Chapter 99 Extra 1

On the day Chen Pan and Qin Yang got married, she saw the Wang couple, whom she hadn't seen for many years.

In Longcheng, wedding customs dictate that the bride's wedding takes place at her own home on the first day, primarily entertaining her relatives and neighbors. At midnight, the bride is taken to the groom's home. During the first half of the following day, the groom's neighbors and relatives gather in waves for a feast. Then, around noon or mid-afternoon, the bride's relatives from her natal family arrive by bus for another feast at the groom's home. This allows them to see how the groom's family is doing and whether the bride has adjusted to the man's family.

By the time everyone has left after the meal, around 4 or 5 o'clock, the wedding is considered complete. The subsequent bridal chamber pranks and other matters will be left to the bride to deal with on her own.

This is Longcheng, Longcheng, the marriage custom of the older generation.

Later, everyone had limited time, and most weddings were held in hotels, so it was impossible for groups of people to come and attend the wedding.

So later their wedding was simplified to the point where the bride would entertain her neighbors and relatives at home or outside on the first day.

The next day, all the neighbors and relatives of the man, as well as those relatives and neighbors of the woman who are still willing to come to the man's house for the bride's family banquet, will take the car hired by the man's family and go to the man's family banquet place early, and everyone will have another meal.

A wedding at this time can actually be considered a real wedding.

After a few years, as everyone's time became increasingly limited, Longcheng's wedding customs finally adapted to those of the outside world, with the bride and groom holding their wedding together at a hotel. They would then calculate the number of guests from the groom's family and the number of guests from the bride's family, and then book the banquet together.

Anyway, now in 2004, the marriage customs in Longcheng are still the traditional model of the bride's family holding a small ceremony and the groom's family holding a large ceremony.

Anyway, on the day of Chen Pan's actual wedding, Chen Pan saw Wang Qingshan and his wife getting out of her family's car, and she also saw the two men's unusual expressions of excitement and excitement when they saw her after getting out of the car.

It is not unusual for neighbors who have a particularly good relationship to come over again to show their support on an occasion like today.

For example, Chen Pan's old neighbors, the Yang family, Aunt Xiufen and Uncle Yang came directly with their two children. When Yang Xiaodong and his friends came down first, Chen Pan had already greeted them.

The Wang family didn’t have time to come to their small banquet yesterday, so they chose to come to this big occasion directly. In principle, this is actually normal.

But the key point now is that the identities of these two people are not ordinary.

"Panpan, come and meet your Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang. You haven't seen them for six or seven years, right?"

Sure enough, when Chen Pan looked over subconsciously, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen had already excitedly called Chen Pan.

Because the Chen family had held a banquet yesterday, Chen Pan had already met most of the people present. Wang Qingshan and his wife had indeed arrived unexpectedly, and most people in Qingshui Village were particularly respectful of teachers and civil servants. So, seeing them arrive, Grandpa and Grandma Chen, who were primarily responsible for entertaining the guests, were indeed very excited.

"Yangyang, Yangyang's mother——"

Grandpa Chen and his companions not only called Chen Pan, but also called Qin Yang and Qin's mother who were waiting at the other end to greet the passengers of another car.

"Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang!"

Chen Pan behaved normally at this time.

She greeted them normally and smiled at them normally.

When her hand was tightly held by Wang Xiaohua, who was in her forties, Chen Pan, who was now wearing a cheongsam and bridal makeup, still smiled as usual when facing her elders.

"Grown up! Our Panpan has really grown up. Now she has become a big girl."

It’s not that Wang Xiaohua and his wife don’t want to see Chen Pan these years, but after the Chen family moved away, they rarely returned to Qingshui Village.

The Chen family now has limited access to Qingshui Village, and they themselves go back only rarely, so everyone basically doesn't run into each other in their original village.

