Tian Zhigao quickly scolded Meng Tao: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

More and more people came to watch the fun, and they crowded around the place. At first, they were whispering, but gradually they started to speak loudly, saying, "What's going on? Didn't Tian Zhigao and Xian Fangfang get married? They were going to have their wedding next month, and now there's another bride?"

"Didn't you hear? He's from the countryside. It turns out that Tian Zhigao got married in the countryside and has a rural wife!"

"What? So he abandoned his rural wife and married a woman from the city? Isn't this Chen Shimei?"

"Who says it's not?!"

"I've already received their invitation and was collecting the money for the wedding gift. Now this has come up. Are we still going to hold the wedding?"

"It's better if it can't be done, so that we can save money!"

"Xian Fangfang usually looks quite innocent, I never thought she was a third party!"

"I used to envy Xian Fangfang, thinking she had married a promising young man, but I never expected she would end up with this kind of person!"

"Xian Fangfang is not a good person either. She's already got a wife, but she's still trying to get close to him."

"Maybe she doesn't know?"

"Forget it. The young wife said she has been married to Tian Zhigao for four years. How could she not know?"

"That's right. I heard that when Xian Fangfang wasn't with Tian Zhigao, she loved to hook up with other people's partners, but she would refuse them when they came."

"What kind of woman is this? A vixen!"

"That's right. Let's see what she will do this time. She wants to marry Tian Zhigao, but the rural wife came directly to the factory."

“You deserve it!”

"The young wife got married first, so she should take Tian Zhigao back!"

"Tian Zhigao is really not an ordinary person. He has a wife from the countryside and another one from the city?"

"Didn't you hear what that young wife said? Those who stay at home to take care of their parents and siblings, as for this in the city...tsk tsk! Anyway, this kind of life must be wonderful, I want it too! Hahaha!"

"You have to have that ability first. Tian Zhigao is a technician that the factory has focused on training. He has high salary and bonuses. There is plenty of money!"

"What nonsense are you talking about, you stinky men? You can do whatever you want with a little money? You ignore your wife at home and marry another one in the city. You are Chen Shimei, you are fickle and ungrateful. You deserve to be struck by lightning!"

"Tian Zhigao is guilty of bigamy. If you sue him, he will definitely go to jail."

"You have corrupt morals and bad character, and you are not fit to be a cadre!"

"That's right, a man like this is not worthy of working in our factory."

"You really can't judge a person by his appearance. I didn't expect that Tian Zhigao, who is usually so serious, could do such a thing!"

Listening to these discussions, Xian Fangfang became angry and aggrieved, her face turned blue and her lips turned white with anger. Tian Zhigao broke out in a cold sweat and regretted very much that he pretended not to know Meng Taohua when he first met her.

He tried his best to remain calm and whispered to comfort Taohua, but to little avail. Taohua was really disobedient. In the end, Tian Zhigao didn't care about Xian Fangfang anymore. He simply grabbed Taohua's arm with one hand and her shoulder with the other. The two of them walked side by side. To everyone, it seemed like they were supporting each other, but in fact they were forcibly taking her out of the cafeteria.

As soon as they left, Xian Fangfang immediately walked in another direction, but she still had to pass through a long path of people, facing people's mocking, sneer, and contemptuous gazes. Xian Fangfang almost felt her legs go weak and she was about to cry.

After walking out of the cafeteria and turning into a secluded corner, Meng Tao struggled hard, but Tian Zhigao let her go: "Meng Taohua! You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Meng Tao straightened her collar and stretched her sleeves: "What about you? Tian Zhigao, did you treat me like this on purpose?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You can stay away from Linshui Village for four years. Now, you are pretending not to recognize me on the site of your factory, but can you change the facts? We got married four years ago. The whole Linshui Village and even the nearby neighbors know that I, Meng Taohua, am your Tian Zhigao's wife! For four years, you ignored me and let me serve your parents and take care of your siblings in the village, but you were dating and living together with another woman outside, and you didn't even say hello? If you respect me, come back to the village to discuss with me and part ways amicably, I will help you. But you shouldn't have concealed it on purpose, and you treated me as a roadblock!"

