Chapter 162

Zhou Jiani's engagement was not made public at the Second Textile Factory, but after the news that Yu Huifang and Zhou Wanli had taken a few days off came out, some colleagues took the initiative to ask about it.

It is definitely unusual for a couple to both take leave, and for several days in a row.

After asking, I found out that their daughter was engaged. The Qiu family would come to propose marriage tomorrow, and then the whole family would go to the capital to recognize the relatives.

Therefore, the neighbors in the dormitory area also knew about it, and naturally there was a lot of heated discussion.

In particular, many people were jealous of Qiu Zeming's return and talked about it behind his back, hoping to see the joke of him returning to the city in the future and leaving Zhou Jiani in the countryside. The most active among them was naturally Lu Cuilan, who made an indelible contribution to the promotion of this topic.

As a result, not only did someone come from the capital to formally propose marriage, but they also wanted to bring the Zhou family to the capital for the parents of both sides to meet and get engaged.

The door is open, definitely to reassure the girl's family.

"I said Jiani was lucky. She's capable and can stand on her own. The child she found couldn't be a coward."

"That young man is not only good-looking, but also values Jiani so much. The Zhou family is relieved this time."

"Who wouldn't be worried about finding such a good son-in-law?"

"Yeah, I was waiting to see Jiani make a fool of herself."

"That's jealousy, red eye."

Of course, Lu Cuilan heard these words and kept muttering and cursing at home for a long time.

She couldn't understand why her third daughter went to the countryside with Zhou Jiani, but her daughter was unlucky in everything she did, while Zhou's daughter had everything going smoothly?

Not to mention anything else, let’s take the recent reported incident as an example. When the girl from the Zhou family was reported, not only was she not harmed, she even sent that bad seed to the farm.

Her third daughter was reported and returned to the farm. She had only been out for a few days.

Finding a partner is even easier than talking about it. If the third girl hadn't been punished last year and had stayed in the team normally, she would probably have found a good partner.

Now, every time, the limelight is taken by the girl from the Zhou family.

She then muttered to Liu Jiefang: "What a vicious person! Do you think that the girl from the Zhou family has snatched away our third daughter's luck? Our third daughter is so unlucky..." Even she, who didn't care about her daughter, couldn't bear to watch it anymore.

Liu Jiefang didn't dare to think about this and said, "Don't let your imagination run wild. This is feudal superstition."

He frowned again and said, "Last time she was punished, it was because she stole something from the team. If they didn't punish her, who else should they punish?"

Lv Cuilan: "Don't talk nonsense. I just took a basket from the team to show to the people from other villages. What are you stealing? Do you know how to speak?"

Liu Jiefang said impatiently, "Is it any use if you don't admit it? That's how people define her."

The daughter of the Zhou family is not just lucky. She has actually worked for the welfare of the local villagers and made achievements, so she is not flattered everywhere.

Even now, he still felt awkward and uncomfortable in his heart. He still thought that he should help his daughter Ailing if he had the ability. After all, they grew up together and were as close as one.

As for the contradiction in the letter, Liu Jiefang still felt that the Zhou family was making a fuss out of nothing and was too vindictive. He even thought many times that Zhou Jiani took the opportunity to completely cut off ties with his daughter because she was afraid that Ailing would take advantage of her.

He murmured, "I never realized before that this girl from the Zhou family is so cunning."

Lu Cuilan didn't say anything else. She always felt that there was something strange about her daughter, so she looked for an opportunity to secretly find someone to take a look.

Zhou Jiani didn't get a chance to rest in the afternoon. She chatted with her family for a while, helped her mother clean the house and prepare dinner.

When Qiu Zeming came over for dinner in the evening, they chatted for a while about tomorrow's reception. After Qiu Zeming left, Zhou Jiani took the ticket and went to take a shower. While taking a shower, she washed and dried the clothes she would wear tomorrow, and hung them on the shelves in the warehouse with hangers.

It was hot at the moment, and her hair was naturally half dry when she returned home from the bathhouse. She was a little sleepy, so she gritted her teeth and waited until her hair was completely dry. She went back to the room and fell asleep. She didn't open her eyes until 7:30 in the morning. She lay there and listened to Jiaping and Jiaan whispering outside about dividing the candy, and they were also discussing how many to leave for each friend.

"Give one to Song Jianye, one to Goudan, and two to Wang Tiantian, she's a girl..."

Zhou Jiani smiled, picked up the palm-leaf fan next to her pillow, fanned herself, and lay on the bed in a daze.

She is getting engaged!

Yesterday was as hurried as marching to war, but only now did I have an indescribable sour-sweet feeling, and I laughed silently.

After lying down for a while, I got up and got out of bed.

I hadn’t put on my new clothes yet, so I put on an ordinary skirt and went out to wash my face, brush my teeth and have breakfast.

Yu Huifang had already wiped every corner of the house with a rag, sweat dripping from her forehead. Seeing her come out, she said, "I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to let you look at the menu."

Zhou Wanli hadn't gone to work, and he was getting impatient. He checked the time and said, "Wait until eight o'clock. I'll go to the restaurant and discuss it with them." He asked his daughter, "Are you going to see them?"

Jiang Xinfeng said, "Just give Nini a brief overview, and don't follow me. She'll have to clean up early." Then she said to her son, "Don't wait until eight o'clock. Go now and wait for them to open the door. After checking, come back quickly. What if the family is too busy?"

Seeing that her family was a little flustered, Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "...Grandma, Dad, don't be so hasty, just propose marriage."

