Chapter 12: Bicycle

As soon as Chen Rou heard, she knew exactly why Eldest Sister-in-law Han had come over.

Whether it was her or Eldest Sister-in-law Han, when they got married, the betrothal gifts were extremely simple. Chen Rou wasn’t sure about Eldest Sister-in-law Han’s situation, but back then, even a bit of grain would count as a decent gift.

When she got married this year, there wasn’t much of a dowry either. Just by looking at how poor her family was, with things clanking from emptiness, it was obvious. Even her wardrobe was a part of her dowry from her natal family.

Now their third uncle, Han Guolin, was getting married, and they were buying a bicycle as a betrothal gift. That was no ordinary matter.

The two of them were instantly made to look utterly inferior.

Chen Rou had no expectations of the two elders, but she wasn’t feeling good about it either. Because in the future, the burden of supporting the elderly would be shared—everyone had to chip in. It wasn’t something that her family and her eldest brother-in-law’s family could just stand aside from.

Since elderly care would be split evenly, then why should all the good things now be taken solely by the third household?

Chen Rou had seen all kinds of luxury cars on the streets during peaceful times, so she didn’t think that much of a bicycle. But in life, being generous didn’t mean others would appreciate it—some might even think you were a fool.

So right now, Chen Rou had no intention of letting it go just like that.

Whether she would get any benefits was another matter, but she couldn’t just let the two elders take things for granted.

But before Chen Rou could say anything, Zhou Zhen was already shocked. As a local, to her, a bicycle was as luxurious as a Lamborghini in later times.

“A bicycle as a dowry? Your in-laws are really generous!” Zhou Zhen couldn’t help exclaiming.

Eldest Sister-in-law Han sneered, “Generous? That old couple are like iron roosters—won’t part with a single feather. The only one they’re generous with is the third household. Our eldest branch and the second branch are like weeds in the field. When I married in, I was given just one jin of grain. But I didn’t say anything because times were tough back then. But Second Sister-in-law married in just this year, and she got nothing at all. Even this mud-brick house was built by Second Brother himself, working overtime at night to make the bricks!”

She wasn’t wrong. Even though the house looked small and made of earthen bricks, every brick was made and laid by Han Guobin. Of course, other men helped lend a hand here and there.

But Father and Mother Han? They never lifted a finger.

“Recently, Third Uncle’s house was renovated into a brick-tile house. I knew right away it had to be for the wedding. And sure enough, I was right. But the old couple always favored the third son. As a daughter-in-law, I couldn’t say anything—fine, let them give it. But now there’s even a bicycle?! Does that mean they plan to let the third household take care of them in their old age, and the rest of us can be off the hook?” Eldest Sister-in-law Han said.

Zhou Zhen couldn’t comment on that, so she looked toward Chen Rou.

Chen Rou said, “What does Eldest Brother say?”

“Your eldest brother isn’t saying a word,” Eldest Sister-in-law Han replied, irritated. Her man was a dullard—when he heard about this, he actually said, “The family’s already divided. How our parents want to arrange Third Brother’s wedding is up to them.” Listen to that—does that even sound human?

Why should the two elders spend all their money on the third household and then expect all three households to support them in old age? What kind of logic was that? Her husband might not want to fight over it, but she wasn’t going to let it go.

“Guobin isn’t home. We’ll talk about it once he returns,” Chen Rou said.

“Then once Second Brother comes back, you better make sure he speaks up,” Eldest Sister-in-law Han replied immediately.

Chen Rou gave her a look and said, “For something like this, it’s enough for our men to show their stance. They shouldn’t step in directly. This is for us women to handle.”

That was the benefit of being a woman—so long as you didn’t cross the line, you could kick up a fuss however you liked. But it was different for men. If a man went out to act hysterically, he might never be able to hold his head up again.

This matter had to be handled by the women.

Eldest Sister-in-law Han had been fuming when she heard the news, but when she came over and saw how calmly the second household was reacting, she couldn’t help but ask, “Second Sister-in-law, aren’t you angry hearing all this?”

“If I weren’t angry, would I be waiting to tell Guobin when he gets back?” Chen Rou countered.

Eldest Sister-in-law Han noticed that Second Sister-in-law had really changed a lot. But she didn’t feel like commenting further at this point and said, “I’ll come back when Second Brother returns.”

Then she turned and left.

As soon as she left, Zhou Zhen couldn’t help but say, “Your in-laws are really something. Even I can’t stand their favoritism.”

She already knew the Han family had renovated Han Guolin’s house into a brick-tile one. But since he was the favored youngest son, no one could say much if the elders wanted to build him a wedding house.

But a wedding house was one thing—now they were adding a bicycle?

Chen Rou said, “You’ve got a wide network. Go and check if it’s true.” Anything coming out of that sister-in-law’s mouth was only worth half believing.

But Chen Rou was pretty sure it was true. Just judging by how much the old couple loved their youngest son—and now that he was marrying someone who had a proper job in town—it made sense.

Without saying another word, Zhou Zhen went out. Not even thirty minutes later, she came back.

“It’s confirmed. The betrothal gift is a bicycle!” Zhou Zhen said.

“Mm.” Chen Rou now had a full grasp of the situation.

This time, Han Guobin had also been away for three days and returned home at five in the morning.

