Chapter 38 I can be trusted, you can rely on me... (1)

In order to make Zhou Chunni give up the idea of ​​marrying Jiang Hongzhi, Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren took turns to persuade her.

But no matter how much she was persuaded, Zhou Chunni was stubborn.

——She insisted on marrying Jiang Hongzhi.

Bai Zhenggan had no choice but to ask Tang Liren to take out eleven yuan and give it to the village chief, who would then take Zhou Chunni on his bicycle to the town's post office to call her brother who was studying at a university in Kyoto.

He also instructed that if Zhou Chunsheng also agreed to his sister's marriage to Jiang Hongzhi, then he would let the village chief use the remaining money from the phone call to buy some dowry for Zhou Chunni in the town.

The village chief took Zhou Chunni to the town. After making the phone call, he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy Zhou Chunni a new set of clothes, a pair of leather shoes, a box of cold cream, a pair of pillowcases printed with big red double happiness, two towels and a bar of soap... the dowry was ready.

Back in the village, the village chief avoided people and said to Bai Zhenggan -

"There was nothing I could do! When I got to the post office, I made a lot of phone calls and finally asked someone to pass a message to Chunsheng. Then we waited there for two hours before Chunsheng called me!"

"Chun Ni started crying as soon as she answered the phone, saying that she had to marry Jiang Hongzhi. Chun Sheng disagreed on the other end of the phone, saying that he would come back soon to take her to Kyoto. Anyway, he would not allow her to marry a man with the last name Jiang. The two siblings had a fierce argument on the phone. Later, Chun Ni said that if he did not allow her to marry, she would die..."

"Later, Chunsheng asked me to answer the phone... He was crying on the phone, saying that there was really nothing he could do, and if she wanted to get married, then let her get married. He also asked me to pass a message to you, saying that he wanted to borrow 20 yuan from you, 10 yuan for Chunni's dowry, and 10 yuan for a few tables of wedding banquet in the village... I will pay you back when Chunsheng comes back!"

Bai Zhenggan sighed.

On the other side, Zhou Chunni was in high spirits.

She immediately went to Bai Lili to show off her new clothes, leather shoes, vanishing cream, and the pair of pillowcases embroidered with the red double happiness pattern...

Bai Lili had a blank expression on her face the entire time.

Xing Xing couldn't help asking, "Sister Chunni, Jiang Hongzhi is from the city, right? I heard that city people like to have three big things when they get married."

"What are the three big items?" Zhou Chunni had only been to a small town and had never even been to the county town. She had no idea what the three big items were.

Xing Xing, "It's a bicycle, a watch and a radio! Oh, and if they are a bit more particular, they will also add a sewing machine!"

Zhou Chunni's face darkened.

Xing Xing asked fearlessly, "Sister Chunni, what did Jiang Hongzhi give you?"

Zhou Chunni was so angry that she slammed the door and left.

Xing Xing chased after him, put her hands on her hips and yelled, "Did my door offend you? If you have the guts, don't come to my house again! You slammed the door in someone else's house! You are really something..."

Bai Lili called out to her, "Xingxing, don't bother with her, go find your fourth sister! It's almost time for dinner, why hasn't she come back yet? Go to the blacksmith shop and check, Brother Song Zhi isn't back either, maybe they are together..."

Xingxing responded and went out to look for someone.

As a result, less than 200 steps away from the blacksmith shop, Xingxing found her silly sister Taozi squatting in the grass? Still with a pair of bright eyes, staring in the direction of the blacksmith shop in a trance?

"Fourth sister, what are you doing?" Xingxing asked.

Tao Tao was so shocked that she gasped and complained to her, "Why are you walking without making any sound?"

Xing Xing lowered her voice and asked, "What are you doing?"

Tao Tao also lowered her voice, "I'm waiting to see when Yan Naqian will be kicked out!"

As soon as the words fell——

"roll!"

Song Zhi's angry roar was heard from the blacksmith shop.

Then he threw something out of the blacksmith shop. It hit the ground with a bang, and the things inside scattered all over the floor.

Yan Naqian's angry voice rang out, "Song Zhi! What do you mean? Are you still a man?"

Taotao stretched her neck to look.

