Chapter 98: The Pretty Military Wife of the Seventies 21

No one expected Sister-in-law Niu to get a divorce so decisively.

However, the divorce was only finalized after Sister-in-law Zhan returned to Beijing.

Sister-in-law Niu extracted herself cleanly and efficiently, taking her children with her to make a living outside the military base.

Brother Niu’s parents were completely dumbfounded. How could their son have the time to serve them three meals a day? During the day, what were they supposed to do if they needed to use the restroom?

“Since you can’t manage, hire someone to take care of me and your mother.” Hearing these words, Brother Niu felt a chill in his heart.

Brother Niu didn’t have much in savings himself. He had less than three hundred yuan, all of which he gave to Sister-in-law Niu. He planned to keep most of his salary; the children were growing up, and what would they do if they needed money for marriage or other things in the future?

Yes, he was divorced, but that was no reason to neglect his children. Moreover, if he had known his wife’s determination to divorce was so firm, he might have considered what she said back then and sent his elderly parents back home.

He had ended up in such a miserable state for the sake of his parents, yet they only thought of themselves. Had they not spared a thought for how he was supposed to live his life in the future?

“You have a salary, what are you afraid of? Once your mother and I are dead, you can just marry another one. There are plenty of young girls who would marry you. Just have more children then, wouldn’t that be fine?” Brother Niu’s father spoke bluntly, and Brother Niu’s heart grew cold just as quickly.

In his memory, his parents had always shielded him from the wind and rain, putting him first in everything. How had they become like this?

A rough man like Brother Niu wasn’t good at pondering such questions. He didn’t understand the psychology of how people become more afraid of death and of being neglected as they age.

Coupled with the sudden paralysis, a patient’s emotions are naturally quite volatile. If Brother Niu had managed his parents more strictly back then and kept them from speaking recklessly, perhaps the family wouldn’t have broken up?

Unfortunately, Brother Niu’s parents didn’t know how to conduct themselves. They had already completely offended Sister-in-law Niu before, yet now they expected her to care for them while failing to control their own tempers, stubbornly tearing their son’s home apart.

Brother Niu didn’t hire anyone. He contacted the village chief to ask why his parents had become paralyzed. The village chief said they had been beaten by his several brothers and their wives working together.

All for the sake of twenty yuan!

Brother Niu: …

A comrade-in-arms suggested he call the police. Even if his brothers weren’t locked up, his parents should be their responsibility to serve. If he had asked sooner, why would he have been forced into a divorce by his wife?

They were all in their forties, after all.

Brother Niu called the police and sent his parents back. Then, the more he thought about it, the more he felt he had wronged his wife and children. He went back to look for them, but Sister-in-law Niu had already remarried.

Brother Niu…

The result of being muddled in family affairs is the scattering of one’s wife and children.

Sister-in-law Niu married again as quickly as she had divorced. After the wedding, she even found time to bring two pounds of eggs to visit Su Huandan.

There was a relaxed smile in Sister-in-law Niu’s eyes.

“My Old Li, he’s also a veteran who retired from the military years ago. The place where he was injured back then is a bit embarrassing to mention, so he can’t have children. He places great importance on my kids. Except for the eldest, he’s sent all the rest to school. He even got me a formal job working as a warehouse keeper at the grain station¹.” Sister-in-law Niu’s new husband was a minor official at the Grain Bureau.

Sister-in-law Niu firmly believed this was a good marriage. Since she thought so herself, others could only smile and echo her: It truly is a good marriage.

Sister-in-law Niu had remarried, but Brother Niu didn’t look for anyone else, deciding to just live his life as it was.

If he found someone else, what would happen to his children?

He only had that bit of salary; he would just save money for the children from now on.

He didn’t want to think about anything else.

Brother Niu and Sister-in-law Niu were the first military marriage family to divorce this year.

Immediately following them, Chen Li also got a divorce.

Chen Li’s mother-in-law had come, saying she had given her temporary job to her second son who had just reached adulthood. Having nothing to do at home, she came to the military base to see her eldest son.

As it turned out, she came to act like a grand matriarch², ordering Chen Li around for everything. She didn’t help with the child either, and frequently used indirect insults. It truly tortured Chen Li to the point where she looked nearly twenty years older in just one month.

Chen Li really couldn’t take it anymore and pushed for a divorce. To her surprise, her man didn’t even stop to consider it and divorced her directly.

Zhan Hongjun snorted coldly: “Chen Li’s husband wanted a divorce long ago. I heard that once when he was drunk in their battalion, he was shouting about how he had no son and no hope for the future.”

So, Chen Li’s mother-in-law had come this time specifically to stir up trouble so her son could divorce and remarry.

When Chen Li divorced, her daughter left the military base with her.

But in less than seven days, Chen Li’s former mother-in-law led a fair-skinned girl from the south into the base, and soon Chen Li’s ex-husband remarried.

At this speed, many people were gossiping behind their backs.

After hearing a round of gossip, Su Huandan felt a bit uncomfortable.

In this era, Chen Li’s divorce actually had a huge impact on her; it wasn’t a good thing. Yet the public opinion in the family quarters was all saying Chen Li deserved it. Since she couldn’t give birth anymore, it was only natural for her man to divorce her.

No military wife would stand from a woman’s perspective to consider whether Chen Li would have a hard time making a living with her daughter after the divorce, or what impact it would have on Chen Li’s daughter’s future.

At most, these people would offer a word of pity: “Chen Li’s daughter will have a miserable time in the future, but there’s no other way. Her dad just wants a son, and her mom can’t give birth anymore.”

The neighbors on both sides had divorced. Brother Niu planned to grow old alone, while Chen Li’s ex-husband was in the midst of his honeymoon period.

Add to that the extra child across the way and the couple arguing every now and then.

Su Huandan truly felt that life in the military family quarters was actually not much different from the daily routine in an ordinary village or among the common people in the city.

After Sister-in-law Niu left, when Su Huandan went to work, she entrusted her son to Auntie Zhang who lived behind their house. She paid ten yuan a month. Auntie Zhang was already sixty, and including Su Huandan’s son, she only looked after two children in total.

The other child was the young daughter of the Logistics Department director’s family, who was four months older than Su Huandan’s son.

When the child turned one year old, Su Huandan weaned him. The boy didn’t have any issues like a milk addiction; when she said he couldn’t have it, he stopped. After transitioning to regular food, his appetite was quite good, though he especially loved eating meat.

Every evening when she picked him up from Auntie Zhang’s house, Su Huandan would cook a special little meal for him.

Zhan Hongjun would often say, “This child only has such a good life because he’s being raised in our house. Try putting him in a family where things are a bit tighter?”

Su Huandan pursed her lips and smiled, remaining silent. Her son was truly bright, however, and understood exactly what was said. He looked up and replied to his father, “If we can’t afford to eat at home, I’ll go find food for myself.”

Zhan Hongjun burst into laughter at his son’s wit, and the father and son even shared a high-five. “That’s right, that’s the spirit. My son is going to be a real success.”

A one-year-old child speaking so fluently and thinking so clearly was quite something. It was truly difficult to trick him.

Once the child had eaten his fill, had his face and hands washed, and was tucked into bed, Zhan Hongjun turned to Su Huandan with a smug expression. “Our Lele is so smart. Everyone in the family compound praises him. He’s sharper and more clever than many of my comrades’ five or six-year-old kids.”

Su Huandan rolled her eyes, turned over, and went to sleep with her back to Zhan Hongjun.

Zhan Hongjun loved praising his own family. He used to praise her constantly, and while he still did, it wasn’t nearly as blatant as the way he boasted about their son.

Translator’s Notes