Seeing her mother-in-law so happy, Shen Zhiyan’s expression also softened a lot.
“Of course it’s true. Why would I joke about something like this?”
Hearing her son’s firm answer, Xu Guilan became even happier and she also began to value Song Yunlan, her future daughter-in-law, even more.
As expected, being with excellent people would make her son even better!
Their Shen family was finally going to have a worker! This was truly a huge blessing.
Meanwhile, at the commune, Bai Ruolian who had only eaten about half her fill was forcibly pulled out of the state-run restaurant by Liang Bo.
“Just fill your stomach a little, why are you adding more dishes?”
Bai Ruolian felt extremely wronged. From a whole plate of stir-fried pork with wood ear mushrooms, she only managed to eat less than three pieces of meat the rest was all eaten by Liang Bo.
She didn’t even get a single bite of the eggs inside; the only thing left on the plate was cucumber.
The braised tofu was overly salty, and she only managed a few bites with steamed buns. One bun, however, was far from enough to make her full.
“I’m still hungry! I just wanted a bowl of shredded pork noodles and you wouldn’t even allow it. Liang Bo, aren’t you being too much?”
Hearing this, Liang Bo became even angrier.
“I’m being too much? Or are you? You knew I had no grain tickets left, only 7.8 yuan in my pocket, and you still wanted to order noodles with meat. Are you trying to embarrass me on purpose?”
Bai Ruolian bit her lip.
“I know you don’t have grain tickets, but I already spoke to the server. I only needed to add fifty cents and she would cover the grain ticket for me but you refused!”
She still felt wronged as she said this and glared at Liang Bo angrily.
Liang Bo rubbed his temples in frustration.
“Half a jin of grain tickets costs fifty cents. Do you think money grows on trees? Is that how you spend money?”
“It’s just that you didn’t eat enough, not that you didn’t eat at all. When we get back to the educated youth dorm, just eat some steamed buns!”
In his mind, since their rations were already handed in, not eating them would be wasteful anyway. That fifty cents could have been saved for something else.
As they walked farther and farther from the restaurant, Bai Ruolian’s expression grew darker.
Suddenly, she shook off Liang Bo’s hand and stormed ahead in anger.
Liang Bo frowned impatiently.
Thinking that they had just registered their marriage, if she really stormed back to the dorm in a fit of anger, people would only laugh at them.
After hesitating, he finally took out twenty cents and chased after her.
“Alright, don’t be angry. I just wanted to save some money for emergencies. Here, take these twenty cents as compensation.”
Seeing the coins shoved into her hand, Bai Ruolian felt disgusted.
In the past, he would at least give her two or three yuan each time. Now he was trying to appease her with twenty cents.
“Liang Bo, what do you mean? You’re dismissing me with twenty cents? Today we got our marriage certificate no clothes, no wedding candy, nothing.
I didn’t even get enough to eat, and now you’re only giving me twenty cents. Am I really that cheap in your eyes?”
As she spoke, her eyes turned red.
Liang Bo hated it most when she cried, and immediately softened.
“Alright, alright, don’t cry. Didn’t I already promise you? Once my parents send money, I’ll make it up to you.”
Then he took out all the money in his pocket.
“Here, take all of this. Since we’re already married, the man works outside and the woman manages inside. From now on, all our money will be yours.”
Although Liang Bo was selfish, he still liked Bai Ruolian.
Seeing him hand over all the money and promise to let her control it, her mood finally improved and she smiled again.
However, that smile disappeared completely once they arrived at the Progress Brigade and spoke to Captain Niu Dazhi.
They reported their marriage registration and asked for housing in the village.
But unexpectedly, Niu Dazhi told them to move into a straw house.
It was originally built by a single old bachelor. Although called a straw house, it was basically a mud-brick house with only a straw-covered roof.
The bachelor had died years ago, and the house had been exposed to wind and rain ever since it was already on the verge of collapse.
It was the worst house in the entire Progress Brigade.
Seeing the two dark-faced youths in front of him, Niu Dazhi tapped his tobacco pipe.
“Your move out from the educated youth dorm has already been reported by Zhang Jun. Right now, the only available place is that house.
Either you apply for land and build a new house like Comrade Song did, or you sleep on the street.”
Hearing this, Liang Bo’s face darkened further.
If he had money, he would have built a house long ago.
It was all Song Yunlan’s fault. When she built her house, he even suggested adding extra rooms so he could move in, but she refused.
She said distance creates beauty and that unmarried couples shouldn’t live together.
Now look at this he had been kicked out by the old educated youths and had nowhere to stay in the village.
“Brother Liang, what should we do? That straw house is so broken…”
Bai Ruolian didn’t want to sleep on the street, but she also didn’t want to live in a ruined house.
Why could Song Yunlan live in such a good house while they had nothing?
“Brother Liang, why don’t we go talk to Song Yunlan? Maybe we can discuss it with her. Since she’s going to marry Shen Zhiyan anyway, her house will be empty.”
Hearing this, Liang Bo’s eyes lit up slightly but remembering yesterday’s beating, he hesitated.
After glancing at Bai Ruolian, he said thoughtfully:
“Ruolian, you and Song Yunlan used to get along well, right? Why don’t you go talk to her?”
“You tell her we won’t live there for free. Once my parents send money, we’ll immediately pay rent.”
Hearing this, Bai Ruolian frowned.
“Brother Liang, isn’t that inappropriate? She’s your former fiancée. If I go as your current wife…”
But Liang Bo didn’t care about her discomfort. He only wanted an outcome.
If Song Yunlan made things difficult for Bai Ruolian, wouldn’t that prove she still cared about him?
Thinking of this, a hint of expectation flashed in his eyes.
“What’s inappropriate about it? You were classmates before. Go on this is settled. I’ll go back to the dorm to pack.”
With that, Liang Bo nodded to Niu Dazhi and left first.
Watching his back, Bai Ruolian panicked. She never agreed to go!
If it were the old Song Yunlan, it might have been fine.
But ever since the failed drug setup incident, every time she saw her now, she felt uneasy.
Niu Dazhi glanced at her.
“Since Comrade Liang has left, I won’t keep you. Go handle your affairs.”
“As for the straw house, you can move in anytime, but you’ll need to pay 50 work points per month as rent. It’s collective property you can’t live there for free.”
Hearing this, Bai Ruolian almost cursed out loud, but she didn’t dare. After all, he was the brigade captain.
“I understand. Thank you, Captain, for the reminder. I’ll go talk to Comrade Song first.”
She hurried away and stopped only when she reached the gate of Song Yunlan’s small courtyard.