"Say it here, or I'm leaving."
Jiang Shao Chen took a deep breath: "Okay. First, Yin Yin does know the child is mine, but she told Song Wan Yin to sow discord between us because she doesn't like you. Second, my parents genuinely care about you; they've always opposed Yin Yin's behavior. Third..." His voice lowered, "I've never regretted marrying you, not out of a sense of responsibility, but because I love you."
Shen Mingzhi's shoulders trembled slightly, but she remained with her back to Jiang Shaozhen: "Are you finished?"
"Zhizhi..."
"Jiang Shao Chen, you still don't understand." Shen Mingzhi turned around, tears welling in her eyes. "The problem isn't how your family treated me, or even whether you love me or not. The problem is that you deprived me of my right to choose. If you had told me the truth back then, I might have hated you, but I might also... I might have accepted the marriage because you were the father of the child. But you didn't give me that chance."
Jiang Shaozhen was pale, his lips trembling but he couldn't speak.
"As for love..." Shen Mingzhi gave a bitter smile, "What kind of love is love without respect?"
After saying that, she walked towards the cashier without looking back, leaving Jiang Shaozhen standing there dumbfounded.
Seeing this, Song Wanyin tried to move closer again, but Jiang Shaozhen froze her in place with a sharp look. "Song Wanyin, if I find out you're getting close to Zhizhi again, don't blame me for not showing any mercy. I can let you go to your troupe's performance at the military region next month, or I can replace you."
Song Wanyin's face turned pale as she finally realized that she had touched a nerve with Jiang Shaochen.
Although Jiang Shaochen had retired from the military, the people in his unit still thought highly of him.
He has never liked to use such methods. Even when faced with the Song family's aggressive tactics, he simply chose to retire from the military without making use of his connections in the military region.
After paying the bill and leaving the department store, Shen Mingzhi realized that her eyes were a little wet.
She thought she didn't care at all, but it turns out... she did develop feelings for Jiang Shao Chen during the time she spent with him.
She shook her head, forcing herself to stop these pointless thoughts.
Jiang Shaozhen quickly followed her out.
He grabbed her hand, his voice urgent, "I want to give you time to calm down. But I miss you so much... Zhizhi, I really couldn't control myself when I hurt you. If I had even a shred of consciousness back then, I would have stopped..."
"I don't want you, please let go of me. And I don't want to hear your explanation right now," Shen Mingzhi said indifferently.
From the initial anger at the Jiang family for deceiving her, to the things Song Wanyin said today, she felt that this was no longer a simple deception.
She looked into Jiang Shao Chen's eyes and continued, word by word, "Just say that Jiang Yin Yin clearly knew the child was yours, but she never told me. Given her personality, how could she not tell me? I really can't think of any other reason besides you threatening her."
"Jiang Qing actually dislikes me a lot, I've always known that. But because of you, she can tolerate it and be a gentle and kind mother-in-law—"
“My mom is genuinely good to you now, she just has a bad temper,” Jiang Shaozhen interrupted her.
"She hit me, but did she apologize to me? Yes, I have a bad temper too, but have I ever hit anyone indiscriminately?!" Shen Mingzhi asked him.
She's not one to bring up the past.
But she felt that everyone in the Jiang family was so unreasonable.
Everyone was deceiving her, even Jiang Yinyin, who hated her so much, kept this secret for Jiang Shao Chen.
Shen Mingzhi had previously heard others say that a wife is an outsider in a family, but she didn't really understand it then and didn't care to believe it. Now she has experienced it firsthand.
The Chiang family demonstrated this relationship to the fullest extent.
"I don't know why Yinyin didn't tell you, but we didn't threaten her to hide it from you. Zhizhi, after all this time we've known each other, do you really think everyone in the Jiang family is so despicable?" Jiang Shaozhen asked, his eyes red.
“I don’t want to argue with you anymore. If we keep arguing, my words will only get harsher and harsher. I’m a person who remembers kindness, but I also hold grudges. I was grateful to your Jiang family for taking me and my child in before. I tolerated Jiang Qing slapping me, and I tolerated your sister bullying me several times. But now I feel very aggrieved!” Shen Mingzhi’s voice rose a few decibels.
"Why are you bullying me like this?!" she then asked.
Seeing her eyes redden, Jiang Shaochen said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I messed everything up. You can sue us if you want."
Shen Mingzhi didn't answer; instead, not wanting to say anything more to him, she turned and left.
The bus arrived, and she squeezed on with the crowd. Jiang Shao Chen stood by the roadside, his gaze following her until the bus disappeared around the street corner.
In the early morning, the staff dormitory of Baoli Daily Chemical Factory was a two-story building made of red bricks. Shen Mingzhi's single room was at the end of the corridor.
The 12-square-meter room had a damp cement floor, and the iron-framed bed was covered with military-green quilts issued by the factory. Old newspapers were pasted on the window frames.
As Shen Mingzhi climbed the creaking wooden stairs, she saw Sister Wang from next door squatting in front of the coal stove in the corridor, cooking dumpling soup. The aluminum pot lid was bobbing up and down from the steam.
"Little Shen moved in?" Sister Wang lifted her apron to wipe her hands. "Need to borrow some fire tongs? The honeycomb briquettes in the corner are freshly made." She glanced at the enamel basin with peony patterns in Shen Mingzhi's hand, then suddenly lowered her voice: "I heard you're from the Jiang family? What brings you to this shabby place?"
Shen Mingzhi forced a smile, took out her keys and opened the door, "Although it was moved here by the Jiang family, it's the same as yours."
The lock clicked open, and a musty smell mixed with the smell of lime powder wafted out. She placed the new tin thermos she had bought from the department store on the peeling paint of the five-drawer chest, on which sat the "Double Happiness" enamel mug that Jiang Shaochen had given her when they got married.
It looked nice back then, but now the Double Happiness brand just looks awful.
The sound of a bicycle bell came from outside the window. Shen Mingzhi lifted the faded blue curtain and saw Jiang Shaozhen riding a Forever bicycle parked at the factory gate.
He wasn't wearing work clothes today; a gray Zhongshan suit covered his broad shoulders, and a net bag hung on the handlebars, through which you could vaguely see malted milk powder and canned fruit.
Shen Mingzhi quickly pulled the curtains shut and took out an account book from her canvas bag.
This week, she accompanied Factory Director Sun to the supply and marketing cooperative and discovered that the formula for the "White Peony" snow cream produced by the factory had not been changed for ten years, and the dusty labels on the glass bottles were still handwritten and printed. She planned to take the sample left by Ang Lee at the Canton Fair—a pearl cream tin box made in Shanghai—to the technical department for reference.
These are all currently being produced by the factory, and sales are very poor.
"Comrade Shen!" The dormitory door was suddenly pushed open.
Shen Mingzhi looked towards the doorway.
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