Xing Xing also stretched her neck——

Yan Naqian was seen with her back to the Taoxing sisters, being forced out of the blacksmith shop step by step.

She faced inward and said to Song Zhi, "You are so rude! How can you treat a lady like this? Haven't you heard of ladies first..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Tao and Xing sisters saw Song Zhi, shirtless, coming out with a hammer in his hand.

"If you don't learn to speak properly in the future and say what you want to say, I will--" As he said this, he raised the hammer high and glared at Yan Naqian.

There was a wisp of hot smoke emanating from the hammer.

Yan Naqian was so frightened that she screamed and ran away tumbling.

"Song Zhi, you will regret it!"

Song Zhi growled, "Take away the garbage you brought! If you dare to dump garbage here again... don't blame me for throwing the garbage from the blacksmith shop into your dormitory!"

Yan Naqian was so angry that her eyes were filled with tears. "That was a gift I gave you! You, you actually called it rubbish?"

"Pick up the garbage and get out of here!" Song Zhi said in annoyance.

Yan Naqian squatted on the ground in humiliation, picked up the stainless steel lunch box she brought with her, and picked up the carved sweet potato cubes she made herself, and was about to leave with tears in her eyes...

Suddenly, Song Zhi shouted in a low voice: "Taotao, come here!"

Yan Naqian was stunned and wondered if Bai Taotao was here too? Suddenly I was surprised again - why did Song Zhi's voice become so gentle?

As for the sisters Tao and Xing, Xing had always been a little afraid of Song Zhi. Seeing that her whereabouts had been revealed, she quickly said to Tao, "Third sister told you to go home and eat! I'm going to go wash the dishes first! You two, hurry up!"

After saying that, Xingxing ran away.

Taotao also ran along——

"Taotao?" There was a hint of unhappiness in someone's voice.

Tao Tao had no choice but to turn around and walk towards the blacksmith shop. She also greeted Yan Naqian, who was squatting on the ground picking sweet potatoes, and greeted her seriously, "Sister Naqian, what a coincidence!"

Yan Naqian: ...

At this time, Song Zhi had already extended his hand towards Taotao.

Taotao had no way of rejecting his touch on her head, so she went over obediently, lowered her head, and let him touch her head, then she showed an expression of enjoyment.

"Why are you hiding there?" Song Zhi asked.

Taotao, who was comforted by the spiritual energy, didn't realize it for a moment and told the truth, "I just wanted to see what you two were doing..." As soon as she finished speaking, she realized something was wrong. She quickly covered her mouth with both hands and quickly changed her words, "No, no! There's a very nice bug in the haystack over there, hahahaha..."

Song Zhi, "You can't look at me secretly in the future. If you want to look, look openly... Also, if you see this woman in the future, you must avoid her immediately, because she is full of bad intentions, understand?"

Taotao tilted her head, glanced at Yan Naqian, and nodded seriously.

Yan Naqian: ...

——That’s enough, both of you! When I don't exist? Don’t I have any face? If I don't show my power, you two will still...

She was about to explode, but when she looked up, she suddenly saw Taotao's innocent, curious, beautiful and clear eyes.

Yan Naqian's whole body suddenly stiffened, even her eyeballs followed Bai Taotao closely and stopped moving at all: I'm dead! How can there be such a pretty little beauty! Is there any mention of this little fool in the original book? I think I mentioned it? My God, how could there be such a beautiful woman in the world? Did she walk out of a painting?

Taotao looked at Yan Naqian and saw that she was staring at her in amazement. She didn't know what she was doing.

Song Zhi carried Taotao into the blacksmith shop.

He held the hammer in one hand and with the other hand he hugged Taotao around the waist, lifted her up, let her sit on the small cabinet, and then started working with the hammer again.

Taotao kicked her legs in the air, then twirled them together again, "Time to eat!"

Song Zhi, "Sing that little song you just learned three times, and I'll call it a day."

"Three times."

Song Zhi was stunned and then laughed.

"Are you hungry?" he asked with a smile.

Tao Tao, "It's almost dark, the light in your blacksmith shop is not good, it hurts my eyes."

