Tao Leshan looked at the man who had randomly struck up a conversation with her, then at the child in his arms and the guitar on his back.

Seeing that he was about to be rejected, he quickly revealed his identity. “I’m a writer…”

This was just how he operated, doing things purely on a whim.

Xiao Man and the other three kids, plus Shu He, spotted Shen Zhongcheng and Shen Pan approaching from afar and immediately went on high alert.

“Target in sight. Everyone prepare to intercept,” Xiao Man issued the command in his soft, childish voice.

Sure enough, the two troublemakers had shown up. Thankfully, they had prepared for this in advance.

Xiao Man wasn’t naturally outgoing or good at blending in with other kids. On the contrary, like his father, he wasn’t very talkative. But for the sake of his mom, the little guy was giving it his all.

“Yes,” came a chorus of innocent young voices in reply.

Momo was already darting off, her little legs moving quickly as she ran to find Second Aunt and Grandma. Though the kids were making quite the commotion, Shu He felt she was the true main force, already striking a pose and ready to go into battle.

The moment Shen Pan saw Xiao Man, his eyes filled with hostility. Naturally, Xiao Man also treated him like a sworn enemy. Four pairs of hostile eyes clashed in the air like drawn swords.

Then, unexpectedly, they all overheard that strange conversation. After that, Shen Zhongcheng, ignoring Shen Pan’s fierce resistance, dragged him off along with the female comrade.

Xiao Man was puzzled. “They said they were going to eat.”

Momo confirmed, “Yes, that man said he’s taking that woman out for a meal.”

Before a single shot was fired, the enemy had retreated on their own.

Xiao Man’s little brain struggled to process what had just happened.

Shu He stared at the backs of the three departing figures. “…”

It wasn’t until Shu Yuan came to find them and lead them into the courtyard that cautious Xiao Man and his little teammates finally stopped their vigilant watch.

“Don’t worry if they come back. The front gate has a barrier set up by your dad. If they show up, I’ll just drag them out myself,” Shu Yuan said as she handed out candies to the children.

With a milk candy in his mouth, the sweet taste spreading across his tongue, Xiao Man finally let go of his worries and happily followed Shu Yuan into the courtyard.

Once the guests were seated, it was time for the second act of the performance: the wedding ceremony.

Chen Zai truly didn’t have much acting skill, but his handsome appearance more than made up for his cold demeanor. As Shu Yuan had instructed, he kept his gaze glued to her and Xiao Man, never once looking away.

Being looked at so intently by this handsome man, Shu Yuan found that it actually felt pretty nice.

The most moved person was Chen Fumi. He saw the subtle exchanges between the young couple, the way his grandson looked at his wife and child with such deep affection and focus. She was the woman who had stayed with him through the hardships of the countryside, and that boy was the son she had insisted on giving birth to despite the difficult conditions. He must truly love them.

And surely, he was loved in return. Shu Yuan kept smiling back at him, her eyes full of warmth and tenderness.

Chen Fumi felt reassured now. Chen Zai had a small family of his own, a wife and child he loved deeply. With family by his side, he would no longer be lonely.

The effort to clear her name had gone quite smoothly. No one was fixated on the fact that she had given birth before marriage. Everyone was focused on offering their blessings to this little family.

After lunch, the two extended families each took a family portrait. The three of them also took a group photo. Dressed in the bright red outfit that looked suspiciously like a work uniform, Shu Yuan and Xiao Man each took individual photos as well. Once the guests had left, Chen Zai rode his bike and took the mother and son back to the Shu family home.

“Next Sunday we’ll buy furniture and move into the Fifth Hospital staff housing compound?” Chen Zai asked.

“Alright,” Shu Yuan replied readily.

Chen Zai suggested buying Shu Yuan a new outfit. He felt that since he hadn’t given the Shu family a proper bride price, yet they had provided cotton quilts as her dowry, it was only right.

Besides, she was always wearing old clothes that had clearly been around for some years, which gave people an inexplicable sense of sadness.

But Shu Yuan didn’t see it that way. Her grandfather had given her a Hetian jade bracelet, fine in texture and warm in tone. Right now, no one paid it much attention, but in the future, it would be worth a lot.

“You don’t like this red outfit of mine?” Shu Yuan asked.

