CHAPTER 4
”No. Marriage must be voluntary on the part of both men and women. Remember, it must be both men and women. They must be present in person and sign in person.”
The staff patiently explained it again, but this time the old lady looked depressed, as if she had suffered a great blow. She tried hard to find a daughter-in-law who she thought was reliable, but was told that it was not possible.
Li Xia helped her sit down aside. The old lady took a while to stand up again and found the staff to ask again: “What if we hold the wedding banquet at home?”
”Holding a wedding?” Seeing the old lady nod, the female comrade continued: “We have no control over holding a wedding, it’s considered a de facto marriage. But your son…”
”That’s fine.”
The old lady dragged Li Xia away without waiting for her to finish. It didn’t matter if it was a de facto marriage and not registered. Li Xia had just thought about signing an agreement or something to see if it would be okay, but she didn’t expect the old lady to do this.
It seems that the concept of de facto marriage was abolished in later generations. She is not sure when exactly, but it is certain that it has been recognized in the past decade. As for whether their situation is protected by law or not, she thinks it is not important. As long as they can register their mother and daughter, she is willing to support the father and son. If the man wakes up and recovers and is not willing to live with her, she will leave.
The two of them immediately went to buy the ingredients, buying all the vegetables, oil, eggs, etc. listed in the food allowance. When they got home, Li Xia cooked, while the old lady went to inform relatives and friends.
A sumptuous meal was prepared in the evening. A pair of brooches of the bride and groom were worn on the lapels of her and the man on the bed. A new red enamel basin was placed on the washbasin stand in the corner, with a brand new towel on it. The old lady also skillfully cut out red wedding characters and pasted them on the wardrobe and other things. As soon as you enter the room, you will feel the atmosphere of a wedding.
The old lady introduced them to her one by one. The couple of her friends, a man who was a classmate and close friend of Shen Haiyang, and the rest were neighbors who got along well with her. Everyone suppressed their curiosity and didn’t ask her in person, but greeted her with a smile. Shen Haiyang’s close friend worked at the police station and had already privately told the old lady about the situation of registering for residence.
It is difficult to change from an agricultural to a non-agricultural status, but Shen Haiyang was injured at work. In order to ensure that the worker can be taken care of, they let Li Xia and her daughter register their local household registration, and said that they could arrange a job for Li Xia. People turned a blind eye to de facto marriages, otherwise Shen Haiyang’s situation could not be settled.
Li Xia nodded in agreement. She was satisfied that the most difficult household registration problem had been solved. After settling down in the city, she would be someone’s wife and a mother to a little kid. She would work hard in the future, as the burden was not light.
The man looked at her with gentle and firm eyes. Having seen countless people, he felt that the old lady had good vision and that this person looked trustworthy. At least as long as his nephew was breathing and having a heartbeat, he would be well taken care of and not suffer.
”What’s your name?”
As soon as the man spoke in a bad tone, Li Xia stood up with a smile on her face. “My name is Li Xia, Uncle, you can call me Xiao Li or Xia.”
The Uncke snorted coldly and pointed at the man on the bed. “He’s in a vegetative state. The doctor said he won’t wake up. Are you really willing to marry him?”
” I am willing.”
”Why? You look like you’re in your twenties, are you really going to live with a vegetative for the rest of your life? And you have to raise a child who’s only a few years old, don’t you feel humiliated or at a disadvantage? If you do this, your life will be ruined.”
”i don’t hate it, and I don’t resent him either, I am happy with it.”
In her previous life, she brought her two children with her and did not look for another one. In this life, she was nominally a daughter-in-law but actually a nanny, but what she got was a stable place to stay and a household registration for both herself and her daughter.
After the house was demolished, it would be enough for Shen Hui to marry a wife and she would just raise their children. As for her, she had nothing to fear after she had a new life and a household registration and could settle down in the city.
”Why?”
The woman followed up her husband’s question and asked again. Li Xia smiled and asked back, “Sister, what do you think a woman should look for in a husband?”
”Needless to say. Marrying a man means having clothes and food, so of course you need someone to rely on.” The Aunt sneered and pointed at the man on the bed and Shen Hui: “One can’t move, and the other is so young. You are not looking for someone to rely on, but finding yourself two big burdens, and I don’t know how many years these burdens will drag you down. Tell me, what exactly are you planning as a wife?”
” Haiyang’s aunt , ahem…” The old lady was anxious, her cheeks flushed with anger. Li Xia reached out and patted her on the back, handed her a glass of water to calm her down, and then she spoke up.
”I married him. So that me and my daughter can have a place to live, and my daughter can go to school in the city. Oh, by the way, it seems that the company can also help arrange a job for me. There are so many benefits, are you thinking about it too, auntie? “
”I, why should I worry about it? It’s not my benefit.”
”Well, you have to be someone’s wife.”
You are mocking me for doing it for the benefit, I am doing it for the benefit. Why are you so anxious to stop me? What are you planning? Outsiders cannot be in charge of the family. You can just wait until the old lady dies so that you can manipulate them. What is the purpose? No one needs to tell me.
”Well, it’s actually pretty good. The mother and daughter have a place to stay in the city, and Haiyang has someone to take care of him. Haiyang’s mother is relieved too, it’s good then.”
The neighbors laughed and everyone became happy. Seeing that another lively was unhappy during the whole meal. After the meal, the neighbors left first and introduced their home to Li Xia, asking her to visit more when she had time.
