Chapter 42 Car Crash

Chapter 42 Car Accident

After Wu Guifen was fired, the Popsicle Team returned to its usual busy routine.

The team members cooperated more and more seamlessly, and their quitting time was even moved up from 6 p.m. to 4 p.m.

This was because the food factory had an unwritten rule: as long as the team completed the tasks assigned by the production team leader—no matter how it was done, as long as the work was delivered with quality and quantity assured—no one would say anything even if they clocked out in the morning.

So, when the Popsicle Team finished work at 4 p.m., aside from earning envious glances from other teams, everything else was fine.

Foreman Lin Wei came to the team several times to discuss increasing the daily production target, but Mother Cui always found various excuses to shut him down.

"We're not a model worker team. Want us to work overtime? In your dreams."

Cui Jun repeated to Xie Xinyi and the others what he had just said to Lin Wei, "He even asked me to persuade everyone to agree to raise the daily output from one thousand to twelve hundred units?"

"Hmph!"

The more Cui Jun spoke, the angrier he got, and he applied extra force when operating the cooling machine.

This was clearly picking on the diligent workers. Before, when they knew full well that the team was understaffed, they still imposed a daily production target of one thousand. Now that the team had gotten into their groove and was finishing work early, they wanted to increase the target again.

Being pressured and suppressed like this, it was no wonder Mother Cui was so livid.

Ms. Liu spared a hand and patted Cui Jun’s shoulder to comfort him. Xiao Jiang also took advantage of the ice cream still cooling to come over and butter up Cui Jun, "It has to be our Mama, daring to stand up to Lin Wei like that."

Xie Xinyi also laughed and chimed in, "Exactly, our Mama is so formidable."

Big Chen, amused by her bald-faced lie, rarely smiled. After pouring the chocolate he was holding into the measuring container, he suddenly remarked, "I actually think we really can increase the output to twelve hundred."

Xie Xinyi: "......"

Indeed, the world of model workers was beyond the comprehension of underachievers like them.

Lin Wei’s desire to exploit them remained unfulfilled by the end of July.

Even though the Dollhead ice cream was already out of stock, the factory management still didn’t say anything.

The Popsicle Team members continued to clock off at 4 p.m. as usual. Xie Xinyi, returning home early, became a frequent visitor to Grandma Gu’s garden plot.

"Stick this wooden strip into the soil in the last row, then tie it with string to this main stem..."

Grandma Gu, dressed in simple clothes with her pants legs rolled up high, was tending to vegetable seedlings in her hands while directing Xie Xinyi to insert the wooden strip into the soil.

Xie Xinyi moved skillfully and with experience, even knowing clearly how far apart the wooden strips should be. Anyone unaware might think she had done this work before, otherwise how could she be so familiar with it?

During this time, she had been staying in the vegetable garden, observing the old lady’s wisdom. After all the work, she hadn’t learned much about growing vegetables, but she had learned many life lessons.

She accepted teachings humbly and cooperated with Grandma Gu more and more seamlessly.

The two spent one day weeding the vegetable garden, another two days tidying up the overgrown winter melon vines. After picking ripe tomatoes and putting them in the refrigerator, they picked a large handful of green peppers and gave them to the Zhang family next door.

Today, their task was to set up trellises for the long beans, and they had to finish before mealtime. Xie Xinyi didn’t dare relax at all, working at full tilt. Just as she finally secured the first wooden strip to the main pole, someone suddenly stumbled into the yard.

"Excuse me, is this Gu Haoyi’s home?"

Xie Xinyi and Grandma Gu turned their heads at the sound and saw a young man in military uniform standing in the yard, looking at them anxiously. Grandma Gu quickly replied, "Yes, this is Gu Haoyi’s home. I am his mother. Comrade, what is the matter?"

"He was in a car accident. You need to get to City No. 1 Hospital right away!"

What?

A car accident?

Grandma Gu's sickle clattered to the ground with a loud clang. Her ears rang, her legs went weak, and she swayed unsteadily, nearly collapsed backward. Luckily, Xie Xinyi was right beside her and quickly stepped forward to support her. "Grandma, are you okay?"

