Chapter Eighteen: The Gift of Visiting

Originally, Chen Liang, who had just been struck by a large pot, was planning to huff coldly and leave in a dignified manner. But then he remembered how, ever since childhood, his elder brother had cared for him better than he cared for himself. He couldn’t bear it. “There are still two bars of fragrant soap. Wait for me to come home tonight, and I’ll give them to you!”

“Alright, that works!” His big brother gave a hearty, honest smile and pulled out another large banknote.

“Enough, keep the money for yourself, big brother. I’m not saying you should, but a man ought to squirrel away a bit of his own cash, you know…” Before Chen Liang could finish, he saw his sister-in-law standing in the doorway and quickly changed his tune: “How could you keep money from your wife? That’s not right at all!”

But his big brother, true to form, replied honestly, “How could I hide money? This was given to me by your sister-in-law!”

Damn it, if undercover work hadn’t made me a master of microexpression psychology, I’d almost believe this thick-faced, black-hearted brother of mine was a good guy! Ha… spit!

“Alright, just keep the money, I have other things to do, so I’ll be off!” Chen Liang was truly impressed—are married couples so competitive nowadays?

He wondered if his own Miss Yu was like that too. But with his intelligence, fooling that sweet and innocent girl—eight times in one night wouldn’t be hard, surely?

Riding his bicycle, Chen Liang glanced all around as he passed a narrow alley, confirming there was not a soul in sight. He quickly retrieved what he’d prepared the night before from the supermarket. This wasn’t like the first blind date; this time, he was taking the girl to register for marriage. Not bringing a gift would be unconscionable!

Besides, it was his first time visiting as a soon-to-be son-in-law; the importance of the occasion hinged entirely on what he brought as a present.

Last night, unable to sleep, Chen Liang had mulled this over. Too light a gift wouldn’t do, too heavy and people would talk. After much deliberation, he settled on doubling what his brother had brought years ago. It’d been five or six years since his brother’s wedding—surely doubling it wasn’t excessive!

A cut of pork, two fat chickens, four cans of preserves, two pounds of White Rabbit milk candies, a ten-pound bag of granulated sugar, five pounds of rock sugar, and finally, five big apples. Done!

He bundled everything into a net bag and hung it on his bicycle’s handlebars, riding off to his future mother-in-law’s home, rattling along the way.

He had no idea that, at that very moment, he had become the most dazzling figure on the entire street—impossibly eye-catching.

In these times, riding a bicycle was as stylish as driving a sports car in later years. The net bag on his handlebars, especially those big apples, made mouths water.

As the saying goes, a man’s five peaks are “Pan, donkey, Deng, Xiao, idle.” At that moment, Chen Liang was positively radiant!

Every young lady and married woman on the street wished they could knock out this handsome fellow and drag him home.

When Chen Liang reached the Zhao family’s gate, the youngest Zhao brother, who had been waiting there, saw him and ran inside shouting, “Mom, Dad, brother-in-law is here!”

Hearing that “brother-in-law,” Chen Liang grinned. Not bad, let me tell you, little brother, you’re paving your way for the future. If you ever need help, your brother-in-law’s got your back!

The Zhao family lived in a courtyard house, just like Chen Liang’s, except his was in the east of the city, and theirs in the north.

The shout from his future brother-in-law woke the whole courtyard, and everyone poked their heads out to see which brave soul was marrying the Zhao family’s eldest daughter!

Under the watchful eyes of these onlookers, Chen Liang remained unflinching, even smiling as he greeted them.

“Whose child is this? He’s so handsome!” “Indeed! How could such a good kid be marrying the Zhao family’s eldest daughter?”

An aunt who knew Chen Liang’s background piped up, “He’s the second son of the Chen family.”

“Which Chen family? There are plenty of Chens in the city!”

“Do you know Chen Dashan from the Red Star Steel Mill? It’s his family…”

“Wow! I remember Chen Dashan is one of the rare eighth-level workers in the whole city, right?”

“And not just that, Chen Dashan is an eighth-level worker, and his eldest son is the youngest fifth-level worker in the city! With their family’s status, what kind of girl couldn’t they find? Yet…”

Chen Liang let these words go in one ear and out the other, treating them as mere nonsense. Happiness is priceless, and he was pleased with this match.

When he reached the Zhao family gate, Chen Liang carried his net bag inside, and the crowd grew even more envious!

Previously, they’d only focused on the man himself, not what he brought. Now, seeing all the things Chen Liang had brought, everyone turned sour with jealousy.

Goodness! That huge slab of pork, all those candies—how much must that have cost? The Chen family really spared no expense for their second son’s wedding.

Such lavish gifts—could it be there’s something wrong with the Chen family’s second son? Otherwise, given the Zhao family’s eldest daughter’s situation, could she really be worth so much?

Chen Liang had miscalculated. He’d thought doubling his brother’s gifts would be just right, but instead it stirred up gossip and complications.

“Oh my, why did you buy so many things?” Mrs. Zhao, upon seeing Chen Liang for the first time, immediately found him likable. Now, with such generous gifts, she liked him even more!

They say a mother-in-law grows fonder of her son-in-law the more she sees him, and Mrs. Zhao truly began to treat Chen Liang as half a son.

“It’s my first visit, so I couldn’t let my reputation suffer! Auntie, where should I put these?”

“Leave them to me. Xiao Yu’s still shy in her room—go find her yourself!” Mrs. Zhao looked at the gifts and felt Chen Liang’s sincerity.

As Chen Liang entered the inner room, Mrs. Zhao cleared her throat, ready to put on a grand show.

She opened the door to find a crowd of old sisters gathered to watch the excitement. After inviting them in and seating them, Mrs. Zhao began sorting through the gifts.

Each item elicited a chorus of jealous exclamations, especially the slab of pork, which made them all crave.

In these times, fatty pork was the people’s favorite. Ordinary folks had to fight for even a small piece, often lining up early at the food store.

Even then, if the butcher was kicked out of bed by his wife, buying fatty meat might require a fight just to get a piece.

Inside, Miss Yu had tidied herself up completely, wearing a deep blue cotton jacket with floral print, snow cream applied to her cheeks, and even her hair washed with soap.

At that moment, silent and standing there, Miss Yu was like a proud, cold, ascetic flower.

Unfortunately, she had a mouth. As soon as she saw Chen Liang enter, she pursed her lips and smiled, completely giving away her sweet and innocent nature.