Widow Remarries in Sixties

Qian Yufeng bent down to help her pack up, and Jiang Mingchuan went downstairs again. Seeing this, Qian Yufeng couldn’t help but praise, “You’re really smart. You waited for your man to be at home to move. I’m impatient. I moved in with my mother-in-law, and that day really tired me out.”

That day, Jin Xiuzhu also took the two children with her. Unlike Jin Xiuzhu, who could throw away everything, Qian Yufeng wanted to take all the old stools from home.

The already small room was packed full. With a large family, Aunt Wu and Daya slept in one room, and Wu Xiaojun slept in the small room. Apart from a bed, Wu Xiaojun’s room was full of clutter, and Qian Yufeng didn’t know what those things were for.

“I don’t have much stuff at home.”

Qian Yufeng listened and instinctively turned her head to look. Clearly, the houses had the same layout, but Jin Xiuzhu’s house seemed much more spacious, and all the furniture was new, which looked comfortable.

She felt uncomfortable in her heart. Compared to Jin Xiuzhu’s family, hers really couldn’t compare. Buying all this would have cost quite a bit of money.

She looked down at her wrist again. Since she didn’t have to go back to her parents’ house to work on the farm today, she deliberately wore her watch.

After buying this watch and bringing it home, her mother-in-law criticized her a lot, telling her not to compare herself to Jin Xiuzhu. Jin Xiuzhu was a capable person who could earn money to support her family. She was different. The situations of the two families were also different. The money spent on this wasn’t worth it.

She couldn’t understand why. She had been married into the Wu family for so many years, gave birth to two children, took care of various matters at home, lived frugally, and buying just a watch was still unacceptable? Whereas Jin Xiuzhu and others could get these things without doing anything.

The problem wasn’t that the money spent wasn’t worth it; it was that it wasn’t worth it when spent on her.

So now whenever she went out, she had to wear this watch. But now she suddenly felt a little sad because she found that even after she had gone to great lengths to finally have something in common with Jin Xiuzhu, there were still many things she couldn’t compare with.

Obviously, when she first arrived, she wasn’t as good as herself, but now she was getting better and better, and the gap was getting wider and wider. She couldn’t figure out where the problem lay.

Jin Xiuzhu didn’t know what she was thinking. She got up and went to the kitchen to prepare hot water for tea.

In the building, they used a stove, just like in the cafeteria. Jin Xiuzhu skillfully picked up two pieces of honeycomb coal and lit them on the stove, then placed a pot of water on top.

When she returned to the living room, Jiang Mingchuan came back with a few children. Along with them were Daya and Wu Xiaojun. The two children helped carry things, and this was the last trip; all the things were moved.

He Yan happily took Wu Xiaojun to his room.

There was a desk and bookshelf in the room, the desk facing the window, with a bottle of plants on it. There were three certificates pasted on the wall at the end of the bed. The quilt was old, but it was washed clean and neatly folded.

Wu Xiaojun envied it at a glance, and immediately ran outside to find his mother, “Mom, come and see! I want a room like He Yan’s too! My room is too ugly.”

He didn’t like it at all.

Daya was helping to tidy up sensibly. When she heard this, she glanced up. The doors of several rooms were open. She not only saw He Yan’s room but also saw Yanyan’s, with a brand new desk and chair, floral bed sheets, and several small dolls hanging on the wall…

She only glanced at it and quickly lowered her head, afraid that her envy would be seen.

Wu Xiaojun kept making noise until he left.

Jin Xiuzhu offered to let them stay for dinner, but Qian Yufeng probably felt embarrassed. After spanking her son’s bottom a few times, she dragged him away, saying, “We won’t eat here. Let’s go home and eat. We’ll come over another day to play.”

Today, all the snacks were gone after moving, so they could only watch them leave.

The backs of the three disappeared into the corridor, and you could still hear Wu Xiaojun crying and Qian Yufeng scolding him.

After they went downstairs, Qian Yufeng’s face turned blue with anger. “If you don’t want to live here, give the room to your sister. You can live with your grandmother.”

Wu Xiaojun cried with tears and snot smeared together. “Why can you buy a watch, but you can’t turn my room into something like He Yan’s? Dad had to buy you such an expensive watch…”

Qian Yufeng stood still, opened her mouth, but couldn’t say a word.

Wu Xiaojun thought she was feeling guilty, “You’re just selfish. The watch is useless, yet it costs over a hundred yuan. You don’t even earn money and buy such expensive things. Why can’t I have it…”

Qian Yufeng felt cold all over when she heard this. It turned out that, in her son’s heart, she wasn’t worthy of wearing a watch either.

