The Pampered Darling in the Sixties

Luo An was a ge'er who grew up relying on his older sister, Luo Ning. When Luo An was ten, his sister married into the Zheng family in the eastern part of the village, and Luo An went with her to live at the Zhengs' home.

Luo An had a sweet mouth and looked like a little pink dumpling. Everyone in the Zheng family liked him.

Everyone except the Zhengs' second son, Zheng Weiguo.

Zheng Weiguo served in the army away from home. Every time he came back, he'd compete with Luo An for the family's affection. Luo An resented him and secretly hoped Zheng Weiguo would serve in the army forever, preferably never coming back.

But things didn't go as Luo An hoped. When he turned eighteen, his sister and mother-in-law worried that someone else's pig might bully their precious cabbage, Luo An, so they decided to have their own pig, Zheng Weiguo, root him up instead.

Zheng Weiguo was tall and broad, all muscle, and whenever he stood in front of Luo An, he scared him half to death. But Luo An didn't want to be separated from his sister, so he reluctantly agreed.

*

Zheng Weiguo first saw Luo An at his older brother's wedding. Luo An timidly hid behind his new sister-in-law, his big eyes full of unease as he peeked at everyone.

Zheng Weiguo served in the army away from home, and only got a leave to visit his family once every year or two. By the time he saw Luo An again, the boy had become a completely different person. Luo An clung to Zheng Weiguo's mother's arm, calling her "Mother-in-law" over and over, and drawing all her attention. Then, when no one was looking, he stuck his tongue out at Zheng Weiguo.

After learning Zheng Weiguo got an allowance, Luo An changed his tune. Every day, he followed him around, sweetly calling him "Brother" this and "Brother" that. As soon as he'd coaxed all the food coupons out of Zheng Weiguo's hands, he immediately turned his back on him.

Zheng Weiguo: ...

Luo An was spoiled, lazy, and messy. If he married into another family, they'd surely make his life miserable. So when his sister-in-law started looking for a husband for him, Zheng Weiguo let his family know, quite casually, that Luo An was like that.

The family quickly settled on their marriage.

Luo An was spoiled, lazy, and messy. Taking advantage of how much the family adored him, he was often arrogant and bossy toward Zheng Weiguo, who couldn't stand him. After the wedding, Zheng Weiguo ignored the whole family's objections and brought Luo An to live with him at the military base.

*

Married life was nothing like Luo An had imagined. He couldn't get used to the island at all, and he had to write to his family every day. But he couldn't read or write, so he had to ask Zheng Weiguo to write his letters for him.

Luo An counted the words Zheng Weiguo had written and glared at him. "Why doesn't the word count add up?"

Zheng Weiguo folded the paper and brushed him off. "Because there are some characters I don't know how to write either."

Luo An put himself in Zheng Weiguo's shoes. They were both from humble farming families, so it was only natural that Zheng Weiguo didn't know every character. "Then next time, I'll ask Political Commissar Wang."

Zheng Weiguo pinched Luo An's mouth and bumped his forehead against Luo An's. "You dare!"

*

Luo An had been spoiled into developing all sorts of bad habits. Zheng Weiguo resolved to break him of his unhygienic ways.

That night, Luo An crawled into Zheng Weiguo's arms without brushing his teeth, washing his feet, or taking a bath. Zheng Weiguo grabbed him by the back of the neck and started lecturing him. But for every one thing he said, Luo An argued back ten times. Then Luo An raised his voice and said, "Today, I should be the one getting mad. Let's start over!"

"Why did you change my letter without asking?! You changed everything to say I like it here! Zheng Weiguo, you've gone too far! I'm divorcing you!"

"I--ugh--"

*

News that Luo An was pregnant and his mother-in-law was coming to help with the birth spread across the island. Everyone thought Luo An was in for a hard time. After all, what mother-in-law could put up with such a fussy ge'er?

Later, everyone finally found out where Luo An had picked up all those spoiled habits.

"Weiguo, is that really your mother? Are you sure she isn't your mother-in-law?"

Zheng Weiguo was busy finding sour apricots for Luo An. He shot the speaker a look. "Didn't you say there were sour apricots here? Luo An has been throwing up badly these last few days, and that's all he wants to eat."

"You... Forget it. I shouldn't have said anything."

Theme: Even barren soil can produce delicate flowers.