Chapter 100 Extra 2

While Chen Pan's wedding was in progress, a woman in her forties or fifties, wearing an ill-fitting burgundy long sweater jacket and black tight trousers, came hurriedly with a panicked look on her face.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

Although the wedding had already begun, the check-in desk outside was still open just in case, so two people were left there.

Seeing this frail woman, who actually looked quite young but had mostly white hair, hurriedly approaching them, the two Qin family members immediately stood up at the same time.

"My daughter is Yang Xiaomei, a childhood classmate and friend of the girl. She knew Chen Pan and Qin Yang were getting married today, so she asked me to come over to give gifts and attend the wedding."

She took out the red envelope she had prepared long ago from her bag, and then hurried over to Fang Qinghua, subconsciously raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his cheeks.

"Okay, sister-in-law, don't worry. The wedding just started a while ago. You can make it in time."

After understanding the other party's identity, the etiquette recorder immediately picked up the pen and carefully recorded the other party's identity.

"Excuse me, is it small?"

"right!"

“Is the flower the flower of flowers?”

“This is it!”

"Uncle, it's three thousand yuan!"

While the accountant was registering, the young man next to him quickly opened the red envelope and immediately told the number he had counted.

"So many, sister-in-law, your daughter must have a very close relationship with the bride, right? Is she out of town now?"

The ceremony was a major event. They had to carefully count and record all the money, without missing a single detail. After the wedding, they would also have to hand over all the money they had received today to the groom's family. They had to clearly record how much money came from the groom's relatives and how much from the bride's relatives. The accountant, who was in his early forties, was counting the money again when he subconsciously started chatting with the woman in front of him, whose true age was unclear.

"Yes, they grew up together and only gradually separated when Panpan moved away in the second year of the Chinese New Year. But even so, they have always kept in touch. My daughter is in Shenzhen now. If she had known in advance that Panpan was getting married today, she would definitely have tried every means to come back. But we got the news too late. Even if she wanted to come back, she couldn't buy a train ticket right away. She had no choice but to send me money and ask me to come and give her a gift."

Fang Qinghua kept wiping the sweat from his face and explained quickly.

The accountant nodded subconsciously, and the young man next to him quickly said, "It's rare."

After everything was over, the accountant immediately asked the young man beside him to send the person in.

It felt like this person must be very important, and he also gave the woman a huge sum of 3,000 yuan, which was the largest sum she had received today. The accountant hesitated for a moment and then reminded her, "Take him inside and don't let others neglect him."

"Got it, uncle!" In situations like this, the size of the gift money really reveals the closeness of the relationship. In Longcheng, the average neighbor gives a hundred yuan, while slightly closer neighbors and friends usually give two hundred. Even closer relatives and friends might give five hundred or a thousand yuan. Those who give over a thousand yuan are generally the closest relatives and friends these days.

Anyway, seeing that the family behind should have a very good relationship with the girl, Qin Zheng, who was leading the way, bent down and tried his best to lead the other party to the front.

The wedding on the stage was indeed still going on, but it was almost coming to an end.

Fang Qinghua was bent over and taken to a seat in the second row, which was surprisingly not full. It was just the time for the bride and groom to put their rings on each other and kiss each other.

Without thinking too much, the gray-haired Fang Qinghua immediately took out his mobile phone and quickly took pictures in front of him.

This cell phone of hers was a worn-out one given to her by her daughter when she came back two years ago to get her household registration book for her wedding.

Although it is an outdated model, it is actually very new. The camera and video functions are very good, and the pixels are very clear.

Holding his phone, he filmed diligently. After taking a dozen photos and a few short videos, Fang Qinghua didn't bother using his data plan. He simply used QQ to send all the photos and videos to his eldest daughter.

"Sister-in-law, the auntie sitting in my seat wearing a sweater, she added 3,000 yuan as a gift. She said she came here on behalf of her daughter, her daughter's name is Yang Xiaomei."

Today, apart from his cousin's two business friends, Tang Jun and Jiang Wenwu, who each gave 5,000 yuan, all other relatives and friends gave at most 1,000 yuan. Even Qin Yang's college and high school classmates gave around 800 or 500 yuan.

In this special era, when the average monthly salary barely exceeds 1,000 yuan, and the average salary for most people in Longcheng is only 810,000, or 1,000 yuan, a gift of a month's salary is considered a great honor. Under such circumstances, Yang Xiaomei's generous gift of 3,000 yuan was truly a rare and generous gift. This forced Qin Zheng, who had given up his seat at the table, to be cautious and to inform Chen Pan, who had just stepped down, about this matter.

