CHAPTER 451: CHAPTER 451: THE NEW SON-IN-LAW PAYS A VISIT

Although they were far from Qin Family Village, their commotion was too great, attracting onlookers from afar.

Some, finding it quite the spectacle, put down what they were doing and headed their way.

Zhang Wenbin felt utterly humiliated and, with his anger having nowhere to vent, kept a stern face as he urged Li Dongmei to quickly help with the bicycle.

Li Dongmei also felt humiliated and summoning unexpected strength, she single-handedly pushed the bicycle up to the side of the road.

Zhang Wenbin followed and got up as well.

Once on the main road, without hesitation, they pedaled away as if escaping.

Not until they had gone a good distance did Zhang Wenbin look back, his face so dark it seemed ink might drip from it.

By the time they entered Xiaoqingshan Village, a suffocating gloom still hung heavy over Zhang Wenbin’s chest.

Li Dongmei also felt the chilly tension behind her and tried to break the ice with random chatter, finally making Zhang Wenbin’s tone sound less grim.

The Li Family had long known that today Li Dongmei would bring her new husband home, to the extent that even Li Guangyuan didn’t set up his stall today.

Lin Jiayi was especially dispatched by Old Mrs. Li to buy meat and cook early in the day.

It was not easy for Li Guangyuan to make money, yet Old Mrs. Li demanded that she buy two pounds of meat, and mentioned that as Li Dongmei’s siblings-in-law, they should give a dowry of 200 yuan.

This displeased Lin Jiayi greatly.

What’s this about giving more dowry money just because they are from the city? It’s only a second marriage for someone who’s been divorced.

Now hearing the noise at the door, knowing that her sister-in-law returned with her husband, Lin Jiayi wanted to pretend she didn’t see them, but upon lifting her head and seeing the person behind Li Dongmei, she stood frozen in place.

She may not have had many encounters with this man in a previous life, but Lin Jiayi was absolutely certain that this man should be Qin Juan’s big sister’s husband, Zhang Wenbin.

How could Zhang Wenbin be together with Li Dongmei? And how did he become a second marriage prospect? Had he divorced Qin Juan?

Lin Jiayi clearly remembered that in her previous life Zhang Wenbin never divorced Qin Juan.

Looking at Zhang Wenbin now, despite his relatively neat clothing, he seemed a world apart from the city official he was in the past life.

Even, judging by his appearance, he looked several years older than the Zhang Wenbin she saw later.

Lin Jiayi rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was mistaken, when she heard Li Dongmei introducing him to Old Mrs. Li and Li Guangyuan who had come out to greet them.

"Mom, big brother, this is Zhang Wenbin, just call him Wenbin," said Li Dongmei.

Zhang Wenbin was also sizing up the yard at the time.

The dilapidated wall surrounded three shabby rooms, and the yard too was in disarray.

Farming tools were piled on one side, firewood on the other, with chickens and ducks running all over, their droppings everywhere.

One could even smell a stinking odor in the air, as if coming from the pigsty.

Zhang Wenbin thought of Qin Juan’s home, also a rural household, but the Qin Family’s yard was always tidy and clean.

The Qin Family also raised chickens and pigs, but they were all penned up, certainly not running amok and defecating all over the yard.

As he was thinking, he felt something soft underfoot. Looking down, he noticed chicken droppings on the sole of his shoe.

Li Guangyuan had already come to greet him, after all, this was the man his sister brought home, likely soon to be his brother-in-law.

Li Guangyuan greeted Zhang Wenbin, but saw that the other didn’t even glance at him and was looking down at something with disgust.

Following his gaze, he saw the chicken droppings Zhang Wenbin had stepped in.

With a laugh he said, "Our countryside is like this, can’t compare to you city folks, just rub it off and it’ll be fine."

While speaking, he even demonstrated to Zhang Wenbin how to scrape the chicken poop off his shoe soles on the ground.

