Chapter 36 — This Son-in-Law Is Not Bad

Feng Mian’s butt was sore from riding on the back of the motorbike, her legs trembling as she got off.

Thankfully, they were finally back.

“Feng Mian, you’re finally back,” Lu Lan said eagerly. She had been waiting for them. Lunch had already passed, and they still hadn’t returned. She was worried something had gone wrong.

“Lan Jie, thank you.”

Although it was a marriage of convenience, they had invited some familiar guests.

There were so many things to do during the day that they could only invite people for dinner.

Lu Lan brought her daughter to help, assisting Feng Mian with preparing the ingredients.

She had already taken out all the ingredients needed; Feng Mian just needed to handle them.

Gu Yuelin was chopping firewood at the back door by the woodshed. After chopping some, he noticed the water in the jar was running low.

He quickly put down the axe and went to fetch more water.

After he left, Lu Lan gently nudged Feng Mian’s arm and whispered, “I think this young man, although quiet, is hardworking and attentive. See, when he arrived, he first checked the stove area, saw there wasn’t much firewood, and hurried to chop some. Then, seeing the water jar was low, he deliberately scraped the bottom while scooping water. He must have overheard something and quickly put down the axe to get more water.”

“Oh,” Feng Mian replied lightly.

Lu Lan laughed, “Don’t just say oh. Tell me, am I right or not?”

“Yes, yes, you’re right,” Feng Mian replied, a faint blush on her face.

Lu Lan laughed out loud, knowing Feng Mian was shy.

“I want to find an honest man for my daughter in the future too.”

When she said that, her expression grew a bit awkward and she suddenly fell silent, burying herself in the work.

Feng Mian looked up at her. “Lan Jie, that’s a good thing. Why do you seem unhappy?”

Lu Lan sighed, “I know it’s a good thing, but… sigh! Without some family background, where can I find someone with good conditions? I can’t just find my daughter a man who can’t even get a wife, right?”

“Rongrong is still young, only eight years old. Even if she marries at eighteen, that’s ten years away. Isn’t that enough time for you to save up?”

Besides, the marriage laws in the 1980s have changed — people wouldn’t get married before their twenties anymore.

Lu Lan shook her head and sighed again, “My family has thieves and vampires. No matter how much I save by scrimping and saving, it’s all stolen by thieves and taken by vampires. How can I keep anything?”

She looked at Feng Mian and said, “Feng Mian, I’ve come to terms with it now. I’m not saving money anymore, and I’m not cheating myself. I should eat when I want to eat, drink when I want to drink. No matter how much I save, it won’t be for my daughter’s future.”

As she spoke, she grabbed Feng Mian’s braid and lifted it up. “Can you smell it? Doesn’t it smell nice?”

Feng Mian said, “It is pretty fragrant. What’s that smell?”

“Shampoo! Before, I couldn’t bear to spend money, so I washed my hair with soap nuts and wood ash. Now I’ve come to my senses—I’m going to buy shampoo to wash my hair.”

Feng Mian smiled brightly, “That’s right, eat when you want to eat, drink when you want to drink, spend when you want to spend.”

“Exactly. If I run out of money, I’ll go to your second brother Feng. He’s a man; it’s his duty to support the family. If he can’t provide, I’ll take Rongrong and cry to him. He can’t just care about supporting his mother and nephew and not care if me and Rongrong live or die, right?”

Feng Mian nodded.

After feeling happy for a moment, Lu Lan sighed again, “But doing this is just venting anger. It means no money gets saved. What will happen when Rongrong grows up?”

Feng Mian said, “Well, you’ll have to slowly change Feng Er Ge’s thinking. You have to make him understand daughters aren’t any worse than boys. If that really doesn’t work, you can always find a live-in son-in-law. And even if the live-in son-in-law isn’t reliable, he’s still better than those vampire nephews of his.”

Lu Lan nodded silently, then said to Feng Mian, “Then you have to set a good example.”

Feng Mian’s smile froze. “Huh?”

Lu Lan said, “You two better make a good showing and live a prosperous life, so your second brother can see it. Otherwise, if I only say it with words, he won’t believe me.”

This… was she putting pressure on her own side?

Feng Mian found it a bit funny and a bit exasperating, but there wasn’t much to worry about.

Just as she said, Feng Rongrong was still young. In more than ten years, it would be the 1990s.

With reform and opening up, the economy was developing rapidly, and people’s mindsets were also changing drastically.

Having a son with physical strength was no longer an advantage. If by then Feng Er Ge was still stubborn and didn’t listen, even if Lu Lan divorced him, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Feng Rongrong picked some garlic sprouts and green onions and asked Feng Mian if it was enough.

Feng Mian happily took them. “That’s enough, that’s enough. Rongrong, here, Auntie’s got some wedding candy for you.”

Lu Lan looked at her daughter’s smiling face. She had no father or mother; her daughter was her only family.

As for Feng Feng? Hmph, half family, half enemy. Neither here nor there — at best, he was the child’s father. Who he’d be in the future was still uncertain.

Feng Mian had prepared a box of sunflower seeds, peanuts, and various candies.

The most plentiful were the old-fashioned hard candies popular at the time, mixed with daytime milk candies.

Although they were hard to buy now and not cheap, Feng Mian ordered them on Taobao. Searching “old-fashioned hard candy” showed very affordable prices.

The White Rabbit candy was quite amazing. It had existed since the 1950s, and decades later, the packaging paper looked almost the same.

Feng Mian filled all the pockets on Feng Rongrong’s padded jacket with candy, and finally gave her a clear plastic box.

She peeled off all the labels, and the box was filled with milk chocolates.

“Auntie gave me so much?” The happiness came too suddenly and in such quantity, Rongrong felt a bit unreal.

Feng Mian smiled, “Don’t worry, Auntie has plenty. You’re the only kid between me and Lan Jie. If I don’t give it to you, who else?”

Rongrong nodded, half understanding.

At her grandparents’ place, she wasn’t treated well because she was a girl.

But her mom and aunt loved her very much.

Rongrong ran into the kitchen to tell her mom that Auntie had given her lots of candy.

Lu Lan saw the bulging pockets and gave Feng Mian a reproachful look, “You’re spoiling her, you know that? You’re going to ruin her.”

Feng Mian said, “Rongrong’s cousins and their whole families spoil their kids without fear. We’re just spoiling Rongrong between the two of us; it won’t ruin her.”

Lu Lan sighed at this.

They were all Feng family descendants, and the old lady’s grandsons were her precious darlings. Whatever good things existed, they were theirs.

Poor Rongrong had grown up without even tasting a single candy from her grandmother.

Lu Lan remembered something from before. One night, their family of three had dinner at the old house, and those little brats were showing off hard candies in front of her daughter. Even though the old lady had bought a big bag, she wouldn’t give a single one to her daughter. Rongrong’s eyes were red with grievance but she didn’t cry; she told herself she didn’t like candy.

What kid doesn’t like candy? It’s so sweet. Now she was happily eating it.

Thinking of this made Lu Lan angry. She said to Feng Rongrong, “Rongrong, when you’re playing in the village, you don’t have to help here.”

“Huh? Didn’t you say I was going to help with the fire?”

“No more need. Your aunt and I will handle it. Remember to take the candy and play. You can share it with other kids in the village, but don’t give any to your cousins.”

Seeing her angry face, Feng Mian immediately understood her intention.