Chapter 54

When Song Zhehao came to his childhood sweetheart's home, he felt for the first time what a warm hospitality meant, and also learned what it meant to change one's face faster than turning the pages of a book. The heroine's father took Song Zhehao's hand and sat him down at the small table in the yard. He poured him tea, handed him cigarettes, asked him if he had eaten, and yelled at his wife to cook quickly. He also asked her to take out two taels of meat from the oil tank and cut them into pieces to stir-fry.

The heroine's mother was a notorious stingy person in the village. Not only would she not buy meat for relatives and friends, but she would also not spend so much money on meat even during festivals. After dark at night, she would only light an oil lamp as big as a bean. At that time, kerosene lamps were already popular in the streets and alleys, and every family had a kerosene lamp. However, the kerosene lamp in the heroine's house was covered with a thick layer of dust. After she bought it home, she put it in the cabinet like a treasure and never took it out to use.

Today, the heroine's home is more lively than the New Year. The heroine's mother rarely took out the kerosene lamp that she had never used since she bought it. She also fished out two taels of pickled meat from the oil tank and used rapeseed oil to cook a dish. The heroine's father also took out a pot of wine from the house and brought a plate of peanuts, a plate of fermented tofu, and a plate of edamame. These inconspicuous side dishes were rare and delicious things in that era. As she was about to fill Song Zhehao's glass, she smiled and asked, "Zhehao! You are a person who... "You're usually quiet and don't like to talk. You have something on your mind. You said we're all neighbors, and no one has ever heard of you making a fortune. You must have made a lot. I saw the stack of money you just took out. It must be over a thousand yuan. My family works hard in the fields for a year, and even with the best harvest, we only make over eight hundred yuan. My goodness, you just took out our family's annual income with just this casual move. This is outrageous! Tell your uncle quickly, where have you made a fortune in the past year?"

The heroine's father was anxious and wanted to know where Song Zhehao had made his fortune, as he could easily come up with so much money. He looked a little impatient, but Song Zhehao took his time, picked up the teacup and took a sip, with no intention of paying any attention to the heroine's father. Song Zhehao knew in his heart that the more he put on airs and treated the heroine's father and his wife indifferently, and said some confusing things, the more unsure the couple would feel, and the more they felt that Song Zhehao was not simple. Song Zhehao pretended for a long time, and finally said softly: "Hey, I didn't make much, I went to the south and earned some pocket money."

Song Zhehao knew very well that the more nonchalant he spoke, the less the couple would dare to look down on him, and the more they would think that he must have made a lot of money. Generally, people who made a lot of money would behave extremely modestly, say some perfunctory and low-key words, and never show off how rich they have made. Song Zhehao's performance just verified what the old couple thought a wealthy person looked like.

The heroine's parents were immediately overjoyed. After all, the era of eating from the same pot had just ended, and the whole society was in ruins. Many people from all over the country left the farmland they had cultivated for generations and went to the big coastal cities to seek opportunities to make a fortune. Many young people had returned to the village and built small Western-style houses at home. Large color TVs, refrigerators, telephones, and even cars were no longer uncommon in rural areas. At this time, who deserved the most respect? Of course, those who had made a fortune.

In fact, the heroine's parents wanted to find a young man with great prospects and ability for her at the beginning, but such young men were arrogant. Even if they could afford the bride price he asked for, they despised him when they saw him selling their daughter. They also knew that if they became relatives with him and married his daughter, they would be sucked dry by him in the future. So even though the heroine's appearance was famous in the surrounding villages, no outstanding young man came to propose marriage. So in order to ask for a huge bride price, the couple simply wanted to marry their daughter to the stupid son of the village chief. Although the child was a little stupid and could not provide for their retirement in the future, he could at least make a lot of money, and they would have no problem with their retirement with this money. This was considered a bad idea, but now Song Zhehao suddenly appeared, and he had turned over, so the heroine's parents had to reconsider the issue of their daughter's ownership.

After waiting for a while, the appetizers for the heroine's mother were served. The heroine's father clamored to have a couple of drinks with Song Zhehao. After two drinks, the heroine's father changed his tone and said, "Oh, people outside say that I am selling my daughter. Actually, I have my own difficulties! We are getting older and older, and she is our only flesh and blood. If one day we are gone, she will be alone and helpless. How pitiful it will be to stay in this world. So we must find a husband for her so that she will have someone to rely on after we die. But this girl is really a filial child. She was worried that she was the only daughter and that she would have problems providing for herself in the future. So she gave up so many good marriages and found a man with a rich family but a little troubled brain. In fact, we are reluctant to do so. Who wants to push their daughter into the fire pit? But there are some things that we have our own difficulties...

