“Zheng Xiaoyue, I don’t want my mother to be an obstacle in your eyes, because I don’t think it’s a big deal. I can assure you that I will never let you suffer at her place. If you do, I can stay away from home. I have my own family. You have to believe me. I can protect my woman.”
Zheng Xiaoyue felt inexplicably sorry for him. Jiang Tao's mother suffered a lot in the early years of the Cultural Revolution because of her background, which made her stubborn and extreme. She didn't like her son Jiang Tao to begin with, and she disliked him even more at that time.
Jiang Tao looked at the girl in front of him, a hint of melancholy in his eyes: "To be honest, I've never really wanted to be with anyone this much. I hope we can have a future together, but if you really don't like me, I won't force you..."
Zheng Xiao stepped forward and approached him, raising her head with a flushed but determined expression: "Jiang Tao, I agree to date you."
Just as Jiang Tao was about to say something more, he heard these words. He suddenly looked down at Zheng Xiaoyue, his eyes filled with surprise and excitement.
"Really? You...you agreed?" Then, as if remembering something, his mood darkened again: "Are you doing this out of pity? I don't need it."
Zheng Xiaoyue snorted angrily: "You're not willing again? Fine then. And another thing. Don't have too much of an imagination. You're so good, a deputy regimental commander, your monthly salary must be at least a hundred. Do you need my sympathy? I'd rather sympathize with my own wallet."
Jiang Tao's eyes lit up instantly: "You're really willing, and you don't care about all those other things?"
"Hmph, what nonsense! This is a very important and real issue, okay?" Zheng Xiaoyue glared at him. "Do you think marriage is so simple, just two people moving in together and living together? You're a man, so your life before and after marriage hasn't changed, but it's different for women, okay?"
"Oh, then tell me what you're thinking?" Jiang Tao was curious to hear what the girl was thinking.
“We lived in a large courtyard. I’ve seen many older women from that courtyard who got married since I was little. At first, they were happy to come back to their parents’ home and came back often. But later they came back less often. Some of them came back crying. I saw that when they were young, they were happy and beautiful. But after they got married, almost without exception, they became ugly and unhappy.”
“I won’t let you become like that. I married a wife so that she would be happy to live with me. If she’s unhappy, I won’t be happy either.”
Zheng Xiaoyue glanced at him sideways: "Marriage is not just a matter between two people. In particular, after we get married, I will have to move into your house and face your family, whom I don't know at all. I will have to be cautious in dealing with your family, neither too close nor too distant. In fact, I don't even know you very well, yet I have to live with you. Don't you think that's a terrible thing?"
Jiang Tao pondered for a moment and said, "I can be in no hurry to marry you, but my job limits me from having as much time to spend with you and develop feelings for you as others. If we were to get married, given your slow pace, it might really be after we're married that you'll have time to develop feelings for me."
“You’re thinking too far ahead.” Zheng Xiaoyue glanced at him. “We can get to know each other first, or even get engaged. But I need your promise that if we find we’re not a good match during the process of getting to know each other, we can part amicably. You can’t make things difficult for my family.”
Jiang Tao chuckled in exasperation, raising an eyebrow slightly: "We haven't even officially started dating yet, and you're already thinking about parting ways amicably?"
Zheng Xiaoyue felt a little guilty, but she braced herself and said confidently, "I'm just saying this upfront to give you a heads-up."
A cryptic glint flashed in Jiang Tao's eyes, and then he said in a domineering tone, "Don't worry, I will never let you have such thoughts. In my mind, marriage is about spending your whole life together."
Their eyes met, and Jiang Tao stared at Zheng Xiaoyue, who secretly blushed.
The two had reached an understanding, and just before Jiang Tao was about to return to his team, Zheng Xiaoyue finally agreed to take him home to meet her parents.
Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang knew that Zheng Xiaoyue would bring Jiang Tao, with whom she had already confirmed their relationship, back for dinner the next day, and also to introduce Zheng Dali to him.
As the sister-in-law, and with no mother-in-law at home, she had to step forward and help her father-in-law and Zheng Yang entertain their future son-in-law.
At home, there are only some leftover ribs from the Chinese New Year, a piece of cured meat, half a duck, and some frozen shrimp. She has quite a few good items in her own system inventory, but she needs to find an excuse to take them out.
"I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow. I know where I can find good stuff," Jiang Ruyu said to Zheng Yang, discussing what to prepare for tomorrow.
Zheng Yang knew his wife had a place where she could buy good things, but he never asked her for details. After all, his wife was his own, and she was only thinking about the family. Sometimes, couples need some secrets. You can't want to know everything. Being too controlling will only annoy people.
Jiang Hui and Han Ling have already returned to Xia City. They will be back in a month. This trip back is mainly for handing over work and work points, as well as handling the relevant procedures for returning to the city. Han Ling also needs to go home. After returning to Yanjing, it will be difficult for her to come back again.
None of the family went to work today. Zheng Yang stayed home to prepare the groceries they had bought, Grandma helped take care of the children, and Jiang Ruyu went out to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a bag of winter dates, a winter melon that weighed about four or five pounds each, and a piece of pork belly. Seeing that there was nothing else to buy, she went home.
In the vegetable basket she was carrying, there was already a plucked and gutted chicken, a bunch of chives, and a bunch of spinach—vegetable leaves that were available but scarce this month.
When they got home, Zheng Yang had already washed and chopped the ribs, washed the shrimp, and washed and chopped half a duck.
The first thing Jiang Ruyu did upon returning was to prepare the duck and simmer it on the stove. Just as the vegetables were almost ready and about to be stir-fried, Jiang Tao arrived.
Zheng Xiaoyue was called out by him early in the morning, and now that she's back, they realize she went out to buy clothes.
Jiang Tao arrived on a bicycle, with things hanging from the handlebars, as did Zheng Xiaoyue.
"It's good that you're here. Why bring so much stuff? We have everything we need." As an elder, Zheng Dali had to say the right things. If the man came empty-handed on his first visit, he wouldn't need to come back a second time.
Jiang Tao smiled, his upright face beaming. He wanted to get married, but his future father-in-law and mother-in-law were the first people he couldn't afford to offend, so he had to make a good impression.
"Hello Uncle, I am Jiang Tao. This is my first time visiting. Please forgive me if I do or say anything inappropriate. I didn't bring anything, just a small token of my appreciation."
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