Even in the past two years, Wang Qingshan and his wife visited Chen Pan's home twice. They were told either that Chen Pan hadn't returned for the Lunar New Year or that she had been busy recently and had returned to Beijing just after the third and fourth days of the Lunar New Year. Even during winter and summer vacations, when they deliberately visited the Chen family factory and the pancake shop to run into Grandpa and Grandma Chen, they were told that Chen Pan hadn't returned for the holidays.

Anyway, because of various reasons, they hadn't seen Chen Pan for seven years. Now looking at the fully grown Chen Pan, they were extremely excited.

"You've definitely grown up. I heard, Panpan, you passed the civil service exam in Beijing?"

The still charming Wang Xiaohua held Chen Pan's hand tightly. As the two walked into the hotel hand in hand, Wang Qingshan, who was wearing a dark blue suit, asked with a restrained look on his face.

"Well, the public notice period has just passed."

Chen Pan knew these two people too well.

As the group entered the hotel together with a smile, Chen Pan turned around and said with a smile, "Uncle Wang, how are you doing lately? I heard that you can retire in a few years?"

"Yes, it's fine. My colleagues all retire at the age of 60. I really can't work anymore, so I plan to apply for retirement at the age of 55. That's only eight years away." Although Wang Qingshan didn't know why Chen Pan suddenly asked this, seeing that she was very excited, he still answered happily.

"Eight years? That went by so fast. I heard that one of Juanjuan and Jiabao is a teacher and the other is about to join the army? It's a good thing you only had two children. If you had three, Uncle Wang would definitely lose his job, and Juanjuan and Jiabao wouldn't have passed their political review. There was a teacher in our school who suddenly had a child when he was almost old. As soon as the matter was investigated, the Education Bureau kicked him out of the teaching staff."

There were actually a lot of people around them: Grandpa Chen, Grandma Chen, Qin Yang, Mother Qin, Mother Qin's new husband, other people who came out to entertain the guests, and all the relatives of the bride who got off the two buses.

Everyone walked in with laughter, and when they saw Chen Pan entertaining Mr. and Mrs. Wang, who had a special status, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen, they quickly entertained other relatives and friends.

In such an occasion, Chen Pan, sandwiched between Wang Qingshan and his wife, said this inappropriately.

"Ah, why is that?" Hearing Chen Pan talking about this topic, Sister Xiufen, who was following behind her, cheered with envy. While speaking, she reached out and carefully patted the ribbon tassel on Chen Pan's shoulder.

"Our country stipulates that civil servants and teachers must strictly adhere to the national family planning policy, and most couples can only have one child. In remote cities like ours, if the first child is a girl and both parties are the only child in the family, they can consider having a second child. However, if these civil servants dare to blatantly violate national policies, they will basically be demoted or dismissed. In serious cases, they will usually be fired and their employment contracts terminated.

The old professor at our school secretly fathered an extra child, hiding it for over a decade. When it was discovered recently, the circumstances were so severe that he was fired. He was supposed to have a smooth retirement in two years, but now, because of that child, his reputation has been ruined. Not only has he been expelled from the school, but the school has also taken away the house that was allocated to him years ago.

Chen Pan's hand had already been suddenly released by Wang Xiaohua next to him.

It should be said that when Chen Pan suddenly said that they were lucky they only had two children, Wang Xiaohua's face changed drastically, and she unconsciously let go of Chen Pan. Her husband Wang Qingshan's cheeks also trembled violently, and his eyes changed again and again when he looked at Chen Pan.

"So serious?"

"That's common sense, okay?"

Someone whispered in the back, and Chen Pan smiled and replied, "It's that serious."

Then she ignored the voices behind her, and ignored the extremely uneasy expressions of the Wang couple on either side. She looked at Aunt Xiufen, who was standing behind her, reaching out to grab the small ribbon on her shoulder. She just smiled and took her hand, then led her to her side: "Sister-in-law, do you understand what I'm saying? I heard that Dongdong is also taking the teacher exam now. You must make sure he understands this matter. Don't let him lose the good job he worked so hard to get just because he has an extra child."

