Chapter 41

“Shuoyin, after we get married, I won’t make you angry. I won’t argue with you.” Shen Guannan was desperate to survive.

Lin Shuoyin, “Let’s not talk about that now. I want to know how many children we’re going to have after we get married?”

Shen Guannan smiled, “How many do you want?”

“Having children is a big deal, but we can’t not have them. It’s like we’re infertile. To prove that we’re fertile, I think one is enough, regardless of gender.” Lin Shuoyin thought about it carefully and said.

Shen Guannan heard this, “Then I’ll listen to you. One.”

Lin Shuoyin was a little worried, “Who will take care of our child when we have one? My family definitely won’t be able to.”

Shen Guannan sighed, “My parents probably won’t be able to help either. At most, they can come over and take care of me during my confinement. They both have jobs.”

He was being honest. If he was in the capital, his parents might be able to help. But he was in Inner Mongolia, so they couldn’t.

Lin Shuoyin, “Then will we send our child to daycare?” The military base has daycare. They have daycare workers, who are military wives who came with their husbands.

Because besides military wives who came with their husbands, there are also people like them, art troupe members who married officers. Both of them have jobs, and their families can’t help, so their children have to go to daycare.

Daycare now is different from the daycare and kindergartens of the future. There’s no abuse of children, so we can rest assured about that.

Shen Guannan held her hand, “Wife, don’t worry about that yet. I calculated that my mom will retire soon, next year or the year after. We should be able to make it in time.”

“We’ll ask my mom to come over and take care of the child for a few months, and then we’ll send them to daycare.”

He then laughed, “Our top priority is to get married first. Then we can have children.”

This made even the thick-skinned Lin Shuoyin blush. She pulled her hand away, “Go away.” She turned her head away from him.

It was strange, his wife was actually blushing. Shen Guannan’s voice was soft, “Okay, okay, yours, yours. I’m yours.”

Lin Shuoyin, “I wonder if the educated youth can leave their assigned rural areas. Jian She told me before that he would take care of our child. He said we just need to provide him with food and housing.”

“He should be able to take leave.”

“Wife, don’t worry about taking care of the child. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. There will always be a way.” Shen Guannan held her hand.

Lin Shuoyin, “Yeah, yeah. Did you eat?”

Shen Guannan, “No, I came to find you right after work.”

Lin Shuoyin, “What’s the rush? I’m not going anywhere. You can come over after you eat.”

“I missed you. We haven’t seen each other in days.”

Even if they saw each other every day, Shen Guannan felt like he would still miss her. He was completely smitten with this girl.

He didn’t know that people could feel this way before. He missed her all the time, he couldn’t stop. He felt like he was doomed. If she didn’t want him, he didn’t know how he would live.

If she wasn’t in his life, his life would have no meaning, it would be dull, boring.

Lin Shuoyin, “Now you’ve seen me.”

Shen Guannan, “I miss you even after seeing you.”

He wanted to hold her in his arms right now… but he couldn’t.

“Shuoyin, we need to get married soon.”

Lin Shuoyin, “Let’s get married. We’ll get the marriage license when we get back from home.”

Shen Guannan pleaded, “Can we get the marriage license as soon as our marriage report is approved?”

Lin Shuoyin, “Aren’t you going to take me to meet your parents?”

“What if they don’t approve of our marriage?”

Shen Guannan, “How could they? Besides, we’re the ones who will be living our lives after marriage, not our parents. It’s fine as long as we’re happy.”

He was in his twenties. He should be able to make decisions about his own life. He shouldn’t be indecisive and ask his parents for everything. Wasn’t that like a child who hadn’t been weaned yet?

He wasn’t that kind of person.

Lin Shuoyin, “Okay then.”

Shen Guannan, “Then we’ll get the marriage license after the report is approved.”

“Okay. I feel like you’re in a hurry.”

Lin Shuoyin reached out and pinched Shen Guannan’s waist. She didn’t pinch any flesh. Shen Guannan held her hand and laughed, “Wife, pinch somewhere else. I don’t have any flesh on my waist.”

“I won’t pinch anymore.”

“Okay, go eat. Don’t starve yourself.”

Shen Guannan, “Okay, I’ll come find you again after work tonight.”

“Okay.”

Shen Guannan left reluctantly. Lin Shuoyin carried a bag of delicious food back to the cafeteria. Most people had already finished eating.

Only the three from the dormitory were waiting.

“You’re back.” “Your Shen Battalion Commander bought you more delicious food?” Sa Ren was truly envious.

How come she found such a good boyfriend? The one she found put a green hat on her. It was so unfair.

Li Jin Yue, “Shuoyin, how do you find a boyfriend like Shen Battalion Commander?”

Su Xiang Wei sighed, “It’s a bit difficult. Most men aren’t willing to spend money on you before marriage.”

Unlike Shen Battalion Commander, he bought her watches, leather shoes, malt milk, and powdered milk. She was thinking, Shen Battalion Commander must have spent at least 150 yuan on Shuoyin since they started dating.

Sa Ren, “Shuoyin, are you still going to eat? It’s all cold.”

Lin Shuoyin, “I’m eating.” She couldn’t waste food.

“When we get back to the dormitory, I’ll tell you something.”

The three of them, “Okay.”

Lin Shuoyin finished her food quickly. The four of them returned to the dormitory.

Sa Ren, “Shuoyin, what do you want to tell us?”

Lin Shuoyin, “Shen Guannan said he submitted our marriage report. If things go well, we should have the results by mid-next month.”

“Then what? He wants to get the marriage license with me as soon as our marriage report is approved.”

The three of them listened, “Getting the marriage license is fine. It’s been almost two months since you two started dating.”

Su Xiang Wei, “Did he say how much dowry he’s giving you?”

Lin Shuoyin, “One thousand. He said he’s giving me one thousand.”

“One thousand!”

The three of them gasped.

Sa Ren, “Shuoyin, get married. A man like Shen Battalion Commander is a rare find. We should get him before it’s too late.”

Lin Shuoyin looked at Su Xiang Wei and Li Jin Yue. The two of them said,

“We agree with Sa Ren. Get married quickly.”

“A man who’s willing to spend money on you is not bad.”

“By the way, what’s his family like? Are they well-off?”

From all angles, Shen Battalion Commander could afford to give a thousand yuan as a dowry, so his family must be pretty well-off. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to afford that much.

After all, if his family wasn’t well-off, Shen Battalion Commander wouldn’t be able to save his allowance. He probably would have sent it all home.

Shen Guannan had told Lin Shuoyin about his family.

Lin Shuoyin, “His father is a middle school teacher. He teaches Chinese. His mother is a saleswoman at the department store. His older sister and brother-in-law are both workers at the cannery. His older brother and sister-in-law work at the state-owned restaurant. His older brother is a chef, and his sister-in-law is a waitress. His younger sister graduated from high school this year.”

“There are six people in their family, four children.”

The three in the dormitory listened, “Not bad. They’re well-off. They all have jobs.”

Lin Shuoyin, “Their family is indeed well-off.”