Tomorrow was supposed to be the last day of their corvée labor.

Xue Xiaoqi suddenly wanted to get married, so the military camp gave the laborers a day off.

Song Liyun was very surprised by this.

It's been seven or eight days since I arrived in Suijin Town, and I've only been living in Baolin Residence for a little over ten days.

She had only heard that they would get married in a flash within a month, but she never expected that they would get engaged after Xu Yan'er disappeared for ten days in the middle of the night.

However, she felt relieved that she was no longer "family" with Xue Xiaoqi, who had a wide, toothy grin.

During dinner, under Song Liyun's persistent questioning, Song Zhenping finally stammered out the reason, leaving Song Liyun speechless.

It turned out that Xu Yan'er hadn't returned home all night and had caught a chill, so she had been lying on her bed every day to recover.

Xue Xiaoqi took good care of him.

The sixteen-year-old girl was completely captivated by his warm greetings and, seeing that Xue Xiaoqi was clearly a seasoned womanizer, she was even more unable to control herself.

One afternoon, when no one was around at the migrant workers' accommodation, the two got together and had an affair, only to be caught in the act by other people.

This matter immediately caused a great uproar.

Fortunately, the laborers were almost all men, and while some were interested in these matters, they wouldn't openly mock them.

But since the matter was laid bare, Granny Cui cried her heart out.

She was just doing corvée labor to earn money, and she only wanted to take advantage of Xue Xiaoqi, but in the end, she ended up getting involved with her own daughter.

So they took the complaint to the military camp, demanding that Xue Xiaoqi pay with his life.

Rape of civilian women is a serious crime no matter where it is committed, and Commander Luo immediately ordered Xue Xiaoqi to behead him to uphold military discipline.

Xu Yan'er was deeply in love and begged him desperately, saying that they were mutually in love and that she was willing to marry him, and that the military camp could not lose its humanity, etc.

Out of consideration for Xu Yan'er's pleas, Luo Baihu let Xue Xiaoqi go.

He only gave them ten lashes, stripped them of their posts, expelled them from the army, and then allowed them to get married.

Xue Zhuang didn't want to leave, so a second military household came to Suijin Town.

As for why Song Zhenping spoke so hesitantly, there's more to come.

"Yun'er, Xue Zhuang has invited us to his wedding banquet!"

Song Liyun raised an eyebrow: "That's great! There are only two military households in Suijin Town, so it's only right that they visit each other."

"Attending a wedding banquet... requires giving a gift, and Aunt Cui wants me to give one tael of silver."

"Pfft!"

Song Liyun spat out a mouthful of soup.

A wedding banquet costs one tael of silver!

That old woman Cui is something else! She openly asks for money as a gift, she's treating herself like a sucker.

Even if Song Zhenping had the silver, he wouldn't give it away for nothing.

“Yun’er, I asked Uncle Qin, and he said that for most farming families, giving ten coins as a gift when they attend a banquet is enough.”

We won't be attending the banquet; we'll just ask Uncle Qin to advance us a gift of twenty coins, which we'll repay the day after tomorrow when we settle the account."

Song Zhenping isn't stupid. He hasn't touched silver in nineteen years. How could he give it away just because someone said a word?

Even if we become military households in the future, there is no reason for us to give each meal a tael of silver.

Since the food is so expensive, I can simply choose not to eat it.

Song Liyun frowned. Xue Zhuang had also settled in the town, and they would both be military households in the future. It would indeed be unsightly if they fell out.

However, if you only send money but don't attend the banquet, you'll be at a loss.

She glanced at the acorn cake that Xiao An was picking at, and a thought suddenly struck her. She quickly asked, "Where is Xue Zhuang hosting his banquet tomorrow?"

Song Zhenping thought for a moment: "In the new house in town!"

Although Xue Zhuang was dismissed from his post, he was still a military household who had settled in Suijin Town. Because of old friendships, Commander Luo allowed him to choose a house and be allocated land.

The new home was located in the town center, in the courtyard that Song Liyun had chosen.

Xu Yan'er's mother was in Suijin Town, so she had family on her side. Time was short, and Xue Zhuang felt that he had been expelled from the army and was too ashamed to go back to his hometown to tell his parents, so the wedding was kept simple.

Fortunately, there was a house available, and the groom, Xue Zhuang, also bought some used furniture in town. In just two days, the new house was furnished.

The next day, Broken Gold Town celebrated a rare and joyous occasion.

Song Liyun got up early in the morning and started working.

When the migrant workers were on holiday, Song Zhenping helped her grind and filter the powder, and then boil the jelly. The brother and sister made a big pot of acorn jelly.

The most expensive part was the ingredients, which Song Liyun hadn't prepared.

As soon as the rice cake was made, she put a bowl of it in a basket.

Xiao An and Song Zhenping stayed home to tidy up the backyard, while he went to town alone.

At this moment, in Xue Zhuang's new house in the town, several women were putting up red decorations inside and outside the courtyard.

A middle-aged man was carrying a piece of meat out of the yard. He looked back and complained, "She just married a soldier. Look at her arrogant face. She even thinks this piece of meat isn't fatty enough."

When he came over from the new house, grumbling, Song Liyun stopped him and asked with a smile, "Uncle Mu, who are you upset with?"

Song Liyun knew this person; his surname was Mu, and he ran a general store in town.

His shop was well-stocked, selling not only fabrics and clothes, but also grains, oils, rice, flour, and salt.

The rice, flour, and old clothes that Song Liyun later bought were from his shop.

It seems they got the meat from somewhere today and want to sell it to Xue Xiaoqi, who is holding a banquet.

Upon seeing that it was Song Liyun, Boss Mu felt as if he had found an outlet for his anger and immediately stomped his foot and said resentfully, "Miss Song, you be the judge."

The Xue family only planned for three tables of guests to eat and drink, and they still thought five catties of meat was too lean and too much. "Look at this meat, the fat is already five fingers wide!"

Song Liyun had just bought something from his shop, so he naturally recognized it and couldn't help but complain.

Song Liyun smiled and said, "You said that it's difficult to organize a banquet for Xue Junhu, so let the host add a few more pounds of meat, and it will be perfectly organized."

Hearing Song Liyun's words, Boss Mu was furious. He slapped his fat palm and said, "Easy for you to say. It's only two or three hundred coins. What kind of meal can you get for that? This piece of meat alone costs fifty coins, not to mention the other side dishes."

Furthermore, regarding neatness, what does neatness mean? According to the rules, it means ten plates and nine bowls.

What are you thinking? Where are those things in this Broken Gold Town now? ... In previous years, as long as you were willing to spend the money, you could get everything you needed, whether it was flying in the sky or running on the ground.

"Don't even mention bragging, I could procure a whole banquet, even more upscale than Tianxianglou in Qili County. Unlike today, where even a bowl of steamed meat cut into eight slices is a complicated affair."

Boss Mu seemed to be angry, because once he started talking, he didn't stop, rattling off a whole bunch of things.

Song Liyun realized that Boss Mu was the purchasing manager in charge of cooking for today's wedding banquet, and she was immediately delighted: her wish had come true, of course the purchasing manager and the chef had the final say on the cooking.

She waited until Boss Mu finished complaining before saying, "Even if you have little money, you can still eat well. Boss Mu, try acorn tofu."

"What? Acorn flour tofu? Ugh! Don't even mention it. Acorn flour is bitter and only good for filling your stomach when you're really hungry. Who would want to eat that stuff at a wedding banquet?"

Upon hearing Song Liyun mention acorn flour, Boss Mu shook his head repeatedly.