The girl's words revived Erzhuzi's dead heart.

The woman handed the hairpin to Erzhuzi and said, "Have good luck, brave man. Wait for me at the village entrance early in three days. Now, please leave quickly."

Erzhuzi was a simple-minded man. When people told him to leave, he left. After getting that precious hairpin, he lost all ability to think and just hurried home without looking back, clutching the hairpin.

It was already past midnight when I got home. There was a steamed bun on the door. Without even thinking, it must have been left there by that kid Dongsheng.

Erzhuzi casually tossed the cornbread onto the broken table, then burrowed into the quilt, clutching the hairpin and lost in thought.

He didn't wake up until Dongsheng put his icy hand into his neck.

"What time did you get back yesterday, kid? I waited for you all night. Why haven't you eaten your cornbread yet?" Dongsheng said incessantly when he saw that he was awake.

Erzhuzi just grinned foolishly and didn't answer. When Dongsheng discovered the hairpin in his hand, he was not about to let him go and pressed him to tell him where he had been having fun.

Erzhuzi always treated Dongsheng like an older brother, and told him everything about meeting the girl, saying how beautiful she was.

Upon hearing this, Tang Dongsheng looked on with envy and mocked him, saying, "You're really a fool with a fool's luck; you've picked up a wife for nothing."

But I still feel like this is a bit far-fetched. Could it be that they're trying to scam you?

Erzhuzi chuckled foolishly and said, "What do I have to lie about? That girl probably won't come."

Although he said this, he was really looking forward to it. He did a thorough cleaning of the house, tidying up the old house and even picked a large bunch of wildflowers from the mountain to put in the house.

He took out all the copper coins he had saved, polished them until they shone, and waited for the girl to come and give them all to him.

Seeing that he seemed to be possessed, Dongsheng also assisted him.

He would ask Erzhuzi from time to time, "What does that girl look like? Is she as pretty as Jinyue from our village?"

Erzhuzi's eyes lit up: "Compared to her, Jin Yue is like a pheasant compared to a phoenix. That girl is not only beautiful, but she also speaks gently, like a fairy from heaven."

Moreover, she was exceptionally clever. Out of courtesy, before even seeing me in person, she had the lady give her the hairpin as a token to help them recognize each other.

Tang Dongsheng sensed something amiss and quickly asked, "Zhu Zi, that girl hasn't seen you before?"

Erzhu honestly said, "It was getting dark, and she was being protected in that woman's arms the whole time, so she probably hadn't seen me before."

Tang Dongsheng suddenly said sarcastically, "No wonder they rushed to marry their daughter to you. It turns out they didn't see how down-and-out you are. In my opinion, even if they really came, they would be scared away by you. Zhuzi, don't dream about a toad eating swan meat!"

Erzhu got anxious: "No, I told them I'm an orphan, penniless. They said they just want to find that girl a reliable person to live a peaceful life. Even though I'm poor, I'll treat her well."

Seeing that Erzhuzi was anxious, Tang Dongsheng quickly comforted him and asked him what he had said to the woman.

Looking back now, Dongsheng was already eyeing that girl back then, but Erzhuzi was completely unaware.

On the third day, Erzhuzi got up early, tidied up the house again, took a bath and changed his clothes, put on his best clothes and went out to wait at the village entrance.

To his surprise, Dongsheng had also dressed up nicely and arrived at the village entrance before him.

"Dongsheng, what brings you here!" Erzhu asked in surprise.

"I was just worried you'd be anxious, so I came to give you some encouragement!" Dongsheng said awkwardly.

Erzhuzi believed it to be true and was very grateful to Dongsheng.

After standing there for a short while, Dongsheng suddenly said, "You said that hairpin is silver. Let me take a closer look. I've never seen a silver hairpin before."

And so, the hairpin ended up in Dongsheng's hands. He tucked it into his bosom and suddenly knelt down before Erzhuzi: "Erzhuzi, have I been good to you?"

"Okay, brother is the best person to me in this world!" Erzhu said as he went to help Dongsheng up.

Dongsheng grabbed Erzhuzi's hand and said, "Then can you give this girl to me? I'm sorry, I've been thinking about this for the past two days. I've also fallen for this girl!"

Zhu Zi panicked and stammered, "Impossible, you've never even seen her!"

Dongsheng pleaded, "But you've described her to me eight hundred times already. I can't get her out of my head. Please, just grant my wish!"

Erzhuzi shook off Dongsheng's hand and said, "Brother, I'll agree to anything you ask of me, except for this!"

Tang Dongsheng pressed on: "I only want this girl. I'm not doing this entirely for myself; it's also for your and that girl's good. That girl is following you now because she sees you as her savior. But when she finds out that you can't even give her a decent meal, she will hate you, resent you, and leave you!"

Erzhuzi was hit where it hurt, and he said angrily, "No, I'm strong and healthy, I can work and support her, and that girl isn't a snob. We'll make a good life for her."

Dongsheng continued to brainwash Erzhuzi, having already pondered these words for three or four days:

"What woman would be willing to go hungry with you? Your thatched hut could collapse under the weight of a heavy winter rain. That girl has delicate skin; she'd be lucky to survive freezing to death."

"I'm different. My mother loves me and has already prepared a house for me to get married. I also have three married older sisters to support me, so the girl won't suffer if she comes with me."

"Xia Dongsheng, you're shameless!" Erzhuzi roared in anger!

Xia Dongsheng was also furious: "Erzhuzi, people have to have a conscience. That year when you had a fever, you would have died long ago if it weren't for me and Dad. If I hadn't brought you food every day all these years, you wouldn't be alive now. Your life belongs to our family. You owe me, and I'm making you pay it back now!"

Erzhuzi lowered his hand, which was about to hit Xia Dongsheng, and said, "Fine, I promise you, but you have to treat that girl well, or I won't let you off the hook!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Dongsheng hugged Erzhuzi and said, "Good brother, I will. I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life!"

In the end, Erzhuzi was sent away by Xia Dongsheng, and he waited for the girl at the village entrance.

Actually, Erzhuzi hadn't gone far; he was watching from a high place, but the woman didn't come. It was an old man who saw the girl off.

He also saw Xia Dongsheng's joy when he saw the girl, and saw him put the hairpin in the girl's hair.

Seeing the doubt in the girl's eyes, and seeing how Xia Dongsheng managed to calm her down with his silver tongue.

He didn't know how Xia Dongsheng persuaded Wang Shi, but anyway, Xia Dongsheng married the girl the next day.

From then on, Xia Dongsheng would look very unhappy whenever he saw Erzhuzi, and he would never allow Erzhuzi to go to his house again.

Erzhuzi still remembers the first time he met Xu Lanzhi, who was married, in the village. She was heavily pregnant and being supported by Tang Dongsheng.

Erzhuzi stammered, "Brother, sister-in-law..."

Xu Lanzhi suddenly stared at him intently and asked, "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

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