Tian Zhigao lowered his eyes, paused and said, "I'm sorry Taohua, we don't have any emotional foundation and can't live together. I didn't mean to hide it from you. I wrote a letter home and sent 500 yuan for my mother to give to you as a breakup fee... At that time, your grandfather only gave my family 200 yuan and 200 kilograms of grain."

Meng Tao sneered: "Tian Zhigao, you are an educated person, but you are not good at calculating. Let me calculate this for you: When we got married, my grandfather gave your family 200 yuan and 200 kilograms of grain. Isn't the money for holding a wedding banquet and buying new furniture money? Later, your mother insisted on moving me to your Tian family and took 300 yuan from me! Most importantly, you got the quota for the steel plant recruitment, which was obtained by my grandfather with all his strength and favors. Now you take 500 yuan and try, can you do it? In addition , I worked in your family for four years. In addition to working in the normal production team, I let your family treat me like a nanny when I returned home. I took care of all the housework, fetching water, washing clothes, cooking, feeding pigs, and cutting firewood. Look at me, I am exposed to the sun every day, how dark I am? Your sister-in-law gave birth to two children, and I took care of her twice during the confinement period. Your mother needed to take soup medicine, and she had to beat her back, knead her shoulders, and scrape her every two days. It was all me. Your brother and sister-in-law studied and needed to send something to school, and it was also me.

How much is a nanny worth after four years of work? Is it included in your 500 yuan? You should know your mother's character. She values ​​money and money very much. She only takes in and never gives out. I have been in your house for four years and I have never bought a piece of clothing. If you send her 500 yuan, will she be willing to give it to me? "

Tian Zhigao was silent and sighed: "I'm sorry, I'll try my best to satisfy you with whatever compensation you want."

"I'm not here for your compensation."

Tian Zhigao raised his head alertly: "What do you want?"

Meng Tao: "My grandfather chose you as my son-in-law. I can't let another woman take you away. I want you to return to the countryside and live with me."

"You... this is impossible! I've told you that there is no love between us! We only had a wedding banquet back then, and we didn't get a marriage certificate. You know it well enough, we are not... not actually husband and wife!"

"That's because I'm young. Back then, my grandfather was worried that he would suddenly pass away, leaving me an orphan without anyone to rely on, so he was anxious to find a son-in-law for me. Given my family's conditions at the time, I had a lot of room to choose. It was you who came to pursue me, imitating the way they do things in the movies, coaxing me with sweet words, going up the mountain to pick wild flowers and fruits, going down the river to find beautiful rocks to give me, and saying that if you like someone, you have to give her gifts. Now that you dislike her, you say that it's impossible to have feelings? You lied to me? But if you say there's no love, it doesn't matter, as long as we're married. We rural people value rural rules and customs the most, and we recognize de facto marriages. You know this."

“…”

Tian Zhigao looked at Meng Tao with mixed feelings, his eyes showing surprise, helplessness, and annoyance. After a while, he asked doubtfully, "Are you really Meng Taohua? I don't believe it. You have changed so much in four years?"

Meng Tao glanced at him and said, "When a person suffers too much, he must change to survive. You haven't been back to the village for four years. You often write letters to your parents and your brothers and sisters, but you never give me a page or even a word. I am not convinced. Am I Meng Taohua that bad? I work hard every day and study secretly, taking literacy classes, radio and movies, and seizing every opportunity to learn. Otherwise, I can't come to the provincial capital, and I will never know until I die that you have married another beautiful wife."

Tian Zhigao was silent again and said, "Taohua, I haven't had time to come back to the village to see you these years. I have to work hard for my future. Why? It's for our family! Do you think that just relying on a quota given by your grandfather can make me where I am today? Do you know how much I have paid in the past four years?"

"I don't know how much you have paid. I only know that if my grandfather hadn't paved the way for you, you would have nowhere to pay! You wouldn't be as respectable and glamorous as you are today, and everyone would envy you. Without my grandfather, you might still be digging earth and carrying stones on various infrastructure construction sites!"

Sorry, the author was busy asking for votes, and ended up posting the wrong chapter. I deserve to be punished! I will ask Fuling to help adjust it back later. My little cuties, please give me some votes to comfort me!

(End of this chapter)