Reborn on My Wedding Night: This Time, I Won't Fail My Soldier Husband
Exactly one month from now, she would be following Lu Yuzhou to his military post, so she decided to give all the cashed-out money to her eldest brother and sister-in-law to help subsidize the household.
That way, her eldest brother wouldn't always have to take on such grueling odd jobs.
Dong Shuyao had never been short of money, and the gifts she gave Shen Zhinian were all things he had hinted at wanting, so they were naturally quite valuable.
But Shen Jiguo didn't know that!
He had been a director for decades and was a key technical expert at the factory; he was used to people catering to him, so when had he ever been humiliated like this?
He snorted, "That is exactly what should be done. How much money? I will cash it out for you right now."
With such a temper, daring to talk back to an elder after just a few words—it was a good thing his son, Anian, hadn't married this shrew.
"Uncle Shen, you can look it up yourself. The Sanyang dual-cassette recorder is five hundred yuan, the Meihua watch is four hundred and thirty yuan, and there is also a foreign imported fountain pen for one hundred and twenty yuan."
"What?"
Shen Jiguo was so shocked that his voice cracked, "How much did you say?"
"Don't be in such a rush, Uncle Shen!"
Dong Shuyao smiled and said, "I've only picked out a few expensive items to cash out. The health supplements I gave you and Auntie Zhang over the years don't count, and I won't ask for the miscellaneous small gifts I gave Shen Zhinian either. However, since you insisted on cashing them out for me, I'll even round down that total of over a thousand; just give me one thousand, and we'll call it even."
One thousand yuan!!
This was... this was a year and a half of Shen Jiguo's salary.
And to any other ordinary worker, it was an astronomical figure.
They couldn't afford to pay it back even if they sold everything they owned.
Dong Shuyao had truly been incredibly good to Shen Zhinian.
But were the Shen family members a bit lacking in manners?
They weren't even together, yet he still accepted such expensive gifts from a young woman.
The key point was that no one had ever heard of Shen Zhinian giving her any gifts of equal value in return!
That didn't seem right!
"I..."
There were many workers in the state-run restaurant grabbing a bite, and those who could afford to eat there held positions no lower than Shen Jiguo's.
He really couldn't afford to lose face like this.
His calloused hand trembled as he reached for his breast pocket, his face deathly pale: "I don't have that much on me. Can I pay you five hundred first?"
Those five hundred yuan represented their entire family's living expenses for a year.
If only he hadn't opened his mouth to speak.
Dong Shuyao immediately walked over and held out both hands to receive the five hundred yuan: "Thank you, Uncle Shen. You really are a reasonable person. Next time, Yuzhou and I will come to visit you and Auntie Zhang again. We'll be going now; enjoy your meal, Uncle Shen."
If she didn't leave now, Dong Shuyao was worried Shen Jiguo might collapse on the floor and try to frame her.
She couldn't let the money she'd already gotten fly away.
"Wait!"
Lu Yuzhou grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from the restaurant counter: "Write an IOU! Director Shen!"
He had never even received a gift from his own wife, so why did Shen Zhinian deserve one?
He could buy his own stuff with his own money!
Shen Jiguo wanted to renege on the debt; if he paid another five hundred, he would have to borrow money just to get by.
But just as he was about to speak, Lu Yuzhou turned to the stunned Dong Shuyao: "Wife, do you still have the receipts for the gifts you gave that Shen fellow?"
"I do!"
Dong Shuyao nodded vigorously: "I don't have them for the cheap miscellaneous stuff, but the few items I just mentioned were all bought at the department store, and the receipts and warranty cards are still there."
Only then did Lu Yuzhou look at Shen Jiguo with a blank expression, tilting his head to signal him to write the IOU quickly.
Many people in this restaurant were from the sugar factory, and not everyone got along with Shen Jiguo.
There were quite a few people eyeing his position as director.
Money could be earned back, but losing his job would be a real disaster.
