Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 843 - 833 I Want to Get Married

Over the following two days, Shen Yunfang didn’t go to the farm, but stayed at home working on her manuscript.

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On this day, Shen Yunfang and her children had just begun eating dinner when Goudan arrived with his girlfriend.

"You kid, why didn’t you call ahead if you were coming over, so I could be prepared? Hurry up and get inside. I didn’t prepare anything fancy, but make do with what we have," Shen Yunfang hurriedly welcomed them into the house upon seeing them.

Goudan was truthfully eighteen years old, but his household registration listed him as twenty. At that age, in the countryside, he would have been expected to be married with children already.

In the past two years, Goudan had not just been idly tending chickens in the countryside; he had actually managed to charm himself a girlfriend with his own allure.

His partner, Cui Ying, was the sister of an employee from the mountain areas. The young girl was quite attractive and nimble. When her brother had called her over to work two years earlier, Goudan had set his sights on her.

As luck would have it, they were assigned to work together, one feeding chickens and the other collecting eggs. Over time, how could there not be some development between them?

Through more than a year’s effort, the two had finally established a romantic relationship at the beginning of this year.

Having observed from afar, Shen Yunfang thought the young girl was good-natured. The only issue was that her family was a bit poor. But that was nothing to worry about. As long as both of them were willing to work hard and lived practically, she wasn’t afraid they wouldn’t have a good life in the future. Besides, she, as their elder, was there, wasn’t she? Under her watch, how could she not lend a hand?

Shen Yunfang immediately discussed this matter over the phone with Wang Dan, because after all, she was the biological mother, and it was essential to inform her about such a significant matter. Otherwise, if anything went awry later, the responsibility would fall on her.

Wang Dan was not at all surprised when she heard about it, probably because Goudan had mentioned it in the letters to his family. Wang Dan wasn’t picky about other issues, but she did express some concern upon learning about the girl’s poor family situation. In Wang Dan’s opinion, their own family was just ordinary with many children; if Goudan were to marry, they as parents wouldn’t be able to offer much help. If the girl’s family was also poor, how would the young couple get by?

That’s the mindset of a mother; always thinking her son is the best and wanting him to have a better life in the future. She didn’t think the problem lay with her side but instead caused grievances towards the girl’s family.

In the phone call, Shen Yunfang made her stance clear: children shouldn’t fear poverty; as long as they had ambition, capability, and a willingness to endure hardships, they would certainly live well in the future.

However, Wang Dan was not receptive to this view. Later, nobody knew how Goudan had talked to his family about it, but Wang Dan gradually stopped voicing her objections, which amounted to tacit approval of the couple, it seemed.

"Elder Aunty, no need to fuss over us, we’ve already eaten," Cui Ying was more tactful than Goudan, warmly addressing her almost immediately upon entering the house.

Shen Yunfang had already brought over bowls and chopsticks for them, "Hurry and sit down. Why put on airs in your own uncle’s home? Even if you’ve eaten, when you get here you should still have a few bites."

The two exchanged glances and obediently sat down, taking the bowls and chopsticks and joining in the meal.

At the dinner table, Shen Yunfang inquired about their work at the farm.

Actually, there was no need to ask; everyone knew that Goudan was the boss’s own nephew. Although he wasn’t given any special care, certainly no one would dare to bully him.

After dinner, Pangpang and Manman ran out gleefully. Cui Ying took the initiative to take the bowls and chopsticks from Shen Yunfang’s hands and headed to the kitchen to wash up.

Shen Yunfang sat on the sofa with Goudan, and upon seeing his obviously troubled face, she knew he had come with a matter to discuss.

"What’s up, just spit it out. You’re a big guy now, about to get married, you need to step up and can’t be shy anymore."

Goudan had been around for several years now, and Shen Yunfang didn’t consider him an outsider, so she was quite straightforward with him.

Goudan glanced at his aunt, feeling a bit sheepish still, but thinking of his wife inside, he mustered the courage to say softly, "Auntie, Cui Ying and I are thinking about getting married." freewebnσvel.cøm

Shen Yunfang raised her eyebrows upon hearing this, "That’s great news, why are you acting like a secret agent meeting in the shadows?"

"It’s just that I’m embarrassed," Goudan admitted with a blush as his aunt’s teasing made his face turn red.

Despite being a grown man, people of this era were still very shy about discussing dating and marriage.

"What’s there to be embarrassed about? Men should marry when it’s time, and women too. Chairman Mao also said that dating without the intention of marriage is hooliganism. Isn’t the ultimate goal of dating to get married? But you two have been together for less than a year. Are you sure about this now? Marriage is for life, and once you decide, you usually can’t back out under normal circumstances," Shen Yunfang reminded him.

Goudan looked towards the kitchen and then nodded firmly.

"Yeah, I want to spend my life with Xiaoying."

Shen Yunfang nodded as well, "Since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t say much. You’re the ones who will live your lives. As long as you’re both happy, I have nothing to say." Mainly because she was quite pleased with this niece-in-law; the girl was hard-working and knew her way around things, and so far, she didn’t seem to be unreasonable. Although her family was poor, they were low-key, and in those times, such families really weren’t too common.

"Auntie, I knew you’re the best. But about my mom..." Goudan looked at Shen Yunfang with a fawning smile.

"Oh, so you were waiting for me to intervene," Shen Yunfang couldn’t help but find it amusing. This son couldn’t handle his own mother and was seeking external support.

"Hehe, well, my mom listens to you the most," Goudan was at his wits’ end. The tricks he used to fool his mother didn’t work anymore; the moment she heard he was getting married, she was a hundred percent against it and even said she was coming over.

That scared Goudan. He didn’t mind if his mother wanted to hit him or scold him, but he feared her unreasonable temper might clash with Xiaoying. How would his wife and mother-in-law get along then?

But give Goudan credit for considering these things, it showed he was maturing and taking on a man’s responsibilities.

"Don’t you even know why your mom listens to me?" Shen Yunfang glared at Goudan irritably. For the sake of Old Li, she sent fifty yuan every month and an additional hundred at the year’s end. Wang Dan saw the value in this money, so she couldn’t afford to ruin their relationship.

"Hehe, actually my mom isn’t bad at heart, she just has this flaw. It’s all because we were so poor back then, it made her wary," Goudan tried to put a silver lining on his mother’s behavior.

"It’s good that you can see it that way, all the worrying your mom does for you isn’t in vain," Shen Yunfang was quite pleased. "But, if you want your mom to agree to your marriage, you’ll have to address the root cause."

Goudan frowned upon hearing this. His mom just looked down on Xiaoying’s family for being poor, unable to contribute much for the wedding. He felt that his own mother couldn’t contribute much either, so why fuss over what Xiaoying’s family could provide?

"Now that you’ve decided to get married, I’ll tell you something."

Goudan sat attentively.

"Don’t be so nervous, it’s good news," Shen Yunfang patted him, "Remember how you left most of your salary with me? I thought just leaving it there wouldn’t do any good, so I got to thinking and bought you a small house in the city. Its location isn’t too bad. The part that wasn’t enough, I paid up front for you. Since then, I’ve been deducting a bit from your monthly salary, and by now, nearly half of it has been paid off. But there’s no rush for that money. If you two get married, you can pay it off together. I reckon it will all be paid off within a year."

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