Chapter 66 Fiancé

"Who is he?! Who is the person who will marry you?!"

Lu Huaiyuan roared at Liu Zhixia in frustration.

Liu Zhixia was baffled: "What does it have to do with you? Anyway, you're not from our brigade. You're about to marry Gu Mansheng, so stop having any ulterior motives."

"No!" Lu Huaiyuan shouted anxiously in front of everyone, "I don't want to marry Gu Mansheng! All that gentle demeanor she usually has is an act! Zhixia, I realize now that you are the best!"

Looking at his heartfelt, prodigal son-turned-back expression, Liu Zhixia felt nauseous.

Too lazy to pay him any more attention, she turned around and loudly announced to the surrounding onlookers:

"My fiancé and I will be getting our marriage certificate the day after tomorrow, and the wedding banquet the day after that! We hope everyone can come and have a drink at our wedding!"

After saying that, he left gracefully amidst the shocked and envious gazes of the crowd.

"Stop!" Seeing Lu Huaiyuan about to chase after her again, Gu Mansheng screamed and threatened, "Lu Huaiyuan! Your father acknowledged our marriage in front of the entire brigade! If you dare to break off the engagement, I will never let your Lu family off the hook!"

Lu Huaiyuan stopped in his tracks, turned around and glared at her, caught in a dilemma.

Li Xuemei felt utterly humiliated and quickly grabbed her son, whispering, "Son, things have come to this, you have no choice but to marry this slut!"

Seeing her son's unwilling expression, she leaned close to his ear and gave him a bad idea:

"But don't worry, you can get a divorce even if you get married! That Liu Zhixia is just a worthless slut now. If she marries just anyone, it definitely won't last long! Once things calm down, we'll dump that bitch, and I'll find you someone better!"

She looked at her son with blind confidence in her eyes: "You're so outstanding and handsome. Even if you're divorced, women who want to marry you would line up from one end of the village to the other!"

As Lu Huaiyuan listened, his mind began to stir.

Yeah, you can't get divorced after you're married!

He glanced around and finally nodded: "Okay! We'll do as Mother says!"

Just as the mother and son finished discussing their plan, Lu Jianping rushed back carrying large and small bags.

Gu Mansheng's eyes lit up the moment she saw those things, and her face was full of smug joy.

"So I also have a betrothal gift! Hmph, it doesn't seem to be any less than that bitch Liu Zhixia's!"

Lu Jianping was stunned when he saw so many people gathered at his doorstep.

Before he could speak, Li Xuemei greeted him with disdain: "Old man, why do you need to buy so many things to marry such a thing?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianping's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"These... I didn't buy them, the commune... gave them to me." He spoke somewhat incoherently.

Seeing his guilty look, Li Xuemei's heart skipped a beat.

Lu Huaiyuan, however, was completely oblivious to what was amiss. Instead, he proudly boasted to those around him:

"Did you all see that? No wonder he's my dad, he's got real influence! Even the commune has to send so many gifts for my wedding!"

He raised his voice very high, as if afraid someone wouldn't hear him.

Even though Lu Huaiyuan married someone from a bad family background, there were still so many people in the commune who wanted to curry favor with his family.

They even gave him so many gifts for his wedding; they must be hoping for a bright future, so they're trying to curry favor with him.

Hearing his son's foolish words, Lu Jianping felt dizzy and almost fainted on the spot!

"Shut the hell up!" he yelled, pointing at Lu Huaiyuan. "Aren't you ashamed enough already?! Get back here!"

He glared at Gu Mansheng with disgust again: "And you! You're not even married yet and you're already running to your in-laws' house every day, have you no shame!"

After saying that, he stuffed everything in his hands into Li Xuemei's arms, put his hands behind his back, and stormed back into the house.

Holding the pile of things, Li Xuemei felt increasingly uneasy as she looked at them, and couldn't help but mutter, "Strange, why do these things look so familiar... This fabric, this canned food... Aren't these the gifts we gave out a while ago?"

When she saw the markings on the package clearly, her hand went limp, and she almost dropped everything on the ground!

This is hardly a gift from the commune!

This is clearly all the lavish gifts they sent out to help Lu Huaiyuan get a special treatment, and they've all been returned untouched!

Li Xuemei stumbled and almost fainted on the spot!

Lu Huaiyuan quickly caught her and comforted her with a smug look on his face: "Mom, don't get agitated! My father has been in the brigade for so many years, and I am such an outstanding son. Isn't it normal for them to want to curry favor with us?"

"Shut up!" Li Xuemei gritted her teeth, her eyes reddening. "Go home! Go home right now!"

She absolutely cannot say such a shameful thing in public!

But Lu Huaiyuan had no idea what she was thinking.

He had been humiliated for so many days because of his affair with Gu Mansheng, and now that he finally had a chance to stand up for himself, how could he possibly let it go!

Wasn't Liu Zhixia showing off her betrothal gifts just now?

Now, let everyone see who truly has a bright future!

He snatched the item from Li Xuemei's hand and quickly showed it to the crowd watching the play.

"Everyone, look carefully! These are all wedding gifts specially sent by the commune leaders because they knew I was getting married! What are Liu Zhixia's betrothal gifts compared to what the leaders have given us? This is recognition of me, Lu Huaiyuan! This is how much they value me!"

Seeing the envious glances from those around him, Lu Huaiyuan became even more smug.

"Just you wait and see! I, Lu Huaiyuan, will soon be the accountant of the commune! In less than two years, I'll be the secretary! As for Liu Zhixia, let her marry a peasant and farm the land for the rest of her life!"

"Really? Huaiyuan, I knew you were the best!" Gu Mansheng's expression immediately changed, and she looked at him with eyes full of admiration.

The woman's adoration greatly satisfied Lu Huaiyuan's ego!

He shouted at Liu Zhixia, who hadn't gone far, "Liu Zhixia! Even if you kneel down and beg me now, I still won't want you! An uneducated country girl like you is no longer good enough for me!"

Li Xuemei felt her vision go black, and rushed forward to try to snatch the things back, but Lu Huaiyuan pushed her away.

"Mom, what are you doing! This is the leader's high regard for me, what's there to be afraid of? I have to let everyone see!"

Just as Lu Huaiyuan was feeling most triumphant, a sharp-eyed educated youth noticed that there seemed to be an envelope in the enamel basin he was holding.

Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, the man snatched the envelope out, opened it, and found—inside was a thick wad of cash!

"What a joke!" Everyone around was shocked.

Does Lu Jianping have that much influence? His son is getting married, and his superiors have to give him gifts?

But when the educated youth saw the signature on the envelope, his expression instantly became incredibly interesting.

His hands were trembling as he held the letter. Finally, as if throwing away trash, he slammed the envelope back into Lu Huaiyuan's basin with a loud, crisp sound!

He looked at Lu Huaiyuan, his eyes filled with endless mockery and contempt:

"Lu Huaiyuan, you idiot! This isn't a gift from the leader! It's a gift your father gave to the leader, which was then returned!"