Chapter 27 Choosing a Son-in-Law 006 Can I Marry This Boy?

Before it got completely dark, the people of Tonggan Production Team finally handed over their grain. Although two sacks of wheat were a little damp, probably because they were a step too slow during the harvesting process due to rain, the total weight of the wheat that passed inspection had already met the collection target.

Everyone happily carried their empty straw baskets, while the two sacks of grain were placed on a cart. It wasn't heavy to push, and although it didn't meet the standards for handing over grain, it didn't affect people's ability to eat. The remaining grain, apart from being kept for seeds and livestock feed, could be distributed among the members of the production team.

Apart from the Lunar New Year, the period after the summer and autumn harvests is the most joyful time of the year.

On the way back, people walked briskly, and some even sang off-key folk songs, which made those around them laugh.

Zhong Ying couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"The commune leaders specifically asked for your name, clearly wanting to extend an olive branch to you," the male ghost beside her asked in a low voice, "Aren't you tempted?"

With all the villagers around, Zhong Ying didn't answer directly, but just shook her head.

She really didn't have any ideas; she was just a lazy bum who wanted to stay in the Tonggan production team's territory and "rot and stink."

Because her father was so obsessed with pursuing fame and fortune that he neglected his wife and children, Zhong Ying had no interest in becoming an "official" and even felt some disgust and resistance towards it.

It was already past midnight when they got home. The excitement of the group was overshadowed by exhaustion. After a quick shower to remove the dust and sweat from their journey, they all went to sleep.

While everyone in the family was fast asleep, Zhong Ying quietly slipped out of the house.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face seemed to sense that Li Changgui was finally willing to reincarnate, and reappeared mysteriously.

Zhong Ying, Li Linshi, and Cao Fang all came to see Li Changgui off on his final journey.

The bull-headed man immediately looked at the two ghosts excitedly and asked, "Want to come together?"

Cao Fang shook her head with a forced smile, "I'll still do the same as before. I'll wait until my daughter gets married before I'm reincarnated."

Li Lin didn't respond. He didn't know what he was thinking. He silently put his hands behind his back, one hand gripping the foreign object on his wrist. Amidst his chaotic thoughts, only one idea was clear: he didn't want to leave like this.

Niu Tou sighed deeply, looking very disappointed. "I thought I could take more with me this time."

Horse-faced, however, saw things more clearly than him, and said calmly, "I had already expected it."

The two underworld messengers stepped aside, giving Li Changgui space to say goodbye.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, I don't need you to offer incense for me. Just throw the memorial tablet you carved for me into the fire and burn it as firewood." Li Changgui said to Zhong Ying, "Also, thank you for helping me fulfill my last wish so that I can leave without regrets."

Zhong Ying accepted the thanks without hesitation. She deserved the gratitude for carving the memorial tablets twice and for staying up all night.

Li Changgui then looked at Li Lin and said, "Fourth cousin, my obsession is over, what about yours?"

After speaking, Li Changgui's gaze involuntarily fell on Zhong Ying next to Li Linshi. He had a headache, feeling that for his sake, his cousin's obsession had become even deeper. They had already gone through the wedding ceremony, could his cousin really let go?

If Fourth Cousin doesn't reincarnate, Zhong Ying will eventually marry someone else. The hatred of having one's wife stolen is irreconcilable. What man wouldn't be so angry that he would want to kill someone? Li Changgui thought about it and couldn't help but shudder. His cousin is now a water ghost in the Ganlin River, much more powerful than him. Killing someone is very easy for him. But the underworld officials said that indiscriminate killing will lead to being reborn as an animal!

The more Li Changgui thought about it, the more he felt it was his responsibility. He was determined to persuade his fourth cousin to let go of Zhong Ying and reincarnate as soon as possible.

