Chapter 94: Chapter 1 Selling the Daughter for a Dowry (Seeking First Subscription)
"I didn’t! Today... today I was just unprepared and you ambushed me," Jiang Ziyan stubbornly refused to concede.
"Oh?"
Sun Dasheng reached downward with a wicked smile.
"Stop!"
She immediately stopped his mischievous hand.
Having maintained that embarrassing position earlier, letting him have his way, had indeed left her physically and mentally exhausted. It was somewhat strange; strictly speaking, the amount of activity wasn’t even half of her daily yoga routine, yet her body felt thoroughly fatigued for reasons she couldn’t understand. Completely drained of energy, there was no way she could take any more.
Sun Dasheng smoothly withdrew his hand and patted her buttocks with a smile. "Just teasing you. Go wash up, I’ll grab something to eat first."
After a proper breakfast, Jiang Ziyan finished freshening up. Perhaps fearful of the wolf-like man, she wrapped her coat tightly around herself. Seeing the dishes left on the dining table, she took them to the kitchen and washed them. Then, she grabbed the mop and cleaned up the traces left from their earlier skirmish in the living room.
After finishing her chores, she took a call about a family matter. She informed Sun Dasheng and then hastily left.
Not long after, she returned in tears.
When he opened the door and saw the lovely woman with red-rimmed eyes, Sun Dasheng felt a pang of heartache.
"What’s wrong? You were only gone for a little while, why are you crying like this? Who bullied you? Tell Brother Sun, and I’ll go teach them a lesson for you."
Without a word, the woman rushed forward, stood on her tiptoes, and pulled him into a kiss.
Sun Dasheng cooperatively wrapped his arms around her bottom, lifting her up to his waist. The two of them kissed passionately in the doorway.
A passing auntie happened to see them, muttering about the indecency of it all, yet her curious eyes lingered for a few more peeks.
Sun Dasheng simply lifted his foot and kicked the door shut.
Ha, that’s right. I’m not letting you watch.
"Tch! What’s there to see? Your auntie has seen it all." No sooner had the words left her mouth than the closed door began to shake.
The auntie’s eyes sparkled. Ooh, now this is a sight I’ve never seen before.
Because the people inside kept their voices low, the sounds that emerged were as faint as buzzing mosquitoes. This left her rather unsatisfied, so she pressed her ear to the door. However, the frequency of the door’s vibration was so intense that her face soon began to tingle. Cursing under her breath, she retreated a little.
Those noises? In our neck of the woods, that would be considered bottom-tier.
Half an hour passed, and the door continued its rhythmic shaking. The auntie sighed in admiration. That young man has some serious stamina!
An hour went by, and it was still going. The auntie was utterly shocked. The boy is remarkably talented!
It wasn’t until two hours later that the commotion at the door gradually subsided. The auntie found her legs wouldn’t quite obey her.
My feet have gone numb just from eavesdropping! She felt a bit numb all over herself. So fierce! Whose champion is in there?
"Mom, weren’t you going to take out the trash? Why are you still standing at the door?"
The next door opened, and a fat otaku stepped out and asked.
Seeing her corpulent, feeble son, the auntie felt a surge of irritation. The family was well-off, and she had arranged several dates for him, but every one of them had fallen through because he was lacking in a certain department.
She shoved the garbage bag into his hands. "All you do is stay home and play games. Look how fat you’ve become! You take out the trash. Get out and move around."
After speaking, she massaged her sore, numb legs, went inside, and slammed the door, leaving her bewildered otaku son standing outside.
The otaku looked at the trash bag in his hands, lost in thought. What’s gotten into Mom today? Could it be... she doesn’t love me anymore? This was treatment he had never experienced before.
「At Xiang Yiren’s Home」
In the bathtub, the two shared an intimate moment.
"I think there was someone outside just now. Weren’t you scared?" Sun Dasheng asked as he lathered the woman in his arms with shower gel.
A blush crept over Jiang Ziyan’s face. To say she wasn’t scared would be a lie. As a good girl, she had never done anything so bold. But for some reason, at that moment, I wasn’t scared at all. In fact, I was trembling with excitement. The thrill of the situation only made my body more exhilarated.
After their bath, he carried her to bed. Only then did he ask about what had happened earlier.
"Now, can you tell me why you came back so soon, crying your eyes out?"
Nuzzling her head in his warm embrace, Jiang Ziyan finally began to speak. "Today, Chen Chao and his family came to my house to propose."
The news was explosive right from the start.
"He still has the nerve to go there?" Sun Dasheng asked, astonished. After they had torn all pretense away and his true colors were revealed, he still had the gall to show up at their door.
"He was dragged there by his parents. But he didn’t dare tell them about the beastly things he’d done."
So that’s how it is. Sun Dasheng stroked her smooth arm and asked, "And then?"
"When my parents saw that they agreed to the bride price they had previously asked for, they happily consented to the marriage."
"The call I got earlier... that’s why I rushed back, to refuse the proposal." As she spoke, she kept her eyes on the man beside her. "I really didn’t have time to explain before, I..."
"You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong," Sun Dasheng said, gently covering her small mouth before letting go. "Just tell me what happened next."
Seeing his reaction, a faint smile touched Jiang Ziyan’s lips before her expression turned calm again. "As soon as I got home, I exposed his true colors right then and there. But who knew..."
