Wu Zhigang performed well in the army, and his demobilization procedures went smoothly, officially making him the deputy director of the Donghe County Public Security Bureau. The government allocated him a family apartment in the compound, a two-bedroom, one-living-room brick house with a small backyard where he could farm or raise a couple of chickens. Although the house was much smaller than the Wu family's original compound, the Wu family's house was made of adobe, which was far inferior to this, not to mention Su Qing's dilapidated house.
Aunt Wu was overjoyed. As soon as she got the keys, she busied herself with tidying up. Since Wu Xiaomei was already married and had her own place, Aunt Wu naturally decided to live with Wu Zhigang. At her age, being able to move into a brick house and live in the same compound as government officials made her incredibly happy. She wore a smile every day and told everyone she met that her son had finally returned!
By the time Su Qing calmed down, Aunt Wu had already finished tidying up the new house, and all that was left was to choose a date to move in. Su Qing's first reaction was to say she didn't want to live with her mother-in-law. In her previous life, when she and Xu Zifan returned to Beijing, they had no house and could only live with Xu's parents. Xu's father had a terrible temper and was very chauvinistic, not allowing anyone to contradict him. Xu's mother favored her younger son and found fault with everything they did, constantly ordering her around to do chores.
She'd had enough of her mother-in-law's mistreatment; Aunt Wu disliked her so much, she didn't want to live with her. For the first time ever, she cooked four dishes and a soup, and when Wu Zhigang came home that evening, she subtly brought it up with him. Wu Zhigang thought she'd figured it out, but it turned out she wanted him to stop supporting his elderly mother. He slammed down his chopsticks and said in a deep voice, "If you're used to being alone, then you can continue living here by yourself. My mother suffered so much raising me; now that I'm finally back, I must take good care of her."
Su Qing quickly said, "Zhigang, it's not that I'm being unfilial to Mom, it's just that I feel our house is a bit small, with only two bedrooms. Think about where our children will live in the future?"
Wu Zhigang looked at her coldly. "There are plenty of families that are not as good as ours. If they can live here, so can we. Even if they can't, there's no reason for Grandma to give up her place for her grandson. Besides, you've been visiting the military base a lot these past few years, but you still don't have a child. It's not too late to think about this after you have a child. I think the most important thing to do now is to go to the hospital for a checkup. Mom is getting old and is still waiting to hold her grandson."
Su Qing wanted to continue persuading him, but when he mentioned children, her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She had no children in her past life, and in recent years she had often gone to see Wu Zhigang to please him, staying for a month each time. Moreover, her life in this life was much better, and she had taken plenty of nutritional supplements. Could there be something wrong with her health?
Su Qing felt uneasy and didn't dare mention the house. She picked up her chopsticks to serve Wu Zhigang some food, secretly thinking that she needed to find an opportunity to investigate. She hadn't investigated in her previous life because she was already fed up with Xu Zifan and was at odds with Xu's mother, so she hadn't been in a hurry about having a child. This time, she had to take it seriously, otherwise she might not even be able to remain the wife of the deputy bureau chief.
Su Qing's clothing store needed to source raw materials for processing in the provincial capital, so she used this as an excuse to go to the provincial hospital for a checkup. Remembering her stomach cancer from her previous life, she even underwent a full-body examination. Unexpectedly, while all other indicators were healthy, her fertility was deemed hopeless. Her ovaries and uterus were congenitally abnormal; she might experience some menstrual cramps, but having children was impossible, even with in-vitro fertilization.
Su Qing was struck dumb. She immediately tore up the medical report and ran out of the hospital. Then, she calmed down. She knew her infertility would be discovered sooner or later, and Wu Zhigang, who always wanted a son, would definitely not accept it. She needed to make arrangements and find a way out.
With this matter settled, the question of where they lived in the house naturally became irrelevant. Aunt Wu had someone calculate an auspicious date, and the three of them moved into the new home. On the surface, they got along very well, as if they were all planning to live a good life together.
Wu Zhigang grew up in this area and quickly became familiar with everyone after adapting to his work. Aunt Wu chatted with other elderly people of similar age in the courtyard every day. She was a distant relative of Feng Yuying, and would occasionally chat with her, hoping to make a good impression on the county magistrate for her son. Su Qing, however, was very upset because she saw Xu Zifan and Yang Wanyun almost every day when she went to work.
Xu Zifan bought a motorcycle and drove Yang Wanyun to school every day before going to the factory to work. He would pick her up after get off work. Even though it wasn't far, he did this every day, rain or shine. They didn't appear particularly affectionate to outsiders, but they seemed like a perfect couple, as if they were one person.
One day, Su Qing asked Wu Zhigang to take her to the store, but Wu Zhigang refused without even looking up, offering no reason. Like most men of this era, he had little interest in romance; as long as the man was the breadwinner, the woman stayed home, and they had a son, he considered it a perfect family. But these were precisely the things Su Qing found uninteresting.
Without comparison, there is no harm. Now that she is closer to Xu Zifan, she can see more clearly how much her husband from her previous life dotes on his wife in this life. Their marriage was the result of her careful scheming. She abandoned Xu Zifan, risked her reputation, and shamelessly married Wu Zhigang. In the end, she not only lost love, but also couldn't compare with Xu Zifan in terms of material wealth.