Leaning against Xie Xinyi, it took Grandma Gu a long moment to recover from her shock.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

Though she claimed to be okay, her face was deathly pale from fright.

She urged Xie Xinyi to quickly go next door and get Wen Shuhua, and also asked Zhang Juan to call Gu Yu and Gu Ying at their workplaces to inform them. Once everything was arranged, they hurriedly made their way to City No. 1 Hospital.

Gu Haoyi had left for Tanjia Village half a month ago to assist in flood relief efforts. Heavy rain had been pouring for days in the mountains, and when the flood struck, the villagers hadn’t had time to evacuate, leaving them all trapped in the village.

Upon receiving the news, the troops rushed to the scene immediately, with Gu Haoyi serving as the overall commander. Zhang Xin was also part of the rescue team.

The young soldier who came to inform them was a new recruit under Zhang Xin, having just enlisted this year. According to him, the flood situation in Tanjia Village was largely under control by the fifth day of Gu Haoyi’s team’s arrival.

A few days prior, they had led the villagers to safety and helped repair the village’s infrastructure. They were supposed to head back yesterday as planned, but unexpectedly received another rescue mission for a village downstream.

Gu Haoyi led the main force to the affected village overnight. Just as they were about to arrive, they encountered a landslide along the way.

After days of heavy rain, the mountain slopes were already saturated. Gu Haoyi, anticipating such a risk, had driven at the front of the convoy. However...

"Fortunately, the division commander reacted quickly and got out of the vehicle just before the mud and rocks came crashing down. But it all happened too fast—he still got hit in the leg by a falling rock."

He wasn’t seriously injured, aside from his leg.

Xie Xinyi finally let out a sigh of relief after anxiously listening to the soldier’s account.

The original host’s father had lost his life during a flood relief mission. Ever since Gu Yu mentioned that Gu Haoyi was going to Tanjia Village for disaster relief, Xie Xinyi had been worried.

Although Gu Haoyi wasn’t very satisfied with her as his daughter-in-law and hadn’t fulfilled his responsibilities as a father to Gu Yu and Gu Ying, he was truly a dedicated leader in his work.

Grandma Gu had previously shared stories of Gu Haoyi’s heroic deeds, saying he was even more driven than Old Mr. Gu in his youth. Not only had he led troops to many victories, but he was also a brave savior in times of crisis. Whenever people needed rescuing, Gu Haoyi was always the first to step up.

When Xie Xinyi had visited Wen Shuhua’s room before, she had also unintentionally seen many of Gu Haoyi’s commendation medals. And from this incident, it was clear that Gu Haoyi was indeed a very responsible person when it came to his work.

Even though Gu Haoyi lacked responsibility toward his family, Xie Xinyi still didn’t want Gu Yu to lose his father like she had.

From the day Gu Haoyi left on his mission, Xie Xinyi had been worried. Gu Yu was worried too—though he pretended not to care on the surface, his restless tossing and turning at night gave him away.

The man wasn’t as cold-hearted as he appeared.

When Xie Xinyi first arrived at the Gu family, Wen Shuhua had told her this, and after spending so much time with Gu Yu, Xie Xinyi had come to understand it well.

She guessed that, like her, Gu Yu was also carrying a heavy heart. Lately, she had avoided joking around with him.

She only brought up trivial matters, careful not to let Gu Yu—or herself—dwell on the situation.

Even so, and even though this wasn’t Gu Haoyi’s first mission, the tragedy of the original host’s father always lingered in Xie Xinyi’s mind, keeping her on edge.

She had been restless for days, and in the end, something still went wrong.

Xie Xinyi followed Grandma Gu, who was hurrying along, to the hospital room. After learning the general situation from the young soldier, Grandma Gu’s complexion gradually returned to normal.

But she'd only recovered slightly; after all, her son was the one lying injured in the hospital bed—if she wasn’t worried, who else would be?

Xie Xinyi supported Grandma Gu as they walked toward the ward, while Wen Shuhua followed behind, trying to calm her pounding heart.

When they arrived at the ward, the nurse had just finished bandaging up Gu Haoyi.

