Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 343

“They scold her, suppress her, and order her around all the time, just because she didn’t give birth to a son? But I, Zhao Tiesheng, have never looked down on her. So what if she’s a daughter? She can still take care of me in my old age.”

"Jinxiang has treated me very well. Over the years, she has taken good care of me and made me obedient. I'm the one who has let her down. I haven't been able to give her a good life, and I can't even afford to build her a new house. I've been looking for Cheng Jinxiang all month, trying to get her to come back to the Zhao family and live with me, but you've stopped me time and time again. Mom, do you really consider me your son? You paid for my older brother's new house, and you let my younger brother live in our old brick house when he got married, but I, the second son, am stuck living in this cold and dilapidated storage shed. Mom, tell me, do you really consider me your son?"

Zhao Tiesheng felt wronged. Looking at Wang Guixiang's evasive expression, he asked with red eyes, "Mom, answer me."

Wang Guixiang was annoyed by the questions, so she waved her hand impatiently, "If you're here to pick a fight with me because of that woman, then get lost. I'm annoyed just looking at you!"

In Wang Guixiang's eyes, the children she loved the most were Zhao Chunqin and Zhao Tiegang, whom she had personally raised. Zhao Tiesheng and the older children were raised by their grandmother. In terms of affection, Wang Guixiang favored the children she had raised, and Zhao Tiesheng noticed this favoritism.

He was very resentful, but there was no point in asking any further questions. He had seen through Wang Guixiang; in her heart, she probably didn't even consider him her son.

And Zhao Chunqin is the same; she never treated him like her second brother. You could tell from that day in the county town. If she really considered him her second brother, she should have come out to greet him when he knocked on the door, instead of hiding in her room pretending not to be home, just to avoid paying back the money.

Ironically, it was only now that he saw Zhao Chunqin's true colors, and he even let Zhao Chunqin take the gold bracelet, which broke Cheng Jinxiang's heart.

Zhao Tiesheng was extremely remorseful. The only people standing beside him who were thinking of him were his wife and daughter, yet he had treated them this way and refused to listen to their explanations. Zhao Tiesheng felt incredibly regretful.

After leaving the Zhao family, Zhao Tiesheng lacked the courage to go back to Cheng Jinxiang and apologize. Instead, he went to a small tavern and bought some alcohol to numb himself.

Life goes on, and it's another brand new day.

Since the construction permit was issued, Cheng Jinxiang has been busy every day. He wrapped Zhao Xiaojuan in cotton cloth, carried her on his back, and cleaned up the clutter in the backyard of the Zhao family.

This is the land she plans to use to build her new house. Recently, the weather has warmed up and it's not so cold anymore, so some weeds have grown. This area was already abandoned, with piles of discarded bricks, wood, and stone slabs.

These are all leftover materials from when the Zhao family built their new house. They didn't want them anymore and had nowhere to throw them away, so they left them here.

Cheng Jinxiang's task was to clear away all the clutter, and for this she even borrowed a small cart from her uncle Zhao Tingming.

Zhao Da'e also arrived, but before starting work, she habitually took a little break, sitting on a big rock. She held a candy in one hand, unwrapped it, ate a piece, and then lazed around yawning.

Cheng Jinxiang, noticing Zhao Da'e slacking off, came over and grabbed Zhao Da'e's ear, saying, "You little rascal, since you're here, do your job properly and stop being lazy. Help Mom clear away these newly grown weeds on the ground."

Cheng Jinxiang tugged at Zhao Da'e's ear, but not too hard. Zhao Da'e poked his mouth and shouted, "I know, Mom, I'll get to work right away."

With the new house under construction, the task has become more demanding, and Zhao Da'e won't have much time to rest anymore.

Zhao Da'e had no choice but to pick up the small hoe and dig at the weeds on the ground. Cheng Jinxiang was wearing thick gloves to prevent being injured by sharp objects.

Cheng Jinxiang put the old wooden planks and bricks on the ground into the cart. After repeating this action several times, Cheng Jinxiang felt a little sore in her waist.

After giving birth to Zhao Xiaojuan, Cheng Jinxiang stayed at the Cheng family home to recuperate for more than a month. Although she occasionally did some housework, she had never done any hard labor. Cleaning up clutter and moving heavy objects like this was a bit too much for Cheng Jinxiang.

Just then, Zhao Da'e noticed the person coming down the path, and she immediately waved and said, "Dad, I'm here!"

