"Just tell me, have you ever farmed in these years? Have you ever worked to make a living? Have you ever earned a penny for the family?
I work outside from dawn to dusk for the sake of my family, and I can only go back to the village a few times a year. You eat for free and do not work. The house you live in now was built with my money. Without me, you would still be living in a leaky tile house.
Even if you have no sense of shame, you should feel guilty for all these years. Now you still have the nerve to come to me and say this!"
Shen Huanxi finished speaking in one breath, not giving anyone a chance to interrupt.
Old Mrs. Feng was exposed in public, and she felt even more embarrassed. The contemptuous looks on her were very glaring. Shen Huanxi also rushed towards her with great momentum.
Shen Huanxi had always been very kind in front of her before. Even when they were getting divorced and signed an unequal divorce agreement, he never got angry. This made her think that Shen Huanxi liked to bully people. Where had she ever seen Shen Huanxi like this?
Yao Cuihong was startled and let go of Feng Fulong in her arms.
Shen Huanxi still had a look of anger on his face.
"Over the years, I left Chang'an and Changning in the village for you to take care of. I sent you a lot of money. How much did you spend on Chang'an and Changning? None! You spent it all on yourself!
Don't think I didn't see those gold and silver bracelets you have! You and your family have nothing to do all day, where did you get the money to buy them? It was all my money!"
As Shen Huanxi spoke, he grabbed Yao Cuihong's wrist under the wide-eyed gazes of the onlookers.
She divorced Feng Shenghui and left the village. The old woman had indeed become unrestrained. She wore out the gold and silver bracelets that she had bought secretly in the past and had hidden them in her closet.
Yao Cuihong noticed that Shen Huanxi was looking for her bracelet, and she suddenly panicked and quickly pulled back her right hand which was wearing the big gold bracelet.
"I don't have it! Where did I get the gold bracelet? I don't have it!"
As she said this, she used all her strength to pull her right hand out of Shen Huanxi's hand. She couldn't let others see that she really had a big gold bracelet.
Yao Cuihong was too anxious and used too much force. She staggered a few steps and fell to the ground with a thud.
Shen Huanxi hid the gold bracelet that he had taken from Old Lady Feng's right hand in his trouser pocket, rushed towards Old Lady Feng who was sitting on the ground screaming in pain, and grabbed her left hand.
Her hands were so strong that Old Lady Yao grimaced in pain.
"Shen Huanxi! What are you doing? Do you want to hit an old woman like me? I've already told you that I don't have any big gold bracelets, and you still want to strip me of my clothes?" He said as he pulled her right hand back.
But Shen Huanxi no longer cared about her hand.
"I'm not going to hit you. I just want everyone to guess where your money came from. Don't tell me that you bought this gold ring yourself!" Shen Huanxi raised her left hand.
Now everyone can see clearly.
There was a big gold ring on Yao Cuihong's left finger, which was bigger than the one on the finger of Uncle Zhang's son's new wife. How could she afford it?
"Auntie Yao, a gold ring is so expensive. Even if you say you like her but she's unlucky, you can't earn enough money to buy such a big gold ring just a few days after she left the Feng family!"
"You spend the money you earn for fun and you still have the nerve to say it, tsk."
Yao Cuihong was afraid that Shen Huanxi would snatch the ring back, and there were so many villagers here to help Shen Huanxi, so she blushed and left in shame with Feng Fulong.
As she walked, she touched her right wrist, but she couldn't understand why the bracelet suddenly disappeared when she was clearly wearing it when she came out.
But she didn't dare to go back and look for it, let alone ask anyone to help look for it, otherwise she would be confirming what Shen Huanxi said.
Shen Huanxi looked at the backs of Yao Cuihong and Feng Fulong, reached her hand into her pocket and weighed the big gold bracelet, blaming Mrs. Feng for wearing her ring too tightly, otherwise she would have snatched it away in front of everyone without doing anything shady.
The peasants were still sighing after watching what had just happened when they saw Uncle Zhang coming over and calling Shen Huanxi.
"Huanxi, I'm going into the city. Are you taking this train or the next one?"
"Just this one."
Shen Huanxi held Chang'an and Changning's hands, said goodbye to the villagers, and got into Uncle Zhang's car.
She was still thinking about the Feng family's house.
Every brick and tile of that two-story building was built with her hard-earned money.
There were so many things to do after her rebirth. She was busy remarrying, transferring her household registration, and being happy about her daughter's recovery. She didn't even care about the house or the property that Feng Shenghui had taken away.
What's more, she was the one who signed the divorce agreement herself, leaving the house with nothing.
Don’t think about it for now.
Shen Huanxi and Chang'an Changning sat in the back cargo box of Uncle Zhang's farm vehicle. The vehicle started moving and the village road was a bit bumpy. She asked Chang'an Changning to lean on her so that they could sit more steadily.
He took out the big gold bracelet he had snatched from Old Lady Feng and weighed it, it must be at least thirty or forty grams. Then he looked at the slender wrists of the two young ladies.
"Chang'an Changning, Mommy will find an old silversmith to melt this bracelet and make a gold bracelet for each of you, what do you think?"
Chang'an Changning was very smart and knew where the bracelet came from, so he shook his head.
Changan took the bracelet and looked at it from left to right.
"I don't want it. Give it to mom. Mom doesn't even have a bracelet. This is the money she earned with great effort."
