Soon the sun set in the west and it was getting dark. Shumei and Wu Ju, who had been busy all day, packed up their things and went home.
In order to marry Shumei, the Zhang family owed a lot of debts. Ji Zong worked harder than before, just to pay off the debts as soon as possible and let Shumei live a good life sooner.
The Zhang family was not rich to begin with, and with the addition of one more mouth to feed, their life became even more difficult. There was only a handful of rice in the porridge they cooked in the evening, and most of it was sweet potatoes. In order to fill their stomachs, they could only use sweet potatoes as their staple food.
It was already dark, but Ji Zong had not yet finished his hard work for the day, just to burn more bricks and earn a few more cents.
Shumei anxiously wandered at the gate, hoping Jizong would come back for dinner. "Mother, does Jizong usually stay out this late?"
Wu Ju sat on a rattan chair in the main hall, mending her clothes. Without even looking up, she replied, "How dare you ask? My son works so hard just to pay off the debt he owed me for marrying you."
At this moment, two dogs barked outside the yard, and then Ji Zong came in. Shu Mei excitedly went forward to greet him, "Ji Zong, you're finally back."
Ji Zong, with his brick-dust-stained hand, gently put his arm around Shu Mei's waist and walked into the main room. Shu Mei actively fetched water for Ji Zong to wash up, considerately wringing out his towel for him. Once Ji Zong finished washing, the family sat down at the table, and Shu Mei tactfully served everyone the meal.
"Mother, why are there only sweet potatoes?"
Ji Zong looked at the watery porridge and stirred it with his chopsticks. It was nothing but sweet potato fries. It was so different from what they usually ate. He thought Wu Ju had done it on purpose, so he slammed his chopsticks on the table and complained angrily.
"Eat! It's good to have something to eat. The newly harvested millet has already been paid as public tax, and there's not much left. This will barely last for a while. Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't even be able to eat in a few days, and all the money will go to your wife."
Wu Ju noticed Ji Zong's dissatisfaction, and she also became angry. She slammed the chopsticks in her hand on the table and spoke in a raised voice.
Ji Zong was speechless. How could he have forgotten this in such a moment? His family was now deeply in debt, so how could they afford to buy food? Wasn't this why he left home so early and came back so late? He was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do.
Shumei gently stepped on his foot and winked at him. Only then did he pick up the chopsticks on the table again and lower his head to eat in silence.
After Shumei finished washing the dishes and returned to the room, they sat on the bed. Jizong took Shumei's hand and said, "Shumei, I'm sorry for making you live a hard life with me."
"Ji Zong, I'm not wronged. I'm not afraid of the hardship of life. As long as you are with me, I'll be happy even if I have to eat coarse food."
Hearing Shumei's words, Jizong was deeply moved. He gently took Shumei into his arms and said, "Shumei, don't worry. I will work harder in the future and make sure you live a good life."
"I trust you!"
The two chatted in the house, looking forward to a bright future together. Although Ji Zong was very tired after working hard all day, he just liked chatting with Shu Mei and always felt that he had endless things to say to Shu Mei.
After a while, the lights in the house went out, and the sound of voices died down. The night returned to its proper silence, with only the faint chirping of insects to be heard.
It's a new day...
In a five-story building next to the gas station, Ma Yaoxiang, a man in his late thirties, is trying to find a way to escape his father's house arrest.
He was already a man with three children, but he still acted like a naive teenager, idle and unemployed, going out late and returning early every day, living a life of drunkenness and dreams, hanging out with young men and women in dance halls, bars, discos, and roller skating rinks...
After returning from the hospital that day, Ma Jin wanted to give his unfaithful and unfilial son a good beating, but his wife tried to stop him, saying that it was too late to beat him up. She was afraid that Ma Yaoxiang would be too embarrassed to go out and see people. He had no choice but to lock Ma Yaoxiang in his room to reflect on his mistakes and temper him so that he would not cause trouble again.
Today is Sunday. Ma Jin is playing chess in the yard with his three grandsons. The one playing against Ma Jin is his eldest grandson Ma Zhengfu.
The Ma family was well-off, and Ma Yaoxiang was their only son, so they doted on him. He had lived a life of luxury since childhood, developing the habit of having everything provided for him. As a result, he had no ability to take care of himself when he grew up, and lived a life of melancholy, a complete dependent on his parents.
But such an uneducated and idle playboy had three sons, a virtuous wife and filial sons.
The eldest son, Ma Zhengfu, was particularly talented, intelligent, and well-mannered. He was a rare talent. Not long ago, he had even been admitted to the best university in the city, achieving the highest score in the county.
Ma Jin has always been proud of him. Whenever his son Ma Yaoxiang was furious, it was his eldest grandson who would come to comfort him with gentle words.
At this time, Ma Yaoxiang was practicing his skills of climbing walls and climbing over rooftops. He forced open his bedroom window, put on a leather jacket, combed his hair into a bun, and secretly climbed out of the window. In order to sneak out, he was really desperate.
Ma Jin and Ma Zhengfu were both concentrating on studying the chess game, and of course they wouldn't be distracted by other things. His plan of escaping the situation almost succeeded, but unexpectedly, at the critical moment, it was his five-year-old third son who made him fail.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
His youngest son, Ma Zhengshou, was happily playing with an airplane model in the yard. By coincidence, the airplane model happened to fall on Ma Yaoxiang's windowsill. Looking at Ma Yaoxiang climbing on the wall like Spider-Man, Ma Zhengshou asked curiously in his childish voice.
"Shh!"
Ma Yaoxiang kept making gestures to Ma Zhengshou to stop talking. But Ma Zhengshou was only five years old after all, so how could he not be curious about his unusual behavior?
"Dad, are you acting like a Transformer? Dad is so awesome! Grandpa, big brother, second brother, come here quickly! Dad has turned into a Transformer, so awesome!"
Ma Zhengfu kept clapping and cheering, and loudly led Ma Jin and the other three over.
"Damn, what a jerk! You've really screwed me over!" Ma Yaoxiang muttered awkwardly, trying to crawl back into the house before Ma Jin arrived. Unfortunately, it was too late; Ma Jin and the others had already arrived downstairs. Seeing his father caught him red-handed, Ma Yaoxiang grinned at Ma Jin.
"Ma Yaoxiang, you you you..."
Ma Jin was furious. He had run out of ideas, had cursed everything he could, and could find no more words to curse. He beat his chest, stamped his feet, clutched his heart, and nearly fainted.
"Grandpa, don't be angry. Be careful not to get sick from being angry." Ma Zhengfu hurriedly supported him and patted his chest gently to calm him down.
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