After Zhao Tiesheng sobered up, he heard his nephew Zhao Yongbo say that he saw Cheng Jinxiang and Zhao Dage pushing a cart past their house. Zhao Tiesheng immediately guessed that the two were coming to the Zhao family's backyard to deal with the miscellaneous items. After all, his family was going to build a new house in this area. He knew Cheng Jinxiang and knew his wife's obsession with building a new house.

This place is said to be the Zhao family's backyard, but it is actually a deserted area. It takes about five or six minutes to walk from the Zhao family's house. Backed by the mountain, this area is very flat and suitable for building a new house.

Upon learning that his wife and daughter might be there, Zhao Tiesheng rushed over immediately. When he saw Cheng Jinxiang carrying large stones, Zhao Tiesheng felt sorry for her and took the stones from her hands, helping her put them into the cart. He said with concern, "Jinxiang, you can ask me to do this kind of heavy work. You just gave birth not long ago, so you don't need to do this kind of heavy work."

As he spoke, Zhao Tiesheng glanced at Zhao Dage, who was weeding nearby, and couldn't help but complain, "Dage, really, you see your mother moving stones here, and you don't even come to help."

Zhao Da'e, who was weeding nearby: ...

She looked at Zhao Tiesheng in disbelief, shrugged, and pointed to herself. "You mean you want a little girl who's barely tall enough to fit in a stroller to move a huge rock into the stroller?"

"Her biological father really thinks highly of her," Zhao Da'e thought to herself.

On the other side, Zhao Tiesheng felt both guilty and heartbroken towards Cheng Jinxiang. He couldn't even look her in the eye. Yesterday, he had confidently promised that Zhao Chunqin would definitely repay the money, and that he had even personally returned the gold bracelet to her. In the end, however, Zhao Chunqin refused to repay a single penny. Zhao Tiesheng deeply regretted not listening to a word Cheng Jinxiang had said. But there was no going back. No matter how much he regretted it, he couldn't go back to yesterday. The only thing he could do now was to help Cheng Jinxiang as much as possible and make amends to her, so that he could feel a little better.

When Cheng Jinxiang saw Zhao Tiesheng trying to curry favor, she sneered, shook off Zhao Tiesheng's hand, and didn't want him to help. "What are you doing here? Instead of helping your old mother and younger sister, why are you here getting in my way? I've already said that I'll build the new house myself. I don't need your help. And you're not allowed to move in when the new house is built."

Cheng Jinxiang was clearly still angry and was still dwelling on what happened yesterday.

Zhao Tiesheng immediately admitted his mistake, "Jinxiang, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn't have not stood by your side yesterday. I also realized that my mother and younger sister don't even see me as their son or second brother."

Thinking of this, Zhao Tiesheng's eyes reddened. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. He asked himself how much he had given to the Zhao family.

He subsidized most of the Zhao family's household expenses, and he also paid for most of his younger sister's college tuition. Some of the money he painstakingly saved was embezzled by his own mother, and a large portion of it was lent to Zhao Chunqin. When his family really needed money, Zhao Chunqin made all sorts of excuses and refused to pay it back. Even his own parents wouldn't help him by contributing money to build a new house.

Zhao Tiesheng harbored resentment. When his elder brother got married, his parents gave 20,000 yuan to build a new house for him. Although his sister-in-law forced his parents to give the money, they still gave it to him.

There's also my third brother, who's usually lazy and doesn't do any work, yet he gets to live in a tile-roofed house, which is more comfortable than my own. My mother even favors my third brother.

I'm stuck in the middle, and the one who puts in the most effort gets scolded for being useless.

Zhao Tiesheng's heart turned cold. In the end, he realized that the only people who truly cared about him were his wife and daughter, his own little family.

For so many years, he has only cared about the greater good and neglected his own family, and has repeatedly driven Cheng Jinxiang away from him.

Zhao Tiesheng felt that if he didn't do something soon, he was afraid he would really become a lifelong bachelor.

Cheng Jinxiang was already deeply hurt. She had heard Zhao Tiesheng apologize many times during her postpartum period, but in the end, what did he do? Zhao Tiesheng still didn't change.

When she and Wang Guixiang had a conflict, Zhao Tiesheng immediately sided with Wang Guixiang and blamed her without even knowing the facts. Cheng Jinxiang had had enough of this kind of life.

Even when she asked Zhao Chunqin for money, Zhao Tiesheng stood firmly by her family's side and spoke on their behalf. Not to mention getting the money back, with Zhao Tiesheng around, Cheng Jinxiang wouldn't get a single penny of her hard-earned money back.

