Others play the role of a lovestruck fool, only to end up with nothing. But at least Xie Jianzhong got the girl in the end.
Su Qing remarked, "That kind shouldn’t be called a lovestruck fool. It’s true love."
Hearing this, Wang Cuifen couldn’t help but scoff. "Love? What love? Even if it’s love, after marriage, they’ll just bicker and fight, turning their lives into a never-ending drama."
"Really? I don’t think so." Su Qing wasn’t convinced. In her memories, Xie Jianzhong and his wife seemed to live quite harmoniously, with little to no conflict.
"What do you mean ‘don’t think so’? If Zhang Dahong truly liked Jianzhong for who he is, then fine. But she doesn’t. How can she not nitpick in their daily life? And my eldest son’s personality—he’s petty, bottling up every little grievance. No matter how much he likes someone, he won’t last more than three years after marriage."
Wang Cuifen held up three fingers for emphasis, looking utterly certain. "Three years, tops. After that, Jianzhong will start making a fuss."
"Mom, I think you’re right. You’re better at reading people than I am," Su Qing praised. Her own memories didn’t span as far back as Wang Cuifen’s, so the older woman’s words carried more weight.
Xie Jianzhong really wasn’t ideal marriage material. He gave off a gloomy vibe, his insecurities glaringly obvious. Due to his frail health and short stature, he’d been the butt of jokes among his peers since childhood. Simply getting married wouldn’t magically fix his issues.
"Mom, if that’s the case, would you help Jianhua if he had a chance to marry Zhang Dahong?" Su Qing asked curiously.
In the future, Xie Jianzhong’s marriage, much like Xie Jianhua’s, cost a dowry of 500 yuan. The Xie family paid the most, which was why the Zhang family agreed to marry their daughter off to them.
For ordinary families, the dowry was usually around 100 or 200 yuan. Wang Cuifen spent 500 for each of her sons’ weddings—a lavish sum by any measure.
To afford such expenses, parents not only had to dote on their children but also have deep pockets.
But even if she got a second chance, Wang Cuifen wouldn’t be willing to shell out another 500 for her eldest son’s wedding.
She said, "If Jianhua insists on marrying her, throwing a tantrum, I’ll give 200 at most. I won’t indulge him just because he wants to compete with Jianzhong. Sure, both of them handed over their salaries to the family, but Jianhua’s job cost us money and favors. I covered his food, clothes, even bought him a watch a couple of years ago. Jianzhong, on the other hand, gets his meals and uniforms in the army, plus bonuses for missions. They’re not the same."
With multiple children, fairness was impossible.
When she still doted on her eldest son, 500 yuan didn’t seem like much. Now that she’d grown indifferent, his budget was slashed by more than half.
"200? That’s still generous. You’re so open-handed, Mom." Su Qing had half-expected Wang Cuifen, after being reborn, to become completely detached and let her sons fend for themselves.
Wang Cuifen sighed. "They’re still my flesh and blood. And since we’ve never split the family assets, Jianhua’s salary has always been under my control. I can’t just take his money and contribute nothing when he gets married—that wouldn’t be right."
The thorn in her heart would never be pulled out in this lifetime.
But life had to go on. While she couldn’t bring herself to pour her heart and soul into her children anymore, she saw it as her duty to raise her youngest son and daughter and help all her kids settle down.
Along the way, if she could teach them a thing or two and turn those ungrateful brats around, great. If not, well, Wang Cuifen didn’t care—she had Su Qing now.
Su Qing was good from the start, kind-hearted without needing any guidance.
Not wanting Su Qing to worry about their finances, Wang Cuifen reassured her, "Weddings don’t actually cost that much. I’ve got plenty of savings stashed away. My parents and mother-in-law left their money to me. This is just between us, okay? Even your father-in-law doesn’t know."
"You really have secret savings?" Su Qing’s eyes sparkled with admiration. "Mom, you’re amazing."
"It’s nothing special." Wang Cuifen covered her mouth, giggling. "Before liberation, my family ran a rice shop, and the Xies had a liquor store. We had some savings, but when times got turbulent, we sold our shops in the city and hid in the countryside..."
With Cripple Xie, the man of the house, gone, they didn’t dare flaunt their wealth by buying land in the village. When he finally returned, it was right after liberation, and the political climate felt off. So Wang Cuifen had been spending her money cautiously over the years.
She didn’t just have her in-laws’ savings—her own parents’ money was in her hands too. Wang Cuifen used to have a younger brother, but he smoked himself to death with opium. Left with only one daughter, her parents brought their retirement funds and moved in with her.
Without money, Wang Cuifen wouldn’t have been so generous.
While she had no problem supporting her parents and inheriting their assets, she had plenty of grievances against her mother-in-law.
Wang Cuifen grumbled, "That old woman was awful. She hoarded gold bars and silver dollars, watching me struggle—scrimping on food for the kids, going hungry myself, even when I fell sick. She wouldn’t lift a finger. When she got sick, she still refused to spend a cent on medicine. Only on her deathbed did she finally tell me where she’d hidden the money..."
Su Qing’s expression turned awkward.
On her very first day of marriage, she was listening to her mother-in-law rant about her mother-in-law.
Complaining about one’s in-laws wasn’t something you could do with just anyone. Finally having an outlet, Wang Cuifen vented freely.
"Cripple Xie was conscripted and gone for years without a word. My mother-in-law was terrified I’d remarry and take the kids with me. The child I lost earlier—she kept him away from me, never letting us bond. She clung to her money instead of using it to nourish the child. Weak health leads to early deaths, doesn’t it? Even now, thinking about it makes my blood boil..."
"How could she be so horrible?" Su Qing chimed in indignantly.
"Exactly! She was rotten to the core."
Having learned from her mother-in-law’s mistakes, Wang Cuifen spent lavishly on her own kids, terrified they’d fall ill and die young. But she overcompensated, spoiling them into ungrateful brats.
"It’s the Xie family’s rotten roots, their ancestors buried in the wrong spot. That damned Cripple Xie—I suffered so much while he was gone. If not for inheriting my mother-in-law’s money and my parents moving in, I’d never have stayed with him. If I’d known how rotten the Xies were, I’d have pocketed that old woman’s money without a second thought and left him."
Even with a second chance, Wang Cuifen felt no remorse. All the blame lay with Cripple Xie—his bloodline was tainted.
After cursing her mother-in-law and husband, finally venting her bitterness, Wang Cuifen realized what she’d said.
She quickly backpedaled, patting Su Qing’s hand. "But you’re different, Qingqing. My mother-in-law was evil. Yours is good."
"Right. She was bad. You’re good."