"He's taking the teacher exam today, the civil servant exam tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow he's talking about applying for a public institution. He's been so inconsistent all day, he might not even pass. But who among us doesn't know about the family planning policy you mentioned? Honestly, Teacher Wang and her family were lucky. They happened to receive special care from the government, allowing them to have two children. I heard that this special policy, where the first child is a daughter and you can have a second, no longer exists in our province. If your brother Dongdong really does pass the exam, he'll probably only have one child in the future."

Hand in hand, Chen Xiufang naturally climbed up the steps and stood between Chen Pan and Wang Xiaohua. Wang Xiaohua, who had been clinging to Chen Pan, was naturally squeezed to the side.

“Haha, yes!”

"really!"

When the Wang couple was mentioned, he just smiled stiffly and could not say anything else.

"As long as they can really pass the exam to become a teacher or a civil servant, then just have one child. The country takes so much care of them, so they deserve to have fewer children."

Not everyone respects teachers. For example, Chen Pan’s distant cousin doesn’t like teachers, and he is not familiar with Wang Qingshan.

Seeing that his famous cousin suddenly brought up this topic, he squeezed over and expressed his own views.

"Indeed, this is how it is for teachers and workers these days. When the country has good policies, they are the first to enjoy them. And when it comes to less favorable policies, they are naturally the first to comply."

"That's exactly the truth."

"So, from now on, Sister Panpan and my brother-in-law can only have one child!"

"Haha, that's for sure!"

"You should ask your sister and brother-in-law about this!"

"Ha ha!"

Everyone laughed and finally turned the topic to something less serious.

"Everyone please sit inside!"

"Uncle San, please take everyone in quickly!"

"Yangyang, are all your relatives here?"

"Grandpa, everyone should have arrived. Please wait a few minutes while I check one last time."

"Uncle San, shall we sit here?"

As soon as they arrived at the third floor lobby, Grandpa Chen, Grandma Chen, Qin Yang, Mother Qin and others immediately began to entertain everyone around them.

Chen Pan, who came out temporarily to greet the guests, also led everyone in with a smile.

As he approached Wang Qingshan and his wife again, Chen Pan smiled and said again, "Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang, why are you still standing here? Please come in quickly!"

"I—" Wang Xiaohua subconsciously looked up at her husband, then at Chen Pan, who was wearing a red cheongsam and smiling brightly. At this moment, she was completely at a loss. She had gone through so much trouble to persuade her husband to come here today, actually wanting to find a suitable opportunity on this special day to secretly tell Chen Pan their true identities and simply recognize Chen Pan.

They didn't actually have any bad intentions. They didn't even think about making a big deal out of this. They just decided to find an opportunity to talk to Chen Pan alone today and simply tell him the truth. They didn't think they would achieve their goal today, whether they would recognize each other or not. Their goal today was really just to secretly recognize Chen Pan privately on this happy day. They didn't really think much about anything else and just wanted to take their time. But looking at Chen Pan now, she clearly knew everything. And the other party's attitude seemed particularly unfriendly.

"Auntie, you don't know where to sit, right? Come, I'll take you there myself!"

Chen Pan had always faked a smile, and after starting her own business, she put on a constant smile. She faked less this time, but when she ran her own cram school two years ago, she still had to smile frequently for her students and their parents.

Anyway, at this moment, Chen Pan treated the Wang couple as a client and a student's parent and treated them politely.

She took the initiative to hold Wang's mother's hand, and with a sweet smile, she took her to find a suitable seat.

As she was about to go in, she looked at Wang Qingshan, who remained motionless behind her, and asked doubtfully, "Uncle Wang?"

"You - you go first. I didn't come yesterday, so I'm going to bring some gifts today!" Feeling that Chen Pan's smile was unusually dazzling and terrifying, Wang Qingshan suppressed the discomfort in his heart and immediately pointed to the reception table not far away.