"The phoenix and peony on it are not very pretty. A round, plain hoop without any pattern is more suitable for mom. It will definitely look good on her hand."
As Changning spoke, he took the gold bracelet from Chang'an's hand and placed it on Shen Huanxi's wrist to compare.
"Mom has fair skin, which suits the color of gold very well. She will look good in a plain bracelet."
She is indeed a girl who dreams of becoming a designer.
Shen Huanxi touched the heads of the two ladies.
"This bracelet is too heavy for Mom, but it's too light if it's split into two. I'll give each of you one, and I'll give it to you, okay?"
Chang'an Changning stared at the bracelet for a while and felt that what Shen Huanxi said made sense. She imagined what it would look like wearing the gold bracelet on her hand and finally nodded happily, looking forward to it.
"good!"
Shen Huanxi knew that there was no girl who didn't like jewelry, but her two daughters' first reaction was to give it to her.
Uncle Zhang's car stopped in front of a restaurant on Hanlin Street.
During the Cultural Revolution, private individuals were not allowed to open hotels. After the reform and opening up, hotels run by individual owners sprang up like mushrooms after rain. Many private hotels are concentrated on Hanlin Street.
Uncle Zhang didn't have much land at home, but he was a smart man. He didn't have the conditions to run a catering business, so he set his sights on the vegetable supply for these private restaurants. He purchased vegetables in the village every day and then transported them to the city to sell to these individual merchants.
"Huanxi, how about I wait until I finish delivering the goods before sending you home?"
"No thanks." Shen Huanxi said, and took out the money for the trip and stuffed it into Uncle Zhang's pocket. Uncle Zhang was kind enough to give her and her daughter a ride, and she couldn't set a precedent of not giving money, lest the villagers follow suit.
"I won't waste your time. I still need to take Chang'an and Changning to buy some things. Thank you for today, Uncle."
"Thank you, Third Uncle!" Chang'an Changning also thanked him politely.
Taolin Village is not far from the city. They didn't stay in the village for long, and it was still some time before lunch.
After saying goodbye to Uncle Zhang, Shen Huanxi took the two girls shopping.
In addition to private restaurants, Hanlin Street also has many grocery stores, making it worthy of being called a food street.
Shen Huanxi found a grocery store and went to the snack section specifically, where he bought half a pound of cat ears, half a pound of glutinous rice sticks, half a pound of calcium milk biscuits, and half a pound of peanut candy, enough to feed the four children in the family for a while.
The boss carefully and tightly packed the snacks with kraft paper, but it still couldn't contain the sweet and fragrant aroma of the snacks.
Chang'an and Changning were so happy. These snacks were previously only eaten by Xiaohua from the village chief's family and Mei'e, the granddaughter of Uncle Zhang San. Now they can buy them at their doorstep.
Chang'an and Changning volunteered to carry the baby, so Shen Huanxi let them hold it and went to buy two bottles of maltose.
After leaving the grocery store, she turned into another street and went to the grocery store.
When the mother and her two daughters came back carrying large and small bags, Xiao Yutang and Xiao Yu were playing with glass beads under the old locust tree.
The glass beads were discarded by other children after they were broken. Many of the corners were broken and they were no longer round, but the two children still had a lot of fun playing with them.
In the past, Lan Linxiang didn't like Guixiang Village. She always said that people from the urban-rural mixed group were not presentable and often mocked her neighbors. Even Xiao Yutang and Xiao Yuzheng were not popular among the children in the neighborhood.
Fortunately, the two children at home are not popular with the children outside, so they can still play together.
There were many neighbors sitting under the big locust tree, chatting and working.
When Mrs. Jiang saw the new hat and scarf that Xiao Yutang was wearing, she couldn't help but speak.
"Tangtang, Zhengzheng, those are the new hats and scarves your stepmother bought for you. They are really nice. You two look much more energetic."
Others laughed too.
Xiao Yutang blushed.
Aunt Wei then spoke.
"She has just married, so she has to pretend to be nice. Otherwise, people will say that her stepmother abuses her child. I think Comrade Shen is also a person who cares about face and is afraid of being criticized."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Huanxi came back with Chang'an and Changning. When he saw Xiao Yutang and Xiao Yuzheng, he called them.
"Tangtang, Zhengzheng, I bought you some snacks. Come over and see if you like them. Zhengzheng, didn't you have a stomachache last night and asked for hot water? I bought you a thermos."
Xiao Yutang and Xiao Yuzheng heard Shen Huanxi's voice, picked up the mottled glass beads and put them in their pockets and ran over. Sure enough, they saw Chang'an Changning holding snacks wrapped in brown paper.
Shen Huanxi was holding two cans of maltose in his left hand and two big red thermos bottles with "Happiness Brand Thermos" printed on them in his right hand.
Xiao Yutang reached out to help Shen Huanxi hold the thermos. Xiao Yutang was still young, so Shen Huanxi just wanted to show her appreciation by asking Changan to bring her half a pound of snacks.
Only when four children work together can they enhance their relationship.
Shen Huanxi used his free hand to touch Xiao Yuzheng's head.
"You should drink hot water when you have a stomachache. Now that we have a thermos, we don't have to make hot water on the spot. You can drink it whenever you want. And you three should drink more hot water too."
"Okay!" Chang'an Changning agreed crisply.
Xiao Yuzheng said "thank you" in a mosquito-like voice, and Xiao Yutang nodded awkwardly.
After the family of five walked a little further away, everyone looked at Aunt Wei and spoke.