The early winter morning breeze carried a biting chill.
Fortunately, the sunlight was bright and warm, casting a faint layer of heat over everything it touched.
Lu Huaiyuan’s sturdy 28-inch bicycle had been polished until it gleamed.
Two large bundles of back-to-the-door gifts, wrapped securely in red cloth, were fastened firmly to the rear rack.
Shen Zhixia stood in front of the bicycle, at a loss.
“Where am I supposed to sit?”
Lu Huaiyuan lifted his chin toward the crossbar.
“Do you have another choice?”
“Otherwise, should we walk there? It’s several dozen li away. If we walk, it’ll probably be afternoon by the time we arrive.”
“We can’t exactly borrow my father’s bicycle again.”
“Then forget it.”
Shen Zhixia tried, but even standing on tiptoe, she was still just short of being able to sit on the crossbar.
Just as she was about to jump, Lu Huaiyuan easily lifted her onto it.
Then he kicked up the stand and climbed onto the bicycle himself.
As soon as he started pedaling, the bicycle inevitably swayed a little.
Shen Zhixia struggled to keep her balance, unsure where she should put her hands.
After observing for a while, she finally decided to grip the handlebar stem directly in front of her.
Lu Huaiyuan noticed what she was doing and let out a low chuckle, the faint vibration of his laughter rumbling through his chest.
“Wifey, the handlebar stem is cold and will freeze your hands. You can hold my arm instead.”
“No need. This is fine.”
“Then you’d better hold on tight. If you fall, I’m not responsible.”
The moment he finished speaking, he deliberately increased his speed. The wheels rolled over a small bump in the dirt road, making the bicycle jolt violently.
“Ah!”
Shen Zhixia’s body lurched to one side. Instinctively, both hands grabbed his left arm tightly, and her head nearly bumped into his chest.
Hearing the man’s triumphant laughter carried by the wind, Shen Zhixia couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
How childish!
They finally arrived outside the Shen family’s courtyard.
Shen Dashan was sitting on the threshold of the main room, puffing away at his leaf tobacco.
Years of working under the sun with his face toward the earth had left the man, who was not yet fifty, looking especially weathered.
Hearing the commotion outside, Shen Dashan raised his head.
The moment he saw Lu Huaiyuan pushing the bicycle into the courtyard with Shen Zhixia, who was dressed in a brand-new outfit beside him, Shen Dashan immediately stood up.
His hand, still holding the cigarette, awkwardly rubbed against his coarse trouser leg.
Faced with this new son-in-law who carried himself like an urban cadre, the ingrained timidity of a poor old farmer immediately revealed itself.
“My… my son-in-law is here…”
He hunched his back, not even daring to look Lu Huaiyuan directly in the eye.
His voice was strained, completely lacking the confidence and authority one might expect from a father-in-law.
“Dad.” Shen Zhixia stepped forward and called out calmly.
“Ah, ah! You’re back.” Shen Dashan answered awkwardly, shifting aside to make room.
“Oh! My son-in-law and Zhixia are back!”
Hearing the commotion, Zhao Meiyun came out of the main room to greet them.
Compared with Shen Dashan’s timidity, the smile on Zhao Meiyun’s face was practically brighter than the sunlight outside.
She first looked Shen Zhixia up and down, admiring her brand-new clothes, before her gaze passed over the couple and landed on the rear rack of the bicycle.
Two large red bundles were wrapped tightly.
Although she had no idea what was inside, judging by their substantial weight, they had to contain good things!
The wrinkles on Zhao Meiyun’s face practically bloomed into flowers.
“You must be exhausted after the journey! Come inside, come inside! I’ll carry the things!”
She called out loudly as she hurried over and efficiently removed the two large bundles.
Feeling their solid weight in her hands, Zhao Meiyun’s heart skipped a couple of beats, and her smile became even more ingratiating.
“Oh my, it’s enough that you two came back. Why did you buy so many things? You young newlyweds really don’t know how to manage a household.”
The group entered the main room, and Zhao Meiyun happily placed the bundles on the Eight Immortals Table before immediately turning around to pour them some water.
While she was occupied, Lu Huaiyuan glanced around the simple farmhouse courtyard, then turned to Shen Zhixia and asked quietly, “Which room did you sleep in before? I want to take a look.”