"Then I'll let my uncle and aunt spend the money today. After a while, when Jiabao's brother passes all the military enlistment reviews, my husband and I will definitely go over to congratulate you in person."

After smiling at the other person again, Chen Pan took Mother Wang's hand and went in first.

She was smiling brightly in front, but Wang Xiaohua, who was holding her hand, felt as if she was being held by a snake.

She was standing behind him, looking at her husband pitifully and bewilderedly.

Wang Qingshan, who she had been looking at, stood there for several seconds with an extremely complicated expression.

"Teacher Wang, why don't you go in?"

"Teacher Wang——"

As he stood there motionless, people passing by greeted him from time to time. Even Grandpa Chen, who was entertaining others in the distance, seemed to have noticed the situation here and subconsciously walked towards him.

"I'll wait until it's over there, then go add more gifts!"

He quickly replied to the person who greeted him, and pointed to the gift receiving table in the distance to Chen Aiguo who was walking towards him. Then, when Chen Aiguo reacted, Wang Qingshan immediately turned around and walked towards the gift receiving table.

When Wang Qingshan was facing everyone and Chen Aiguo just now, he had a gentle smile on his face. But when he turned his back to those people, there was no smile on his face at all.

He rummaged through the inside pocket of his new suit, feeling for the thick, 10,000-yuan red envelope he'd prepared for him. Then, thinking of Chen Pan's smile and what she'd said before everyone about how a senior professor at his school was fired and had his house taken away for secretly hiding a child, his hand trembled inside his suit, and he quickly chose another red envelope.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

If Wang Qingshan had come to the Chen family's banquet yesterday, then the person accepting his gift money would be a member of the Chen family, and no one would be unaware of his identity. But now it was the man's family's home turf, and the person sitting behind the gift reception desk didn't recognize him, so he subconsciously asked, pen in hand.

"My name is Wang Qingshan, and I'm the girl's neighbor!"

After sighing silently in his heart, Wang Qingshan slowly handed over the red envelope he had prepared.

"Wang Qingshan, the woman's neighbor gave a 300 yuan gift."

People who remember etiquette are also good at doing things. When he saw that one of his neighbors gave him a gift of 300 yuan at once, he immediately shouted loudly.

After shouting, he personally called a young man next to him and asked him to bring people in quickly.

"Teacher Wang, right? Please, come in!"

The young man who was called happened to be Qin Yang's cousin Qin Zheng. He had just heard how his sister-in-law Chen Pan called them, so he immediately started chatting with him politely and quickly took him to the inner court.

"Okay!" At this moment, Wang Qingshan felt a little dizzy.

I felt a little disappointed, a little depressed, a little scared and angry.

After he actually sat down inside, next to the villagers and former neighbors he was familiar with, no matter how lively the crowd around him was, he always felt uncomfortable and on pins and needles.

Time passed by little by little, waiting for the wedding to actually begin.

Looking at Chen Pan who had changed into a wedding dress, and looking at her second son who was walking slowly towards them holding Chen Aiguo's arm.

Wang Qingshan sat down below, and his eyes couldn't help but become a little red and hot.

Sitting next to him, his wife, who insisted on coming today and was also wearing a dark red coat, was now crying.

He subconsciously glanced at his wife's cheek, and found that many people around him seemed to be "moved" and crying. Wang Qingshan's tense heart finally relaxed a little.

"I'm very grateful to everyone for coming to my granddaughter Chen Pan's wedding today. Pan Pan has been the spiritual support of my wife and I for more than 20 years. If God hadn't given Pan Pan to us, we wouldn't be where we are today—"

The wedding process on the stage continued one by one. Under the arrangement of the host, Old Man Chen spoke first, followed by Grandma Chen Pan, and then the man's parents.

Wang Qingshan sat motionless, watching.

Thinking about that night when he came back alone and secretly placed the child carefully at the door of the Chen family's house, his heart began to ache as if it were being pricked by needles.

"Hubby, you gave me three hundred for the trip, right?"

