Chapter 8 – Left Fifty Cents and Walked Away

“Looks like this is the only set of clothes you have,” her mom said, frowning. “Jiang Xiaolin took all the clothes I bought for her from that room. What an ungrateful brat.”

“I’ll get you a few new outfits soon.”

Jiang Weiguo listened to his wife—whatever she said, he did. That afternoon, the three of them went to the township’s household registration office to change the name. They replaced Jiang Xiaolin’s entry with Jiang Niannian on the household booklet.

Afterward, Wang Yingxiu took her to the township’s supply and marketing cooperative to buy clothes.

At the entrance of the co-op, by coincidence, they ran into Xiao Jingyan and Wang Lin.

Jiang Niannian froze in place. Why did she have to run into him of all people?

How is this even possible?

He wouldn’t recognize her, right? He better not recognize her.

Jiang Weiguo greeted Xiao Jingyan with a smile.

“Comrade Xiao, you’re here to shop too?”

Xiao Jingyan’s gaze swept across Jiang Niannian. He had already gotten the lowdown from Wang Lin about the provincial Jiang family. He now guessed this girl was Jiang Weiguo’s biological daughter.

“Mm.”

Seeing Xiao Jingyan look at Niannian, Jiang Weiguo introduced her.

“This is my daughter, Jiang Niannian. The babies got switched at birth back then. The one before wasn’t ours, she’s gone back to her birth parents now. This is our real daughter—we just got her back.”

Xiao Jingyan’s gaze became focused and intense as he stared at Jiang Niannian.

Now he was certain—she was the one from last night.

Heh. The girl who slept with him and left fifty cents behind.

Jiang Niannian tried to keep her face expressionless. Oh god. Her toes were curling with embarrassment. If mortification could build castles, she’d have built a whole gothic fortress by now.

“H-hello, Comrade Xiao!” she greeted stiffly.

Xiao Jingyan enunciated slowly, one word at a time:

“Com-rade… Jiang… hello?”

Jiang Niannian gave a forced smile, then quickly tugged on her mother’s arm to drag her over to the clothing section, silently praying he wouldn’t recognize her.

Wang Yingxiu, meanwhile, remembered how Jiang Xiaolin had been so insistent on getting engaged to Xiao Jingyan. She leaned in to whisper the story to her daughter.

“I never really knew why Xiaolin was so set on that engagement. But the day after it was arranged, she ran off.”

“So now that she’s gone, the engagement might fall to you instead. What do you think?

Of course, I’m not in favor of arranged marriages either. If it’s not meant to be, it’s not. But you could at least get to know him.

Though folks in the village say bad things about him—that he brings misfortune to loved ones—I think the young man seems pretty decent. A retired soldier too! That body, that face—not bad at all.

He’s raising pigs now, but what’s wrong with that? Even raising pigs makes money these days!”

Jiang Niannian: “…”

Wow. Jiang Xiaolin really left a mess behind, huh?

“Let’s wait and see. If he doesn’t bring it up, then just let it go.”

Wang Yingxiu nodded. “Fair enough. You’re still young. You can take your time picking. I mean, I think Xiao Jingyan is great, but it’s your choice.”

Jiang Niannian ended up buying a few sets of clothes. She’d expected the clothes at the town co-op to be old-fashioned and frumpy, but to her surprise, there were actually a few stylish sets.

Wang Yingxiu also bought some fabric to have a few nice custom outfits made for her.

They bought three complete outfits, including underwear, and Jiang Weiguo was already numb to the expense by the end.

He realized that his wife really did love her daughter—whether it was the old one or the new one, she showed almost no difference in affection.

No, actually… maybe she loved this one more.

Sigh. It’s just a shame the sons in the family weren’t more promising.

Besides clothes, Wang Yingxiu also bought her face cream, soap, and even a watch.

Jiang Niannian felt a little guilty seeing her mom spend so much.

“Mom… do we really have that much money?”

Wang Yingxiu replied, “Your mom’s got a little saved up. Don’t worry about it, just spend it. Money comes and goes—when we run out, we’ll earn more.”

Jiang Niannian remembered how Jiang Xiaolin used to wear a watch too, so she accepted it without protest.

“Thanks, Mom.”

Wang Yingxiu tenderly patted her daughter’s calloused hands, full of emotion.