After the Zhang Family left, the kids and Sun Baohai resumed dinner and ate with relish. After they finished eating dinner, Xiao Xi cleared the table as Sun Baohai bathed Qiqi and Xiao Yan. After Xiao Yan and Qiqi were cleaned up, Sun Baohai cleaned up Xiao Xu and Qiqi. After the kids were bathed and dressed comfortably, Sun Baohai went to teach them some more characters. After the kids learned they went out to play, then came back, and slept.
This became the new norm and routine for Sun Baohai, and another few days quickly went by. His shop was still doing fine and was now just stable. There were some copycats that emerged which took away some of his customers. He was a little worried, but he knew that the copycats did not taste like his since the makers were reluctant to use so much sugar to make jam, which is why most of his customers stuck with him. So his income was still very stable and he and the kid's life were pretty decent.
On the other side of the northern border, it was a very different story for Zhang Jinhai. After Zhang Jinhai learned what his kids were going through at the Zhangs he immediately agreed to the marriage and separation. Wan Meirong had been actively sending him updates about his kids, so he had written a little to his new wife.
After some years in the army, he finally had a stroke of luck and was promoted, so his life became a bit better. He wanted his kids to have the best life possible, so he did mind sending over more than half of his salary to them every month, but even after sending the money he was still very anxious. He knew that the letters would take about three days to get here, and he expected a letter from both Wan Meirong and his new wife. He knew Wan Meirong would tell him the truth about how his new wife was treating the kids. Right now he was in line with other soldiers, waiting for their names to be called to get their letters.
"Zhang Jinhai!" The letter carrier called.
"Right here!" Zhang Jinhai called before going to get his letters and walking back to his tent.
"Ohhhh, you got two letters in one go! You normally don't get letters that often, who is it from?" Le Ke, a tanned young man asked. He was what you would call a sworn brother to Zhang Jinhai, as they had been in many life-and-death situations together, and always tried to save one another.
"One is from my wife and the other is from my sister-in-law." Zhang Jinhai responded.
"Wife? I thought she ran away?" Le Ke asked. He knew how much that incident hurt his friend and how long it took for him to finally get over it. Matter of fact he probably would never get over his runaway wife if it wasn't for the fact that she took part in the abuse of his kids.
"I remarried," Zhang Jinhai responded. He knew what his friends were thinking about, and it was really true. He and his wife, Li Wen had married out of love. Even if she knew his position at home, she still decided to marry him. Though she started to change after giving birth to their first child, he still loved her very much. So his reaction when his wife sent him a letter of divorce was not so great.
He knew that he had no time for and she was practically a widow with four children, but he had overestimated their love and thought that his wife would wait for him to come back in a couple of months. Though he was devastated by the news, he still respected her choice and signed the divorce agreement. It wasn't until Wan Meirong sent him a letter that he finally knew the real reason behind their divorce.
It turned out that after she gave birth to their last child, Li Wen was no longer faithful. At first, it was just one affair, but then it turned into multiple affairs until she finally became the concubine of a landlord. When the landlord denied her request to bring the children, she did not hesitate to throw them to the Zhang family, knowing what they were capable of, just to become a concubine.
At first, he was devastated that the woman he loved was willing to become a concubine instead of staying as his lawful wife, but after he learned about what the kids went through at the Zhang house, and that Li Wen was aware of it, he was able to let go of her, and even start to resent her. But he knew before he got there many tears were spilled, and many cries were heard, and Le Ke was the one supporting him throughout it all.
"You remarried?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Le Ke jumped up and exclaimed.
"Precisely because of your reaction," Zhang Jinhai said as he chuckled, still opening the letters.
"I am just happy for you," Le Ke said with a pout as he stretched his neck to see the content of the letters. The first letter was from Sun Baohai.
Dear Jinhai,
I am Sun Baohai, your new wife and the stepmother of your children. I am nineteen years old, fully educated, and proficient and multiple arts. I have received the letter you sent me. My third sister-in-law delivered it to me and also explained everything I needed to know. I want to assure you that the money sent back is more than enough as I am also currently providing some income, so for now, just focus on living and coming back to the children, and also me, because I do not wish to be widowed at such a young age. Do not worry about the kids as I will take great care of them. They are all adorable and I am fond of them, so please really do focus on yourself. I will try and write you thrice a month if I can. Please take care of yourself.
