Even though the marriage between the two families had been settled, this time, when Shen Lie and Su Junyan came to the village, they had only taken three days off from the military. After finalizing the marriage, the two of them had to return to their respective units to submit their marriage report.

On the morning of May 7th, Shen Lie and Su Junyan returned to their unit.

On June 4th, after the marriage report was approved, Shen Lie and Su Junyan came to Shangang Village to formally propose marriage.

Since both Su Junyan and Ning Xue were remarried, they didn't want to make a big fuss, so they only had a simple family dinner.

Ning Weiguo and Sun Aiju only had Ning Tang as their daughter, so they put a lot of effort and money into organizing a lively wedding, inviting the villagers to a day-long feast.

On June 8th, Shen Lie and Su Junyan were going to take Ning Tang and Ning Xue to the military station on Hai Lang Island.

According to the customs of Shangang Village, after marrying someone's daughter, in addition to paying a dowry, the groom must also buy two new sets of clothes for his new wife.

This mainly depends on each family's financial condition. If they are wealthy, buying two sets of clothes will make everyone envious. If they are not, they can buy a handkerchief, and no one will say anything.

Last time when Shen Lie and Su Junyan came, they were in a hurry, so they didn't buy anything except for the dowry money they brought with them. Therefore, this time, they had to make up for it after the wedding.

So, the day before they left, Shen Lie and Su Junyan took Ning Tang and Ning Xue to the department store in the city.

To get to the city from Shangang Village, they had to travel through a winding mountain road. They took a donkey cart from the village, and after seven or eight twists and turns, they finally arrived in the city after a two-hour journey.

Once they arrived in the city, the four of them headed straight to the department store. Since they needed to buy different things, Shen Lie and Ning Tang went together, while Su Junyan and Ning Xue went together.

Su Junyan led Ning Xue to the counter selling ready-made clothes and fabrics. He glanced at the counter and smiled at Ning Xue, "I brought a lot of fabric coupons, just buy whatever you like. You look good, and only beautiful clothes can match your beauty. Buy a few more to wear."

Su Junyan was handsome, well-spoken, and generous, and the female sales clerks at the counter looked at Ning Xue with envy.

Ning Xue smiled faintly, basking in the envy of the crowd. "I have enough clothes to wear. My mother made me two new outfits for the wedding, and they're very stylish."

After speaking, she went straight to the counter and picked up a small navy blue shirt, obviously a child's ready-made garment. She gestured, "You have two children who are only seven years old, and they're still growing. I'm afraid the clothes will be too short for them. Use these fabric coupons to buy clothes for them, I don't need them."

Su Junyan was taken aback by what Ning Xue said. He hadn't expected that they would come to buy clothes for her, but she ended up thinking about his twins at home. He felt touched by her thoughtfulness as a stepmother who cared for his children.

He softly said, "Then it's up to you."

Ning Xue picked out four pieces of clothing for Su's twin boys, and her eyes caught a men's undershirt. She picked it up and said to Su Junyan, "Let me buy you an undershirt too. I heard that it's hot on Hailang Island, and an undershirt will be breathable and comfortable."

Su Junyan was grateful for Ning Xue's consideration, but after buying four pieces of clothing for the children, he had already used up most of his fabric coupons. Although he had told Ning Xue to buy whatever she wanted earlier, he was just bluffing.

He stammered, "This undershirt...in the army, they'll issue us training clothes that we can wear."

Ning Xue was a shrewd person. She could tell from Su Junyan's hesitant words and his discrete movements checking his pockets that he was running low on fabric coupons.

So before Su Junyan could finish, Ning Xue interrupted him and said, "Junyan, it's okay. I have fabric coupons. I'll buy it for you."

When Ning Xue said this to Su Junyan, she even pulled him to the side and whispered to him, giving him face.

Su Junyan hesitated and said, "It's not good to use your coupons. I remember my mother-in-law mentioned that those coupons were bought at a high price on the black market. You should keep them to make quilts for yourself."

Ning Xue pouted and glanced at him, "What are you talking about? We are family. Whether we use your coupons or mine, it's the same, right?"

Ning Xue was already a stunning beauty. When she gave him that glance, Su Junyan felt a wave of comfort throughout his body. He happily agreed, "Okay, then I'll leave it to you."

After buying the shirts, Su Junyan, carrying large and small bags, had only one thought in mind:

"With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, Shen Lie and Ning Tang had arrived at a shoe store. Shen Lie had brought her to the department store to buy her things, and Ning Tang had no qualms about going straight into the store.

Although the shoe styles in stores nowadays are not as trendy as those in later years, there were still many styles available. Ning Tang quickly set her eyes on a pair of white plastic sandals for women, which cost three yuan per pair, a relatively expensive price.

To her surprise, Shen Lie immediately paid for them without hesitation. "Do you make a lot of money?" Ning Tang was shocked at his generosity.

Shen Lie took the bag from the salesperson and replied, "It's alright. I said I was going to take you out shopping, so I can't go back on my word."

Ning Tang raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you usually buy three-yuan shoes?"

"Of course not. Money doesn't grow on trees," Shen Lie replied. "The military issues shoes, and I wear the ones they give me."

Ning Tang looked at Shen Lie's feet and saw that he was indeed wearing a pair of green rubber shoes issued by the military. They looked like they had been worn for many years, and the edges were starting to come apart.

After buying the shoes, Shen Lie took Ning Tang to a clothing store to buy her an outfit, then they went to a pastry shop and bought two pounds of pastries, several bags of candy, and some fruit -- all of which Ning Tang had requested.

