During the years that Tian Xiu married into the family, she and Su Yangang spent little time together. They met through a blind date, which was practically an arranged marriage. So when Su Yangang heard that Tian Xiu had left, he comforted himself by saying that they never had any feelings for each other.

However, Tian Xiu's return and her open fight for custody of Su Zhigao, while secretly demanding money, chilled Su Yangang to the bone.

"Alright, you can take the child with you."

Su Yangang was not so easy to control. As soon as he finished speaking, Tian Xiu's expression changed immediately.

"you……"

“You took the child with you, so I can pay half of the child support. But I will also check on the child’s living conditions from time to time. If he is abused by you or his stepfather, you know what I do.”

Su Yangang made such a confident statement that Tian Xiu was left standing there, unable to back down.

"Don't you have any conscience at all? You pretended to be dead outside, causing my daughter and me to suffer for so many years. Aren't you going to compensate us at all?"

Su Yangang looked coldly at Tian Xiu: "I'll ask you one more time, do you want a son?"

Tian Xiu remained silent this time.

The man she later found had a bad temper and would often beat and scold his own children; he certainly wouldn't treat Su Zhigao well.

If she takes Su Zhigao back, she might get a beating too.

In addition, she didn't have much of a relationship with her son, Su Zhigao, since she left right after giving birth to him and finishing her postpartum confinement period.

"Say something! Do you still want your son?!"

Su Yangang originally felt a little guilty towards Tian Xiu, but now he feels absolutely no guilt at all.

While he was away from home these past few years, Tian Xiu did just as much as she was supposed to do, even having and raising children with other men. If she had hesitated even a little bit before leaving, Su Yangang would have compensated her.

Tian Xiu ran away with her head down, and many people pointed and whispered about her along the way.

"Who is this? They look familiar. Are they a relative of someone else?"

"Isn't this Tian Xiu? Gangzi's wife."

"Oh, it's her! Didn't she find another man outside? She ate three old hens during her postpartum confinement, and when her baby was just a month old, she packed her bags and ran away. The old lady couldn't stop her no matter what she did. How dare she come back?"

"Hmph, looks like they've been kicked out!"

The villagers' words made Tian Xiu's face turn bright red with embarrassment. She ran away from Shili Village as fast as she could, as if she were being chased by a ghost.

Su Yangang spent two days getting to know Su Zhigao and then told Li Shiqing about his ancestral home. He was now successful and didn't care about the money. He asked Zheng Xu to help him sell it, and the money would go to the village committee.

The village's efforts in raising Su Yangang were worthwhile; before he left, he donated two thousand yuan to the village, saying he would buy cotton-padded coats for the village's orphaned or motherless children for the New Year.

This amount of money is enough to make a cotton-padded coat for every villager in Shili Village.

Privately, Su Yangang gave Bai Jiaojiao an address, saying that he would write to Zhigao more often in the future, but in reality, he was giving Bai Jiaojiao a favor that she could ask for help in case of trouble.

Human relationships are more valuable than money.

As Su Yangang's jeep drove away from Shili Village, Bai Jiaojiao looked at Su Zhigao's little face lying on the back through the rear window, feeling a little reluctant to leave.

"If you really like children, you should hurry up and have one with your brother-in-law."

Bai Shiqing was given a rare break today, and she huddled together with Bai Jiaojiao, their eyes never leaving the big truck.

After all, opportunities to see this kind of car are not frequent.

“We’re still young, so there’s no rush. It would be great if we could have a four or five-year-old child right away. Taking care of a child is so troublesome, you have to breastfeed, and you can’t leave them alone for a while.”

Bai Shiqing, realizing that Bai Jiaojiao was still completely childlike, stopped urging her.

“The New Year is just around the corner. We’re going to the supply and marketing cooperative in town tomorrow. Your brother-in-law is driving an oxcart to pick up some things. Several families are going too. Are you going?”

"Great! I was just worried about carrying all the New Year's goods I bought back home."

Bai Jiaojiao and Bai Shiqing agreed on a time and then went home separately.

"Heng-ge, how many dishes should we cook for the two of us for Chinese New Year?"

When Bai Jiaojiao got home, she started studying recipes.

"Aren't you going back to your parents' home for the New Year?"

Shen Heng had gotten used to going to his father-in-law's house for a meal every few days, and he thought he would have to go to the Bai family's house for the New Year as well.

Bai Jiaojiao was amused; this man really thought of himself as a live-in son-in-law.

"We're not going back. It'll just be the two of us. What, you don't want it to be lively enough?"

Bai Jiaojiao teased him on purpose.

Shen Heng pulled Bai Jiaojiao's soft waist close to his body and said, "No, let's live together, okay?"

Bai Jiaojiao's eyes crinkled as she touched Shen Heng's slightly prickly hair: "What would you like to eat?"

"I'll eat whatever you make, and I'll eat as much as you make."

The main advantage of Shenheng is that it's easy to raise.

“Then I’ll make eight dishes,” Bai Jiaojiao said, holding up an eight-character sign. “You’re not allowed to leave any leftovers.”

“Okay,” Shen Heng agreed with a smile, “I’ll buy two cases of good wine. Jiaojiao, do you drink?”

Shen Heng's hands were never still when they touched Bai Jiaojiao; he would grope and pinch her here and there, and even when Bai Jiaojiao slapped him, he wouldn't pull away.

"I don't drink it, but I can try it."

"Okay, let's give it a try during the Chinese New Year."

Shen Heng's filthy thoughts were written all over his face. Bai Jiaojiao reached out and pinched Shen Heng's face. Shen Heng was not angry. He moved his face closer and told Bai Jiaojiao to pinch him a few more times if she liked.

The next day, the young couple went to the village entrance to wait for the oxcart. There were six people going to town together this time, including Bai Jiaojiao and Bai Shiqing, the young couple, and two aunts.

"Look at you, young people have such good feelings, they do everything together, you know."

One auntie was joking with another auntie in the car.

"That's right, it's impossible now. My husband treats me like his own flesh and blood. Forget about asking him to come to the supply and marketing cooperative with me, it's impossible to get him to do anything at all."

Bai Shiqing blushed as the two talked. Bai Jiaojiao was afraid that Shen Heng would not like such teasing, so she tilted her head and glanced at him, but saw that the man seemed not to have heard her at all.

Shen Heng was secretly placing his hand on his wife's lower back, so he had no time to listen to what others were saying.

When the two aunties couldn't get a response from Bai Jiaojiao, they started chatting with Bai Shiqing, focusing on the baby in Bai Shiqing's belly.

No one paid any attention to Bai Jiaojiao, but she was happy to be free. She leaned against Shen Heng, put her hands in her pockets, and curled up into a warm ball.

The supply and marketing cooperatives don't sell many vegetables anymore, and they're ridiculously expensive.

Bai Jiaojiao bought two jin each of leek sprouts and garlic scapes, which cost her one yuan—enough to buy a jin of meat.

She bought two more cabbages and was picking them out when she looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Comrade Bai Jiaojiao! It's been a long time!"

It was the factory manager of that net rope factory. The woman next to him was about the same age. The factory manager introduced her: "This is my wife, Xiao Le. This is the young girl I told you about who solved the big problem in the factory."