Volume One, Chapter One: The "Disgraced Woman" Bringing a Child to a Matchmaking Session

"Shen Sisi, you show up for a blind date with a child even though you’re unmarried… That’s just not right. What do you take me, Zhao Changjiang, for? Some kind of trash collector?"

Whenever Zhao Changjiang got anxious, his voice grew loud and he spoke without a filter.

Shen Sisi clenched her fists, biting down her frustration as her eyes reddened instantly. She felt the soft little Bao burrowing into her arms for comfort, and she pinched her palm to keep calm.

She’d already been through countless similar scenes these past days.

Some people had hurled even worse insults, calling her worthless and shameless right in public.

She’d thought she’d grown numb to it all, yet she still cared deeply.

Yes, it was true—she hadn’t married, and she did have a child with her, but she, Shen Sisi, was still perfectly innocent. She was not the woman they accused her of being!

She gripped her cup tightly, forcing herself to regain her composure. “Didn’t the matchmaker tell you about my situation before you came?”

Zhao Changjiang suddenly choked on his words, recalling the matchmaker’s hesitant expression—as if there was something she’d wanted to say, but he hadn’t waited to hear it. He’d seen Shen Sisi’s photo and been instantly smitten—she looked like a movie star from a magazine. Before the matchmaker could finish, he’d rushed off to meet her.

To see her, he’d even bought a brand-new shirt and ordered a table full of dishes, spending over half a month’s wages.

And honestly, she was even more beautiful in person!

Almond-shaped eyes, rosy cheeks, porcelain skin—her smile was delicate and charming. Her figure was slender, but where it mattered, she was perfectly shaped—a woman obviously meant for bearing sons.

She’d stolen his heart completely; he’d even thought of what to name their son… Who would have guessed she was the kind of woman everyone gossiped about?

Unmarried, already with a child, and still daring to come to a blind date—afraid people wouldn’t know about her “glorious deeds” in the countryside.

He felt utterly embarrassed!

As he stood there in a daze, Shen Sisi bit down in silent anger, her voice calm but forceful: “Since you knew my situation and still came to meet me, why would you publicly humiliate me now?”

Her tone was gentle but unyielding, steady even in anger, her words hitting home.

Half his anger snuffed out, Zhao Changjiang stared at her lovely, indignant face, his heart inexplicably softening.

“I—I’m satisfied with you. I can be generous about your past but…” His gaze shifted to the little burden in her arms—sickly and thin, no more than a drain on anyone.

“But the child can’t stay…”

If he couldn’t accept her daughter, there was nothing more to discuss.

Shen Sisi cast a brief glance at this ordinary, even somewhat unsightly man, then rose with her last shred of dignity. “You may like me, but I certainly don’t like you. I won’t argue with you today, but let’s not meet again.”

Zhao Changjiang stared after her, still reeling—what was this? Even a woman with a reputation like hers dared turn him down?

Had his half-month’s wages all gone to waste?

“Wait—hold on!” Zhao Changjiang hurried forward, blocking Shen Sisi and her daughter. “You pay for the meal.”

Shen Sisi raised her brow, glancing at the table full of dishes—braised pork, pork stew with noodles, stir-fried meat—nothing but expensive dishes. This was no cheap meal.

She let out a cold laugh. “Comrade Zhao, you ordered these dishes, not me. I haven’t even touched a bite. Why should I pay?”

“I ordered them to meet you…” Zhao Changjiang tried to argue, feeling that if the date was ruined, at least he shouldn’t be out all that money.

With everyone around watching, his face burned with embarrassment, and he barked, “If you won’t pay, then come home with me and we’ll get married.”

“Are you out of your mind? If you’re not well, go see a doctor,” Shen Sisi shot him a scathing look.

She’d met plenty of awful men during these blind dates, but none as stingy as Zhao Changjiang—he’d truly broadened her horizons.

As she strode away, Zhao Changjiang chased after her.

