Chapter 17.2

On the morning of the 15th, Jiang Rou took out the clothes and quilts prepared for the baby to dry in the sun. She had washed them three times before. 

When her eldest sister-in-law gave birth to her nephew, her mother did the same thing. She said that washing the clothes more often would make them softer, reducing the likelihood of irritating the baby’s skin and preventing formaldehyde exposure.

After a few rains the previous night, she wanted to air them out to remove the dampness.

Just as she spread out the clothes to dry, someone arrived.

Because Li Xiao was at home, Jiang Rou did not close the yard door during the day, so she saw the person as soon as she entered their yard.

The woman was of medium height, with an ordinary appearance—small nose, small eyes, and no notable features—but she had good skin, with no spots and not too dark.

Her short hair was neatly combed, and she wore a black old jacket and pants with old-fashioned buttoned cloth shoes that seemed worn out but were very clean.

Compared to her bent-over, dark-faced mother-in-law, this woman looked much younger.

She had a friendly expression and smiled faintly when she saw Jiang Rou, then came over with a basket and said warmly, “I heard you’re about to give birth, so I came to visit.”

Jiang Rou suddenly remembered that this was her biological mother.

The original Jiang Rou’s biological mother, Zhang Yan, was known in the village for being difficult to get along with. She was strong-willed and domineering. After marrying Jiang Rou’s father, she couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, leading to their separation and moving out on their own after just two years.

Then she had conflicts with her neighbors, which led to frequent fights. In her childhood memories, her family was often visited by neighbors, and her father was the one who suffered the most from these confrontations.

It was unclear if Zhang Yan’s strong personality influenced the rest of the family, but Father Jiang and the children had relatively weak personalities. The eldest sister had been married for several years but was still under her mother’s control. The eldest sister and her husband were not very wealthy, so they frequently returned home to clean up the house. The second sister, being beautiful, married better and became the primary breadwinner for her family.

As Jiang Rou grew up and became the most beautiful girl in the family, Zhang Yan had high hopes for her, which was why she was allowed to continue her studies. However, these high hopes were easily dashed when a prohibitively high bride price was demanded.

She even claimed it was for Jiang Rou’s own good.

Zhang Yan had not visited since Jiang Rou became pregnant. Her sudden appearance made Jiang Rou wary. It was more likely that Zhang Yan had heard rumors about Li Xiao making money.

Speaking of this, Jiang Rou wanted to laugh again.

Just a few days ago, a friend of Li Xiao named Wang Tao came to ask him about that matter. Wang Tao heard that Li Xiao was deceived outside, but according to Zhu Qiang, Li Xiao had made a lot of money.

Li Xiao was puzzled by this. Why did everyone say he was making money whenever he went out? 

In the end, Jiang Rou had to clarify that Li Xiao hadn’t made any money and that they had actually spent a lot.

With Jiang Rou’s clarification, Wang Tao didn’t doubt it. He relayed to his wife that Li Xiao hadn’t earned money, but she didn’t believe him and thought Li Xiao was just saying that.

Wang Tao trusted Li Xiao’s character, knowing that although Li Xiao had a bad temper sometimes, he never lied. Wang Tao’s visit was to reassure Li Xiao and also to mention that his wife didn’t want him to rent a place for selling food, finding it too hard and unprofitable.

Li Xiao didn’t say much after hearing this, so he let him decide for himself. 

Seeing Wang Tao made Li Xiao deeply realize how important it was to marry the right person.

Wang Tao especially came to ask about this because he regarded him as a brother. If he had kept his concerns to himself, the relationship might have suffered over time.

As soon as Wang Tao left, Li Xiao put down the things in his hand and went out to find Zhu Qiang. After asking, he learned that Zhu Qiang had lied about earning a lot of money to impress his girlfriend and prevent her from thinking less of him because he wasn’t making any money on his own.

At present, he has a temporary job and is so busy that he can’t see him.

