Shen Bo saw Shen Niannian's terrified expression and burst into laughter, satisfying his vanity of bullying the weak.
Shen Ying originally wanted to go up and scold the children, but considering his identity as a soldier, he was worried that it would tarnish the reputation of this profession if word got out, so he let it go.
"Shen Suisui, I heard you're going back to school after the New Year? I'll teach you a lesson then."
Shen Bo is a vindictive person, and with his mother Zhang Xinhua constantly badmouthing Jiang Yu at home, he has a great prejudice against the siblings Shen Suisui and Shen Niannian.
Jiang Yu and Shen Ying exchanged a glance, looking at each other blankly, having no idea where this rascal had heard the news from.
Even more confused than them was Shen Suisui. Go to school? She could go to school too? But her parents hadn't said anything about it, or was he just trying to bluff her?
While they weren't looking, Shen Niannian took out a whole box of firecrackers from her house. She had bought them at the market before the New Year when she was buying couplets. At the time, Jiang Yu had asked them if they dared to play with them, but she hadn't said anything.
He struck a match, lit a firecracker, and threw it towards Chen Bo. It wasn't far enough to hit anyone, but it was enough to give them a fright.
Shen Bo felt he had lost face in front of his friends and muttered curses:
"You little hussy, just wait until I run into you on your own one of these days, and I'll teach you a lesson."
His words to Jiang Yu were extremely forceful, but he was also afraid that the woman would beat him up, so he ran faster than a rabbit.
Shen Niannian was still young, and he was terrified after hearing Shen Bo's threatening words. Jiang Yu squatted down to comfort him:
"Son, don't be afraid. After the New Year, I'll take you to Chenbo's house to find his parents and let his dad beat him up, okay?"
Jiang Yu was definitely not joking. Although Zhang Xinhua hasn't been causing trouble lately, her child is still a potential problem. If what he said is true, and the child gets bullied on the street, it will be too late to regret it then.
"I don't need to wait until after the New Year or after this round of firecrackers. I'll go and ask Shen Daqiang how he usually educates his children. If he doesn't give me an explanation, this matter will never be over."
Shen Ying's gaze was cold, his face dark. He never imagined that while he was working hard outside, his wife and children would be bullied like this at home.
With his parents' protection, Shen Niannian gradually grew stronger. He nodded happily, holding the firecrackers in his hand, and called out to his brother Dongdong and sister to play together.
When Jiang Yu went inside to cook dumplings, the man had already returned from Zhang Xinhua's house. He said he had told Shen Daqiang what had happened; Shen Bo had been beaten so badly his buttocks were practically bleeding, and Li Xiuying's attempts to intervene were futile. He believed that it wouldn't be long before he brought the children to apologize, and then Jiang Yu could vent her anger however she wanted.
Jiang Yu nodded, scooping up the steaming dumplings from the pot, her expression enigmatic. She wasn't exactly a person of the 1980s, and faced with this kind of situation where the villagers thought a beating would suffice to save face, she was determined to defy the grain. And she wanted to show this family exactly how to discipline a brat.
Jiang Yu called the children back to dinner and told them at the table about her plan to send Shen Suisui back to school after the New Year. The news was so sudden that Shen Suisui couldn't hide her surprise and delight. Her mind was filled with the thought that after the New Year, she could go to school wearing a red scarf, just like her brother Dongdong.
"Mommy, I want to go every year."
While happy for his sister, Shen Niannian also felt a little lost. If his sister went to school, he would be all alone at home. It would be so boring to be home alone then.
"Okay, when you're old enough, we'll send you to school."
......
The two children made a lot of noise while setting off firecrackers, but fell asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed) after only a short while. Shen Ying was dragged off to play cards by his childhood friend, while Jiang Yu began to organize some items she would need for opening her shop after the New Year.
Besides tools and fabric, she also needed to buy a sewing machine. She took out the box where she kept her money and counted it carefully, but it still wasn't enough. She thought she'd go find Lu Yi in a couple of days and ask him to pay her back some money. After spending so much of the original owner's money, it was impossible that she hadn't saved a single penny, right?
Since his release from the police station, Lu Yi had lost his former arrogant attitude. In the former educated youth compound, no one was willing to talk to him. Desperate, he took his elderly mother's letter pleading for money. When all other avenues were closed, he gritted his teeth and sold his old bicycle.
Bai Na was even more of a case in point; her family had arranged a way for her, and no matter how much she misbehaved, she still managed to return to the city.
After Jiang Yu had finished organizing the things needed to open the shop, she stretched and prepared to wipe herself down with the hot water in the pot.
The fire in the outer room was warm, and since she didn't know when her husband would be back, she felt no worries and took a basin to add water.
Once the temperature was about right, she took off her clothes. Just as she put the towel in the basin to wet it, a gust of cool wind blew over, startling Jiang Yu.
Fortunately, the lights were not on, and the candlelight was dim, so it didn't illuminate the room clearly.
After the man entered the house, worried about disturbing them, he tiptoed and closed the door. Jiang Yu blushed deeply and used her clothes to cover herself.
"Uh, sorry."
He thought Jiang Yu was preparing dinner for tomorrow and was about to turn on the light for her when he was shocked to see the woman's graceful figure. He quickly turned around and went into the inner room.
Although they had been married for seven years, they had almost never lived together except when they were trying to conceive. Even when they were together, they acted like strangers, never crossing any boundaries. Of course, that incident happened after he was drunk, and the next day his mind was completely foggy, so he had no recollection of it.
Jiang Yu was even more embarrassed. The child was born to the original owner of the body. She had never even been in a relationship in her previous life. Now that a man had seen her like this, she felt like dying.
I should have known better than to be careless and closed the door from the inside.
After Jiang Yu forced herself to finish wiping herself, she hesitated about how to approach entering the inner room. Should she pretend nothing had happened? But recalling the scene from just moments ago, she couldn't convince herself otherwise.
It's alright, it's alright. As long as she's not embarrassed, it's others who will be. She took the candle into the room, lay down in bed, closed her eyes, and thought that tomorrow she should find a curtain to hang in the middle of the bed to divide it in two, to avoid trouble later.
In the darkness, the man's mind was filled with the scene from just moments ago, which wouldn't leave him. As a man, even if he hadn't intentionally offended her, he felt a pang of guilt. Unlike Jiang Yu, he planned to borrow some money to build a new house.
This is the old house where my parents lived when they were alive. It only has two rooms, an inner room and an outer room. The only furniture and the kang (a heated brick bed) in the house were built when the two of them got married, which is more than seven years ago. As the children grow up, he will eventually have to make room for them.
Before dawn the next day, firecrackers went off everywhere outside. Jiang Yu took out the new clothes she had bought for the children and placed them on the bedside table, preparing to wake them up. Just then, she met the man's eyes, and the scene from last night flooded back into her mind.
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