Sweet Wife in My Arms

A million was enough for Liu Hao to buy a house. Although it was small and old, at least he had a place of his own to call home. If in any case where he wanted to leave Sea City, he could always take this money, return to the small county town and build a well-rounded eatery there to support his family.

He could even return to his village, use the money to build a big house, get a wife and retire happily ever after.

The decisions and outcomes would be all up to him.

Lu Yi turned and left, leaving Liu Hao with his head low and staring at the card in his hand. He was still dazed at what had just happened.

Have you ever been hit on the head by the treat that fell from the sky?

He, on the other hand, was struck hard.

By the time he returned, the manager informed him that he had been promoted to the head chef and his salary would also be doubled. Liu Hao swallowed his saliva while nearly choking himself.

He had been waiting to be head chef for so long, finally, it was his.

Was the deputy manager’s nephew not the one who got the offer? With such good connections, this position of the head chef was far from his grasp in the first place. It was fine however, he could just put in a few more years of hard work and maybe one day, he would finally have his chance.

Today, not only had he hit the jackpot, the position of head chef that he had been dreaming of for so long was finally his too.

Most importantly, the manager had also given him half a month off to compensate for his hard work. Besides, he was free to go home whenever he wished.

Now Liu Hao really needed a trip back home. He had that bank card in his pocket, his younger sister’s identification card and a note with a phone number on it. He had already dialed the number.

No matter what he asked, the person on the other end only said one thing, telling him to return home for the answers.

Sometimes Liu Hao would wonder, was the opportunity for him to return home, be that man’s doing too?

He took a long train journey back to his hometown. It might take him two days and two nights to reach though as compared to before, he was a lot more eager to return back home this time. He put his hands into his pocket and held the bank card tightly in his hands. It was also his first time being scared and nervous to return home.

Chengjia Village was still the same old Chengjia Village. Not much had changed, but then again there were still some changes from before, for example, Changsheng’s house. Ever since Changsheng left, Changsheng’s mother and Jin Gen’s mother got along with each other. The two of them were always together and nobody knew what they had been talking about all day.

Even so, Jin Gen did return a little while before to build his own place, it was a double story building, the place was built to be grand. Even the amenities in the bathroom were brought in from outside. That flush toilet was something that outsiders would have in their homes, but that was not the case in this village. This was the very first one in this village, with a tug at the handle, everything would be clean and no smell would linger.

Whenever Jin Gen’s mother was free, she would brag about it to everyone, how her sitting toilet was so good and superior, even the waste in it would smell pleasant.

However, the inside of Changsheng’s house did not change much, perhaps the only change was the layer of dust thickening. Changsheng’s mother did not want to clean, so the house became even messier and dirtier by the day. She had also used up a good portion of her savings. According to Jin Gen back then, Changsheng was doing well, but he was an outsider and lacked contacts. Jin Gen was different. He knew some people, but favors often came with a price. Changsheng’s mother thought of the two large houses that belonged to Jin Gen’s family, daydreaming of the day her Changsheng would come back and build her a house as nice as that. At least this way, the money would not have been for nothing.

Jin Gen’s mother chimed in at every chance she could, telling how at the beginning Jin Gen would give them so much money to start up, and that was how he managed so well. Changsheng’s mother bought the whole story as she thought that she had had such a long friendship with Jin Gen’s mother and that they were from the same village, so she would never have cheated her for the money. Furthermore, Jin Gen was earning loads of money, his mother would never pay any mind to such a small amount.

Therefore, she took the money that Yan Huan got her and gave them all to Jin Gen’s mother, not a penny more or less. Jin Gen’s mother asked for a whole 500. If it was anything more than that, Changsheng’s mother would not even have anymore to give.

The money had not even been in her hands for long and it was already given to someone else. Of course, Changsheng’s mother was not willing to part with her funds, but no matter how dear it was to her, she no longer felt sad watching the money go at the thought of a better future life.

“That Yan Huan is such an ungrateful wrench,” Jin Gen’s mother said while pursing her lips and criticized Yan Huan again. “If it wasn’t for you and your Changsheng, she would have died a long time ago. You’ve salvaged her life and look at her now. There’s no telling which man that woman has run off to this time.”

At the mention of this, Changsheng’s mother’s face darkened.

She had supported an ungrateful wrench, feeding her for all this time and yet she left just like that.

Among all that, they had almost forgotten whether she had left on her own accord that day or was chased out by Changsheng’s mother herself. When she left, she did not even take along that worn sweater that Changsheng’s mother made especially for her.

Now that she was no longer here, they were starting to talk smack behind her back again, not taking a moment to recall how they had treated her in the past.

Changsheng’s mother continued to talk bad about her to relieve her frustrations. By the time she was home, the kitchen continued to be empty, not even a hot meal waiting on her table. She would still need to bend her old back to extract her own water. Her land had been barren for some time now, the chickens had not been fed too. Perhaps her hens were too old, they had stopped laying eggs. If she wanted an egg for her meal, she would have to wait at the coops herself.

Another layer of dust had gathered in her home. She was neither bothered to sweep it off nor was she still capable of doing so. Her bones creaked with every movement, the more she moved the less motivated she was to continue.

It’s still better than when she was here.

Changsheng’s mother mumbled to herself, then walked into the kitchen to make her meal. She still needed to eat, otherwise she would die of starvation.

As soon as she opened the water container, she found it dry. She had no choice but to carry a pail to fetch some water upstream. She was like an old widow, without anyone to look after her. If anything were to happen to her, she would still need to brave it out herself. Who else would look out for her if not herself? None of the villagers were related to each other, plus they had their own matters to deal with, so how would they spare time and energy to care for someone else other than themselves?