Chapter 140: Learning to Ride a Bicycle

The eldest son had been away for more than a month before returning; wouldn’t it be better to prepare more delicious food for him? It didn’t matter what flowers he bought or how much money he spent—Fang knew that Li Sheng was never one to act without a plan. That was enough.

What Fang did not expect was that the next day, when the family members who worked outside were busy and gone, only she and her daughter-in-law remained at home. Although Li Sheng had just returned from driving, as usual, he went to help his father in the fields. Li Xihua was quite busy as well; since she had been appointed women’s team leader, she had to shoulder that responsibility and take her work seriously. As her sister-in-law said, “Big sister, you need to show the other women in the team that not all divorced women are useless. You can be the women’s team leader and do a great job, creating more benefits for the women.”

Tang Xin’s enthusiasm encouraged Li Xihua. With her family’s support to this extent, if she herself were to become timid and let outsiders look down on her, would that be fair to those who cared for her? In truth, Li Xihua harbored a bit of selfishness—she wanted that person to see that she was not worthless. She had initiated the divorce; she was not cast out.

When Li Sheng returned home, he found that his eldest sister had also gone back to her parents’ house and planned to live there permanently. Li Sheng had never felt the desire to chat casually with any woman other than his wife, not even his own mother or elder sister. He merely smiled and said, “Big sister, welcome home.” Yet that faint smile completely reassured Li Xihua because she knew it meant her younger brother accepted her.

From then on, she truly lived only as a member of the Li family; the past was no longer her concern.

After breakfast, Fang and Tang Xin were idle and bored. Originally, Fang was watching her daughter-in-law ride a bicycle. Unexpectedly, her daughter-in-law told her to learn to ride as well. “Mother, once you learn to ride, you can go to the commune to cut meat.”

Those words touched Fang deeply. She generally disliked going out alone, fearing gossip, but riding a bicycle on the road was different. Once she could ride, she could go to the commune to buy meat and fish to cook all kinds of delicious dishes her daughter-in-law liked.

Thus, Tang Xin’s words sparked Fang’s enthusiasm to learn and she decided to learn riding from her daughter-in-law.

Learning to ride a bicycle can be difficult for some people; no matter how they try, they just cannot get it. But once you grasp the essentials and pedal steadily, it becomes easy. Sure enough, after learning all morning, Fang finally learned to ride.

Several women from the team stood nearby. They usually had little interaction with Fang but were curious to see the Li family’s mother-in-law and daughter-in-law practicing riding together. After all, bicycles were rare in the entire Harvest Brigade, especially for women, so they watched with interest.

Tang Xin was very generous and even invited those women to learn riding together, saying that if the Li family’s bicycle was not in use, they could borrow it. This delighted the women.

If it had been someone else, they might have thought it was mere politeness, but everyone knew the Li family’s daughter-in-law was truly generous. So they all learned to ride with Fang, taking turns, while others chatted together.

At that moment, naturally, no one wanted to leave Fang out. As they talked, the women found chatting with her delightful. Fang not only learned to ride but also made several good friends and even arranged to sew clothes, patch shoes, warm themselves by the fire in winter, and cool off together in summer.

Tang Xin was very pleased. She knew the loneliness her mother-in-law had endured. Although the Li family had many children, they would grow up and live their own lives; parents should also have their own social circles.

Previously, her mother-in-law stayed almost all day inside, with hardly any friends outside the family. She was not a refined lady confined by old customs but avoided social contact due to her humble background and fear of gossip. Tang Xin felt that this kind of life was not right.

She had thought about encouraging her mother-in-law to go out more and see the world, but before she could act, today turned out to be an unexpected gain.

Just a few days after Li Sheng’s return, Tang Xin received a letter and a package from the provincial capital. There was also a remittance slip—her second article had been accepted for publication.

This time it took less effort, and the payment was fifty cents more than last time. Tang Xin was confident in her writing skills and vocabulary. Previously, she was unfamiliar with the literary style of the era and knew that the authorities strictly regulated writing, so she was very cautious. The second time was easier; she was more skilled and believed she could write many better pieces in the future.

Unable to pursue writing as a full-time career, she could treat it as a side job to earn some pocket money and supplement the family income, which was very good.

Naturally, having received payment again, Tang Xin became the subject of her mother-in-law’s enthusiastic praise. At home, she was held up as an example to encourage the children to study hard. Outside, thanks to the bicycle, more and more women came to visit Fang.

When chatting with others, Fang casually mentioned that her daughter-in-law had another article published in the provincial newspaper and had earned six yuan and fifty cents—fifty cents more than last time.

Such a small piece of writing earning so much money showed her daughter-in-law’s talent.

Of course, she said this in front of Li Erniang and others, deliberately so. Those annoying women had often spoken ill of her daughter-in-law, accusing her of laziness and sleeping until noon without helping in the fields.

Now Fang could confidently reply that everyone had their own role. Her daughter-in-law was born to be a lady; she didn’t need to rise early and work in the fields. Tang Xin was a cultured writer who could earn money sitting at home.

Seeing Fang’s proud expression, Li Erniang was almost fuming with rage. She was envious too—could it really be that easy to earn several yuan just by writing a few words?

Tang Xin, of course, was unaware of all this. She generously shared the letters from the newspaper with her family. As for the other letter and package, those were her personal privacy and she couldn’t reveal them. The letter was from her mother, the package sent by her mother as well, with a few words added by her father in the last letter.

This time, she wondered if it would stir up any trouble.