Chapter 46: Clearing Out the Goods

◎Regret~◎

The way he said it, it sounded like everything was her fault!

Aunt Jiang didn’t indulge him at all: “And who exactly spoiled him? Every time I told you to step in and do something, what did you say? You said, ‘He’s still young, he’ll grow out of it.’ And now that things are out of hand, it’s all suddenly my fault?”

“Well, you’re his mother—if not you, then who else should I blame?”

“And you’re still his father!”

…

In short, Aunt Jiang’s house was in chaos that day, with everyone arguing endlessly over who was truly to blame for how Ge Huai had turned out. Uncle Jiang never imagined that the job he thought was so good for his nephew would be outright dismissed.

Ge Huai never came by, not even once before the New Year.

But Uncle Jiang had plenty on his plate. Since Ge Huai didn’t reach out, he didn’t bother to keep that minor issue in mind either. It wasn’t until the second day of the Lunar New Year, when Aunt Jiang’s whole family came over and Uncle Jiang saw his eldest nephew again, that he finally remembered it.

When asked, Ge Huai didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Since he never intended to accept the job his uncle suggested, why should he go out of his way to visit? By not showing up, hadn’t he already made his attitude perfectly clear?

Uncle Jiang took one look at his nephew and understood everything—he clearly didn’t care for the job offer.

Given that, Uncle Jiang didn’t bother pushing further. After all, he wasn’t Ge Huai’s parent. He couldn’t even manage his own son, so why take on the responsibility of raising someone else’s? Besides, a little arrogance in a young person was normal. A few hard knocks would teach him soon enough.

After the Spring Festival, Wei Xiaolong headed back to the capital to prepare for the new school term.

When Wei’s mother saw her youngest son, she immediately pulled him aside to ask about things back home.

“Everything’s fine at home. It’s just that Third Brother has been asking several times when Third Sister-in-law is coming back. Dad also asked privately—he said, are you planning to stay here until Sis goes back to work, and then return together with Third Sister-in-law?”

Wei Xuan could tell her mother was starting to miss home, so that evening she discussed it with Jiang Che: “Mom’s been living here for over half a year now. The baby’s a bit older, and I can manage on my own. Maybe it’s time to send her home first.”

Jiang Che didn’t object, but he was worried she’d be too exhausted taking care of the child alone: “Are you sure you can manage all by yourself?”

Wei Xuan answered confidently, “I can.” But right after saying that, she felt a bit unsure: “Or… maybe you could build a small bed for the baby. That way, when I’m working outside, I can keep her nearby and watch her. I won’t feel so overwhelmed then.”

Jiang Che thought it over and said, “Alright. I’ll go find a carpenter tomorrow—shouldn’t take long to get a bed made. As for Mom, I can only send her back once I get a day off.”

“That’s fine, a couple more days won’t make a difference. Oh right, come home early after work tomorrow to watch the baby—I’ll take Mom to the department store for a walk. She’s been here so long and hasn’t gone out shopping. We can buy her a few things to take back.”

“Okay. And don’t forget to buy something new for yourself too.”

Wei Xuan looked down at the baby weight she still hadn’t lost and gave up on the idea instantly. Better to wait until she slimmed down a bit more.

Since they were going to the department store the next day, the two of them took out all their savings and ration tickets to count again.

Most of the tickets had been given by Jiang’s parents. They also earned less money this year than the year before, mainly because Wei Xuan had been pregnant and they paused their winter cured meat and sausage business.

But their braised meat and pastry sales continued as usual, so it wasn’t too bad. Though their income didn’t match the previous year’s, they still made over 2,000 yuan. Adding that to their existing savings, their little household had over 6,000 yuan saved up.

The next day, when Jiang Che got home from work, Wei Xuan was already dressed and ready.

As soon as she saw him return, she grabbed the money and tickets, then took her mother out with high spirits toward the department store.

This time, with money in her pocket, Wei Xuan didn’t hold back at all. She wanted to buy everything she saw—her mother could barely stop her.

