Chapter 21: Record of Moving to the City in the 90s 21

Su Huandan wanted to say, You’re all absolutely right. As long as my Su family doesn’t marry into your families, then none of our in-laws could possibly come from a decent household, huh?

What kind of people are you?

All of you, that’s what.

After Second Sister got married, it was also time for Su Huandan to go back to school.

Only then did Jiang Chunhua remember that she still hadn’t told the family about Third Daughter dating someone.

Damn it, school was about to start, so what were they supposed to do now?

What if they kept seeing each other a while longer and she ended up like the second one, insisting on getting married no matter what?

To this day, Jiang Chunhua still hadn’t truly accepted her second son-in-law. If a man couldn’t get a woman pregnant, what kind of man was that?

But her daughter liked him, and her husband thought the match was acceptable, so her objections meant nothing.

Now she had no choice but to force herself to stay cheerful every day and greet her second son-in-law with a smile. Heaven knew how anxious and on edge she felt living like this day after day.

If a woman didn’t give birth to a son, life never felt truly smooth. And now they were talking about having no children at all. Was there any hope for the future like that?

Yes, that was just how Jiang Chunhua thought. It wasn’t something anyone could change with a few words. Only time could do that, only seeing her second daughter truly live a good life and prove it with reality could comfort her as a mother.

At the very least, it would take five or six years.

At this point, Jiang Chunhua had no energy left to dwell on her second daughter. She hurriedly told her husband about Third Daughter dating someone.

The moment Su Dakui heard it was about Third Daughter, he was completely at ease. In his eyes, Third Daughter was different. The girl looked lazy, like the sort who only moved when pushed, but she was steady, truly calm by nature, so no matter what kind of situation she ran into, there was no need to worry about her.

“I know. Stop nagging the girl all the time. Third Daughter is a college student. We’ve never experienced an environment like her school, so we don’t really understand it, which means we can’t say much about what she’s thinking. Besides, after she graduates from college, if you try to find her someone like the eldest son-in-law or second son-in-law to marry, do you think she’d agree? Don’t you think she might want to climb a little higher and find someone from a better family? What we can do is protect the family assets we’ve got for her. As long as the rental building at home is always there as her fallback, then no matter how she wants to make her way outside, we don’t need to fret along with her. That’s Third Daughter’s business. Don’t you agree?” Su Dakui patiently broke it all down for his wife.

Jiang Chunhua actually took it in.

She didn’t fully understand all of it, but she remembered one thing: the man Third Daughter chose had to be far better than the eldest son-in-law and second son-in-law. That was what Third Daughter wanted, and as her parents, all they had to do was support her.

On the day Su Huandan went back to school, Su Dakui had originally wanted to go with her, but in the end he only saw her off at the bus station and didn’t go along to Beijing.

That morning, when they were heading out, he heard Third Daughter talking on the phone with some boy about what time she’d get to Beijing. And what had that boy said?

“I’m heading to the bus station to wait for you right now. I’m not staying on campus this semester. I got my driver’s license too, and I’ve got a car. I can pick you up. From now on, wherever you need to go, we’ll have our own car. It’ll be convenient. We won’t have to deal with those damn buses anymore.”

Just from hearing that, Su Dakui understood that the family of the man Third Daughter had found really did have means and ability.

As for whether the young man himself had a good head on his shoulders, that was still hard to say for now. But his concern for Su Dakui’s daughter was obvious enough, and that alone was good enough.

If the young man himself also turned out suitable, then he would definitely become his third son-in-law. But if the young man lacked ambition, then marrying his Third Daughter would probably be a long shot.

What kind of person was Third Daughter?

Someone proud and ambitious.

She hadn’t been like that when she was little. Back then, there had only been a stubborn streak deep in her bones.

Ever since she got into high school, though, her whole spirit had risen sharply.

That was a good thing. If your sights were set high, then you’d fight for what you wanted.

If you didn’t strive, then before long you’d disappear into the crowd, and by then you’d be so stifled you could barely stand yourself.

That was why Su Dakui always said that of his three children, the one he worried least about was Third Daughter. The one he worried most about wasn’t the hot-tempered second daughter either, but the eldest.

His eldest daughter was rather shy by nature. Whether her husband could protect her for a lifetime was still something that remained to be seen.

When the bus arrived, Su Huandan saw Yu Zexiu right away.

They hadn’t seen each other all summer, and he had slimmed down quite a bit again. It didn’t look like the kind of weight loss that came from deliberately dieting. His skin was still fair with a healthy flush, rosy and full of life.

But the fat on him looked much firmer now, transformed into muscle lines. He had definitely been working out.

The moment Yu Zexiu saw Su Huandan, he broke into a wide grin.

And when he smiled, good lord, there was a metal brace wrapped around his teeth. He was getting them straightened?

“Does that hurt?” Su Huandan had never been through it herself, but she felt that forcing teeth back into place had to be painful.

“You get used to it after a while. That’s why I decided not to keep living on campus. I have to be more careful about what I eat. I can’t handle anything too hard anymore. Don’t worry about that. Honestly, I brought this on myself. I lived out in the countryside when I was little, and nobody bothered with it. By the time my teeth had grown in like this, my mom had already said I could get them fixed and told me to go. I couldn’t be bothered back then. But now I have to. I only have a few years of school left, and once I graduate, I’ll be stepping into society. If I don’t tidy up this mouth of mine, that won’t do. It’s part of my image.” Yu Zexiu would never admit that he was only getting them fixed because he was afraid Su Huandan might look down on him.

He had always believed that a man got by in the world through skill and ability, not his face.

His features weren’t bad. It was just that his teeth had problems. So what if he didn’t get them fixed?

A woman dressed herself up for the one who pleased her, and it was the same for men. It just depended on whether the woman in his eyes was worth the effort of changing for.

Yu Zexiu was driving a Santana¹, and it didn’t look brand new.

“This was my uncle’s car. He got a new one, so he gave me this one. I just got my license, so driving a used car like this means I don’t have to worry so much about scraping it.” As he spoke, he put Su Huandan’s luggage in the trunk, and the two of them set off.

Yu Zexiu drove very steadily. He said he’d been handling cars since middle school and had known how to drive for ages, but since he’d never had a car before, he hadn’t bothered getting a license.

When they got to school, he drove straight in and pulled up right below the dorm building.

Unfortunately, the dorm supervisor auntie wouldn’t let Yu Zexiu go upstairs, so Su Huandan had to carry her luggage up herself.

“Take this up first, then I’ll take you to get something to eat and drive you back,” Yu Zexiu said as he took the luggage out of the trunk.

One of the smaller woven sacks was stuffed back into the trunk by Su Huandan.

“My parents found out about us and told me to bring this for you. It’s cured pork and sausages, homemade. Take it home and give it a try.” With that, she smiled and carried the luggage upstairs.

Leaning against the car, Yu Zexiu looked at the sack and laughed so hard he practically honked like a goose.

So she’d already told her family about them?

That was proof enough that Su Huandan felt the same way he did, that she was thinking about marriage too.

When Su Huandan came back down, the two got into the car. Just as they were about to drive off, Liu Li suddenly rushed over. Yu Zexiu slammed on the brakes, and they almost got into an accident.

Liu Li was frightened too. Her face turned deathly pale, and she quickly shrank off to the side.

This time, Su Huandan was genuinely furious. What the hell was she trying to do?

Before Su Huandan could even get out of the car to question her, Yu Zexiu’s face darkened and he shouted first.

“What are you trying to do? If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you!”

Translator’s Notes