”A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. We will all live together in the future. If there is anything, just call us.”
The two neighboring ladies were full of pity, thinking that a woman in her prime had her life wasted like this. She had to be a widow and take care of a vegetative patient to support them.
”Okay, thank you, Auntie.”
Li Xia saw the guests off, and after the neighbor left, then classmate of Shen Haiyang came to the door. “Li Xia, are you really willing to do this or not?”
”I am 100% willingly.”
”In Haiyang’s case, the doctor said he will never wake up. But we don’t know how long he will remain in a vegetative state. If it lasts ten or twenty years, it will be very difficult for you to take care of him and his son. You will waste the best years of your life.”
”It’s okay. I know what it will cost me to do this.”
Li Xia smiled sincerely. She had received so many benefits, so of course she had to take good care of others. “I can’t do other things, but I can take care of people. You are welcome to visit your friend at home more often in the future. I will cook some snacks for you. You two can sit and chat. The doctor said it’s better to talk to him more, but I’m not good at talking.”
This was a welcome for his supervision. The man nodded with a smile: “I will handle the household registration for you and your daughter as soon as possible. You send the relocation permit back and ask your family to ask the brigade to stamp it. I will take care of the rest.”
”Thank you very much.”
The man left after he finished speaking. Li Xia shook her head and laughed. She married a vegetative man and had a burden. Everyone must feel sorry for her. In fact, it was nothing. They both got what they needed. She knew how to live in the future. She cleared the table and went to the west room to turn Shen Haiyang over and give him a massage. She asked her daughter to sit on the stool and talk with him.
”Mom, are we going to live here from now on? No one will chase us away, right? If we don’t go back to our hometown, grandma and grandpa will be worried.”
”Yes. We will live here in the future, and no one can drive us away legitimately. Mom can write a letter to tell grandma and grandpa, and they won’t worry anymore.”
Seeing her daughter was timid, she continued to reassure her. If she remarried, the child would definitely feel uneasy because she would feel like a burden.
”Don’t be afraid. Mom will take you wherever she goes. You and Mom will always be together.”
”Well, I’m not afraid when my mother is around.”
The child nodded and thought of her brother, but she knew that this was an adult matter and she couldn’t do anything about it. She didn’t dare to go and see her brother, nor did she dare to say anything for fear of adding to her mother’s burden.
As the mother and daughter were talking, the voices in the west room became louder and louder. She could hear everything clearly with the door open. The uncle and aunt were trying to persuade the old lady, but they were probably angry because they couldn’t persuade her.
”Once you die, that Li Xia will torture Haiyang to death and this house will be hers. As a stepmother, she would even bully Huihui. Why are you so stupid? She did it for the house. For the benefit that Haiyang got at the cost of his life.”
”I’m happy to do so.” The old lady’s three words made them gasp for air and unable to speak for a long time. Then the old lady continued: “Return the money to him. I have already cut off all ties with him. I know what you are up to, but I’m telling you it’s impossible. Don’t think of using Haiyang to make money.”
”Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Your brother sincerely…”
”Get lost “
The old lady chased them away when they were mentioned. In fact, she had not interacted with them much in the early years. But now her life is coming to an end, her son is like that, and her grandson is still young. She must find a reliable person for them.
Otherwise, she would die without closing her eyes. This treacherous couple are already looking at their home as if it were a big pie, waiting for her to close her eyes so they could manipulate them.
He is Shen Haiyang’s uncle. If she dies, these people will be the head of this family. Friends, nannies, and any other relationships are not as reliable as this family’s mistress. However, this mistress was not easy to find. She took a lot of effort to find Li Xia.
A job offer, a household transfer, a house, and the money that person mailed. There were so many temptations, and none of them was small. She knew they had been eyeing them for a long time. So she forced herself to find a wife for her son, and fortunately she found one. Otherwise, once she died, her brother would have used them to get all these.
City people have a household registration, the government will arrange jobs for them, and they have houses at home. It is impossible to attract city women to marry here. Even rural women find it difficult to come here, after all, the burden is too heavy. Women have to sacrifice their youth and years for the rest of their lives, and it is not worth it to go to the city. The uncle and aunt thought that the old lady would definitely not be find a wife, but they didn’t expect that there would be a fool who jumped into this fire pit.
”Hey, if my niece-in-law finds out about the money, will she come and ask for it from us?”
The woman asked from the back of the bicycle, while the man sighed as he pedaled. “Where did the old lady find such a woman? She looks quite powerful. There was one vegetative patient, one dying, and one so young in this family, and now there’s a niece-in-law like this, what else can we do?”
”What was that woman thinking, marrying a vegetative just for a place to live. This time, your brother will definitely come here first when he comes back. Compared with his son and daughter-in-law, your cousin has to take a back seat.”
”You damned old woman, if you want to die, go ahead and die, but you brought another woman like this into the family. I promised to find a job for my nephew, but now this woman has taken it all. How can I explain this to my sister?
This woman is also stupid. Just a few rooms, but she sacrificed her whole life. Shen Haiyang will be vegetative for more than ten or twenty years, and she has to support the father and son. This deal will lose a lot of money. I’ll wait and see how she cries later then. “
”Do you think Li Xia will wait until the old woman dies before starving or freezing your nephew to death? There are many ways to die. Then she can get a house for free. If the little brats bully her, she will take care of him too.”
”She’s dreaming. I’ll keep an eye on her every day and I won’t let her take our Shen family’s things for free.”