“Brother, I may be harsh in my words, but honest advice is hard to swallow,” Li Changgui earnestly advised. “Humans and ghosts are ultimately on different paths. You’ve read more books than I have, so you must know more than I do. How can any of them have a good ending? Once you die, everything in your life is wiped clean. You can’t hold onto anything by clinging to the mortal world. Rather than suffering the pain of witnessing it later, why don’t you come with me to be reincarnated now…”

Li Linshi was getting a headache from his nagging; not a single word he said was pleasant to hear, and even her slight reluctance to part with him had been wiped away by his nagging. "You go ahead and leave me alone."

Li Changgui had no choice but to stop trying to persuade him, and only said one more thing, "Then I'll go reincarnate first, and you can be my younger brother, which will be the opposite of what we had in this life."

He urged her subtly, implying that if it were her younger brother, it couldn't be delayed too long, otherwise it would be her son's generation.

However, having a son as successful as his cousin wouldn't be so bad, Li Changgui couldn't help but think.

Composing himself, Li Changgui bid farewell to Cao Fang, the last person who could see him, "Auntie, thank you for catching me and helping me escape on Ying Mountain."

To express his gratitude, Li Changgui remembered that Cao Fang's biggest concern was Zhong Ni's marriage. The young men of marriageable age in the production team were about the same age as him, and they had a lot of contact with peers. After thinking for a while, he said, "Aunt, if you're looking for a son-in-law, I advise you to get rid of that Liu Fengshou guy. He's a lecherous scoundrel with a head full of vulgar thoughts. His brother, Liu Guangtian, is more reliable than him."

Cao Fang was surprised, "Really?"

She really didn't know.

Li Changgui nodded affirmatively, but he couldn't explain that he had overheard Liu Fengshou rambling on while he was relieving himself. Liu Fengshou was talking about things like which girl had a perky butt or who had big breasts.

Cao Fang looked at him gratefully, "Thank you for telling me this. I was just worried that my daughter wouldn't be able to marry a good man."

Li Changgui smiled, and then left with Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

After he left, the people in the Tonggan production team continued to live a simple and plain life. Even the water ghosts in the river seemed to have left with Li Changgui. Zhong Ying didn't see him for many days, but she didn't care. Every day she went to work and did some weeding and watering, and she also went to look for young men with her aunt.

Because there were only six eligible candidates instead of one hundred and one, the eldest aunt's selection of a son-in-law 006 eliminated two candidates during the "preliminary selection." The first was Li Changgui, who "withdrew from the competition" for his own reasons, and the second was Liu Fengshou, whose lecherous nature was exposed by the other candidates.

The remaining four contestants are: 19-year-old Nie Xiaolong, whose mother is a village gossipmonger, and his second sister Nie Jinfeng, who is the second daughter-in-law of team leader Li Ming.

Liu Guangtian, the older brother of the pervert, is twenty years old this year and is the third among the five sons and one daughter in the Liu family.

Cheng Bin, a 23-year-old educated youth, is a handsome young man with a light-colored face.

The second educated youth, Qiu Yucai, was twenty-four years old and always wore glasses.

The initiator, Cao Fang, crossed out another candidate, saying, "I don't think Qiu Yucai is suitable. He's too old, not tall, and not good at working. He turns pale after working in the fields for a while and needs to lie down for a long time to recover when he gets back to the educated youth settlement."

Zhong Ying understood and mentally labeled this person as a "low-energy rat."

Therefore, only three contestants remained to be assessed by Zhong Ying, who was the "mentor".

Zhong Ying also observed carefully for almost half a month before starting the assessment with a rigorous and serious attitude.

"Welcome to the 'Can I Marry This Boy?' competition." Zhong Ying found a quiet spot by the river, used the ground as a blackboard, and wrote these words with a stick.

Cao Fang said weakly, "My dear niece, you don't need to write anymore, I can't read."

Zhong Ying paused.

Throwing away the stick, Zhong Ying turned around and said calmly, "Auntie, tell me who you think is the best first."

