Chapter 9

Why the Secretive Behavior?

Zhao Chunlan sarcastically said, “Who else could it be, besides your eldest son? I don’t really care, after all, I’m the stepmother.

You, however, are his real father!”

Shen Dazhu asked again, “What about the girl?”

Zhao Chunlan replied, “She’s the daughter of Xu Jianguo from the neighboring village.”

Shen Dazhu frowned. “But doesn’t she already have a fiancé?”

Zhao Chunlan rolled her eyes. “Who knows what happened there!”

She was trying to sabotage the marriage. “I heard from people in the neighboring village that Xu Jianguo raised his daughter so delicately, even more fragile than city girls. Can someone like that handle married life?

Dazhu, let me tell you, when you’re choosing a wife, pick one with a big backside and strong build.

If you marry someone delicate, who knows if she can have children?”

Although Shen Dazhu didn’t think much of Shen Yuebai, he still valued having descendants. His face darkened, and he grabbed his hoe, heading to the scorekeeper. “Today, I’ve earned three work points, but I have some business to take care of. I need to take a leave.”

The scorekeeper went to check the fields and confirmed the three points, then made a note. “Alright, go ahead.”

Shen Dazhu put the hoe back in the warehouse before heading to Xu Jianguo’s house.

With a celebration in the family, Xu Jianguo and Xu Laotai had taken the day off from work. They were at home, dividing up the chores.

Xu Jianguo was cleaning, and Xu Laotai was tending to the vegetables.

They had plenty of vegetables from their private garden, so preparing ten tables of food wasn’t an issue.

“Chicken, the matchmaker Li can handle, no need to worry about the meat. Just buy some more eggs, get a few fish, and that’s enough for the main dishes. With eight side dishes, we should be good.”

Xu Jianguo leaned over and asked, “Where should we buy the fish?”

Xu Laotai had it covered. “That’s none of your concern.”

Xu Jianguo, speechless, thought, “Why is she being so mysterious?”

As they were busy, Shen Dazhu suddenly burst in. “I don’t approve of this marriage.”

Xu Laotai didn’t take him seriously. “Who are you?”

Shen Dazhu’s face turned pale with anger, his temples throbbing. “I’m Shen Yuebai’s father. He’s getting married, and I have the right to know.”

Xu Jianguo found this amusing. “Well, now you know, don’t you?”

Shen Dazhu was momentarily speechless, then continued to cause trouble. “Your daughter was previously engaged. The Shen family doesn’t need someone with a bad reputation as a daughter-in-law.”

Xu Jianguo could not tolerate anyone badmouthing his daughter. His face darkened, and his teeth gritted as he said, “Shen—Dazhu, you damn bastard, say that again!”

Shen Dazhu was shorter, just under 1.7 meters, while Xu Jianguo stood at 1.78 meters. When faced with Xu Jianguo’s imposing presence, Shen Dazhu was intimidated, but considering the issue of descendants, he didn’t back down. “I still don’t approve of this marriage. No matter what you say, I will never agree.”

Xu Laotai stepped forward and asked, “How long have you raised Xiao Shen?”

Shen Dazhu was caught off guard.

Xu Laotai pressed on. “No wonder people say a stepmother is just like a stepfather. It’s not wrong at all.

When Xiao Shen’s mother passed away, how old was he?

What did you do for him?

What did your second wife do to him after you remarried?

Do you need me to refresh your memory?”

When Xiao Shen’s mother died, he was only five. People had called him a broom star, saying misfortune followed him everywhere.

Though this claim was never proven, Shen Dazhu still believed it, and so he ignored Xiao Shen, even kicked him out of the house.

Had his grandmother not lived in the same village, no one would have known if he had died.

When Xiao Shen needed him, it was as if he were dead.

Now that the child had grown up and didn’t need him anymore, Shen Dazhu was trying to play the father role.

Where did he get the courage?

Shen Dazhu’s face turned bright red, forced into silence by Xu Laotai’s words. After a long pause, he stammered, “I… I believed other people’s words. But not anymore. I will give him more fatherly love.”

Xu Laotai had never seen someone so shameless. “Pah! Go ask Xiao Shen if he needs it.

If you remarried, no one would say anything, but treating Xiao Shen like that is your fault.

Now that he’s grown up, stop bringing up that worthless fatherly love in front of him. He doesn’t need it.”

When Xu Laotai was younger, she had fought the Japanese invaders, and though old now, her spirit was still formidable.