The old lady was still stubborn, waving her hands and saying, "We're not in a hurry, we're taking it seriously. They've come all the way here, how rude of us to treat them poorly."

Then he urged Zhou Wanli to go to the restaurant door and wait, forgetting to ask his son to read out the dishes and discuss it with Zhou Jiani. It was Zhou Jiani who took the initiative to ask, and after listening to it, she said: "This dish is very good, there is nothing more to add."

Zhou Wanli thought about it and agreed. He would order all the main dishes in the restaurant as long as they had the ingredients. There were really no extra ingredients.

Zhou Jiani glanced at Yu Huifang, who was spinning around in circles, looking as if she didn't know what to do but had to do something, and advised, "Mom, don't panic."

Yu Huifang: "I'm not panicking. I'll just pick up the coal briquettes at the door..." Suddenly, she saw Zhou Wanli, who hadn't left yet, and asked him, "What are you still doing here?"

Zhou Wanli, who was considered a nuisance: ...

Zhou Wanli went out and rode his bike to the restaurant to wait for it to open. Jiaping and Jiaan wanted to follow, but Yu Huifang stopped them and said, "Stay home and don't cause any more trouble. You two can pile up the coal briquettes while I go pack our luggage."

Zhou Jiani was about to wash the dishes after dinner, but her grandmother stopped her and said with a smile, "Go and dress up quickly, in case they arrive early."

Zhou Jiani: ...

Inside the house, Yu Huifang fiddled with the luggage, checking if there was anything she had forgotten. She also spoke happily to her daughter, "Nini, the suitcase I bought for your dad last time finally came in handy. It can still hold a lot of things."

Including the one for my daughter, the two boxes are just enough to hold the family's spare clothes, and they look particularly neat.

Zhou Jiani went to get some water and was about to go back inside to wipe the sweat off her body. She said, "Bring another one with the next shipment. It will be convenient to use when our family has some free time to go to the capital for a few days."

This trip is too rushed. We will leave by bus tonight, have lunch with our two families tomorrow at noon, rest there for one night, and then take the bus back the day after tomorrow. There is no time left for sightseeing at all.

Yu Huifang disagreed, "You can't get old. What if your in-laws think we're here to get something for free? You won't be able to hold your head up in your in-laws' house anymore."

Zhou Jiani mixed the hot water and replied speechlessly, "Mom, we're going on a trip, staying in a guesthouse, and eating at a restaurant. We're not going to Ze Ming's house to eat, and we're not causing any trouble for them. How could people think we're taking advantage of them?"

She thought that if she were reborn and took the college entrance examination again, she would definitely work hard to get into the highest institution of learning. Then the family would calm down and go to the capital to have a good time.

Yu Huifang thought about it and felt that this was true. Although her family's compound was not as grand as Ze Ming's, the overall conditions were not bad either.

Zhou Jiani went back and took a shower, then combed her hair loose and put it up on top of her head. She first fixed it with a rubber band and then put on a blue hairband.

The skirt I am going to wear today is also blue, with overlapping prints of light pink, beige and blue. It has a small stand-up collar, and the stand-up collar and cuffs are hand-embroidered. There are also two buttons on the front of the collar. Looking at the collar alone, it looks a bit like a cheongsam, with a waist-hugging design, and the lower half is more flowing, which is particularly beautiful.

Everyone in my family says it looks good.

Jiang Xinfeng fanned her granddaughter with a palm-leaf fan and grinned, "This dress is not only beautiful, but also looks cool."

Yu Huifang also looked proud. Her daughter was beautiful, and she looked beautiful in normal times. She looked even better when she was dressed up. She only said regretfully, "It would be better if she bought a red skirt."

Zhou Wanli came back at around nine o'clock. Yu Huifang saw that his clothes were all wet, so she asked him to go into the house to get some water to wipe them, and then change into a white shirt and brand new army green pants.

As the family waited anxiously and expectantly, Jiaping and Jiaan, who had been sent out as spies, ran back. Remembering their mother's warning not to shout, they ran into the house with red faces and said, "Brother Zeming is here with two men in military uniforms."

Zhou Wanli was surprised: "Didn't Zeming say that his aunt and uncle were coming?"

They knew that Zeming's family members were all in the army, so they didn't gossip and ask what Qiu Zeming's aunt's family did.

I looked at Yu Huifang and wondered if someone had replaced him.

The whole family quickly gathered themselves together and went out to greet them.

Just like when Qiu Zeming came back to visit last time, many neighbors who were originally enjoying the cool air at the courtyard gate followed the three of them.

Two middle-aged couples in military uniforms walked side by side. The female soldier was holding a few colorful boxes in her hands, and the male comrade was holding two large hams in his left hand and two bottles of Moutai in his right hand. Qiu Zeming was dressed neatly and stood straight, holding a radio with the Rolex ladies' watch on the radio, and walking on the side.

A neighbor who had a soldier in the army whispered to the Zhou family, "Oh my! Your son-in-law asked a high-ranking official to propose marriage. Is that man a military commander?"

Zhou Wanli and Yu Huifang were both a little confused, and hurried forward to greet them, giving their daughter a reproachful look. Zhou Jiani quietly spread her hands, saying that she had not asked and she did not know.

Originally, I wasn't interested in Qiu Zeming's family background. I never asked about his family information, let alone his relatives.

I only know that he has an aunt and an uncle, and they have a very good relationship, but I didn't ask for any specific details.

Listening to the commotion in the corridor, Lv Cuilan came out of the house to see what was happening. Her face turned green when she heard the neighbors talking about how Zhou Jiani's boyfriend had a high-ranking official in his family.