Cao Fang became excited, "I think the Nie family's boy is pretty good. His age is about the same as my daughter's, and he's said to be 176 cm tall, which isn't too tall or too short. He's their youngest son, and his mother is going to live with her eldest son's family. Once Xiaolong gets married, they'll definitely have to separate from the family and live on their own."

Zhong Ying nodded noncommittally at first, "Okay, let's see if this boy is marriage material?"

“Let’s go through it one by one. He’s supposed to be 176cm tall,” Zhong Ying said with a cold and ruthless expression. “For men, if you’re over 5cm, subtract 4cm; if you’re under 5cm, you get zero. 176cm is over 5cm, so at most he’s only 1.72m.”

Cao Fang opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something.

Zhong Ying spoke up before she could, "Auntie, you've been floating around for too long, so you might not have a good sense of people's height. I've compared them. Our door frame was originally 1.8 meters high, and my brother Zhong Xin was about a head short of the top of the door frame. When he stood next to Nie Xiaolong, he was only a hand's width shorter."

“So Nie Xiaolong and I are about the same height,” Zhong Ying concluded.

Cao Fang immediately understood. She looked at Zhong Ying with an awkward expression, "For a girl, this is quite tall, but for a man, being this tall is a bit..."

Zhong Ying continued her analysis, "The youngest child in the family is most likely spoiled rotten."

In the river, Li Linshi quietly floated closer. He didn't quite agree with this statement. He was also the youngest child in his family, and when it came to being spoiled rotten, he felt he couldn't compare to Zhong Ying.

“And I’ve personally investigated it,” Zhong Ying said, raising her chin. “He’s definitely a sissy.”

Cao Fang repeated the new term in confusion, "A sissy boy?"

Zhong Ying explained simply, "It means that I always think my mother is right, and I call for my mother all the time."

“Isn’t this a lack of assertiveness? No, this won’t do,” Cao Fang frowned. “I’ve seen men like this before. If his wife and mother ever get into a fight, he’ll definitely side with his mother!”

Zhong Ying waved her hand, "Next."

When Cao Fang talked about her second son-in-law candidate, she said, "Liu Guangtian is just like your father. He is honest and upright, and he also has a skill. He builds houses for people with his elder brother Liu Fushun and his second elder brother Liu Mancang. I think he is not bad either."

“Honest and conscientious,” Zhong Ying began to emphasize, “In other words, introverted.”

Cao Fang was about to give another example, mentioning Zhong Ying's father.

Zhong Ying knew what she wanted to say. "Yes, my dad is also introverted. Otherwise, who do you think my little brother takes after? It couldn't possibly be my mom."

Cao Fang was speechless. Indeed, if we're talking about children who resemble their sister-in-law Deng Xia, it's definitely Zhong Cheng and Zhong Ying. The younger one, Zhong Xin, really does look like his father.

However, there's nothing wrong with i people. They're like little toys to e people, so Zhong Ying didn't dwell on it. "I think Zhong Ni has the same personality. Both of them are shy and introverted. I'm afraid they'll keep their thoughts to themselves and there'll be a lot of work to go through."

Cao Fang nodded.

“Building houses for others with my older brothers, developing side businesses and getting entangled with relatives, it’s easy for conflicts to arise.” Zhong Ying shook her head. “The Liu family has many children. Liu Guangtian has two younger brothers and a younger sister. It’s a big family.”

Cao Fang wholeheartedly agreed. This was also why she ranked Liu Guangtian second in her mind. With so many brothers and sisters, plus sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, how could there not be some bumps and bruises in the road?

"Then there's that educated youth in the team, a young man named Cheng Bin. He's good-looking and educated." Speaking of this candidate, Cao Fang hesitated, glancing at Zhong Ying. "Well... I originally wanted to leave him to you, you weren't..."

Cao Fang had witnessed Zhong Ying's past attempts to curry favor with this educated youth, so even though the young man was quite decent, she still placed him last in her list.