After walking around for a while, Shen Lie's hands were full of large and small bags. Ning Tang was very satisfied with their purchases.

The two couples met up and looked at each other.

Shen Lie and Ning Tang bought things, all of which were Ning Tang's clothes, shoes, snacks that Ning Tang likes to eat, skincare products that Ning Tang uses, such as clam oil, and even food and daily necessities bought for Ning Weiguo and his wife, Sun Aiju.

As for Su Junyan and Ning Xue, they bought clothes for Su's twin sons, Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu, Su Junyan's undershirt, and Double Happiness brand cigarettes that Su Junyan likes to smoke. It looked like they bought a lot, but not a single item was for Ning Xue herself.

The four of them returned to Shangang village loaded with bags and sat in a donkey cart all the way back.

The cart only took them to a place close to the village, and there was a winding mountain road that they had to walk by themselves.

Shen Lie and Su Junyan carried their bags in front, with Su Junyan boasting to Shen Lie, "My wife, let me tell you, I took her to the department store to let her pick whatever she likes, but she ended up buying things for me and our sons."

Shen Lie nodded in response.

Seeing that Shen Lie didn't respond, Su Junyan became even more excited.

He took a look at the things Shen Lie was carrying, all of which were bought for Ning Tang, and not a single item was for Shen Lie. He couldn't help but be amused in his heart and began to show off to Shen Lie, "Look at this undershirt. Ning Xue said it was hot on Hailang Island, so she paid for the cloth and bought me one. We're not short of money, but we still need to appreciate our wives' kindness, right?"

Shen Lie glanced at the undershirt that Su Junyan showed, and it looked like it was made of good-quality fabric. Ning Xue probably spent a lot of money on it.

Tsk tsk, Ning Xue is really generous with her money.

Su Junyan saw Shen Lie focus on his sweatshirt and thought he was envious, so he took out the Red Double Happiness brand cigarettes that Ning Xue bought for him and said, "And this. I was originally planning to buy two boxes of clam oil for Ning Xue to use on her face, but she said it was unnecessary and that she could just use water to wash her face. So, she suggested that I save the money and buy two boxes of cigarettes for myself to use during social events."

"Ah..." Su Junyan sighed, "How did I manage to marry such a good wife? Compared to my ex-wife, who was a spendthrift, it's like night and day."

Shen Lie said, "Your ex-wife wasn't that bad. She gave birth to a pair of twin sons for you and took care of the household chores every day. It was also very hard for her."

Although they say that a person's character is revealed through their behavior after a breakup or divorce, Shen Lie still couldn't help but look down on Su Junyan a little for speaking ill of his ex-wife now that he had a new partner. After all, Su Junyan's ex-wife wasn't a terrible person. She just had a tendency to spend money recklessly, but she truly cared for Su Junyan and their twin sons, Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu.

If it were anyone else, even if Su Junyan had praised Ning Xue to the skies, Shen Lie wouldn't have responded.

Su Junyan couldn't stand anyone challenging him, so he stopped in his tracks and pulled Shen Lie aside to list out the pros and cons of both his ex-wife and Ning Xue in great detail, causing Shen Lie to feel dizzy.

In the end, Su Junyan even glanced at Ning Tang, who was trailing behind them, and proudly said, "I'm very good at reading women. Shen Lie, I'm telling you, Ning Tang doesn't seem like the type of person who can handle the hardships of life. Your difficult days are still ahead of you."

Shen Lie: "... Whatever you say goes."

Two men were having a meeting in front, while Ning Xue was whispering to Ning Tang behind them.

Of course, it was only Ning Xue who was speaking, and Ning Tang was just passively listening.

Earlier, when they were riding the donkey cart, all the things the four of them bought were placed on the cart. When the bag was opened, everything they bought was revealed. Ning Xue saw Ning Tang had bought a lot of things she liked while holding onto Shen Lie.

Ning Xue thought that she and Ning Tang were cousins after all, even if they didn't get along very well when they were at home. But they were going to get married and move to Hailang Island together as a family, so they needed to take care of each other. That's why she needed to pull Ning Tang aside and have a heart-to-heart talk with her, to teach her how to be a good person. "Cousin, I'm not criticizing you, but you don't seem to know how to take care of others. You bought so many things, but not even one was for my cousin-in-law."

Ning Tang was stunned. "Huh? Isn't it customary in our village for the groom to buy things for the bride after they get married?"

"Tsk." Ning Xue couldn't help but scold her. "That's true, but after getting married, they're a family. Whether you buy something for yourself or for him, it's all the same. A good woman should care for her man and buy him more things. That's what being a virtuous wife is all about."

Ning Tang felt that the statement sounded strange, but she didn't know how to argue. "So, we shouldn't buy things for ourselves, just for the man?"

Unexpectedly, Ning Xue looked at her in surprise, and said with emphasis and concern, "Have you ever heard the saying, 'Giving a rose to someone leaves a fragrance in your hand'? Buying things for yourself doesn't give you the same sense of achievement as buying things for a man. When you see him wearing clothes you bought for him, smoking the cigarettes you bought, and spending the money you earned, shouldn't your heart be filled with joy? Besides, he's not just any man, he's your husband, your heaven, your earth, your reliance!"

Ning Tang's eyebrows were almost knotted together. "I don't think the phrase 'giving a rose to someone leaves a fragrance in your hand' is used like that. I haven't even satisfied myself, why would I care about others? Even if he's my husband, he's not the Jade Emperor."

Ning Xue was at a loss for words for a while, and finally said, "You didn't go to high school, you're uneducated, I won't talk to you."

Ning Tang: ...