Chapter 39: Gu Yuelin is This Wealthy?

She heard the sound of him changing his shoes.

Between the two beds hung a curtain. He slept on the outer side; Feng Mian’s bed was inside.

Gu Yuelin couldn’t see what was inside and, thinking she was asleep, said nothing.

He moved quietly and carefully got onto the bed.

The quilt was warm because she had stuffed a long hot water bag inside.

This was the softest, warmest bed he had ever slept on.

The Gu family had prepared a bed for him that was just a broken door panel covered with straw, topped with a patchwork quilt made of three torn sheets sewn together.

He had clearly brought back a quilt and sheets from the army, but Liang Shi had taken them all away.

Gu Yuelin glanced toward the curtain and felt some inexplicable feelings rise in his heart.

Why did he have to sign that contract? What did it matter if he married into her family? She was worth it.

No, if he didn’t sign, she wouldn’t do it.

Thinking this made Gu Yuelin feel gloomy.

He turned over and thought: Looks like he needed to find a way to change from a contract worker to a permanent employee — get a secure “iron rice bowl.”

Sigh! The road to winning his wife’s heart was still long.

…

The next morning, both woke up early.

Gu Yuelin had used up all the water he fetched yesterday and went out with a bucket again.

But while fetching water, the villagers blocked his way.

Many people stared at him curiously, occasionally asking questions, which made him embarrassed.

But he knew very well that the village rarely saw outsiders; when a new bride comes to a family, everyone crowds around to ask all sorts of questions.

So the treatment given to a new bride would also be given to him, the new son-in-law.

After finally dealing with everyone, he hurried off carrying the water. The crowd behind continued talking.

“Look at his face, it’s all red—oh my, just like a newlywed bride.”

“His ears are bright red, even the bride isn’t this shy.”

Gu Yuelin: “…” My ears are obviously red from the cold.

He quickened his pace and rushed home.

Feng Mian had already prepared breakfast and used the free time to do some simple skincare.

After breakfast, Feng Mian took out the red envelopes collected yesterday.

The villagers mostly gave one-yuan or two-yuan envelopes. Neighbor Lu Lan gave two yuan.

It wasn’t easy for her to come up with two yuan, probably saved up for a long time and hidden secretly.

Gu Yuelin’s friends were a bit wealthier, giving five-yuan or ten-yuan envelopes; the siblings Leng Chuan gave twenty yuan.

Feng Mian looked at the envelopes and said, “Giving so much, is Leng Chuan’s family really rich?”

Gu Yuelin replied, “Not really, he and his parents are all workers.”

Based on the average monthly wage of about 40 to 50 yuan at the time, their family of three could earn over 100 yuan a month, which was quite a good household.

Feng Mian gave half of the money from Gu Yuelin’s friends to him. “You keep it; they’re your friends. When they get married, you’ll have to return the favor.”

Gu Yuelin didn’t take it. “You keep it. The banquets yesterday were all arranged well, and it was your money. I didn’t spend a cent.”

Feng Mian did spend some money on things—she bought them on Taobao—but her spending power couldn’t compare with the several dozen yuan in gift money.

Still, she didn’t refuse and collected the cash together.

“Wait a moment.”

Gu Yuelin went into the bedroom and soon came out with a cloth bag.

He carefully unfolded the cloth, revealing a bunch of various tickets, some coins, and bank deposit slips—all handwritten.

One of the deposit slips showed more than a thousand yuan!?

Feng Mian stared at him in surprise. “You’re this rich?”

“This is the bonus I got from missions I completed before. Missions always have some risk, so the organization helped me set up a no-password deposit.”

“No-password deposit?” To be honest, she didn’t quite understand what a no-password deposit was in this era.

“If something happens to me, my family can withdraw money using the household registration book.”

With that explanation, she understood.

“So you never told your dad or anyone else about this money, and since you didn’t have a household registration book, you couldn’t withdraw it?”

Gu Yuelin nodded.

“Now that you have it, you can use our household registration books to withdraw the money.”

Feng Mian: “…Our household registration books?”

She reminded him, “We signed a contract. Why would I take your money? If you want to withdraw it, we can go to the market together another day.”

Her words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.

Gu Yuelin awkwardly said, “I don’t need the money right now. I’ll deal with it when I need to. The interest rate is pretty good.”

“Alright then, keep it.”

“I don’t know where to keep it. I’ve always kept it at Leng Chuan’s place. He just gave it to me yesterday.”

Hmm?

“You keep it for me,” he said, recalling her large locked trunk, always assuming all her valuables were in there.

“Put it with your stuff, in that big trunk.”

Feng Mian thought, besides that bed, there really wasn’t much that belonged to him. He didn’t even have a place to store valuables.

“Fine, if you need it later, come find me. If you don’t, I’ll give it back when you leave.”

Gu Yuelin didn’t say anything; Feng Mian took his silence as agreement.

All those tickets had expiration dates; once expired, they were worthless.

Feng Mian took out the tickets close to expiration and told him to wait for the next market day to cash them in.

Gu Yuelin asked, “Don’t we use these ourselves?” He had already sold most of what he wanted to sell before the New Year; the rest was saved for household use.

“No, I have what I need here.”

Gu Yuelin then remembered she was also a trader.

“Alright then.”

“I won’t keep your loose change for you; you hold on to that. It’ll be convenient if you want to buy something.”

Gu Yuelin pulled out two yuan. “I’ll keep this, and you keep the rest.”

Feng Mian felt a little strange. He was putting all his money with her — usually couples do that, but they weren’t a normal couple.

“Is that okay?”

“I have nowhere else to keep it. Work starts on the eighth day of the lunar month—tomorrow. If I lose it while working, that would be a shame.”

“Alright.”

Soon after, Feng Xiaojing arrived.

“Mianmian, about yesterday… I’m sorry. There was an accident on my sister’s side. My parents and I came back very late and couldn’t make it to your wedding banquet.”

Feng Mian smiled, “It’s okay. You couldn’t help it. Has your eldest cousin’s situation been resolved?”

Feng Xiaojing nodded, then sighed, “I guess it’s settled. But my brother-in-law’s family all looked very grim. I’m afraid my sister’s going to have a tough time.”

After that, she took out a pair of handmade cloth shoes from her arms.

“These are for you. I really don’t have much to give, so I made you these shoes.”

Feng Mian knew she had been busy preparing her sister’s dowry before the New Year but still managed to find time to make shoes for her — a rare and precious gesture.

Feng Mian took the shoes and said, “Little cousin, I really like these shoes. Thank you.”

Feng Xiaojing smiled, “I’m glad you like them.”