Chapter 589: Extra—Liu Xiaomei

Chapter 589: Side Story—Liu Xiaomei

Wang Jianyong had already graduated and got a job assignment in a neighboring city. He was now married but would bring his wife to visit his parents in City A every month.

Wang Xuanying and Liu Hongmin had also settled down in City A, and their children were already attending school.

It was another family gathering.

"Xiao Mei, here you go." At the dinner table, the gray-haired Wang Yongshun, leaning on his cane, stirred the large bowl with a ladle as he always did when stewing chicken. After a moment, he scooped out two chicken wings and placed them in Liu Xiaomei’s bowl.

Liu Xiaomei, whose temples were also streaked with white, blushed as their children teased her with their looks around the table. "Xuanying and the others are all here. Can’t I serve myself?" she said sheepishly.

Wang Xuanying laughed. "Mom, Dad just dotes on you."

Wang Yongshun paused, then snapped out of his daze, rubbing his face awkwardly. "Your mom’s always loved chicken wings, Jianlibao soda, and salted peanuts," he explained stiffly.

Liu Xiaomei pushed the bowl with the chicken wings toward Wang Xuanying. "I’ll eat anything. Here, Xuanying, have one. Yan Yan (daughter-in-law), you have one too."

Wang Xuanying pushed the bowl back. "Mom, I like the feet better. You have them, or else Dad’ll give me that look later—hahaha—and won’t let me in next time."

Teased by her children, Liu Xiaomei shot Wang Yongshun an exasperated look. "He better not."

Wang Yongshun didn’t argue, just grinned and kept quiet.

Wang Jianyong’s wife, watching the affectionate elderly couple, couldn’t help but smile. It was her first time seeing a couple so deeply in love even at their age, like they were still newlyweds.

"Dad treats Mom so well."

Wang Yongshun paused, then said bashfully, "Your mom put up with me for half her life. Back then, everyone expected her to break it off, but she still chose to marry me. It’s only right that I treat her well."

Liu Xiaomei smiled softly. "I married you because you treated me well."

"Mom, how did you and Dad meet?" Yan Yan, Wang Jianyong’s wife, asked curiously.

Wang Xuanying and her husband also turned their eager, gossipy looks toward the elderly couple. Liu Xiaomei, slightly embarrassed, began telling the story of how she and Wang Yongshun came together.

"I remember I was just seventeen that year. Early in the morning, I went up the mountain to cut pigweed. Back then, our brigade weighed the pigweed, and if you fell short, they’d dock your work points. The nearby areas were picked clean every day, so I had to go further out. I managed to gather a full load, but I was weak from hunger, barely able to stand, let alone carry it. Your dad happened to pass by and saw me struggling to even stand with the pigweed on my shoulders, so he helped me carry it to the village entrance."

Liu Xiaomei glanced tenderly at Wang Yongshun. "He even asked for my name and gave me a small roasted sweet potato."

Wang Xuanying looked puzzled. "Mom, was it just because of a small roasted sweet potato? Back then, Dad had even broken his leg. Why did you still agree to come to Jiushisan?"

Liu Xiaomei shook her head. "I sought him out myself. At the time, my family was poor, and there was a famine. We had no food left at home. My parents treated me well, but they couldn’t let my pregnant sister-in-law and little nephew starve.

"A man with pockmarks came to my parents, offering a hundred pounds of coarse grain to marry me. My parents refused, but I was scared—we had nothing left to eat.

"I went to Jiushisan on my own to find your dad. I asked him if he had a hundred pounds of grain—if not, ninety would’ve been enough. I even said I could plead with your grandpa and grandma."

Liu Xiaomei smiled faintly. "You can’t imagine what that time was like. People were starving to death, and even money couldn’t buy food. A hundred pounds of grain—that was no small amount. I don’t know how I had the courage back then."

Wang Xuanying asked, "What happened then? Did Grandpa’s family have a hundred pounds of grain?"

Liu Xiaomei looked softly at Wang Yongshun and shook her head. "No."

