He hadn’t expected the old man and the others to actually move in. At this rate, how much more would Gu Zhengnan stand to gain?
“Who knows? It must be because your belly isn’t cooperating. Look at the second son’s wife, then look at yourself. Boy or girl, at least give me one first. If you still can’t get pregnant, I might just find myself a new wife.”
Gu Zhengbei said coldly, not sounding like he was joking.
Wang Na felt wronged and couldn’t help complaining, “But having a child takes two people. How can you put it all on me? Maybe it’s your problem?”
Gu Zhengbei shot her a glare. “Stop talking nonsense. What real man has that kind of problem? Not being able to have kids is the woman’s fault!”
Wang Na knew she couldn’t win an argument with him, so she dropped the topic.
“By the way, Zhengbei, I keep feeling those three kids aren’t Zheng’nan’s. How could it be such a coincidence? Don’t you think this Jiang Shutang looks like a fox spirit? She’s sharp-tongued and full of schemes. Could she have set this whole thing up? And this family—they just take her word for it without even checking. They went ahead and held the wedding all muddle-headed. If those three kids turn out not to be your brother’s, that’ll be a real joke.”
Gu Zhengbei fell into thought when he heard his wife say this.
He wanted this to be false even more than Wang Na did. If it were, then Gu Zhengnan hadn’t broken the family curse, and he wouldn’t be favored by the old man either.
“Don’t go spreading that around without proof. You need evidence to convince them.”
Wang Na took note of those words, thinking she’d definitely investigate thoroughly later. If she could really dig up something shady, then without her even having to chase them out, the Gu family would kick Jiang Shutang and those three bastards out themselves.
Jiang Shutang had no idea the couple was scheming behind her back. Right now, she was in the room playing with the three kids.
“Mommy, I feel like I’m dreaming. Yesterday we ate so much meat at great-grandpa’s place—pig trotters and ribs. You can’t imagine how delicious it was!”
The three little ones had been eating their fill these past two days. Kids didn’t have that many thoughts—as long as they ate well, they were happy.
Jiang Shutang’s heart ached when she heard this, and she couldn’t help but pat their heads.
“Don’t worry. From now on, we’ll have meat every day. You won’t have to suffer with Mommy anymore.”
The oldest propped his chin on his arm and looked at Jiang Shutang.
“Mommy, are you happy? Is Daddy good to you? I heard great-grandpa say that after you got married, we can’t sleep with you anymore. Is that true?”
After the oldest spoke, the second and third couldn’t sit still either. They couldn’t bear to be apart from Jiang Shutang. If they had to sleep with someone else at night, they’d just want to cry.
“It’s fine. You can still sleep with Mommy from now on. But this bed is too small—we’ll add another one later.”
Hearing this, the three kids finally relaxed. Before long, they were tumbling around on the bed in a pile.
Just then, the door suddenly swung open—it was Gu Zhengnan coming back.
Jiang Shutang happened to be on all fours on the bed, giving the three kids a horsey ride.
Because she was wearing a top with a low neckline, the view of her chest was completely exposed.
Gu Zhengnan saw it the moment he walked in.
Jiang Shutang felt somewhat embarrassed—this position was hardly graceful.
The three kids stopped laughing when they saw Gu Zhengnan enter. They quickly scrambled off Jiang Shutang and looked at him timidly.
Gu Zhengnan pressed his lips together and sat down on the edge of the bed.
He was a bit at a loss for how to get along with the three kids. After all, there was no foundation of affection between them, and because of what happened last time, the kids still held a grudge against him.
On top of that, he was a straight-laced, no-nonsense man who had no idea how to win over children.
Jiang Shutang keenly sensed the awkward atmosphere and couldn’t help but smile as she smoothed things over.
“Oldest, second, third—from now on, Uncle Gu is your daddy. Go on, call him Daddy.”
It wasn’t that Jiang Shutang was pushing the kids to accept him as their father. It was that Gu Zhengnan was a decent person, and as long as he was around, the three kids could live a good life.
Sometimes you had to swallow your pride. Could dignity ever be as good as a piece of meat?
Sure enough, when the three kids heard Jiang Shutang say this, they all wrinkled their little noses before reluctantly calling out “Daddy.”
Gu Zhengnan’s emotions churned inside, but not a trace showed on his face.
“Mm. Good kids.”
He forced out two stiff words, then pulled three little trinkets from his pocket and set them on the bed.
“Daddy bought these for you. Do you like them?”
The youngest saw the green tin frog and ran over happily.
“I like it!”
The frog had a wind-up key on it—wind it up and it would hop and scurry across the floor on its own.
They’d always wanted one before, but because the family was poor, no matter how much they liked it, they held back and never asked their mother for it.
The oldest looked at Gu Zhengnan but didn’t go to take it.
He was more cautious and still wary of Gu Zhengnan. A few little trinkets weren’t enough to win him over.
But the second and third were already playing with theirs on the floor.
Gu Zhengnan and Jiang Shutang stared at each other, both at a loss for words—an awkwardness that defied description.
Just as Jiang Shutang was wondering how to broach the subject, Gu Zhengnan suddenly stood up and took a small booklet out of the wardrobe.
“This is for you.”
Jiang Shutang took a look—good heavens, it was a bankbook.
“Is this a bankbook?”
Gu Zhengnan nodded. “Yes.”
Jiang Shutang opened it and found over five thousand yuan inside. She couldn’t help but widen her eyes, feeling a bit pathetic for doing so.
In the past, five thousand yuan would have been pocket change to her—she wouldn’t have even glanced at it. But now, in 1977, this five thousand yuan was truly a huge fortune.
She pointed at herself in disbelief. “Are you saying you want me to keep this five thousand yuan?”
Gu Zhengnan nodded again. “Yes.”
Jiang Shutang suddenly felt the money burning in her hands. The two of them had no real emotional foundation, yet on the second day of their marriage, he was giving her five thousand yuan.
She didn’t feel worthy of that trust.
Since she’d come through, she’d been working at the factory for a while now and often heard the female workers chatting among themselves. They all said their husbands were full of schemes, that they wouldn’t let their wives manage the money, and that this society was run by men. Not only that, they even wanted to keep their wives’ wages in their own hands.
She’d found it pretty ridiculous at the time—indeed, no matter the era, there were few good men to be found.
But she never expected that Gu Zhengnan would actually let her manage the household finances.
“No need. I can’t take this. You keep it.”
Jiang Shutang gritted her teeth and handed the bankbook back. Even if she took the money, she wouldn’t feel at ease.
Gu Zhengnan was somewhat surprised. In his impression, Jiang Shutang should have been quite fond of money. Now that he was handing over his savings, she actually refused.
“Why won’t you take it?”
“This is too much money. You earned it through hard work—it’s safest in your own hands.”
Gu Zhengnan was silent for a long time, somewhat taken aback.
He had gone to his workplace today and asked some married colleagues, and they all said their wives managed the money.