"I know—as soon as I change out of this wedding dress, I'll go and thank her in person."

In fact, Chen Pan noticed it when Mother Yang bent down and came in just now.

Looking at the large hem of her wedding dress that was in the way, Chen Pan said something to Qin Yang and Qin Yang's cousin, then immediately walked towards the bridal dressing room at the back.

"Panpan, come on, I've already prepared the toast clothes for you."

Chen Pan’s college friend Ma Shengnan had been waiting at the door of the bride’s dressing room. When she saw Chen Pan coming over with the wedding dress, she immediately shouted anxiously.

"Okay, Lanlan, thank you for troubling me today."

The other party was the only college classmate Chen Pan invited today. Looking at him, Chen Pan subconsciously thanked him again.

"What's the trouble? This is what I should do. I also want to thank you for inviting me here and letting me be your bridesmaid. Taking this opportunity, I can finally have a good rest for two days."

There were two wedding makeup artists hired by Chen Pan in the hotel's dressing room. This was Chen Pan's last dress of the day.

When Chen Pan was talking to the bridesmaid, everyone rushed over and quickly changed Chen Pan into the final red toast dress.

While Chen Pan was changing her clothes, Ma Shengnan, who had just gone on stage, changed out of the bridesmaid dress that Chen Pan had prepared for her and put on the usual clothes she had brought with her.

The two of them talked while cleaning up.

In less than ten minutes, Chen Pan had finished packing.

Then, as the protagonist, Chen Pan personally took the two makeup artists who had worked hard all day backstage and brought them to the staff table. She also took her good friend directly to the table of her cousins ​​and personally asked them to take good care of her college friend.

After everything was settled, Chen Pan was stopped by the host and Qin Yang and others, and the so-called toasting process began again.

Toasts were made from the front to the back. Thinking that Yang's mother was in the second row, Chen Pan subconsciously suppressed his anxiety.

As a result, just when she and Qin Yang toasted at the third table in the first row, Chen Pan looked up and found that Yang's mother, who was sitting at the man's table in the second row, had disappeared.

"Honey, I'm going out for a while."

Giving Qin Yang a look that indicated he had things to do, Chen Pan then ignored the sidelong glances from others around him and quickly left the third-floor hall where they were holding their wedding.

When she just came out, she happened to see Mother Yang who was about to turn down the stairs.

"Auntie, wait a moment—"

There was no one at the check-in counter outside, and the staff around were too busy to pay attention to her. Chen Pan called out, and when the other party subconsciously stopped, she quickly ran over in her high heels.

"Auntie, since you're here, why don't you eat something before you leave?"

When Chen Pan caught up with her, Fang Qinghua, who had been rushing to go back, finally stopped walking. Then she turned around and took two more steps towards Chen Pan: "My family, my daughter-in-law just gave birth to a little granddaughter a few days ago. I want to go back quickly to take care of her during the confinement period."

Fang Qinghua looked up and glanced at Chen Pan, who was said to have graduated from graduate school and passed the civil service exam in Beijing, then quickly lowered his head.

"Really? Then sister-in-law, please wait for me. I'll get you a return gift."

The return gift was behind the sign-in table. After Chen Pan said it, he turned around immediately without waiting for the other party to refuse.

“Panpan, here I come!!”

As soon as she turned around, Qin Yang, who had followed her out, understood what she was going to do. He immediately walked behind the table in front and brought three gift bags to Chen Pan.

"You don't have to give me this!"

Fang Qinghua felt uncomfortable when he saw Chen Pan.

Seeing today's groom carrying three handbags at once, she immediately waved her hands embarrassedly.

"It's okay, auntie. There's just some honey and chocolate in it. You can open it and eat it slowly when you get home."

Seeing Qin Yang coming over, Chen Pan, who was wearing high heels, stopped struggling.

After taking the three bags from Qin Yang, Chen Pan handed them all to Mother Yang: "Auntie, has Xiaomei opened a snack bar in Shenzhen now?"