"Then you sing a song, I'll feel energized. Let's go after we finish this..." Song Zhi said, "We could have finished on time, but that woman came over and said a lot of incomprehensible things, delaying my work..."

At this time, Taotao was already humming a little tune. Song Zhi stopped talking. He listened to Taotao singing with a smile, while he picked up the hammer in his hand, raised it high and dropped it heavily, making a clanging sound as he worked.

Yan Naqian was squatting outside picking sweet potatoes. She was surprised by Taotao's beauty and shocked by her sweet and melodious singing voice - what kind of fairy beauty was this? She is so beautiful and has such a charming voice, and Song Zhi is so caring and doting on her?

Yan Naqian was a little overwhelmed.

——Song Zhi has such a beautiful and lovely girl by his side, and she does not hide her love for Bai Taotao. How can she correct the original plot and marry Song Zhi?

Taotao sang about the flowing stream.

This was originally a lingering love song, but Taotao turned it into a lively and cute children's song with a particularly brisk rhythm. It's so beautiful to listen to!

The most shocking thing is, Yan Naqian, a living person, was treated as non-existent air by these two?

Yan Naqian felt helpless. She packed up her things, stood up and left.

Still unwilling to give up, he stood still, turned his head towards the blacksmith shop, and snorted in a neither loud nor soft voice, "Wait until Guan Haishan comes and see what you can do!"

Song Zhi frowned.

After saying that, Yan Naqian walked away triumphantly.

Taotao hated it most when someone interrupted her singing, so she pouted and said, "This one doesn't count, let's start over!"

Song Zhi chuckled, "...Okay."

Taotao sang "The Flowing River" three times seriously.

Song Zhi indeed finished his work, tidied up the blacksmith shop, closed the shop door, and then walked towards the halfway point of the mountain with Taotao.

As the sun sets, the sunlight turns into a warm orange color, shining on their bodies, making them look cozy and warm.

Yan Naqian didn't go far.

Even she herself didn't know why, she just wanted to take another look -

I saw Taotao jumping and skipping in front, very lively, sometimes pulling a piece of grass, sometimes pulling the leaves of the short trees on the roadside... suddenly she stepped on empty air? !

Song Zhi quickly grabbed her!

Taotao was lifted up by him, with her toes hanging in the air.

The little girl was so excited that she kept shouting, "Do it again! Do it again!"

Song Zhi really lifted her up and swung her in the air.

Taotao screamed with excitement!

At this time, Tang Liren stood at the door of her house halfway up the mountain and shouted something down...

Song Zhi put Taotao on the ground, and the two of them quickened their pace and walked quickly up the mountain.

Watching the perfect couple drifting apart, Yan Naqian felt mixed emotions.

While having dinner at night, Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren discussed how to hold the wedding for Zhou Chunni and Jiang Hongzhi.

Tao Tao was very unhappy, "Mom, why are you still helping Zhou Chunni? She treated my third sister like that!"

"What?"

Tang Liren has been so busy these days that she didn't even know Zhou Chunni came home to question Lili and show off.

Lili remained silent.

The aunts and sisters-in-law just parroted what they said.

After listening to her daughter-in-law and daughters, Tang Liren frowned, "Chun Ni... I used to think she might just be a bit like a firecracker. It turns out she was targeting my Li Zi on purpose?"

Then he snorted again, "In that case, you still expect me to help her with her wedding? Let her do it herself!"

Bai Zhenggan sighed, "You can stop talking in anger. For Chunsheng's sake, we have to help! After all, they are children we have watched grow up... Besides, Jiang Hongzhi's transfer order has already come down, and he must leave immediately. I will talk to him tomorrow to see what he plans to do... Ruyi Chunni insists on going with him, and she will probably have to leave within two or three days. Why should we make things difficult for a little girl!"

"The transfer order came down so quickly?" Song Zhi was a little surprised.

Bai Zhenggan, "It's already autumn! The border area is about to freeze over, why don't you send people there quickly? Besides, how many educated youth are willing to go there on their own initiative? You don't know that our village reported such a quota, and the whole Song County was in an uproar! Hey, next year our village will be able to be rated as a civilized village again!"