"I don't want to." Zhong Ying waved her hand dismissively. "Auntie, haven't you seen how long it's been since I've tried to get close to anyone?" (Thanks for the invitation, please don't ask, I'm enjoying myself alone.)

Cao Fang breathed a sigh of relief. "Then this young man should be alright, right?"

Zhong Ying coldly uttered a single word, "No."

“The identity of ‘educated youth’ is the biggest minefield,” Zhong Ying said. “They are, after all, people from the city. They are only temporarily sent to the countryside to support rural development. Given the opportunity, these educated youth will definitely return to the city like they are grasping at a lifeline.”

Cao Fang was surprised, "Even if you get married, you'll still go back? What about your wife and children?"

Zhong Ying silently looked at her aunt and nodded.

She knew what happened next; ten years later, during the wave of educated youth returning to the cities, countless young people abandoned their wives and children, their husbands and children…

“However…” Zhong Ying said thoughtfully, “From another perspective, this is indeed a very suitable chosen one to leave behind his father and keep his son…”

She only wanted to enjoy the best of a man's life when he was in his twenties or thirties. By the time he passed away, the children would be grown into teenagers, and she wouldn't have to take care of an old man anymore. If Zhong Ying hadn't been completely without desire to have children, she would have been tempted.

Unlike Zhong Ying, who has modern female ideas, Cao Fang's thinking is still very traditional. She waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "How can that be? The couple should stay together in harmony until the end."

This won't work, that won't work either, Cao Fang couldn't help but worry, "Why do they all have some flaws? Do we have to choose the best of the worst?"

Zhong Ying exclaimed with delight, "Congratulations! You've discovered the essence of marriage!"

Cao Fang can no longer laugh at such witty remarks.

“However, we can only conduct an investigation,” Zhong Ying said. “The focus should be on Zhong Ni, not just the young people we think are good, but also the young people she thinks are good.”

Zhong Ni is the key figure who issued the "pass" to become the son-in-law of the top.

Zhong Ying asked, "Should I and Zhong Ni subtly probe these young people and see what she thinks?"

"...Let me think about it some more." Cao Fang hesitated but still refused. This was her obsession; how could she not help her daughter choose a good one?

Cao Fang drifted away with a worried expression, while Zhong Ying remained where she was and discovered the "little handsome merman" eavesdropping in the river.

"Hey, long time no see." Zhong Ying squatted down by the river and greeted him, then took out a small wooden plaque from her pocket. "I've already burned your cousin's memorial tablet. What should I do with yours? Should I throw it in the fire and burn it as firewood too?"

For wood, this is the best way to destroy evidence.

“…Throw it to me.” Li Linshi said succinctly, only his head peeking out of the river.

Zhong Ying tossed the wooden plaque in her hand to him, and Li Linshi caught it before disappearing back into the river.

Only messy ripples remained on the river surface.

Zhong Ying was completely baffled. She stood up and muttered, "How strange... Why doesn't she reincarnate? She appears and disappears like a ghost. I wonder who she's hiding from?"

"Sister Ying—"

Hearing the sound, Zhong Ying turned around and saw Zhong Ni carrying a basin of clothes, walking quickly over. She quickly picked up the basin that was placed on the ground beside her; they had agreed to wash clothes together.

“Let’s go find a bigger rock over there…” Zhong Ying walked over and took Zhong Ni’s arm.

Under the sunlight, the girls' youthful figures appeared exceptionally vibrant and lively.

The wooden plaque was no bigger than the palm of his hand, even smaller than the first version. It was engraved with small square characters that read "The Position of My Deceased Husband Li Linshi". His pale hand suddenly clenched, and his slender fingers, which were gripping the wooden plaque, completely covered it, obscuring the shocking words on it.

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Author's Note: Li Linshi (Status: Soaking in the river to calm down)