The punishnt ca quickly; Lai Zi was fined fifty yuan and sentenced to three years in detention for beating Dezi. Given it was a dostic issue, his own child, and the poor living conditions at ho, with him being the sole breadwinner, his sentence was reduced by one year after considering the circumstances.
Mother Xu and Mr. Xu were at a loss, having cried and begged everywhere, but to no avail as nobody took notice of them. The village chief and the Secretary drove them out with a broom.
During this ti, attending etings in the county felt shaful; she always felt as though villagers from other places, especially the two village officials from Shenji, were giving them side-eye, which was incredibly embarrassing.
Half a month later, Dezi was discharged from the hospital. With his son in detention, now only his grandson was around. After a few days of quarreling, Mother Xu and Mr. Xu were brought in for a lecture and eventually swallowed their anger, starting to take care of Dezi with great care.
Wang Lianhua, Xifeng, Xie Jinghao, and several others frequently brought things over to visit Dezi. Xie Jinghao even had Lu Jiasheng make a small cabinet for Dezi with a lock, and the key hung around Dezi’s neck.
Inside were clothes, food, and a little pocket money. In the end, life went on.
On the sixth of September, it was Shirley and Qian Chengwang’s wedding day. Many people from the village joined in on the fun, with Daya and Xiao Ya dressed neatly and beautifully, handing out candy and brown sugar water to guests.
Dressed in a red blouse and black pants, with a little red flower in her hair, Shirley wore a simple makeup look carefully done by Shen ng.
Lu Zhenping happened to have a free day today and was rousted out of bed early by Shen ng to deliver a black-and-white TV set, astonishing all the villagers.
Wang Lianhua and others were green with envy.
"You really are sothing, quietly bringing over a TV set without even ntioning, making our gifts like pillows, blankets, hot water bottles, and flower mirrors seem inadequate, right?"
"My elder sister-in-law is quite clever; luckily, I had the kids’ dad make two matching cabinets in advance, painted them red, and chose fine wood. So fortunately, our gift was presentable."
The wives felt that the gifts they and their sisters-in-law brought were very valuable, making their own seem embarrassingly modest by comparison.
"What’s wrong with that? The gifts you brought are all in sets, and there are so many things, why complain about lacking? You’ve almost emptied your coffers, haven’t you?"
"That can’t be helped; we’ve saved up quite a bit over more than a year, plus the occasional benefits and coupons from the factory work make life taste quite sweet."
Their presents really stood out, and many people thought Shen ng must be out of her mind.
They weren’t close relatives or anything, but she spent several hundred yuan and even included so many coupons – as if burning money.
Lu Xiangxiang didn’t co this ti; she was heavily pregnant, and Shen Xiaobin wouldn’t let her run around everywhere. Now, the whole Shen Family was doting on her, vigorously nourishing her during the pregnancy, and she had gained a lot of weight.
Aunt Juying felt envious seeing her, thinking she had truly fallen into a pit of luck.
Looking at the pile of stuff in the room, Shirley felt her eyes well up with tears. Before, no matter how much suffering or drunk she got, she hardly shed tears, but ever since she beca sincerely close with these won, her tears seed endless.
"Look at you all, what’s this about? If you have money to burn, you get all this stuff as if you are afraid I might co back, huh? Let tell you, I’m planning to bother you for a lifeti."
"Enough of that, we’re not the kind to speak hollow words. This ti for your wedding, we sisters have all spent a lot. If you dare not to live well, just see how we’ll deal with you."
"This talk, as if Old Qian who rarely shows interest in anything, wishes he could lift Shirley up high. How could she ever be treated poorly?"
"Ha ha ha, you can get married with peace of mind. We’ll take care of Dezi in the village. If you miss the kids, just co back and visit. It’s not far at all, co back whenever you want."
"Ah, I know. I won’t say much more. Eat plenty at noon, I’ve set aside so dishes especially for you all. Eat as much as you want, and when I step out, let’s us sisters have a drink together."
"Alright, alright, alright."
While a few people were chatting and laughing over here, those in charge of arranging the banquet called out to everyone, "Folks from the south and the north, relatives and villagers, hurry up and find a place to sit. We’ll start the al after the wedding."
Upon hearing this announcent, people who had been gathered and chatting hurried to find their seats and wait for the al.
Shirley finally managed to marry her true love properly, spending a good amount of money on the banquet, buying fine liquor and dishes, and steaming buns made from mixed grain flour. It was a very lively celebration.
The village chief took charge, brought eight buns and two large bowls of mixed vegetables, and took Dezi out from the Xu family.
His head wound hadn’t healed yet, covered with a gauze, but seeing an unprecedented smile on Shirley’s face, he felt a loss, but he was genuinely happy for her.
Escaping from their family’s quagmire, anyone could live a better life.
Shirley looked at Dezi, and her eyes briefly watered.
"Rember what your mom told you, this house is left for you, the quilts and clothes are all in the cabinet. If your grandparents mistreat or beat you, co here to live, Aunt Lianhua and Aunt Xifeng will protect you. Maybe, maybe in a few years, you can co to the city to live with mom. Dezi, rember mom’s words, you must study well, absolutely study well, don’t disappoint mom, and don’t follow the Xu family’s ways, do you hear ?"
"Ah, I heard, I rembered, mom, I will study well, not do bad things, not bully anyone. Mom, you have to rember to co see , you must rember!"
"Ah!"
The words of the mother and son made everyone listening feel the sorrow. For such a young child to be so sensible, he must have really been through hardships.
After attending the wedding, Shen ng took a few children back ho. Lu Zhenping sat on the rocking chair at the entrance of the main house, looking down in contemplation, not sure what he was thinking.
"You’re back!"
"Mm, what were you just thinking? I called you several tis and you didn’t hear ."
Lu Zhenping clenched his fist and coughed twice, looked at Shen ng, his silence spoke volus, indicating he had sothing to say. Shen ng asked Mingyang to bring her a stool.
The couple sat facing each other, Shen ng took a sip of water from the second son and then said, "Speak!"
"Xiao ng, our unit has distributed a house. It’s not much smaller than the courtyard we live in now. I was thinking, Mingyang and the others are getting older, and the educational environnt is better in the Provincial City. I am thinking of taking them to the Provincial City for school. What do you think?"
Shen ng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. The county had also allocated her a house, which had already been transferred. However, she hadn’t told Lu Zhenping about this. She was thinking of sending the children to school in the county, and she had even checked out the schools there, very satisfied, just waiting for the school term to start. Unexpectedly, just before school was about to start, the children’s father had other ideas.
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