"He told me to go home while he went to beg your grandpa. I was too weak from hunger to walk, so he went back home, snuck out around ten pieces of dried sweet potato behind your grandma’s back, and made me eat some. I wanted to save them for my little nephew, but your dad scowled and forced me to eat two pieces. Then he carried me back to our village entrance."

"Later, I heard that your grandpa and he borrowed from every relative and friend they could, even going to a comrade’s home in another town to get twenty pounds of grain. That’s how they scraped together a hundred and one pounds. In the middle of the night, he and your grandpa hauled it all to my house in secret."

Liu Xiaomei's lips curled into a faint smile. In those days, that 101 jin of grain was truly a lifesaver. Although her parents favored their son, they were not the kind to disregard their daughter's life.

After Wang Yongshun's accident, her parents discussed all night and decided to repay the Wang family with 200 jin of grain, including interest. In farming communities where life depended on working the land, a man losing his legs was no different from losing his life.

Liu Xiaomei also knew very well that if she insisted on breaking off the engagement, given the character of Wang Kaifu and Wang Yongshun, they would agree.

Later, Wang Kaifu came to her home. He didn’t force the matter but gave her a choice. He said, "My son Yongshun’s legs are crippled. He'll never work in the fields again and won’t earn much work points. If you marry him, you'll have it harder than most women. But if you’re willing to marry him, as long as I live, I won’t let you suffer. I'll see you get a proper house. Yongshun’s mother is also kind and won’t make things difficult for you. If you don’t want to live with us, you can move out separately. I’ll also tell the other siblings to help you. You think it over."

Liu Xiaomei’s parents kept giving her meaningful looks. She knew what they meant because the night before, her mother had pulled her aside for a long talk, explaining all the consequences.

Her mother said, "Xiaomei, think carefully. If you really marry him, your life will be ruined. Wang Kaifu is old, and Wang Yongshun won’t be able to do farm work anymore. People will walk all over you..."

Liu Xiaomei snapped out of her memories. "Everyone said that if I married your father, my life would be ruined. But I thought if I didn’t marry him, his life would be ruined. Back then, I was young and headstrong, believing all difficulties were paper tigers that I could overcome. But I didn’t expect it to be so hard."

Wang Yongshun held his wife’s hand and said to their children, "You don’t know this, but your mother used to smile so much when we first met. It’s me who dragged her down. After my accident, when my father went to see her, it was me who asked him to go. I told him if your mother wasn’t willing, then forget it—don’t pressure her. But when he came back and said she was willing, I couldn’t bear to let go."

"Later, seeing how hard your mother worked, I regretted it countless times. I felt so selfish. I was a cripple, yet I held your mother back. If not for me, she wouldn’t have suffered so much. I hated myself for being useless. Other men can support their wives; other fathers can carry their children on their shoulders. I couldn’t do anything."

Liu Xiaomei clasped Wang Yongshun’s hand in return. "I never felt you were a burden. The Wang family has treated me well. Yongzheng and Shuangshuang aside, even your eldest sister and Xiao Fen were kind to me. Your parents were especially good to me. Even when your father was on his deathbed, his last words were telling everyone in the family to treat me well."

"I remember all the kindness you showed me. When I was pregnant with Xuanying and couldn’t go to the bathroom, you heard that cassia seeds soaked in water could help. You swallowed your pride and went door-to-door asking for some, even lying that it was for yourself, making people laugh at you. When my feet were cold, you held them against your chest all night. When I had cramps, you massaged me in the middle of the night. On cold days by the fire, you’d often check my cup and replace it with a warm one if it got cold—sometimes up to seven times a day. You even went to your eldest sister’s house to ask for brown sugar for me..."

"There’s so much more I haven’t said, but I’ve kept it all in my heart. I’ve never regretted it. Having Jianyong and Xuanying with you, though life was hard, I’ve been happy. We had our hard times first, but now comes the sweetness—the days ahead will all be sweet."