Besides, his own son had already become an engineer at the state-run machinery factory and would be handing over his monthly salary to him, so things would get better soon.
Most importantly, he couldn't let gossip reach the ears of his superiors.
With a livid face, Shen Jiguo unwillingly wrote down the debt on the white paper and signed his name.
Lu Yuzhou tossed a box of red ink paste over with a cold face: "Put your thumbprint on it."
"You!"
This was too insulting!
Shen Jiguo's face turned from green to red: "Are you afraid I'll welsh on the debt?"
"Yes!"
Lu Yuzhou didn't give him any face at all, nodding directly to show that he truly didn't trust the character of the Shen family.
Dong Shuyao had never seen so many colors on one person's face; it was as spectacular as a painter's palette.
After pressing his humiliating thumbprint, Shen Jiguo lost his appetite for the meal and stormed off with a look of extreme displeasure.
On the back of the bicycle—
Dong Shuyao laughed until she was swaying back and forth: "Did you see that? That old thing's face turned black. He definitely won't let Shen Zhinian off the hook when he gets home."
As long as Shen Zhinian was miserable, she was happy.
Lu Yuzhou didn't laugh; a look of heartache appeared in the depths of his eyes.
Shen Zhinian must have let Yaoyao down; otherwise, how could she have changed so much overnight?
Thinking of this, the heartache in his eyes turned into cold sharpness.
Dong Shuyao, sitting behind him, was completely unaware of this; she only liked this Lu Yuzhou, who stood up for her, even more.
At the entrance of the military compound, Lu Zechuan was looking out with eager eyes, sitting outside the iron gate and muttering: "Why hasn't Auntie come back yet?"
Li Long, the guard in the sentry box wearing a military uniform, teased him on purpose: "Your auntie lied to you; she won't buy you anything good."
It was originally just to tease the little boy, but who knew a little girl nearby would say seriously: "Dong Shuyao only buys good things for me. You little glutton, she won't give you any."
Lu Zechuan's mouth puckered, and he burst into tears: "I'm not playing with you anymore, boo-hoo-hoo... I want Auntie... boo-hoo-hoo..."
Auntie is good; Auntie will buy him treats.
"Shame on you! Shame on you!"
Jiang Xiaohua stuck out her tongue and said provokingly: "You're a boy and you cry so much. It serves you right that your dad is a crippled loser, a crippled loser, you little glutton."
Lu Zechuan was not even four years old, while Jiang Xiaohua was already eight or nine; how could he possibly win an argument against her?
Feeling wronged, little Zechuan cried even harder, tears streaming down his face.
"Hey! What kind of way is that to talk to a child?"
Just as Li Long was about to come out of the guardhouse, he saw a goose-yellow figure rush over like a flash and scoop Lu Zechuan into her arms: "What's wrong, Chuanbao? Tell Auntie who bullied you?"
Lu Zechuan opened his eyes, his crying subsiding, and hugged Dong Shuyao's neck: "Auntie likes me; Auntie buys me treats."
His pouting, sobbing face with a slightly red nose looked both pitiful and adorable.
"Of course!"
Dong Shuyao replied in an exaggerated tone: "Auntie likes Chuanbao the most. The winter melon candy, fried rice crackers, and cat-ear cookies that Chuanbao asked for—Auntie bought them all!"
"Are they for me?"
Lu Zechuan glanced cautiously at Jiang Xiaohua, then looked at Dong Shuyao with expectation.
"Of course!"
Dong Shuyao pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe the tear stains from his face: "Everything Auntie bought is for our Zebao."
Only then did Lu Zechuan break into a smile, looking at Jiang Xiaohua with great triumph, and said fiercely: "I won't give you any; they're all Zebao's."
Jiang Xiaohua was so angry that she picked up a stone from the ground and prepared to throw it.
Dong Shuyao shielded Lu Zechuan, turning around and bowing her head.
It didn't matter if it hit her back, but she couldn't let it hurt Zechuan.