Just as Wang Qingshan was sitting there with his eyes red and swollen, he heard his wife's crying voice asking in a low voice.

"Um!"

He looked at the other person deeply, then Wang Qingshan, who was wearing a new dark blue suit today, slowly nodded.

"That's good, that's good!"

She covered her heart with her hands and showed a smile that was uglier than crying. Then, Wang Xiaohua, who was still very beautiful at the age of 46, immediately raised her cheeks and continued to look at the stage.

When anyone on the stage said something touching, she would hold a tissue and wipe her eyes like all the girls and women around her who loved to be touched.

Looking at Chen Pan who looked up and smiled at everyone, looking at Chen Pan who turned his head and listened with a gentle look when his grandparents were talking.

At this moment, Wang Qingshan and Wang Xiaohua both knew everything. At least before they really retired, they would definitely not dare to act impulsively.

Whether they can retire normally is actually not the most important thing.

Most importantly, their son had not been admitted to college before, and they had finally managed to get their only child to join the army.

In any case, under the current circumstances, they would not do anything that would affect their family or the future of their sons and daughters, and would be extremely cautious.

Twenty-six years ago, for the sake of his teaching job, Wang Qingshan resolutely left Chen Pan, who was only one month old, at the door of the Chen family.

Now, 26 years later, under Chen Pan's reminder and warning, for their own smooth retirement, to prevent their home from being taken away by the government, and for their precious youngest son's upcoming new life in the army, Wang Qingshan and his wife once again chose silence, once again choosing the option that was most beneficial to them.

As for Chen Pan, she was actually not surprised at all by their choice.

Wearing a pure white wedding dress, Chen Pan looked at the two people below who were anxious and worried. She smiled slowly, then slowly turned her gaze to Qin Yang beside her.

Qin Yang on the stage was talking about how the two of them started. Chen Pan was also very interested in this topic, so he took the microphone and listened carefully.

"Well, actually, my wife and I fell in love slowly over time. When she was in college, she chose to let me take care of her kitten, and I knew she was interested in me. She also helped me take care of our puppy. At that time, she also taught me how to make temporary membership cards and how to sell off all the things I didn't need in the store at a discount. It was through these things that I slowly fell in love with her. At first, it was probably admiration, but later it became a kind of uncontrollable love.

And when we were in school, my favorite thing was her explaining the questions to me at noon. It can be said that if it weren't for my wife, I might not have taken the Gaokao again. Even if I had taken it, I might not have done so well. Anyway, I'm very grateful to God for letting me meet my wife, and I'm also very grateful that my wife finally chose me to be her husband——"

Qin Yang is like this. When he doesn't speak, he feels like a silent person.

But when he is really needed to speak, he can stand on the stage and talk without any stage fright.

Chen Pan listened to him quietly, thinking of the little one who had been taken to Beijing. She was distracted for a moment, but then she perked up and continued to listen to Qin Yang.

As he listened, Chen Pan realized that he was also in tears.

"Look, the groom has moved the bride to tears—"

The emcee they invited suddenly noticed Chen Pan crying and immediately walked towards her quickly with the microphone.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Chen Pan immediately looked up while holding a tissue.

But even so, the host finally took the opportunity to question her. He asked her when she fell in love with Qin Yang and what she liked most about the groom.

Chen Pan thought carefully for a moment while holding the microphone, then said seriously, "I fell in love with him probably the day he first brought me food. I felt he was so kind and gentle. Of course, what I like most is his kindness. I like his kindness, his filial piety, his understanding, his responsibility and courage. I loved them all. It was almost love at first sight!"

There was thunderous applause from the audience, and Qin Yang beside him excitedly shook his hand.

Chen Pan turned to look at the other person and showed his happiest and most sincere smile.

By now, Chen Pan has dared to truly express his love.

All the inferiority and insecurity have completely disappeared from her heart.

No matter when in the future, Chen Pan will be able to express his likes and dislikes honestly.