Wang Xiangxiu remained unusually silent throughout the journey.
Her mind was filled with Shen Jiao’s flower-like beauty.
So that was why Brother Xinguo had chosen her, wasn’t it?
If Wang Xiangxiu were equally beautiful, would Brother Xinguo have married her instead?
Lost in her wandering thoughts, she could not concentrate on the road and nearly rode her bicycle straight into the ditch.
Gu Xinmin hurriedly warned her.
When she saw that Wang Xiangxiu was in no condition to continue riding, she had Shen Jiao exchange places with her. Shen Jiao rode Wang Xiangxiu’s bicycle while Gu Xinmin carried Wang Xiangxiu on the back of hers.
“What’s wrong with you, child? How can you let your mind wander while riding a bicycle? It’s fortunate there aren’t many people on the road right now. What would you have done if you’d hit someone?”
“Sister Xinmin…”
Hearing the tremor in Wang Xiangxiu’s voice, Gu Xinmin sighed and said nothing more.
She knew that Wang Xiangxiu had feelings for her younger brother, but she had never considered allowing Xinguo to marry her.
It was not because Wang Xiangxiu was unattractive or because there was anything particularly wrong with her character.
The problem was her family.
Most people wanted nothing to do with them, much less to become their in-laws.
Wang Xiangxiu’s family had five daughters and only one son.
Her parents were getting old and could no longer earn much money, while their youngest son was still a child. For their son’s sake, they had thrown away all sense of shame and begun shamelessly taking advantage of their married daughters’ families.
Every few days, one of their married daughters would quarrel with her husband and return to her maternal home in anger.
The daughter would only be allowed to return to her husband once his family had handed over money or goods.
At first, no one understood the family’s peculiar methods.
However, after they continued doing the same thing year after year, everyone within the surrounding villages learned that Wang Naozi’s family was no good.
They spent their days deliberately stirring up trouble between their daughters and sons-in-law, encouraging the daughters to return home before demanding compensation from the husbands’ families.
They were calculating about it too.
The money and goods they demanded always remained within the amount each son-in-law’s family could afford. That was why the families did not immediately realise what was happening.
By the time they finally understood, what could they do?
They could hardly divorce their wives and leave their children without their mothers.
Wang Xiangxiu was the youngest daughter.
Because her parents had completely ruined the family’s reputation, she was already eighteen and still had no marriage arranged.
Of course, this was partly because both the Wang family and Wang Xiangxiu had set their sights too high.
After all, Wang Xiangxiu had attended middle school and was considered educated.
After An Qing left, the Wang family focused their attention even more firmly on Gu Xinmin’s younger brother.
However, Gu Xinmin would never allow Xinguo to become entangled with such a family of in-laws.
No one spoke for the rest of the journey.
When they reached the county town, Gu Xinmin prepared to take Shen Jiao to the hospital.
Wang Xiangxiu wanted to follow them to visit Grandma, but Gu Xinmin refused outright.
She could not prevent Wang Xiangxiu from travelling on the same road, but now that they had arrived in town, she had no desire to continue accompanying her.
Wang Xiangxiu watched the two women leave with a bitter smile.
Then she rode away on her bicycle, looking utterly lost.
When they arrived at the hospital, Grandma was in the middle of being angry with Gu Xinguo.
Gu Xinguo stood helplessly with a bowl of porridge in his hands, staring at Grandma’s back.
She lay on the hospital bed with her back turned towards him, refusing to communicate.
“Grandma, what happened? No matter how angry you are, you can’t disregard your own health!”
Gu Xinmin walked around the bed and approached Grandma, intending to persuade her.
The old woman was still ill. How could she refuse to eat?
Meanwhile, Shen Jiao grabbed Gu Xinguo by the sleeve and tried to pull him outside to talk.
Perhaps Grandma would be more willing to eat if she did not have to look at him.
“Brother Gu, Grandma was perfectly fine yesterday. Why is she suddenly angry today?”
Gu Xinguo sighed.
“The doctor came to make his rounds this morning. Grandma asked about her condition, and when she heard that they still hadn’t found an effective treatment, she couldn’t remain calm.”
“She wants to leave the hospital and return home. She said that even if she has to die, she wants to die on the heated bed in her own home. She doesn’t want to become a lonely wandering ghost outside.”
“Of course I want her to remain in the hospital. If nothing else, there are doctors here, so it will be much easier to deal with any emergencies.”
“But no matter how much I tried to persuade her, Grandma refused to agree. She insists on being discharged and even became angry with me.”
Shen Jiao also preferred that Grandma remain in the hospital.
Just as Gu Xinguo had said, if anything unexpected happened, having doctors nearby would be far more convenient than being at home.
However, she also understood that a patient’s mood was extremely important.
“Brother Gu, what do you think about this? The hospital currently has no effective treatment for Grandma’s illness. If she’s unhappy staying here, it won’t benefit her condition either.”
“Why don’t we take her home and find a skilled traditional Chinese doctor to examine her?”
Gu Xinguo frowned and considered the suggestion carefully.
Eventually, he sighed and agreed.
Grandma was indeed unhappy in the hospital, and the doctor had also said that a poor mood would hinder her recovery.
After resolving that matter, Shen Jiao began interrogating Gu Xinguo.
Although she did not know Wang Xiangxiu well, it was better to remain cautious.
How had An Qing managed to trap Gu Xinguo back then?
