Chapter 1612: Sooner or Later, We'll Be One Family

"Er Sha Qiang, why are you so absent-minded today?"

In the factory, Ma Suqin looked at the dazed Er Sha Qiang.

"Huh? Sorry, Master, I lost focus." Er Sha Qiang became even more stupefied.

"Stop letting your imagination run wild!" Ma Suqin seemed displeased. "I am the master and you are the apprentice; work hard, save more money, and when you reach the right age, I will introduce you to a pretty young Miss."

Just before this, after being beaten by Ma Suqin's gambling addict husband, Er Sha Qiang, unable to bear seeing such a man possess the woman he longed for day and night, and feeling pain for Ma Suqin, had directly confessed his feelings, only to be rejected by her.

Such a sudden confession was, of course, a laughable joke to Ma Suqin. She knew she was beautiful, knew many men's gazes focused on her, knew the confusion and impulse of men in their youth, and also knew she was twelve years older than Er Sha Qiang...

The age gap and the gaze of society were high walls difficult to cross.

As for whether she had any feelings for Er Sha Qiang, at least for now, she did not. She was inherently kind to all and treated everyone well; it was only Er Sha Qiang's persistent insistence that had slowly developed things to this point.

By the time she ended up with Er Sha Qiang in the original story, his water-dripping-through-stone sincerity was one factor, and her desire to find a reliance to make life easier was another; there was also some element of muddled confusion involved.

After the two began living together, they had no children; primarily, Ma Suqin did not want her son with the gambling addict to have other ideas, while Er Sha Qiang, so single-mindedly devoted, did not want Ma Suqin to have other ideas either. Even if Ma Suqin said she wanted to bear Er Sha Qiang a child, he would not agree. Dragging it out, and dragging it out again, by the time they wanted to conceive, it had become difficult...

To say how bad or scheming Ma Suqin was would be an exaggeration; diligence, thriftiness, kindness to others, and self-reliance were all her fine virtues. What she pursued and persisted in was raising her son to become a capable person, unlike his deadbeat gambling father.

Er Sha Qiang looked at his beloved master, truly not knowing what to say, yet he did not wish to hide anything; after much deliberation, he chose to speak to his master about it.

After all, he had already confessed, so it seemed there was nothing that could not be said. Moreover, strictly speaking, although he disagreed with Wang Yan's actions, deep down he was certainly willing; aside from masochists, who would enjoy being beaten...

Furthermore, even if he did not speak up, she would find out eventually, so it was better to tell her first and let Ma Suqin understand the situation.

"Master, there is something I must tell you."

"Go ahead," Ma Suqin said, busy with the work in her hands.

"Your partner is about to get beaten up..."

Ma Suqin's hands did not stop moving; she lifted her head and glanced at Er Sha Qiang. "Are you going to find someone to beat him?"

"It wasn't me finding someone; I just couldn't keep it secret. Just yesterday..." Er Sha Qiang explained the process and introduced Wang Yan. "So after Wang Yan found out, he wanted to... um, reason with him... and stand up for me; I couldn't stop him. Master, now that you've heard, you should know that I..."

"You also have to listen to him; he is your big brother, right?"

"Something like that..."

"I had heard of him before; that incident back then caused quite a stir, several people were executed by firing squad, and the rest still haven't been released."

Ma Suqin sighed. "Let him be beaten; as long as he isn't beaten to death, it's fine. It's not that I'm afraid he'll die, but dying over this isn't worth it; he has a bright Sun Sun Qiancheng ahead of him, and squabbling with such a rotten person is truly not cost-effective. However, this friend of yours is truly good to you."

Er Sha Qiang smiled awkwardly. "Over these years, I've taken advantage of him quite a bit..."

Thus, Er Sha Qiang chattered on about various bits and pieces of daily life; as the two worked together, time passed very quickly...

Ma Suqin rode her bicycle home; standing at the entrance of the alley, she felt quite a mix of hesitation and anticipation.

Pushing her bike through the alley and greeting the neighbors, she returned home just like that.

The children playing in the courtyard happily pounced on her, expressing their longing for the mother they hadn't seen all day.

After parking the bicycle and holding the child while chatting, she entered the house, whereupon she saw her deadbeat gambling husband lying on the bed like a dead dog...

Beaten black and blue, there was not a single good spot on his entire body, and he kept crying out in pain.

"Bitch!" he said.

"Whore!" he cursed.

"Getting along so well with that little apprentice of yours, why didn't you let them beat me to death..." he accused.

Ma Suqin looked at the child in her arms; the child was just playing with their hands, showing no interest in the biological father lying on the bed.

Then she said, "Don't talk to me; go talk to the person who beat you. Let's see if you have the guts. Take out the energy you usually use to beat me and go seek revenge; go on."

