As soon as Aunt Pang returned home, she started spreading rumors throughout the village about the woman Wen Zhaoye had brought back:

"Good heavens, his hair was slick and shiny, and his face was so white, I wouldn't have seen it even if I'd been dead for three days. He even speaks English!"

Her clothes looked expensive, costing as much as several years of our labor on the land. I heard she's a rich heiress from Hong Kong.

One of the older women said:

"Oh dear, won't Cuifen make a huge fuss about it?"

"What's all the fuss about? We've already said it. I'm getting old, and my daughter has run away. Now I'm just relying on Zhaoye to support me in my old age. How dare I cause any more trouble?"

"What? Jiaojiao really ran away again? You're telling me, she was going to marry Zhaoye and become his young mistress, how could she just run away like that?"

"Who knows? I think he's probably not very smart. Otherwise, why would he give up a good life and go out to fool around?"

"It's hard to say whether she ran away on her own or Zhaoye didn't want her anymore, but now that she's back, shouldn't we go and give her a gift?"

"Let's go, let's go see what it looks like."

The group of people walked towards Wen Xiaojian's house as they talked.

Wen Xiaojian was butchering a chicken, while Xu Cuifen was pulling up cabbages in the vegetable garden, saying:

"Why hasn't our daughter come back yet? Could her motorcycle have broken down because it hasn't been ridden in so long? No, old man, you take the cart and go check on her."

Wen Xiaojian deftly sliced ​​open the chicken's neck and put the blood into the bowl:

"They'll definitely be back soon, what's the rush?"

Xu Cuifen, who usually wouldn't even throw away rotten cabbage leaves, peeled every last bit of the tender yellow heart from each cabbage today, saying:

"Remember to clean this chicken properly later. Don't just do a perfunctory job. The two of them have been away from home for so long, they must be missing home-cooked meals. We have to make it good today."

Suddenly, a large group of people surged over and said:

"Hsiao-ken, I heard that Zhao-ye is getting married. We're all here to give gifts. We were told it would be at the beginning of the year, right?"

Wen Xiaojian said;

"It's changed. Zhaoye said he wants to get married before the new year, and his in-laws will hold another ceremony after the new year."

Among them were those who were envious, who said in a sarcastic tone:

"Oh, your in-laws aren't coming? It's your daughter's wedding, why aren't any of them showing up? Isn't that disrespectful?"

Xu Cuifen rolled her eyes and chimed in:

"They're in big business; it takes them many days to come and go."

Do you think you're the same as those people who don't earn money and just waste time however they want?

"How can we afford to delay like this? People earn money by the second."

Everyone's faces immediately turned ugly. They knew Xu Cuifen was sarcastic, but they really didn't expect that her daughter could still be so arrogant even after running off with someone else.

One of them said unhappily:

"Jiaojiao's mom, but I remember, wasn't he supposed to marry Jiaojiao? Now that Zhaoye is marrying another woman, shouldn't your Jiaojiao, as his younger sister, be able to attend?"

"Stop being sarcastic. No matter who Zhaoye marries, my husband is still his father, so he has an obligation to support the two of us. In that respect, I, Xu Cuifen, am better off than you."

The man then added sarcastically:

“You’ve done so much to Zhaoye, I don’t believe Xiaojian will be able to support you when he gets old.”

Xu Cuifen was never one to swallow her anger. She gritted her teeth, about to retort, when the sound of a motorcycle came from not far away, followed by Wen Zhaoye's voice:

What are you all doing gathered here?

Everyone turned around and saw a fashionable young woman with a big cotton-padded coat on her head riding behind Wen Zhaoye. The group of people stepped forward and said.

"Isn't this because you're getting married soon, and I'm here to give you a gift?"

"Zhaoye is so lucky, he found such a beautiful wife."

"This young lady from Hong Kong is just different."

Wen Jiaojiao didn't dare to make a sound at all, because while her appearance could be concealed with makeup and sunglasses, her voice couldn't be changed. She could fool people by speaking in English, but she would definitely be exposed if she spoke everyday language.

After parking his motorcycle, Wen Zhaoye unloaded the large and small bags strapped to the back seat and said:

"Okay, Dad and Mom, please write this down. I'll take her inside to rest first."

Wen Jiaojiao helped carry two pieces of clothing into the room. The interior was almost unchanged; the biggest change was probably the pile of hand-sewn baby clothes on the bed.

She sat on the edge of the bed and said, "If I get pregnant now, I'll give birth in the fall. Besides, the temperature is higher in Hong Kong, so I won't need any of this."

Mentioning the children, Wen Zhaoye's face was full of smiles. He closed the door and said:

"I guess by then, the company will have been able to return to this area for development, so the baby will definitely be born here and will be ready to be used after the postpartum period."

Wen Jiaojiao took off her coat and crawled into the thick cotton quilt: "I'm not going to talk about it anymore, I'm going to take a nap."

"I'll boil some hot water for you, soak your feet, and warm yourself up before you go to sleep." Wen Zhaoye looked at her shivering and continued, "I told you to wear more clothes, but you wouldn't."

Wen Jiaojiao didn't take his nagging to heart. After a short while, she started soaking in hot water.

Wen Zhaoye simply washed up, then loosened his belt, took off his coat, and lay down in the pink quilt.

Wen Jiaojiao looked at his relaxed expression and said:

"You're locking the door and staying in one room all the time. What do you think those people will say?"

Wen Zhaoye: "So? Should I sleep in the main room, or sleep with Mom and Dad?"

"Then we need to be careful these next few days, otherwise it'll become another topic of gossip."

Despite saying that, Wen Jiaojiao still lifted the covers and lay in his arms after removing her makeup.

Wen Zhaoye pulled her into bed and said:

"I'll leave once I've warmed up your bed. How can I let my wife sleep in a cold bed, right?"

Wen Jiaojiao smiled slightly, but didn't say anything more.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!