Grandma Gu first stood at the door, carefully examining her son from head to toe. Only after confirming that he only had a cast on his right foot did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness... thank goodness.

She took a deep breath and, with Xie Xinyi’s support, slowly walked in.

"You... I... you scared me to death!"

Wen Shuhua followed them in, her eyes already filled with tears. Seeing Gu Haoyi’s right leg elevated, she couldn’t hold back anymore, and tears poured down her face.

"Before you left, I told you over and over to be careful, to be careful—why didn’t you listen?"

She went to the bedside, carefully examined Gu Haoyi’s injured right leg, wiped away her tears, and then began scolding him.

"I’m not dead yet, what are you crying for?"

Gu Haoyi lay on the bed, looking unconcerned.

As a man with thick skin, this kind of injury was nothing to him—he couldn’t understand why the woman was crying. At her age, she should know better; wasn’t she afraid of being laughed at by others?

He cleared his throat lightly toward the softly sobbing Wen Shuhua, and when she looked over, he signaled with his eyes that an old woman and a young woman were standing behind her, watching them.

Wen Shuhua quickly wiped her tears and made room at the bedside for Grandma Gu.

"Mom, please sit down."

Xie Xinyi helped Grandma Gu sit on the stool by the bed. The old lady didn’t say a word, just stared intently at her son.

Gu Haoyi knew his mother was angry.

"Mom, I’m fine. It’s just a minor injury. I’ll be out of the hospital in a few days."

He forced a smile and tried to reassure his mother, even saying that such a minor injury wasn’t worth staying in the hospital for. "Those new guys were so scared they insisted on bringing me here."

Gu Haoyi tried to make the incident sound as light as possible, not mentioning a word about the excruciating pain he felt when the large rock crushed his leg.

He laughed off the injury, and seeing that Grandma Gu was still staring at him silently, he cheerfully changed the subject to the dumb mistakes made by the new recruits.

"...I told him to herd the pig raised by the Tanjia Village committee to another village committee ten miles away, but he ended up driving it into a ditch. The recruit and the pig started fighting in the ditch, and in the end, I had to send two people to rescue him. Can you believe these new recruits...?"

Gu Haoyi glanced at the young man standing by the door and nodded toward him for Grandma Gu to look. "He’s one of Zhang Xin’s new recruits. He looks smart, but who would’ve thought he’d be such a dummy?"

He tried to divert his mother’s attention, rambling on about various topics, but Grandma Gu wasn’t fooled.

She didn’t even glance where he indicated and, after a long silence, slowly said, "This time, just focus on getting better. Don’t think about threatening the doctor into signing your discharge papers in a few days."

Threatening the doctor, signing discharge papers.

Grandma Gu said it so casually—it seemed this wasn’t the first time Gu Haoyi had done something like this.

Who would’ve thought that someone who usually seemed so proper could be so rebellious in private?

Xie Xinyi glanced at the man nodding obediently and agreeing, finally realizing who the two Gu siblings, who always insisted they wouldn’t marry, took after.

"Why would I look for a doctor? I’d rather avoid them."

Gu Haoyi denied ever doing such a thing, but young ginger is no match for old ginger. Seeing that her son wasn’t listening, Grandma Gu cut off his escape route with one sentence.

"I don’t care who you’re avoiding. From now on, Shuhua will bring you meals every day. Hospital food isn’t good for your recovery."

With that one sentence, she cut off all of Gu Haoyi’s options, seeing through his little scheme and crushing any thought of leaving the hospital early.

She even assigned a watchdog—now, even if he wanted to escape, he’d have to think twice.

Family pressure made him shut up with an awkward smile. Grandma Gu stood up and asked Xie Xinyi to accompany her to the doctor’s office to get more details, while Wen Shuhua stayed behind to take care of Gu Haoyi.

"It’s a bone fracture. He needs to rest well."

In the doctor’s office, Grandma Gu listened carefully to the doctor’s instructions. Xie Xinyi waited by the door, wondering if she should go in too, when she heard a nurse call out from down the crowded hallway.