Currently, Li Xiao has taken up a temporary job and is very busy. With the bathroom renovation at home, many people believed the rumors spread by Wang Tao’s wife.

Seeing Li Xiao’s misfortune made Jiang Rou very happy. 

Several people had come to inquire about him, and when they couldn’t find Zhu Qiang, they came to ask him.

There were many people in the county town looking for work, but opportunities were scarce. 

Jiang Rou learned some details about Zhu Qiang’s girlfriend from Li Xiao. Though she didn’t know her well, she was somewhat arrogant and came from a poor background, with a younger brother who had polio and didn’t attend high school. She worked as a waitress in a restaurant through family connections, where she met Zhu Qiang.

Zhu Qiang, who had poor academic performance, admired those with good grades. He was eager to cherish a girlfriend who was good in both academics and appearance.

The girlfriend’s family did not discriminate against girls, but she herself wanted to prove her worth and support her sick brother, so she demanded a high bride price.

Having excelled academically since childhood and being pampered by her parents, she developed an arrogant attitude and looked down on Zhu Qiang’s gangster friends.

Zhu Qiang’s parents, aware of the girl’s sick brother, were not very pleased with this match.

Despite their discontent, the wedding was scheduled for the end of the year.

Currently, everyone outside believed that Li Xiao had earned a lot of money, which was quite embarrassing for him.

If he claimed he hadn’t earned money, people would not believe him.

However, the truth could not be revealed. Jiang Rou had already informed Li Xiao that he should not disclose his achievements to anyone outside. It would be problematic if there were still some lingering threats seeking revenge.

Li Xiao understood the seriousness of the situation and didn’t talk about it much.

As for Zhu Qiang, naturally, he wouldn’t tell others that he had been scammed into a pyramid scheme—it was too humiliating.

As expected, Jiang Rou invited her into the courtyard and sat them down. She went to pour a cup of water and came back.

Zhang Yan couldn’t help but ask, “I heard that Li Xiao came back. Why haven’t I seen him? ”

While speaking, she scrutinized Jiang Rou. She had wanted to come over the last time her son was beaten up, but Li Xiao was a reckless person. When Jiang Rou was taken advantage of by him, she came with her husband to make a fuss, only to find that Li Xiao didn’t care at all. Not only did he punch Jiang Gui’s father, but he also threw her out, causing her waist to hurt.

So, when her son was beaten, she hadn’t dared to come over. This son-in-law, if he got angry, would really dare to take action, regardless of whether you were an elder or not.

Seeing how Jiang Rou changed, she couldn’t help but be surprised. It had been just over half a year since she last saw her. She had gained weight, her face was fuller, and her skin was now white and rosy. Most notably, whereas she had once been timid, she now walks with confidence.

She felt a bit odd observing him like this.

Jiang Rou replied bluntly, “Do you miss him? He’s sleeping in the room; I’ll go wake him up.”

As she spoke, she pretended to turn around to call for him.

Zhang Yan quickly reached out to stop her and, smiling, said, “There’s no need to wake him. Let him keep sleeping.”

But she felt a bit dissatisfied. The sun was almost high, and he was still sleeping. How lazy! She didn’t understand what this girl saw in him.

Jiang Rou was just pretending. Li Xiao had worked until after midnight the previous night, and she didn’t want to disturb his sleep for this “mother.”

She took a nearby stool, sat down, and picked up a book that was on it. She opened the book on her lap and began to flip through it.

She waited for the other person to speak first.

Seeing her attitude, Zhang Yan frowned unhappily but then spoke in a more earnest tone, “Your father had an accident and broke his leg some time ago. You didn’t even bother to come back and check. I think you’re becoming more ungrateful. We shouldn’t have let you go to high school; you’ve become so indifferent.”

