Chapter 11: Not Missing Out in This Life

Then I heard Mu Xueqing’s mother wailing, “600 yuan! Even if I smash the pots and sell the iron, I can’t pay it back! Oh, merciful Bodhisattva! Please, come and save me!”

Hearing her mother’s cries, Mu Xueqing clutched the corners of her clothes with both hands, lowered her little head, bit her little lip, and started sobbing too!!

“I!”

Wang An was a bit exasperated! He said sternly, “Alright! Auntie, stop crying! Isn’t it just a lack of money? I’ll give it to you, won’t that settle it? Can you stop crying?”

“Really? Son-in-law! You aren’t lying to me, are you? Can you really give me 600 yuan? That’s 600 yuan!” Mu Xueqing’s mother stood up from the ground in a flash, as if she had never been crying at all! Her mouth, however, fired off a barrage of questions like a machine gun!

Wang An felt his face twitching into a grimace!

600 yuan was indeed a lot in this era. Based on a temporary worker’s monthly wage of 17.5 yuan, it was roughly equivalent to two or three hundred thousand in the future!

This woman! This old hag... wait, did she call me “son-in-law”? She trusts me just like that? Am I really that trustworthy?

Wang An felt a little excited! He snuck a glance at Mu Xueqing and said, still sounding a bit grumpy, “It’s real, it’s all real. As long as you stop crying, it’s real!”

“Haha, son-in-law! You have to understand me! I had no other choice! Hahaha...” Wang An simply shut his mouth and looked at Mu Xueqing.

Wang An felt that Mu Xueqing’s mother probably assumed that Mu Xueqing and Wang An had already pledged their lives to each other!

Ever since the founding of New China in 1950, the Marriage Law had been vigorously promoting the freedom of love!

As a heavy industrial region, the Northeast had been quite thorough in its legal education! In particular, the widespread popularity of *Liu Qiao’er* made it extremely common for young lovers to pledge their lives to one another!

Therefore, Mu Xueqing’s mother was not only feeling a bit fearful because she had arranged a marriage for her daughter, but once she heard the money problem was solved, she naturally accepted Wang An! After all, she was her own mother; what mother wouldn’t want her daughter to be happy!!

Wang An’s brain had processed all of this in a rapid-fire burst of thoughts!

But the main issue was that things had reached this point! He and Mu Xueqing’s mother couldn’t just stand there yapping away! Mu Xueqing, the person involved, hadn’t even expressed her stance yet!!

Wang An knew his current situation: it was a one-sided affair!

Wang An stared at Mu Xueqing for a full half-minute, but she didn’t react at all! She just wiped away her tears and stopped crying! She just stood there, head lowered, looking silly, with no idea what she was thinking!

“Hey, Xueqing, what do you think?” Wang An couldn’t help but ask.

“Ah? I... I don’t think anything!” Mu Xueqing’s voice was very gentle as she looked up, puzzled.

“Oh my god! Can you listen to what I’m saying to your mother? You’re just standing there, can you say something?” Wang An frowned.

“Then, then you tell me, what do you want me to say?” Mu Xueqing was getting a bit anxious, but even when anxious, she was still very gentle!

Wang An continued to frown as he looked at Mu Xueqing, muttering to himself, “This girl was quite bright when we were in school! Why is she acting a bit dim-witted now? Forget it, I chose her!!”

Surprisingly, when she noticed Wang An staring at her, Mu Xueqing smiled and spoke: “You’re making that silly face again!”

*Oh, for heaven’s sake... this girl... I’d better just be blunt. This is too much effort!* Wang An thought.

Then he spoke up: “I’m discussing it with your mother. I’ll take that 600 yuan, pay them back, and you’ll marry me, and we’ll live our lives together! Understand?”

Mu Xueqing lowered her head again and said just one word: “Oh!”

At this moment, Wang An was truly bewildered! How did things develop... so... bizarrely? Yes, that’s it, bizarre! From the beginning until now, nothing was normal, especially not normal!

