"Brother-in-law, what's going on here? How could you marry a woman who's been married before and comes with a child in tow?" Zhou Dingbang's eldest sister-in-law looked at him with a shocked expression.
"That's right. The eldest sister-in-law and I introduced you to so many eligible young maidens, and you turned them all down. I thought you had high standards, but I never expected you to marry a woman with a child in tow!" The second sister-in-law's face was full of indignation.
Her cousin on her mother's side had always wanted to marry the younger brother-in-law, but he hadn't given her any face at all—he wouldn't even agree to meet her.
Who would have thought he'd marry a woman with a child rather than her cousin? This was a complete slap in the face to her as the second sister-in-law!
Zhou Dingbang's face darkened. He couldn't be bothered to acknowledge his two sisters-in-law and simply looked grimly at his mother. "Mother, Chen Xiang and I have already gotten our marriage certificate. This isn't our first marriage, so we won't be holding a wedding ceremony. Tomorrow, both families can just have a meal together. The day after, I'm heading back to the army."
Mother Zhou opened her mouth to speak. She had learned from her son yesterday that her daughter-in-law would be arriving today, so she had gotten up early to prepare quite a few dishes.
She never expected her third daughter-in-law to be a woman who had been married before and came with a child in tow.
She was so stunned she couldn't recover for a long while.
With her son's abilities, plenty of eligible young maidens would be willing to marry him. How could she have ever imagined he'd marry a woman who was remarried and brought a child with her?
By the time she snapped back to her senses and was about to find fault with her new daughter-in-law, she caught sight of her son's expression and heard his words, and her mind cleared somewhat.
The marriage certificate was already obtained. There was nothing she could say now.
Her youngest son wasn't holding a wedding ceremony, was heading back to the army right after getting the certificate, and didn't even defend his wife when she was mocked by the sisters-in-law. It was clear that the third son didn't care much about his new wife. Mother Zhou immediately lost any desire to find fault.
Her son had finally been willing to get married. If she, as the mother-in-law, stirred up trouble and broke apart the small family her son had worked so hard to establish, where would she go to hold a grandson?
Zhou Dingbang: It's not that I wasn't defending my wife—I just couldn't be bothered with my two sisters-in-law!
In truth, Zhou Dingbang's rush to return to the army wasn't because he didn't care about Chen Xiang, as Mother Zhou had guessed.
It was precisely because he cared too much that he was rushing back.
The courtyard where Chen Xiang and her brother lived was too small. Because of her job, Chen Xiang wasn't willing to bring Zhao Wansheng to live at the Zhou residence. Even though they now had their marriage certificate, Zhou Dingbang still couldn't live with his wife.
So he had no choice but to rush back to the army to sort out the housing situation, so his wife and daughter could join him there as soon as possible.
It had to be said—this was a beautiful misunderstanding.
Mother Zhou sat down, took a deep breath, and tried to keep her tone even. "You're grown now and can make your own decisions. Whatever happens in your little family, you and your wife can discuss it together. Your father and I are old and can't manage much anymore."
Father Zhou looked at his wife with some surprise, then picked up his chopsticks first. "You've started a family now. Live well from here on. Let's eat!"
Since the parents had nothing more to say, no one else dared to say anything further.
Seeing this, Zhao Wansheng breathed a sigh of relief inside.
Although she and her mother wouldn't be living with Zhou Dingbang's parents in the future, they were still his parents. If Father Zhou and Mother Zhou didn't accept her mother, the marriage wouldn't be a happy one.
Fortunately, the two elders were reasonably reasonable.
The next day, the Zhou and Chen families shared a lively meal together.
On a clear day half a month later, Zhao Wansheng rode in the army's vehicle and arrived at the military compound.
Watching the familiar scenery recede outside the window, Zhao Wansheng felt as if she had returned to her previous life, her face turning somewhat pale.
When the jeep stopped at the entrance of the courtyard, Zhao Wansheng stood before the gate of a new home completely different from the one in her previous life, still not fully recovered.
"BANG!!"
The sound of firecrackers suddenly exploded by her ear. Zhao Wansheng was startled and instantly snapped back to the present.
Looking up, a dark-skinned little monkey of seven or eight years old was looking at her with a smug expression.
"Li Yanze, are you asking for a beating?" Zhou Dingbang saw that it was his youngest son causing trouble, his face turning black as he glared at the boy, wishing he could drag the little brat over and spank him on the spot.
"Dad, I'm just welcoming Aunt Chen and my little sister!" Though Li Yanze was only eight, he wasn't the least bit afraid of his father's dark expression, and even made a funny face at Zhao Wansheng.
Zhou Dingbang couldn't very well hit the child in front of his wife on the very first day she moved in. He suppressed his anger. "Come over here and greet them. This is Aunt Chen, and this is your sister Wansheng. Where's your brother?"
Seeing that Zhao Wansheng hadn't been scared by him, Li Yanze lifted his chin with a look that practically begged for a beating. "Isn't he right there!"
Zhao Wansheng followed the direction his chin pointed and saw a boy with delicate features and a cold expression walking out from inside the door.
When Zhao Wansheng got a clear look at Li Yanchen's face, she felt a strong sense of familiarity wash over her.
She stared intently at Li Yanchen's face, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.
Feeling the girl's gaze on him, Li Yanchen's expression grew even colder, and a trace of barely perceptible disgust flickered in his eyes.
Zhao Wansheng caught that flicker of emotion in his eyes and quickly averted her gaze from his face, pretending to look curiously at the cluster of buildings not far away.
Chen Xiang greeted the two boys, then turned back to see her daughter gazing at the buildings in the distance. Thinking her daughter wanted to live in an apartment building, she explained, "Originally, Uncle Zhou did live in an apartment building, but I wanted to grow some vegetables at home, and since we have a big family, your uncle switched to this courtyard house instead. This courtyard is bigger than an apartment and feels more spacious too. Come on, let's go inside and take a look."
Xiao Wang, who was helping carry things nearby, chimed in with a smile, "This house is great—much more spacious than living in one of those tube-shaped apartment buildings next door."
Zhao Wansheng smiled and followed Chen Xiang into the courtyard.
Li Yanze watched the mother-and-daughter pair, who looked like a couple of country bumpkins, and let out a snicker.
Zhou Dingbang saw his son laughing while looking at the mother and daughter and assumed he liked his new little sister. "Since you like your sister, take her out to play sometime."
A flicker of disgust crossed Li Yanze's face. Where on earth did this cheap dad of his get the idea that he liked that little country girl?
Afraid that speaking his mind would earn him a beating from his dad, Li Yanze ultimately didn't argue.
Li Yanchen glanced at his younger brother but said nothing, turning to walk into the courtyard.
The house Zhou Dingbang had chosen was indeed quite good—a single-story house in fairly good condition, about seventy or eighty percent new, with courtyards in both the front and back. The back courtyard had a kitchen and a bathroom, making it much more convenient than being crammed into a tube-shaped apartment.
What made Zhao Wansheng happiest of all was that she finally had a room of her own.
The layout of the single-story house was simple. The main door faced east, and upon entering, the central room was in the middle. To the right of the entrance, facing north, was a large bedroom—the master bedroom for Chen Xiang and her husband.
To the left, the large south-facing room was divided into two. The front room, with a window facing east toward the front courtyard, was Zhao Wansheng's room. The back room, with a window facing west toward the back courtyard, belonged to the Li brothers, Li Yanchen and Li Yanze.
It could be said that Zhao Wansheng had claimed the best-positioned room in the entire house.
The room contained a large bed (one and a half meters wide), a desk, and a big wardrobe—clearly prepared with care and thought.