“Shuangshuang, what are you doing? Take it back quickly; Auntie Chen forgives your impulsiveness.”
Looking at the thick envelope in her hand, Auntie Chen felt it was exceptionally hot to handle.
“Auntie Chen, listen to me first. This money has nothing to do with you helping me tonight.”
Auntie Chen’s family was originally from the Southwest. In her early years, Auntie Chen and her mother fled as refugees to Su City, where by a stroke of luck, they were saved by Lin’s maternal grandfather.
Later, they accompanied Lin’s maternal grandfather to Shanghai. Lin’s maternal grandmother even helped Auntie Chen’s mother find a job, which enabled the mother and daughter to settle down in Shanghai.
After Auntie Chen’s mother passed away from illness, Auntie Chen was introduced by someone to Yan Jianguo, an honest and simple man.
The couple had two sons. The eldest son, Yan Yi, had previously served in the military, but was discharged due to an injury. Although his injury eventually healed, it delayed his marriage.
Yan Yi was twenty-eight years old this year, with good looks, and combined with the qualities of a soldier, quite a few girls liked him; what’s more, Yan Yi himself had a job in the security department.
The reason he remained unmarried to this day was actually stuck on the bride price.
The Yan family’s conditions were actually quite good. Auntie Chen was a worker at a cotton textile mill with a monthly wage of twenty-eight yuan, and Uncle Yan was a technical master at a bicycle factory who could make over sixty yuan a month; together, the three of them made over a hundred yuan.
However, Yan Yi had been recuperating from his injury for over three years, and the money provided by the military could not fully cover it. In addition, Grandma Yan would regularly bring Second Uncle Yan’s family every month to leech off them, so the primary branch had simply saved no money over the years.
Now, Auntie Chen had two girls in hand that she was very satisfied with.
One demanded a bride price of five hundred yuan, plus the “Three Turns and One Ring” (bicycle, sewing machine, watch, and radio).
The other didn’t require the “Three Turns and One Ring,” but needed a one-thousand-yuan bride price to treat her mother’s illness.
Auntie Chen and her husband were both deeply distressed; piecing together money from all over, they only had a bit over two hundred yuan in hand.
Logically speaking, marrying a wife nowadays shouldn’t cost this much money.
However, those girls’ families were worried about whether Yan Yi had any lasting side effects from his injury, so they wanted more at once as a form of security.
In order to successfully marry a wife for her son, Auntie Chen was willing to spend this money.
It was just that she didn’t have that much on hand right now, yet the female parties on both sides were pushing hard.
Auntie Chen didn’t hide or hold anything back either; as long as Lin Shuang was willing to listen, she poured everything out in one breath.
“The girl’s side can’t wait, and your Brother Yan Yi can’t drag it out any longer either. If it gets pushed back any further, he’ll probably only be able to marry a widow or a second-wife.”
Lin Shuang: “……” There’s really no need to be so pessimistic.
“What about Auntie Chen? Which girl do you fancy to be my sister-in-law?”
Hearing Lin Shuang use this form of address, Auntie Chen was very happy and let out a “hey”, as if the daughter-in-law could enter the house tomorrow and she could hold a grandson the day after.
“When you calculate it, the bride prices requested by both families are about the same.”
“In terms of looks, each has her own merits.”
“However, I still prefer Li Shulan from the garment factory. This girl just turned twenty years old this year, she’s very tactful and diligent; every time she comes to our house, she rushes to do the chores.”
“The other one, Wen Xijun, has a nice name. The girl is also a good girl, but she has a paralyzed mother, and besides that, no other relatives.”
“Tell me, if your Big Brother Yan really marries her, wouldn’t that be taking on a burden on his back? What if Mother Wen stays paralyzed all along, how will the young couple manage?”
Auntie Chen’s choice was also within reason.
Not to mention Auntie Chen, any mother wouldn’t let her son marry Wen Xijun.
Life was not about playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting; life was about firewood, rice, oil, and salt.
But how could Auntie Chen know?
In the book…… which could be considered her past life.
In her past life, Big Brother Yan Yi did indeed marry Li Shulan.
However, after entering the family, Li Shulan immediately exposed her true nature—lazy and gluttonous.
Before marriage, she had her own job, but as soon as she got married, she transferred her job to her natal family.
The entire five hundred yuan bride price was kept for her younger brother to marry a wife, while she didn’t bring a single cent of dowry.