"Li Xiaofang, is Li Xiaofang here?"

In this era, hospitals didn’t have electronic number systems like in the future. Patients sat on long benches, waiting without moving until their names were called.

At first, Xie Xinyi didn’t pay much attention to the call, but when she looked up and saw two familiar figures, it suddenly clicked.

Li Xiaofang!

Lijia Village, Xiaofang...

Memories surfaced—the mailing slip at the post office with the name "Xiaofang" and the calls of "Fushun ge" in front of the department store. Xie Xinyi fixed her gaze on the two figures.

An older woman supporting a young girl. The older woman looked just as she had when Xie Xinyi saw her at Xiao Jiang’s house: flowery blouse, black pants, mud on her shoes, and a basket in hand. Hearing her name called, she pushed through the crowd, cursing and shoving without regard for others.

She was just as crude and unreasonable as before. The only difference was the scowling face that usually looked like everyone owed her money was now beaming with joy.

"Move aside, everyone! Can’t you see there’s a pregnant woman here? What are you all standing around for?"

She shouted at the crowd in front of her, and Xie Xinyi turned her attention to the girl behind Shang’s mother.

The young woman was just as delicate and timid as before. One hand held onto Shang’s mother’s clothes, the other gently protecting her abdomen. She stood with a slightly arched back and her feet splayed, playing the part of a pregnant woman perfectly. Even if Shang’s mother hadn’t shouted, Xie Xinyi would have noticed something different about her.

That’s right—the woman named Xiaofang... was pregnant!

She wore a loose linen dress, was seeing an obstetrician, and was accompanied by Shang Fushun’s mother, who was desperate for a grandson.

A terrifying suspicion crossed Xie Xinyi’s mind.

She stared intently at the girl’s now visible baby bump, her eyes darkening.

After returning from the hospital, she couldn’t stop thinking about it, so much so that she didn’t even respond when Gu Yu called her name several times.

"What’s wrong? Is the trouble not completely resolved?"

"Ah...?"

Xie Xinyi heard Gu Yu’s words, but she didn’t understand what he meant.

Confused by his question that seemed to come out of nowhere, she looked at him blankly. "What trouble?"

Seeing that Gu Yu remained silent and only sighed softly, she finally realized what he was referring to.

The matter of Wu Guifen, she had previously made a bet with Gu Ying about how large the price difference would be, and she was sure she hadn’t mentioned it to Gu Yu.

She looked at the man who was staring unblinkingly at her.

It seemed Gu Ying, that blabbermouth, couldn’t resist spilling the beans again.

Xie Xinyi chuckled helplessly, and patted her hands together, boasting, “Just kidding—when Xie the expert steps in, there’s no trouble that can’t be solved.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she noticed the man still staring at her with an intense gaze, neither speaking nor moving.

Did he not believe her?

Xie Xinyi’s competitive streak was piqued. She immediately explained in detail how she had identified the suspect, how she had handled the situation, and how she had resolved the issue with a firm yet tactful approach. In the end, she flashed him a triumphant smile, as if to say, “Well? Am I impressive? Hurry up and praise me.”

“Why didn’t you ask me for help?”

“???”

The man’s out-of-the-blue question took Xie Xinyi aback.

“You were being bullied. Why didn’t you come to me for help?”

Not only had she not sought his help, but she hadn’t even told him about it.

Xie Xinyi was at a loss for words, unsure how to respond.

Why hadn’t she told Gu Yu? Could she have told him?

But weren’t they supposed to each handle their own duties and not interfere with each other? Moreover, in the book, Xie Tingting had been disliked and ultimately divorced precisely because she relied on men for everything. So why was he now blaming her for not telling him anything?

Xie Xinyi was confused, but since Gu Yu had asked, she could only explain honestly: “I could handle this matter myself. Telling everyone would only make them worry unnecessarily. There was no need… right?”

“But we’re a married couple.”

Gu Yu continued to stare at her intently. Though he spoke, his voice was heavy.

Xie Xinyi felt a headache brewing. Well, he and Xie Tingting had been a married couple too, and they still ended up divorced.