"You think I dare not? Just wait until I recover, and see if I can let that little bastard of yours off."

Even though the words were ugly, Ma Suqin did not get angry, because over so many years she had heard too many ugly words and suffered too many beatings; she was truly immune to them. At the same time, her understanding of her deadbeat gambling husband made her clearly realize this was bluffing with a weak core; he was just blowing hot air to her, whereas earlier when being beaten, who knew how he had knelt and kowtowed.

After all, based on what Er Sha Qiang had told her about Wang Yan's style of handling affairs, if anyone dared to bare their teeth at Wang Yan and speak ugly, harsh words, their legs would easily be broken. But this one before her still had plenty of strength to curse people, obviously a contestant who could drop to his knees and beg for mercy at light speed.

Thus, she let out a scoff, mockery written all over her face.

The deadbeat gambling husband ignored her and continued spouting his threats: "Apply some medicine for me!"

"Drop dead, you! No one is going to tend to you!"

"Don't wait for me to beat you!"

Ma Suqin, holding the child and about to leave, turned her head and gave a brilliant smile. "Do you dare? Heh..."

This was simply a huge insult, but the deadbeat gambling husband truly lacked the courage now, so he could only lie on the bed and curse, cursing loudly.

He also shouted loudly in pain, because moving aggravated his injuries; there truly was no good spot on his body...

The next day, in the afternoon, Wang Yan and San Li returned to the Da Qiao family home chatting and laughing; Er Sha Qiang, who had returned earlier, had already finished dinner with Si Mei's help. Wang Yan ate dinner with them, and afterward walked home leisurely with Er Sha Qiang.

"Brother Yan, did you really beat that person up?" Er Sha Qiang was still very surprised.

"I told you yesterday when you asked; what, did you think I was teasing you?" Wang Yan waved his hand. "What did your master say?"

"She said to thank you; this beating of yours has made her life much easier."

"That's it?"

"Ah..." Er Sha Qiang was completely confused. "What else could there be?"

"She didn't mention divorce or anything?"

"No."

Wang Yan patted his shoulder. "Then you tell her; what are you waiting for?"

"But I already confessed to her before, and she still treats me like a child; I..."

Waving his hand to interrupt him, Wang Yan said, "Think carefully about your relationship with her before, Brother Sha Qiang; you must understand what your feelings for her truly are. Is it that you must be good to her for this entire life, or is it optional whether you are or not, or is it simply that you just want to sleep with her? Otherwise, this is too much of a waste of emotion; even watching it makes me feel upset."

"... I don't know either." Er Sha Qiang hesitated, hemmed and hawed, and felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing the mention of sleeping together.

"That's exactly why I'm asking you to think; only when you figure it out can you take corresponding action. Otherwise, if you just keep saying 'I don't know, I don't know' all day, you'll be finished; wasting emotion is one thing, but you're also wasting your youth and wasting time."

Wang Yan smiled cheerfully. "You know Niu Ye; he gets along well with you. Look how often the young Misses by his side change; he is so carefree. Aren't you envious?"

"Envious, of course; who isn't envious? But envy is useless; we don't have the connections and can't earn as much money as he does."

"He simply has no money, yet the number of girls around him far exceeds yours. That is the difference between you and him. So I told you to think carefully about what your true attitude toward your good master really is; once you figure that out, you will understand life itself."

"Listening to you talk all mysteriously like that, tell me then—how exactly does one 'understand'?"

"If you truly like her, then continue working at the factory and cultivate some affection with your master. If you don't like her, then after working another year, just quit, start your own business, and earn yourself the status of a 'ten-thousand-yuan household.' No, actually, being a ten-thousand-yuan household isn't rare anymore these days; you should aim to earn eight or nine hundred thousand instead."

Er Sha Qiang burst out laughing: "Are you dreaming? Eight or nine hundred thousand? I wouldn't even dare to dream that big in my dreams."

"Can you dream such things into existence? You must dare to think and dare to act. You are no worse than Niu Ye."

"Then why don't you go find my eldest brother? He's about to graduate; why bother taking the postgraduate entrance exam? It would be much better for him to go into business directly with you."

"Stop spouting nonsense. Eldest Brother Yi has the firmest resolve of anyone; once he sets his mind on taking the postgraduate exam, no one can stop him. Besides, although he doesn't treat me like a child, apart from fighting, he doesn't really trust me. But you do trust me, right? We brothers have been together for so many years. I tell you what to do, you do it, and then you'll get rich."

"If it were really that simple, I'd be doing it right now."

Wang Yan shook his head: "That is exactly why I want you to think clearly about what your true feelings toward your good master actually are."

With nothing more to say, Er Sha Qiang fell silent and followed Wang Yan back home, where he sat smoking, staring blankly, teasing the cat and provoking the dog.

