“Right! I guarantee that in less than three days, that little bitch will obediently come begging us. By then, I’ll roar~~”
“Old woman, what’s wrong with you?”
Old Man Shen leaned over the ditch and shouted in panic.
But there was no response from below.
“Old woman, don’t scare me like this. If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to live?”
His voice carried a sob. “Waaah… is anyone there…”
Fortunately, a young man passing by on a bicycle heard him. He stopped, called for nearby residents, and together they found a handcart and, in the dark, rushed Old Lady Shen to the hospital.
By the time Shen Jianguo arrived, Old Lady Shen had already been rescued.
However, because she was too old, she would likely be bedridden for the rest of her life and require full-time care. She could barely speak properly and would drool as soon as she opened her mouth.
Yu Li’s face twisted with displeasure when she saw Old Man Shen. “Why were you two out at night instead of sleeping at home? What were you doing in a ditch? Now look what’s happened! Always causing trouble for others!”
Old Man Shen knew he was in the wrong. Now that his wife was paralyzed, their future depended entirely on this daughter-in-law’s attitude.
This made him suddenly miss the past. Back then, Shen Wei was still at home three meals a day were taken care of, and she even brought them foot-washing water. He didn’t know why everything had changed so much now.
“Alright, taking care of Mom is the priority right now,” Shen Jianguo said sternly.
“Who’s going to take care of her?” Yu Li sneered. “When it comes to good things, your Shen family never thinks of me. But when it comes to serving and caring for people, you push it all onto me.”
“Enough nonsense,” Shen Jianguo said coldly. “Everyone’s parents will reach the age where they can’t move.”
His words carried an implicit threat.
Very simply: if Yu Li refused to take care of his parents, then he would also refuse to take care of hers in the future.
Yu Li could only swallow her anger and stay silent.
Shen Wei heard about Old Lady Shen’s fall and hospitalization, but since she was just a girl and an outsider, she didn’t need to get involved.
She continued setting up her stall and selling buns every day. After the incident where Shuanghua helped speak up for her, Shen Wei would occasionally bring them a few buns every couple of days.
Shuanghua kept praising her cooking skills, and sometimes gave her vegetables or sweet potatoes grown at her doorstep. Their relationship gradually became closer.
Shen Wei felt that relationships between people were strange like-minded people always seemed to attract each other.
In her past life, she had been bound by her family and only had Li Na as a friend.
But now, as life slowed down, she not only gained Shuanghua as a friend, but also Sister Wu, who came to buy buns from her stall every day. Whenever they had time, they would chat a little.
Friends are like family you choose yourself. Shen Wei liked having friends.
At the same time, Sun Xiaoxiao was also quietly observing Lu Cheng.
In fact, she lived in the southern part of Yuncheng, not far from the Lu family, but because she spent her days doing housework, she rarely had the chance to go out.
Sun Xiaoxiao had been brought to Yuncheng by her mother after remarriage. Her stepfather’s surname was Huang, and he already had two sons. Later, her mother gave birth to another younger brother and sister, making a family of seven.
On the surface, it didn’t seem like much housework.
But she had to cook three meals a day, clean, do laundry for all seven people, and occasionally wash bedsheets and blankets. These chores kept her busy from morning till night.
After finishing washing the dishes at noon, Sun Xiaoxiao was just about to sneak out when her mother stopped her.
“Where are you going?”
“I… that blind date Aunt Wang introduced to me… he asked me out…”
Upon hearing this, her mother waved her hand. “Then go. Just remember to behave yourself. Don’t be shameless and throw yourself at men the moment you see one, or you’ll become a laughingstock.”
The Lu family had said they were willing to pay a 200-yuan bride price. And since her younger daughter was already helping with housework at home, she decided it was time to marry off her eldest daughter.
“Got it.”
Sun Xiaoxiao didn’t understand why her mother had to speak so harshly. If she ever had the chance, she only wanted to stay far away from this family.
All the way to the Lu household, she saw a girl standing at the gate.
The girl wore a light green checkered dress, with a beautiful green butterfly hairpin on her head.
She was stunning.
“Lu Cheng, do I look good today?” Liu Qingqing asked as she stood in front of Lu Cheng and spun around.
Lu Cheng frowned. “Didn’t I already tell you not to come to my house again?”
“I already have someone I’m engaged to. We’ll be getting married soon.”
He hardened his heart. “Qingqing, you should learn to be sensible. Don’t come looking for me anymore. Find a man who’s good to you and marry him.”
“Brother Cheng,” Liu Qingqing’s eyes filled with tears, “do you really want me to marry another man?”
“To wash his clothes and cook for him, to bear his children?”
“Yes, I do,” Lu Cheng said, his heart aching. He thought the highest form of love should be like this silently wishing the person you love lives better than you do.
“Fine! Then I’ll go marry someone else right now!” With that, Liu Qingqing covered her face and ran away.
Sun Xiaoxiao, hiding around the corner, witnessed everything and of course, she didn’t miss the tear that slipped from the corner of Lu Cheng’s eye.
Although she didn’t understand much about love, she knew that a man would only cry for the woman he truly loved.
This Lu Cheng she could not marry him.
Sun Xiaoxiao felt she should thank the girl named Shen Wei, but she didn’t know where Shen Wei lived, so she could only let it go for now.
When she returned home, she told her mother what she had seen outside the Lu family.
“Men are trash!” Sun’s mother said. Although she wanted to marry her daughter off, she didn’t want her to marry a man like that. “What you can’t get always seems good. Once you actually get it, it’s nothing special. Women are all the same once the lights are off anyway.”
“Go cook. I’ll go see your Aunt Wang later and give her a proper scolding. How dare she introduce such garbage to me? I’ll curse her ancestors!”
Sun Xiaoxiao said nothing and turned to go into the kitchen.
……
After drinking her medicine, Lu’s mother looked at her son cooking over the earthen stove and felt deeply distressed.
Her son had great ambitions, yet he was being held back by the family, stuck in the kitchen. It was truly pitiful.
“Son, hurry up and marry that Sun girl into the house! Although she isn’t as pretty as the Shen girl, she looks honest and capable. She’ll be able to help you a lot after she comes in.”
Mentioning Shen Wei made her angry again. The neighbors were now saying that their mother and son had schemed against a young girl, and the gossip was extremely unpleasant.
“Mm,” Lu Cheng said confidently, thinking of Sun Xiaoxiao’s shy, blushing face. “Once she’s married in, I’ll make sure she takes good care of you. You can just enjoy your blessings in the future.”
“My son is so outstanding being able to marry him is her blessing!” Lu’s mother said proudly.
Just as they were talking, they heard the wooden door creak open.
Lu’s mother looked up and saw the matchmaker, Aunt Wang, walking in.
She smiled. “Son, you really are capable. Look, Aunt Wang is here. It must be that girl from the Sun family is eager to marry you!”