Every time she saw Yang Wanyun wearing a coat and leather shoes that cost only a few hundred yuan, her heart burned with rage. Even though she was the one who had been reborn, why couldn't she compare to Yang Wanyun?!
A few days later, she ran into Xu Xiaofen again. Xu Xiaofen had brought her boyfriend to Xu Zifan's house for dinner. Xu Xiaofen was 26 this year, and in everyone's eyes, she was already an old maid. But no matter how many men Xu's mother introduced to her, she wouldn't agree. They lived so far away, and Xu's mother couldn't control her.
Until she set her sights on someone—the 27-year-old, tall and handsome deputy general manager of Xu Zifan's real estate company. He had no family, had trained a lot under Xu Zifan's tutelage over the past few years, and was sure to have a bright future. Xu Xiaofen herself was also quite capable, managing food for Xu Zifan.
The factory owner has secured several large orders, displaying the demeanor of a powerful businesswoman. With this husband-and-wife team working together, one can only imagine how wealthy their future will be.
Looking at Xu Xiaofen's confident and happy face, Su Qing found it even more unbearable. Yang Wanyun had a good life in her past life, and this life was alright too, not much different. But Xu Xiaofen was clearly married off to a 40-year-old widower in her past life, becoming a stepmother to two children, and then quickly losing her job to stay home taking care of the children and doing housework. As a result, that man was prone to violence when drunk, beating Xu Xiaofen until she was bruised and swollen. The few times she saw him, he always looked extremely haggard, and he died two years before she fell ill.
And now? Xu Xiaofen manages such a large food factory and has found a vice president position at a real estate company; she's become unrecognizable! Even though she was reborn, how come even Xu Xiaofen is living a better life than her? What she resents most is that Xu Zifan didn't work hard enough in her previous life to give her a happy life!
What Xu Zifan said to her that time took deep root in her heart. Why was she inferior to Yang Wanyun? Why did everyone who was with Yang Wanyun have to treat her well? How come Yang Wanyun was so lucky?
The only thing that comforted Su Qing was that Yang Wanyun didn't have children either. So what if she was lucky? She was still unable to have children, just like her. Now that Xu Zifan had such a large family business, Xu's mother would definitely come over to help her youngest son. She wanted to see what benefits Yang Wanyun could get from Xu's mother!
Xu's parents arrived shortly afterward because Xu Xiaofen was in the newspaper. This was unacceptable! Xu Zifan and Xu Xiaofen had become prominent figures in Donghe County, while their parents remained unknown and lived a life of poverty. Xu's father quit his job, and the whole family, carrying large bags, rushed to Donghe County, heading straight to the county government to meet Yang Yongqing, their in-law.
Yang Yongqing has changed a lot over the years, now exuding an air of authority. He remains kind-hearted, but he is no longer the honest and simple man he once was; no one would guess that he was once a farmer toiling in the fields. He also learned to read and write under Yang Wanyun's guidance, read many books, and his speech has become more sophisticated. Of course, the hard work and sweat he put in behind the scenes have been far greater than that of others.
Therefore, when Xu's parents came to meet their rustic in-laws with a sense of disdain, they were surprised to find that Yang Yongqing was indeed an "official"! Their interactions with him even made them somewhat nervous!
Yang Yongqing had heard Xu Zifan mention countless times that he ignored his family, and was very familiar with their situation. When they met, he didn't bring him home, only taking him to a restaurant for a meal, and then calling Xu Zifan over. As soon as Xu's father saw him, he started cursing, and Xu's mother chimed in, as if he were some heinous, unfilial son. Xu Zifan immediately ordered several men to take them to the Yang family's old house and keep them under guard; Donghe County was his territory.
At first, Xu's parents didn't take it seriously and kept scolding Xu Zifan. But after a few days, they still couldn't leave the house and were stuck there like prisoners. They started to get scared. Then Xu Xiaofen came to visit them. The two immediately criticized Xu Zifan's bad behavior, but Xu Xiaofen said, "If you keep causing trouble, will you be begging for food in your old age?"
Mr. Xu angrily retorted, "What do you mean by that? Are you two not going to support your parents in their old age?"
Xu Xiaofen shrugged indifferently. "We'll provide for you according to the national laws. Whether it's 10 yuan or 20 yuan a month, it's fine. Who told you to be so unreasonable? As for your younger brother, the law doesn't stipulate that older siblings have an obligation to support their younger brothers. Of course, if you want to live a peaceful life, Zifan and I will definitely give you a comfortable house and a good life so you can live out your days in happiness. What kind of life you want is up to you."
"You unfilial daughter! Don't you have any family affection at all? Your father and I raised you with great difficulty, and this is how you repay us?!" Xu's mother was so angry that she raised her hand to hit her.
Xu Xiaofen stepped back slightly, and the four bodyguards she brought immediately blocked her mother's path. Xu Xiaofen said calmly, "Trying to talk about family ties with parents who always want to sell me off? I'd be a fool. Ever since Zifan went to the countryside, you haven't cared about him at all, as if he were an adopted child. No one cares about that kind of family affection." Her gaze shifted to the defiant Xu Zilong, and she smiled, "Go ahead and make a scene if you want. This little thing won't affect our reputation. Besides, history is written by the victors. Whether we submit or you are ruined, you can try."