"Get out! I don't want to see you right now! What's the use of admitting your mistake? What's done is done. Do you think you can just let it all go with a simple apology? What about all the grievances I suffered?"

Cheng Jinxiang's chest heaved violently with anger, and she even shoved Zhao Tiesheng hard, trying to get as far away from him as possible.

She said harshly, "If we can't even get this 40,000 yuan back, I think we shouldn't live like this anymore. Let's get a divorce."

Cheng Jinxiang has been thinking a lot these days. She was already extremely disappointed with Zhao Tiesheng's actions during her postpartum period. She thought she could endure it for the sake of the child and the 40,000 yuan she hadn't gotten back. But she couldn't get the 40,000 yuan back. Zhao Tiesheng was on the side of his mother and younger sister. What was the point of keeping such a man around? It would be better to get a divorce and never see him again.

Anyway, since Da'e is doing business in the city, she can simply leave the countryside and stop building a new house. She can move to the city to find work, and with her daughter earning money in the city, she can still live a comfortable life.

Cheng Jinxiang was already prepared to give up entirely, but she was heartbroken over the 40,000 yuan. Giving up was out of the question. In a few days, she would go to Zhao Chunqin's workplace again to cause a scene, hoping to get back as much money as she could.

When Zhao Tiesheng heard that Zhao Chunqin wanted a divorce, he panicked. No matter how much he and Cheng Jinxiang argued before, they had never been so angry about divorce. It seemed that Cheng Jinxiang was really hurt this time.

If he doesn't win his wife back soon, he might really end up a bachelor.

Zhao Tiesheng grew anxious and grabbed Cheng Jinxiang's hand, refusing to leave. His eyes were red as he looked at Cheng Jinxiang, and then he resolutely knelt down before her, slapping himself repeatedly.

He kept saying with remorse, "Jinxiang, it was my fault, it's all my fault. I made you suffer so much. If you want to hit or scold me, take it out on me. We've been married for so many years, and we've overcome all kinds of hardships. Jinxiang, I can't live without you, and I can't live without you! Give me another chance. This time I will definitely change and I won't ignore your feelings again. If you and Mom have a conflict, I will definitely stand by your side immediately. From now on, if you tell me to go east, I will never go west, and if you tell me to go west, I will never go east!"

This scene stunned Cheng Jinxiang, and Zhao Da'e also covered her mouth in surprise. Including her previous life, this was the first time she had ever seen Zhao Tiesheng kneel down. In her impression, Zhao Tiesheng was a person who loved face and suffered for it, but now he was able to put aside his pride and kneel down to Cheng Jinxiang.

Looking at the slap mark on Zhao Tiesheng's face, Cheng Jinxiang felt extremely conflicted, but this was far from enough.

“If you can get back the 40,000 yuan that Zhao Chunqin owes us, then we can still live together. If you can’t get it back, then we shouldn’t live together anymore.”

Cheng Jinxiang said each word carefully, she was serious, "I'm going to the county town in a few days to make a scene at Zhao Chunqin's workplace, until she pays back the money. Between me and Zhao Chunqin, you can only choose one. If you still side with your own family, then this is the end of the world. We should just get a divorce."

Cheng Jinxiang knew that if Zhao Tiesheng chose Zhao Chunqin, it meant that he was on the side of his family and would not care about her own little family. Even if they lived like this, she would not care about these things. In the future, no matter how much money the couple earned, it would be taken by the Zhao family, who were like bloodsuckers. They would never be able to save any money and would never be able to build a new house. She might not even be able to save enough for her daughter's school fees.

It's better to nip this in the bud than let it happen. Either Zhao Tiesheng stands firmly by her side and helps her get the money back, which means life is still manageable. Or Zhao Tiesheng chooses his family and divorces her, so she can raise her two daughters alone and live comfortably.

Without hesitation, Zhao Tiesheng replied, "Jinxiang, I choose you, I definitely choose you! Chunqin is such an ingrate. I trusted her so much and treated her so well. In the end, she took the money and didn't pay it back, she's full of lies and has no respect for me at all. I only saw Zhao Chunqin's true colors after I suffered this loss. Jinxiang, now I'll do whatever you tell me to do, and I will never listen to my mother again. If it weren't for my mother lending all her money to Chunqin, we might have already built our new house. My mother is so biased."

Zhao Tiesheng's resentment towards Wang Guixiang had been building up for a long time, but it finally erupted this time. Wang Guixiang favored Zhao Chunqin and helped him deceive him into giving her the gold bracelet.

Wang Guixiang couldn't see his efforts, but she would criticize him relentlessly for all his shortcomings.