Chapter 3: Even If You’re Eating Shit, You Can’t Catch The Hot (Fresh) Stuff

Under the strong protective care of her own mother, an entire pot of chicken soup was brought into Shen Jintao’s room.

Shen Jintao didn’t keep it all to herself—she invited her parents and younger brother Shen Jidong to eat together.

While enjoying the food, Huo Beichuan, who had just returned home, also explained the whole situation to the family.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Huo were dumbfounded.

Liu Guifen patted her chest in relief and said, “Fortunately it was found out before the marriage. Marrying Taozi is actually quite good. That Chunmiao girl used to seem nice, how could she do such a vicious thing? If she had entered our family, wouldn’t she have turned our home upside down?”

“None of their daughters are good. Everyone knows that Shen Jintao likes Lu Qingshan from the educated youth camp. Why do you guys insist that my big brother marry into the Shen family?” Huo Nanxi, the younger sister, said unhappily.

“That was decided by your grandfather, how can it be changed?” Liu Guifen also knew that Shen Jintao liked Lu Qingshan, but what choice did they have? “Since your sister Tao has already agreed to marry your brother, she definitely won’t have anything to do with that Lu Qingshan anymore. So don’t make trouble!”

Huo Nanxi was unconvinced. “Liking someone isn’t something you can just change easily. If she can change her heart that fast, it means she’s not a good person!”

“What do you know about liking someone, little girl? Stop spouting nonsense. If these words get out, let’s see how you’ll get married in the future!” Liu Guifen gave her daughter a sharp pat on the back.

“Since a solution has been agreed upon, your mother and I should also pay a visit to the Shen family,” Mr. Huo—Huo Chenggong—said after a moment of silence, basically agreeing to the marriage.

They moved quickly. Since they were all living in the same ^[1]“brigade” here (大队, dàduì) refers to a type of rural administrative or work unit in China, especially during the time of the planned economy or collective farming periods. It’s basically … Continue readingbrigade, it only took a few minutes to go over. Soon the two families had settled everything.

Shen Jintao had rested for two days and was feeling much better. Huo Beichuan came over and asked, “Are you feeling better? If you’re okay, I’ll take you to town to buy some things. The wedding is on August 15th, and you’ll need a few new outfits.”

Shen Jintao nodded, “I’m fine now. Let’s go!”

“Wait!” Xu Xuemei called out to her daughter and directly handed her twenty yuan. “Take this money with you. Don’t let Beichuan pay for everything.”

Actually, it should be the groom’s side paying for the wedding, but Xu Xuemei felt guilty. Although this wasn’t her daughter’s fault, having to suddenly change the wedding partner was a bit awkward. She was worried that Huo Beichuan might hold a grudge and treat her daughter poorly after the marriage.

Taking the twenty yuan, Shen Jintao’s nose twitched with a sharp pang. In her dreams, after she died, her mother and uncles had been devastated and destroyed their own families trying to avenge her. Even though she knew it might not be real, her heart still felt a dull ache. “Thank you, Mom.”

“Don’t say silly things. Hurry up, or ^[2]you’ll miss the hot stuff even if you’re eating shit, It means if you don’t hurry, you’ll miss out on something valuable or timely, even if your situation is bad. The phrase … Continue readingyou’ll miss the hot stuff even if you’re eating shit.”

Shen Jintao: …

Huo Beichuan: …

Both of them had the same thought in their minds—his mom/her mother-in-law was really something else!

After Shen Jintao and Huo Beichuan left, Xu Xuemei’s expression darkened. She gave the people in the second house a cold glance, grabbed a few things, and walked out.

Everyone in the Shen family’s hearts sank—they all knew exactly what Xu Xuemei was up to.

“This is all your fault!” Xie Lanzhi said fearfully, poking Shen Chunmiao hard in the forehead.

“What do they know? Huo Beichuan will be the youngest commander in the future. Marrying him is a huge blessing!” Shen Chunmiao said stubbornly, sticking her neck out.

“Why have you been talking nonsense these past two days? If Huo Beichuan is really that great, why don’t you marry him yourself? Why are you causing a fuss to break off the engagement?”

Shen Chunmiao fell silent—Xie Lanzhi had hit the nail on the head.

In her past life, didn’t she marry Huo Beichuan?

Huo Beichuan was indeed impressive—he made her the envy of everyone as the wife of an official, but she had lived a lonely widow’s life her entire life.

On the other hand, Shen Jintao couldn’t have children, yet Lu Qingshan adored her like a treasure and gave her all the best things.

Although being a businessman didn’t sound as prestigious as a military officer, it was still truly wealthy.

That stubborn Huo Beichuan only took a little bride price and blew it out of proportion.

This life, she definitely didn’t want to marry Huo Beichuan, she wanted to marry Lu Qingshan and become the wife of the country’s largest hotel chain owner.

Thinking this, she went out again. Yesterday, Lu Qingshan’s gesture of goodwill seemed to have made an impression, so she had to seize the opportunity.

“Damn it!”

Old Master Shen cursed and grabbed his enamel cup, heading out. He’d rather walk in the fields than watch these damn fools jump around.

Shen Jintao and Huo Beichuan arrived in the county town about an hour later. It took half an hour to get from the brigade to the town, and then they had to take a shuttle bus from the town to the county. The bumpy ride had made Shen Jintao’s expression quite unpleasant.

“Are you okay?”

Huo Beichuan asked with some concern.

“I’m fine!” Shen Jintao waved her hand.

“Good, then let’s find a place to rest first. I’ll go buy something to help you feel better.” Huo Beichuan still took her to the state-run restaurant. Although it was a bit early for a meal, ordering a bowl of sour soup was still acceptable.

After helping Shen Jintao get settled, Huo Beichuan showed his work ID to the staff.

If it had been someone else coming this early just for a bowl of sour soup, the staff at the state-run restaurant probably wouldn’t have even paid attention.

But after seeing Huo Beichuan’s work ID, the staff’s attitude immediately became very enthusiastic.

“Jintao, wait here for me. I’ll go see if they have any oranges for sale,” Huo Beichuan said as he was about to leave.

Shen Jintao quickly called after him, “It’s not that serious, you don’t have to do this!”

“Hey! Comrade, are you feeling carsick? I have an orange here, take one!”

The young girl in charge of collecting payment at the state-run restaurant took an orange out from the cabinet by her feet. Its peel was greenish-blue—how to put it—it looked very sour.

But Shen Jintao certainly recognized it. Although the orange looked unripe, it actually tasted very sweet.

And in this era, fruit was a very rare luxury.

“Comrade, how much do I owe you? I’m happy to pay, but I absolutely can’t take even a single thing from the people,” Huo Beichuan said seriously.

The girl felt a little embarrassed. “It’s not worth much. You just keep it. I can see your fiancé’s face is already pale. Hey, you’re protecting the country… We can’t really help much, but lending a hand to a soldier’s wife is the least we can do.”

Her words were sincere—during this time, supporting the military and their families meant soldiers and their kin were given special treatment.

Even though the girl said this, Huo Beichuan still firmly handed over fifty cents to pay for the orange, which left the girl not sure how to respond.