Chapter 34

Xiaoming was unaware of her parents' argument, and she still had to explain the matter of the live-in son-in-law to Jiang Lan.

"It's a long story. Let me take a shower and I'll tell you slowly."

After tidying up, Xiaoming saw that Jiang Lan had brewed a pot of flower tea and laid out her favorite snacks, sitting on the sofa waiting for her.

He leaned over and kissed Jiang Lan, then sat down next to her with his teacup and began to explain.

"If my grandparents were still alive, they would have just celebrated their 90th birthdays."

They were both born into wealthy families in the old society. My grandmother had bound feet, and my grandfather was so pampered that he would cry from burning his food when he was a teenager.

Later, due to the war, the family quickly declined, and few relatives were left. After the war subsided, the two poor souls got together and became husband and wife, moving from their original hometown to their current village.

Two people who were too weak to lift a finger endured a lot of hardship in those days to establish their own little family. Children were born one after another. When the special era began, my grandmother was pregnant with my fourth uncle. This was their last child.

Because of their bad class background, they were the main targets. Coincidentally, my grandfather had previously worked as a fortune teller to supplement the family income, and his bad class background and superstitious beliefs made him even more repressed. Therefore, being paraded through the streets wearing a dunce cap was a common occurrence. His body couldn't withstand such torment, and he quickly collapsed.

After making a fuss for several years, one day during the year when the soldiers were making the most noise, he told his neighbor who lived across the street that his house was about to collapse and might crush people to death, and told his neighbor to repair the house as soon as possible.

This family has a bad family background, and they have a son overseas. They are secretly using their connections to bring the whole family out, but the soldiers are watching them closely and they can't make a move.

My grandfather's reminder ironically gave them an opportunity. My grandfather was frail and the soldiers had already stopped paying attention to him, but this family went to expose him, saying that my grandfather's feudal and superstitious beliefs were deeply ingrained. This revelation drew the soldiers' attention back to my grandfather.

My grandfather was dragged out and paraded through the streets with a sign hanging around his neck. To further humiliate him, the soldiers even tried to force-feed him excrement, which was worse than death. Helpless, my grandfather said he would expose the family that had hidden gold bars and silver coins under their house.

Upon hearing this, the soldiers were instantly energized and swarmed to his house to dig, whereupon they unearthed a considerable number of gold bars.

When his father saw that his family's wealth had been taken away, he couldn't catch his breath and died in a fit of anger. Apart from his eldest son who was overseas, only his youngest son was left in the family.

This family believed my grandfather's words that the house would collapse. However, in that particular era, it was common for parents, children, siblings, and relatives to expose each other for various reasons. Believing my grandfather did not prevent them from exposing him for their own benefit, and that's how the two families became mortal enemies.

Originally, after the old man passed away, the younger soldiers were going to take care of the younger ones, but the younger daughter-in-law's family was able to handle things. They used their connections to find people and not only saved their son-in-law, but also successfully sent their daughter and son-in-law's family away.

My grandfather passed away a few years after this final ordeal. My grandmother lost her husband in middle age and raised her children, helping them to get married and start their own families.

When I was little, my parents went out to do business, and I lived with my grandmother for several years.

When I was in sixth grade, the family that had gone abroad came back to visit. I heard they had invested in and built a factory in China and had become famous in our county. The youngest son, along with his grandson who was a few years older than me, went to my grandmother and said that his family didn't hold grudges and was willing to let his grandson marry me.

This infuriated my grandma, who burst into a tirade: "Your family has nothing but a few stinking coins, and your grandson is utterly immoral, ugly, and talentless! Even a son-in-law who lives with my granddaughter would be far more capable than you, you bastard! A toad dares to dream of marrying my granddaughter? How dare you!"

The family replied to my grandmother, "Then I'll wait and see if your granddaughter finds a rich, talented, and handsome son-in-law to slap me in the face! Don't let her end up unmarried and a laughingstock!"

My grandmother harbored resentment over this matter and passed away less than a year later. Before she died, she told my father that he must find me a son-in-law who was better than that family's grandson.

That's where the saying that my family would find me a son-in-law to live with them came from.

After listening, Jiang Lan thought for a moment and asked her, "Don't you have any other girls around your age in your family? Why did you specifically ask to marry you?"

"Yes, I have two older cousins, about the same age as that grandson. His family specifically asked for me because my grandmother is known for treating all her children and grandchildren equally, but she dotes on me a lot, almost always granting my every wish. Everyone in the village knows that."

My grandma says I look a lot like my grandpa, probably because she felt he had suffered so much in his life and couldn't help but make it up to me. She's a few years older than my grandpa, and when he was alive, she treated her husband like a younger brother.

Jiang Lan nodded, "I see." Then she asked Xiaoming, "But what's the old man's reason for saying he wants his grandson to marry you? It can't be just to annoy your grandma, can it?"

"Maybe so, who knows?"

"So now, what should we do about our wedding?"

"I'll handle things here at home, you don't need to come over, don't worry. Have you talked to your parents about things here?"

Jiang Lan nodded: "I said, I'll make the arrangements here at home."