*Ah! I’ll think about it when I have time!*

Wang An thought for a moment and said to Mu Xueqing and her mother, “Do you have anything to do right now? If not, come with me to the supply and marketing cooperative first, and we’ll pay back that 600 yuan! After we pay the money, we’ll discuss the wedding!”

“Nothing, we have nothing to do, son-in-law!” Mu Xueqing’s mother replied with a chuckle.

Mu Xueqing and her mother got onto the mule cart, and Wang An drove them straight toward the supply and marketing cooperative.

A short while later, they arrived.

At that time, the county’s supply and marketing cooperative was just a long, ordinary brick-and-tile building, about 300 square meters. There were no partition walls inside, just different sections, such as the grain area, hardware area, fur purchasing area, and medicinal herb purchasing area. A few years later, as the foreign exchange earnings from furs and herbs increased, they were all separated out!

Wang An said to Mu Xueqing and her mother, “Let’s go, come inside with me to take care of some business, and then we’ll buy some things!”

Mu Xueqing didn’t say anything but got off the cart, while her mother said, “You take Xueqing, I’ll watch the cart here. It’s not very reassuring to leave these things outside!”

Seeing that her attitude seemed quite firm, Wang An frowned and agreed, “Alright then, Auntie, we’ll be out soon!”

Wang An carried the sack in front, with Mu Xueqing following behind, and they entered the cooperative together!

Once inside, Wang An couldn’t hold back anymore: “Xueqing, what exactly is going on? Why am I still so confused?”

Mu Xueqing had always left the impression of being a very introverted girl!

For Wang An, 41 years had passed since they had parted ways until their reunion today!

But for Mu Xueqing, their separation had only been from junior high graduation until now—at most, less than a year and a half!

Mu Xueqing seemed very aggrieved at this moment, her eyes slightly red as she questioned Wang An: “You said you’d come to my house to propose after junior high graduation, why didn’t you come?” Her little gaze was cute yet fierce.

That one sentence left Wang An stunned! Then, a sense of pain began to grow in his heart, instantly swelling until it was heart-wrenching and unbearable!! In his past life, had he really missed out like an idiot? In this life, was he about to be an idiot again?

In a daze, Wang An had some blurry memories...

After leaving school back then, he had gone to find Mu Xueqing many times, and every time, she would come out from the classroom or the dormitory!

She would stand prettily two meters away from Wang An, listening to him ramble on, occasionally blushing! Her answers were always just “Mm,” or “Oh,” or “Okay!”

And every time Wang An left, he would tell Mu Xueqing that he would go to her house to propose after graduation! And every time, Mu Xueqing would blush and answer with a single word: “Hmph!”

Wang An fought back the tears in his eyes, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions; he couldn’t say a word.

He pulled Mu Xueqing into his arms and held her tightly! This feeling of regaining what was lost was truly wonderful!

After a long while, an old woman passing by said unhappily, “Go home if you want to hug, don’t make a spectacle of yourselves here!” With that, she curled her lip and walked away.

Mu Xueqing quickly pushed Wang An away. Wang An was so angry he was about to say something!

Mu Xueqing quickly tugged at him hard. Wang An looked at her, smacked his lips, sighed, and whispered to her, “That damn old woman! Really meddlesome!”

Mu Xueqing covered her mouth and let out a soft “giggle.”

Wang An looked at the giggling Mu Xueqing and really wanted to pull her back and hold her for a while longer! And maybe “steal a kiss” while he was at it!

Before Wang An went to prison in his past life, he had traveled all over the country! He had seen countless women! He had known and interacted with thousands, and had been intimately involved with hundreds!

Yet, those who could compare to Mu Xueqing could be counted on one hand!!!

He steadied his mind and said, “Let’s go, let’s get the real business done first!”

He picked up the sack that had been thrown on the ground and led Mu Xueqing to the fur purchasing counter.

(End of chapter)