"..." So, everything he'd done earlier was deliberate. Pretending to be penniless, admitting defeat – it was all a charade.
Preposterous!
Brother Tang was fuming. In all his years, no one had dared to offend him so brazenly, but that person had just managed it.
He'd remember. Next time they met, he wouldn't let that person off the hook.
And that shop owner, having taken more money from him, must return it.
"Give me back my overpaid money?" Brother Tang got up from the ground, dusting off his hands. Then, he reached out, intending to snatch the money back.
The bicycle shop owner smiled, "Then wait a moment." He then went inside.
Brother Tang assumed the owner was afraid of him and waited smugly. Instead of getting his money, he was met with a barrage of punches and kicks.
Unaware of the events unfolding here, Zhang Liunian had stopped by a hairpin stall on the street.
He found the clips attractive and, thinking of his wife and daughter at home, stopped his bicycle to take out some money and buy a few.
His wife, daughter, and his younger sister – they would all have one.
Riding into the county town, he then went to the market to buy meat and vegetables to take home.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qingqing, who was taking her daughter out to see their fields, encountered another educated youth, Su Jie, on her way home. This Su Jie was married to Zhang Liusha's elder brother.
They had married around the same time and, being educated youths, were the only ones in the village they could confide in.
"Qingqing, your belly is almost seven months along!" Su Jie looked at Jiang Qingqing's large belly with a complex expression.
She had been married for five years and already had three children, two toddling around, and another in her womb, over five months along. Jiang Qingqing, on her first pregnancy, had no one saying anything.
Previously, she could console herself by thinking that Jiang Qingqing had married a lazy bum, and they were all living less than ideal lives.
Now, Zhang Liunian had buckled down and changed his ways. Not only had he paid off the village debts, but he had also leased Daming Lake and hired people to work for him, earning money. He was on the verge of making a fortune, a prospect that made one envious.
"Yes, you're almost six months along too! We might give birth around the same time." Jiang Qingqing felt uneasy thinking about childbirth. They said giving birth was like passing through the gates of hell. Having never experienced it, she was also afraid.
But thinking that this child was the crystallization of her and Liunian's love, she mustered some courage.
"If you're scared, let Liunian accompany you when you give birth. He has no elders at home, so you'll have the final say, won't you?" Living under the control of her mother-in-law, Su Jie was very envious of Jiang Qingqing, who had no mother-in-law around.
Jiang Qingqing cradled her belly and said, "Giving birth relies on ourselves. Calling him won't help."
"You don't understand. Having someone by your side brings peace of mind. I wasn't fortunate enough to have that, but you can." Su Jie felt like crying recalling her previous two experiences.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Qingqing quickly comforted her, "You can too, as long as you..."
Before Jiang Qingqing could finish, Hua Bao, in her arms, suddenly slipped from her grasp and ran forward shouting, "Daddy!"
Zhang Liunian had seen his wife and daughter from afar. Upon hearing his daughter's call, he quickly braked his bicycle, swung his long legs to the ground, and crouched down with his arms outstretched, waiting for his daughter to rush into his embrace.
This was the first time Su Jie had seen Zhang Liunian in some time. She was somewhat surprised to see him change his previous cold attitude towards Hua Bao, "He's accepted Hua Bao?"
Jiang Qingqing nodded and smiled sweetly, "Yes, he has." After speaking, she walked over.
Su Jie looked at her shining eyes and sighed inwardly, is this what it looks like to marry for love?
"Slow down," Zhang Liunian said as his wife approached. Holding their daughter in one arm, he put the other around his wife, afraid she might fall.
Jiang Qingqing glanced at his large hand and felt a little shy. She shifted slightly but didn't pull away, eventually letting him be. "Why are you so late?"
"I went to buy a bicycle and got delayed. Why are you guys here?"
Zhang Liunian gazed at her with concern, causing Jiang Qingqing's fair face to blush. "Hua Bao and I went to look at our two mu of paddy fields."
Those two mu of land were her hard work, and she couldn't rest easy.
Zhang Liunian looked at her blushing face and found her incredibly beautiful. Thinking of the silver hairpin in his pocket, he quickly took it out and said, "On the way back, I saw a stall selling these kinds of hairpins. I thought you'd look very pretty wearing one, so I bought one for you."
Receiving a gift for the first time, Jiang Qingqing was overjoyed. She took it, touched it with great affection, and then tried to put it on, but failed on her first attempt.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian took her small hand in his large one, "Let me help you."
Jiang Qingqing nodded with a blush, then broke free from his hand, lowered her head slightly, and let Zhang Liunian clip it in.
Zhang Liunian, holding his daughter, was not very convenient. He could only use one hand to complete the action. He first gently tucked his wife's hair behind her ear, then secured it with the clip.
"There, it's very beautiful." After clipping it in, Zhang Liunian felt his wife looked good no matter what.
In fact, she was beautiful even without the hairpin. Jiang Qingqing was as beautiful as a flower. Her skin, previously tanned from labor, had lightened several shades after a few days of rest, reaching the peak of her beauty.
Jiang Qingqing heard his words, reached up to touch the hairpin, and her smile grew even brighter.
"Daddy, Hua Bao wants one too."
Hua Bao saw the silver hairpin shaped like a bird on her mother's head and, pouting, wanted one as well.
Zhang Liunian smiled and, as if by magic, produced a small red clip. "Ta-da, this is the little red flower Daddy bought for Hua Bao. Does Hua Bao like it?"
Also receiving a gift for the first time, Hua Bao took it with surprise. "Hua Bao likes it, really likes it."
After speaking, Hua Bao imitated her father clipping her mother's hair but couldn't do it successfully due to her short arms. Finally, she asked Zhang Liunian for help, "Daddy, Hua Bao can't do it."
Zhang Liunian smiled, picked up her small red clip, and then began to arrange her hair. After clipping it in, he praised, "Hua Bao looks very beautiful today."
Hua Bao was extremely pleased to be praised by her father, puffing out her chest and lifting her chin slightly. "Hua Bao is Daddy's most beautiful daughter."
"That's right, Hua Bao is the most beautiful daughter in my heart," Zhang Liunian repeated, making Hua Bao utterly delighted.
Su Jie, watching from not far away, looked at the happy family of three with both envy and emotion.
They had all been blind before. When Jiang Qingqing married Zhang Liunian, everyone said Jiang Qingqing was foolish. Now it seemed they were the foolish ones.
Zhang Liunian was handsome, earned money, and doted on his wife and child. If such a man was lazy for a few years, it wouldn't matter.
Besides, he might not have been lazy, perhaps he just wasn't willing to be a farmer his whole life. Having ambition was not wrong.
If they had known in '77 that marrying Zhang Liunian would lead to such happiness, perhaps all of them would have wanted to marry Zhang Liunian.
Unfortunately, they had been short-sighted then, mistaking a pearl for a fish's eye.
After envying her good friend, Su Jie turned and went home alone, still able to hear the voices of Zhang Liunian's family of three behind her.
"Hua Bao, Qingqing, sit properly."
"Let's just forget it."