"Nonsense!" Old Master Shen was furious. "Jianming, haven't you told her yet? You've let Jinghai take the blame for so many years."
"Now it's even implicating Ziyu. Where is your conscience?"
"If you don't say it, I will."
"Dad," Shen Jianming pleaded.
"Uncle Shen," Tian Jing interjected, "We'll discuss your family matters later. Let's talk about today's business."
"If Ziyu marries into our Li family, our Li family will offer a betrothal gift of five hundred thousand."
"In addition, we will purchase a property here as a marital home."
"The renovation will be handled by Ziyu; young people have their own ideas."
"We don't have the time to oversee the renovation long-term, so we'll give Ziyu an additional three hundred thousand for renovation expenses."
"That seven-seater car that brought the local specialties was bought new before the Lunar New Year, and we'll give it to Ziyu to drive for fun."
Everyone in the room was stunned by Tian Jing's generosity.
"Auntie?" Yu Ziyu was surprised and delighted. "You already gave me over two hundred thousand as a meeting gift, giving me more of this is too much..."
Tian Jing patted her hand. "This is not much, because you are worth it. You are a good girl, and our Xiao Bo is fortunate."
"Tomorrow, you will take us around, and we will buy a house wherever you like."
"As long as it's close to home, as long as it's convenient for you to return."
"Auntie," Yu Ziyu leaned on Tian Jing's shoulder. "Thank you, I will take good care of our home, Xiao Bo's and mine."
Li Jinghua, who had been frowning in thought, tentatively asked, "Tian Jing, you are Captain Tian from the nursery base in Kushan, aren't you?"
Tian Jing nodded faintly. "I didn't expect you to guess."
"Heh heh." Li Jinghua said sheepishly, "Your grand gesture, combined with the local specialties, made me think of Kushan."
"Anyone with a bit of knowledge knows what Kushan represents."
"I have long heard of Captain Tian's great name, and I didn't expect you to be a woman. We truly did not recognize your stature."
Shen Jianfang's eyes lit up. Dad had told her to bring both daughters. Could it be?
Ma Xingxiang, stunned by Tian Jing's generosity, quickly asked her equally bewildered husband what Kushan represented.
Shen Jianming had not expected that the man his younger sister had found, who could be considered a live-in son-in-law, was actually the son of Captain Tian from Kushan.
No wonder Dad had rushed out of the capital without hesitation. He knew that Dad had united over twenty elders to request the higher authorities for Captain Tian to cultivate ginseng.
Because one of the elders had not only obtained the prescription for the Renshen Gubian Wan (Ginseng Consolidating Pill) but had also invited back a descendant of the TCM practitioner who held this prescription.
The main ingredient of Renshen Gubian Wan is ginseng, but the ginseng available now is either only a few years old or artificially ripened with fertilizer.
If there is older ginseng, it would be dried ginseng that has been stored for decades, losing more than half of its medicinal efficacy.
Only fresh ginseng is the fundamental reason for Renshen Gubian Wan's consolidating effect.
These elders thought of the nursery base in Kushan.
The higher-ups said they would not participate in this matter and that they should fend for themselves.
However, he knew that the higher-ups wanted to see if these elders could truly produce Renshen Gubian Wan.
They also wanted to observe the effects of Renshen Gubian Wan from these elders.
These elders were also aware of the higher-ups' intentions.
So they made a bet: whoever contacted Captain Tian and got Captain Tian to agree to help plant ginseng would be recognized as their leader, and the Renshen Gubian Wan would be distributed by this leader.
This matter was decided before the Lunar New Year, and everyone was eagerly waiting to visit Captain Tian in Kushan after the fifteenth.
But Captain Tian was sitting right in front of them, and they truly didn't recognize her.
No wonder! No wonder Dad instigated this bet. It turned out Dad had known who Captain Tian was all along.
Huh? Li Zhengguo?
Weren't Li Zhengguo and Yu Jinghai both Dad's guards back then?
Does this mean Dad was truly saved by Li Zhengguo back then?
No wonder Dad was so disappointed in him; not only did he not believe Dad's words, but he also forgot about Dad's savior.
The ignorant questions in his ear made him ashamed and annoyed. What was the use of maintaining a false good reputation?
Wasn't it all ruined by such a foolish woman?
He pushed away the head beside him and said coldly, "The opportunity to advance back then was earned by Jinghai himself."
"The reason I was not nominated was that I had an affair with a female subordinate at the time."
"After losing the opportunity to advance, I repented, but there was never another chance."
"I wanted to cover up my mistake, so I needed a reasonable excuse. The excuse of Dad's favoritism was very fitting, wasn't it?"
