"Dad, I'm doing great, really, I'm fine."
Hou Yong sniffed, fighting down the sudden surge of bitterness in his chest. "See? I'm doing well. Besides, I've managed to land a wonderful wife like Pan'er."
With that, Hou Yong pulled half a pack of white-packaged Double Happiness cigarettes from his pocket, took his father's pipe, and held a cigarette out toward his father's lips. "It's a big day. Have one of my celebratory cigarettes."
Hou's father paused for a fraction of a second, then lit the cigarette. Gazing toward the somewhat blurred figure outside the window, he frowned and said, "That Wang Xue is utterly shameless. If it weren't for Pan'er today, our family would have been the laughingstock of the whole village—turning circles in broad daylight with our pants down."
"..." Hou Yong didn't try to defend her. He lit a cigarette for himself and grunted a sullen assent.
"That Pan'er—does she have anyone left in her family?"
"Basically no one."
"Does she or doesn't she?"
Hou's father tapped his pipe stem hard against the table, sending sparks flying.
"She does."
Startled, Hou Yong quickly corrected himself.
In his past life, he had also asked Gu Panpan about her background. She was the third child in a family that barely tolerated her, with two older sisters above her and a younger brother below. If it hadn't been for her diligence—following a private tutor to study while copying texts for him—her family would have stopped letting her go to school long ago.
During her years as an educated youth in the countryside, she had never kept in touch with her family. Later, when she followed Hou Yong into business, she faced endless pressure from her relatives. The worst time, they had nearly forced her to quit her job with Hou Yong and come home to get married.
All because the prospective groom offered three hundred thousand in betrothal gifts—money the family needed to build a house and find a wife for their youngest son.
...
Hou Yong kept his summary of Gu Panpan's background brief, hitting only the main points. Hou's father fell silent for a long time, smoking heavily. In no time at all, the cigarette was burned down to a glowing red ember.
He lit a fresh cigarette from the glowing ash before speaking. "Pan'er is a sensible girl, but we can't take advantage of her. You have to keep the favor she did us today locked in your heart."
"Don't worry, I'll definitely treat her well from now on. She's my wife, after all."
Before Hou Yong could even finish, Hou's father shot him a glare that silenced him instantly. "We'll see how things go later. If the two of you genuinely make a go of it, the betrothal gifts we originally set aside for you will all go to Pan'er."
"And we'll have to pack a bigger red envelope, too," Hou's father muttered to himself, clearly referring to a token of gratitude for Gu Panpan rescuing them from today's mess.
"Dad, I want to discuss something with you."
Hou Yong gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking. "As for me and Pan'er, you two don't need to worry. For one thing, Pan'er isn't asking for anywhere near what Wang Xue demanded. For another, my woman is my responsibility; I'll provide for her myself. If I had our family pitching in and helping out, it wouldn't sit right with me."
"Nonsense! Whose parents don't worry when their child gets married?"
Hou's father cast a disgruntled glance at Hou Yong. "Stop overthinking all this foolishness. No matter whether you have a family of your own or not, to your mother and me, you're still just kids."
"If we're all kids, what about Dong'er?" Hou Yong sighed.
The cigarette his aging father had just brought to his lips froze, lingering there for a long time without making it into his mouth.
"You two old folks are already working yourselves to the bone helping me, and now you have to sacrifice the little one, too. Dong'er's tuition money was even redirected to help save up for my bride price. She still needs to go to school."
"Dong'er said she wanted to take a couple of years off and let you get your affairs settled first," Hou's father said defensively, sticking his neck out.
In this era, patriarchal attitudes inevitably influenced most people, especially in the villages. But truth be told, within the old Hou family, the parents were relatively enlightened. They had never let Hou Dongdong go wanting for food or clothes; the only reason her schooling had been interrupted was because it directly collided with Hou Yong's marriage preparations, forcing them to temporarily take Hou Dongdong out of school.
After all, schooling for a child was a major expense in those days. A common refrain among adults was, "We'll slaughter the pig for Chinese New Year and pay your tuition then."
"Dong'er!"
Without wasting words, Hou Yong pulled open the door and called out. Inside, Hou's mother had pulled Gu Panpan down beside her at the dining table for an intimate chat, while Hou Dongdong trotted into the room.
Hou Yong stroked his little sister's head and asked with a smile, "Does Dong'er want to go to school?"
"I want to... well, actually not that much. I want to play for a couple more years," the little girl said, changing her tune mid-sentence. "The teacher says I've already learned all the third-grade material anyway, so taking two years off is fine."
"Dad, Dong'er has to go to school."
Hou Yong turned his head, his tone inexplicably serious.
In his past life, after their father passed away, the little girl had blamed all the misfortune on Hou Yong. By then, she had used her own ability to test into Peking University. On the very second day of his new company's opening, she had stormed in, gotten into a fierce argument with him, and formally declared that she was cutting all ties as brother and sister.
Later, when she made something of herself, Hou Yong tried repeatedly to repair their relationship, but their father's death remained an impassable chasm between them.
"Pan'er and I have already held the wedding, and in a couple of days, we're going to get our marriage certificate. From now on, we can make our own way in life. No matter how old I get, I'm still your son, but now that I have a family of my own, you really ought to listen to what I have to say."
Hou's father looked up at Hou Yong. After a long moment, he dropped his cigarette butt to the ground, ground it out with his shoe, and motioned for him to continue.
"I'm not saying this because we don't need you anymore. It's just that there's a long life ahead of us. You, Mom, Dongdong, and Pan'er—you are my most precious wealth. A family should stay together, complete. I don't want to see you break your health down over my affairs while my little sister is forced to drop out of school. If that happened, I'd never forgive myself as long as I live."
"Family... I suppose things really are different once you're married," Hou's father said after a long silence, shaking his head with a sigh. "Fine. A real man's word is set in stone like an iron nail. Just remember what you've said. Dong'er will stay in school."
"Really?"
The little girl scrambled right up onto Hou Yong's lap, and he instinctively caught her in his arms.
How light she was.
Hou Yong felt a pang of emotion in his chest. In his past life, due to a lack of resources, the little girl had grown up to be barely over a meter sixty when she went to university, and terribly thin at that. Now, at seven years old, holding her felt almost like holding a little kitten.
He hoped that with better living conditions in this lifetime, her growth spurt would reach a bit higher.
"Really. From now on, Dong'er will study hard, and Big Brother will cover all your tuition."
Hou Yong tugged playfully at the little girl's braided pigtails, then looked up and continued, "Also, Dad, tomorrow we're going to the county hospital for a physical checkup. I've noticed your complexion hasn't looked too good lately."
In his previous memories, his father's health problems hadn't surfaced until more than two years later, but he later heard from his mother that his father had already been passing blood in his urine around the time of the wedding. To save money, he had hidden it from Hou Yong, dragging out a case of chronic nephritis until it deteriorated into end-stage uremic disease.
If they caught it early this time, his father's condition could definitely be cured. After all, in the early stages, it wasn't a terminal illness—it simply cost a lot of money.
"Get lost! Spending money just to suffer for nothing. I'm not going."
Hou's father shot Hou Yong a disdainful glare, picked up his tobacco pouch and pipe, and stalked out the door. Just before he stepped outside, a faint trace of a smile flickered across his weathered face.