Tang Liren asked Bai Zhenggan, "Boss, do you think Jiang Hongzhi is brave and determined to fight to the death? Or is he just unaware of the power of the border?"

Tao Tao was a little curious, "Isn't the border good?"

Song Zhi explained: "It's windy and sandy over there, it's a semi-desert area, and there's a lack of water... In fact, apart from the yellow sand, there's a lack of everything. The winter is so cold that the city freezes, and the summer is so hot that it melts... It's the most difficult place in our country."

Taotao said, "Oh!" and then said, "Plant more trees! Trees can retain water and slowly change the bad ecological environment."

Song Zhi: "Because it is a desert and lacks water, we can't grow trees... I heard that we need to cultivate 20 to 30 seedlings to barely keep one tree alive, but when the sandstorm came, all the seedlings died."

Taotao fell into deep thought.

Bai Zhenggan said to Tang Liren, "I think Jiang Hongzhi is also ready to throw the can down the drain! Of course, he may be young and doesn't know how to be powerful, so he is just holding back his anger... That's why I am worried about Chunni! Think about it, if she follows Jiang Hongzhi to that place where no one lives, what if Jiang Hongzhi is unhappy and beats her up like he did with Yan Naqian?"

"In that unfamiliar frontier, without a family to make decisions for Chunnier... She is not a diligent person, how can Jiang Hongzhi like her? Alas, her life or death depends entirely on Jiang Hongzhi! Do you think she is stupid?"

The more Bai Zhenggan spoke, the angrier he became.

The whole family fell silent and ate in silence.

Xing Xing couldn't help but ask again, "Dad, Mom! And what about Yan Naqian! Are we just going to take this loss? She is so evil. She schemed against our third sister! She didn't fall for it, so she schemed against Zhou Chunni!"

Hearing this, Bai Lili held the bowl, pouted her lips, and whimpered in grievance.

——Because of this, Tang Liren locked Bai Lili at home and did not allow her to go out.

Lili hadn't been out of the house for three days. She especially missed the full ears of grain in the fields, the lush green woods, and the shallow river in the village...

Bai Zhenggan felt a little distressed when he saw Lili's aggrieved look. But when he thought about how this little girl dared to go to the cornfield to date a guy... he got angry again, "How could she be so brave! The other party handed her a small note, and she didn't even know if the other party was a human or a ghost, but she dared to go..."

Lili lowered her head and cried while holding the bowl.

Tang Liren took a deep breath——

"Alright, alright! Let's not talk about this while we're eating!"

After a pause, Tang Liren lectured her daughters again, "That Yan Naqian is a worthless person! You guys... first of all, don't play with her and talk less to her; secondly, don't go out alone! Wait until the end of this year when your father submits the work report of our village, and wait until the beginning of spring next year, then..."

"You are such a talkative person!" Bai Zhenggan interrupted his wife.

Tang Liren realized that there are some things that cannot be said.

So she cleared her throat twice and said, "Okay, okay, let's stop talking about this and eat!"

However, everyone had already heard the hidden meaning of their parents' words.

——When Bai Zhenggan submits his work report, he will also report on Yan Naqian’s matter. There will be a unified personnel transfer arrangement in the early spring of next year, and Yan Naqian may be transferred at that time.

The aunts and sisters-in-law exchanged a look that "can only be understood but not expressed in words" and happily held their bowls to eat.

Lili held the bowl and said humbly, "Mom, can I go to work tomorrow?"

Tang Liren didn't say anything for a long time, then she picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, put it into her mouth and chewed slowly.

Lili's tears rolled back and forth in her eyes.

No one dared to say a word.

"Just go!" said Tang Liren.

Lili was stunned.

Tang Liren said with a stern face: "You are not allowed to leave my sight for even a minute! Also, you are not allowed to have any contact with Yan Naqian! You are not even allowed to talk to her! If you don't listen, I will lock you up in the room and won't even let you out of the yard!"

"I promise not to pay attention to Yan Naqian!" Lili said in a crying voice.

Bai Zhenggan said, "Don't associate with Jiang Hongzhi anymore... He's about to get married!"

"I also promise not to pay attention to Jiang Hongzhi!" Lili couldn't help crying, "That's great, I can finally go out..."