Sincerely, Baohai
After reading the letter a small smile made its way to his face. He didn't know him but from his letter, he could tell that he was better than his ex-wife. Le Ke also made a small commotion about the letter after reading it.
"Jinhai, it seems like your wife is not bad ah! It looks like she even sent you something," Le Ke remarked as he pointed at the bulging package.
"It's not a she, it's a he. I married a ger," Zhang Jinhai corrected him.
"Yes, a young ger I might add, really an old cow eating tender grass," Le Ke snorted, before getting slapped in the head by Zhang Jinhai.
"It's only a five-year age difference," Zhang Jinhai said grumpily. He was only twenty-four, how did he suddenly turn into an old cow? Plus, from his wife's birth dates, Sun Baohai would turn twenty before he himself turned twenty-five, so he wasn't even older than him by a full five years.
"Bah! Just open the container to taste, the color looks appetizing," Le Ke said greedily. On the border, they rarely ate anything good. Their diet consisted of dry buns, cold gruel, coarse grains, rice, porridge, and other barely palatable food, sometimes if they were lucky some ladies traveling across the border would take a liking to them and give them some pastries, or they hunted an animal and could eat meat, but nonetheless, all these scenarios were extremely rare so this mixture in the jar was the most colorful thing he had seen in months.
"Ok wait," Zhang Jinhai was also greedy to taste it but there was a note attached to the back of the jar, and he wanted to read it first.
This is jam, I am currently selling it at our store, and it is very successful. It's made out of strawberries, and sugar. Put it on buns, in tea, or just eat a spoonful for energy. Next time I'll send something more practical but for now please have this.
After reading the note both Le Ke and Zhang Jinhai grabbed their spoon and took a spoonful of jam and ate it with a bun. They were shocked by how sweet the jam was. This was their first time tasting so much sugar since they came to the army. They couldn't help but take another spoonful and smear it on the bun and eat. This was the first time they didn't have to force the buns down their throat and actually enjoyed it.
"Le Ke, I know you have a big mouth, but you better not tell anybody if you want to continue eating this jam with me," Zhang Jinhai threatened. He had finally found some salvation, if Le Ke ran his mouth and he lost it, he would not go easy on him.
"I know you have a sweet tooth, but you didn't have to give me such a murderous look," Le Ke responded. No matter how buff and heroic his friend looked, he had one ultimate weakness: his sweet tooth. The only reason he kept some of his salaries was to buy rock sugar from traveling merchants. So the jam was really a life savior to him, plus his friend was willing to share with him, who was he to run his mouth?
"Whatever," Zhang Jinhai rolled his eyes, and opened the letter of Wan Meirong.
Hello Jinhai, I hope you are well. I went to check up on the kids and they seemed alright to me. Your new wife has been taking great care of them. He's very gentle and considerate towards them. From what I've seen the kids have been eating well and drinking well, so put your mind at ease. Stay safe.
Zhang Jinhai couldn't help but chuckle, his third sister-in-law was still so straightforward. But he also felt relieved knowing his kids were well taken care of. With that in mind, he got up and went to write a letter to his new wife.
Hello, Sun Baohai, I am Jinhai, twenty-four years old, and your husband. I am fully educated and currently hold the position of Chuangzhu in the armored division. Thank you for taking care of my kids, please tell them that their daddy misses them. How is Xiao Yu? He's still a baby so he might be grumpy but please be patient with him. Qiqi and Xiao Xi are very responsible but they also like to be spoiled, and Xiao Yan is just adorable, so please do take care of them for me. I hope for nothing but success in your shop. I promise to not widow you at such a young age. I will be back in about two months so please bear with the kids. Don't forget to take care of yourself. With the money I sent buy clothes and make-up, or whatever you want. I don't really know what to say anymore, but please take care of yourself.
After writing the letter, Zhang Jinhai copied Sun Baohai's style of how he made the envelope and put the letter inside, before giving it to the letter carrier, and then making his way to the food barrack to eat. Once again it was gruel, and Jinhai couldn't help but lament.
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