Shen Mingzhi looked at her calmly, "Why can't your brother be compared to them? They're all human, are there any distinctions of superiority or inferiority?"

"Okay, let's put this aside for now. You should know how good my brother's job was before, a secure job that would have guaranteed him a comfortable life, and his status wasn't bad either. But because of you, look what he's become! Don't you have any conscience?! The construction site was so dusty and the sun was so scorching. Although he suffered a lot when he was in the army, he was transferred back home to work here these past two years, where he's been living a life of luxury. He's never experienced this kind of hardship before!" Jiang Yinyin felt that her brother was only doing this for her sake, even if it meant enduring hardship!

Speaking of this, Shen Mingzhi did feel a little guilty.

However, she still said, "I will try to persuade him."

"You'd better be able to persuade me, or I'll come looking for trouble for you!" Jiang Yinyin said fiercely before turning and leaving.

Shen Mingzhi sighed helplessly.

Those watching the spectacle huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

Shen Mingzhi didn't take it seriously, sat down, and continued pushing the cradle.

Jiang Shaozhen specially bought the cradle. The two children loved to sleep in it. Shen Mingzhi could simply rock the cradle by stepping on it with her feet.

In the evening, Jiang Shaochen returned covered in cement splatters; his hair and body were covered in cement dust.

"Zhizhi, I'm back." He greeted Shen Mingzhi as soon as he entered the house.

"Go take a shower," Shen Mingzhi said.

Originally, she did not agree to Jiang Shaozhen living with her and Wang Xinian, but since the Jiang family had helped her get the house, she couldn't very well kick him out.

Jiang Shaozhen hummed in agreement.

After taking off their blue work clothes, dust filled the air.

Seeing that he used to be a neat and tidy person, but now he looked disheveled, Shen Mingzhi couldn't help but ask, "Don't you regret it?"

"Regret retiring?" Jiang Shaozhen replied as he washed his hands next to the washbasin stand.

“Yes,” Shen Mingzhi said, sitting on the sofa and looking at his broad back. “You should know, with a military rank and the Song family's support, who knows, in a decade or two, you might be the mayor here—”

"You can't just say things like that," Jiang Shaozhen immediately interrupted her.

After washing his hands, he took out an ID card from his pocket and handed her a bulging cloth bag. "I'm a demobilized soldier now. I had a physical exam and blood test at the hospital a few days ago. Although the results weren't very accurate, they did prove that I couldn't continue marching. So they approved the highest compensation for me. And this house was also allocated to us."

Shen Mingzhi reached out and took the cloth bag and military ID he gave her.

She stared at the documents but didn't open the cloth bag.

“The army said that my brother, my dad, my grandpa, and I all have merits. Even if we retire and follow the leadership’s call, we and our children will still have priority in social welfare benefits in the future.” Jiang Shaozhen walked to her side, lowered his eyes and stared at her profile. His tone became much gentler unintentionally.

Shen Mingzhi unconsciously looked up at him.

The two were standing close together, and with that one glance, she instantly captured Jiang Shao Chen's heart.

"The Song family has no objections?" she asked softly.

“So what if you have objections? Song Huiquan is just a local district head. Can he erase the achievements of three generations of our Jiang family? I’ve retired, so he can’t threaten us anymore. Take a look at the bag.” Jiang Shaozhen urged her.

Shen Mingzhi opened the cloth bag, saw that it contained money, and then closed it again. "Why are you giving me this?"

"This is my demobilization pay. I'm going to buy food for you and the kids," Jiang Shaozhen said. In the past, besides what he spent, he saved most of his salary for his parents.

But he wanted to give this money to Shen Mingzhi.

Shen Mingzhi stuffed the money into his hand. "I don't need the money. Take it back. Your sister came to see me today and said she hopes I can persuade you not to retire. She said the sun is scorching on the construction site and if you get sick or something happens to you, I won't be able to explain it to your parents."

“Don’t listen to her nonsense, here you go. The paint on the walls in this room is peeling off, I’ll fix it for you later. What color do you like for the walls? Do you prefer large panes of glass for the windows, or the kind with small panes? And the bed, I went to the department store to look at beds when I came back today, I’ll buy you one later.” Jiang Shaozhen said as he walked towards the bathroom.

Shen Mingzhi stared at his back until he went into the bathroom and closed the door. Only then did she wonder if Jiang Shaochen really intended to live a peaceful life with her.

After taking a shower, Jiang Shaochen came out of the bathroom, looking clean and fresh again.

He walked to the crib, bent down and picked up Niannian, rubbing his cheek against the little one's soft face. "Niannian, did you and your brother miss Daddy?"

Shen Mingzhi: ...

She really couldn't understand Jiang Shao Chen. Could he accept someone else's child so naturally?

"What is your relationship with the person who bullied me?" she asked coldly, clutching the money in her cloth bag.

Jiang Shaozhen tightened his grip on the child, but still said calmly, "Why are you asking this again?"

"Do you think I shouldn't have asked, and then happily accepted you as the father of my child and lived a good life with you?" Shen Mingzhi threw his money and military ID onto the sofa. "Actually, your sister comes to bother me every few days, which annoys me quite a bit, because your Jiang family has treated me quite well, so I can't slap her."

“You don’t need to make an exception for her just because of us,” Jiang Shaozhen said.

“That’s not how it works. Your parents have tried to teach her a lesson, but have you seen her change? To put it bluntly, even if you were here with me, she would still keep causing me trouble. You’ve retired, but you haven’t severed ties with the Jiang family, right?” Shen Mingzhi, to put it bluntly, still didn’t want him to stay here.

There was another reason why she didn't accept him: the Jiang family had kept the identity of the man who had bullied her a secret, which she resented.

Shen Mingzhi felt that no one liked being deceived.

Jiang Shao Chen sat on the sofa with Niannian in his arms, turning his head to look at her, "You still want to kick me out?"

“It’s not that I’m kicking you out, it’s just that I feel it’s unnecessary for you. You’re currently working in engineering, and you do have a promising future, which I never object to. But I feel pressured if you stay here,” Shen Mingzhi said. Today, people in the family compound have already started talking badly about her.

This is not good for her or Wang Xinian.

Wang Xinian and she were not related. If they inquired, they would find out that she allowed a man in his prime to stay here and even supported his studies. The neighbors would definitely spread rumors about her.

Shen Mingzhi loathed this endless slander.

But because the Jiang family treated her well and even applied for a house for her to live in, she couldn't convince herself to teach Jiang Yinyin a lesson without any psychological pressure when she was causing trouble.