“Although I haven’t been able to visit you frequently, I’ve missed you so much. Tell me, among the three of you sisters, don’t I love you the most? Your eldest sister has been working since she was a child, and your second sister manages both the household and outside affairs. Only you, having been in poor health since childhood, received special care from us. Yet, you had the audacity to move into a man’s house without notifying anyone and ended up getting pregnant, which brought shame to our entire family. Because of your actions, your second sister has become unruly, and recently, she’s even asked for a divorce from your second brother-in-law.

Jiang Rou couldn’t stand it anymore. It was as if she was making black seem white.

Looking up at her, she smiled and interrupted, “Mom, you came at just the right time. I used to send a lot of money home through my younger brother. Can you give me some back? A few days ago, Li Xiao was scammed by an old lady. We had to spend all the money we had. Now that the baby is about to be born since you care about me so much, you wouldn’t want your own grandchild to be born and not have anything to eat, right?”

Upon hearing this, the woman’s voice abruptly stopped.

Her previously warm and friendly expression suddenly turned stiff, and then she asked sharply, “What do you mean by being scammed?”

Her expression changed repeatedly, and she finally couldn’t help but ask with concern, “How much did they scam you out of? ”

Her face showed such sympathy as if the money had come out of her own pocket.

Jiang Rou, fearing she might scare the baby, turned slightly to the side and, touching her belly with a worried expression, said, “I don’t know who spread the word that Li Xiao had made money. Perhaps someone with ulterior motives overheard it. When he went out, he ran into an old lady who lay on the ground and claimed that Li Xiao had pushed her. In the end, he had to pay money to settle the matter.”

She looked up at her with a hint of grievance and said, “Mom, I did give my younger brother a lot of money before. He said it was for you.”

“……”

She suspected that this stubborn girl was just putting on an act.

After not seeing her for a while, she clearly felt that the girl had become harder to handle, unlike the eldest and second sons. As long as she said these words, who would not be obedient and sensible to pay money and work hard?

She couldn’t help but think of her worthless third son-in-law. He looked decent but had a devious mind. He was definitely the bad influence behind this situation.

Now he even asked her for money.

How could she have money? She gave all her money to Xiao Gui.

Zhang Yan’s face grew grim, and she didn’t know how to continue with her prepared lines.

Just then, as if summoned, the person she was talking about appeared. Li Xiao came out of the house, rubbing his face in annoyance. His brows were furrowed, and his handsome face was full of impatience, especially when he looked at Zhang Yan. His eyes were gloomy.

Seeing Li Xiao like this, Zhang Yan felt her back pain return, her face turning pale and green alternately, and she couldn’t say a word for a long time.

But Jiang Rou next to her also interrupted, “Mom, just say whatever you want to say; we are not outsiders.”

Zhang Yan rolled her eyes at Jiang Rou, not knowing whether she was really stupid or just pretending to be stupid.

Originally, she had intended to coax her daughter and then borrow some money from her, but now she knew that Li Xiao had been scammed by someone. Although she wasn’t sure of the truth, she believed it in her heart. She had heard it in the village, as had others. It was normal for people to remember such things.

Since she had no money, she didn’t want to stay any longer. She picked up her basket again and prepared to leave. “Nothing much; I just came to see you and to sell the eggs I had saved at home. Your father isn’t in good health and needs money for medicine.” 

Then she patted Jiang Rou’s shoulder, as if worried that she might be overly concerned, and said with some embarrassment, “Mother’s family is very poor right now. Mom needs to earn money. I’ll bring you something better next time.”

Jiang Rou: “…”

It had to be said that, compared to Li Xiao’s real mother, Zhang Yan was a master at sweet-talking; no wonder she managed to keep everyone in line.

But the people in the same village weren’t fools. Over time, they could clearly see that her sweet appearance was just a facade.

Jiang Rou was about to get up when Li Xiao coldly said, “I’ll see you out.”

Jiang Rou sat back down again.

