[Period setting + countryside + one woman, two men + rivalry for her affections + everyday family life + building a fortune]
A farming family in Northeast China, 1977.
Xu Xiaoqin married a good man: literate, gentle, and never one to argue with her.
But he fell ill and couldn't do any heavy work. Xu Xiaoqin had to support their family of four all by herself, heading to the fields at three in the morning and working until seven at night. She planted rice until she fainted in the paddy.
She was still paying off last year's thirty-yuan debt, with her life on the line.
Jiang He couldn't bear to see her suffer. “Find someone to help with the grain.”
Xu Xiaoqin angrily slapped the kang. “Are you even a man?!”
But when Jiang He went to the oil mill, the strapping young man, over six feet tall, had already packed his bags before Jiang He could even open his mouth.
He said only one thing: “I'll be the man of your household.”
From then on, Lu Qingtian hauled water before dawn, pressed oil in the morning, planted rice in the afternoon, chopped wood, and repaired the house.
He earned twenty-four work points a day.
The family brought home white flour, and the children got to eat steamed buns.
Xu Xiaoqin asked him what he was after.
What could he be after?
He wanted the buns she made, so soft and fragrant. He wanted the moment her fair fingertips pressed against his skin as she held his wrist to teach him how to plant rice.
He wanted the way she scratched at his heart like a little cat.
“I want to work for you.”
“Now that I'm here, you don't have to do it all alone.”
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