Chen Zai denied it, saying, “I’ve already been looking at it for this long, haven’t I? Come on, it’s still early. Let’s go to the department store.”

He wanted to head to the department store, but Shu Yuan gave him directions. After a couple of turns near the electronics factory, they arrived at the entrance of a secondhand goods store, where she finally told him to stop.

“What are you planning to buy?” Chen Zai asked, puzzled as he looked up at the shop sign.

Shu Yuan jumped down from the back seat, walked around to the front of the bike, picked Xiao Man up from the top bar, and led him inside by the hand. “I’m going to see if they have any clothes for sale.”

The mother and son moved quickly, and Chen Zai had to hurry to lock the bike and catch up.

Shu Yuan was clearly familiar with the place. She quickly spotted a wool coat she had previously sold hanging inside the counter. Since the weather was warming up with spring on the way, it probably couldn’t be worn for much longer, so it hadn’t sold even after a month or two.

“How much is this coat?” Shu Yuan asked the store clerk.

“Fifty-five yuan,” the clerk replied.

That was fifteen yuan more than what Shu Yuan had sold it for.

“I’ll take it. Please hand me that coat,” Shu Yuan said decisively.

She didn’t mind the fifteen yuan loss from selling and rebuying, it was still cheaper than buying a new coat.

Right in front of the shop assistant, Chen Zai openly voiced his disagreement. “There’s no need to buy something secondhand. Let’s go get you a new one.”

The shop assistant, standing on a chair, had already taken the coat down from the wall. She asked if Shu Yuan wanted to try it on, but Shu Yuan shook her head. “Just fold it up.”

Then she turned to Chen Zai with a smile. “This is my coat. I sold it. Back when I went to the northeast to pick up Xiao Man, I needed travel money, so I sold it.”

Chen Zai: “…”

She really had been poorer than he’d imagined.

But he still couldn’t understand. Why had she been so determined to sell her coat just to go fetch Xiao Man?

Had she given the breakup compensation he gave her all to Shen Zhongcheng? And now she was trying to get it back from him?

Xiao Man was deeply moved. His wide, dark eyes looked up at Shu Yuan. Mom had actually sold her coat just to afford the travel expenses to come get him.

When he grew up and earned money, he was definitely going to spend it on her.

Shu Yuan packed the coat into a mesh bag, feeling completely satisfied. The coat she had once sold off cheaply was now back in her hands. She’d be able to wear it again when autumn came.

“Not going to the department store anymore?” Chen Zai asked. “This one’s too thick. You could still go buy a few new pieces there.”

Shu Yuan shook her head. “No need.”

She still wanted to spend money she earned herself. But she did feel just a little more favorable toward Chen Zai. He was actually pretty generous.

If a man was stingy and petty, she wouldn’t even want a fake marriage with him.

At the entrance of the electronics factory’s staff housing compound, Xiao Man waved to Chen Zai. “See you next Sunday, Dad.”

Chen Zai replied gently, “Alright, Xiao Man.”

——

These days, Li Hongxia was in great spirits, busy making clothes for Shu Yuan and Xiao Man. The Shu household was peaceful and harmonious, but things at Shu Yuan’s second uncle’s home were a complete mess. The reason was that Shu Yuan had gotten married without inviting them.

In their eyes, they were close relatives. Not inviting them meant she didn’t acknowledge that kinship.

What made matters worse, according to rumors, the groom’s grandfather was a highly respected traditional Chinese doctor. His father had inherited his legacy and was also a well-known practitioner of Chinese medicine. His eldest and third uncles held important positions in government departments. The family had deep roots and an impressive background. Having such relatives brought face and made everything from medical care to getting things done much easier.

If Shu Yuan had married some no-good loafer, they’d be eager to stay away. But now that she had married into such a distinguished family, of course they wanted to attend the wedding.

At first, they waited with feigned restraint for Li Hongxia to come invite them personally. But by the time Shu Yuan’s wedding was already over, Li Hongxia had never come.

But Shu Yuan felt that this side of the family wasn’t worth keeping ties with. Back then, Shu Daqing had been an eighth-grade electrician at the factory. After he died in a work-related accident, the electronics factory reserved his position for Shu Yuan. She had excellent grades and would have likely gotten into university if the college entrance exams hadn’t been suspended. But during the political movement, she could only join the workforce after graduating high school.