Wang Yan merely smiled; after finishing one cigarette, he went into the darkroom to develop film rolls, which had become his daily compulsory routine.

He spared no expense on film rolls, taking over a dozen rolls during a single outing, yet developing only two or three rolls at a time; thus, shooting one day a week and developing a little each day while attending school naturally turned it into a daily habit...

Er Sha Qiang always hesitated; even though Wang Yan explained everything to him very clearly, Er Sha Qiang gave no clear indication of his decision. He was the type who wouldn't move when led but would step backward when beaten.

A year later, Si Mei, who had been held back a year for missing the final exams, finally endured another year of torment and scraped together a junior high school graduation certificate. Wang Yan and San Li advanced to the Gao San grade.

As for Da Qiao Yi Cheng, he finally graduated and had already completed one year of postgraduate studies. Er Sha Qiang remained stuck in hesitation...

"Graduation certificate! Graduation certificate! Graduation certificate!"

At noon, Si Mei happily waved the freshly received graduation certificate in front of everyone, beaming with joy.

Everyone cooperated by clapping to celebrate; even Wang Yan, who was there wielding the large ladle, tapped his spoon against the pot in rhythm.

Da Qiao Yi Cheng, headache-inducing noise from the overly energetic Si Mei, said: "Alright, alright, congratulations. From now on, our Si Mei also holds a junior high diploma, surpassing quite a few people."

"What use is that? Some people have already graduated from university, yet they still can't bring a single penny home?" Such sarcastic remarks always ruined the atmosphere.

Before Da Qiao Yi Cheng could retort, Wang Yan interjected: "Uncle Da Qiao, not to criticize, but Eldest Brother Yi's plan to take the postgraduate exam was made clear last year; are you still harping on about it?"

"Exactly!" Si Mei puckered her lips. "Brother Min already said that after passing the postgraduate exam, he can enter a better work unit and earn more money."

"Yes, Dad, Eldest Brother's matter was settled long ago; stop complaining," San Li added, standing firmly on Yi Cheng's side.

Er Sha Qiang, assisting Wang Yan, needed no words; his stance was obvious.

Thus, Da Qiao Zu Wang snorted in displeasure: "I see you all intend to rebel! You stubborn lot, your wings have truly hardened one by one; I can no longer control you."

"Stop talking nonsense; when have you ever controlled us?" Yi Cheng shot back.

Afterwards, Da Qiao Zu Wang simply drank his sorrow away with peanuts, no longer seeking humiliation for himself...

Today, meals were prepared at noon; Wang Yan even personally took charge, squeezing Er Sha Qiang into the role of second cook, as the date for everyone's celebration had been set long ago.

For everyone except Er Sha Qiang, this marked a new journey for all. Even Da Qiao Zu Wang counted, since the growth and progress of his children brought changes to him as well.

"Come, Wang Yan, Er Sha Qiang, you two have a drink too; wasting such fine dishes without alcohol would be a shame." Da Qiao Zu Wang, forgetting his earlier displeasure, had eyes only for wine and delicious food.

Wang Yan and Er Sha Qiang, of course, readily complied, and everyone began eating, drinking, and chatting casually.

"Look at you, carefree and laughing? Hurry up and find a job, start earning money to support the family sooner, and repay your old father—that is the proper way." Da Qiao Zu Wang looked at his youngest daughter, whose cheeks were puffed out from eating.

Si Mei muttered: "Then find me a job; if you find one, I'll go."

"You are still so young, and being a girl, you cannot handle heavy or exhausting labor. With so many people looking for work, who would hire you?"

"Then don't say anything!"

"Hey..."

Da Qiao Zu Wang expressed his dissatisfaction, but seeing Si Mei roll her eyes only made him more annoyed; he turned instead, raised his cup, took a sip of wine, and spoke to Wang Yan.

"You know many people and have wild connections; do you have any channels to arrange something for our Si Mei? She is your younger sister-in-law, after all."

"Dad!" Da Qiao Yi Cheng paused with his chopsticks, glaring coldly at his own father.

"What's wrong? Did I say something incorrect? Sooner or later, we are all one family; Si Mei is his sister-in-law. What is wrong with helping one's own family? Don't you agree, San Li?"

"Oh, Dad~" San Li's face turned red. "Look where your words have gone."

"Wang Yan, tell me, am I right or not?"

"Absolutely right, Uncle Da Qiao." Wang Yan nodded repeatedly, raising his cup to toast his father-in-law. "Uncle Da Qiao truly sees clearly and thinks clearly; admirable, admirable! Come, come, I toast you, Uncle Da Qiao."

San Li, shy and embarrassed, slapped Wang Yan hard on the back with her open palm, producing a loud, hollow bang...

Thus, everyone at the table burst into laughter, and San Li's face turned even redder...

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