Chapter 178, Part 1782

After lunch, Luo Hong and Zhou Weifang both had to go to work.

With only three people left at home, Luo Yan felt the living room was warm enough, so she used a tall stool as a table and sat next to the stove to continue writing her year-end summary.

Before I could even write the third item, I heard my parents rummaging through drawers and cupboards.

She looked up and asked, "What are you looking for?"

Liu Yinfeng paced back and forth, wondering, "Where's my little notebook for writing down gift lists?"

Luo Yan remembers that notebook. Whenever there was a wedding or funeral, her parents would take it out to look at it and write something down. It was used quite frequently.

She said, "Isn't it in the desk drawer?"

"It should have been there," Liu Yinfeng subconsciously touched her pocket, then suddenly remembered something and stared at Huang Laishun: "Did you take it?"

Huang Laishun couldn't understand at all, and didn't even realize that he was being questioned. He just kept chewing on the lamb bones he hadn't finished eating at noon.

Liu Yinfeng became increasingly suspicious as she looked at it. She searched around the places where the dog had hidden things, but still found nothing. She muttered, "It's over, the dog must have bitten it and thrown it away."

The above is a record of their social interactions over the past twenty-odd years of marriage; they can't possibly remember it now.

A bad pen is worse than a good memory. Luo Xinmin had prepared for the worst and began to try his best to recall the details.

Seeing her parents' anxious and flustered state, Luo Yan also started searching around the house. Her eyes lit up and she noticed something propping up the TV cabinet. She bent down and pulled it out.

Upon looking at it, she said, "Mom, I found it. It must have been my brother who covered it."

You brat, you don't even look at the things before using them.

Liu Yinfeng cursed a couple of times, then opened her notebook and said, "This might be the only time our family has had such a happy occasion. Everything has been done perfectly, Lao Luo. Remember this."

"What are you writing down?" Luo Yan glanced at her father's serious expression as he put on his glasses, then blinked, "Are you preparing for my wedding?"

Liu Yinfeng, naturally exasperated, said, "It can't be your brother."

Luo Yan glanced at the calendar on the wall: "Mom, it's still 1983. You're in such a hurry." The factory has already issued calendars for 1984. Liu Yinfeng said: "There are only ten days left. They'll be gone in the blink of an eye."

Luo Yan blinked twice, but the scene in front of her remained unchanged. However, she remembered: "Did I tell everyone at our class reunion before the New Year that I was getting married and asked them all to come?"

Liu Yinfeng knew about her daughter's situation and said, "You two just graduated and your relationship is still strong. We should notify them. We'll send them an invitation later."

He added, "Your class monitor is good at handling things. Since everyone is assigned to different units, it's only right that we keep in touch and interact more."

Luo Yan didn't think too much about it. She was just following her habit of actively participating in group activities. She made a mental note of it and, seeing her parents' serious deliberations, felt that she couldn't get involved. She then continued writing her year-end summary.

Although it's usually the children who get married, it's generally the adults who are busy.

After Liu Yinfeng and his wife went to see the wedding house, they quickly asked Huang's wife to set an auspicious date - April 28, 1984, the 28th day of the third month in the lunar calendar, which was a Saturday.

They originally wanted to choose a Sunday, but there were no rest days during the auspicious wedding months of April and May, so they had to settle for a Saturday and set the banquet time for the evening.

With the date set, preparations for this momentous event began.

These past few days, Luo Yan has been going home to see her mother sewing quilts; a few days later, she'll be going home to see her mother making shoe soles; and a few days after that, she'll be going home to see her mother embroidering cheongsams.

This went on for half a month. When she came back from her date, she finally couldn't help but say, "Mom, your eyes are all red."

Liu Yinfeng raised her head to rest for a while: "Your dad was also talking about it, I only need these few more injections."

Luo Yancai didn't believe it: "You said the same thing yesterday, that you wouldn't allow embroidery anymore."

With that stern face, Liu Yinfeng had no choice but to say, "I know, I know, I just wanted to finish this so I could prepare for the New Year."

In previous years, she would buy large and small items for her family a month in advance, but this year it's already the 20th of the twelfth lunar month and there's still no sign of them. All she has at home are some worthless things that her work unit gave her.

Luo Yan deliberately stirred up trouble for her mother: "There aren't any sunflower seeds to eat either."

"It's just sunflower seeds," Liu Yinfeng agreed, "I'll buy them tomorrow. What else do you want to eat?"

Luo Yan listed several items, then suddenly realized something was wrong: "Where has my brother been these past few days? He's been missing every night."

Liu Yinfeng hadn't had time to think about it lately and didn't know: "He didn't come back for dinner either, you can ask him later."

After thinking about it carefully, Luo Yan realized that her brother had been leaving early and returning late ever since her wedding date was set. She roughly understood what was going on, so she deliberately stayed up late at night to sit in the living room and wait for him.

When Luo Hong got home, he saw his sister standing there and was startled: "What are you doing?"

