CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 079 TREAT HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND SOUL

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By the time he returned at noon, it was almost twelve o’clock, showing that the Xie Family was indeed a large clan. A casual chat with one household, blessings from an auntie in another, and three hours had passed!

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Shanni hurriedly prepared a meal of mixed grain dough soup with two seasonal green vegetables as today’s lunch.

Today was the seventh day since Xie Jingchen returned home. Due to the busy days arranging the wedding banquet, this was the first time he could help his mother with chores.

Firstly, the Xie family house was located at the foot of the mountain, close to the wild ridges. From time to time, creatures like weasels and wild boars would mistakenly intrude into the courtyard, either stealing chickens or destroying crops and walls. Each time he returned home, he would fix the surrounding walls thoroughly, ensuring the personal safety of his family members.

After all, everyone has their expertise. He served as a military guard, and his survival skills in the wilderness were top-notch. He was quite aware of what species were on the mountain. Thus, that afternoon, he was maintaining the walls on the mountain or setting up small hidden stakes to secure the safety of his home and occasionally catch some game, adding an extra dish to the family’s meals.

Then he went to the other side of the mountain to fetch various sizes of green bamboo. He had promised to make a simple bamboo water pipe for his young wife by hand. With only two days left before his departure, he was preoccupied and started working non-stop whenever he had the chance.

Seeing her husband busy, Zhang Shanni kept herself occupied too. Her husband had taken only a ten-day leave, and excluding the travel time, he could stay at most two more nights at home, so her time was also limited.

When Xie Jingchen returned home, he brought nothing but his military uniform and a backpack. The contents of the backpack were specialty grains and tonic medicinal herbs given by his colleagues from the military.

Speaking of which, the financial situation of the Old Xie Family had only gradually improved over the past two years. In previous years, the money was spent on his siblings’ weddings, dowries, or their children’s births, and there were joyful events every year, keeping savings low. Naturally, the most expensive expenditure was securing a spot at the Industrial and Agricultural University for Fifth two years ago, which drained all the money Zhou Xiuhua had!

Originally, that money had been saved by Zhou Xiuhua over several years specifically for the Third Son’s wedding, but in the end, it was spent on Fifth.

Because of this, after Fifth started school, Zhou Xiuhua allowed the Third Son to send only twenty yuan home each month and save the rest for himself, otherwise, as a mother, with one aid here and another concern there, the money would still not end up being used for the Third Son!

Fortunately, Xie Jingchen was family-oriented and capable. Eager to improve the living conditions of his family, no amount of money spent was too much for him, giving Xie Tiesheng the confidence to arrange a good start for several children in the family.

Speaking of which, each of the Xie children was outstanding. The Boss might seem to only handle household chores, but with Xie Tiesheng’s support in the village and Xie Jingchen’s efforts to secure odd jobs downtown or in the county through old military buddies, although his income couldn’t match that of the Fourth Family, it was not insignificant.

Most importantly, the accountant position in the village, which was clearly meant to be inherited by the Boss, made the Xu Family even more eager to cling to Son-in-law Xie Jingwei.

Initially, the Xu Family heard that Mrs. Xie intended for her Third Son, Xie Jingchen, to marry a local rural girl. After hearing from their daughter, the Xu Family intended to pick a suitable match from within their relatives to propose a marriage. Yet, to their surprise, Zhang Shanni unexpectedly intercepted this opportunity, causing all Xu Family’s hopes to be dashed.

This is the reason behind Xu Xiaofen’s resentment and disapproval of Zhang Shanni.

Xie Laoer married into the town, her husband sustained by a government job, Xie Jingchen arranged for Fourth to become a minor supervisor in his forging factory, Fifth was studying at the Workers and Farmers Military University and would likely secure a job, and even the youngest, Lao Liu, driven by Xie Jingchen’s encouragement, was studying hard, hoping to become the first legitimate university student in the Xie Family come October.

Looking at it, each of the six children from the Xie Family was set to achieve something notable in the future.

No wonder, during the previous family reunion banquet, many aunties subtly expressed their envy towards Zhang Shanni for her good fortune: not only did she manage to ditch Lin Gouzi from Old Lin Village, but she also completely severed ties with her unreliable family. Most importantly, she caught the eye of Xie Laoer, Xie Jingchen, who promptly married her and brought her home.

And judging by how much Xie Jingchen cared [as evident from the level of the gifts], he was quite satisfied with Zhang Shanni as his wife, treating her extravagantly! Not to mention the various items, plenty of meat, and sweets, even including candy – truly a source of envy for others!

Zhang Shanni, clever and aided by spiritual power, was well aware of the gossips behind her back and was quite pleased about it, thereby genuinely investing more into her relationship with her husband.

She carefully considered the available ingredients at home, and although she had distributed some game to each household in the morning, there was still no shortage of meat at home, thanks to Brother Rong Wei’s skilled hunting. Considering her husband had to travel by train for a day and a night, and then trek back to the military region through mountain roads by late night, it would be dreadful if he encountered danger while hungry.

Key was, aside from her as the new wife, only Zhou Xiuhua, who favored Third the most, was at home. Hearing that Third Son’s Wife wanted to prepare some dry food for Third to take on the train as emergency rations, her only role was to support, not to interfere.

Besides, over these few days, Zhang Shanni’s efficiency and cooking skills had won over the entire Xie Family, leaving Zhou Xiuhua utterly reassured in letting her handle the meals, completely unconcerned about any waste.

"Hmm~Ah~Ah~Hmm~~" Zhang Shanni hummed a tuneless melody as she chopped and seasoned the meat.

In the same kitchen, Zhou Xiuhua, who was chopping pig feed, glanced over at her bustling daughter-in-law. Just hearing those sounds brought a sense of happiness and lightness. Since she had never experienced such herself, she chuckled, shook her head, and left the kitchen to Zhang Shanni to manage alone, as she had her husband’s and grandsons’ laundry to wash.

Previously, she had no control, but now, at least her husband was under her care, and she couldn’t let her man go hungry.

Thinking hard and combining the available seasonings at home, she decided to make some spicy salty meat strips which her husband could chew on whenever he was hungry. It would not only satisfy hunger but also leave some to take back to the military unit, serving as a nice snack either for himself or as a gift for colleagues.

While stewing the meat, Zhang Shanni also made two sets of changeable clothes for her husband, choosing slightly thicker fabric in anticipation of the approaching winter. She lined them with a layer of fine velvet, a material that certainly wouldn’t have been available in that era.

Nevertheless, considering Xie Jingchen, she doubted that he would be so petty – or rather, meticulous – as to cut open his new clothes to inspect the fabric’s material. As for any unexpected incidents that might reveal the secrets of the fabric, she wasn’t worried. If he couldn’t even trust her at a basic level, she would think nothing of parting ways.

Now, she acknowledged Xie Jingchen’s place in her heart and treated their marriage seriously. If being wholeheartedly good to him was wrong, she wouldn’t regret leaving him one bit.

Zhang Shanni admitted, although she was emotional and tender-hearted, she was capable of being rational when necessary and keeping control of herself.