Once again, he brought back a chicken. The last time, the wild chicken had been stewed into a chicken noodle soup, and it had been unbelievably delicious.

Knowing she liked it, Han Guobin had kept one for her. This time, he even brought back a bit more money—over four yuan.

“What did you catch?” Chen Rou took the money and asked.

“A fox,” Han Guobin replied.

Chen Rou nodded. She knew he usually came back around this time, so she had already boiled some water in advance. She let him wash up and then started cooking porridge.

Cornmeal porridge made from crushed corn grits was one of the tastiest meals.

This time, they had received quite a bit of corn during the grain distribution. Truthfully, Chen Rou wasn’t too fond of eating corn rice, so she asked Han Guobin to grind all the corn. Half was ground into fine corn flour, and the other half into coarse corn grits.

These corn grits were specially reserved for cooking porridge.

The porridge was quickly done. Chen Rou washed a few pieces of pickled vegetables and poached two eggs. That was breakfast for the two of them.

Even though there was still plenty of meat in the space, she didn’t know when their days would actually improve. It would likely still take a few years. The meat in the space wouldn’t last if they ate it casually, so she had to be frugal.

Still, this kind of meal was already considered very good.

“Don’t be stingy with the eggs. I’ve spoken to Old Yang. Next time I go over, I’ll bring you some back. Eat them if you want to,” Han Guobin told her.

“Okay.” Chen Rou smiled and nodded. “Eat, then go get some sleep.”

As for the troubles with the Han family, she decided not to bring them up just yet. Everything could wait until her man was full and well-rested.

After eating, Chen Rou accompanied him to the kang bed to take another nap.

“You’ve worked hard out there,” Chen Rou said, knowing that ever since the slack farming season began, he hadn’t had any rest. The men in other households were taking it easy. For example, Ma Dafa, Zhou Zhen’s husband, had only gone into the mountains twice, and both times he came back the same day.

Her man was out all the time. She didn’t even need to ask to know how tough it was.

“It’s nothing.” Han Guobin gently touched her belly and said, “I’m the man of the house. I need to make sure you and our child can live a good life.”

Chen Rou cupped his face and gave him a kiss. Her husband really had it tough, and since he was home, he deserved some loving encouragement.

In a post-apocalyptic world, it was rare to find a man who worked so hard for his family. Some women weren’t so lucky—they had to go out looking for food even when heavily pregnant. It wasn’t uncommon in the apocalypse.

Han Guobin didn’t know what his wife was thinking, but his heart felt warm. He hugged her tightly and fell asleep.

Chen Rou woke up a bit after nine and got up to prepare something good for him to eat.

She went ahead and slaughtered the wild chicken and cleaned it up. They would be having chicken noodle soup for lunch.

Most of the grains distributed to households were coarse grains. Fine grains were especially rare. This year, they received a little wheat, but not much—barely two jin (about one kilogram), not even enough to make a decent batch of dumplings.

Fortunately, she had some in her space—though not a lot either. Back then, for some reason, she had focused on collecting rice, so she didn’t gather much white flour or cornmeal.

The rice she had taken out last time was already finished.

Han Guobin didn’t wake up until noon, and sure enough, he was starving.

“Wife,” he called out the moment he woke up.

“I’m here, it’ll be ready soon—just wait a bit,” Chen Rou replied from the kitchen.

Not long after, she brought out a big bowl of chicken noodle soup.

The wild chicken wasn’t very big. After being slaughtered, there wasn’t much meat, but Chen Rou still saved half for later. She used only half for this meal.

The other half would be stewed with potatoes for dinner.

Still, the two of them ate heartily and happily. After the meal, Han Guobin automatically went to grab some soda ash to wash the dishes.

After washing up, he came back to stay with his wife.

Now that he had slept and eaten, Chen Rou finally told him what Han Dazao had come over to say.

Han Guobin didn’t know what to say.

“My sister-in-law and I will handle this. You men just need to know the general idea, but I really do think we need to make a fuss over this. Otherwise, I won’t be able to swallow this anger. As for Sister-in-law, don’t even mention it,” Chen Rou said.

“Wife, don’t go bashing heads with anyone!” Han Guobin said anxiously.

Chen Rou couldn’t help but laugh at that. She looked at him and said, “I might’ve been a bit reckless before, but do I look reckless now?”

Only then did Han Guobin let out a sigh of relief.

That afternoon, when Han Dazao came over after hearing the news, Han Guobin was still asleep in the house.

Chen Rou said, “Sister-in-law, come with me. We need to make it clear to the Han family that we two daughters-in-law aren’t made of mud!”

Han Dazao replied, “We should’ve done this a long time ago!”

And so the two sisters-in-law marched straight to the Han family household.

With the two of them coming in with such a fierce aura, it didn’t take long before a crowd started gathering. After all, the village was small, and word had already spread that Han Guolin was going to buy a bicycle as a bride price.

Of course, Han Mother had explained to outsiders that the bicycle was just for the couple themselves to use, just a formality for the marriage.

But let’s be honest—wasn’t that bicycle really being bought for the third son and his wife?

The eldest and second sons never got one. Would they accept this without issue?

Naturally, people rushed over to watch the drama. During the slack farming season, gossiping was pretty much the only entertainment—they’d crack sunflower seeds while enjoying the show.

Han Mother had expected the two daughters-in-law to show up sooner or later, so she wasn’t surprised to see them.