Even the “Three Turns and One Ring” given by her husband’s family was likewise left at her natal home.
She entered the door bringing only a small bundle packed with two sets of spare clothes.
Although Auntie Chen felt uncomfortable in her heart, she was a tolerant person.
As long as the daughter-in-law was good to her son, she wouldn’t care about anything.
However, this Li Shulan, apart from the wedding night, never let Big Brother Yan enter her room again.
Big Brother Yan was forced to squeeze into his younger brother’s room.
Seven months later, Li Shulan gave birth prematurely to a son, and no one in Auntie Chen’s family suspected anything either.
It was not until the child was seven years old that someone noticed something unusual, saying the child looked like so-and-so from the garment factory.
Big Brother Yan’s marriage was unfortunate, and he had long been dissatisfied with Li Shulan, so he immediately found someone to investigate.
Only then did he find out that Li Shulan was in a rush to get married back then precisely because she was pregnant with a child and was anxious to find a fall guy.
Her secret lover was her colleague at the garment factory; the two of them would usually mess around in the warehouse, and the rumors had long spread throughout the garment factory—only they were kept in the dark.
Big Brother Yan immediately chose to divorce, but Li Shulan couldn’t bear to leave the Yan family’s good life.
She shamelessly refused to leave, throwing various fits—making scenes at home, making scenes at his workplace, and in the end, ruining the jobs of Big Brother Yan, Auntie Chen, and Uncle Yan.
In a fit of rage, Big Brother Yan stabbed Li Shulan to death.
Speaking of Second Brother Yan, he was ten years younger than Big Brother Yan and the same age as Lin Shuang.
Recently, the sub-district office was urging him to go down to the countryside.
Auntie Chen actually had connections here, so buying a job for him wouldn’t be difficult, but the family temporarily had no money, and Big Brother Yan was currently discussing marriage.
Taking care of one meant being unable to care for the other.
Selling a few pieces of jewelry left behind by Mother Chen, and borrowing some more from colleagues at work, they barely managed to scrape together enough for Big Brother Yan to get married.
Second Brother Yan was also a filial son; knowing the family’s plight, he quietly signed up to go to the countryside on his own.
However, a year later, an extraordinary mountain flood occurred in the Guanshan Brigade where Second Brother Yan went, and Second Brother Yan sacrificed himself while saving people.
Auntie Chen’s hair turned white overnight, and Uncle Yan looked as though he had aged ten years all at once.
In short, this family, because of a choice made now, ultimately ended up nearly ruined and destroyed.
“Auntie Chen, consider this money as a loan from me to you.”
Auntie Chen originally wanted to refuse; the young girl’s situation was already very bad, how could she not keep some money to protect herself?
“Don’t worry about me, I’ve kept enough.”
Lin Shuang also briefly mentioned the matter of going to join the military soon.
Although Auntie Chen felt heartache for Lin Shuang having to go to such a bitter cold place, considering the current situation, she felt it was also acceptable.
“Going over there is also good. But you must take good care of yourself; if Lu Jun treats you poorly, you must tell us.”
Lin Shuang agreed whole-heartedly.
“Actually, back then, the one your mother arranged for you was indeed Lu Jun.”
Lin Shuang was somewhat surprised; this was the first time she had heard of it.
“Wasn’t it Zhou Qingman later on, wanting to snatch everything?”
“With the people on the Lu family’s side causing trouble as well, the marriage arrangement was transferred onto Lin Lanlan.”
“The son-in-law your mother favored certainly won’t be bad! But you have to watch out for the people on the Lu family’s side—there are only more monsters and demons, not fewer.”
Lin Shuang: “……” Auntie Chen knew even more than she did.
“However, you don’t need to worry either; Lu Jun hardly has any contact with them.”
The topic returned to the beginning.
“Auntie Chen, before buying a pig, look at its pen; it’s better to entrust a reliable person to go to the garment factory to inquire about it, then it won’t be too late to make a decision.”
Auntie Chen was very sensitive, “Shuangshuang, did you hear something?”
Without verification, Lin Shuang didn’t dare to be certain either.
“No, it’s just that coincidentally, I’ve seen both Li Shulan and Wen Xijun.”
“Looking at that Li Shulan, I fear her mind might be a bit too wild.”
“As for Wen Xijun, Auntie Chen might as well go take a look at her mother.”