"It's not a snack bar. She and Chen Laosi opened a bakery just like yours. With the help of that small shop, they finally paid the down payment for a small house in the suburbs of Shenzhen last year. Anyway, they've finally made it through. They bought the house and had a child. When they came to get their household registration last year, they also brought my Xiaofang with them, saying they wanted to help her take the college entrance exam again—"

It's been so long now, it's no longer important to dwell on those trivial things. So when facing Chen Pan, even though Fang Qinghua was still feeling jealous and uncomfortable, she still tried her best to control her temper. Holding the return gift from Chen Pan, she spoke happily.

She was all smiles when she talked about her eldest daughter and Chen Laoshi opening a bakery in Shenzhen and buying a house in the suburbs. When she mentioned that they now had a child, her eyes even lit up with joy.

But when she mentioned that her eldest daughter had taken his second daughter away when she came back last time, and that she was now supposed to support her to go to college again, she suddenly couldn't say anything.

"Panpan, I won't talk to you anymore. I have to go back to coax my granddaughter." Fang Qinghua turned around immediately with pain in her eyes.

Chen Pan, who kept saying yes with a smile on his face, saw her sudden change of attitude and could only subconsciously pull her sleeve: "Auntie, can you give me Xiaomei's--"

"I've already written this down. Here, you can add her name and ask for her phone number. She was afraid we'd keep contacting her, so she only left me her phone number."

Fang Qinghua had already thought about Chen Pan wanting his daughter's number. He stuffed the note he had prepared into Chen Pan's hand, then, wearing his sister's old clothes, turned around and hurried down the stairs, picking up the things in his hand.

"Auntie, slow down—"

"It's okay, don't worry, honey. I'll go see him off—"

Chen Pan was still shouting at the back, saying that the other person's husband might be too nice or too polite. Seeing her running downstairs, the other person said something to Chen Pan, and finally ran out to see her off.

Fang Qinghua, who was running ahead, felt uncomfortable. Seeing Chen Pan wearing her beautiful wedding dress today, and thinking of her youthful and beautiful face that had clearly not been weathered by any wind and rain, she couldn't help but think of her daughter. It was said that her daughter didn't even have a wedding ceremony when she got married. She just had a simple meal after getting the marriage certificate. Her daughter—

She was thinking wildly, but when she saw that the young man named Qin Yang had really caught up with her, she couldn't run anymore, so she subconsciously slowed down her pace.

"Auntie, let me call you a taxi. Thank you for coming to our wedding today. Take this red envelope. There's a little money for the fare."

After Qin Yang caught up with Yang's mother, he simply reached out to stop the car.

The place where they held their wedding was one of the best hotels in Longcheng. There were many taxis running in front of the door. Almost as soon as Qin Yang stretched out his hand, a taxi stopped directly in front of them.

After pushing Mother Yang, who was about to leave, into the taxi in front without any explanation, Qin Yang immediately stuffed a red envelope into her hand.

"No, I don't want this!!" Seeing the red envelope he stuffed into his hand, Fang Qinghua didn't think much about it and immediately reached out to push the red envelope out.

"Take it, Auntie. I know you are Yang Xiaomei's mother, and I heard you just say that your daughter-in-law recently gave birth to a grandson for your family. Consider this as the full moon money Panpan and I give to your granddaughter. Panpan and I will be leaving again after the wedding, so we probably won't be able to make it in time for your full moon banquet. This is the only way for us now. There are only a few hundred yuan in it, so just take it."

Qin Yang pushed the red envelope and gestured to the driver inside.

The driver didn't dare to stay too long in front of the hotel. When he saw Qin Yang's gesture, he started the car without hesitation.

And just like that, the red envelope that was pushed back and forth between Qin Yang and Yang's mother finally landed in Fang Qinghua's hands.

"This child—"

Turning to look at Qin Yang, whom he had only met a few times, and at Chen Pan, who had finally followed him out in her toasting attire and high heels, Fang Qinghua, clutching the red envelope, murmured softly, and finally couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Where are you going, sister?"

The driver in front asked at this time.

"Please go to Chengbei North Station."

Because he had to catch the 2 p.m. bus, Fang Qinghua did not get out of the taxi immediately.

When the taxi driver agreed and slowly turned, Fang Qinghua, who was holding the red envelope and three handbags, couldn't help but slowly opened the red envelope.

When she saw a small amount of one thousand yuan written at the bottom of the red envelope, she was not too surprised.

Later, he found a red envelope in each of the three red handbags. When he opened them, he found that almost every red envelope contained 500 yuan. Finally, Fang Qinghua held the red envelopes in his hand, and his mood, which had just calmed down, became bad again.

