Chapter 64 Tang Wan vows never to marry

Wang Yuqing rode her bicycle back with Ji Daming at five o'clock in the afternoon.

Grandma Ji's health was pretty good, and there were nurses helping to take care of her, so they didn't stay to accompany her. In addition, Ji Daming had to go to school tomorrow, and Grandma Ji absolutely refused to let him stay in the hospital any longer.

Wang Yuqing bought a pound of brown sugar with sugar coupons and a box of matches with match coupons at the commune's supply and marketing store. She also asked Ji Daming what he wanted, but Ji Daming kept shaking his head and refusing to take it. However, his eyes were fixed on a fountain pen.

Wang Yuqing understood, but she couldn't afford a fountain pen right now.

The news that she made money selling snails had spread throughout the entire brigade by Chen E and Lei Chun'e, and those who thought she was lazy and couldn't make money selling snails began to envy her.

Liu Li and Yuan Fang have already started collecting snails, and even Zhao Si and Qian Juan have gone to collect them. They think that if Wang Yuqing can make money, they can too, and maybe even more.

After Wang Yuqing and Ji Daming got home, it was already dark. They couldn't find Ji Xiaoming and Ji Meimei. When they asked Lei Yongxia, she said that the two kids had gone to collect snails.

She went back into the house and divided the red dates and brown sugar she had brought back into two portions. She first sent one portion to Old Man Li's house, and then took the other portion to Tang Wan's house.

Tang Wan was having her period and was experiencing severe menstrual pain, so the red dates and brown sugar were just what she needed.

As soon as she reached the door, she saw Tang Wan sitting with her parents-in-law at a wooden table in the yard, eating. Before she even stepped into the yard, she saw Tang Wan's mother-in-law suddenly pick up a bowl and slam it on the wooden table: "You always have such a miserable face. Looking at your face reminds me of my son who was killed by you. You killed my son. I asked you to go back to your parents' house and get some food and meat. Why is that so difficult?"

Tang Wan said in a calm tone, "When I came to your house, I had already severed ties with my parents. I had no face to go back."

Zhang Cuihua snorted, "Don't think I don't know that your dad often sends you grain coupons and money. You lent it to that tough woman from the Ji family last time."

Tang Wan's tone was flat: "My dad does send me food coupons and money often, but that's voluntary. It's a different story if I go back and ask for it back. Besides, I use all that money and coupons at home."

Zhang Cuihua glared at her: "You used everything at home? I didn't see that. I only saw you lend her money and tickets."

"She paid it back."

Tang Wanhui.

Zhang Cuihua mumbled something and held out her hand: "Give it to me."

Tang Wan said, "She exchanged the grain coupons for grain and gave it to me. She used the money to buy medicine for my father-in-law, and he only brought the medicine back today."

Zhang Cuihua obviously couldn't find a reason to scold Tang Wan anymore. She glanced at her husband, who hadn't said a word, and suddenly ordered, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and carry him back to the room. Wash the dishes and bring in hot water to wash his feet."

Wang Yuqing watched as the emaciated Tang Wan carried her 1.8-meter-tall father-in-law on her back and walked into the house, while Zhang Cuihua followed behind without offering any help.

She sighed. If it were her, she felt she couldn't do it. Her boyfriend had died, and she would just come to take care of his parents. She would only visit them often.

Wang Yuqing saw Tang Wan walk out weakly, tidy up the dishes and go into the kitchen. Only then did she enter the yard and quietly follow her into the kitchen.

Because she didn't want to disturb the people inside, and didn't want to have anything to do with them.

Tang Wan was startled.

Wang Yuqing smiled sheepishly: "It's me. I brought you some red dates and brown sugar. You have menstrual cramps, right? Drinking brown sugar water can replenish blood and energy, and eating red dates can also replenish blood and relieve pain."

Tang Wan felt that this was a luxury for ordinary farmers, and she refused to accept it. However, Wang Yuqing forced it into her arms.

Wang Yuqing said, "That's just how I am. I'll be good to those who are good to me. Besides, didn't I borrow your bicycle?"

She asked worriedly, "Are you feeling better today?"

