Chapter Four: Being Taken Care of
The two had already discussed and decided to get married, and since they were both happy about it, Sister Hao was pleased. Shu Yao was already married before, so another marriage wouldn't be a problem. Besides, she'd get a small courtyard house; Su Xiangdong's courtyard had several rooms, and they were quite nice.
Shu Yao was working the night shift, and he picked her up by bicycle the next morning after work. After obtaining a letter of introduction from the factory office, the two went smoothly to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get their marriage certificate.
And here he ran into acquaintances, Zhou Aili and Wu Youliang. Passing each other by the door, Wu Youliang was captivated by Shu Yao, following her gaze for a while. What a beautiful girl! That man is lucky.
"What are you looking at?" Zhou Aili asked, somewhat displeased. Shu Yao is such a vixen; no man can take his eyes off her. Su Xiangdong actually married her so quickly, and will leave all his assets to her. Isn't he just bewitched by her beauty?
"No, it's nothing."
Seeing that the two of them didn't greet each other, Shu Yao thought to herself: "A whirlwind marriage! Zhou Aili is really bold. They don't even know each other, yet they got married so quickly."
As she left the Civil Affairs Bureau, she smiled and said to him, "Go to work, I'm sorry to have kept you up."
He smiled kindly and said, "We're family now, no need to be so polite. I took a day off, so I don't have to go to work today. Come on, let's move your things over."
"good."
He thought he had a terminal illness, yet he took such good care of her. She, however, knew perfectly well that his illness was a misdiagnosis and he was perfectly healthy. Therefore, she married him with the intention of truly building a life together, and so far, he seemed to be behaving very well.
She had interacted with him quite a bit in her past life, and she knew he was capable and kind-hearted, having helped her a great deal. When she couldn't find enough formula for her twins, he helped her and even gave her noodles, saying he couldn't finish them and they were about to spoil.
During that particular era, the Sun family had a hard time, and he was also persecuted. When they were being criticized together, he always secretly stood in front. He was the one who got beaten the most, suffering a head injury and even a broken bone once. On the contrary, Sun Yaozu always hid in the back no matter what.
She had a lot of things, but not too many either, because she also had bedding. He tied everything up on his bike and let her sit on the front crossbar. "I'll come back and get the rest later. You go home first."
"No need. You put your things upstairs, I'll walk slowly."
"That's fine." I heard that pregnant women need to be more active so that it will be easier to give birth. He can come pick her up later after he puts his things down; it's the same.
When Sun Yaozu came out of the house, he saw that his wife was being taken away by the man next door on a bicycle, and he was furious.
"Shu Yao, what are you doing?"
She got out of the car, calm and collected, and was about to speak when the man beside her spoke first. "I'm taking my wife home, what's it to you?"
"What?" Sun Yaozu asked in disbelief. "Your wife?"
"Yes. You two are already divorced, and we just got our marriage certificate. This is my wife, so you better stay away from me, or I'll beat you up."
Sun Yaozu was just over 1.7 meters tall and had a thin build. Su Xiangdong was 1.8 meters tall, with broad, powerful shoulders and muscular arms. His fierce words made Sun Yaozu involuntarily take a step back.
"Come on, wife, let's go home."
Shu Yao didn't say a word and followed the man into the courtyard. He carried most of the bags and packages, while she only carried a few pieces of clothing.
"Don't be afraid of him. If he dares to come to you, tell me. Now I have the right to deal with him."
"good."
His courtyard wasn't large, but it was quite well-organized. There were three main rooms with side rooms, two east-facing rooms, and one south-facing room next to the doorway. There was also a coal storage area over the doorway, which could be used to store coal and other miscellaneous items.
The three main rooms are separated, with a hall in the middle. There is a bed on the east side, which is surprisingly an old-fashioned four-poster bed. In the west room, there is a kang (a heated brick bed), a wardrobe, and a desk.
"You can stay in the inner room; I'll move my things out."
"Um, I'd like to stay in the outer room." We're not familiar with each other yet, but if I stay in the inner room, it would seem like I'm kicking you out, which wouldn't be appropriate.
"It's convenient for you to stay in the inner room, but I'm a grown man and I can stay anywhere. Or, I can tidy up and move to the east room."
The east room had been uninhabited for a long time and was quite messy. He said he was about to tidy it up when she reached out and stopped him. "No, we're legally married now. It's perfectly legitimate for us to live together."