Zhang Yan’s face grew stiff. She hadn’t finished speaking, and though her family (Li Xiao and Jiang Rou) was out of money, they must have bought quite a bit. The clothes hanging out in the courtyard for the child were all new and clearly expensive.

Seeing Li Xiao walking towards her, Zhang Yan had to walk out reluctantly.

Once outside the courtyard, she finally mustered the courage to ask, “Good son-in-law, where did you go to make money this time? ”

Li Xiao couldn’t help but sneer. He remembered when she had come to their door, calling him “little bastard” and “hooligan,” and now she was calling him a good son-in-law.

He looked at her mockingly and asked, “Did you really think calling me ‘’good son-in-law’ would make me believe you? ”

Her face flushed red.

While Zhang Yan might be authoritative at home, treating her previous sons-in-law like her own, Li Xiao didn’t regard her the same way.

But the soft is afraid of the hard, and the hard is afraid of the ruthless.

And Li Xiao is the ruthless one.

Li Xiao glanced at her indifferently and said, “Don’t come again in the future; otherwise, no one can say what will happen to your son.”

Zhang Yan met his cold gaze and was filled with fear.

Clutching her basket, she quickly turned and left, cursing Jiang Rou in her heart. If she had known, she would have sent her away back then. Not only did she gain nothing, but she also attracted such a troublemaker.

Li Xiao turned back into the courtyard and saw Jiang Rou, who was holding a book and stretching her neck to look outside. He couldn’t help but smile. “She’s gone.”

He had heard that she had scolded Lin Meiru so much that she ran away, but she didn’t dare say a harsh word in front of her own mother. He wasn’t sure if she was brave at home and timid outside, or if she was just too eager to protect him back then.

“I’ll find time to visit tomorrow. If your father really did break his leg, I’ll send some money over.” He was willing to help Jiang Rou’s parents financially but didn’t want to be taken advantage of.

“Don’t!”

Jiang Rou shook her head without a second thought. She was planning to go to the hospital the next day, and with Li Xiao gone, she didn’t know what to do. “It’s obvious he’s pretending. This has happened countless times already.”

He made up that story just to ask for money from their several sons-in-law. The eldest sister was honest and only complained a little, but the second sister of the original self had it hard. Her husband owned the only supermarket in town, which was doing well, leading to her being mistreated by her in-laws.

Yet, the original self’s second brother-in-law knew how to handle people. Every time he visited the Jiang family, he brought many gifts. Except for the second sister, everyone in the Jiang family was satisfied with this brother-in-law.

Even the original “Jiang Rou” believed Zhang Yan’s words at the beginning, thinking that her second sister was an incompetent wife who could not win the heart of a man.

The three daughters of the Jiang family had all been raised by Zhang Yan as her three disciples, with the eldest sister almost at the beck and call of their mother.

Li Xiao didn’t pay much attention to their side after hearing this.

In the afternoon, Jiang Rou was greedy. Thinking that she would not be able to eat delicious food during the confinement period, she simply called Li Xiao, and the two went out for a big meal.

This was the first time they went out to eat together. Li Xiao took her to the restaurant where Zhu Qiang’s uncle worked as a chef, and they ordered braised pig’s trotters, lamb spine, Peking duck, stir-fried asparagus lettuce, and spinach tofu soup.

They ordered a little too much, and the two ate for a long time. Jiang Rou was greedy and was full after eating two small bowls of rice. The rest went into Li Xiao’s stomach.

As they were leaving, they ran into Zhu Qiang at the door. He had previously quit his temporary job at the restaurant and was now coming to pick up his girlfriend from work.

Standing face-to-face at the door, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but glance at Zhu Qiang a few more times. His skin was fair, with single eyelids, and he looked quite handsome.

However, he seemed somewhat aloof. When he saw them coming out, he turned his head away.

It seems like they looked down on her.

Jiang Rou was about to greet him, but, seeing his reaction, she was momentarily stunned. She could only smile and then lower her head to pat her belly.

