Shen Niannian lowered her head and took a look. In his hand was a thick stack of large-denomination bills, with various ration coupons tucked underneath.
“I should have given these to you on our wedding day, but I forgot. This is all the salary I’ve earned over the years. I originally had more than eight hundred yuan. We spent over three hundred on our wedding, and nearly another hundred on the things we bought yesterday and today. There are still more than three hundred left, so I’m giving it all to you! From now on, I’ll give you my entire monthly salary too!”
He kept talking beside her, but Shen Niannian could only stare blankly at the stack of bills.
Gu Yanzhi thought she was unhappy, so he hurriedly explained.
“Don’t worry. I’ll give you my salary every month from now on too. I’m a regimental commander, so I don’t spend much money in the army. My monthly salary, including all the various allowances, is a little over seventy yuan. I’ll send all of it to you!”
When Shen Niannian still didn’t say anything after he finished, he immediately became flustered.
He explained awkwardly, “I-I usually live very frugally. I never spend money recklessly. I…”
Before he could finish, Shen Niannian suddenly threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Gu Yanzhi was startled.
He didn’t even know where to put his hands.
“Niannian… W-what’s wrong?”
He was a regimental commander who led troops into battle. He wasn’t afraid of blood or hardship, but when it came to this young woman in front of him, he had no idea how to comfort her.
It seemed that even the slightest hint of grievance on her face was enough to make his heart ache.
Especially whenever he thought about how she had grown up in such an environment and had no doubt suffered countless humiliations, his chest felt unbearably heavy.
What he didn’t know was that in her previous life, Shen Niannian had never seen a single cent from Wang Jiangang. Instead, Wang Jiangang was always reaching out his hand to ask her for money.
Whenever his monthly allowance wasn’t enough, he would ask her for more.
Gu Yanzhi was truly such a good man.
Far too good.
She didn’t know how to describe the way she felt when she saw him take every bit of money he had and hand it all to her.
Shock, gratitude, relief, heartache, sadness…
All kinds of emotions became tangled together at once, making her eyes feel swollen.
She buried herself in Gu Yanzhi’s arms, and her tears slowly seeped into his wool vest.
When Gu Yanzhi felt the warmth against his chest, he realized that the young woman was crying.
He became even more flustered and heartbroken.
“W-what’s wrong? Did I… say something wrong? I’m sorry…”
Just look at this man. He didn’t even know what he’d done wrong, yet he apologized to her first.
Shen Niannian suddenly laughed.
She lifted her head, her eyes sparkling with tears, and smiled at him.
“Gu Yanzhi, you’re so good to me. Let’s have several children!”
He had no idea why she had suddenly brought up having children. Perhaps he thought of something, because Gu Yanzhi’s eyes instantly darkened slightly.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her even closer, pressing her against him as he smiled.
“All right! As many as you want!”
While the two of them were wrapped up in their sweet affection, the Shen household was in complete chaos.
Liao Chunmei hadn’t expected Shen Youtian to actually help Shen Niannian get the two hundred yuan back.
She plopped herself down on the floor and immediately began throwing a tantrum.
“Heavens above! Are you trying to leave us no way to live?! Why is my life so miserable? My son’s job was finally within reach, and that heartless Shen Niannian actually took the money back! Waaaaah… What is my Qingfeng going to do now?!”
Shen Qingfeng had been raised by her and was spoiled rotten. Back when he had gone to the countryside as a sent-down youth after middle school, he had been unwilling to go. Now that he had finally returned, he wanted to enjoy a good life. Who would have thought Shen Niannian would ruin everything for him?
How could he not be furious?
And the most infuriating thing of all was that damned husband of hers. He had beaten him so badly that he was now lying on the bed, groaning in pain.
Hearing his mother crying made him even more irritated.
He shouted through the window, “Mom, I don’t care! I’m starting work at the chemical factory next month. You figure it out! I’ve already bragged about it to all my buddies. If you make me lose face when the time comes, I-I’ll never come home again!”
Hearing that, Liao Chunmei cried even harder.
She had no choice but to turn her anger toward Li Guihua.
“Mom, and you! How could you just give the money back to her?”
Li Guihua felt wronged too.
“I-I only gave it back because the village chief was helping that little wretch demand it! Everyone was watching. If I hadn’t returned it, how would I ever be able to hold my head up in our village again?”
Liao Chunmei pursed her lips unhappily and wiped her tears.
“Even so, you shouldn’t have given her the money! Do you have any idea how much effort I put into this? I’d already made arrangements with them. As soon as we paid, our Qingfeng could start working next month. And now look! What are we supposed to do?”
Shen Youyou and Wang Jiangang hadn’t expected the wedding homecoming banquet to turn into such a disaster because of Shen Niannian and Gu Yanzhi.
Not only had they failed to enjoy their meal, but they had also left with a stomach full of anger.
Wang Jiangang had wanted to leave just now. He really couldn’t understand what kind of chaos the Shen family was creating.
Shen Youyou had even urged him to go up and help.
But in that situation, how could he possibly have gone? Wouldn’t he have gotten beaten too?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
So her parents were the ones she cared about, but she didn’t care about her own husband?
Looking at the Shen family in complete disorder, he couldn’t think of anything he could help with as their son-in-law. He was just about to reach out and pull Shen Youyou away, telling her to go home.
But instead, she rushed over and helped her mother up.
“Mom, stop making a scene! Aren’t you embarrassed? Get up!”
The moment Liao Chunmei saw her, her eyes lit up.
Right! How could she have forgotten?
Her daughter had married into the Wang family, and her son-in-law and his family all worked at an official work unit. Perhaps she could borrow two hundred yuan from them!
With that thought, she hurriedly stood up.
Grabbing Shen Youyou’s hand, she smiled.
“Oh, Youyou, how could your mother have forgotten about you? Think about it—if your brother gets a job at the factory, it’ll make you look good too, won’t it? Why don’t you talk to Jiangang and have him lend our family two hundred yuan first? Once your brother starts getting paid, he can save up for a few months and pay him back!”
The moment she heard that her mother wanted to borrow money from her, Shen Youyou became somewhat angry.
She had always presented only good news and hidden all her troubles from the Wang family. As for the scratches on her face, if she hadn’t deliberately used the face powder she’d saved from her wedding day and applied several thick layers, they probably would still have been red.
And now her family actually wanted her to ask Wang Jiangang for money.
But then she thought about it.
If her brother could get a job at the factory, perhaps that old hag in the Wang family would stop looking down on her.
Still, two hundred yuan was no small amount. Where was she supposed to get it?
Having experienced the development of the future in her previous life, she naturally knew how valuable gold and silver jewelry would become in later generations. Those things would be worth an enormous amount of money, appreciating many times over.
But that wasn’t the case in this era. Anyone who had such things would secretly hide them, and they couldn’t fetch much on the market.
However, she knew that there were still quite a few people who secretly bought them for collection.
Back when she had married into the Gu family, the Gu family had possessed quite a few valuable things, and she had secretly sold many of them.
Thinking about it now, she regretted it terribly.
She had sold them far too early and had gotten ripped off.