Chapter 196: Learning Badly

Just like Cheng Jingmo said, “It’s all in the past,” the hardships he endured and the sufferings he went through couldn’t be erased by her.

What she could do was to let Cheng Jingmo feel the warmth of a family and the happiness of being loved.

Cheng Jingmo closed the door, hugged her back, and whispered in her ear, “I will treat you very well too.”

In the main hall, the family members exchanged glances, the words Cheng Jingmo said about not sending money back home anymore and having repaid their kindness echoing in their minds.

Cheng Huazi kept smoking silently. Cheng Jingmo’s words tonight were like slaps in his face in front of the whole family.

Especially the incident of abandoning Cheng Jingmo in the mountains, which Cheng Huazi always thought Cheng Jingmo didn’t know about.

It turned out that Cheng Jingmo knew about it since he was very young but had hidden it for so many years without ever mentioning it.

This boy had deep thoughts from a young age!

Cheng Huazi gave a fake cough, stood up, and returned to his room. Mu Huanzhen, Cheng Shuanzhu and his wife, and Cheng Shuansuo and his wife followed him.

The family squeezed into the room to discuss their strategy.

Cheng Shuanzhu complained, “Mother, why didn’t you return the bracelet to Jianwa? Why are you holding onto it?!”

Mu Huanzhen replied irritably, “That bracelet is gold, and it’s getting more valuable! Even when our family was in the hardest times, I couldn’t bear to pawn it! Why should I give it back just because he asked for it?!”

Zhang Hongli and Li Cuihua exchanged glances, thinking: So there really is a gold bracelet!

Cheng Shuanzhu continued, “It originally belonged to Jianwa’s biological mother. He has the right to ask for it back. You didn’t give it to him, and now things are awkward for everyone.”

“Hmph!” Mu Huanzhen sneered, “I think he came back this time with ill intentions, wanting to sever ties with this family! The night after their wedding banquet, he talked to me without any respect!”

That night, Mu Huanzhen and Cheng Huazi were in their room, counting the guests’ gift money. After deducting the costs of buying vegetables and flour, they had a surplus of four yuan and sixty cents.

Mu Huanzhen was dissatisfied and said, “On the surface, it looks like we made money, but in reality, we lost a lot. Most of the seafood was eaten up.”

She complained to Cheng Huazi, “You should have stopped Jianwa’s wife! Since when does she get to decide the family’s affairs? She opened her mouth, and so much seafood was gone, worth over two hundred yuan!”

Cheng Huazi replied, “What’s the use of saying this now? The food is already eaten!”

Mu Huanzhen went out to use the toilet and saw Cheng Jingmo hanging clothes in the yard.

“Mother!” Cheng Jingmo called out to her without any emotion, “Don’t say those things in front of my wife, and don’t let her hear them.”

Mu Huanzhen took the opportunity to lecture Cheng Jingmo, “Jianwa, you should talk to your wife too. A family needs to live together harmoniously. Look at her, she does everything extravagantly, but our family can’t afford that.”

Cheng Jingmo said, “The seafood was prepared by her parents. She can eat it however she wants. There is still a lot left, enough for the family to eat for several meals. If you want more after it’s finished, we can bring some when we come back, but don’t talk about her.”

Mu Huanzhen didn’t say anything and went to the toilet, cursing several times in her heart: What kind of goddess is your wife? Can’t even be talked about? An ungrateful son who forgets his mother after getting a wife!

Cheng Shuanzhu angrily slapped his thigh, “If he dares to abandon this family, we won’t let him leave this time!”

Cheng Shuanhuai rolled his eyes at him, “Don’t be stupid! If you do that, it will really tear us apart! Besides, do you think they are easy to bully?”

Li Cuihua took the opportunity to glare at Zhang Hongli and said, “I don’t know what Jianwa’s wife did to offend some people. If it weren’t for certain people always picking faults and causing trouble, things wouldn’t have turned out this way!”

Zhang Hongli squinted her eyes and said, “Who are you talking about? Is it my fault that Jianwa doesn’t recognize this family? Besides, she was the one who hit first that day!”

“Why did you run into her room? If it were me, I would have hit you too!”

Seeing that the two sisters-in-law were about to quarrel again, Cheng Shuanzhu and Cheng Shuansuo both pulled their wives back, saying, “Stop it, both of you!”

The room fell silent, and Cheng Huazi continued to smoke his dry tobacco.

After a while, Mu Huanzhen spoke up, “Kids’ father, say something!”

Cheng Huazi recalled the events from twenty years ago when the family faced continuous misfortunes and how the third granduncle had said that Jianwa was the family’s lucky star.

Indeed, he and Mu Huanzhen had been married for over three years without a child. After taking in Cheng Jingmo, the family had six more children one after another.

Moreover, life had gradually improved. They used to struggle to fill their stomachs, but now they had steamed buns and bread at every meal.

Cheng Huazi took a couple more puffs before speaking slowly, “Find the bracelet first. We can return the bracelet, but we cannot sever ties with him!”

Mu Huanzhen was still reluctant to give up the gold bracelet, “We can just say we couldn’t find it, can’t we?”

Cheng Shuansuo said, “Mother, listen to father. Think about it, thirty yuan a month, in a year, we can buy a bracelet. If we really cut ties, how much money will we lose!”

“No matter what, I saved Jianwa’s life. This bit of kindness cannot be erased! Tomorrow, let’s all be more conciliatory. We cannot let him abandon this family,” Cheng Huazi said. “Alright, let’s go back to our rooms.”

Tonight, it was destined that no one would sleep well in any of the rooms.

Yu Xiangnian lay in Cheng Jingmo’s arms and asked, “Cheng Jingmo, what if they don’t give you the bracelet?”

Cheng Jingmo replied, “They will give it. They can’t bear to lose the monthly money.”

Yu Xiangnian was shocked, “Didn’t you say you won’t send them money anymore? Were you just scaring them?”

“I won’t send it, but they’ll definitely use the gold bracelet as a bargaining chip. Once we’re back, they can’t do anything about it,” Cheng Jingmo explained.

Yu Xiangnian was silent for a moment before she smiled, “You’ve gotten cunning, Jianwa.”

Cheng Jingmo frowned, “What did you call me?”

Yu Xiangnian repeated, emphasizing each syllable, “Jian-wa.”

The name sounded different coming from Yu Xiangnian’s mouth, with a special kind of charm.

“Say it again,” Cheng Jingmo requested.

“Jianwa, Jianwa, Jianwa, Jian…” The rest of her words were swallowed by Cheng Jingmo’s kiss.

After the kiss ended, Yu Xiangnian’s red lips glistened with a moist sheen.

She whispered in his ear, “Let’s go back soon. I can’t even sleep with you here.”

Cheng Jingmo was speechless.

He only said such things when he was drunk, but Yu Xiangnian could say them without blushing at all.

In the adjacent rooms, the two couples were also discussing the events of the day.

Li Cuihua said, “Shuanzhu, do you think what Jianwa said today is true? If it is, then our parents really weren’t kind to him, and he’s done right by this family.”

Some things, Cheng Shuanzhu only learned about today. For instance, leaving Cheng Jingmo in the mountains and selling him before buying him back—these were things he didn’t know.

In his memory, Cheng Jingmo slept in the cowshed and wore hand-me-down clothes from other families. Mu Huanzhen would hide food and tell Cheng Jingmo that there was nothing to eat at home.

When they were young, Cheng Jingmo would take him to catch fish in the reservoir and hunt wild game in the mountains to help feed the family.