He had seen them when they entered the restaurant but hadn’t seen him afterward. She now thought she was intentionally avoiding them.

Zhu Qiang had an embarrassed look on his face as he greeted them: “Boss, sister-in-law.”

Li Xiao was in a good mood, but his face darkened when he saw this scene. Although Zhu Qiang’s girlfriend’s disdain didn’t bother him, he was uncomfortable with the unfriendly attitude towards Jiang Rou.

He ignored Zhu Qiang, directly put his arm around Jiang Rou’s shoulders and walked away with her.

Once they were out of sight, Chen Mei, who had been somewhat impatient, said, “Let’s go. I want to get home early.”

Zhu Qiang glanced at the couple walking closely together in the distance. Although they hadn’t done anything, they looked very close. He then looked at Chen Mei, who was a few steps away from him and fell silent.

Chen Mei didn’t care that she didn’t get his response; instead, she turned around and left him behind.

Zhu Qiang hesitated for a moment but followed her.

On the other side, Jiang Rou suggested going to see a movie.

Previously, with a phone and computer, she had little interest in TV, but now, with no entertainment, she couldn’t help but reminisce.

Indeed, one only appreciates something after losing it.

When Li Xiao heard this, he lowered his eyes and looked at her, with some disgust on his face. “What’s so good about movies? They are all about dating.”

Jiang Rou ignored him and walked straight to the county cinema.

Having stayed in the county town for so long, she was quite familiar with it.

When she arrived at the cinema, Jiang Rou saw a familiar movie among many movies—”Titanic.”.

She suddenly remembered that she had heard her mother talk about this movie before. It was a big hit in China and was shown for a whole six months, and her parents had watched it four or five times together.

With a sense of nostalgia, Jiang Rou chose that film, while Li Xiao, standing next to her, showed no interest. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned to look at the surrounding posters.

After buying the tickets, they waited in the lobby for a while. Although Jiang Rou had claimed she was full earlier, seeing the candy-coated hawthorn and soda on sale made her a bit tempted. She asked Li Xiao if he wanted any, but he shook his head. So, Jiang Rou bought a stick of candied hawthorn and a bottle of Coke.

However, after eating a few pieces, she couldn’t eat more. Li Xiao, who seemed to have seen through her, took over and started munching on it.

Just after taking a bite, it was time to enter the theater.

The two followed the crowd to the screening room.

The movie was very good. Although the quality wasn’t as clear as what Jiang Rou had seen on her computer before, this was the uncut version, which was a little longer.

When the female lead, Rose, was floating on the sea and heard the rescue team calling out to the male lead, Jack, there were faint sobs heard in the screening room.

Jiang Rou also discreetly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

She had seen this movie twice before, but it still moved her deeply.

After the movie ended, Jiang Rou left the screening room, feeling a bit down. Li Xiao, walking beside her, remarked, “The movie was good.”

Jiang Rou: “…”

She didn’t know who had said that movies were not good.

But after he finished speaking, he suddenly asked, “If I died someday, would you remarry? ”

Jiang Rou turned her head and looked up at him, not understanding why he suddenly asked this question. Was their relationship really that deep?

Li Xiao also turned his face and lowered his eyes to look at her. When their eyes met, she seemed to understand his inner thoughts for a moment, and she felt a little strange in her heart.

She pursed her lips, and she replied seriously, “If you wouldn’t remarry under the same conditions, then I won’t either.”

Although such a hypothetical condition was unrealistic, the man still smiled with satisfaction, his eyes full of warmth.

For the first time, he took the initiative to hold Jiang Rou’s hand. After a while, he said in a low voice, “I won’t.”

Jiang Rou struggled twice but failed to break free, so she let him hold her hand.

Hearing this, she looked up at the starry sky, and for some reason, she found herself believing in his words. The next morning, Li Xiao carried a large bag of baby items and went to the county hospital with Jiang Rou.