Daya noticed that her mother’s expression wasn’t right and quickly stopped her brother from speaking further, “Let’s go back. I’ll tidy up your room to make it look like He Yan’s.”

Wu Xiaojun became even more angry and exclaimed, “No, no! You don’t understand anything. He Yan’s room is all new. No matter how you tidy it up, it won’t be the same.”

Daya didn’t understand why he was so angry. They had already tried to give him the best. Although his room was messy, it was still his. Meanwhile, she had to sleep with her grandmother on a bed, and her grandmother snored at night. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.

After everyone left, He Yan stood in place, feeling a bit lost. He looked at his mother, then at his sister, and asked softly, “Did I do something wrong?”

Jin Xiuzhu patted his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re good friends with Wu Xiaojun. Sharing your new room with him was because you were happy and wanted him to feel your happiness. But Wu Xiaojun doesn’t have a room as nice as yours, so you need to understand his feelings.”

“In the future, let’s not show off good things to others outside. If they don’t have it, they’ll feel sad, or even jealous, and might do bad things to you.”

He Yan nodded vaguely, as if he understood.

Just like before, when he saw Wu Xiaojun being loved by his family, he felt envious.

This time, Fu Yanyan didn’t mock him as usual but reminded him, “Keep your wealth to yourself. It’s the same for everyone.”

Jiang Mingchuan also nodded. “Mom and sister are right. Let’s not do it like this next time.”

“Okay.”

At noon, Jin Xiuzhu steamed the waxed fish brought by Qian Yufeng and stir-fried a plate of beans and leeks.

After a busy morning, everyone was hungry and ate their meal cleanly.

Moving into the new house for the first time, everyone was a bit excited, and they even took a bath before napping.

Jin Xiuzhu prepared two more washbasins. Previously, Jiang Mingchuan and He Yan shared one, while she and her daughter shared another.

The washbasins were placed in the kitchen, filled with a mixture of hot and cold water. Clothes were placed on a nearby stool, and after washing, the water was poured into the sink, which served as the receptacle for tap water.

After bathing, they both felt refreshed. Jin Xiuzhu sat on the bed with a palm-leaf fan, fanning herself. Soon after, Jiang Mingchuan entered the room with a cup of water in his hand, asking if she wanted some.

Although Jin Xiuzhu wasn’t thirsty initially, his question made her feel a bit parched. She took the cup, had a sip, then handed it back to him.

Jiang Mingchuan placed the cup on the nearby table and then lay down beside the bed, his large hand naturally reaching out toward Jin Xiuzhu.

But just as his hand was about to touch her, Jin Xiuzhu used the fan to brush it away, saying, “It’s hot.”

Jiang Mingchuan replied earnestly, “A calm mind brings natural coolness.”

Undeterred, he continued to reach out to her.

Jin Xiuzhu rolled her eyes at him and said, “There’s sweat on your forehead, and you’re not feeling any cooler.”

She scooted toward the foot of the bed, distancing herself from him.

“Come here, and we’ll fan each other to cool off,” he suggested.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiuzhu gave him a light glare. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. It’s broad daylight, and all you think about are good things. Aren’t you afraid of being overheard?”

Jiang Mingchuan’s secret thoughts were exposed, making him feel embarrassed. He lowered his voice to save face and said, “Don’t you want a child?”

This touched a nerve with Jin Xiuzhu. She became angry and used her fan to tap his leg and said, “It’s been half a year and I still haven’t gotten pregnant. You have the nerve to say that?”

Jiang Mingchuan sighed. “These things can’t be rushed. Even some people take years to conceive. Let’s go with the flow.”

This remark seemed to hit a sore spot with Jin Xiuzhu, making her angry. She snorted and sarcastically retorted, “Yeah, you have no fate with me. You have it with someone else, right? The person upstairs must be regretting it to death.”

Jiang Mingchuan knew this day would come. Ever since he found out that Zhao Yun and her husband lived upstairs, he felt uneasy.

Seeing her pick a fight again, he knew he couldn’t coax her anymore, or it would never end. Pretending to yawn, he said, “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”

He turned over and closed his eyes directly.

Seeing him blatantly pretending to sleep, Jin Xiuzhu was so angry that she hit his leg with the fan. After hitting him a dozen times, she felt tired herself, but he didn’t move at all.

She bit her lip. “Don’t pretend to sleep. Get up and explain it to me.”

Just as she accused him of pretending to sleep, she heard him snoring.

“…”

Jin Xiuzhu finally realized that this guy might seem honest, but he was not naive at all.