Shen Zhixia paused before pointing toward a low, narrow side room on the western side of the main hall.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Meiyun hurriedly placed two cups of plain water in front of them.
“You two just sit and rest. I’ll go make lunch now. It’ll be ready soon.”
“Go ahead. You don’t need to worry about us.”
Lu Huaiyuan took Shen Zhixia by the hand and walked toward the thin wooden door.
The moment he pushed it open and glanced inside, his brows immediately knitted together.
How could this even be considered a room fit for someone to live in?
The cramped, gloomy room had two large trunks sitting on what had once been a wooden bed.
Firewood was stacked against the wall nearly all the way to the ceiling, while old farming tools and bamboo baskets filled the rest of the room.
There wasn’t even enough space to put one’s feet down, let alone any trace of the life of a young girl.
It had been only one day since she had married and left this home.
Yet there was already no place for her here.
Lu Huaiyuan’s expression darkened little by little, and a layer of frost gathered in his deep eyes, matching the temperature of the winter air outside.
He abruptly turned to look at Shen Zhixia.
She simply stood there quietly, showing neither grievance nor anger. She was so calm that it seemed as though she were looking at someone else’s affairs.
The image of the pair of hands covered in frostbite and rough, cracked skin that he had held the previous afternoon suddenly flashed through Lu Huaiyuan’s mind.
Then he remembered how she had stopped him from buying expensive gifts at the Department Store the previous day, speaking with complete seriousness about how extravagance and waste were unacceptable.
This wasn’t frugality at all.
She had clearly anticipated this from the beginning.
When even the basic necessities were denied her, what was there to preserve except appearances?
Even Shen Zhixia hadn’t expected what she was seeing now. Zhao Meiyun really did manage to surpass herself time and time again.
Meeting Lu Huaiyuan’s gaze, Shen Zhixia gave him a faint smile.
“A married daughter is like water poured out. I’m not angry, so why are you?”
The Lu family had been passing down the family line for several generations and had never had a daughter, so Lu Huaiyuan didn’t know whether every family that raised daughters was like this.
But wasn’t her maternal family still her home? Weren’t the people of her maternal family still her family?
How could a family treat someone like this?
If he ever had a daughter, he would spoil her like a precious treasure. What did it matter whether people said a married daughter was like water that had been poured out? Even if she never married for the rest of her life, he would be willing to support her.
Looking at Shen Zhixia’s smiling face, Lu Huaiyuan’s hand hanging at his side moved slightly.
Suddenly, he really wanted to hug her.
And he did exactly that.
However, he quickly stepped away, then reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a thick red envelope, which he pressed into Shen Zhixia’s hand.
He had prepared it before leaving that morning. Thinking that it had not been easy for her parents to raise a daughter, he had specifically prepared it as a token of appreciation for their efforts.
To hell with their supposed hardship!
Shen Zhixia had not yet recovered from that brief embrace when a bright red bundle was suddenly placed in her hand.
She stared at it blankly.
“What is this?”
“A token of appreciation.”
Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he added, “For all the hardships you’ve endured over the years.”
Without waiting for Shen Zhixia to respond, he turned and walked straight back toward the main room.
Meanwhile, Zhao Meiyun had not gone to prepare lunch at all. She was busy opening the bundles.
When she saw the two of them heading toward the little side room, she had initially wanted to follow them and offer an explanation.
But her mind was occupied with the contents of the bundles, so she figured she could explain herself later.
By the time Lu Huaiyuan strode into the main room, Zhao Meiyun had already rummaged through both bundles.
The smile that had previously filled her wrinkled face had completely collapsed, stretching those wrinkles into long lines.
Zhao Meiyun had assumed that Lu Zhenbang was, after all, the director of a large state-owned factory, a factory that provided livelihoods for more than half the county.
Surely, with a casual gesture, he could give them enough to live on for half a year!
And these were the back-to-the-door gifts, no less!
Who could have expected them to be nothing but this pile of shabby goods, barely enough to send away beggars?
When she saw Lu Huaiyuan returning, she didn’t even wait for him to speak before drawing out her words sarcastically.
“Oh my, son-in-law, your Lu family can really bring yourselves to give us a back-to-the-door gift like this?”