The problem lay with Shu Erqing. After his wife passed away, he remarried Tang Sufeng. Only Shu Hongguo was his biological child. Tang Sufeng had brought two sons with her, and Shu Erqing had pinned his hopes on those two stepsons performing the funeral rites for him in the future, so he went out of his way to please her and her sons.

The couple went to the subdistrict office to sign Shu Yuan up for the sent-down youth program, and after some maneuvering, they managed to take the factory job meant for her and gave it to him instead. Shu Erqing’s own job was then passed on to Tang Sufeng’s eldest son.

In the eyes of certain factory leaders, the Shu brothers’ parents had died early, and Shu Daqing had raised his younger brother by himself. So after his death, it seemed only “reasonable” that the job should be left to the younger brother.

At the time, Li Hongxia wasn’t as sharp-tongued and bold as she was now. She had a gentle, mild-mannered, even timid nature, and ended up swallowing this injustice without a fight.

The original Shu Yuan had spent all those years in the countryside. If it hadn’t been for the second uncle’s manipulations, she should have been working stably at the electronics factory.

Having transmigrated into the book, Shu Yuan had no intention of letting someone steal her job for nothing. On top of that, ever since she brought Xiao Man back to the city, the ones who stirred up the most gossip had been her second uncle’s family. If her current focus weren’t all on work, earning money, finding Xiao Man’s father, and clearing her name, she would have already gone after them for taking her job in the first place.

Originally, Li Hongxia had still wanted to maintain a basic level of decorum and planned to invite that side of the family to the wedding, but Shu Yuan was firmly against it and stopped her.

Tang Sufeng, feeling both embarrassed and resentful, had tried several times to come over and demand an explanation, only to be stopped by Shu Erqing each time.

The more Tang Sufeng thought about it, the angrier she got. She accused Shu Erqing, “You’ve completely lost face at the electronics factory. People keep asking me why we weren’t invited, and I have nothing to say for myself. Can’t you be a little tougher and go ask her?”

Shu Erqing was feeling guilty. “It’s because we secretly signed her up to go to the countryside. She’s still holding a grudge over that. If she doesn’t want to invite us, then so be it.”

Tang Sufeng raised her eyebrows sharply, looking every bit the shrewd woman. “If she hadn’t gone to the countryside, would she have married into the Chen family? She would’ve just ended up marrying some factory worker here. We gave her that opportunity! She should be thanking us.”

Shu Hongguo was filled with regret. “Shu Yuan finding a partner during her time as a sent-down youth was pure luck. If I had been the one sent down back then, maybe I’d be the one married into a good family now.”

She started daydreaming about her own version of a springtime romance. Just like Shu Yuan, she’d meet a poor and helpless sent-down youth, offer him kindness and compassion, warm his heart, and eventually marry into a wealthy family once he was rehabilitated.

So being sent to the countryside as an educated youth was actually a shortcut to marrying into a well-off family.

She was full of remorse. She never should have signed Shu Yuan up for the sent-down program in the first place. That stroke of luck should’ve been hers.

Tang Sufeng issued a final warning to Shu Erqing. “Are you going to go talk to your sister-in-law or not? If you won’t go, I will.”

Shu Erqing clutched his head and tried to make himself as invisible as possible. “I’m not going.”

——

Finally, Sunday arrived. A day destined to be busy with furniture shopping and moving.

After breakfast, Li Hongxia and Shu He went out to help buy food supplies and coal. Shu Yuan and Xiao Man began packing their belongings. The two of them had very little. Shu Yuan’s clothes fit into a single travel bag, while Xiao Man’s were bundled up in a small cloth wrap. Along with a washbasin and enamel mug, that was all they owned.

“Xiao Man, did you pack all your things?” Shu Yuan asked.

Xiao Man patted the mesh bag. “Everything’s here. I didn’t miss a thing.”

Having a child who could take care of himself really made things easier.

Shu Yuan carried the travel bag and mesh bag in her hands. Xiao Man held the bundle of clothes. The mother and son set off for the Fifth Hospital staff housing compound.