Shen Jiao was afraid that Wang Xiangxiu might try the same trick.
She did not believe Gu Xinguo would stumble over the same stone twice, but what if he did?
“Brother Gu, we collected our marriage certificate yesterday, which means we are now legally recognised as husband and wife.”
“I have one particular trait—I can’t keep things bottled up inside. If I have a question, I ask it immediately.”
“So today, I would like to ask Brother Gu about his romantic history.”
The moment she said this, Gu Xinguo’s eyebrows twisted together like two earthworms.
What romantic history did he have?
Didn’t she already know everything?
He had been married once before.
If there had been other women, would he have registered his marriage with her?
“Brother Gu, I’m not making trouble for no reason.”
“On our way here today, we met a young woman named Wang Xiangxiu. It was the first time she and I had ever met.”
“I had never even visited Linqing County before, much less Shuanma Village, so there was no possible reason for me to have offended her.”
“Yet when she saw me today, she looked at me as though I were her mortal enemy.”
“I can only think of one explanation for her behaviour—she must like you.”
Shen Jiao gave him a meaningful look.
“I didn’t expect Brother Gu to be so popular with women.”
Gu Xinguo searched through his memories for a while before finally remembering who Wang Xiangxiu was.
He did not know whether to laugh or cry.
What kind of absurd situation was this?
Still, he was very satisfied that his wife had brought her concerns directly to him rather than hiding them in her heart and letting her imagination run wild.
Sometimes, an issue might originally be insignificant, but people could not stop themselves from imagining increasingly complicated possibilities.
If they also refused to communicate promptly, a minor matter would eventually become a major one, creating endless unnecessary problems between husband and wife.
Moreover, his wife’s jealousy pleased him immensely.
What did jealousy prove?
It proved that she cared about him.
Having a wife jealous over him was an entirely new experience for Gu Xinguo.
An Qing had never cared about him. She had probably wished that he would make some mistake so she could use it as an excuse to divorce him more easily.
“She was only a little girl. When she was young, she went to wash clothes by the river and accidentally fell into the water.”
“I happened to be passing by and pulled her out. In my eyes, she’s nothing more than a little girl.”
“Hmph. Comrade Gu Xinguo truly is a living Lei Feng. You’re always saving people from danger.”
“I wonder when you’ll next perform another heroic rescue of a beauty. Will I, your lawful wife, then be expected to obediently surrender my position?”
Listen to what she was saying!
Gu Xinguo was so exasperated that he nearly laughed.
Did she think he was such a casual and irresponsible man?
“Not just anyone can become my wife.”
“As for loyalty within our marriage, you can rest assured. That much, I can guarantee.”
“Really?”
Shen Jiao raised an eyebrow.
“Comrade Gu Xinguo, you have married twice, and both marriages were arranged extremely hastily. Naturally, I can’t help worrying about such things.”
Gu Xinguo genuinely laughed from anger this time.
Who had run up to him and proposed marriage in the first place?
Who had then been unable to wait before rushing to register their marriage?
Now she suddenly remembered that their marriage had been hurried?
It was too late!
“Comrade Shen Jiao, I must clarify something. Although I have been married twice and both marriages happened rather quickly, I am still loyal to my marriage.”
“What if a young woman falls into the water and you jump in to rescue her? Then you damage her reputation, and she insists that you must marry her?”
The falling-into-water scheme might be old-fashioned, but it was effective.
Shen Jiao wanted to warn Gu Xinguo in advance so that he would not stumble into the same trap again.
“How could people possibly be falling into the water every day?”
“What if it happens?”
Gu Xinguo abruptly began to feel irritated.
However, when he saw the seriousness and anxiety in Shen Jiao’s eyes, the irritation immediately vanished without a trace.
She must have felt terribly insecure.
“Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll be careful whenever I save someone. I absolutely won’t give anyone an opportunity to force me into marriage.”
Hearing this, Shen Jiao finally set half her worries aside.
The rest could only be proven through time.
Events that occurred later would make Gu Xinguo immensely grateful for Shen Jiao’s seemingly unreasonable behaviour that day.
“Xinguo, Jiaojiao, Grandma has finished eating. You don’t need to worry anymore.”
Gu Xinmin stepped outside.
“However, she still insists on returning home.”
As long as Grandma had eaten, that was good enough.
A sick person was already physically weak. If she stopped eating as well, how could her body retain any strength to resist the illness?
As for Grandma’s insistence on going home, Gu Xinguo and Shen Jiao exchanged a glance.
Gu Xinguo then explained what they had discussed.
After listening, Gu Xinmin agreed.
Grandma’s attitude was firm, and the hospital could do nothing about her illness.
Their only option was to take her home.
At the very least, they could allow her to spend her remaining time comfortably.
When Grandma learned that she could leave the hospital and return home, she was delighted.
The corners of her lips remained raised in a smile.
She urged Gu Xinguo to complete the discharge procedures and directed Gu Xinmin to pack their belongings.
She did not want to remain in the hospital for even another moment.
Shen Jiao originally intended to help Gu Xinmin pack, but Grandma took her hand and pulled her down to sit beside the bed.
“Your sister can handle the packing. The two of us should have a proper talk.”
“I’ve already looked at the auspicious dates your sister brought. Personally, I think the first date is better.”
“However, you and Xinguo are the ones getting married, so the final decision should be yours.”
“Jiaojiao, which date do you think is better?”
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