Everyone laughed.

The next day, Bai Zhenggan talked to Jiang Hongzhi.

Zhou Chunni followed closely

Jiang Hongzhi meant to set up a few tables of wedding banquets in the village tomorrow as a token of his appreciation, and then he would leave the day after tomorrow. Then he said to Zhou Chunni with a dull face, "The environment over there is not good, you should not go with me..."

Zhou Chunni screamed, "No! I want to follow you!"

Jiang Hongzhi, "It's up to you. Just remember that this is all your own choice. We have advised you as much as we should."

"You are my man, I will be wherever you are!" Zhou Chunni said stubbornly.

Jiang Hongzhi looked even more annoyed. He took out twenty yuan from his jacket pocket and put it on the table. "Uncle, this twenty yuan... please ask the villagers to help set up a few tables tomorrow!"

Zhou Chunni grabbed the twenty yuan and said, "I'll do it!"

Jiang Hongzhi's face became even uglier. He stood up and said to Bai Zhenggan, "Uncle, I'll go first. Thank you for your care over the past few years. I know you have always been very tolerant of me."

Bai Zhenggan was also a little sad.

—— Jiang Hongzhi is indeed a very utilitarian person, but during the three years he has been in Ruyi Village, his production work has always been excellent. So Bai Zhenggan also relies on him very much. Now that Jiang Hongzhi is gone, Bai Zhenggan is also in a headache, not knowing who to promote to be the team leader.

At that moment, the two discussed for a while, and then Jiang Hongzhi resigned.

Zhou Chunni also excitedly took the twenty yuan and followed Jiang Hongzhi. However, as soon as they left the Bai family, Zhou Chunni asked Jiang Hongzhi, "Hongzhi, I heard that when you city people get married, the three most popular items are a bicycle, a watch, and a radio?"

Jiang Hongzhi looked at her coldly and walked away without looking back.

Zhou Chunni read the look of "Are you worthy?" in his eyes and felt that the boss was meaningless. But when she saw the twenty yuan tightly clenched in her hand, she became happy again, ran to the field, and found Bai Lili working.

"Hey, look! Jiang Hongzhi gave it to me!" Zhou Chunni showed off the twenty yuan, swinging it in her hand. "He said that we will hold a wedding banquet in the village tomorrow and use this money to pay for the banquet!"

Bai Lili was wearing a bamboo hat with a veil hanging down. Zhou Chunni couldn't see her expression, she only heard her say -

"Twenty yuan? Do you know how much pork costs per pound? Do you know how many people you want to invite? How many tables do you need? How many dishes do you want on each table? What kind of wine do you want to pair with it? Do you have that much rice at home? Not to mention anything else, where are you going to get so many tables, chairs, bowls, chopsticks, and spoons? Who will help? Who will light the stove? Who will cook? Where will the banquet be set up? Who are you going to invite..."

Zhou Chunni was stunned.

Bai Lili, "You still have the time to come here and show off your twenty dollars? Go worry about your banquet!"

Zhou Chunni was only concerned with showing off, and had no idea that there were so many things to do when hosting a wedding banquet...

She was startled and turned and ran. While running, I was thinking: Who can I ask for help? After thinking about it, it seems that only Tang Liren can do this? However, it was Bai Zhenggan whom Jiang Hongzhi asked for help just now, and she also said that she would do it herself.

Now--

Humph, a good horse never turns back!

Zhou Chunni went around the village and asked many aunts and sisters-in-law for help, but everyone refused and everyone thought it was strange, "Why don't you go find your aunt?"

Of course Zhou Chunni couldn't bring herself to go back to look for Tang Liren, so she thought, since she had twenty yuan in her hand, why not go to town and buy some ready-made ones?

As a result, she couldn't even borrow an ox cart!

Seeing that it was already dark and tomorrow's wedding banquet had not been arranged yet, Zhou Chunni was getting restless, so she ran to find Jiang Hongzhi, wanting to discuss with him how to arrange the wedding banquet.

Jiang Hongzhi said coldly: "This is your hometown. You can have the banquet however you want. Or you can choose not to have a banquet. Anyway, I have already paid for the banquet. It is your choice whether to have a banquet or not."

