, but what the hell do they have to do with Sister-in-law Niu? Why should she be so unlucky? Just because she married Brother Niu, she has to take care of two paralyzed people?” Just as Sister-in-law Zhan finished speaking, another argument broke out at the Niu house next door.

“You shameless hussy! You’re just taking advantage of my son not being home to try and starve us two old fossils to death! I’m telling you, even as a ghost I won’t let you go! I want chicken soup! I won’t eat this rotten vegetable mush!”

After the mother-in-law finished cursing, the father-in-law took over.

The words they used were incredibly foul.

Whenever Brother Niu wasn’t home, this was the situation next door. Sister-in-law Niu and her children were constantly being berated.

The old couple knew Brother Niu wouldn’t abandon them, which was why they were so emboldened.

Su Huandan, who had just rushed back to nurse her son, shook her head with a smile. She didn’t have time to speak before she had to leave again.

On her way out, she ran into Sister-in-law Niu.

Sister-in-law Niu was naturally dark-skinned and thin, but in just seven or eight days, she had become so gaunt she was almost unrecognizable.

She looked at Su Huandan with a bitter smile. “Even if I don’t find a way out for myself, I have to find a way out for my children, right?”

Then, Sister-in-law Niu filed for divorce.

No matter who tried to persuade her, it was useless. Some people even approached Su Huandan, saying that since she was on good terms with Sister-in-law Niu, she should go and talk her out of it.

Su Huandan refused to go. She even told those who were egging her on to take some time during the day to go to Sister-in-law Niu’s house and listen to what was happening.

They all went, and after listening, they were stunned.

During the day, the old couple cursed her. When Brother Niu returned at night, he only listened to his parents and joined in on berating Sister-in-law Niu. She truly had been driven to a dead end.

So later, when Brother Niu was notified to go and process the divorce papers, he was genuinely dumbfounded.

“You really want to divorce?” Brother Niu felt that it was only natural for a daughter-in-law to serve her parents-in-law. There was no reason to get a divorce over that.

“With parents like yours, go ahead and marry someone else and see if they’ll serve them. Not all daughters-in-law are like me, unwilling to care for their in-laws. Go look at other families where the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along. How do those mothers-in-law treat their daughters-in-law?” Not to say they had to be incredibly kind, but at the very least, they should treat the daughter-in-law like a human being.

After the divorce, the children all left with Sister-in-law Niu.

They would rather endure hardship with their biological mother than live with their father. This fact alone made it clear that the problems within Sister-in-law Niu’s family were actually quite severe.

The children had not only supported the divorce but had even looked forward to it, showing not a hint of regret about leaving their father.

Sister-in-law Niu moved out on the very day the divorce was finalized.

Zhan Hongjun had considered using his connections to arrange a job for her, but Sister-in-law Niu refused outright.

“I’m already very grateful to you for helping my eldest son with your connections back then, so I can’t trouble you anymore. Although my eldest hasn’t secured a permanent position yet, aren’t there plenty of factories nearby? He can find any odd job there to support himself. If we really can’t survive, I’ll definitely come and ask for your help, alright?” Sister-in-law Niu was just that kind of person, living her life with a fierce sense of independence.

Translator’s Notes