If flowers bloom, youth will naturally follow.

If a mother-in-law were to marry her daughter off to a rogue after hearing this toothache curse, that would be a fairy tale. But Little Fatty's grandmother still swallowed her anger and married her daughter off to Xia Donghai.

What finally convinced her mother-in-law was that Xia Tian, ​​this shameless girl, was pregnant.

Xia Donghai stole melons in the summer and had a daughter named Xia Tian, ​​which is enough to prove how fast he could steal someone's body.

The two got married because of the pregnancy and held a hasty wedding. Xia Donghai was officially kicked out of the house by his parents. He was given a plot of land, a leaky house and fifty catties of grain in the family division. He had no money and they didn't even get the money they received as wedding gifts.

Xia Donghai was grateful for Ma Dongmei's favor and decided to work hard to make her happy.

He took out some of Ma Dongmei's secret savings and bought some food and wine to prepare a treacherous feast. He invited his cronies together, forty or fifty people, filling the house and courtyard: "I'm going out to make money, and I need to take good care of my wife. You can take whatever you want, or as little as you want, but you won't get a single penny. After this meal, we'll forget about each other. But when I make money, I'll never forget what happened today."

The most righteous are often the poor. Although his group of cronies were all extremely poor, they still managed to chip in ten, twenty, thirty, or fifty yuan, and even five or eight yuan, raising a total of 796 yuan for him.

The 796 work schedule in 1983 was not the same as the 796 work schedule now. Back then, it was almost equivalent to 40,000 or 50,000 yuan. Xia Donghai did not expect his poor brothers to be so supportive. He drank some wine, his eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth and said, "If I can't make something of myself, I'll die out there."

His cronies laughed and cursed, "You wish! Do you still think you're someone who only has one person to feed and no one to worry about? Even if you end up like a dog, you'll still have to stay alive and come back to support these two people."

The next day, Xia Donghai spent a few dozen yuan to buy some gifts for both sets of parents: "Mom and Dad, I want to live a good life. I'm going out to earn money. Please take care of Dongmei for me."

He wanted to live a good life, and both sets of parents were naturally delighted and happily agreed.

He gave all the remaining money to Ma Dongmei: "Wife, I'm going to Harbin. I'll bring money back when the baby is born so you and your daughter can live a good life."

Ma Dongmei is silly. She said with a grin, "Don't talk nonsense. Before the child is born, we'll come back whether we have money or not."

Xia Donghai instructed, "Don't be stingy with this money, don't make yourself suffer."

He went out to work as a laborer with a construction team. He had never done such hard work before. Ma Dongmei felt sorry for him and gave him a few dozen yuan: "You too, don't make yourself suffer when you're away from home. If you really can't take it, come back. We can farm properly and we won't starve."

Xia Donghai didn't take the money; he kissed her and then went to Harbin with the villagers.

Xia Donghai was a shrewd and selfish man. His only true feelings were for Ma Dongmei. When Ma Dongmei married him, he had accomplished nothing and was penniless. She followed him wholeheartedly, enduring hardship and toil. Even when she was exhausted, she never let him get out of bed.

Although Xia Donghai is the protagonist's father, he is not a decent person. He indulges in eating, drinking, gambling, arrogance, and vanity, but he never slept with prostitutes. He was truly good to Ma Dongmei his whole life.

That year, Xia Donghai went to work on a construction site in Harbin with a fellow villager.

His personality was not suited for that job. He managed for a week but couldn't continue. Ignoring the good advice of his fellow villagers, he took his wages, bought a suit, and went off to work as a salesman, looking all respectable.

This kid was handsome (if Little Fatty had inherited two or three tenths of his looks, he wouldn't be as ugly as he is now), thick-skinned, and sweet-talking. He was practically a born sales genius, often managing to sell combs to bald men. By chance, he caught the eye of a wealthy man surnamed Ma.