Zhou Chunni left the Youth League Station embarrassedly.

Standing on the hillside and hesitating for a long time, Zhou Chunni was wavering between "taking out 20 yuan and humbly asking Tang Liren for help" and "wouldn't it be nice to just not have the wine and keep the 20 yuan in my hand?"

After much thought, I decided that a woman only gets married once in her life, so... I should go find Tang Liren!

But when I arrived at the Bai family and knocked on the door, I found out that Tang Liren had taken Bai Lili back to her parents' home in the afternoon?

Zhou Chunni was extremely disappointed and said, "Could it be that Auntie deliberately went back to her parents' home just to avoid me?"

Xing Xing gave Zhou Chunni a sidelong look and asked, "Who do you think you are?"

Zhou Chunni bit her lips, her eyes turned red, and she was about to cry.

She became more stubborn and thought that since Tang Liren had gone out, she would wait outside the Bai family's yard until Tang Liren came back!

In the yard, the Taoxing sisters chattered and laughed, Hongdou and Huangdou shouted noisily, Tan Fenghui gave gentle instructions, and Bai Zhenggan and Song Zhi discussed in low voices from time to time...

Zhou Chunni was stunned.

——The atmosphere in the Bai family is so warm and harmonious!

It was past nine o'clock in the evening when Bai Zhenggan became a little worried and told Song Zhi, "Song Zhi, take a flashlight and go to the intersection to see why your aunt hasn't come back yet!"

Song Zhi responded and was about to go——

Tang Liren, drunk, came back with Bai Lili.

Before entering the house, Tang Liren burst into laughter, "Boss! You know... my sister-in-law from my mother's family was so mysterious, she told me to go back for a drink, and she also insisted that I bring Li Zi with me... I knew at that time that they must have found a suitable young man, and wanted to ask Li Zi to go over to meet him! As a result, when I arrived at the place, I took a look and found that there really was a strong and handsome young man!"

"But when I looked over, I realized that was Li Zi's former junior high school classmate! It was... Xiaofeng! Cao Xiaofeng! What do you think, is this fate? Hahahaha..."

Bai Lili felt shy and embarrassed, "Mom! We agreed not to talk about this..."

Tang Liren was still very amused, "Boss, you have no idea how interesting Xiaofeng is! When he saw our Lili, his face turned red, and his voice trembled. Then he took my hand and said, 'Aunt, I have saved 300 yuan, is it enough to marry Lili? Otherwise, I can come to your house'..."

Tang Liren laughed out loud, "How can this young man be so funny? He doesn't even look at his mother, she's so angry that her face has turned black!"

Bai Lili was so angry that she stomped her feet and said, "Mom, I hate you so much!" Then she ran away like the wind.

Zhou Chunni was squatting in the darkness outside the yard. She heard "three hundred yuan", then bit her lower lip and clenched the twenty yuan in her hand.

I could vaguely hear Taotao and Xingxing calling out—

"Mom, you can't just marry my third sister off! I'll keep an eye on it!"

"Yes! It depends on whether the man has a bad character! It doesn't matter if he has a bad family background! And more! If he doesn't treat our third sister well, that won't work either!"

Lili went crazy, "Shut up, all of you! I hate you!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zhou Chunni finally calmed down from the ecstasy of "marrying her idol", and an indescribable bitterness arose in her heart.

——Is what she fought so hard for really what she wanted?

Look at Bai Lili, her marriage is checked by her parents, and her sisters help her choose the right person and give her advice...

What about her?

Her brother Zhou Chunshan did not agree with her marriage to Jiang Hongzhi, and neither did her sister. When the whole village mentioned this matter, they all sighed, and no one agreed or blessed it.

she……

Is there any way out?

Zhou Chunni bit her lower lip hard.

——What retreat is there! Staying in such a remote mountain village, she is still known as the landlord's brat. If she missed Jiang Hongzhi, she would never be able to find a better marriage partner than him.

Zhou Chunni closed her eyes, then opened them again, with a resolute look in her eyes. She stood up and knocked on the door, "Auntie! Auntie, open the door, it's Chunni!"