At one point, she picked up a pair of shoes and asked her mother to try them on. But when her mother heard the price, she didn’t even want to try them—she turned around to leave. Helplessly, Wei Xuan just reported her mother’s shoe size and told the clerk to wrap them up.

Seeing that she couldn’t win against her daughter, Wei’s mother turned back and called the clerk: “Young lady, wait—I’d better try them on first. If such expensive shoes don’t fit, it would be a big waste.”

Wei Xuan saw her plan had worked and secretly laughed.

After that, every time they reached a similar situation, Wei Xuan pulled the same trick. By the end of the shopping trip, Wei’s mother was almost angry with her.

Finally, when Wei Xuan was done shopping, the two of them carried loads of bags and headed home.

When Jiang Che saw them return, he noticed that his wife was smiling, but his mother-in-law had a sulky face and didn’t look pleased. So he quietly pulled Wei Xuan aside and asked, “What’s going on? You were only out for a bit, and now Mom seems upset?”

Wei Xuan glanced at her still-annoyed mother and laughed, “It’s nothing. She’s just upset with me. I bought Dad a pair of leather shoes, and she said he wouldn’t have a chance to wear them at home. She said I’m being wasteful. I’m sure she’ll be fine in a bit.”

Hearing that it wasn’t a real argument, Jiang Che felt relieved.

To help smooth things over, he deliberately said to his mother-in-law, “Mom, Wei Xuan said she bought Dad a pair of leather shoes? What do they look like? If they’re nice, I’ll get a pair too. That way, when Dad and I go out together, people will see that we’re a family—matching shoes and all.”

Now that her son-in-law had spoken up, Wei’s mother couldn’t keep up the cold front. She pulled the shoes out and handed them to him: “Here, I don’t know if they look good, but I’ll tell you—the price sure is eye-catching.”

Actually, Wei Xuan’s mother felt her daughter was being wasteful—that was one reason. The other reason was that she was afraid her son-in-law might be displeased seeing her daughter buying her so many things. That’s why she deliberately put on a stern face. But now, seeing that her son-in-law still had the heart to joke with her, she realized she had overthought it.

And it was true—after observing him for all these days, the son-in-law really was generous. Her daughter had married into a good life, like falling into a nest of fortune. With that in mind, she could finally feel at ease going back home.

The night before she left, Wei Xuan’s mother specially invited Third Sister-in-law Wei over for dinner. After the meal, she gave her a thorough talk—mainly to tell her not to always come over and freeload from Wei Xuan. It was fine to visit occasionally, but Wei Xuan was already busy enough taking care of the child and didn’t need the extra trouble.

Third Sister-in-law Wei obediently nodded and agreed, but inside, she was secretly pleased—now that the mother-in-law was going home, no one would be around to control her anymore.

The next morning, Wei Xuan stood at the door holding the baby to see her mother off.

Wei Xuan’s mother waved her hand and told her to go back inside: “Alright, the baby’s still young, take her in. Come back and visit when you get the chance.”

Wei Xuan nodded.

Since Jiang Che only had one day off and had to return that afternoon, they had to catch the earliest bus home.

When the bus arrived at the county town, it was Third Brother Wei who came to pick them up. Seeing that his wife really hadn’t come back with them, he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

Jiang Che noticed and, feeling a bit sympathetic that he had to be separated from his wife for so long, couldn’t help but suggest, “Third Brother, is it busy at home right now? If not, and you miss Third Sister-in-law, come to the capital with me this afternoon to see her.”

“Really?” Third Brother Wei asked excitedly.

“Really—” But before Jiang Che could even finish his sentence, Wei Xuan’s mother cut him off coldly.

“Really nothing!” she snapped, crushing his little daydream on the spot.

“If you leave, who’s going to take care of your kid? Your eldest or second sister-in-law? Don’t you feel ashamed?”