Afraid of waking her sleeping parents, Luo Yan dragged her brother to the corner and demanded, "I'm the one who should be asking you, what have you been doing these past few days?"

Luo Hong flicked his sister on the forehead: "I'm saving up for your dowry."

That's crystal clear. Luo Yan was speechless: "You shouldn't have hidden it. One day I'll find you begging on the street and I'll burst into tears."

What is she thinking about all day long? Luo Hong: "I got a license to sell firecrackers in Xisi."

During the Chinese New Year, this is the thing with the highest profit margin.

Upon hearing this, Luo Yan said, "Setting up a street stall? That must be so cold. I'll go with you."

Seeing how touched she was, Luo Hong was a little embarrassed and said, "It's a shop, and I've hired people to go over and count the money at night."

The main problem was that the license was difficult to obtain, and he put in a lot of effort.

He said it lightly, but Luo Yan still felt bad: "You even bought me a motorcycle."

Luo Hong deliberately said, "You've already smashed a hole in it, how can it still be used as a dowry?"

Luo Yan bumped into the wall that day because she was hiding from a kitten that darted out of the alley; she was fine.

She said, "Even with a hundred holes, it's still a motorcycle."

If you really crash into a hundred cars, who would still recognize the car? Luo Hong thought to himself, thank goodness it wasn't his own, and said, "We can't just have one car."

Luo Yan: "Mom said there's over a thousand yuan at home, and she gave it all to me. Isn't that enough?"

Whether it's enough or not depends on the person. Luo Hong: "Just think of me as competing with the three parties. Okay, go to sleep."

Luo Yan knew he wouldn't listen to her, and her eyes involuntarily reddened.

Luo Hongtai knew his sister well and said, "Why wouldn't you do a business that earns a hundred yuan a day?"

Luo Yan's eyes widened at the mention of money: "So profitable?"

Luo Hong nodded, watching her leave with a "Do a good job" before going back to her room, and chuckled, "She's always been like this since she was a child."

The main reason is that the income is simply too good to pass up compared to the effort. After all, Luo Yan has been working hard in all kinds of weather for more than ten years, and her salary is only 58 yuan a month.

She wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and went to sleep peacefully, but the next day she was still exceptionally attentive to her brother.

These brother and sister have a different idea every day.

Parents can't control their children; after eating, they go about their own business.

Liu Yinfeng finally put her child's wedding on hold for the time being, went to the street to buy New Year's goods, and did a thorough cleaning inside and out.

Once the New Year was over, she picked up her needlework again, but she didn't work late into the night anymore. She finished the cheongsam only on the last week before the wedding.

Luo Yan had never worn a cheongsam before, and she felt extremely uncomfortable after putting it on. She looked down at herself and felt that everything was wrong, clutching the Chinese knot buttons.

But Liu Yinfeng's eyes lit up when she saw her daughter, and she urged her, "Go out and call your dad and your brother to take a look too."

Luo Yan opened the door and peeked out, meeting two pairs of eyes as she slowly walked out.

Luo Xinmin immediately praised, "You're a nice person, and your clothes are nice too. You're really good-looking."

It looks nice, but Luo Hongyang called out, "Mom, where's the stuff?"

Liu Yinfeng almost forgot, so she took out two wooden boxes from her room, opened them, and said, "I'll put the necklace on you, and you can put the bracelet on yourself."

The necklace is made of pearls, and the bracelet is made of jade.

Luo Yan didn't understand these things, but she knew it wouldn't be cheap, so she pressed her palm against her eyes.

When she started crying, her parents could hardly hold back either. Only Luo Honglai could lighten the mood, saying, "It's not like we're from different parts of the country, or even from the same neighborhood. What's going on here?"

Luo Yan ran her hand over her eyes and sniffed, "I've always been a crybaby."

Luo Hong followed her lead, trying to divert her attention with something more important: "Aren't you going to send out invitations to your friends today?"

Luo Yan then remembered something, quickly changed out of her cheongsam, and hurriedly rode her motorcycle out the door.

She had arranged to meet Chen Yingying that morning, and the two met at the entrance of the Second Medical College.

Chen Yingying is busy with graduation matters recently and wants to save time on the road. As soon as she saw her friend, she said, "It's a good thing you have a motorcycle, otherwise I would be embarrassed to ask you to make this trip."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Luo Yan said, parking her bike. "I just can't ride a bike; I can get here by bus."

Chen Yingying muttered, "You're so lucky, He Jiakun never comes."

She and her boyfriend, He Jiakun, were high school classmates and had been dating for several years, but they attended different universities.

Luo Yan had met He Jiakun twice and had heard some things about him, so she said, "Is their design institute still this busy?"

Chen Yingying nodded: "He also draws on his rest days. Our school and his workplace are diagonally opposite each other, and it takes four hours to go back and forth."

She only had one hour to have dinner with her friends today; she didn't have any free time for herself for the other four hours.

Luo Yan spoke in a grown-up tone: "There's nothing I can do about work."

Chen Yingying couldn't help but laugh: "I've noticed that people are different once they start working. Yanyan, you wouldn't have said something like that before."

