Chapter 8: The Wedding Date Approaches

Shen Chunmiao wanted to appear tough, but Huo Beichuan’s expression was just too frightening. Even in their past life, when he knew she had betrayed him, he never showed such a face—as if nothing she did mattered to him.

But now, she barely almost hit Shen Jintao, and he exploded?

Why?

Why did the man who was indifferent to her in their past life now treat Shen Jintao this way?

Shen Chunmiao began to doubt whether her plan to arrange their marriage would work. Would Shen Jintao still live well?

But this thought lasted only a moment before she dismissed it.

It was impossible. Soon, Huo Beichuan would be returning to the army. Shen Jintao’s life would definitely not be easy.

“Apologize!”

Huo Beichuan seemed to have completely ignored Shen Chunmiao’s words, his tone growing even colder.

“What… what do you want to do?”

“If you dare hit me, I will report you for sure!”

Shen Chunmiao was so scared by his gaze that her teeth chattered.

She suddenly remembered something: before joining the army, Huo Beichuan was already the leader among the kids in the brigade. It seemed like he didn’t even know the meaning of the word “fear.” Among all the kids his age in the whole brigade, no one wasn’t afraid of Huo Beichuan.

Even before Huo Beichuan could say another word, Shen Chunmiao completely broke down, scared by her own memory, and started crying, “Yes! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

Huo Beichuan withdrew his gaze, but there was a brewing storm in his eyes.

He then handed the watch over to Huo Nanxi, since the watch was a woman’s and only Huo Nanxi at home was suitable to wear it. His mother wasn’t the type to wear watches, it wasn’t that they never planned to buy one for her, but Liu Guifen had said it would slow her down at work and refused to let her have one.

“Nanxi, if you don’t mind that it’s been worn, keep it. If you do mind, you can decide what to do with it.”

Huo Beichuan’s words made Shen Chunmiao blush deeply—what did he mean? Was he saying she was dirty?

Huo Nanxi didn’t mind at all, having a watch was already pretty good. She also noticed that Shen Jintao had a new watch on her wrist, so accepting this one wouldn’t make her feel bad. After all, it wouldn’t look right to give the former fiancée’s things to the current one.

“How could I mind? It’s just some people who don’t know what’s good for them and don’t know if her ‘Brother Qingshan’~ will buy her these things. Otherwise, if she marries ‘Brother Qingshan’~ with nothing to show for it, people will laugh their heads off.”

Huo Nanxi deliberately twisted the words “Brother Qingshan” with a sarcastic tone that gave everyone goosebumps, but it made Xu Xuemei and the others burst out laughing.

Shen Chunmiao’s face turned ashen with anger, but stepping in had only made things worse for her—she lost both face and ground, feeling very miserable.

She turned and went back to her room. Shen Jianguo also felt embarrassed and pulled Wang Lanxiu away.

Wang Lanxiu kept grumbling angrily. She didn’t dare curse Xu Xuemei because her own brother and sister-in-law were still here, so she could only curse at her own son—and her curses were harsh, but Shen Jianmin pretended not to hear.

Xie Lanzhi’s eyes almost popped out. She never expected the watch to be taken back. If she had known, she would have hidden it earlier and told them it was lost.

She couldn’t help but blame her own daughter—how could she still wear the engagement item around to show off after the engagement was broken? And they got caught red-handed. On top of that, since they were at fault for breaking off the engagement, they couldn’t say a word.

She was so angry that she didn’t even eat and went straight back to her room. Throughout this whole farce, Old Master Shen never showed up.

Unlike the low spirits over there, the kitchen in the main house was simple but functional. The rest wasn’t lacking, and soon a meal was cooked. Everyone gathered around, eating happily.

Huo Chenggong noticed that the other side didn’t even have tables or chairs. They had pulled a cabinet over to use as a table, and everyone had to stand to eat. That wouldn’t do.

“In-law, I have extra tables and chairs at my place. I’ll ask Beichuan and Dongsheng to carry them over for you to use for now. I heard from Beichuan that you’re planning to build your own house. I happen to know some carpentry, so I can make some new furniture for you slowly.”

Hearing this, Shen Jianmin’s heart warmed. His own mother only cared about whether their family’s belongings would end up in the second house’s hands, but Huo Chenggong thought of so much more.

“No need, In-law. We’re already very tired from work every day. How could I trouble you again? We’ll just hire someone to do it.”

“We’re family now, why be so polite with me?”

Huo Chenggong waved his hand, “It’s settled then. Hiring someone will cost money, won’t it?”

Shen Jianmin and Xu Xuemei hurriedly thanked him, feeling that it was truly better to have in-laws from the same village who knew and understood each other. Even if their daughter married into that family, they wouldn’t be mistreated.

In the following days, both families prepared for the wedding of Huo Beichuan and Shen Jintao.

Originally, Shen Jintao was already at the right age for marriage, and Xu Xuemei had always been very supportive of Huo Beichuan. But Shen Chunmiao had caused a fuss and tried to break off the match, and then Shen Jintao had chased after that pretty boy Lu Qingshan, so no matchmaker had come to visit.

However, Xu Xuemei had been quietly preparing a dowry for her daughter all along. Now that the family had split, she was free to make arrangements without restraint, going around to find people to help with cotton replacements.

There were many relatives on the mother’s side, and the three sisters-in-law knew quite a few people. By pooling resources from here and there, they managed to gather six quilts of varying thickness. Although this took a heavy toll on the family’s resources, Xu Xuemei and Shen Jianmin were very happy.

A few years ago, having just two quilts would have been considered a good dowry. Even now, six quilts were not something an average family could easily afford.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford the money—it was mainly because cotton coupons were hard to come by.

Seeing them go all out like this, Wang Lanxiu and the second wife’s family looked down on it and spent their days grumbling at home.

Their complaints were basically, “You’re the only ones who know you’re marrying off a daughter, outsiders might think you’re the ones getting a daughter-in-law!”

“Why spend so much on a loser? You’d be better off using that money to find a wife for my Chuntao. You and your wife truly have no conscience.”

Chuntao was Shen Chunmiao’s twin brother, also older than Shen Jintao by about half a year. He was recently looking for a match and had his eye on a girl from the neighboring village. The girl was reportedly beautiful but asked for a high bride price.

Shen Jianmin couldn’t take it anymore. He immediately picked out a plot of land on their property and decided to build a house as soon as their daughter’s wedding was over.

Just as Shen Jintao’s family was busily preparing for the wedding, Lu Qingshan really showed up to propose to Shen Chunmiao.