A woman in her 70s marries a rough-looking man; her plump wife is too delicate and alluring.

Lu Xiao shoved her brother into the passenger seat, then went around to the driver's side, opened the door, and got in.

As soon as she started the car, Lu Xingguo stuck half his head out of the window and whistled provocatively at Sheng Yuze.

He Zhaoyang stood at the door and waved to them.

Lu Xingguo then withdrew his head in satisfaction, patted the back of Lu Xiao's chair, and said, "Let's go."

The car set off.

The dirt road was full of potholes, and the car bounced a couple of times.

She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw He Zhaoyang standing at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, holding the green cloth in her arms. The cloth covered half of her face, revealing only her eyes, which were curved as if she were smiling.

Lu Xiao withdrew her gaze and snorted, "What's the point of being so good-looking?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Nobody."

She turned the steering wheel and the car onto the main road.

The car body stabilized.

She rested one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the top of her head, the spot where He Zhaoyang had touched her earlier.

Lu Xingguo turned to look at her. "What did you just say to her?"

"He didn't say anything."

"Didn't she say anything about her making clothes for you?"

Lu Xiao was silent for a few seconds, then said, "She said she'd make it for me, so I agreed. Why not take advantage of a free lunch?"

Lu Xingguo glanced at her.

He leaned back in his seat, rolled down the car window, and let the wind rush in, blowing his parted, tousled hair backward.

He suddenly said, "Sheng Yuze is really lucky to have married such a beautiful wife."

Lu Xiao suddenly turned her head and glared at him, "Brother!"

"What's wrong?" he asked innocently. "I said it looked good, but I didn't say anything about doing anything."

"You just slipped them a note!"

"That's concern."

"You call that concern? That's called having ulterior motives," Lu Xiao continued, "and shamelessness too."

Lu Xingguo laughed, a very happy laugh. "How am I shameless? Sheng Yuze won't even buy his wife a new dress. I couldn't stand it, so what's wrong with helping him out?"

Lu Xiao stopped talking. She increased the car speed a little, and the wind blew in through the car window, making her hair fly back.

After a long while, she suddenly spoke: "Brother."

"Um?"

"He Zhaoyang." She paused, "Would you let her be my sister-in-law?"

Lu Xingguo turned to look at her, staring at her with a puzzled expression. "Are you out of your mind? Isn't that Sheng Yuze's wife?"

Lu Xiao: "Then why are you still teasing them?"

Lu Xingguo grinned slyly, "Teasing Sheng Yuze."

"oh."

Lu Xiao stared at the road ahead, his face expressionless, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned.

Lu Xingguo narrowed his eyes.

"Alright," he said. "Let's go home."

He Zhaoyang was still standing at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, watching the black sedan disappear from sight.

She looked down at the cloth in her arms; it was a bit heavy when stacked, but she felt very satisfied.

Sheng Yuze waved his hand in front of He Zhaoyang's eyes, "We should go too."

He Zhaoyang nodded, then frowned again. "How are we going to bring all this fabric back?"

Sheng Yuze nodded. "It's okay, just wait a little longer, someone will come to take us away soon."

He Zhaoyang touched this piece of cloth and that piece of cloth, and sure enough, they were different from what he had worn before.

After a long while, a black Jeep stopped in front of the two of them.

The driver's side door opened, and a young man in a military green shirt jumped out.

"Platoon Leader Sheng!" The man saluted Sheng Yuze, grinning, "I'm late, the roads in town are terribly congested."

"It's not too late." Sheng Yuze walked over with his cane, patted the man on the shoulder, and said, "Help me carry the cloth upstairs."

Xiao Zhou: "Okay."

After saying that, he quickly stuffed the rolls of cloth into the bag.

He Zhaoyang stood by watching, wanting to help, but Sheng Yuze stopped him with a gesture.

"Let him move it," Sheng Yuze said. "You can rest."

The cloth was stuffed all the way in, and the trunk lid was closed.

The young man dusted off his hands and grinned at Sheng Yuze, "Platoon leader, sister-in-law, get in the car!"

Xiao Zhou kept secretly glancing at He Zhaoyang through the rearview mirror, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

My sister-in-law is so beautiful! Who in the team said she was fat and ugly?

"Hello, sister-in-law! My name is Xiao Zhou, and I'm a soldier under the platoon leader."

His voice was loud and clear, like he was counting off on the playground.

"Drive," Sheng Yuze said.

Xiao Zhou: "Okay."

Soon, they arrived at the village.

Three women were chatting idly under the tree.

Xiao Zhou drove right past them.

This made the three of them envious.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you can tell this car is heading to the Sheng family."

"That's right, the Sheng family is really lucky. They can still be so powerful even when they go to the countryside."

"You know, He Zhaoyang is really lucky. She got such a good family."

Another aunt scoffed, "Would you dare marry your child into the Sheng family?"

The aunt who was speaking immediately fell silent.

Upon arriving at the Sheng family's residence, Xiao Zhou opened the trunk.

Sheng Yuze called out from the doorway, "Brother, come out and move some things."

"They're here."

Sheng Kaiyuan was stunned as soon as he stepped out the door.

The trunk was full of fabric.

"Yuze, tell me honestly, did you rob someone?"

Sheng Yuze punched him, "How is that possible?"

He Zhaoyang laughed and said, "It was bought by a sucker."

Sheng Kaiyuan squatted down and flipped through the price tag on the top piece of cloth. He gasped, stood up, and dusted off his hands. "A sucker? Where did this sucker come from, so generous?"

He Zhaoyang carried the white cloth into the courtyard, tossing out a remark, "I met him in town."

"Someone you know in town?" Sheng Kaiyuan turned to look at Sheng Yuze, lowering his voice, "Who is it?"

Sheng Yuze followed behind her, leaning on his cane, without turning around: "The one from the Lu family."

Sheng Kaiyuan stood there stunned for several seconds, then quickly caught up and shouted, "The Lu family? Lu Xingguo? You want him to buy fabric for your wife?"

"He wanted to buy it himself."

"You'll let him buy it just because he wants to?"

Sheng Yuze paused on the steps, turned around and glanced at him. "He saw that my wife wasn't dressed well and felt sorry for her. Can't I let him feel sorry for her?"

Sheng Kaiyuan was stunned by Sheng Yuze's words and had no way to refute them.

Seeing that things were almost done, Xiao Zhou stuffed the car keys into his pocket and called out into the house, "Platoon leader, sister-in-law, just let me know if you need any help. I'll be in town for the next couple of days!"

He Zhaoyang peeked out from the main room, smiled at him, and said, "Okay."

Xiao Zhou shifted gears, made a U-turn in the alley, and drove away.

After dinner, Sheng Yuze obediently followed He Zhaoyang back into the house.

He Zhaoyang spread out the quilt, straightened his back, and sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Sheng Yuze stood at the door for a while, leaning on his cane, and then took two steps toward the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"You can continue sleeping on the floor," He Zhaoyang said, stopping Sheng Yuze who was about to get into bed. His tone was very calm.

Sheng Yuze stopped.

He Zhaoyang lowered her head and straightened the corner of the blanket, not looking at him. "You still remember what you did yesterday, right?"