If flowers bloom, youth will naturally follow.

Ma Dongmei sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) under the covers, staring blankly at the ceiling. When she heard the door open, she turned around and looked over. Her hair was disheveled and her face was swollen; she didn't look like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl at all.

Xia Donghai, tears streaming down his face, his lips trembling, choked out, "Wife, I'm back."

Looking at her increasingly handsome husband in his suit, Ma Dongmei's confusion gradually turned into a smile, and she seemed to come alive again. She sat up and cursed, "Xia Donghai, I XXX."

"Wife, wife, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Xia Donghai threw down what he was holding, ran over and hugged her, burying his head in her stomach and crying bitterly.

Ma Dongmei gently stroked his head, only muttering curses at him.

"Honey, where are my parents? Where are your parents? Why don't they care about you?" Xia Donghai asked, tears streaming down his face.

“You dead man, it’s been a year and there’s still no news. Everyone in the village says you’re in jail! They’re cursing you, and I don’t like hearing it,” Ma Dongmei said. “Besides, you’re your own wife. If you don’t take care of her, how can you expect others to take care of her? They can only take care of her for a while, can they take care of her forever?”

"Have you spent all the money I gave you?" Xia Donghai asked, annoyed.

“They all say that since you went to jail, I don’t want to touch the money. I want to save it for having a baby. There will be many more expenses after having a child,” Ma Dongmei said.

"Silly wife, I'm sorry," Xia Donghai cried again. He picked up the bag next to him, opened it, and poured out all the money inside, spreading it all over the kang (a heated brick bed). "Wife, we have money now. You can spend it however you want. I will never let you suffer any more grievances in this life. If I let you suffer even a little bit more grievances, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

"Ah!" Ma Dongmei exclaimed, covering her mouth. "XXX, Xia Donghai, have you really broken the law? Where did you get so much money?"

That was in 1984. In those days, anyone in the village with a thousand yuan in cash was considered a landlord, and ten thousand yuan was something you couldn't even dream of.

"Nonsense! I'm doing business with a big brother now. I told you long ago that your husband would definitely amount to something," Xia Donghai said with delight, his tears turning into laughter as he looked at Ma Dongmei's surprised expression.

"What big brother? Is it the bad kind?" Ma Dongmei asked anxiously.

"What? Don't listen to their nonsense. Brother Ma is an official. Oh, we'll talk to you later. I'll light the stove for you. Why don't you light the stove in this cold weather?" Xia Donghai touched his wife's cold, rough hands and said with heartache, "Oh, look at my little darling's hands, they're so rough, and her little face is all chapped."

"Pfft," Ma Dongmei liked his roguish manner and laughed, scolding, "Baby, you motherfucker, I'm a widow and unemployed, how am I supposed to light a stove? I need to save that little bit of coal for the winter."

"Hehe, sorry, sorry, I was wrong, honey! Look, I bought you new clothes, shoes, and cosmetics. You don't have to do housework anymore. We can dress up beautifully every day like city women. It's beautiful, and it's fun." Xia Donghai picked up a large pile of things from the side, most of which were bought for Ma Dongmei.

“These nutritional supplements were originally bought for those four old folks. Wife, you eat them all. If we can’t finish them, we’ll feed them to the dogs. We won’t give them any,” Xia Donghai said bitterly.

This beast...