The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 138: Xiangnan, Let’s Remarry

Chapter 138: Chapter 138: Xiangnan, Let’s Remarry

At the entrance of the cotton spinning factory, Yang Lizhen stood at the window of the guard room, leaning forward and speaking to the gatekeeper, "Uncle, I’m here for your factory’s Shen Xiangnan."

"Who are you to him?"

"I’m his wife. I came especially from the countryside."

"Wait a moment."

The gatekeeper went into the factory to call someone for her, and Yang Lizhen busied herself with adjusting her hair and skirt.

Soon enough, wearing a blue work outfit, Shen Xiangnan followed the gatekeeper out of the factory.

At the first glance of Shen Xiangnan, Yang Lizhen could hardly recognize him.

A month had passed, and Shen Xiangnan seemed to have become a different person.

His face had grown paler, his straw-like hair cut into a buzz cut; under thick eyebrows, his eyes were bright and piercing. Dressed in a well-fitting blue work outfit, he unexpectedly exuded a hint of handsomeness.

Yang Lizhen’s heart pounded furiously, and her cheeks grew warm.

"Lizhen, how come you’re here?"

Upon seeing Yang Lizhen, Shen Xiangnan couldn’t conceal his surprise.

Yang Lizhen looked him up and down with her eyes, and hummed, "What’s it to you if I come? Can’t I come?"

"Do you need something from me?"

Yang Lizhen, still in that tone, said, "Can’t I find you if it’s nothing?"

Shen Xiangnan, unable to fathom Yang Lizhen’s intention, yet mindful of the work waiting in the workshop, said, "If you’ve got nothing, then I’ll head back first, there’s still work undone."

Upon hearing this, Yang Lizhen’s face turned cold.

In her view, making the trip to the city to see Shen Xiangnan was already a step down in grace on her part. If Shen Xiangnan had any sense, he should receive her with joy and concern, caring about how she had been faring during this time.

"If you have nothing else, you should head back early too; you won’t catch the bus if it gets late."

After saying that, Shen Xiangnan turned around to leave, and Yang Lizhen was immediately frantic, "Shen Xiangnan, you stop right there!"

Shen Xiangnan turned back, "Lizhen, if you have something to say, just say it."

Yang Lizhen looked around. Although there was no one else at the factory gate at this hour, she still felt embarrassed to publicly state her reason for seeking Shen Xiangnan, to reconcile their marriage.

"Let’s go somewhere else, I have something to tell you."

After saying that, Yang Lizhen turned and walked away.

She was confident Shen Xiangnan would heed her as he used to; if she headed east, he wouldn’t dare go west.

Yet, after she’d gone some distance and looked back, Shen Xiangnan’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Hurrying back to the cotton spinning factory, she found that Shen Xiangnan had already gone back inside.

Inside the factory.

A few colleagues teased Shen Xiangnan, "Xiangnan, you said you didn’t have a wife, yet you’ve been hiding and keeping mum about it, not honest at all."

Shen Xiangnan picked up the task in his hands and continued working, muttering back, "She was my wife before, now she’s not, we’re divorced."

Hearing him say this, the colleagues glanced at each other, and with giggles, they changed the subject.

Half past six in the evening.

Shen Xiangnan had just walked out of the factory gate with two colleagues when he was stopped in his path by Yang Lizhen.

"Shen Xiangnan, I have something to tell you!"

The two colleagues tactfully said their goodbyes and walked away, looking back over their shoulders at the two of them, their eyes filled with gossip and curiosity.

——

In the small noodle shop.

Yang Lizhen pushed the half-eaten bowl of noodles in front of Shen Xiangnan with a tone of charity.

"I’m full, you eat."

Shen Xiangnan glanced at the bowl of noodles and pushed it back in front of Yang Lizhen, "You eat it, I’ve already had my meal."

Yang Lizhen’s face stiffened.

When the two were dating, every time they went to town, Shen Xiangnan would only order one bowl of noodles. He would let her eat first, and once she was full, Shen Xiangnan would eat the leftovers.

