The people of Lijiapo were extremely busy, and a steady stream of large sums of money flowed into the Lijiapo brigade's account.

Good days were just around the corner, and the members of the surrounding brigades could no longer feel jealous; all they felt was envy.

That's just how people are; if you're a little better than him, he might get jealous.

But if you are much better than him, he can't catch up even if he tries, and then all he can do is envy you.

The people of Guanyutai Brigade now feel nothing but envy for Lijiapo, but a bit of jealousy towards Liu Dagai.

After setting the wedding date, Liu Dagai began to act as if he were the in-law of the brigade leader of Lijiapo.

They always talked about how rich Li Jiapo was and how good life their family would live in the future.

Some people looked down on him and mocked him, saying, "What does it matter to you if Li Jiapo is rich?! It's your daughter who married into Li Jiapo, not you."

Someone nearby chimed in, "It's just marrying off a daughter; people who don't know any better would think your whole family has married into the family!"

"That's right, a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl! From now on, Yuxiu will be eating white flour buns after she marries into the family, while you'll be staying at home eating sorghum pancakes!"

"Liu Dagai, stop nagging your daughter. You have a son! If you let your daughter support you, people will think you're childless!"

As they spoke, they burst into laughter.

One person can't talk to so many mouths, and Liu Dagai was laughed at so much that his big face turned red, blue, and purple.

He threw a huge tantrum when he got home, which greatly annoyed Liu Yuxiu.

Shan Yongju gave her furious husband a brilliant idea: "Yuxiu, have Weijun send over some watermelons! Da Gai, you go to those gossipy guys' houses tomorrow and eat watermelons, make them drool!"

Speaking of which, her youngest son, Gou Dan'er, has been clamoring for watermelon every day these past few days, and she's also kind of craving some.

It's strange, but when watermelons were only a penny a pound in the summer, I didn't find them particularly delicious.

In winter, my mouth waters from cravings.

Liu Yuxiu felt that getting a watermelon was no big deal; it was a worthwhile trade for some peace and quiet.

Li Weijun is very obedient now. Liu Yuxiu is pregnant with his child, and he won't give her anything she wants.

However, Li Ping stopped him when he tried to take the watermelon, saying, "Brother, this is a watermelon from the production team, not from our own family."

Li Jiabao blinked his big eyes, "Yes, brother, the weight of the watermelons stored at each household is recorded in Uncle Zhenbo's ledger! If the weight is short, our family will have to pay compensation!"

Li Weijun, carrying a half-sack of watermelons, smacked his lips and looked a little embarrassed in front of his younger siblings. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Then I'll buy them, okay?"

And so, Li Weijun carried the watermelon on his back and walked ahead, with Li Ping and Li Jiabao following behind him. The three brothers and sisters arrived at the brigade headquarters.

Wang Zhenbo was doing the accounts when Li Weijun arrived. "Looking for your father?"

Li Jiabao shook his head. "Uncle Zhenbo, my older brother wants to buy watermelons."

Wang Zhenbo glanced curiously at Li Weijun, whose face was flushed, but he didn't say anything. He just smiled, weighed the items, collected the money, and wrote it down in the ledger.

Li Weijun was a little unhappy, and his expression wasn't good when he delivered the half-bag of watermelons to the Liu family.

When Shan Yongju saw the watermelon, she happily exclaimed "Good son-in-law!" and urged him to come inside and sit on the kang (heated brick bed).

Li Weijun held a bowl of brown sugar water in his hand, took a sip, and his expression softened a bit.

"Son-in-law, why didn't you bring more? Your uncle praised the watermelons from your brigade last time he came!"

The "elder brother" mentioned here refers to Shan Yongju's older brother.

Li Weijun frowned and said, "This half bag cost sixteen yuan!"

Liu Yuxiu touched her barely noticeable belly, somewhat shocked, "It costs money again?"

Li Jin is the brigade leader, so it's perfectly normal for Li Weijun to eat some watermelon. Why should he ask for money?

Li Weijun waved his hand, "Do you think you can just take public property for free?"

Shan Yongju pursed her lips.

Liu Dagai doesn't care about that. His father-in-law's family always likes to take advantage of him, and now they want to take advantage of their son-in-law too.

snort!

Liu Dagai immediately cut a watermelon, holding one slice in his left hand and one in his right, and went to visit the families he had mentioned last time.

"Jianshe, are you home? What did you eat? Oh, I just finished eating. I came over for a visit! My son-in-law specially brought over a big bag of watermelon, but I'm already tired of eating it!"

"Old Sha, want to try some watermelon? Oh, maybe you shouldn't eat any. What if you get addicted? You're not as willing as your son-in-law to spend so much money on you!"

"Little Jun, are you eating sorghum flour pancakes? Oh dear, your son-in-law brought over a small meat pie today, I'm already stuffed, let me have a piece of watermelon to cleanse my palate!"

...

Liu Dagai showed off the whole watermelon, visiting half the village and making many children drool with envy.

People could only watch helplessly as he smugly gloated.

After receiving countless eye-rolls and silent criticisms, Liu Dagai finally retaliated with satisfaction.

snort!

You're all just jealous that I have a rich son-in-law!

...

Li Weijun's house has been built, and Li Jin and Zhao Sufang actually didn't have to spend a single extra penny after paying for the house construction!

Getting married also requires buying furniture, appliances, pots and pans, but Li Weijun, out of pride, never asked his parents for help.

He took the remaining eighty-four yuan to buy some tools.

It's already October 20th, and there's no time to make furniture on the spot, so Li Weijun went to the Damutuo Brigade and bought a bunch of ready-made furniture.

An eight-immortal table, four wooden stools, two reclining cabinets, a kang (heated brick bed) zither, and six chairs.

Red lacquered cabinet

A kang (heated brick bed) with neatly folded quilts placed on top.

All of these are paulownia wood furniture pieces that have already been painted.

Eighty percent of the people in Damutuo Village are carpenters. They are best at making two things: wardrobes and coffins.

Li Xiangdong borrowed the brigade's oxcart to bring the furniture back and set it in.

The only things missing from the new house are new quilts, new mattresses, and a kang (heated brick bed) qui

A kang quilt is a mattress laid on a kang (a heated brick bed).

There are specific customs regarding the bedding and quilts used for a newlywed couple's wedding. They must be made of new cotton with new lining and fabric, and the bedding must be made by a "complete and harmonious person" whose parents, in-laws, siblings, husband, and son are all alive and who has given birth to a son.

Li Weijun was angry about the division of the family property, and also felt that his parents were too heartless, so he asked Li Wanshi to find someone to make bedding.

The cloth coupons he used were the ones he had saved up before. Cotton and cloth, which one doesn't cost money?

Looking at the thin quilt and mattress that had been made, and then feeling that there wasn't enough cotton and that the quilt was stuffed with cattail fluff, Li Weijun burst into tears twice!

When did my parents change their minds?

He truly doesn't contribute a single penny to or care about any of the major events in his life!

Li Weijun was still feeling the coldness of human nature when Liu Yuxiu touched the bright red wardrobe, very dissatisfied, "Why not make it out of red pine? Paulownia wood is too light and not sturdy."

Li Weijun was too dejected to speak, but Liu Yuxiu's eyes lit up. "Brother Jun, you're just too honest! Your parents say they won't take responsibility, but they really won't? Go back and apologize, beg them! The wedding is coming up soon, you can't make my parents look too bad!"