"If, if she had been brave enough to risk her life to stop the eldest and second daughters from taking the college entrance exam, wouldn't her eldest daughter, who studies very hard, and her second daughter, who is very talented, have both gone to college today?

Could they both be college or graduate students like Chen Pan by now? If they were graduate students or college students, would they be able to meet better marriage partners? Would they be able to afford such a wedding and give each guest a 500 yuan gift?

Her heart ached as she thought back to the time when her two daughters had practically knelt down to beg her. She thought back to the time when the eldest daughter, in order to avoid a hasty marriage, left her hometown without even a single piece of luggage, taking only the few hundred yuan given by Chen Pan, her ID card, and her graduation certificate.

Thinking about the eldest child's passing, how her husband didn't allow the second child to take the college entrance exam the following year, and then forced the second child to marry. And then, that night, the second child hysterically waved a kitchen knife around, finally slashing her own arm with it. Fang Qinghua couldn't help but lower her head, tightly holding the things in her hands, and silently cried in the back of the car.

She had previously complained to her daughter that she had come home once, only to be left with a strange phone number. She had also used a different landline number each time she called her.

But at this moment, she was crying softly, but she also clearly understood that what they did was actually right.

"Meimei, Mom has already given all the 3,000 yuan you sent as a gift to the Chen family. I just sent you a picture of Chen Pan in her wedding dress. Did you see it? Meimei, from now on, you and your sister don't have to worry about Mom anymore. You don't have to send money to Mom again and again. You can take your sister and live a good life outside. Don't worry, I can take care of myself here."

After all, this was someone else's car, and Fang Qinghua, who had only lost control for a moment, quickly calmed down. After calming down, she took out the phone her daughter had given her, logged into the app her daughter had downloaded and taught her how to use, and quickly sent her a message.

After she sent the message, that person remained silent.

Knowing that the other party was probably busy, Fang Qinghua did not send messages one after another, but chose to wait silently.

At the same time, in a small pancake shop on a quiet street in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, Yang Xiaomei stood motionless with her mobile phone in her hand.

"Honey, the baby is spitting up again!"

After a long time, Yang Xiaomei, who had been holding her mobile phone in a daze, suddenly reacted after hearing her husband's familiar call from behind.

“Here it comes, here it comes!”

Trying hard to force a smile, Yang Xiaomei then put away her phone, found a bag of diapers from the bottom cabinet, and quickly walked towards the small kitchen in their shop.

Yang Xiaomei and her husband Chen Laoshi were changing their baby's diapers at the back of the shop.

Yang Xiaofang, who had just finished a part-time job, took a box lunch and half a bag of vegetables she had bought and slowly walked towards her sister and brother-in-law's new home.

To be honest, that house was very simple. It was a 59-square-meter second-hand house that had been built for more than ten years.

But even in such a small home, Yang Xiaofang also has her own small room.

I got home, took out all the vegetables in the bag and put them in the refrigerator, then went to the kitchen and quickly washed my hands.

Then Yang Xiaofang carried the discounted pork trotter rice she had bought and went into her small room.

In that small room, she had a small bed that was only one meter and two meters wide, but also a large desk that was one meter and two meters long.

She looked at her desk with satisfaction, and at the various books her sister and brother-in-law had bought for her in the past year.

After a long morning of toiling, Yang Xiaofang finally sat down at her desk with a smile on her face. She opened a Business English textbook she'd been studying and the discounted pork knuckle rice she'd bought for three yuan.

She bought this pork trotter rice at a big supermarket. It contained pork, vegetables, and half a boiled egg.

He lowered his head and ate his lunch carefully, mouthful by mouthful, his eyes fixed on the English words in the book in front of him.

As she ate, Yang Xiaofang, feeling very happy, simply picked up her phone, took a picture of the food on the table, and sent it to her sister. She also sent a message asking, "Sister, have you and your brother-in-law had lunch yet? Do you want me to make something and send it to you?"

"No, just finish your meal, take a rest, and then hurry up and read. Oh, and there's still half a watermelon in the refrigerator that you didn't finish yesterday. Eat it before it goes bad."

Her sister replied to her message almost instantly. Looking at the other party's reply, Yang Xiaofang, who had heated up her meal, smiled gently, and then immediately ran to the refrigerator outside to get the sweet watermelon that had been chilled for a long time.