The two staff housing compound were only separated by a main road, and after walking another three to four hundred meters, they arrived. Mother and son moved like ants transporting grain, weaving between buildings and along the roadside. By the time they reached their new home, Chen Zai had already brought his own belongings and was in the middle of cleaning.

He had originally planned to pick them up, but the mother and son insisted on handling it themselves. Seeing the sweat on Shu Yuan’s forehead and the tip of Xiao Man’s nose, he didn’t say much.

Morning light streamed in, and the room was noticeably brighter than the one in Shu Yuan’s tube-style apartment.

Chen Zai cleaned the windows, Shu Yuan scrubbed the floor, and Xiao Man wiped down the tables with a cloth. The three worked in perfect sync and finished cleaning in twenty minutes. Then Chen Zai brought over a piece of paper and showed it to Shu Yuan.

It was a floor plan he had drawn of the apartment, with labeled furniture placements and measurements. “The room is small, so we have to be strategic about where everything goes. The money for the furniture is a thousand yuan from Grandfather, plus six hundred yuan from the bride price. It’s enough.”

Shu Yuan nodded. “Alright.”

Since he had everything planned out and was the one paying, Shu Yuan didn’t bother to worry about it. She just listened and let him handle it.

“Let’s start with the living room. We can only fit a folding round table and stackable stools,” he said.

Shu Yuan readily agreed. “No objections from me.”

After discussing the living room, they moved on to the bedroom. Chen Zai pointed at the floor plan and said, “A wardrobe and a desk with chairs are essential. Also, I can’t share a bed with Xiao Man. Otherwise my allergies will likely act up. The best option is to get one double bed and one single bed for Xiao Man, preferably no longer than 1.3 meters. But there’s one issue. We’ll have to share a bed.”

As he was moving like a little ant, dragging the travel bag toward the wall, Xiao Man suddenly looked up at his parents. He could sleep in a small bed, no problem. But didn’t most moms and dads sleep in the same bed? Why did it sound like such a problem when his dad said it?

Did they have some kind of disagreement?

Chen Zai lifted his eyes and gave Shu Yuan a long look, then glanced at Xiao Man, who was tilting his little head and watching them intently. He flipped to the second sheet of paper and said, “Actually, we could set up three single beds, but…”

Their little home wouldn’t be without visitors. Friends or relatives might drop by. It would look strange for a newlywed couple to sleep in separate single beds. Xiao Man would probably find it strange too.

Not to mention it would make the room feel even more cramped.

Shu Yuan responded readily, “I understand your concern. We can sleep in the same bed. I don’t mind.”

Chen Zai had expected to have to spend quite a bit of effort explaining. He didn’t think she’d agree so easily. So he nodded. “Alright then. One single bed, one double bed.”

To Shu Yuan, sharing a bed wasn’t anything significant. With the promise of that three-bedroom apartment hanging in front of her like a big carrot, she could quietly endure this for a year or so.

But seeing how serious Chen Zai looked, she leaned over and whispered, “It’s just sharing a bed. I’m not interested in men.”

Chen Zai was bending over to mark something on the paper, his body leaning slightly back. He replied in a low voice, “Good. I’m not interested in women either.”

Perfect, no interference with each other.

He believed he and Shu Yuan would be able to get along peacefully in the future.

Shu Yuan glanced at his deep-set, reserved, and indifferent features, and suddenly felt the urge to tease him. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “But I’m interested in you.”

Her warm, gentle breath spread across his ear.

Chen Zai’s hand paused mid-stroke, his whole body frozen. A flush started at the tips of his ears and quickly spread across both ears and up to his cheeks.

So much for that peaceful coexistence idea.

He held his breath, didn’t look at her, and replied in a calm tone, “No joking allowed.”

Still tilting his little head to watch them, Xiao Man understood that his parents must have a really good relationship. They were whispering to each other. That reassured him, and he turned away to continue his ant-like moving duties.

Shu Yuan’s voice carried a clear note of amusement. “I’m not joking. I’m serious, Dr. Chen.”

Chen Zai kept his head down, the flush spreading freely across his face. “…”

Desperate to escape the current conversation, he folded the floor plan and stuffed it into his pants pocket. “Let’s go. Time to buy furniture. Xiao Man, come on.”

“Let’s go!” Xiao Man ran over to join his parents.