Tang Wan looked at the red dates and brown sugar in her arms, her eyes slightly red. Since she came here, she hadn't felt cared for for a very long time.

Wang Yuqing looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

Tang Wan snapped out of her thoughts, her expression still calm, but her tone gentle: "Yuqing, thank you."

Wang Yuqing laughed and said, "No need to thank me. In fact, I should thank you. It's all thanks to your bicycle."

Tang Wan smiled slightly, put the red dates and brown sugar aside, continued washing the dishes, and said, "I'll drink it tomorrow."

This made Wang Yuqing unable to stand it any longer. She picked up a clean bowl, poured in some brown sugar, then picked up a kettle, poured in hot water, and stirred it with chopsticks: "You drink it first."

Tang Wan smiled, wiped her hands, picked up the bowl, and drank the brown sugar water.

Wang Yuqing asked, "Does it feel comfortable in your stomach after drinking it? And does it taste sweet in your mouth?"

Tang Wan nodded: "Mm."

She put down the bowl, her expression embarrassed: "You saw everything just now, didn't you?"

Wang Yuqing directly admitted, "I saw it."

Tang Wan glanced at Wang Yuqing secretly and laughed self-deprecatingly: "Do you think I'm a coward, that I don't say a word when people point fingers at me and insult me?"

Although Wang Yuqing hadn't had much contact with Tang Wan, she didn't seem like someone who would be bullied; in fact, she was quite proud.

Seeing Wang Yuqing remain silent, Tang Wan took a deep breath: "I really like your personality. I used to be exactly like you, I wouldn't let anyone bully me, and if anyone bullied me, I would bully them back, I wouldn't let myself suffer even the slightest grievance, but..."

She pursed her lips, tears welling in her eyes: "But... I owe them both. I can't help it. I'm sorry to them. She's right. I'm the one who killed her son."

Even though Wang Yuqing was full of curiosity, she wouldn't ask. Tang Wan seemed to be suppressing her pain too much. The less the person in front of her asked, the more she wanted to say: "My father is the head of the armed forces department of our commune. He used to be a battalion commander in the old First Regiment. He was assigned to work in a military department of the country, but he was not well-educated and was not used to office work, so he voluntarily came to the commune to be the head of the armed forces department."

"Such an outstanding and unyielding soldier gave birth to a good-for-nothing daughter like me who has brought him shame."

“My parents married late in life and had me. My mother passed away shortly after giving birth to me. My father raised me single-handedly, but I was quite unfilial. Five years ago, when I was only nineteen, I met Peng Hong, the militia company commander of the brigade, in the commune. At that time, he was training in the commune. We dated for a year, and when it was time to ask the matchmaker to propose marriage, he suddenly told me that he didn’t want to live like this for the rest of his life. He wanted to go abroad with the army to provide aid, to become a people’s hero, and to make a difference.”

“At that time, many people gossiped, thinking that he was marrying above his station. They said that my father was once a battalion commander and is now the Minister of Armed Forces, so how could he have found such an ordinary son-in-law?”

"Actually, neither my dad nor I mind, but he does. He's insecure and feels he's not good enough for me. Later, he insisted on going to work in a foreign aid company, but his parents refused and didn't agree. Only I agreed. I agreed not because I felt he wasn't good enough for me, but because I didn't want him to feel bad. I will unconditionally support whatever he wants to do."

Tang Wan lowered her head and smiled bitterly: "You must have heard about what happened after that, right? He was gone for less than a few months before the news of his death in battle came back. As for me, I said goodbye to my father, packed my things and came to the Peng family. I've been here for four years."

She raised her head, wiped away her tears, and smiled: "At that time, the Peng family's courtyard was full of people. I knelt at his parents' feet and begged for forgiveness. My head was covered in blood, and I swore an oath loudly..."

“He gave his life for the country; he is a hero. And his parents are the parents of heroes. I, Tang Wan, hereby swear that I am willing to take responsibility for him, be filial to my parents, and never marry.”

At that time, Tang Wan held Peng Hong's portrait and cried her heart out: "You sacrificed your life for the country, and I will fulfill my filial duty in your stead."