Chapter 22 – Jealousy Twisted Her Face

By the time Xu Shan squeezed through the front gate, she was met with the sight of her father sporting a black eye from Xie Dabao’s punch, and her mother crying her heart out, nose running and tears streaming like a fountain.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing? Why are you bullying my parents?” Xu Shan flung her bag directly at Xie Dabao with a loud thud, then immediately rushed to stand in front of her parents protectively.

Seeing his daughter return, Xu Lao’er forgot all about the pain and blurted out, “So? Did you marry that military officer or not?”

Xu Shan scowled and shook her head. “No.”

“What do you mean no? You were gone for so long! Why didn’t the marriage go through? Did their side refuse?” Liang Xiulan was panicking now.

Xu Shan had been their last hope.

And now that even she had failed to get married, how on earth were they going to repay the money? Two hundred yuan! That was more than a year’s income for their entire family!

The three of them weren’t exactly whispering, so everyone around them could hear every word. Xie Gui immediately realized he had no chance of getting his money back. All that talk about marrying a military officer—clearly just an excuse to buy time.

But they couldn’t just keep dragging this on forever either.

His eyes darted sharply. Then he got an idea—and turned his gaze toward Xu Shan.

“Alright then. If Xu Nuo ran away, no problem. But Xu Shan’s here now. My son’s bride is not negotiable. If Xu Nuo can’t marry him, then Xu Shan will take her place.”

The moment she heard Xu Shan should marry instead, Liang Xiulan was so shocked she rolled her eyes back and fainted on the spot.

Xu Lao’er panicked. He scrambled to wake her—slapping her face, pinching her philtrum—until he finally managed to rouse her.

Not now, he thought in a cold sweat. You can’t faint at a time like this!

How could he handle a mess this big alone? When disaster strikes, husband and wife are supposed to stand together—no one gets to pass out first!

“I’m not marrying him! Why the hell should I?” Xu Shan roared, completely unwilling.

So what if she hadn’t landed a military officer? In the capital, she could still marry a worker!

Zhang Qiang—Zhang Man’s older brother—was eleven years older than her, but he was a skilled level-seven machinist, earning seventy to eighty yuan a month!

She could still live a good life in the capital!

Marrying Xie Dabao? What a joke.

Who would want to marry a drooling idiot who played with his own pee and chewed on goat droppings?

“Exactly! Our Shan-shan isn’t marrying him!” Xu Lao’er echoed desperately. “We’ll scrape the money together. Just give us one more month! We’ll borrow it!”

After all, this was their only daughter. They had raised her all their lives, hoping she could marry well. Maybe even bring them to the city one day, let them live comfortably with her.

Marrying a fool like that? Never.

But when Xie Dabao heard they weren’t going to marry him off to Xu Shan either, he started bawling again, snot and tears running down his face. “I don’t want Xu Shan! She’s ugly! Dark! Nasty! I want Xu Nuo! I just want Xu Nuo!”

Hearing her name thrown around like that over and over, Xu Shan’s eyes flickered with something dangerous.

The Xie family dares to humiliate our Xu family like this?

They had to pay.

And Xu Nuo—she had stolen her marriage prospect. She didn’t end up with the company commander like planned. No—she landed the regiment commander! That was beyond infuriating.

Jealousy twisted her face out of shape.
Jealousy split her down to her core.

“Xie Dabao, if you want a wife, why are you hanging around my house?” Xu Shan suddenly shouted. “Your bride Xu Nuo is right over at the village production brigade office getting her certificate! If you’re late, she’s going to take that letter and marry someone else!”

“My wife! Xu Nuo! Xu Nuo is back! I’m going to find my wife!”
Xie Dabao was so excited he shouted and immediately ran out.

Xie Gui didn’t believe it and hurried to stop his son. “Don’t go! She’s lying to you!”

Xu Shan instantly raised her hand and swore, “If I’m lying, may my whole family drop dead!”

That curse was vicious enough to convince him.
Without questioning further, Xie Gui led his people and rushed toward the village production brigade.

“Shanshan, is Xu Nuo really back?” Xu Lao’er asked, still full of doubt.

“She’s really back. She’s right over there,” Xu Shan said, gritting her teeth. “She found the Lu family too. Now she’s marrying into their household!”

“What?” Liang Xiulan looked crushed. “Then all this was for nothing?”

“Not necessarily.” Xu Shan lowered her voice. “The second daughter-in-law of the Lu family has an older brother. He’s a factory worker. Makes seventy or eighty yuan a month. It’s not as flashy as marrying a soldier, but still pretty good. Once I marry him, I’ll bring you and Dad into the city to enjoy life.”

“Really? I knew it! I always said you were a capable girl, Shanshan!” Liang Xiulan beamed.

“When’s the wedding? Do you have news yet?” Xu Lao’er asked eagerly.

Xu Shan nodded. “I came back this time to discuss it with you both. They said we could marry anytime. Just depends on whether you approve. If you do, when I leave again, I’ll bring you both with me to the capital.”

The moment they heard they could marry into money, Xu Lao’er and Liang Xiulan agreed immediately. They had money signs in their eyes.

“Great! Then hurry up and pack. Xu Nuo is leaving for the city soon—we’ll hitch a ride with her! It’s a military vehicle too!”

“That’s amazing! Let’s go, let’s go pack right now!”
The two of them were giddy as they rushed home to gather their things.

Xu Shan left the tattered clothes she had brought home behind. Instead, she returned to her room and packed anything of value that she could take with her.

—

At the village brigade office—

“Xu Nuo, you’re really getting married? Congratulations on marrying into such a good family. Your grandmother can finally rest in peace now.” The brigade leader handed her the certificate.

He had always known Xu Nuo’s family situation well. Seeing her marry a soldier, he was genuinely happy for her.

“Thank you!” Xu Nuo said politely, pulling a box of cigarettes from her pocket. “Uncle, please take this as a token of thanks—for looking after me and Grandma all these years.”

“No, no, I can’t take that.”

“It’s wedding celebration smoke. Are you saying you won’t accept it?” Xu Nuo smiled.

“Well, in that case—” The brigade leader chuckled and tucked the cigarette box into his coat pocket. Just then, they heard a commotion coming from the courtyard.

“I’ll go see what’s going on.”

“Perfect, I was just about to head out too. I’ll come with you.”

When Xu Nuo stepped outside with the brigade leader, the courtyard was already packed with noisy villagers.

She was still wondering what was going on when suddenly, a short, chubby man with dull eyes and a dopey smile rushed out of the crowd and lunged at her.

“Xu Nuo! Wifey! I’m Dabao! Come home with Dabao!”

Xu Nuo nearly screamed in shock. If it weren’t for the brigade leader blocking him, she would’ve been knocked flat by the fool.

“What are you doing?! This is the production brigade, not a circus! Xie Gui, if you’re here to make trouble, take your son and get lost! If you don’t back off, I’ll report you to the public security bureau myself!” the brigade leader roared.

Here in the village, Xie Gui didn’t dare stir up real trouble. He waved for his relatives to pull his son back and said, “I’m here for Xu Nuo. Either she comes back and marries my son, or she pays back our money.”