…

After hearing what Zhou Chunni said, Tang Liren was a little confused. "Holding the wedding banquet tomorrow? You two are leaving the day after tomorrow?"

Zhou Chunni nodded.

Tang Liren, "It's already past nine o'clock in the evening... You're going to hold a wedding banquet tomorrow? You didn't reserve pork, wine, or rice! You don't even know who to ask for help, and you didn't tell them in advance who you were going to invite... Then how do you know if anyone is free to attend your wedding banquet?"

Bai Zhenggan was also stunned. "Chun Ni, didn't you say you wanted to do it yourself this morning?"

Zhou Chunni was embarrassed and ashamed, and said hesitantly: "I, I can't do it...Uncle, aunt, please help me."

Tang Liren thought for a moment and asked, "What specifications do you want to have?"

Zhou Chunni shook her head blankly, "I don't know..."

Tang Liren, "Like last year when Changjun got married? Ten tables of banquet? Or like Liuwa, thirty tables?"

Zhou Chunni placed the twenty yuan that had become a little wrinkled after holding it for the whole afternoon on the table and said, "That's all I have. Auntie, please tell me what we can do."

Tang Liren's eyes widened in shock. "Twenty dollars?"

Zhou Chunni's face flushed instantly, "He, he only gave this much."

Tang Liren, "Chun Ni, even though you have never been the head of a household, you should know some common sense. Look at the hundreds of people in our village. Don't you know which family to invite and which family not to invite? For this wedding, at least half of the village will come! At least, there will be at least 200 people... We can talk about the gift money later. You have to prepare a banquet first before you can pay the gift money, right?"

"You take out twenty dollars and want to invite two hundred people to a wedding banquet. On average, each person only gets ten cents? Are you planning to treat everyone to a bowl of mung bean soup and a meat bun?"

Zhou Chunni stared at the twenty yuan on the table, and then thought about the three hundred yuan that Tang Liren had just used to make fun of Bai Lili, and she felt so embarrassed that she wanted to cry.

In the end, it was Bai Zhenggan who made the decision, "Mother Li, when Chunsheng left, he asked me to look after his two sisters... Chunni and Xiaoni were also raised by us, so let's help them. You can take the 20 yuan first, and we will pay the rest. After the wedding banquet is over and the gift money is collected, Chunni can return the money to us."

Tang Liren sighed, "Chun Ni, too many things have happened recently. Don't blame me for being heartless. Let me tell you, write an IOU to prove that you will pay me back. I will do it for you tomorrow!"

Zhou Chunni said, "I can't read, Auntie, please write it and I'll put my fingerprints on it."

Tang Liren kept shaking her head. While calling Taotao to write the IOU, she said to Zhou Chunni, "In the future, you still have to learn to read and learn culture! I'm fifty and I'm still learning every day, but you're so young and you can't even read. You didn't even know you were sold! Besides, Xiao Jiang is an educated youth, and you're his wife, so you have to learn too... Don't hold him back, okay?"

Zhou Chunni lowered her head and rubbed the corner of her clothes.

Taotao quickly wrote the IOU and handed it to her mother.

Tang Liren took a look and told Xing Xing, "Xingzi, go get the red ink!"

Then he said to Zhou Chunni, "Chunni, you have to tell me tomorrow morning before nine o'clock who will be attending your wedding, and then I can handle the matter according to the number of people, okay?"

Zhou Chunni nodded, and asked in a daze, "Aunt, do I need to prepare anything else?"

Tang Liren sighed, "Your uncle, your aunt, and your aunts...are they coming?"

Zhou Chunni shook her head.

Tang Liren, "Then find some girls to keep you company!"

Zhou Chunni was silent for a while, then looked at Taotao who was squeezed on the kang bed and making a mess with Hongdou and Huangdou.

Tang Liren also followed Zhou Chunni's gaze and looked at Taotao, laughing, "Taotao can't do it!"

Zhou Chunni, "I, I don't have any friends."

"Tao Tao won't work," Tang Liren said with a half-smile, "because you're the bride tomorrow, and the sisters accompanying you can't be more outstanding than you."

Zhou Chunni understood.

——Tomorrow is her day to be alone, so she needs the company of her sisters, but her sisters cannot go past her.