His heart suddenly raced, and he nodded silently without saying anything more. He moved his own things out of the inner room and put them in the cabinet in the outer room. She put her clothes and other things in the cabinet, but the mattress was too small, so he used his old one.
"The sheets were just washed and removed, the room is very dry and there are no fleas or anything like that. You can sleep soundly with the sheets changed."
"Thanks."
"No need to be so polite. Didn't you say we're husband and wife now?"
"good."
She tidied her things in the inner room, while he quickly cleaned the outer room again. The bed curtains in the outer room were from many years ago, with patches in several places. But at least they were clean, creating a separate space for her, so she wouldn't feel awkward seeing him when she walked around.
When Shu Yao finished getting ready and went to the kitchen to fetch water to wash up, she found that he was already cooking. The dough was already kneaded and resting on the cutting board, and the green beans, eggplant, and tomatoes were diced; it seemed he was preparing to make noodles with meat sauce. She was unfamiliar with the process and lifted the lid of a vat, only to find that it wasn't a water vat, but a vat full of grain.
"The water is here." He lifted the water vat to scoop water for her, and then poured some hot water from the thermos for her.
There are still ten days left in the month before it's time to collect the food rations. She didn't bring any food rations with her when she left the Sun family's house. She had originally planned to spend money to buy some more expensive grain, but she forgot that he worked at the grain station, so that wasn't a problem.
"Shall I cook?"
After she finished tidying up, she habitually brought this up. When she was a child, her family had servants, and she was pampered. But ever since she entered the Sun family, the old lady of the Sun family has said that a woman should be a good wife, mother, and housekeeper.
She not only learned to do laundry and cook, but also needlework and embroidery. After liberation, the Sun family no longer needed maids, so she became a maid herself. Sun Yaozu, who had done housework for decades in his previous life, had never done any of that before.
"No need. You can rest in the yard; I'll be done soon."
She was stunned for a moment; could it really be like this? In her past life, her mother-in-law had said these were women's jobs, and subconsciously she had long been accustomed to doing them herself.
"Go ahead, I'm a decent cook, it won't be bad." He ushered her out of the kitchen and made her sit on a bamboo chair in the yard. He went into the kitchen and poured her a bowl of water; she took a sip and was surprised to find it sweet.
Listening to the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen, she seemed a little dazed. So this is what life can be like; she realized she could sit and do nothing, quietly waiting for dinner to be served.
Watching his busy figure through the window, she felt a dreamlike, floating sensation. Was she sleepy? Or perhaps it was just her imagination? Otherwise, why did she feel so light and unreal?
"Dinner's ready."
He rolled out the noodles, and the meat sauce looked incredibly fragrant. He brought it to her, along with a bowl of noodle soup—the original broth would help her digest the noodles. She tasted the noodles; they were chewy, smooth, and perfectly thin. And they were made entirely of white flour, without any added grains.
"Eat quickly, there's more in the pot."
She nodded subconsciously, feeling dizzy and unsure of what to say. Having spent most of her life with Sun Yaozu, she had never been treated so well by him. Director Hao had even told her to take care of him, but now it was none of her business. He was very efficient; by the time she finished packing her things, he had already cleaned the outer room.
After finishing her meal, she went to wash the dishes, but he stopped her again. "Go to sleep. Don't you have to work tonight? Um, how about you take the day off? You're tired, get some rest."
"No need, taking leave will result in a deduction from my bonus."
"It's okay, I still have some savings, it's alright if it happens once in a while."
Not only did they firmly refuse to let her wash the dishes, but they even helped her get a day off so she could rest at home. Last night, after going to work, she lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) after dinner and quickly fell asleep. When she woke up, it was already dusk; she had slept so soundly that she didn't have a single dream.
I was still a little dazed after waking up. Sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), I subconsciously felt that I should make dinner. But I felt lazy and didn't want to move, wondering if my mother-in-law would call me to cook the next moment.
Oh, right, she got divorced and left the Sun family. In her past life, she was pregnant with twins. In the early stages, she was weak and sleepy. After five months, her belly swelled up like a balloon, and she couldn't see her feet when she stood up. But even so, she still went to work, cooked and did housework at home, until she gave birth.
I was too lazy to move, so I just sat there leaning against the pillows. Then I heard noises coming from the kitchen, and smelled a delicious aroma—it smelled like meat. My mouth involuntarily watered; I guess I'm still like this since I got pregnant—lazy and with a particular craving for food.