Although Xiaoming explained the whole story of the live-in son-in-law, Jiang Lan still felt that there was something left unsaid. Just like Zhou Ma's reaction just now, it seemed that there was something she didn't know.

He guessed it was probably an old story from her family's older generation, and judging from Xiaoming's attitude, it shouldn't affect their marriage.

"I talked to my uncle about the bride price when I called him just now. What are your thoughts on that?"

"No bride price, no dowry. You have a lot of assets, so I have no objection to a prenuptial agreement. Take some time to visit your parents soon, and then we'll go back to my hometown for the Double Ninth Festival. If everything goes smoothly, my parents and family will return with us. The two families will hold a simple wedding banquet, get the marriage certificate, and the marriage will be complete."

"???!!!"

Seeing Jiang Lan's incredulous and shocked expression, Xiao Ming waved his hand in front of her and said, "Feel free to give me any opinions or suggestions you may have."

"Is marriage really that simple?"

"Everything is caused by people. If people don't cause trouble, things will be simple. I'm afraid of trouble, so let's keep everything simple."

Things progressed rapidly from the wedding photos, and the entire wedding process was finalized in no time. Jiang Lan was still a little dazed. She pulled Xiao Ming onto her lap, buried her head in her chest, and sighed, "Alright, whatever you say. I'll arrange a time with my parents to go to my house. And about that prenuptial agreement you mentioned, don't humiliate me, Xiao Ming."

Jiang Lan posted the process Xiao Ming had explained to him in the group chat. After a long while, his mother finally replied with, "Come back next weekend." He knew his mother had been waiting for his message, and she was probably surprised that it took her so long to reply. She probably took a while to react, and his parents were probably still discussing whether there were any hidden traps in the message.

The next day at work, Jiang Lan looked at the news notifications on her phone, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. Then she closed the office door and dialed Li Zhiqiang's number.

"Hey, Jiang Lan."

"Team Leader Li, I saw the news. A flash flood killed more than ten people, and only two survived by climbing up the slope in time. Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes. You reminded me back then that some people might not listen to advice. Our prevention team simply took a blanket approach and rejected all applications for travel to these dangerous areas recently. But we couldn't stop these people from going to those unauthorized tourist spots. Our staff don't even know how they found those nooks and crannies."

According to survivors, locals saw them choose that spot to camp and tried to dissuade them, saying it was clearly a flood discharge channel and dangerous, and advised them to move. But they wouldn't listen. They say you can't reason with a stubborn person; there's nothing you can do about it, so don't take it to heart.

"Okay, I understand."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Lan leaned back in her chair, sighed, and rubbed her forehead.

Jiang Lan had actually guessed this outcome in her dream. In fact, the fate of some people can be determined by the dreamer's attitude towards them.

Just like passengers rushing to catch a bus or ferry, if they see from afar that they are going to be late and try their best to catch up, the bus/ferry driver will wait for them to board before closing the door.

However, some clever people, seeing from afar that the bus or boat is about to depart, simply wave to the driver to let them know that there are still people who haven't boarded yet, and then leisurely walk forward, naively thinking that the driver will obediently wait for everyone to board. Rest assured, the driver will wait until these people are almost close before closing the door, driving away, leaving these clever people jumping up and down in frustration.

In the context of a dream cube, those struggling to survive are the passengers, and the dream maker is the driver. The only difference is that the bus/ferry is replaced by a ring of light; missing your bus means missing your chance to survive.

On Friday, Xiaoming received a lot of packages from her hometown. These were gifts that Zhou's father had asked her to take to Jiang Lan's house.

Xiaoming also asked Jiang Lan about her parents' preferences. On Thursday, the two went shopping at the mall. They bought cosmetics, scarves, and some tasteful accessories for Jiang's mother. Zhou's father, who enjoys fishing, bought a set of well-reviewed fishing tackle and some outdoor equipment.

Early Saturday morning, the two drove their SUV, with the trunk fully loaded, back to Jiang Lan's home.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xiaoming thought to himself that he should buy a car.

Jiang Lan's parents were waiting at the gate of the courtyard early in the morning. When they saw the car return, they hurriedly welcomed it into the courtyard.

The two got out of the car, and Jiang Lan introduced Xiaoming to her parents: "Mom and Dad, this is Xiaoming. Xiaoming, these are my parents."

Xiao Ming greeted his uncle and aunt, and the two responded with cheerful smiles. Zhou's mother then led Xiao Ming into the house, saying, "I heard from Jiang Lan that you get carsick. Are you feeling unwell right now? Sit down and rest for a while."

"Thankfully, I was so nervous that I forgot about motion sickness. Uncle and Aunt, I brought some gifts for you two, please see if they are suitable."

After Xiaoming finished speaking, he went over to open the trunk and took everything out one by one.

"Oh, this matter can be left to Xiao Lan, there's no need for you."

“Some things were sent by my parents, but he doesn’t know what they are, so I’ll send them myself.”

After the items were moved to the storage room, Jiang's parents looked at the gifts on the sofa in the living room and exchanged bewildered glances.