In the end, it was Wang Xiaofang’s father who went to the police station and turned himself in. He couldn’t bear to let his wife and daughter take the risk, so the matter finally came to an end.
An’s mother had deliberately held back instead of pushing things too far. For one thing, her third son hadn’t suffered any lasting physical problems. For another, she wanted to leave the Wang family a way out.
The Wang family clearly wanted to protect their daughter, Wang Xiaofang. If An’s mother had been too ruthless and driven them into a corner, they might have done something desperate.
The villagers might also think the An family was being overly harsh. After all, they still had to live together in the same village.
“An Jianjun, help me move all my luggage over.”
Feng Jiaojiao had no problem ordering An Jianjun around now.
After all, they were getting married tomorrow. There was no need to be polite.
“Wait. Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Fourth Brother, you all go too. She has quite a lot of things. If Third Brother moves everything by himself, who knows how long it’ll take.”
As soon as An’s mother heard that Feng Jiaojiao wanted to move her belongings, she immediately sent her other sons along to help.
She still vividly remembered the donkey cart loaded with Feng Jiaojiao’s luggage that had nearly made the brigade leader’s face turn green with frustration.
An Jianjun didn’t know about that incident yet, but after hearing his mother’s words, he could already imagine what was coming.
He immediately wheeled out his bicycle.
An’s mother hesitated, clearly worried about the bicycle. What if it got damaged under all that weight?
But in the end, she said nothing.
Technically, the bicycle belonged to Third Son and his family. If they wanted to use it that way, it was their business.
When the four brothers arrived at Feng Jiaojiao’s room at the educated youth station, they all fell silent at the sight of the row of suitcases lined up against the wall.
Even An Jianjun, who had mentally prepared himself, was stunned.
Did she bring her entire household here?
“An family brothers, are you here to help Educated Youth Feng move her luggage? Let us help you.”
The male educated youths at the station also came over to lend a hand.
“Thank you.”
Before long, Feng Jiaojiao’s new room was filled with suitcases.
An Jianjun looked around and realized that the wardrobe was far too small.
There was no way it could hold all of Feng Jiaojiao’s clothes.
“Oh my, Third Sister-in-law, you really have a lot of luggage!”
The eldest sister-in-law came over with the second sister-in-law, clearly curious.
“What exactly did you bring? Why don’t you take a look through it and let us see?”
“Big Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, it’s mostly clothes.”
“I’m exhausted today, so I don’t feel like unpacking everything. I still have to organize it all, and that’s such a hassle.”
“Just take me back first. I want to go rest.”
“Fighting today was exhausting.”
Feng Jiaojiao covered her lower back and kept rubbing it.
Right now, all she wanted was to rest. She had no energy to deal with the complicated relationships between sisters-in-law.
Her entire body was aching.
There was no way she could organize her luggage today.
She would deal with it in a few days.
“Okay!”
An Jianjun got on his bicycle and took her back to the educated youth station.
“Tch! Look at how smug she is.”
The eldest sister-in-law curled her lips, secretly envious as she stared at the piles of luggage inside the room.
The second daughter-in-law was envious too.
She couldn’t even imagine owning so many clothes.
When she got married, the An family had to make her an entire outfit. Otherwise, she would have had to enter the An family wearing patched clothes.
An family’s fourth son happened to see his third brother return and immediately walked over.
“Third Brother, can I borrow your bicycle? I’m going to pick up my wife and daughter.”
“Go ahead.”
An Jianjun nodded.
Afterward, he returned to the room and looked at the mountain of boxes.
He patiently began organizing them one by one.
He took out the clothes appropriate for the current season and neatly placed them inside the wardrobe. He packed the rest back into the suitcases and stacked them neatly to one side.
He also unpacked Feng Jiaojiao’s various daily necessities and arranged them on the cabinets so they would be easy to reach.
He sorted all the food and snacks together as well.
Before long, the room was neat and orderly again.
Only then did An Jianjun realize, from all these little details, exactly what kind of wife he was about to marry.
Everything about her reflected a certain refinement.
Even the things she used to wash and care for her face came in bottles and jars—and there were so many of them.
Looks like I’ll have to work harder from now on.
An Jianjun lay down on the brick bed, thinking back on the time he had spent with Feng Jiaojiao over the past few days.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Meanwhile, An Jianxing arrived at his mother-in-law’s house.
