"Erqiang, why are you so absent-minded today?"
At the factory, Ma Suqin looked at the dazed Erqiang.
"Huh? Sorry, Master. I got distracted." Erqiang looked even more lost.
"Stop letting your thoughts run wild!" Ma Suqin seemed a little displeased. "I'm the master and you're the apprentice. Work hard, save up more money, and when you're old enough, I'll introduce you to some pretty girls."
Earlier, after being beaten up by Ma Suqin's gambling-addict husband, Erqiang couldn't stand seeing a man like that possess the woman he longed for day and night. Feeling sorry for Ma Suqin, he had directly confessed his feelings—only to be rejected by her.
Such a sudden confession was naturally little more than a joke to Ma Suqin. She knew she was pretty, knew many men's eyes lingered on her, knew about the ignorance and impulsiveness of boys in puberty, and knew she was twelve years older than Erqiang...
The gap in their ages and the judgment of society were towering walls that could not easily be crossed.
As for whether she had feelings for Erqiang, at least for now, she did not. She was kind by nature and treated everyone well. It was only Erqiang's repeated persistence that gradually changed things later on.
By the time she got together with Erqiang in the original story, one reason was Erqiang's sincere devotion, steady as water wearing through stone. Another was that she wanted someone to rely on, to make life a little easier. There was also, to some extent, an element of muddling through it all.
Even after the two began living together, they never had children. The main reason was Ma Suqin's son with that gambling addict. She did not want her son to have any other ideas, while Erqiang, so utterly devoted to her,