Through all these years, the Yun matriarch had adapted to this life, and her lofty temper and personality had changed somewhat.
A suspicious blush crept up on Yun Hao's face.
The Yun patriarch shot his son a glance, fearing his indifference to the matter at hand, and spoke gravely, "Ahao, you are almost thirty in two years, your elder brothers' children are already so big, but there's no news of a child from you. Being in the military, you can only return home once a year. How long will you delay before you have a child?"
Yun Hao remained confident, matching his adversary's move with serenity.
Despite a barrage of attacks from his parents, he remained unmoved.
Sharing a glance, the Yun patriarch and matriarch felt utterly helpless towards their youngest son.
Although neither of them was a cold person, their youngest son, who rarely smiled or spoke, caused them to wonder whether he behaved the same way in front of his wife.
No wonder it took him so many years to bring a wife home, what with his lack of sweet words that most girls loved to hear.
"Ahao, don't keep a straight face when you are with your wife." Heeding his wife's silent call for action, the Yun patriarch advised painstakingly.
"Mom, Dad, I should get going first."
Yun Hao got up and left, his action striking his parents like a blow to a ball of cotton.
But at least their youngest son was now married, finally, they could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Husband, Ahao's wife cooked quite well today, even better than the professional chef hired yesterday." The Yun matriarch exclaimed.
The Yun patriarch nodded in agreement.
In the newlywed's room.
Upon returning to his room, Yun Hao saw his wife, with her big eyes wide open, looking around.
"Didn't you say you were going to take a nap?"
Meng Yunhan looked at Yun Hao with a smile, her eyes shaped like crescents, "Yun Hao, you are so good."
Yun Hao wanted to question what made him 'good'.
"Hanhan, wait a moment."
Meng Yunhan then watched as Yun Hao took out a tin box from the cupboard and handed it to her, "Hanhan, these are my savings over the years."
Savings?
Looking at the tin box, Meng Yunhan remembered that Yun Hao had given her money before, but she had not used it. The Yun family had also given her betrothal money, which she believed was still in the box she had brought from the capital city upon moving to the village.
As for this marriage, she had initially agreed to marry Yun Hao in a desperate situation.
She had sought out Yun Hao after being harassed by the village head's hooligan son because Yun Hao was the only villager in the military service, and the thug was afraid of him. In order to avoid the ruffian, she had married Yun Hao, completely unaware of his feelings for her. She learned about those much later, after their divorce, from Yun Hao's elder brother.
But during those young and reckless years, she believed even in the most trying times that whatever decisions she made were the right ones. So, she had quickly returned to the city after getting into college without giving herself a chance to regret.
She was too stubborn back then.
"For me?"
"You are my wife, so of course, I give it to you," Yun Hao seriously stated.
After some thought, Meng Yunhan accepted this, but then wondered about his parents, "Does your mother know you've been keeping private money?"
Private money?
"If you want to keep it as your private stash, I have no objection. I get a stipend of more than forty yuan and a ration subsidy of thirty kilos every month."
In these times, that wasn't little.
She couldn't exactly remember how much she had received for her ration subsidy per month, and how much household food ration she had collected as per the public distribution system.