"Shitou, my daughter can be a bit blunt, but I’m still very fond of you. Why don’t you take the initiative and apologize to her? I’ll have ili co out and talk things over. It’s always best to clear up any misunderstandings."
After considering it for the past few days, Shitou had to admit he really couldn’t afford to get married. He was already living beyond his ans each month and simply couldn’t co up with that much money.
"Aunt Ge, about ili and ... maybe we should put things on hold for now."
When Aunt Ge heard this, she grew anxious. With her daughter’s qualities, even if she did find a local man, she’d probably end up squeezed into a ho with his entire family.
Besides, Shitou earned a lot, and he was so obedient to ili. How could they possibly have to worry about not having a house in the future? He might even be able to help out her side of the family.
"Don’t wait! ili has been ho crying her eyes out these past few days, saying she shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. You can’t let her down."
Shitou was in a difficult position. "Aunt Ge, I..."
Aunt Ge sighed. "Alright, I’ve already spoken with ili. I told her to go find you at your shop tomorrow. You two can have a proper talk. Just apologize to her and it’ll be fine. Young girls are thin-skinned; she’s too proud to make the first move."
Shitou didn’t say anything, but Aunt Ge took his silence as agreent.
Yesterday, Aunt Ge had made a special trip ho. She felt that Shitou seed to be avoiding her and wasn’t as warm toward her as before. She figured the two of them must have had a fight.
Sure enough, after hearing her daughter’s story, Aunt Ge couldn’t help but scold her. "Are you stupid? n need to be coaxed. Besides, you belittled him so openly—of course he’s not happy! From what I can see, his boss treats Shitou really well. When you two actually need money for the wedding, he definitely won’t just stand by and watch. For now, just sweet-talk Shitou. Otherwise, just look at the clothes and jewelry you’re wearing. Who bought all that for you?"
Ge ili was starting to feel so regret now. Not for any noble reason, but because the family hadn’t had a proper at dish in days. She was craving at. She did have her own salary for the month in her pocket—twenty-three yuan left after contributing to household expenses—but she was reluctant to spend it. Shitou still had a lot of his monthly salary left, and at that mont, Ge ili was incredibly envious of people with high wages.
"But my dad won’t agree! He insists that Shitou has to buy a house, or he won’t even let him in the door."
Aunt Ge shot her a look. "Your father is just looking out for you. If you buy the house now, will you have to worry about anything in the future?"
"But that’s not a small amount of money! Can his boss really help him co up with that much?"
Aunt Ge pinched Ge ili’s arm. "You fool! I told you to coax him. What is that mouth of yours for? If you make a man happy, he’ll do whatever you ask. Even if you can’t buy a house right now, as long as you get his money in your hands, you’ll be able to buy one sooner or later."
Afterward, Aunt Ge gave Ge ili a lot of advice, teaching her how to sweet-talk a man.
The next morning, Ge ili took the day off from work. She got all dressed up and went to find Shitou. She stood at the entrance of the shop, peering inside without coming in.
Shitou saw her, hesitated for a mont, but went out anyway.
Ge ili looked at him, waiting for him to apologize. But after a while, Shitou still hadn’t said a word.
"What are you standing there like an idiot for? Aren’t you going to apologize to ?" Ge ili asked.
Shitou squeezed his fingers together and looked up at her.
"ili, I’ve thought about it. If you still want to be with , we can get married next sumr. I’ll start saving money from now on. I’ll put away my entire salary every month. After a year, I should have enough for the betrothal gift and the four major items. As for the house, I will buy one in the future, but not right now. I can’t make you any promises about that at the mont. If you’re not willing, then I guess we’ll have to go our separate ways."
After Shitou finished speaking, Ge ili stared at him in astonishnt, having completely forgotten what her mother had taught her.
"Is this all you wanted to say to ? You’re going to save all your money every month? Then what are we supposed to spend now? And what’s this about waiting a year? What if you change your mind after a year? What about my ti then? I thought you were going to apologize to today! But instead, all you talked about was saving money and making suffer with you. If you really cared about , why can’t you think about things from my perspective? I asked you to quit and open a shop with , but you refused. I asked you to borrow money from your boss, but you refused that too. You say you’ll marry next year? Fine. Then from now on, you can give every single cent of your salary, and I’ll save it for you. How about that?"
Shitou fell silent. A mont later, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. "See? We don’t trust each other. Since we think so differently, maybe we should both just cool down."
Ge ili stared at him in disbelief. "Are you breaking up with ?"
Shitou didn’t answer, but his aning was clear.
Then ca the crisp sound of a slap. "I can’t believe you’re this kind of person. I guess I was wrong about you."
Ge ili shoved Shitou, then ran away crying. Shitou stumbled back a step, one side of his face red from the slap. His expression was blank, but a hint of disappointnt flickered in his eyes.
’So trust isn’t sothing you can give to just anyone.’
When Shitou ca back inside with one side of his face red and swollen, He Lang saw him and said, "Co outside with for a minute."
He Lang took him to a nearby park and sat down on a stone bench.
He looked at Shitou’s face, then burst out laughing.
Shitou suddenly felt embarrassed. "He Lang, don’t laugh at ."
He Lang crossed his arms, propped one leg over the other, and glanced at Shitou.
"I told you before, this isn’t how you handle a relationship. You need to be clear about your own goals and know what you want. But you also have to be realistic about your circumstances. We’re from the countryside—that’s a fact. If you want to find a girl from the city, you have to be prepared for them to look down on us. Of course, not all city people are like that. Mutual love is precious, sure, but marriage isn’t just about two people. It’s about two families."
Shitou asked He Lang in a low voice, "So if it were you, what would you do?"
He Lang said lightly, "If it were , I wouldn’t be a fool like you, just trying to buy affection with money. I’d win the girl’s heart first and make her completely devoted to . That way, even if her family objects, she’ll still choose without hesitation. Then, I’d go to her family and shalessly beg for their approval."
"And what if her family still didn’t agree?"
He Lang gave a wicked grin. "Then I’d make sure the deed was done, and we’d secretly go get our marriage license."
Shitou stared at He Lang, his eyes wide with surprise.
He Lang shot him a look. "Pretty thick-skinned, right?"
Shitou shook his head. "That’s just—shaless."
"HAHAHAHA!"
Both of them burst out laughing.
After a while, He Lang clapped Shitou on the shoulder.
"See? It’s no big deal. You’ve been single all these years anyway, so what’s the rush? The most important thing right now is to make money. Once you’re rich, if anyone dares to look down on us, you can just slap a stack of bills right in their face. I guarantee they’ll be willing to marry their daughter to you then."
Shitou nodded. "Yeah."
After talking with He Lang, Shitou felt much more relaxed. He was going to make money. A lot of money.
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