Zhang Wenbin wished he could just throw the shoes away but knew it wasn’t possible, so he had no choice but to bear the disgust and learn to scrape his shoes against the ground like Li Guangyuan.

After he had scraped the chicken poop clean, he followed Li Guangyuan into the house.

Old Mrs. Li watched the new son-in-law who hadn’t yet entered the door, her gaze growing even deeper.

Li Dongmei saw the look on her mother’s face and knew it wasn’t a good sign, hurriedly calling to Zhang Wenbin, "Brother Bin, didn’t you buy some pastries for Mom?"

Then she turned to Old Mrs. Li with a big smile and said, "Mom, Brother Bin knows you like peach pastries, so he specially bought the best ones from the grocery store in town."

At this moment, Zhang Wenbin also remembered that this was his first visit to someone’s home, and he had come empty-handed.

Even though he wasn’t fully satisfied with the Li Family, he did want to marry Li Dongmei as his wife, and his upbringing wouldn’t allow him to visit without bringing anything.

But when he turned to look at the handle of the car, where was the shadow of any pastries?

Li Dongmei was also stunned, suddenly recalling how they had to rush on the road earlier because of the villagers’ rubbernecking, hurriedly pushing the bicycle away, and actually forgetting the pastries.

It was Zhang Wenbin’s first visit to her home, and of course, Li Dongmei didn’t want him to lose face, so she quickly explained, "Oh dear, look at my memory. Brother Bin clearly gave me money to buy the pastries, and I managed to forget. Mom, don’t be angry. I’ll give you the money in a bit, whether it’s money or pastries, it’s all Brother Bin’s kind intentions towards you."

Old Mrs. Li knew her daughter’s little schemes all too well, but what she thought was even more likely was that Zhang Wenbin had never intended to buy pastries for her.

Perhaps the money for the pastries mentioned by her daughter was added by the daughter herself.

Thinking about her older son-in-law, whom she didn’t have much respect for, he at least brought three gifts when he first visited.

Her younger daughter boasts about her city-dwelling son-in-law, yet he didn’t even bring a crumb of pastry.

This was clearly a sign of looking down upon them.

Regardless, since the guest had arrived, they still had to be treated well, so Old Mrs. Li had Lin Jiayi quickly prepare a meal, while she went inside the house.

Lin Jiayi watched the scene unfold as if it was a joke, feeling somewhat unreal.

But she didn’t say anything, and surprisingly, a sense of schadenfreude arose in her heart.

She remembered Qin Juan’s husband was no good fellow, later hearing that he would beat his wife, often leaving Qin Juan covered with bruises.

It was only when her own daughter came to the Qin Family for help that they found out what kind of life Qin Juan had been living through those years.

Qin Han and his wife had turned upside down the Zhang Family; Zhang Wenbin’s reputation at work had suffered, which led him to restrain himself a bit.

Although she didn’t know how Qin Juan managed to divorce in this lifetime, somehow Zhang Wenbin got entangled with the younger sister-in-law.

Lin Jiayi was quite looking forward to seeing whether they could make it work.

Weren’t they always complaining about the matches she found for Li Hongmei not being good enough?

Didn’t they think that her matchmaking was throwing them into a pit of fire, looking down on the people she found for them?

She wanted to see what kind of spectacle Li Dongmei and Zhang Wenbin could make of their life together.

Lin Jiayi wasn’t disappointed indeed, as trouble erupted during the meal.

Today’s two pounds of meat, Lin Jiayi cooked most of it into braised pork, and a small part was stir-fried with vegetables.

Selling vegetables at home, the meal at noon appeared quite lavish.

Eight dishes, both cold and hot.

When serving, Li Dongmei, to cater to Zhang Wenbin, placed the braised pork, which should have been in the center, in front of him.

Throughout the meal, Li Guangyuan kept toasting, Zhang Wenbin barely drank a few sips of alcohol, but he went on eating meat, one piece after another without end.

A big bowl of braised pork was almost entirely consumed by Zhang Wenbin’s stomach.