Chapter 18 Enter the house and take off

Huo Zheng said, "You can't take off my clothes in the yard."

Chunzhi's cheeks felt slightly hot. "Then, then take it off inside."

Huo Zheng glanced at her, said nothing, and pushed the wheelchair into the house.

Chunzhi followed him into the house, undressed him, and looked at the wound on his chest.

Fortunately, the wound was bandaged tightly and did not split.

Chunzhi breathed a sigh of relief, helped Huo Qi put his clothes back on, and said to him, "It's getting late, and you'll be busy tomorrow. You should go to bed quickly."

Huo Zheng asked: "What about you?"

Chunzhi said, "I'll see if there's anything I need to buy, and then I'll go out and buy it early tomorrow morning."

She was an orphan, without parents or brothers, and even when she got married, there was no one to help her buy things or run errands.

She has to do everything herself.

Huo Qi was a stranger and didn't know anyone in either place.

Chunzhi thought that she was the one who asked Huo Qi for help, so she would not trouble him with these trivial matters.

After helping Huo Qi tie his belt, she turned and walked out.

After taking two steps, she heard Huo Qi ask her, "You're getting married soon, where's your wedding dress?"

"The wedding dress is in my room." Chunzhi said, "Can I put it on and show it to you first?"

Huo Zheng said: "No need."

"Then you should rest."

After Chunzhi walked out, she helped him close the door.

She gathered up the old lantern and the ladder, went back to her room, and dragged out the box that had been hidden under her bed.

When the box was opened, the red wedding dress appeared before her eyes.

She embroidered this wedding dress herself stitch by stitch. When she was making it, she was thinking about marrying Lu Jingyun.

Now not only has the groom been replaced, but it is also a fake marriage in order to avoid fines and imprisonment.

She would probably only get married once in her life.

This is the only chance to wear the wedding dress.

Chunzhi took out the wedding dress and held it in her arms. She looked at it for a long time before putting it back in the box, blowing out the oil lamp and going to bed.

She woke up before dawn the next day.

In the past, Chunzhi would get up at this time to make tofu, but today she doesn't have to make tofu, as she has a lot of other things to do.

When she woke up, she got up and tidied the house and swept the yard.

As the sky brightened, someone knocked on the gate.

Chunzhi walked over and opened the door. She found Aunt Zhang, who was selling pancakes, and two older sisters-in-law selling vegetables. She was a little surprised and asked, "Aunt Zhang, Sister Wu, Sister Zhou, why are you here so early?"

The wedding custom in Linshui Town is to get married in the evening and hold a wedding banquet. In more particular families, the woman's side will also hold a wedding banquet at noon.

Chunzhi had no parents or brothers, and did not have much money, so she skipped the wedding banquet at noon and only set up two tables of wedding wine in the evening.

"We're here to help you," Aunt Zhang said. "It's not right to let a bride do all the work on her wedding day."

"That's right." Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Zhou agreed as they walked in. "If there's anything we need done, the bride can just tell us. My husband will come over to help after he finishes selling vegetables."

"Chunzhi, your only responsibility today is to dress up beautifully. Getting married is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so you can't be careless!"

Chunzhi was moved and said, "Thank you very much, thank you very much."

"Silly Chunzhi, we're all from the same village, why thank you so much!"

Aunt Zhang smiled and urged her to get dressed quickly.

With these three people helping out, the whole courtyard suddenly became lively.

As the sky grew brighter, Aunt Li from next door also came over to help.

Aunt Li said that although Chunzhi did not choose her nephew, as they have been neighbors for so many years, she still has to come to help when it is time.

Chunzhi went into the kitchen to make breakfast and asked everyone to eat something first.

Not long after, Huo Qi woke up. He opened the door and pushed out his wheelchair. Aunt Zhang and others were stunned when they saw him.

"Is this the groom?"

"He's so handsome!"

"No wonder Chunzhi said she would get married right away. This groom is no less impressive than the top scholar."

As Mrs. Wu was talking, she mentioned Lu Jingyun.

Aunt Zhang and Mrs. Zhou kept winking at her, asking her to shut up and stop mentioning the top scholar.

Mrs. Wu finally came to her senses and slapped her mouth with her hand. "Look at my mouth! I'm talking about something that's not relevant to the topic!"

Huo Zheng remained silent.

Chunzhi served him a bowl of egg noodles and asked everyone else to take a break and have breakfast quickly.

According to local wedding customs, the bride and groom were not allowed to meet each other before the wedding.

But Huo Qi was picked up by Chunzhi, and the two of them already lived together, so they did not follow the rule of not meeting before marriage.

Several people were amazed at the groom's appearance, and it took them a while to notice that he was in a wheelchair.

Aunt Zhang pulled Chunzhi aside and whispered, "Is the groom... having trouble walking?"

Chunzhi said, "He's injured and needs to use a wheelchair for a few days. It's not because of his leg problems."

Only then did Aunt Zhang feel relieved. She was afraid that Chunzhi was attracted by the man's good looks and didn't even mind that the man was in a wheelchair.

After all, Chunzhi had raised Lu Jingyun for so many years and suffered so much.

Aunt Zhang and others hope that Chunzhi will find someone to live with and never meet a heartless man who would ask her to work hard to support him and then run away after she is well taken care of.

When Huo Zheng was eating noodles, he always felt that those aunts and sisters-in-law were looking at him frequently.

He quickly finished his noodles and went into the house.

Chunzhi followed him and asked him from the doorway, "Are you full after eating just one bowl of noodles today?"

According to this man's appetite, he should have eaten two bowls.

Huo Zheng said "hmm" and said nothing more.

"Are you embarrassed because they keep looking at you?" Chunzhi walked over. "I'll serve you another bowl and bring it inside to eat."

Huo Zheng said: "No need."

It's not like he's too shy to hide and eat a bowl of noodles.

Chunzhi didn't know what the man was thinking. She thought he was unhappy because the aunts and sisters-in-law were talking about him.

She lowered her voice and said to Huo Qi, "Auntie and the sisters-in-law only asked one more question because they saw you were in a wheelchair. They didn't mean any harm."

Huo Zheng said: "I don't care about these, you go and do your thing."

Chunzhi smiled and asked, "You really don't care?"

Huo Zheng raised his eyes and glanced at her.

"Then I'll get busy." Chunzhi turned and left the house, washed the dishes used by everyone, scrubbed the pots, and decorated the bridal chamber with everyone.

The room where Chunzhi lived was newly decorated. Aunt Zhang piled longans, red dates, peanuts and other things on the plate, forming a mountain, and dragon and phoenix wedding candles stood on the table.

The light-colored curtains were also replaced with red gauze curtains.

When we are busy, time always passes quickly and it is afternoon in a flash.

Aunt Zhang urged Chunzhi to quickly change into her wedding dress and put on her makeup in front of the mirror.

The small vendors who were on good terms with Chunzhi and several neighbors all came. The waiter from Xiangmanlou brought two tables and chairs and set them up in the yard.

Brother Zhao, who sells pork, also brought two strings of firecrackers and lit them when everyone shouted "The auspicious time has arrived". The firecrackers popped and smoke filled the entire courtyard.

Chunzhi, wearing her wedding dress, was helped out of the house by Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Wu.

Huo Zheng changed into his wedding gown, walked out of the next room, and met Chunzhi face to face.

The two looked at each other, as if everything around them had become nothingness.

They could only see each other.