“Alright, then tomorrow afternoon it is. I’ll go pick her up then.”
Gu Hongwei nodded. “Take my car and go bring her over.”
Just then, Gu Zhengbei, who had finally finished eating, spoke up. “Dad, there’s no need to be so considerate. We don’t know much about the woman yet. If we’re too eager from the start, she might try to make outrageous demands later.”
Gu Zhengbei was the eldest son of the family and was already married. However, after three years of marriage, his wife still hadn’t conceived.
Wang Na, hearing her husband say this, chimed in from the side.
“Mom, Zhengbei makes a good point. Zhengnan himself said he’s not a hundred percent sure about this matter. Our family should be a bit cautious. What if those children aren’t Zhengnan’s? Wouldn’t we end up being the fools?”
Wang Na refused to believe deep down that those three children of that shameless woman belonged to the Gu family. If they did, what standing would she have as the eldest daughter-in-law in the Gu family?
In today’s society, a woman’s fertility was valued above all else—being able to bear sons was the real measure of worth.
She couldn’t even produce a daughter, let alone a son, and was constantly nagged by her in-laws about it.
And now Gu Zhengnan, who had just gotten married, already had three sons. Would his parents still give them any of their benefits? They’d surely all go to Gu Zhengnan.
Gu Zhengnan was already the most accomplished one in the Gu family. Now he had to outdo them in having children too?
Hearing what the eldest son and his wife said, Li Wenxiu thought it over and found it seemed to make sense.
“The eldest is right. Our family should maintain some dignity. What if this girl comes from some poor, remote village and is just looking to sell her daughter for money? Then we shouldn’t just give whatever they ask.”
Men had simpler minds and didn’t think of all these twists and turns, but hearing his elder brother and sister-in-law say this, Gu Zhengnan felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Although his initial impression of Jiang Shutang wasn’t great, he didn’t feel she was that kind of person.
But since his family had all spoken up, he didn’t feel he could say anything more.
After dinner, Gu Zhengnan returned to his bedroom to rest.
The others each had their own thoughts.
The eldest couple whispered to each other in their bedroom, both wearing grim expressions.
If Gu Zhengnan really married that woman and she moved in here directly, with three sons to back her up, would she still have any standing in the Gu family?
“Zhengbei, I think something’s off about this. The fortune-teller said there would be no male heirs in the great-grandson generation of the Gu family. How is your brother so capable? He produced three sons at once. Could it be that your brother just came back and wants to compete with you over the family property? That’s why he teamed up with an outsider to set up this whole scheme?”
The two of them had wanted to split the family and live separately last year, but the in-laws wouldn’t agree, so the matter was shelved.
Could Gu Zhengnan have known about this? So he went and produced three kids, all for the purpose of getting a bigger share when the family split.
After all, the in-laws had deep pockets—even a little sprinkle from them would be enough for others to work a lifetime for.
“There’s no use speculating now. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
After talking for a long while, the two finally got ready for bed.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after finishing her shift in the afternoon, Jiang Shutang borrowed someone’s bicycle and rode back to the Jiang family home.
The Jiang family lived in the clothing factory compound. Jiang’s father was a worker at the clothing factory, even a minor supervisor. The apartment they were allocated was quite spacious, and it was on the fourth floor.
Back then, the higher the rank, the higher the floor you were assigned. People preferred high floors in those days, unlike later generations when everyone wanted low floors in walk-up buildings.
As soon as Jiang Shutang entered the compound, she saw many familiar faces.
When these people saw Jiang Shutang return, they all wore looks of disgust, whispering among themselves, and not a single one came forward to greet her.
After all, who would want to acknowledge a shameless woman? Jiang Shutang was notorious not just at Jixie Chang, but at the clothing factory too.
Back then, without a marriage certificate and without a boyfriend, she’d shown up with a big pregnant belly—she’d brought shame to the entire clothing factory.
“Aiyo, why has this troublemaker come back today? What a disgrace.”
“Tell me about it. She’s ruined her mother’s life. Her mother gave up her job for her, and now she’s out working as a maid and doing odd jobs every day.”
“…”
Hearing everyone say this, Jiang Shutang felt terrible inside.
Although she had transmigrated here, she had the original owner’s memories. When she couldn’t take a single step forward, it was Wu Xiuling who had helped her. If her mother hadn’t given up her own position for her, she would probably have starved to death by now.
By giving her the job, her mother had essentially retired early. In this era, you couldn’t do business—there were no private enterprises—and jobs were impossible to find.
So Wu Xiuling had spent these years working as a maid for others, secretly earning a little money here and there.
Not only that, she was often berated by her husband, and even subjected to fists and kicks.
Jiang Shutang knew all of this, but there was nothing she could do. After all, she could barely protect herself—how could she possibly help Wu Xiuling?
In fact, she was quite capable—after all, she was a top student, skilled in everything from music and chess to calligraphy and painting. But because of her terrible reputation, even though she could handle other jobs at Jixie Chang, she never earned any recognition from the leadership.
So she had no chance to get ahead, and could only rely on overtime to scrape together some money.
Full of talent, yet with no place to put it to use.
Jiang Shutang steeled herself, parked her bicycle at the door, and climbed straight up to the fourth floor.
She knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, someone came to open it.
Seeing that it was Jiang Shutang, the other person looked a bit surprised.
“Sis, why are you here?”
The one who opened the door was Jiang Shuqing, Jiang Shuya’s third sister, who had already stopped studying and stayed home to take care of the family’s daily needs.
“Are Mom and Dad home?”
Jiang Shutang said as she walked inside.
Once inside, she saw that both Jiang Dahai and Wu Xiuling were there—Jiang Dahai sat on the sofa reading the newspaper, while Wu Xiuling was picking vegetables off to the side.
When Jiang Dahai saw Jiang Shutang come in, he threw the newspaper in his hand aside.
“You disgraceful thing! Didn’t I already tell you long ago that you’re not allowed to come back? Why are you here again? Do you believe I’ll beat you out of this house?”
Every time Jiang Dahai saw Jiang Shutang, it was like looking at an enemy.
Jiang Shutang ignored Jiang Dahai and spoke directly to Wu Xiuling: “Mom, I’m planning to get married in a couple of days. Are you free tomorrow? Come with me to the restaurant to have a meal with the groom’s family and discuss the wedding.”
When Wu Xiuling heard her daughter was getting married, she threw down the vegetables in her hand and quickly stood up.
“Sweetheart, you’re getting married? That’s wonderful! Finally, someone can help you raise the kids, and you won’t have to work so hard.”
Wu Xiuling was almost moved to tears of joy. Over the years, because of Jiang Shutang’s situation, she had worried and shed plenty of tears.
She had originally thought Jiang Shutang would live like this for the rest of her life—after all, with three sons born out of wedlock, what man would dare marry her? She would probably be an old maid forever.
She never expected that she had now found a partner.
Jiang Dahai was somewhat surprised too, and for once, he refrained from continuing his harsh words.