But back then, he truly wasn’t good enough for her. Not only would he have been unable to give her a good life, but he might have even caused her more harm. Because of that, he hadn’t dared to speak up.
Now, thanks to his younger sister, their family had encountered a turning point. After this incident, no one would ever gossip about them again.
Therefore, he wanted to marry her.
"No problem, I support you. Wait here a moment," Mother Bai said, delighted to hear her son’s words.
Although she always said she’d leave her sons’ marriages up to them, how could a mother not be anxious? It would be so nice for her son to have a caring wife by his side. His marriage had been delayed for so long because of their family’s circumstances, but now that he had finally figured things out, how could she not be happy? Leaving the table, Mother Bai headed back to her room.
Bai Jiu guessed that her mother was probably going to get money. But as his younger sister, she couldn’t be stingy either. She chuckled inwardly, knowing that the bright red four-piece bedding sets with blooming peony patterns in her spatial dimension were finally going to be of use.
Just as Bai Jiu had expected, Mother Bai emerged with money and ration coupons in hand.
"I don’t know what requirements the Xiang Family might have, but our family can’t mistreat someone else’s daughter. I don’t have much money on hand, only about two hundred yuan. I’ll keep a little for the family’s food and living expenses, but the rest is all yours. You can figure out how to manage it," Mother Bai said. Normally, as the future mother-in-law, she should be the one to step forward and negotiate the marriage, but she felt it would be better to just give the money to her son and let him make his own decisions.
"I know it isn’t much money," she continued. "Nowadays, everyone asks for the ’three rounds and a sound’—a bicycle, a watch, a sewing machine, and a radio—for a wedding, but our family’s previous financial situation is no secret. Xingguo, if the Xiang Family makes any harsh remarks, just bear with it." Looking at their meager savings, Mother Bai felt quite awful.
Two hundred yuan really wasn’t much, at least not in town, though it was considered a decent amount in the countryside.
Looking at the money and ration coupons placed on the table, everyone’s mood temporarily sank.
Bai Xingguo opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.
Bai Jiu knew exactly what her eldest brother was thinking, but none of these issues were actual problems to her. She was currently as rich as ten ten-thousand-yuan households; she truly didn’t care about such a trifling sum.
"Mother, this is the money the Li and Wang families paid us in compensation today. You keep it." Bai Jiu pulled out two hundred yuan from her pocket and placed it on the table. "As for the wedding supplies, you don’t need to worry. Haven’t I bought a lot of cotton and fabric over the past couple of days? We’ll prioritize letting my eldest brother use them first. You don’t need to prepare the quilt covers or anything either, Mother. I have a friend who has connections in Sea City. I’ll ask her to help me figure something out."
She had no intention of telling anyone about her spatial dimension. Not even her biological parents. She wasn’t even going to tell her children, so she could only make up excuses.
"The wedding banquet dishes will be simple," she added. "When the time comes, we can ask the Xiang Family to help buy the meat, and we’ll just pay them back."
She said it casually, but everyone knew that would be another massive expense.
"Don’t waste the little money you have in your hands. Keep it safe and focus on living a good life with your children. Your mother and I will figure out the rest," Father Bai said with a solemn expression, having made up his mind.
Although she didn’t know what method he was referring to, Bai Jiu didn’t want to make things too difficult for her maiden family, mainly because she had the resources herself. Furthermore, her maiden family treated her genuinely well. Even though she had only been with them for two days, their heartfelt care and concern couldn’t be faked.
She was fine in every other aspect, but she lacked love. In her original world, she had no affinity with family. Her parents had died early, and her relatives were all like rapacious wolves and tigers. She sighed inwardly. It was rare for her to experience the warmth of family, so she would treat her contributions as paying a fair price for this familial affection. She didn’t mind giving, nor did she seek anything in return; she only wanted to feel happy and at peace with herself.
"Father, Mother, don’t be like this. I know what you’re planning to do, but can you really bear to part with those things?" Bai Jiu asked with a sigh. "Grandpa left those to us. Regardless of whether they can be shown in public right now, I know there will definitely come a day when they can see the light again. By then, it will be too late for us to regret selling them."
Wasn’t Father Bai just thinking of selling off the family’s hidden heirlooms for cash? It really wasn’t necessary.
"Mother, we’re a family. There’s truly no need to treat me like an outsider," she continued. "Besides, Zhijun is gone now. I’ll definitely have to rely on my maiden family in the future. Are you planning on not taking me in?"
Since the opportunity had presented itself, Bai Jiu also revealed her desire to return to the city.
Hearing her daughter’s words, Mother Bai felt sorrowful once again. Her daughter was widowed at such a young age and still had two children to raise. How was she going to survive in the future? Returning to the city wouldn’t be that easy either. Mother Bai sighed silently. She didn’t even know if marrying her off to the countryside back then had been the right or wrong decision.
Seeing Mother Bai wiping away her tears, Xiuxiu received a signal from her mother and immediately stepped forward to comfort her. "Grandma, Xiuxiu won’t leave you. I’ll stay home and keep you company."
"Oh, Grandma’s little sweetheart." If Xiuxiu hadn’t tried to comfort her, it might have been fine, but her words only made Mother Bai cry even more heartbreakingly. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought some tragedy had befallen the family.
Bai Xingguo and his two brothers also felt terrible. No matter what, they would never abandon their sister and her two children. They were all flesh and blood. If they couldn’t look out for one another, could they even be considered a family?
After Mother Bai had cried enough, she glanced at her husband.
"Jiu, give me three hundred yuan, and I’ll pass my job on to you. It might be a bit tiring, but at least you’ll have a chance to return to the city," Mother Bai said, having made the decision to give her job to her daughter. The money Bai Jiu paid would be considered the cost of buying the position.
How could Bai Jiu be willing to accept that?
"That won’t work." She honestly looked down on a job at the food factory. However, she had to admit that the Bai Family hadn’t had it easy all these years. Everyone’s jobs were either hard, exhausting, or low-paying.
"I won’t take your job. Even if I want to return to the city, I’ll just buy a job myself." She had already thought it through. Furthermore, her previous plan wasn’t to settle down in this town, but to move far away from here. Now that she had her maiden family, her plans were definitely going to change.
"Mother, just treat this money as a loan from me, alright? We have several workers in the family; are you really afraid you won’t be able to pay me back?" She finally understood that simply offering the money as a gift truly wasn’t going to work. Not only would her parents refuse to accept it, but her eldest brother and the others probably wouldn’t be willing to use her money either. On the first day she came back, Bai Xingguo had even asked Mother Bai to reimburse her for the groceries she had bought. She sighed inwardly. She just wanted to spend some money—why was it so difficult?
At this moment, Bai Xingguo spoke up. "Father, Mother, count this money as a personal loan from my younger sister to me. I’ll pay her back myself in the future." For the sake of his own happiness, he didn’t mind being in debt. At worst, he would just have to work a little harder and do more overtime.
"That won’t do," Bai Xingbang and Bai Xinghua chimed in upon hearing their eldest brother’s words.
"Brother, we’re a family. How can we let you pay it back all by yourself? We’ll do it together."
"Exactly, I’m a part of this family too."
Seeing his brothers act like this, Bai Xingguo felt quite happy, but this wasn’t a small amount of money, and he didn’t want to drag them down.
"There’s no need. I can pay it back myself."
"Brother, are you not treating us like your younger brothers by acting this way?" Bai Xingbang had a sharp tongue, and naturally, he hated it the most when family members acted like strangers.
Bai Xinghua felt the same way. The brothers had endured hardships together; how could they let a little bit of money drive a wedge between them?