Luo Yan, with an air of experience, patted her shoulder and said, "You'll know when you start working."

Although Chen Yingying had also interned at the hospital for a year, she still had the mindset of a student.

She took her friend's hand and walked to her favorite shop near the school gate, saying, "Now I'm just waiting for job assignments, it's so agonizing..."

These worries were something Luo Yan had last year. She was suddenly struck by how quickly time had passed, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Chen Yingying only realized she had been talking about herself after the restaurant owners had served the dishes. She clapped her hands and said, "I forgot to congratulate you first! Yanyan, I wish you a long and happy marriage."

Luo Yan, still remembering, handed her the invitation: "If you're too busy with graduation, it's okay if you don't go. Look at your eyes, they look so tired."

Chen Yingying joked, "How can I not go to the Beijing Hotel?"

He lowered his voice again: "This must have cost a lot of money, right?"

Luo Yan nodded sadly: "Eighty yuan for a table of dishes."

For most families hosting a wedding banquet, thirty yuan is enough for all the chicken, duck, fish, and meat needed, which is considered quite respectable.

Chen Yingying casually calculated: "Several thousand yuan just vanished like that?"

No wonder people say that self-employed people are rich. She rarely asks such a personal question: "How much does he earn in a month?"

Actually, the profit margin for selling fruit is lower now than when I opened my first store, but Sifang Fruit Store is still quite well-known.

Luo Yan would sometimes help Zhou Weifang look at the accounts, saying, "Anyway, all the money earned this month went to the wedding."

If that's the case, Chen Yingying said, "That's to be expected. It takes several years' worth of salary for an ordinary person to get married."

Luo Yan also convinced herself in this way: "My brother and I are a bit competitive. Originally, we could have held the bride's banquet at a regular place, but he insisted on doing it together."

She felt even more heartbroken when she thought about it, because the wedding was related to Zhou Weifang, so it was only right that he spent money, but whatever her brother did was just icing on the cake.

Chen Yingying said regretfully, "I could have eaten two meals."

No regrets, no regrets, Luo Yan: "It's my treat today too."

"That won't do," Chen Yingying said. "This is our school, and I'm the landlord."

She knew what her friend was thinking, and said, "He Jiakun isn't coming, but he's paying you. Consider it his treat."

They've been talking for so many years, Luo Yan said: "If he's free, you guys can come together."

Chen Yingying thought for a moment and said, "They have too many projects and they're working non-stop, so let's forget about it."

She was inevitably a little down when she brought up her boyfriend, whom she hadn't been able to see in a while, so she changed the subject, asking, "Have you two gotten your marriage certificate yet?"

The marriage certificate can only be obtained on a weekday, and Luo Yan doesn't like to take time off: "My company gives us three days of wedding leave, so I can rest on Thursday and go then."

Speaking of the various arrangements for the wedding, she couldn't help but sigh, "There are so many things to do, and they're all so complicated. Luckily, I don't have to do any of it."

When her friend first started dating Zhou Weifang, Chen Yingying felt that they were somewhat mismatched, but as time went on, she realized that compatibility was not determined by education level.

She once again sincerely wished them well: "You two will definitely have a long and happy life together."

Luo Yan held up her soda bottle and said thank you. After exchanging a few more words, Chen Yingying had to go back to school to write her thesis.

Following the principle of treating friends equally, Luo Yan met with Wu Huifang in the afternoon.

They both had plenty of time today, and they chatted about everything under the sun in the park until they finally parted ways.

As they reached the park entrance, Luo Yan realized she had almost forgotten the most important thing for the day and said, "I forgot to give you the invitation."

Wu Huifang carefully looked through the pages and said, "Strange, I feel like crying."

Luo Yan couldn't help but say the word: "I think I shouldn't wear makeup for my wedding. I'll look like a ghost if I wear makeup."

She's always been prone to crying, and at times like this, she simply can't control herself.

Wu Huifang examined her friend's face and said, "You don't have to draw it on at all. I'll just draw your eyebrows for you later."

This way, we can save money. Luo Yan nodded slightly, arranged to meet her on the wedding day, and rode her motorcycle home.

When her parents came home, they asked with concern, "Have you sent out all the invitations to your classmates?"

Luo Yan now understands a lot about social etiquette, saying, "I had Zhou Weifang deliver the documents to each of their workplaces' mailrooms, and I also called each of them to notify them."

He added, "I'll send out the work orders tomorrow, and then I'll be done."

Liu Yinfeng felt relieved, thinking to herself, "There are only so many people my daughter knows, except for your mother-in-law and the others."

With many things to do before the wedding, and her brother and nephew on her side preoccupied with matters in the fields, they couldn't stay in Beijing for more than a few days. Fearing she wouldn't be able to provide adequate hospitality, Liu Yinfeng simply asked them to arrive on Thursday.

She had been eagerly anticipating her wedding for a month, and couldn't help but think back to her own wedding many years ago.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's her turn to marry off her daughter.

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Author's note: Tomorrow is the wedding, goodnight.