Oh my god! Is getting married so difficult? Are there so many twists and turns? Why doesn't she have a mother or elder to take care of things for her?

"Then let Xiao Ni accompany you!" said Tang Liren.

Zhou Chunni nodded silently.

Tang Liren and Zhou Chunni discussed until very late.

Taotao couldn't stand it anymore, so she went to bed with her sisters.

The next morning, Tang Liren started to get busy.

Of course, her daughter-in-law and daughters were all at her beck and call.

Borrow tables and chairs, plates, bowls, chopsticks and cups from the villagers, as well as pots, oil and rice, and then register to build the cave. Then they called a few capable women to help, and as soon as they got the number of people reported by Zhou Chunni... they immediately sent people to the town to buy pork and other things, and the others began the preparatory work.

Fortunately, Zhou Chunni could not invite many people because her family was not popular in the village. Only a dozen or so families who were on good terms with her brother were willing to come, plus the people in the same production team, there were about ten tables of people in total.

Just after noon, the women who had gone to the town to buy things came back.

Tang Liren then directed everyone to get busy.

Zhou Chunni seldom attends wedding banquets. This time it is her turn to get married, but she knows nothing about it.

It all depends on Tang Liren's arrangement.

When night fell, villagers came one after another to attend the wedding banquet, and Tang Liren arranged people to welcome and see them off.

The groom Jiang Hongzhi arrived late.

But he was wearing ordinary clothes, didn't speak, didn't eat or drink, and was completely unwilling to communicate with Zhou Chunni, and even didn't want to look at her. He also ignored the people who came to the wedding. He was like a wooden man, with a sullen face throughout the whole process.

Zhou Chunni felt so wronged that she wanted to cry.

The banquet began. Tang Liren came over and talked to Jiang Hongzhi several times, asking him and Zhou Chunni to toast. It was obvious that Jiang Hongzhi didn't want to go, but out of respect for Tang Liren, he gritted his teeth and went to toast at each table with Zhou Chunni...

After the toast, Jiang Hongzhi went to the Youth League Station without looking back and without saying a word to Zhou Chunni.

Zhou Chunni couldn't hold it in any longer and started crying quietly while sitting aside.

The guests found it boring. They didn't want to drink anymore and there was no point in bragging. They finished their meal in a hurry and left.

Zhou Chunni lay on the table and cried loudly.

Tang Liren brought the wives of the clan to help clean up the scene. They distributed the unfinished food to each family, returned the tables, chairs, and dishes, and finally calculated the share of money, paying what should be paid and settling accounts, and finally handed the remaining thirty-five yuan to Zhou Chunni.

"Chun Ni, keep this money!"

Zhou Chunni clenched the thin roll of banknotes with tears in her eyes.

Tang Liren decided to ask her one last time, "Chun Ni, have you really made up your mind to follow Jiang Hongzhi to help Xinjiang?"

Zhou Chunni bit her lip.

——The two of them had already reported their marriage to the village committee, and she had shyly told him several times that he could live in her house...but he still insisted on living in the big bunk bed in the Youth League Station.

——Since he agreed to marry her, he never looked at her straight in the eye, spoke a word to her, or gave her a penny of dowry or other gifts.

——At the wedding banquet, he gave her a cold look the whole time and refused to cooperate with her in anything.

You can imagine how difficult life would be if you followed him to other places!

Zhou Chunni cried and nodded vigorously, "Aunt, I have no choice! From now on, I can only rely on him... I only hope that after I have gone through hardships with him, he will help me to succeed in the future... It will be worth it for me to suffer so much!"

Tang Liren sighed, said goodbye to Zhou Chunni, and went home with a bag of packed vegetables.

When she got home, Tang Liren still felt upset, so she told everyone about this.

Tao Tao was shocked. "What kind of logic is this? She thinks that she accompanied Jiang Hongzhi to Xinjiang because she was wronged by Jiang Hongzhi? So Jiang Hongzhi must help her to succeed?"

The whole family sighed.

"Why doesn't she rely on herself if she wants to succeed?" Taotao couldn't understand.

Tan Fenghui also said: "Zhou Chun