“Honey, I’m here to pick you and our daughter up!”
“Mom, you’re cooking!”
An Jianxing cheerfully greeted his mother-in-law.
Chen’s mother frowned slightly.
“Didn’t you say you’d let Tingting stay here for a few more days? Why did you come to pick them up so soon?”
“Hehe, my third brother is getting married tomorrow. It wouldn’t look right if Tingting didn’t go back.”
“After a while, I’ll bring the two of them back to visit you again.”
An Jianxing knew that he wasn’t exactly a good match for Tingting in terms of family background.
His mother-in-law had never been particularly fond of him.
But since he had married her daughter, he felt that he had to respect her.
“Your third brother is getting married? What is this new sister-in-law like? Is she easy to get along with?”
“Jianxing, I’m warning you—Tingting must not be bullied or mistreated!”
The moment Chen’s mother heard that the An family was welcoming a new daughter-in-law, she became even more reluctant to let her daughter and granddaughter return.
“Mom, don’t worry.”
“I’ll never let Tingting or our daughter suffer even the slightest bit of unfair treatment!”
An Jianxing raised his hand and solemnly promised his mother-in-law.
“Mom, why are you making things difficult for Jianxing again?”
“He treats me very well. I haven’t suffered any grievances at the An family.”
Chen Tingting quickly came out carrying her daughter when she heard the commotion. Otherwise, she knew her mother would keep questioning her husband.
“Why is Third Brother getting married so suddenly?”
“And you, Jianxing! Why didn’t you come to pick me up earlier? The wedding is tomorrow, and you’re only telling me tonight.”
“You should have told me sooner so I could come home and help!”
Chen Tingting had a very good impression of An Jianjun. She thought all the An brothers were decent men.
When she and Jianxing had gotten married, Third Brother had sent them quite a few valuable ration coupons and other tickets.
He had even sent them a precious watch coupon.
“Hehe, but you have to take care of the child. You wouldn’t be able to help much even if you went back.”
“Besides, we have Big Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, Mom, Auntie, and the others at home. You don’t need to do anything.”
Taking care of their child was already exhausting enough for his wife. He didn’t want her going back just to do more work.
“You really are something!”
Chen Tingting gave An Jianxing an affectionate, reproachful look.
“All right, you two, stop being so lovey-dovey.”
“Wash your hands and come inside to eat. Once you’re finished, head back while it’s still light.”
Chen’s mother really couldn’t understand what her daughter saw in An Jianxing.
Aside from his decent looks, he didn’t have much going for him.
She had originally wanted to find her daughter a man with better family circumstances.
Instead, her daughter had fallen for her classmate, An Jianxing—a young man from the countryside.
At the time, someone had become jealous that none of the Chen family’s three children had been sent to the countryside and reported them.
The situation had become urgent.
The eldest child was already married and had a job, but there were still a son and daughter at home.
Chen Tingting couldn’t bear the thought of her fifteen-year-old younger brother being sent to the countryside, so she volunteered to go herself.
But naturally, her parents couldn’t bear the thought of their daughter going somewhere completely unfamiliar to become an educated youth either.
At the same time, they couldn’t bear to send their fifteen-year-old son away.
Chen’s mother only had one job to offer the family, meaning only one child could stay.
The other would inevitably have to go to the countryside.
When An Jianjun learned about the situation, he proposed to Tingting.
That way, with the An family protecting her, Chen Tingting wouldn’t be assigned to some remote and isolated place.
After all, no one could object to a girl getting married—especially when she was marrying into a rural family. There was little anyone could say about it.
Chen’s father eventually agreed.
At least his daughter would remain nearby.
And An Jianjun was her classmate, so the two already had a foundation of affection between them.
But Chen’s mother had always felt that her daughter had been wronged by having to marry into a rural family.
That was why she had always been rather cold toward An Jianxing.
“Let me carry her.”
An Jianxing took his daughter into his arms.
“Does Yuanyuan miss Daddy?”
“Give Daddy a smile.”
He playfully teased his daughter as he held her.
An Jianxing knew that he had benefited greatly from the situation.
Given the Chen family’s circumstances, they would never have married their daughter to him if the situation hadn’t been so urgent.
The only thing he could do was treat his wife and daughter well and make sure Tingting never regretted her decision.
Chen Tingting watched her husband lovingly hold their daughter.
In that moment, she felt that this was what happiness truly was.