In her past life, she was so tempted by the aroma of her neighbor's braised pork that she used up all her meat ration coupons for a month to buy some. Sun Yaozu said he was too busy with work, so she went to queue up herself to buy it and cook it herself. But she only ate one piece. When she was asked to pour water for everyone, the meat was all gone by the time she came out. The whole family praised her cooking.
She thought she had long forgotten these trivial matters, but she was surprised to find that she still remembered them. She thought she was very sensible and never cared about such things. But now, thinking about it, her nose stung, and she belatedly realized that the emotion she felt back then was one of grievance. An unspeakable grievance.
She got up, put on her shoes, and stepped out of the house. The summer evening was still sweltering. The heat hit her as soon as she stepped outside, and she quickly ran to the toilet. When she returned, he was standing at the doorway, holding a spatula. A barely perceptible worry crossed his face. Seeing her return from the toilet, he turned and went back inside.
A washbasin stand stood in the yard, the water in the basins clear and clean. She called out towards the house, "Is this for washing hands?"
"Yes." He had just scooped some water for her.
Dinner was surprisingly rice, a rare sight in the North, along with braised pork, braised eggplant, green beans with minced garlic, tomatoes with sugar, and a winter melon soup.
"We didn't have enough time at noon, so this dinner will be a celebration of our wedding."
He didn't know why she suddenly severed ties with the Sun family, but he knew she married him to find a safe haven. Whatever her motives, he welcomed her with open arms. She said she wouldn't have a wedding, and he let her have her way. But a nice celebratory meal together was still necessary.
Shu Yao was like this when she was pregnant in her previous life; she really wanted to eat a ready-made meal. But apart from eating at the cafeteria when she was working, her family would wait for her as soon as she got off work. Her mother-in-law kept saying that she was sick and not in good health, and did nothing at home. But the old woman lived until both of her children grew up before passing away one after the other, along with her husband.
"Try my cooking. It might not be authentic, so tell me what's wrong and I'll improve it."
Braised pork was placed in her bowl, and the pure white rice emitted a rich, natural aroma. She had just gotten married today, and she had already enjoyed two meals prepared for her. Her needs were met, and a surge of emotion filled her chest, making her eyes well up with tears.
Not wanting him to see her in this embarrassing state, she lowered her head and ate silently. The rice smelled so good, it tasted like it came from her childhood. Her father was from the north, but her mother was from the south, and rice was a staple in her family when she was young. She loved rice, but unfortunately, she rarely ate it later in life.
"Is it not tasty?" He seemed to see something dripping and falling into the rice bowl.
“No,” she sniffed gently. “It’s delicious, thank you.”
"You should eat more. You should eat more given your current condition. Just tell me what you want to eat."
"Thanks."
She was certain she was pregnant; all her reactions confirmed it. The care she hadn't received from the child's father in her past life was now being given to a stranger. She lowered her head, suppressing the surging emotions, trying her best to calm herself.
His cooking was delicious; the braised pork was fatty but not greasy, and the vegetable dishes were refreshing and flavorful. After they finished eating, she insisted on washing the dishes and cleaning up, refusing to let go even when he tried to take them from her.
“We’re going to live together from now on, how can I do nothing? I’ll feel uneasy if I do that.”
"I'll take care of it for you later. There will be a lot of things to do after you have the baby. Right now, you need to be taken care of, so just focus on your pregnancy and have a healthy baby."
He looked at her face as he spoke, his tone gentle and his eyes warm. It gave her the illusion that she was carrying his child, which was why he took such good care of her, a pregnant woman.
She still couldn't win against him. He not only cleaned up the kitchen, but also boiled water for her and placed a rather large basin on the open floor of the kitchen.
"The east room is uninhabited and chaotic, so I usually wash in the kitchen. The kitchen is warm when cooking, so it's very comfortable to wash up at night."
"Thanks."
He smiled and said, "You've thanked me so many times already, there's really no need to be so polite. We're married, we're husband and wife."
"Okay. I won't say it anymore. We're the kind of people who will spend our lives together."
He suddenly had an idea. "Should we be buried together a hundred years from now?"
"Mmm." She blushed slightly, not knowing why. In her previous life, she had spent decades with Sun Yaozu, and moments like this were rare.
At first, Sun Yaozu flirted with her, and the young girl, unaware of the situation, would blush. Later, however, he only ever talked about it, and her heart became increasingly indifferent.
But now, with just a few simple words from him, her heart pounded and her face flushed. His gentle smile made her feel even hotter, and she quickly grabbed her things and left.
A note from the author:
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