Therefore, when Shen Xiangnan ordered just one bowl of noodles, she thought he was doing it to tenderly seek reconciliation with her. She couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased, even contemplating whether to put on an act and not agree too quickly to his plea for peace.

But he said he had already eaten?

"The cotton mill has a canteen, I eat there every day now."

Hearing Shen Xiangnan’s explanation, Yang Lizhen followed up, "Why didn’t you tell me earlier about taking a job at the cotton mill?"

Shen Xiangnan looked at her, "Even if I had told you, besides arguing with me and pressuring me to give up my job to Yang Bo, would you be happy for me at all?"

Yang Lizhen choked up, then complained grievously, "How dare you blame me? When we got married, your family clearly agreed to arrange a job for my brother."

"But we are divorced now."

Yang Lizhen was caught off guard, her eyes reddened, and tears fell drop by drop.

"Shen Xiangnan, you are heartless! When we were dating, you said you would be good to me for a lifetime. But what happened? We divorced after only half a year, you even pressured me to return the dowry, and you took back my brother’s job. You liar!"

Yang Lizhen’s crying accusations made it as if Shen Xiangnan was a scoundrel who deceived women, causing the people in the noodle shop to look over, and even some looked at Shen Xiangnan with disdain.

Shen Xiangnan, honest and not eloquent, couldn’t outmaneuver Yang Lizhen’s schemes, and could only flush red in the face trying to defend himself.

"Lizhen, it was you who said you didn’t want to carry on with me."

"I only said that in a fit of anger. How was I supposed to know you would take it seriously and actually get a divorce?"

Yang Lizhen wiped away her tears, assuming a pitiable tone, "Xiangnan, I regret it. In this month since our divorce, I’ve thought about you every day. My mom set up several blind dates for me, but you are the only one in my heart, and the only one I like. Let’s make up, let’s live well together from now on, never fight again, and I will definitely bear you a healthy son."

Shen Xiangnan looked at Yang Lizhen’s crying face, feeling extraordinarily calm.

Before going to the city, he thought Yang Lizhen was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen, other than his younger sister Shen Mingzhu.

With her pointed chin, curvy eyebrows, and red pouty lips, she looked like a ripe cherry on a tree, tempting him to take a bite.

In the three years they knew each other, Yang Lizhen had only cried in front of him once - on their wedding night.

At that time, seeing Yang Lizhen crying had nearly melted his heart, and he silently swore to be good to her for life, to pamper her, to provide her with a good life.

Perhaps it was talking to the female workers at the cotton mill or seeing the beautiful city women that broadened his horizons, but he suddenly found Yang Lizhen’s face plain and unremarkable.

She was the same as before, using matchsticks and red paper for her eyebrows and lips. He once thought it looked pretty, but now, it seemed nothing but comical.

The city women also wore makeup, but they used eyebrow pencils and lipstick which made them look as beautiful as the fairies in the illustrations, unlike Yang Lizhen, whose charcoal powder for her eyebrows clumped together from the sweat, and the red pigment on her lips smudged outside her lip line from eating, resembling a ghostly girl nibbling on children.

Yang Lizhen, oblivious to what was going through Shen Xiangnan’s mind, secretly rejoiced as she saw him staring intently at her face.

Shen Xiangnan had always loved her face the most. When they were dating, every time he saw her, Shen Xiangnan would flock to her eagerly as a dog to the scent of waste.

With that in mind, she reached out to grab Shen Xiangnan’s hand, "Xiangnan, let’s remarry, shall we?"

"No!"

Shen Xiangnan shook off her hand as if shocked, and dashed out of the noodle shop in a few quick strides.

Yang Lizhen stood stunned for a few seconds before reacting, got up to chase, but as soon as she reached the door, the owner blocked her to pay for the noodles.

By the time she paid and went outside, there was no sign of Shen Xiangnan.

Yang Lizhen stamped her feet in frustration on the spot.

Shen Xiangnan, you might escape the monk but not the temple. I am determined to remarry you!

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