After scolding Shen Dazhu for a while, he was completely subdued.

The moment Shen Dazhu stepped out of Xu’s house, his back hunched.

When Zhao Chunlan returned from work and saw Shen Dazhu sitting on the doorstep, smoking a dry cigarette, she quickly walked over to ask, “So, how did it go?”

Shen Dazhu’s voice was slightly choked. “I’m useless. I never took care of him, he won’t listen to me.”

Zhao Chunlan, seeing that Shen Yuebai had a high salary, wanted to marry off her niece to him. If this marriage didn’t work out, her boastful words in her hometown would become a joke.

To maintain her status in her family, she absolutely could not let Shen Yuebai marry Xu Jiayi: “Just because you never took care of him, does that mean you’re not his father? If he doesn’t listen to you, you can report him to the army.”

Shen Dazhu still knew the importance of the matter, shaking his head. “That won’t work, it would ruin his future.”

Zhao Chunlan was infuriated and laughed bitterly. “No matter how great he is, you won’t benefit. They bought some nice food, and only gave it to the two uncles. You didn’t get a single thing.”

Shen Dazhu didn’t want to argue with her and just kept smoking.

He smoked too quickly and started coughing uncontrollably, tears welling up.

Zhao Chunlan saw this, didn’t even spare him a glance, and mocked him for being useless, unable to even manage his own son.

After she finished scolding, Shen Dazhu remained silent. Zhao Chunlan rushed over and threw his cigarette away. “Are you trying to kill yourself? Every day, all you do is smoke. Why don’t you smoke yourself to death?

Shen Dazhu, I’m telling you now, if that broom star dares to marry Xu Jianguo’s daughter, I’m not done with you.”

…

Meanwhile, Shen Yuebai, who was shopping in the city, had no idea about the commotion back home.

The supply and marketing cooperative in the town had limited styles of watches.

Xu Jiayi didn’t like any, so Shen Yuebai borrowed a car and drove to a state-owned store in the city.

They had more styles here.

After browsing, Xu Jiayi chose a smaller Meihua brand watch.

The gold dial was engraved with a small flower, simple and beautiful.

She tried it on and it fit just right.

This watch wasn’t cheap.

Besides the watch coupon, it also cost 180 yuan.

At that time, a worker’s monthly salary was just about 30 yuan, and a watch cost half a year’s wages.

However, since Shen Yuebai had a high salary, it wasn’t a burden for him.

He readily took out 18 big unity notes to give to the salesperson. “I’ll take this one.”

He didn’t bring much money when visiting home.

All this money was borrowed from his comrades.

The salesperson, seeing how generous Shen Yuebai was, couldn’t help but envy him. Why couldn’t she find a partner like this?

She thought of her own boyfriend, who would haggle over even a movie ticket, and suddenly felt everything about him was lacking.

Damn, and they’re not even married yet, and he’s this stingy!

She couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be after marriage!

No, no.

A man who is this stingy should not be married.

The salesperson prepared the receipt for Xu Jiayi and said with envy, “Your partner is really generous with you!”

Xu Jiayi smiled brightly. “Of course! A man who treats his wife well will have smooth sailing in life.”

The salesperson looked confused. “Are you not just flattering me?”

Xu Jiayi replied seriously, “Of course not! Just look at those successful people, who isn’t good to their wife?”

The salesperson thought of her own manager and realized it was actually true. “Maybe I should find someone who treats me well in the future.”

Xu Jiayi encouraged her. “You can do it.”

After buying the watch, Shen Yuebai took Xu Jiayi to look for clothes.

Time was tight, so making clothes from fabric wasn’t an option; they had to buy ready-made clothes.

At that time, wedding clothes were always red, but the styles weren’t very nice.

After trying on several options, Xu Jiayi chose a military uniform. “They never said the wedding dress had to be red. I think this one looks really good.”

Shen Yuebai respected her decision. “Alright, then we’ll go with this one. But we should get a corsage to go with it.”

They spent several hours shopping in the city, using up all their coupons before heading back.

Once back in the town, Xu Jiayi went to Liao Mei’s house to share the news about her wedding.

Liao Mei was very happy for Xu Jiayi. “Congratulations! After waiting for so long, you finally got your wish.”

Shen Yuebai went to visit a comrade, so Xu Jiayi came to see Liao Mei alone.

Liao Mei assumed Xu Jiayi’s fiancé was Song Ran.

Xu Jiayi explained, “I’ve changed husbands. It’s not him.”