After finishing his noodles, Shen Huaichuan took a shower, and seeing that it was getting late, he went to bed.
On the other side, as soon as the Xu family stepped out of Zhou Qiqi's yard, they were thrown into an uproar as if a hornet's nest had been stirred up.
Li Guixiang grimaced and cursed incessantly, like a machine gun.
"Why did she get married? And live in such a nice house! I've never even lived in such a nice house!"
"You little brat! Now that you're living a good life, you don't even recognize your own mother anymore!"
She suddenly raised her voice and poked hard in the direction she had come from.
"Didn't you see? The way she looked at me just now, like I was her enemy! She's gone too far!"
Spit flew everywhere.
Xu Zao was adding fuel to the fire, craning her neck and staring at the small courtyard not far away, her eyes full of jealousy.
"Yes, she's so plump and healthy, and the clothes she's wearing are made of such fine material. I've never seen a style like that before!"
As he spoke, he tugged at his clothes, his lips curling into a long, smirking expression.
Xu Shu hadn't seen his family for several years, and the first thing they did was complain about this and that, and they didn't give him a kind look. He looked around and then scolded them in a low voice.
"Alright, all of you! Stop talking! You're so easily offended! This is a military compound; be careful someone doesn't hear us!"
He had barely finished speaking when he remembered something, and his face hardened as he rebuked him.
"Didn't I tell you in the letter to show the letter of introduction to the guard and have him give you directions to the clinic? What are you doing at Zhou Qiqi's house?"
Li Guixiang was already seething with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so when she heard this, she turned her head away and ignored him.
Xu Zao quickly tugged at her brother's sleeve, trying to explain on behalf of their mother.
"Ever since you wrote to say that Zhou Qiqi married someone else, Mother has been worried about it. She kept talking about it on the train the whole way. She couldn't believe it and insisted on going to see for herself!"
Xu Shu clicked his tongue helplessly, his Adam's apple bobbing a few times. "What's there to believe or not? She's just getting married!"
Xu Zao shook Xu Shu's arm, her eyes full of curiosity.
"Brother, what exactly happened? Zhou Qiqi said you know more about it than she does! Tell us quickly!"
Li Guixiang also spoke with a stern face, her facial muscles twitching.
"Your mother raised you as a child bride for over ten years. This week, Qiqi is at the perfect age to give birth to a son, and she's also very efficient at work. How could she have gotten away with this? It's like letting a fattened pig escape right before the New Year! What exactly happened? You'd better explain yourself!"
Xu Shu blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it again, finally managing to stammer, "Mother, you don't understand..."
The lights in the military dependents' area were already off, and there were few people on the road. Occasionally, you could see someone carrying a flashlight heading to the outhouse.
Xu Shu felt uneasy and looked around for a while before pulling his family into a small grove of trees in a corner.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. He swallowed hard, made sure no one was around, and then told them about his relationship with Lin Yao.
At first, Li Guixiang had a dark expression, but when she heard that Lin Yao was a college student from the city and studying medicine, her eyes widened instantly, her face filled with disbelief.
"What? Really?"
Xu Shu puffed out his chest, his face practically radiating smugness.
"Of course it's true! Otherwise, how could you have gotten a letter of introduction from the military dependents' district? She's been assigned to the clinic here, has a secure job, and earns forty or fifty yuan a month!"
Upon hearing this, all three members of the Xu family were stunned.
Even Old Man Xu, who hadn't spoken until now, finally spoke up.
"They can earn forty or fifty yuan a month. We toil in the fields for a living and can't even save a hundred yuan a year. How can they earn that in just two months?"
Xu Shu nodded heavily, then showed off.
"Absolutely! Not only that, her parents are both doctors, and her brother works for a government agency. They own a huge house in Beijing and are very wealthy! Just the other day, her brother wired her two hundred yuan for spending money!"
Two hundred yuan! And that's just pocket money!
Li Guixiang suddenly raised her thick eyebrows, her slanted eyes narrowed into slits, and the wrinkles on her face blossomed into a wide smile.
"Shu'er, you're so capable! You truly are my good son! You even managed to get your hands on a woman like that!"
Xu Shu smiled, his peach blossom eyes almost curving into crescents, and continued.
"Not only that! Yao Yao also promised me that once our relationship is settled, she'll talk to her parents and ask them to give me a large sum of money to help me start my business! After a while, she'll also introduce my younger sister to a guy from the city, and then our whole family can live a good life!"
The three members of the Xu family immediately brightened up. Li Guixiang rubbed her hands together and muttered to herself.
"Good, good, good! That's wonderful! This daughter-in-law is so wonderful!"
Seeing that everyone was happy, Xu Shu pressed on while the iron was hot.
“Mother, it’s true that Qiqi is our family’s childhood sweetheart. You’ve raised her for over ten years, but she has nothing and can’t give our son anything. If we marry her, we’ll have to rely on me to earn money to support her. How can she compare to Lin Yao?”
To be honest, when he saw how beautiful Zhou Qiqi had become, with her great figure, he couldn't help but have some feelings for her.
But the moment he thought of Lin Yao's conditions, his interest vanished.
No matter how beautiful Zhou Qiqi is, she's just an empty shell; she can't be eaten.
Lin Yao is different; she has a fixed income every month, and her family can also help her out. Comparing the two, the difference in their circumstances is immediately apparent.
Old Xu nodded repeatedly, "That makes sense, that makes sense!! The boy is right!"
Xu Zao chimed in, "I want Sister Lin Yao to be my sister-in-law!"
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