Looking at Jiang Tang’s cold, frost-like expression, the man felt even more impassioned. He spoke on his own initiative, "I know you don’t recognize me, Comrade, so let me introduce myself. My name is Zhou Aidang. I live right here in this town and work at the steel mill. My parents are both alive, and I have a stable job..."
The man had been a bit nervous at first, especially while being stared at by such a pair of beautiful eyes, and he had swallowed hard while speaking.
Fortunately, he found his rhythm as he went on.
He was quite confident in his own circumstances.
Judging by her clothes, she was likely from the countryside, but he was a townie with a respectable job. If they were to be together in the future, she would be able to get a city residency permit.
Jiang Tang: "..."
Was someone in this era actually this forward?
She was truly a bit bewildered.
She said, "This comrade, I am already married and have a child."
"This is my son, Dongdong."
The man’s face looked as though he were constipated. He stuttered, "H-how is that possible?"
She looked so young; she didn't look like someone who had a child at all.
Dongdong, understanding the situation in an instant, hugged Jiang Tang’s leg tightly and called out sweetly, "Mommy~"
The man stiffened and turned to run.
Jiang Tang looked across at the department store, her thoughts drifting far away, until she felt a tug at the corner of her shirt. She looked down to meet Dongdong’s obsidian-like eyes.
"Mommy, are you going to find a daddy for Dongdong?" Dongdong had understood exactly what that uncle had come over for.
Jiang Tang froze for a moment. Dongdong was truly sensitive. Seeing him like this, Jiang Tang felt as if her heart had been pricked by a needle.
"Dongdong, you do have a daddy," Jiang Tang squatted down, looked into his eyes, and said earnestly, "Dongdong’s daddy is very impressive. He is a soldier. The kind of person who protects everyone."
Shen Chuan did not know about the original host’s pregnancy at the time; he only found out after returning home.
The original host and the members of the Shen Family never mentioned Shen Chuan in front of Dongdong, so in Dongdong’s mind, the person "Shen Chuan" didn't exist at all.
No matter how well-behaved and sensible Dongdong was, he was only three years old. Whenever he saw children in the village being carried on their parents' shoulders, he would watch them with envy.
He knew what a father was, and he assumed he simply didn't have one.
Dongdong blinked his moist eyes. He had a daddy too?
He had thought his father had died long ago. He had never asked his mother about it because he was afraid of making her sad.
"Mommy, I really have a daddy?"
Jiang Tang hugged him. "Yes. Dongdong’s daddy is named Shen Chuan. You are his son, which is why your name is Shen Xiangdong."
She thought Dongdong would be happy after hearing this.
Dongdong’s eyes turned red, and he pouted. "Then why hasn't Daddy come back? If Daddy came back, Mommy wouldn't have to work so hard."
If Daddy were at home, those people who bullied Mommy wouldn't dare. Daddy could help Mommy fight back.
Why hadn't Daddy ever come back?
Jiang Tang hadn't expected him to ask this, and she wouldn't use some excuse to brush him off just because he was young.
Jiang Tang: "Because Daddy is busy protecting our country. Only with the 'big family' of our nation can we have our own little family."
"And let me tell you, Daddy likes Dongdong very much. Daddy will be back in a few days."
"This money was sent by Daddy for Mommy and Dongdong to use."
She hoped to leave a good impression of Shen Chuan in Dongdong’s heart. In the book, he was a good man and a good father.
Dongdong hugged Jiang Tang’s neck and muttered, "I like Mommy."
The implication was clear: he didn't like his father.
Jiang Tang couldn't help but laugh. This child—how could his mind be so sharp? He would surely accomplish great things in the future.
"Dongdong, Mommy is going to take you to Grandma’s house." Jiang Tang picked him up directly.
Compared to the Shen Family, the Jiang Family was about the same.
Jiang Tang was the eldest child. She had two younger sisters and one younger brother below her. From a young age, besides learning to look after her younger siblings, she had to handle the household chores.
She had been cooking for as long as she could remember, standing on a stool to prepare meals for the whole family at the age of five. If she didn't do it well, she would not only be called "useless thing," but she would also be beaten by her family. By the time she was skilled at cooking, she had grown up. And as she grew older, there were even more things to do.
Shen Chuan’s reason for marrying her was almost entirely due to Mother Jiang’s coercion. Jiang Tang had fallen into the water while doing laundry in the middle of winter. Her clothes had soaked up the water and weighed her down. She was on the verge of dying when Shen Chuan, who was returning home, jumped in and saved her.
Mother Jiang originally hadn't intended for Shen Chuan to marry Jiang Tang, but once she heard he was a soldier, she immediately hatched a plan.
Mother Jiang claimed that because Shen Chuan had held Jiang Tang, her chastity was lost, and she insisted that Shen Chuan marry her. If he refused, she would beat Jiang Tang to death.
Mother Jiang wasn't just talking; she really did beat her. Shen Chuan stepped in to shield her and agreed to the marriage.
Just like that, the two became husband and wife.
Dongdong hesitated. "Mommy, do we really have to go?"
Grandma’s family was very fierce. The last time Mommy went, she cried terribly when she came back that night, her eyes swollen like walnuts.
Jiang Tang: "Don't worry. This time, Grandma and the others won't be able to touch Mommy."
"If Mommy goes, Dongdong goes too."
Before they went, Jiang Tang stayed in town for another day with Dongdong, and they bought some clothes at the department store.
At first, Dongdong didn't want to spend the money; he wanted to save it all for his mother.
In the end, Jiang Tang persuaded him.
Dressed in his new clothes, Dongdong looked like a different person, like a little gentleman.
Dongdong curiously touched the new clothes—they had no patches on them.
Jiang Tang set her eyes on a "Braj" dress, which was quite popular at the time. Women in town wore these dresses often, whereas in the countryside, everyone wore long-sleeved clothes because of the farm work.
Wearing her new clothes, Jiang Tang looked like a changed woman. She spun around in front of Dongdong.
"Dongdong, does this dress look good?"
Dongdong nodded emphatically. "It looks good. Mommy looks beautiful."
Jiang Tang took a look in the mirror. It was indeed very nice. This body was only twenty-two, the prime of her youth. Everything looked good on her.
On the day she went to the Jiang Family, Jiang Tang went to buy some meat, along with some brown sugar and melon seeds.
The Jiang Family’s house looked even worse than the Shen Family’s. Before Jiang Tang was married, the three sisters slept in the smallest room, the parents stayed in one room, and the room where Jiang Hong lived was the best one.
Including Jiang Tang, the Jiang Family had four children: the second daughter, Jiang Caiyun; the third daughter, Jiang Hongxia; and the youngest son, Jiang Hong.
Jiang Caiyun had married even earlier than Jiang Tang—not because Mother Jiang couldn't bear to part with Jiang Tang, but simply because Jiang Tang was a better and more efficient worker. Jiang Caiyun had been married off to a man in the next village for a dowry of only a dozen yuan.
Jiang Caixia was now at the age for marriage, and Mother Jiang was looking for a suitor for her, hoping to find someone with better conditions so the dowry would be higher, which would help her son, Jiang Hong, get a wife later.
The family had spent a great deal of money to get Jiang Hong a job in town, but he was so idle that he didn't want to go after just a few days.
The job was lost, the money was wasted, and now he was at home, moping about. Even so, he was still the "golden nugget" in the hearts of his parents—the one who would carry on the family line and look after them in their old age.