Because they were going to meet He Chaoyang at his house that evening, Qin Yalan and Chen Tiejun returned home very early today, preparing their clothes and gifts in advance.
Meanwhile, He Chaoyang still parked the car at the entrance of the alley outside Chen Shuning's yard.
Thinking that He Chaoyang would be coming to pick them up later anyway, Chen Shuning decided not to let him go back, but instead took He Chaoyang home directly.
When the two entered, Qin Yalan and Chen Tiejun were inside discussing what clothes to wear.
The couple lived a frugal life, not daring to spend money on themselves. However, Qin Yalan had made a set of clothes for each member of the family in preparation for Chen Shuning's wedding.
The date for the meeting was set rather suddenly, and the clothes hadn't been prepared yet.
Now the couple is worried when they look at the clothes laid out on the kang (a heated brick bed). They are all old clothes, and it seems that none of them are suitable.
Chen Shuning, who had brought He Chaoyang to her parents' room first, heard Qin Yalan's words before she even entered.
"Why don't you wear your police uniform? You haven't had any clothes made in the past few years, and you don't have a decent set of clothes."
Chen Tiejun, who usually didn't pay attention to these things, looked at the clothes his wife had laid out on the kang (a heated brick bed). Although none of them were patched, each piece was washed until it was almost white.
I felt a little bad. Originally, Qin Yalan's family was relatively well-off. Qin's grandfather was the canteen manager of a large ferroalloy factory in the area, in charge of the meals for several hundred people in the factory.
Grandma Qin is the local street director. Although the elderly couple has retired, when she married him, she was truly marrying down.
However, not only did his own family not give a betrothal gift when they got married, but his wife's family also gave a lot of dowry. Even so, his wife was not well received by his parents after marrying him. Whenever he thought about this, Chen Tiejun felt that he had let his wife down.
Seeing that his wife didn't even have a decent set of clothes, Chen Tiejun, who hadn't shed a single tear when he was injured on the battlefield and almost had his leg amputated, suddenly had tears in his eyes.
Holding Qin Yalan's hand tightly, he said, "Wife, you've suffered so much these years. It's all my fault for being useless and making you suffer with me."
Qin Yalan, who was rummaging through clothes, was suddenly grabbed by Chen Tiejun, and then heard these words, so she didn't react for a moment.
She then understood Chen Tiejun's true intention in saying those words, and simply smiled and comforted him: "What nonsense are you talking about? I don't think life is any hardship. We have food and clothing, you treat me well, and the children are easy to take care of. I don't think there's anything more comfortable than this life."
"Alright, it's settled then. You wear the police uniform, and I'll wear this."
As she spoke, Qin Yalan took out a relatively new Lenin suit from the kang (a heated brick bed).
Hearing her parents' conversation made Chen Shuning feel sad, and her eyes reddened slightly. She blamed herself for being careless.
She's been busy preparing her dowry these days, from small things like toothbrushes and soap dishes, everything is perfectly prepared, but how could she have forgotten to prepare clothes for her parents?
She was focused on her wedding and had the preconceived notion that she could prepare the clothes before the wedding, since they could be bought anywhere!
However, they forgot about occasions like the meeting of both sets of parents, and this is not the future where you can just go out and buy clothes whenever you want.
She felt very unfilial and sorry to her parents.
He Chaoyang, who was standing next to Chen Shuning, saw all of this and felt uneasy.
He put his arm around Chen Shuning's shoulder and hugged her, comforting her in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Don't be sad, better days are ahead. We'll take good care of your uncle and aunt in the future."
He Chaoyang knew that Chen Shuning had always been a filial girl. She had put a lot of thought into the wedding, but she had forgotten to prepare clothes for her parents because of a momentary oversight. It was normal for her to feel sad at this moment.
He understood her feelings and wanted to help her share some of the pressure.
Chen Shuning looked at He Chaoyang gratefully and nodded.
She quickly composed herself, put on a smile, and called out into the house, "Mom and Dad, I'm home."
Upon hearing Chen Shuning's voice, the two people inside the room instinctively began frantically tidying up the clothes on the kang (a heated brick bed). So when Chen Shuning brought He Chaoyang into the room, what they saw was the couple each carrying a pile of clothes.
Qin Yalan had met He Chaoyang before, so she didn't feel particularly awkward. But this was Chen Tiejun's first time meeting his son-in-law, and he was so embarrassed that he didn't know where to put his hands and feet.
It was Chen Shuning who noticed her father's predicament. She stepped forward, took the clothes from Chen Tiejun's hands, placed them on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then, taking Chen Tiejun's arm, pointed to He Chaoyang and introduced him: "Dad, this is He Chaoyang, your future son-in-law."
Then, she looked at He Chaoyang and introduced him with a smile: "Brother He, this is my dad."
Knowing that Chen Tiejun was a former soldier and now a police officer, He Chaoyang first gave Chen Tiejun a solemn military salute after Chen Shuning's introduction, and then extended his hand and said, "Uncle, hello, I am He Chaoyang."
Chen Tiejun looked at the tall and handsome young man and was very satisfied. He extended his hand to shake hands with He Chaoyang and said with a smile, "Hello, Xiao He, please sit down, please sit down, don't stand and talk."
Chen Shuning pulled out a stool and placed it next to He Chaoyang, saying, "Brother He, please sit here."
He Chaoyang said thank you and then sat down. He was a little nervous meeting his future father-in-law for the first time, which was evident from the tightly clenched hands on his lap.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat, but he tried his best to stay calm.
Chen Tiejun and Qin Yalan exchanged a glance, then both walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat down.
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