CHAPTER 288: 288. THE PRAGMATIST GUY’S ROMANCE

After taking care of the chicken, duck, fish, meat, frozen goods, and seasonings in the village and town,

Shuzhen wanted to drag Lianshan to the city. After all, it was the New Year, and everyone should have three sets of new clothes, inside and out, right?

New year, new look!

After browsing the whole village and town, Shuzhen still felt that the fabric was too poor, the colors too scarce, and the styles rather unremarkable.

Feeling quite dissatisfied, she could only turn her attention to the city, thinking that if there were still no suitable ready-made clothes, she would simply buy some good fabric and make do herself.

After all, she had the eye for it, and her skills weren’t lacking either. Cutting and sewing were not an issue, and she could certainly dress the whole family in a stylish, bright, and distinctive manner!

Now that reforms are in place, flared pants and aviator sunglasses were quietly becoming popular and were visibly trending.

She no longer had to worry about being pointed at and even accused with baseless allegations of bourgeois indulgence for wearing slightly novel clothing!

After a long day without finding any satisfactory items, Shuzhen was eager, thinking the idea of buying fabric and making it herself seemed especially reliable.

Just hearing this idea, Lianshan frowned: "It’s already the 20th of the lunar month, my dear. There’s barely two days left until the New Year. Uncle Wu, Hai Zi, and Xiao Yue will be back tomorrow. With hosting dinners and attending dinners, it’s going to take at least a week for the whole back and forth. The end of the year is busy enough; our family alone is already eight people, plus there’s Old Yang and Feng Ju, the two bachelors.

At least ten sets of new clothes, aren’t you going to exhaust my dear wife?

No way, no way.

If you can’t find anything in the city, we can go to the provincial capital. If that doesn’t work, find a good tailor’s shop and let them make it according to the design you want.

Either one of these two choices is fine, but you shouldn’t think of tiring my wife out!"

Uh...

Shuzhen blushed: "It’s okay, your wife says she’s not afraid of hardship or tiredness to let everyone have a happy New Year. Anyway, there’s a sewing machine; it won’t tire anyone out!"

"That still won’t do! Even if she’s not afraid of getting tired, I’m afraid of feeling pained!" Lianshan insisted seriously: "You know that I’m the one who cherishes my wife the most, and our children are the most filial. We would rather the whole family wear old clothes for the New Year than let her be tired one bit."

Shuzhen gritted her teeth: Is this a threat?

Is it?

Is it!

"Of course not, this is care and love! Listen to me, my dear; we’ll pick out some fabrics, then find a better tailor’s shop. Tell the tailor what you want, and it’ll surely be done how you want it. Really, if that doesn’t work, you can take it to Old Yang, and he can find a couple of capable people in the down products factory for you!" Lianshan chuckled, holding onto Shuzhen’s wrist. He explained, then suggested, but absolutely refused to agree with her busying herself.

"Hey, let go of me! There are so many people around, why are you holding hands? We’re not some young lovers dating, we’re of a certain age, don’t let people say we’re being improper." Shuzhen blushed, whispering as she tried to free herself from someone’s big hand, fingers interlocked with hers.

"Hey, Comrade Liu Shuzhen, your thinking is seriously problematic! Compared to those young people without a status, our love for over a decade, a lifetime of companionship still feels insufficient — we need to reserve for lifetime after lifetime!

And what’s this about ’of a certain age’ and ’improper at an old age’?

Your youthful look, does it seem more than twenty-four or twenty-five at most? What about those still sporting two braids, clearly unmarried but their faces make them appear to be your elder sister — how should they live?"

Lianshan sighed leisurely, seemingly genuinely worried for those girls a dozen years younger than his wife, making Shuzhen burst into laughter.

Though his words didn’t sound entirely truthful, what woman wouldn’t enjoy being sweet-talked by her own husband?

The two of them walked hand in hand like a newlywed loving couple, strolling sweetly.

Picking and choosing, they genuinely bought a lot of fabric.

Planning to take it back to the village’s tailor shop and have Shuzhen decide on the styles for them to make.

The city’s fabric certainly had more variety and patterns.

And taking it back to the village’s tailor shop would be convenient for picking up the clothes and better for communicating ideas.

After settling the fabric, Lianshan pulled Shuzhen to the only gold shop in the city.

Not knowing what he was up to, Shuzhen watched as he handed a slip to the salesperson, saying he was here to pick something up.

The young saleswoman carefully looked at the slip, then turned to get a red velvet jewelry box.

"Come on, my dear, take a look — do you like it, does it fit?" Lianshan opened the box, checked that it was the style and size he had ordered, then eagerly beckoned to Shuzhen.

She glanced over, and in the red velvet box lay two gold rings.

Seven tiny diamonds encircled a heart-shaped cut ruby, with the band formed by intertwined vine patterns.

"What’s this?"

"I designed it myself, as a gift for us. How about it? Unique and beautiful enough, right? Heh, these red rubies are from your dowry chest. But the gold and diamonds are from my recent scrimping and saving, pinching pennies to gather!" Lianshan wore a face full of merit, taking the slightly smaller woman’s ring and putting it on Shuzhen’s finger.

Seeing the perfectly fitting, exquisite ring on his wife’s fair fingers, Lianshan nodded in satisfaction.

All his careful design tweaks over several rounds were not in vain.

His wife’s fair and tender hands looked even more beautiful with his designed ring.

Handing the male ring to Shuzhen, he extended his left hand’s ring finger, signaling for her to put the ring on him.

With a belly full of questions, Shuzhen quietly put it on for him, and just after leaving the store, she finally blurted out the question that had been brewing for quite a while.

"Seeing Big Sister-in-law and Big Brother wearing a pair of rings, Big Sister-in-law said it’s a tradition from Western countries. Couples wear a ring on the left ring finger, which has a vein connected to the heart, to bind two hearts tightly, loving and sweet for a lifetime.

I thought they looked great with them, so I ordered a pair at this store."

"You see, these entwined vines are us, and the seven small diamonds are our children. Lian En and the other six, plus the Xiao Qi you’ve always longed for.

The heart encircled in the center is you, whom we all jointly protect.

It’s also the determination for our happiness and fulfillment, the perpetual warmth of love, the sincere wish for our family’s everlasting happiness." Lianshan held Shuzhen’s hand, pointing at the ring and explaining the thoughts he had while designing it.

The meanings of the vines, the small diamonds, and the ruby.

The typically pragmatic man suddenly became romantic, greatly touching Shuzhen.