"Because I was afraid of your tantrums, I let Dad and Jinghai carry the burden for ten years."
"I'm telling you now because I no longer care about your tantrums."
"Because I have realized that I can only reach this level in my life."
"Once I can't go any higher and my age catches up, I'll have to retire."
"So, whether you make a fuss or not doesn't matter. At worst, we'll go our separate ways."
Ma Xingxiang had already prepared to roll and throw a tantrum, but she was startled by her husband's last few words and stood up straight:
"You, you want to divorce me?"
Shen Jianming remained noncommittal. "I'll give you a chance. If you continue to speak out of turn and throw tantrums regardless of the occasion."
"Divorce might not be a bad thing. It would be a release for you, and a release for me."
"Nonsense!" Ma Xingxiang said with tears in her eyes. "It's a release for you, you want to get rid of me, a farmer's daughter with no education."
"No!" Shen Jianming denied. "What I want to get rid of is the shrew who rolls on the ground at the slightest disagreement."
"Not all farmer's daughters use tantrums to achieve their goals."
"Your behavior has tarnished the reputation of farmers, yet you don't realize it."
"Every time I compromised to uphold the farmers' reputation. Now I won't, you can go and disgrace yourself."
Ma Xingxiang took a few steps back and leaned against the wall, tears silently streaming down her face.
She didn't want to either, but if she didn't resort to crying, making a scene, or threatening suicide to achieve her goals, what else could she do?
Seeing her sister-in-law like this, Zhao Qilan felt a pang of sorrow for a fellow sufferer.
Her situation was similar to her sister-in-law's, except she always benefited from following her sister-in-law.
"Alright," Old Master Shen said. "Our grandsons are grown, why are we still talking about divorce?"
"Xingxiang, be mindful of your image from now on. Even if you don't consider the Shen family, you should maintain your image as a good grandmother in your grandsons' eyes, right?"
"If Hongsong and Hongbai's classmates find out that their grandmother uses rolling on the ground and tantrums to achieve her goals, will they still have any face in front of their classmates?"
Eight-year-old Shen Hongsong cleverly ran over and took his grandmother's hand:
"Grandma, I didn't understand before. I thought rolling on the ground could get me what I wanted, so I just rolled once."
"Now that I'm in the third grade, I know that achieving goals by rolling on the ground is very shameless."
"I didn't dare to say it, for fear of upsetting you. So I asked Mom to pick me up instead of you."
Ma Xingxiang, who was deeply saddened, received understanding from her father-in-law and comforting words from her eldest grandson, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
She slid down and hugged her grandson.
"I'm sorry, Grandma was wrong. Your mother taught you very well."
Shen Hongsong hugged his grandmother's neck. "Grandma, then be nicer to Mom, okay?"
"Okay!" Ma Xingxiang nodded vigorously. "Grandma will change."
Shen Hongsong quickly called out to his grandfather. "Grandpa, Grandma said she'll change. Don't be angry with her anymore."
Under his father's stern gaze, Shen Jianming could only walk over to his eldest grandson.
"Alright, our guests are here, and we're talking about happy news. What kind of behavior is this?"
Shen Hongsong broke free from his grandmother's embrace, ran to the dining table, grabbed a few tissues, and ran back.
"Grandpa, wipe Grandma's tears."
Shen Jianming was extremely embarrassed, but his grandson thrust tissues into his hand.
The grandson also said, "When my mom cries, my dad wipes her tears."
"Then my mom smiled, and my dad... wuwuwu."
Shen Hongsong's mouth was covered by his father, Shen Zhaolin.
The awkward atmosphere in the living room instantly disappeared.
Ma Xingxiang took the tissues from her husband's hand, wiped her tears, and blew her nose.
After tidying herself up, she bowed to Old Master Shen and apologized.
"Thank you, Father, for your tolerance over the years."
Old Master Shen waved his hand. "If you can come to your senses and live a good life, then my efforts to accommodate you and Jianming will not have been in vain."
Ma Xingxiang straightened up. "I will."
She turned to Yu Jinghai and apologized. "My words always sound unpleasant, I'm sorry."
Yu Jinghai quickly moved aside. "Sister-in-law, we are family."
"Yes! We are family." Ma Xingxiang forced a smile and looked at Shen Jianrong.
"Then I won't apologize to Little Sister, after all, she's the one who finds fault with me the most."
"You?"
Shen Jianrong was annoyed. How could she be the one finding fault with Ma Xingxiang? Wasn't it always Ma Xingxiang who started the trouble?
Yu Jinghai restrained his wife.
Ma Xingxiang nodded to Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo. "Sorry for letting you witness this. Please continue your conversation, I'll go help in the kitchen."