At this, a look of pain crossed her face, and tears began to stream down her cheeks again.
Sun Dasheng gently wiped them away. "If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. If you were treated badly at home and don’t want to go back for now, you can stay here with Sister Yiren. Just tell her if you need anything, and I’ll have her take care of it for you."
"There’s no need! I can handle this much. Talking about it might actually make me feel better," Jiang Ziyan said, declining Sun Dasheng’s kind offer.
"Alright, then talk. I’m listening."
Sun Dasheng became the listener as Jiang Ziyan became the storyteller.
It turned out she had a brother who was several years older. "Idle at home" was the polite way to put it. The blunter way was that he was living off his parents. Truthfully, that in itself wasn’t a huge problem. Their family was well-off enough; they could afford an extra mouth to feed. What truly worried her parents now was getting their son married.
Although they had worked in Shanghai City for many years, their thinking was still old-fashioned. They wanted to find a wife for their son from their hometown, someone whose family and background they knew well. Unfortunately, their hometown was in a province with some of the highest bride prices. For a man to get married, it would cost over a million, not including a house and a car. The crucial part was that the bride’s family also wanted a house in Shanghai City, which was a massive expense.
Where did the old couple get such confidence? Well, that confidence came from their daughter. Their plan was to marry her off to a good family and use her bride price to fill the hole for their son’s expenses—a perfect, self-contained solution.
Their son’s wedding preparations were already at a critical stage. The bride price had already been sent to the bride’s family, and they were just waiting for their daughter’s dowry to make the down payment on a house for their son. In a situation like this, their priority was to smooth things over, making big problems small and small problems disappear. Securing the bride price from the groom’s family was paramount. As for the groom’s character, they simply turned a blind eye, pretending they saw nothing.
"Are there really parents like that in this world?" Sun Dasheng was rendered somewhat speechless.
"So, what do you plan to do now?" Sun Dasheng asked.
"That house... I never want to go back there again," Jiang Ziyan cried, heartbroken.
"Alright. For now, just stay here at Sister Yiren’s place," Sun Dasheng comforted her.
Perhaps exhausted from crying, she lay in his arms and soon drifted off to sleep.
Looking at her sleeping face, he summoned the system panel and initiated a scan. The bond value is still under 60. But it’s close. He was a little disappointed, but he understood.
He gently adjusted her position, pulled the blanket over her, then got up and left.
He had a trip to make this afternoon: a visit to Wu Xiaoli’s mother at the hospital. On the way, he passed a supermarket and bought some gift boxes of fruit and milk.
「The Second People’s Hospital - Inpatient Ward」
He found the room and knocked. The door opened to reveal a rather haggard Wu Xiaoli. Seeing who it was, she smiled and naturally took the bags from his hands.
"You should have just come yourself. Why buy all this?"
Placing the items on the bedside table, she leaned in and whispered with a laugh, "Mom, look who’s here to see you."
Mother Wu, lying on the bed, looked pale, but she managed a faint smile as Sun Dasheng approached. "Da Sheng, it’s so nice of you to take the trouble to visit an old woman like me. Xiaoli, quickly peel an apple for him."
Sun Dasheng walked over quickly. "Auntie, I had some free time today, so I came to see you. How have you been feeling?"
Wu Xiaoli first raised the head of the bed so her mother could lean back and talk more comfortably. Then she said, "She’s been worrying about that son of hers so much she’s lost her appetite." Her tone held a mix of blame and heartfelt pity.
"Go on and peel that apple. I’ll chat with Da Sheng," Mother Wu said, sending her daughter away. She then eagerly grasped Sun Dasheng’s hand. "Da Sheng, I know this is presumptuous of me, but Xiao Jun is my only son. Is there any chance for his situation?"
In her eyes, he saw the image of a mother desperate for her child. But regarding Wu Xiaojun’s crime, there was truly nothing he could do. Besides, I hope the kid spends a few years in there to be properly reformed.
Seeing him shake his head, the light in Mother Wu’s eyes completely vanished. To her, Sun Dasheng was capable and reliable, far more so than her worthless son-in-law. If he said there was no way, then there truly was no way. At that thought, her eyes filled with tears. Only the presence of a guest kept them from falling.
"Auntie, you don’t need to worry. I’ve already made arrangements for Xiao Jun inside. No one will bully him," Sun Dasheng reassured her. "And the guards say he’s been behaving well. There’s a chance he could get his sentence reduced."
Hearing this, a glimmer of hope returned to Mother Wu’s eyes. "Thank you, Da Sheng," she said, clutching his hands tightly. "You’re not even family, yet you’ve done so much for our Xiao Jun. Thank you."
"Auntie, what are you saying? Xiaoli and I were college classmates," Sun Dasheng said with a smile. "When a classmate is in trouble, how can I not lend a hand?"
"Good kid. Eat your apple."
Just then, Wu Xiaoli handed him the freshly peeled apple. He took it and bit into it. It was crisp and delicious.
They chatted in the ward for a while and had lunch. Afterward, Mother Wu was clearly getting sleepy, so he prepared to leave.
"Let Xiaoli go out with you for a bit. She doesn’t need to stay here guarding me all the time. I have the nurses to watch over me," Mother Wu said.
After leaving the ward, it dawned on Sun Dasheng. He turned to the woman beside him and asked, "Did your mother figure out our relationship?"