“A married couple isn’t the same as inseparable confidantes. Who says we have to rely on each other for everything or vent our frustrations to one another? You keep things from me too—it’s not like you tell me everything either.”

If you don’t tell me everything, why should I have to tell you everything?

Xie Xinyi pushed back, and Gu Yu’s expression grew even sterner.

“Who did you say you tell everything to?” He frowned at Xie Xinyi. “And who is this ‘best friend’?”

Clearly, Gu Yu was unfamiliar with modern terms. Judging by his puzzled expression and his use of the word “again,” he seemed to think “best friend” referred to a specific person, and possibly even a rival.

This man’s way his mind worked was odd. Xie Xinyi didn’t feel like engaging with him and simply brushed it off with, “A colleague from the factory,” before falling silent.

Gu Yu also fell into a prolonged silence after that.

After finishing washing up, the two lay in bed without exchanging another word.

As the room grew quiet, Xie Xinyi’s thoughts returned to Li Xiaofang’s pregnancy.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, she debated whether or not to tell Xiao Jiang about it. The man lying beside her remained still for a long time. Just as she thought he had fallen asleep, he suddenly blurted out.

“That person you call a ‘best friend’—it must be a woman, right?”

Xie Xinyi: “……”

She ignored him, Xie Xinyi spent the night lost in thought and eventually decided to tell Xiao Jiang about the matter.

Her hesitation had stemmed from the fear of being mistaken. What if things weren’t as she thought, and she ended up stirring up drama for the couple?

Moreover, Gu Yu was right—she wasn’t Xiao Jiang and didn’t know how she would feel. What if Xiao Jiang preferred to remain in blissful ignorance?

Since she couldn’t even figure out her own marital issues, she had no desire to meddle in someone else’s affairs.

So, on the two previous occasions when she had witnessed Shang Fushun’s strange behavior and actions, she had reined in her urge to expose the scumbag.

But now that woman was pregnant!

Pregnant!

When she first discovered the pregnancy, Xie Xinyi had her doubts. Without a medical report, she couldn’t be sure the child was Shang Fushun’s.

But as she lay in bed recalling the scene at the hospital—especially how Shang Fushun’s mother had fussed over her protectively around the woman—it suddenly clicked.

Xiao Jiang had been married for years without giving the Shang family a child, and Xie Xinyi knew how much grief that had put on Shang’s mother.

Logically, someone as harsh as Shang’s mother would have rolled her eyes at the sight of another woman flaunting her pregnancy. Instead, she had been grinning from ear to ear, treating the woman like a precious treasure.

There was only one explanation for Shang’s mother’s behavior: Li Xiaofang was carrying their grandchild.

Previously, sending gifts and acting intimately had only suggested Shang Fushun might be straying. But now, with Li Xiaofang pregnant, the affair was undeniable. If Xie Xinyi did nothing, it would be unjustifiable.

Moreover, based on the incident at the department store, it was clear Li Xiaofang knew Shang Fushun was married.

Knowing he had a wife yet still pursuing him—wasn’t that knowingly being the other woman?

And Shang’s mother—how could she enable her son’s shameless actions, regardless of the state of his marriage?

It was the 1970s, yet the obsession with carrying on the family line persisted. If the wife couldn’t bear children, they sought someone else—as if they were royalty with a fortune to inherit.

Xie Xinyi despised cheaters, especially when the victim was Xiao Jiang.

When Xie Xinyi first arrived at the food factory, everyone had been hostile toward her. Only Xiao Jiang had had her back, trusted her, and always had her back.

Xiao Jiang was kind and honest, but that didn’t make it okay for others to walk all over her.

So what if she hadn’t had a child? Many couples go years without children, and it wasn’t necessarily Xiao Jiang’s fault.

If Shang Fushun had any conscience, he should have gone with Xiao Jiang for a proper medical check-up. If that didn’t work, they could have tried old wives’ tales or superstitious rituals. He should never have betrayed Xiao Jiang by getting involved with another woman and siring a child.

Since Shang Fushun and his mother were so heartless, Xie Xinyi saw no reason to keep this from Xiao Jiang.