Third Brother Wei hung his head in embarrassment, nodding repeatedly and not daring to talk back.

With his mother-in-law already scolding, even Jiang Che—the one who started this—didn’t dare say another word. Compared to his brother-in-law, it was clear the mother-in-law mattered more.

All the way back to the Wei household, Third Brother Wei still hadn’t recovered. He was too pitiful—his wife had left him behind, and on top of that, he got scolded by his own mother the whole way home.

The Wei family had been waiting at home for a while. As soon as Wei Xuan’s mother and Jiang Che got off the bus, they were immediately surrounded by the whole family—especially the children, who hadn’t seen their grandmother in so long and had missed her a bit.

“Alright, alright, don’t all crowd around. Eldest and second daughters-in-law—has lunch been cooked? If not, get on it. Xiao Che has to catch the afternoon bus after eating.”

“Mom, lunch is ready. Shall we eat now?” Second Sister-in-law Wei jumped in to answer.

Wei Xuan’s mother thought for a moment and nodded. “Then let’s eat first.”

After lunch, once they had sent Jiang Che off, Wei Xuan’s mother opened the luggage she’d brought back and took out a handful of milk candies to share among the kids.

The children were young—just having something sweet made them happy. Once they got their candies, they couldn’t sit still and quickly scattered in all directions.

Once the children were gone, Wei Xuan’s mother began to recount her experiences in the capital. Even though she had spent most of her time in the little courtyard at Wei Xuan’s place and hadn’t gone out much, she still described everything vividly, making it all sound fascinating and desirable.

“That department store…” she paused dramatically before continuing in a mysterious tone, “it’s huge. It sells everything you can imagine. There’s nothing it doesn’t sell—only things you haven’t thought of.”

Then she pulled out a pair of leather shoes. “Look, these are what your younger sister bought for your father. They cost dozens of yuan a pair. I told her not to buy them, but she insisted. I couldn’t talk her out of it.”

The moment she mentioned the price, everyone present gasped. Dozens of yuan for a pair of shoes? That was unimaginable to them. All their money combined probably didn’t even add up to ten yuan.

Wei Xuan’s father beamed as he took the shoes and began stroking them lovingly.

Not to mention the three Wei brothers feeling jealous—even the eldest and second sisters-in-law were full of regret. Back when they had the chance to take over their younger sister’s job, they turned it down as soon as they heard there wouldn’t be any pay. But now that they thought about it, getting a glimpse of the capital and broadening their horizons would have been worth it!

The third daughter-in-law really was the smart one. Sigh, too late to say anything now.

After returning home, Jiang Che told Wei Xuan about her third brother’s situation, and she became quite troubled after hearing it.

Although she had told others that Third Sister-in-law was just temporarily filling in for her job for a few months, in truth, she had no plans to return to the supply and marketing cooperative at all.

Given that, the job would very likely end up being her third sister-in-law’s permanently. But if the sister-in-law were to stay in the capital, they couldn’t just let her and her husband live apart long-term. If they were separated for too long and something went wrong with their marriage, Wei Xuan wouldn’t be able to take that responsibility.

But if Third Brother came to the city as well… how would he support the family? She didn’t have the ability to find him a job.

Forget it, forget it—no point overthinking. When the boat gets to the pier, it’ll straighten itself out. When the time comes, there’ll be a way.

With Wei Xuan’s mother gone, Jiang Che and Wei Xuan had to continue running their business. By the time the baby was three months old, Jiang Che had finished making a small crib for the child.

This made things much easier for Wei Xuan. No matter where she was or what she was doing, as long as she put the baby in the crib and pushed it next to her, she didn’t have to worry about the baby waking up without anyone noticing.

This year, Wei Xuan still didn’t make any new food items—mainly because taking care of the baby drained so much of her energy that she didn’t have time to experiment with anything else. It was easier to stick to the tried-and-true recipes she already knew well.

As the weather slowly began to warm up, Wei Xuan received a letter from the Wei family.