“Why shouldn’t you like me? I’m Zhao Changjiang, a security guard at the print factory, earning thirty a month, with an urban household registration, and I’m my family’s only son. You’re an unmarried educated youth who’s slept around and had a bastard child, and I’m still willing to accept you…”

A ringing filled Shen Sisi’s ears. She covered Niuniu’s ears with one hand and flung the contents of her teacup at him with the other.

“That’s enough!” She turned, almond-shaped eyes blazing red. “Don’t go too far, especially in front of my child!”

Her face flushed with anger, fierce as a wildcat protecting its young, her claws outstretched.

Say whatever you want about me, but never about Niuniu!

A mother’s courage—whether or not by blood, as a “mother,” she would protect Niuniu with everything she had, never letting her suffer or be branded with such a vile name.

Zhao Changjiang’s face grew hot, his new shirt stained yellow with tea, steam rising from the fabric.

Ruined—his brand-new shirt, ruined!

Heart aching, he gritted his teeth and fully dropped all pretenses. “You dare throw tea at me… Do you know how expensive this shirt is? If you don’t pay me today, I won’t let this go!”

Compared to his frantic blustering, Shen Sisi appeared almost too calm, though her trembling fingers betrayed her anger.

“Everyone saw it—it was your filthy mouth first. You insulted my daughter. Didn’t you deserve it? I didn’t hit you, just cooled you down a little. Compensation? Dream on!”

People around watched, moved by her composure—she didn’t seem like a girl barely in her twenties, but as if she’d already weathered a lifetime of storms, resilient in a way that made one’s heart ache.

In the early 1980s, having a child out of wedlock could easily land you a charge of hooliganism.

This girl must have suffered greatly to end up this way.

Or perhaps, during her time as an educated youth in the countryside, she’d formed a family with a local but never registered the marriage. Now that many educated youths were returning to the city, she wanted to bring her child back as well.

In any case, she must be a truly unfortunate girl…

Shen Sisi noticed the sympathetic looks people gave her, and she guessed what they were thinking.

She wasn’t nearly as pitiful as they imagined, but she’d signed an agreement about all this—she could never breathe a word of the truth, and could only swallow her bitterness in silence.

“They’ve suffered enough, mother and daughter. The child’s so little and sickly—stop pestering them, young man,” a kind-hearted aunt advised.

Zhao Changjiang pointed at his shirt. “If you’re so kind, why don’t you pay for her?”

The aunt fell silent, looking at the stained shirt.

“If you’ve got a problem, take it out on me,” Shen Sisi said. “Don’t threaten anyone else.”

“Fine, just you then!” Zhao Changjiang grew angrier at her defiant glare. “You’re secondhand goods and you still dare sneer at me? If you don’t pay me thirty yuan, you’re not leaving!”

“Thirty? Are you trying to rob me?” Shen Sisi had never seen such shamelessness.

Thirty yuan—almost a month’s wages for someone like Zhao Changjiang.

She truly didn’t have thirty yuan on her, and even if she did, it would go to Niuniu’s medicine, not to a scoundrel like him.

Seeing her unable to produce the money, Zhao Changjiang grabbed her wrist. “No money? Then it’s either the police station or my home—your choice…”

He twisted her wrist, dragging her toward the door.

In the struggle, Niuniu burst into tears, coughing violently, clinging desperately to her mother’s neck like a terrified fawn.

This man was terrifying—he wanted to eat her mother!

What should she do…

Niuniu’s cries filled Shen Sisi’s ears as she struggled desperately, holding the child with one arm, barely able to resist.

Just as Zhao Changjiang was about to drag her out, a large, sinewy hand shot out from behind the curtain, veins standing out, gripping Zhao Changjiang’s “pig’s trotter” of a hand.

Shen Sisi looked at the hand—broad and strong, yet rough, the wrist marked by a fearsome scar… It seemed familiar. Above it was a sleeve of army green.

Before she could get a better look, a tall, imposing figure stepped through the curtain.