：“ She's alright, sir ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm so appreciative of you ， I'm

Song Zhehao finally saw what it meant to be thicker-skinned than a city wall, what it meant to be able to turn black into white and square into round. He finally saw it today. Song Zhehao remained calm and ignored all the disgusting words. He did not expose the lying parents, but continued, "Times have changed. In the past, a woman's way out was to find a good family to marry. Now society has changed, there are more opportunities, and everyone has more ways out than before. There are all kinds of good ways out. It depends on whether you are willing to take them, whether you have the vision, and whether your family supports you. Nowadays, there are many women who make a lot of money in business, which is much better than men."

If they had heard these words in the past, the heroine's parents would have certainly been disdainful and contemptuous, especially since it was said by Song Zhehao. They were even more dismissive. Not allowing their daughter to get married and forcing her to find other ways out, wouldn't this force the old couple to not receive a high bride price? That would be worse than taking their lives. In the past, if someone dared to say such words in front of them at their house, they would have turned against them and scolded them out of the house. But now that Song Zhehao said this, the old couple listened obediently, nodded in agreement from time to time, and felt that what Song Zhehao said made sense.

The heroine's father also said: "Nephew, you have been to the big city and seen the world. You have experienced all kinds of scenes. You can come up with more than a thousand yuan at a time. Wow, we farmers can't earn more than a thousand yuan even if we work hard all year round. Your aunt and I were really scared. We have never left this village in our lives, so we know too little and don't know too many things. We can't compare with you in everything. The girls in our time learned to do housework and farm work since childhood. When we were old, we would find a good husband to marry into and have a good support in the future. That would make our life complete. Your aunt and I, after careful selection, still couldn't find a good family. After much deliberation, we decided to choose the second son of the village chief. He's honest and simple, without any ulterior motives. Besides, the village chief's family is better off. They promised your aunt and me that once your sister marries them, they won't mistreat her. They won't make her do farm work or housework. Your sister is an educated person, so she'll be in charge of the accounts. The village chief's family owns a brick factory and a pig farm, and his eldest son does business in the city. That's why we decided to marry your sister. Actually, we don't have any bad intentions. We just want our daughter to have a better life and not suffer like we have all our lives, living in this world."

After listening to a lot of words from the heroine's father, Song Zhehao finally understood. What he said was actually not wrong. The old couple had suffered all their lives and were always unwilling to accept that they could not make money, so they set their sights on their daughter. Looking around the family, their daughter was the most valuable person who could be given away and given a chance. They wanted to exchange their daughter's happiness for their own food and clothing. They kept saying that they had not seen much of the world, but they had a lot of plans in their hearts. They just wanted to eat the heroine's flesh and drink her blood, hoping that the heroine would give up her bright and great future in the second half of her life and spend the rest of her life with a mentally retarded fool. As parents, they didn't feel any guilt at all.

Song Zhehao coughed twice and continued, "It's not like before. In the past, society was feudal and people were conservative, especially in remote villages like ours. They thought women should stay at home to take care of children and go to the fields to do farm work. Guarding the stove is their lifelong destiny. But now it is no longer the past. You can see it in the city. There are many women riding bicycles to and from get off work in the streets and alleys. If you go to the supply and marketing cooperatives or state-owned food stores, aren't there more women than men? There are also more women in their twenties or even thirties who are still unmarried. In the past, people would get married in their teens, but now teenagers are at school age and people are busy taking college entrance exams. Not to mention other places, just say that in the surrounding villages, those who pass the exams are very busy. Female university students are nothing new. If I remember correctly, there are probably two or three female university students in our village who have been admitted to university. Some of them failed the college entrance examination and simply went to work in big cities. They are not in a hurry to get married, and their parents are all supportive. This kind of thing is not new in the village. Seeing their daughters bring lots of gifts and visit their parents during festivals, they brag about their daughters' achievements everywhere. They don't expect their daughters to just marry someone in the village and live a muddled life. They also hope that their daughters will have a better future and find a better person to marry in the future. Do you think I am right?"